To Live is Christ — because He does the saving

A sign reads, “A funny thing happens when you don’t pray.” A large, nearly empty space beside it says one word in small print: “nothing.”

Prayer is a powerful thing, so powerful that Christians are aware when prayer happens. On Sunday I told someone that I was praying for her. She said, “I can tell that people are praying.” In contrast, there are days when it seems like no one prays.

Today’s verse talks about prayer in connection with confessing sins. In this context, the sins have resulted in chastening by illness. 

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

Sin can make Christians sick. Even apart from the idea of chastening, simple stress can make a person sick, never mind the stress of unconfessed sin and the resulting guilt. Add God to the equation. He has the power to allow all sorts of physical ramifications. The bottom line is that it does not pay to be silent about sin. He wants us to confess the sin (sometimes to another Christian) so He can heal us, setting us free the guilt that is harmful to both body and soul.

God does the healing, not the other person or their prayer, yet prayer is part of it. This is mysterious. Some say God will not act unless we pray, but that makes us controllers of God, so I’m not fully comfortable with that idea. Besides, I’ve prayed for some things for years and nothing has happened (except that I’ve become more patient).

Prayer is a mystery. All we know is that God tells us to do it and when we obey, we are blessed. Our relationship with Him deepens, and sometimes we see amazing results. For example . . . 

Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6

Praying makes worry fly out the window. I look at worry as a form of trying to control things, so when I give those things to God, I am yielding to Him. When I do that, verse seven describes the amazing results, “. . . and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)

Besides peace of mind, those prayers of confession described in James 5 play a part in something even more astounding. They are the key to a changed life.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

I’ve loved this verse for many years. It is the secret to Christian growth and victory over sin. I first discovered it as a new believer. I was screaming at my children and trying to stop, but having no results. I saw this verse and confessed my impatience and bad attitudes to Him. A few weeks later, I noticed that I was no longer screaming at my children. That simply stopped.

When I confess sin, I know God forgives me. That alone is a wonderful thing because the guilt is taken away. However, even more wonderful is the power of God to somehow remove the sin, washing it right out of my heart so that I don’t do it any longer.

This isn’t a magical formula though. The confession must be sincere and even desperate in the sense that I don’t ever want to commit that sin again. God has shown me many times how I can have a love-hate relationship with my bad habits.

Besides that, confession needs to get at the root of things. In the case of yelling at my kids, it was pure selfishness. I wanted my own way all the time and was annoyed with them for interrupting it. God showed me that my motive for raising my children needed to be wanting the best for them for their sake, not for my peace of mind.

All of my Christian life has been affected by this principle of confessing sin, always to God and sometimes to others that I’ve offended. Without it, there is no forgiveness, no healing, no change of life.

Jesus didn’t sin, but He takes sin seriously and He wants me to do the same. He also wants me to realize that confession does not mean “I’ll try harder” but “You are the Savior and I need saving.”