“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

— James 5:16

Over the years, many theologians haven’t known what to do with the Book of James. In fact Martin Luther the Reformer didn’t think James should even be included in the Bible because he thought it emphasized works. James says, “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (2:18, NKJV). Some theologians didn’t know how to deal with James’ emphasis because they were teaching salvation is by grace through faith alone. It is true: salvation is by grace through faith, but true faith produces action, obedience, and works.

Perhaps the hardest instruction James gives us to obey is the command to confess our sins one to another that we might be healed. A lot of times people keep all their sins to themselves. They have a face they put forward to the world, but they don’t let anyone know who they really are. The problem with living in isolation like that, beloved, is that it keeps us in darkness and keeps us trapped. Cockroaches are free to roam as long as they are in the dark. But as soon as the light is turned on, they scramble. This is how sin and demonic oppression are. When they are in darkness, they are free to do as they please, but when sin and demonic activity are exposed to the light, they cannot continue.

This is why Jesus said through James that if you confess your sins one to another, you will be healed. Just by bringing secrets to the surface and sharing them with someone who can pray with you about them, the cleansing process begins. Through transparency, you and I are healed and made whole. Now, we need to use discretion in whom we share our lives with, but God wants you to be authentic. He wants you to have someone in your life with whom you can be honest so anything the enemy wants you to keep hidden can be brought into the light, and you can be healed.

Father, I ask that You show me someone I can be transparent with, someone who will pray with me that I may be healed of the things I haven’t wanted to bring out into the open. Expose anything that is unlike You. Turn on the light so I can live authentically and in freedom.

Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider, Rivers of Revelation (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2020), Used by permission.