If It’s Broken… If you are sick do you take medicine? “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” Jms 5:16 If we are physically sick we go to the Dr. and take the medicine he prescribes. If the car is not working we take it to the mechanic. If something in our life is broken we fix it. We do what it takes to make life work. Why don’t we do that spiritually? Why don’t we pray for what’s broken? James is reminding us that when we confess to one another then pray for one another we will be healed. It’s a cause and effect, but we don’t always apply this truth, but why? Maybe we have lived with a spiritual limp for so long we become immune, we forget what it was like when things were good between us and a loved one, or even us and God. We have lived with our relational or spiritual injury for so long we give up. It doesn’t have to be that way. James gives us a promise from our faithful God that we can be healed. But we have to recognize we can’t fix the problem, we can’t make it better. We need God’s mercy. David said it like this, “O Lord, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.” Ps. 41:4 David’s confession to God brought him to a place to cry out to God in prayer for mercy; mercy so he could be healed. David was not content to walk spiritually impaired; he was willing, through prayer, to make things right. Making things right is why Jesus died for us. Isaiah reminds us of the power and purpose of the death of Christ on the cross. “he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities…by his wound we are healed.” Isa. 53:5 When we confess and pray we are acknowledging we cannot heal ourselves or repair our broken relationship but God can; it’s why He died. To help us pray so we can be healed we need to understand God’s heart for us. He longs that we return to Him through prayer so he can do His work. Listen to the Jewish prophet: “Come let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; he has injured us but He will bind up our wounds.” Hos. 6:1 O friend, what is holding you back from confessing to one another and praying for one another so you can be healed? What areas of your life have you grown immune to the pain and given up hope that Jesus Christ can heal you. He is Jehovah Rapha, God Your Healer. “Father forgive us when we have grown immune to the pains sin causes; help us to confess, cry for mercy and pray to be healed with the assurance you will do what you say.”
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:55:32 +0000