Waist Deep 2018 - December 18


James 5: 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (NIV)


Whenever we pray together, God’s power manifests.*


That awkward moment at prayer request time when someone shares TMI . . . we’ve all “been there” but hopefully not “done that.” Is that the kind of confession James wants from us?

For most of us, the word "confess" calls to mind the need to confess our sins to God. Some may be reminded of the practice of confessing to a priest. But James is not referring to the kind of confession that brings forgiveness; nor is he calling for indiscriminate airing of every shortcoming.* In this passage, James urges us to participate in the type of confession that heals.

 “Confessing to one another” sounds more like a one-on-one experience than a group activity, but a group can be an appropriate setting. Ask God for discernment in choosing the right person or the right group with whom to share your confession. The adult Bible fellowship class I attend on Sunday mornings is a great setting for learning the Bible but not so much for sharing personal concerns. It is a large group – from 12 to 25 people each week – and consists of men and women of various ages and levels of spiritual maturity and most of whom I don’t know well enough to be certain of their ability to keep a confidence. Plus, we have a schedule to consider. On the other hand, the small group I facilitate is all women, with six to ten in attendance each week, and we have pledged that what is shared in the group stays in the group. In addition, we meet in a home and there is never any pressure to cut anyone off due to a shortage of time. It is a safe place for a woman to confess her sins or share her problems and to have her sisters come together in prayer for her.

James also says we are to pray for one another. Perhaps your prayer should include a request for God to prepare you to be a listener of someone’s confession. Are you willing to make yourself available? Someone out there might need you!


Assuming a burden of prayer for others lightens one’s own load.*


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