Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].
James 5:16 (AMPC)
What’s the deal with confession?
James 5:16 says we need to confess our faults, slips, false steps, and offences to one another, but how does this play out in everyday life? Do we need to tell the world every time we make a mistake? Call someone up to confess every time we cut another driver off in traffic? Post a heartfelt confession on social media every time we have a bad thought?
James isn’t talking about confession in a religious kind of way. It’s not that we have to confess every sin…or else. What James is talking about is having the right attitude in life. Rather than try to look perfect and pretend to be what we’re not, we just need to admit when we’re wrong. We need to maintain a humble, teachable attitude and be willing to be real about our faults and shortcomings.
When we’re real with one another, we can effectively come alongside each other in life. When we share our struggles, we can pray for each other, and as James says, be healed and restored.
Let’s stop pretending we have it all together. Let’s get real! And the earnest, heartfelt, continued prayers we pray for each other won’t just make a little-dab-will-do-you kind of power available. They’ll make the tremendous power of God available, dynamic in its working where each of us needs it most.