We Need Each Other

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

James 5:16a NLT

I’ve read this verse numerous times. I’ve heard more times than I’ve read. I’ve seen it cited time and time again. Regardless of how many times I’ve read it, regardless of how many times I’ve heard it, regardless of how many times I’ve seen it cited, it took a LONG time for me to really process it. It took a LONG time for me to understand it. It took a LONG time for it to become real in my life.

And that’s the key, for Scripture to become effective in your life it must first become REAL.

You’ve got to find a way to apply it. You’ve got to find a way to live it out. God’s word is ALIVE. It’s NEW every morning. I get it now, but it took a while.

My quiet time, the time I commonly set aside for prayer and study, has typically been the first aspect of my spiritual journey I neglect. I get distracted. In that particular moment I allow something ELSE to take priority. I set God aside like an umbrella because the rain has ceased…momentarily.

Sometimes it won’t rain for a while and I forget that I NEED an umbrella. Other times it seems to rain immediately; soaking wet, I run back to grab my umbrella.

I need accountability.

I need Jesus.

I need you.

So this verse, this idea of confessing my sins, my faults, my shortcomings, my hurts, my hang-ups, my habits, to ANOTHER, to EACH OTHER was foreign to me. I can’t let people know the real me. I can’t afford to have people know my past. There’s no room for honesty! Lies. All lies.

Lies I believed.

Lies that held me down.

Lies that locked me in place.

Lies that kept me trapped.

I’ve heard Rick Warren say, “You’re only as sick as your secrets,” and I believe that 100%. You’ve gotta get it out. You’ve gotta let it go. Until you’ve shared your deepest, darkest secrets, your struggles, your sins, your foot will remain on the spiritual brake for your life.

Pray for God to reveal someone you can trust. Pray for God to put someone in your life that you can share all your hurts with. Pray.

The verse doesn’t end with healing. This is not the verse in its entirety. There’s MORE.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

James 5:16b NLT

He’ll hear you. He’ll answer you. He’ll come through in a big BIG way!