“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call on the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth, and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” (James 5:13-20)
Last week I wrote about what it truly means to forgive and be forgiven. But how can we be healed from the pain? We may aspire to forgive as God forgives us. We may aspire to forget the things others have done to us. But actually doing it is another thing entirely. We can’t do it on our own.
To be accountable to someone is to be required or expected to justify or explain your actions or decisions. We are accountable to lots of people: God, our boss, our co-workers, our spouse, our teachers, our parents, the body of Christ… just to name a few.
God longs to forgive us. He doesn’t want to grieve over our sins. God longs for us to come running back to Him in true repentance so that He can forgive us and restore our relationship. But you probably knew that. We would think, then, that this passage would say: “Therefore confess your sins to God and pray that you would be healed.” But that’s not what it says. In fact, it says to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we can be healed. Why is that? Why do we need to bring our mistakes before others? It’s embarrassing. It’s humbling. But most of all, it’s good for us.
God created us to be relational. Think of Adam in the Garden of Eden. God creates the heavens, the earth, every living plant and animal, and finally Adam. But something was not right: Adam was alone. So God creates Eve, his ezer kenedgo, or “sustainer beside him.” And it was good! Creation was complete.
We are not created to be alone. We are created to have relationships first and foremost with God, but also with others. We need to heal our relationship with God when we sin, but we also need to heal our relationship with others when we sin so that we can be healed. We need to pray for each other because we need God in our heart in order to truly forgive each other as Jesus forgives us.
There is POWER in prayer! How often do we forget this? Elijah was a prophet, but he was still a sinner just like every one of us. Yet God listened to his prayers and changed the weather. Can man control the weather? I wish I could… but sadly, no, we cannot. This power didn’t come from Elijah; it came from God. I’ve said this over and over to our confirmation class this year: GOD IS PERSONAL. Write that down somewhere and remember it. Write it on your hand. Write it in the column of your Bible next to this passage. Write it on your calendar at work. Write it on a piece of paper and slip it in the visor of your car.
GOD IS PERSONAL.
GOD IS RELATIONAL.
GOD CARES.
God longs to have a relationship with us. He’s not some far-off being who sits back and just watches. God is everywhere. God wants to have an active part of your life. How can we have a relationship with someone we don’t communicate with? We can’t. God wants us to talk to him: in prayer! If we pray in faith and believe, we can be healed both physically and emotionally. It may take time; it may not. God works in our hearts in all sorts of ways. Don’t limit God in your prayers. Expect God to work. Expect God to answer. He will! It may not be the way we think He will answer because God sees the BIG picture when all we see is a fragment. But God promises that He hears our prayers.
So… how do we forgive each other and be healed?
- Repent. Repent of your sin to God and the persons affected by your sin. Repent from the heart (God knows if you’re faking!)
- Speak the truth in love. Express your hurts (in love) to the person who hurt you so that you can forgive. Have compassion! The point of this isn’t to make them feel even guiltier, but to let the person who was hurt receive healing too.
- Pray for each other. Ask for God to help us forgive as He forgives; completely and FORGOTTEN.
- Forgive from the heart. Don’t let any “unwholesome talk” come from our mouths. We aren’t meant to gossip, slander and dwell on the mistakes. We are to move forward in love as Jesus does with us. Let all of our talk be useful for building each other up, not tearing each other down. Accept the person back as God accepts us into his family.
We should care about others deeply enough to want to stop them from going down a path that leads them away from God. We should have compassion for others like Jesus has for us. God can use YOU to save someone from their sins. God can use YOU to help bring healing. God can use YOU to help restore a relationship. Will you let Him? Will you ask Him to use you? Will you confess your sins to one another in humility so that you can be healed and/or heal others?
Is there someone in your life that you need to forgive? Have you wronged someone and are in need of forgiveness? I want to challenge you to confess your sins to someone this week and pray for one another so that you may be healed.
Jesus, I know that I am not perfect. I know that you created me to need others in my life. Give me the courage to step up and be accountable for my sins with You and with others so that I can be forgiven and healed. Likewise, help me to forgive others as You forgive me. Heal my heart and help me forget when others sin against me. Use me to bring others back to You. Thank You, Lord. Amen.
