The Right Heart

James 5:16 NIV

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

I have always imagined just how difficult this passage is to obey. How do I confess my sins to someone else and expect someone else to do the same?  In this modern world of superior thinking and class- consciousness, can you really get people to open up to you in honesty and sincerity? If there's anything I have learnt over the past few years, it is that we have built artificial walls of emotional, psychological and physical barriers against the need to relate on this level with other people. We judge people on the basis of what we think we know about them or what they possess. We equate possessions with value, thinking ourselves inferior if we don't have as much as the other person. But there is nowhere in today's extract that what you have matters; it is who you know that matters. It is not about your bank balance or the size of your house, it is about your spiritual balance and the size of your heart.

Do you have Christ living in you? That's all that matters. It is He who allows you see beyond the possessions into the problem in the heart of man. It is his Spirit in you that enables you to seek reconciliation with others so that healing can occur. It is your acceptance of your weaknesses as human beings that opens the door for God to work his wonders of healing through you. As you Submit to his Spirit, He works through you to ensure that sin submits to the power of God.

There's a miracle that happens when sin is confessed. There's a restoration of fellowship that occurs when love is expresssed and offences are forgiven. It is in this atmosphere that love can thrive and God can move. No wonder answered prayer is tied to this verse. If you want answers to prayers, follow the framework of this verse. If you want a healthy, fruitful balance in your relationship with God and man, follow the pattern laid down by this verse. The result of this healthy lifestyle is seen in the extract before us today: answered, fruitful prayers. If God is to answer our prayers, we must get the foundation right. If God is going to do great things through us, then we must allow his Spirit break down all artificial and emotional barriers. There's no room for class consciousness or building of walls or cliques. There's no room for bitterness or silent anger: speak it out, let it out so that offences can be brought to light and forgiveness shared. You can never be effective or make any kind of impact if sin is present; you can never make an impact until you make peace. His time of favour is here.