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Friday, February 10, 2012

Trusting to pray

Now sin has a desire for us, it is powerful and it is used powerfully by the evil one. You may ask, is he still talking about how to deal with sin? Yes we are. Let us never forget that this battle will last a life time. Now we have been talking about the tough sins, hard sins, the sins that plague us. You know the sin that we just have a hard time to let go of. You tried all the ways...mentioned...and it still is plaguing you. Sometimes you lose hope, what can I do now...
Well there is still another principle for us to grasp to help us deal with sin. James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins one to another and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." Now let me go back a few verses and say this, "there are here in James 5 two more principles/ways to help us to deal with sins." The first is to go to the Elders for prayer, which we see in verses 14-15. I know it is dealing with sickness, but if you read on it deals with sin. Believe it or not sin can also cause sickness. Now in verse 16 it tells us to confess to one another. Yes that does mean to tell on yourself. Tell someone that you are dealing with a sin...Now here is the important part, so that person will pray for you. Just like going to the Elders, it is so that they will pray for you. It is that we need help! The help of a godly man who will pray for us. For our church leaders who will pray for us. For us who have this problem that we cannot handle on our own, that we are willing to reach out for help. That help being prayer, intercession. Let me say this, it is hard to confess a sin to another, a sin that plagues you, admitting a weakness; admitting a strong hold, admitting something bad is wreaking havoc in you.
With that, for the ones who are being asked to help, it is a great responsibility. Another brother is coming to you for prayer, for continued prayer if you will. He is trusting you to pray for him. He is trusting you not to be judging. He is trusting you to help him be healed. He is trusting you because he sees you as a "spiritual" person. Or better yet the word, righteous, is used in our verse. Oh that we will be willing to ask and that we will be willing to pray for each other.

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