Healing Requires Telling Others

In review of James 5:16 it says, “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

Bottom Line:

Admit your faults to others, pray for each other. Our prayers will have great power and produce wonderful results.

What this means to me:

I am to admit my faults to others and not always keep them to myself. In addition we are to pray for each other. The prayer of a good friends has great power and will produce wonder results in my life. With friends praying for me and holding me accountable, I can get the power to get over the problems that seem to linger in my life. I need to get honest with God and with others. However, admitting deep down issues makes me very uncomfortable.

I’m reminded that in Ecclesiastes 4:9, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up” (NIV).

God has wired me so that I would need others. I was never meant to face my problems or my sins by myself. I think we all have a longing for belonging. And with getting together with others we help each other out.

James 5:16 is one of the most important verses for my health and holiness as I attempt to get over my habits and hang-ups: “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (LB).

Rick Warren says, “Revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing.” He bases this on James 5:16. He indicates that the way you get well in life is by revealing your feeling. There is relief and healing in admitting and sharing. The moment I do, I’m humbling myself, and God gives grace to the humble.

However, I must make sure I don’t let my pride get in the way. It’s easy to tell God about my habit, but really hard to tell anybody else. I also need to remember, that its tough to get well on my own. God has wired me in a way that I need other people to order to help me grow.

If all I want to do, is to be forgiven, I can tell God. But if I want to be healed, then I’v got to tell other people.

God has put into my life a few guys that I have been trying to get with a little more often. They are my posse, and guys I can trust who know me and will be honest with me about my life. I’m going to see what I can do to free up some time this week to get together with them again.