13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:13-20 ESV
https://my.bible.com/bible/59/JAS.5.13-20

What do you like about this passage?

God is my provider, God has made provision for the ones who love and accept Jesus. Verse 15 we have forgiveness of our own sins. We have healing verse 16 “that you may be healed”, this is not just physical but mental, spiritual, and emotional. God has direction/purpose for us even if we are lost verse 19.

All of these provisions are ours even if we get lost, and God does not hold that against us by covering our sins with the blood of Jesus.

What is difficult about this passage?

Finding the right person and having the boldness to confess our sins to another. It is easier to just ask God for forgiveness than to confess it to another. Any sin is a possible stumbling block for you or another person.

I know for me if I would not have confessed my sin of pornography to my wife, I would be still bound by it and it could have destroyed my marriage.

What does this passage tell me about God?

God has made a way of escape for us, that way is Jesus. God cares so much for us that by giving His Son for our sins we can have live.

What does the passage tell us about People?

We all have the potential of losing our way, but we have a way back.

What are you going to do with this passage / your personal revelation?

I need to study what it meant by “confess our sins to one another” and what sins. We put levels of sins (minor and major). Minor sins like having thought of something that is sinful does that sin need to be confessed to someone else. Jesus says that “if you think it in your heart you have committed it”.

The passage says to confess to one another and you will be healed not confess to God. I believe you have to confess to God also but as believe I have heard people say that they have confessed it to God.

Next post will cover this question.