Today’s reading is James 5.
With all the things James has warned us against regarding our speech, what kinds of things can we say? Obviously, there are plenty of things we can say. But as he wraps up this letter, he drives home a couple of the best things we can do with our speech.
We can confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. Do you want to grow? Do you want to gain victory? Do you want to overcome weakness? Do you want to find healing from spiritual sickness and avoid death? Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed. Why? Because when the righteous pray, God works.
Understand the goal of such confession and prayer. It is not, as happens too often in supposed accountability partnerships and groups, merely a matter of the cathartic cleanse. Too many Christians decide to be accountable with one another and meet weakly (yes, that was initially a typo for “weekly”, but I decided to leave it) to vomit up all the spiritual sickness they engaged in over the previous week. Like with a stomach bug, they feel better after getting it all out, but that is short lived. They just start being sick again after a little while.
Today, there is a prize for merely being authentic, real, vulnerable. We like to tell everyone how messy our lives are. We begin to think as long as we’re honest about the mess, we can just linger in it. Not so. We confess and pray so we can be healed. No doubt, if the mess lingers, we continue to confess and pray. Keep working the plan until the plan works. But the goal is not to give us license for messy lives. The goal is to hand the mess to God and let Him give us victory over it by His grace.
Don’t slander others. Don’t speak evil of others. Don’t grumble against others. Don’t judge others in partiality. Instead, be honest about self. Confess to one another and pray for one another. That is where growth and victory lie.
Tomorrow’s reading is James 5.
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Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family
- What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
- Is there anything you need to confess now? If so, what? To whom can you confess it?
- Is there anything for which you would like prayer now? If so, what? Of whom can you request prayers?
- Is there anyone for whom you can pray right now? If so, whom? For what? Will you pray?
- What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?
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