James continued
to exhort his readers from the “twelve tribes scattered abroad”
with some final directions for living. He shared concerning those who
were “sick” among them and the way the “elders”
were to respond to them, and if they followed James commands, he
promised, “the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord
shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be
forgiven him”. In chapter five and verse sixteen of his letter,
James told his readers to “confess” their “faults one
to another” where we read:
Confess
your faults
one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
The verse begins,
“Confess your
faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be
healed.” James
began with the word, “Confess”
or “profess, acknowledge openly and joyfully, to engage” “your
faults”
which means “to fall beside or near something, a lapse or deviation
from truth and uprightness, a sin or misdeed” “one
to another”
or “reciprocally and mutually”, “and
pray” or
“wish, will and voice” “one for
another”
which in Greek is “allēlōn hyper
allēlōn”
and means “reciprocally and mutually”, “that
you be healed”
or “cured, made whole and free from errors and sins; to bring about
one's salvation”. James' readers were to “profess and
acknowledge” their “lapses, deviations and misdeeds” to each
other, and they were to “pray”
so they would be cured from their “lapses and misdeeds”.
The
verse goes on to say, “The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man avails much.” James
continued, “The effectual fervent”
which means “operative, powerful, aiding and displaying one's
activities” “prayer”
or “need, indigence, want, privation, penury, seeking, asking and
entreating” “of a righteous man”
which refers to “a person who observes divine laws, virtuous and
keeping the commands of God” “avails much”
which means “is strong, robust, shown by extraordinary deeds, to
exert, wield power and have strength to overcome many, great,
plenteous, straitly and sore”. The effect of James' people “praying
one for another” was
encouraged by the fact that “powerful, operative and displayed
prayer” “exerts
great power” in performance.
When
we think through these words of James, we discover James' answer to
effective prayer concerning “faults”
in our lives. We should “confess”
our sins to God, and share our “faults”
with one another. We are to be
“effective” and
“caring” people in “prayer”
for each other, and rather than condemn one another, we should come
to each other's aid whenever we find “faults”
within ourselves. May the Lord Jesus convict us by His Holy Spirit
concerning our “faults”
and may we “confess”
and “pray” as
James saw fit to instruct.
Next
time James uses the example of “Elijah”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/b
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