Here is a link so you can read it in your preferred text:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%205&version=31
2006-09-08 14:47:21 · 22 answers · asked by Makemeaspark 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Excellent point about him tying healing to confessing sin. I have seen this be the key to a persons healing also.
2006-09-08 18:09:52 · update #1
I gave you all the link to the entire chapter because on another post of mine I just gave the verse and someone said I was taking it out of context-they wanted the whole chapter. Sorry that first part is rather dreary. I was only looking at verse 16
2006-09-08 18:11:51 · update #2
Great Rabbis have always taught that it is good for the soul and for the community that we share our faults and failings with our loved ones, equally so it is good for us to share our triumphs. The Christian author of James claims that this will bring a "cure," again this is sound advice as healing takes on many shapes. In the moment we confess a failing and a personal weakness we open ourselves up to those around us and to haShem, this brings confort and relief from burden, it brings peace and Pirkei Avot declares that peace of ming brings life. And prayer, well prayer is always good, so long as it is honest and mindful of others. Prayer brings righteousness and the prayer of a righteous person never lacks the attention of the Ear that hears.
2006-09-08 15:03:08 · answer #1 · answered by Rabbi Yohanneh 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's saying for people to pray for each other.. read verse 5:12-20 it talks about the elders of the church annointing the sick with oil and praying all together as one, and the sick will be healed.. Just read the entire chapter and then that one verse will make sense..
2006-09-08 22:08:07 · answer #2 · answered by Ash 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I know not everyone believes these days that God heals people physically, but I do. James was talking here about physical healing. He had just stated that when someone is sick we should pray for them. Then he goes on to say that we should confess our sins to one another - I believe this relates to healing still. I think what he's saying is that God wants us to confess our sins to Him before we ask things of Him. So, confess your sins, THEN ask God for what you need, believing that you will receive it.
2006-09-08 22:07:05 · answer #3 · answered by ryanjamesm 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is easier to understand in context, starting with verse 13. The idea is that confessing the sin in our lives to each other, we are praying for each other to overcome the temptations that we have. The various problems that we have are sometimes hard for us to pray about, because we are embarrassed by them, too proud to admit it, ashamed to admit it to God or whatever. But, when we confess to each other, we are enabling ourselves to benefit not only from our own prayers, but from the prayers of others. Make sense?
2006-09-08 21:57:42 · answer #4 · answered by hisnamesaves 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't confess my sins to the priests,I used to when I was a raised catholic, I now believe we can come to God alone and ask for forgivness. And this is the proof....
Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
2006-09-08 22:16:33 · answer #5 · answered by I-C-U 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It means to confess one to another ..not every single detail of wrong doing...to tell another brother or sister in Christ that you have sinned is enough...they should have compassion and pray with you considering their own salvation...Sickness in the bible was associated to sin so...this is a hand in hand process...so that once you have confessed you have sinned a brother or sister (brothers for men sisters for woman) as a rule should pray with you because sin was associated with sickness
John 9:1.And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
So that the last part of the verse means that a man who is rightly walking in the Lord and who prays always and in sincerity breaks through to the Lord...for those who are suffering because of sin..
2006-09-08 22:09:09 · answer #6 · answered by soldier612 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Suzany13,
He was talking about keeping things clear between the believers. No pent up frustration between the bretheren. And paryer is a form of worship. The Christian is righteous by faith, and faith also allows us to continue in goods work, because of God's Spirit. Therefore, for faith we can interceed and help people that are sick. And it's been done before.
2006-09-08 22:03:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is the true order of prayer. First be reconciled, so that there are no hidden resentments. Next pray for one another that all our ills will be cured. Last pray in righteousness. If anything bothered the Savior, it was hypocracy.
Fervent is like Jeremiah wrote "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
2006-09-09 02:34:54 · answer #8 · answered by Isolde 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen." I think it's self explanatory. We are restored as whole when we confess our sins to each other and ask the Lord for help. The Lord will give us great rewards.
2006-09-08 21:59:53 · answer #9 · answered by TJMiler 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The first sentence is how the Body was intended to work. Modern Christianity has a hard time dealing with people who don't measure up; some excommunicate after a certain point, while others judge nothing and say grace makes everything okay. Black or white... But something is missing.
The ingredient which is necessary for failure (no matter the frequency or severity) to be dealt with is repentance. Simply put, if it is there, the individual is dealing with God and does not need our interference unless we have words of hope.
If not repentant, those who love the person need to **listen** to God's long-suffering Spirit so as to know *when* to confront the person. God is still primarily working with them and does not need our help until He asks for it. When He has us confront, if the person yields they can be comforted. If they resist, it's back to prayer for the person. They are now in a tricky spot only God can fix.
Right-o. When we *sincerely* confess our sins one to another, we already have a repentant mentality; otherwise, we wouldn't be admitting a fault. God, come in human flesh, knows how we feel when we fail Him. He set up a support group called the Church.
We should be able to take failures which should be making us sad and tell them to another member, who will take us in under their wing...and PRAY for us. Why pray? Because only Jesus can change us!
I John 1:9 -- "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, ***and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."***
If my left hand is not strong enough, rest assured my right hand will help. Moreover, if my left hand is sick, my head (Jesus is the head of the Church) will think of how to help it. If my left hand won't let me help it...well, it is cutting itself off from the rest of the body and will not live long. The funny thing is, in today's Church has the right hand either saying the left is fine when it is not, or beating on the left hand to make it work better. That is not how a body works.
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." (Gal. 6:1-2)
"Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." (Heb. 9:28)
Okay. The second part of the verse, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much," is true...and it stops us with the term "righteous man." Every member of the Church has faults...so who will we find to pray?
Back to good old "salvation by faith through grace!" Jesus is our righteousness. Basic Christianity 101. With this in mind, James wrote the next verse as encouragement; we have power to pray and have God heal us! Elijah, after all, had passions just as we do -- he had a sinful nature and a mind that wanted to do things that weren't right. Yet he prayed and the rain stopped. By faith. So can we.
Some belief systems use this verse to assert "You have this sickness, so there must be some sin in your life." I don't know if you believe this or not. If it doesn't apply, please consider my answer finished. If it does:
This is prime example of the one hand beating on the other instead of helping it.
This verse was intended to have us pray for each other's physical and spiritual conditions. It was intended to lift up and encourage. Telling me my recent cancer diagnosis is because of a sin I committed 15 years ago (and repented of -- making it washed in the blood and not existing) or because of a hidden sin in my life...that's not God's Spirit. God's bigger than that.
Satan wants people to die believing God's anger is upon them, deriding their faith and possibly causing them to give up...faithless, hopeless, hell-bound. God lifts people up. He's bigger than their sins and has answers to their every problem.
The Biblical truth is that they have cancer because they have a *sin nature,* not because of a specific sin or act. We all die because of sin; our bodies are in constant decay because of sin. Yet for the saved, our story does not end here! Our sin nature will die with our bodies because Jesus condemned our sin to the flesh body (Romans 8:1-4). Dying from cancer a matter of God's anger? No. Dying from cancer would be a relief once finished, because sin is in the rearview mirror! Now it's just me and Jesus, and I don't have anything to be ashamed of anymore!!! THAT is the GOSPEL!
2006-09-08 23:25:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋