“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)
Whether you’re a seasoned Christian or a new one, somehow confessing our faults to another is not something we want to do. That word faults covers the whole spectrum from a slight slip or lapse to unintentional error, willful transgression and sin. And although our fault may be obvious to others, we tend to hide our sin not only from others, but from God and even ourselves.
David had something to say about hiding our sin. “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.” (Psalms 32:3-4) David refused to acknowledge his sin. It weighed heavy on him. There’s no peace when we live with sin. David writes, “…my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.” When we sin, our heart beat faster and our bodies require more water. Our mouths get dry. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling. And David certainly felt this.
When David acknowledges his sin, it’s a different story. “I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. (Psalms 32:5-7) He was forgiven. The floods of any kind of adversity may come against us, but they won’t get near. We can hide in the Lord from the floods. And the Lord will keep us. David writes that the Lord surrounds us with “…songs of deliverance…” The word “songs” actually means shouts. God surrounds us with His shouts of escape for us. Can you visualize that?
The phrase, “…pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found…” says lots. There may come a time, if we don’t acknowledge our sin, that we become comfortable with it. Then we accept it and will eventually become unrepentant. That’s a dangerous place to be. John wrote in his first letter, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1John 1:8-10) We can lie to ourselves and believe that lie, but the sin’s still there. We need to acknowledge it in order to rid ourselves of that thing that stands between peace and condemnation.
It's hard to acknowledge our sin to ourselves and to God. And it’s even harder to confess our sin to another. This doesn’t mean you select someone and say, “Come here so I can tell you my sin.” But as you build connections with someone, and especially if you perceive they’re someone of prayer, you can ask them to help you pray for a certain fault in your heart. People are open and accepting when you confide in them.
The last phrase in James 5:16 tells us how prayer works. Effectual prayer works when a “righteous” person prays. That word “righteous” means that the person praying has a relationship with God. God hears their prayers because they’re children of God. They have access to the Throne of Mercy and Grace through Jesus. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) And it’s because we are in Jesus that we have access to the Father. “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18) We can enter into that holy place before the Father’s throne because of the blood of Jesus. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,” (Hebrews 10:19)
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