June 25, 2022 - James 5:16

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 NIV

Lord, there is such humility required to live out this verse. This is not an easy one to live out. Confessing our failures to others is not easy. Especially the ones we fail at regularly and don’t want to again admit defeat. Or the ones that we judge as “really bad” and don’t want to let others know are our struggle. But if we are honest, we all have sins like that, and confessing them to one another helps us to know that we are not alone in our struggles. It does require us to be humble, but there is so much freedom that comes with bringing sin into the light. When we share it with others it loses the power that it held over us. Satan wants us to think if it is hidden in the dark, we are safe. But when it is hidden, the darkness has control over us. Help us learn the lesson that it is when we bring it into the light that it loses its control over us. There is where we find freedom from it, and we can be healed from it. Please give us people in our lives to walk with us. Safe people who can be trusted and will help challenge us forward in getting freedom from the sins that want to control us. People who will stand with us and contend in prayer for our freedom.

Lord, we thank you for the power our prayers hold. It is as we confess our sins and work to live in the light of your righteousness that we gain your power. We stand on the promise that our prayers are powerful and effective. They are heard. They are not just mere words; they carry your authority and power. Teach us how to pray with this mindset. We want to use our prayers to declare in faith your will over the earth. We praise you for the power that comes as we walk with humility and grow in righteousness.

In Jesus name, amen.