Lord, I am praying to You for salvation and forgiveness and praying with others for healing.

Today’s Scriptures: James 5:15-16, NKJV- “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

We have experienced some scorching summers. Waiting and praying for rain becomes real. James 5:7 instructs us to be patient. We must wait for crops to grow and bear fruit. We must wait for the rain. As in childbirth, we must wait and trust God and His process that brings forth fruits and life.

We can feel the refreshment of the ground as the life-giving rains begin to fall. We can sing praises and lift prayers of thanksgiving. We must patiently wait for our fruits and crops to mature and ripen. We cannot rush God’s processes.

We all have ups and downs and our faith in God will sustain us in both. James 5:13 instructs us to pray if we are in trouble, suffering, or afflicted. Also, if we are happy or cheerful, we should sing our praises as well.

James 5:16 is the verse that coincides with Step 5 and Lesson 12 in Celebrate Recovery entitled Confess. I believe I was in recovery for fifteen years before the lightbulb went off and I recognized the power and perfection of combining James 5:15 and James 5:16. It finally clicked with me when I heard someone say we pray to God for forgiveness, and we pray with each other for healing.

There is power in prayer and confession. Our humble honesty with God and another human being is vital for our full development and healing. Just like the fruits of the ground we are in some process of ripening. We can trust God and His plans for us. Along the way, many times in our impatience, we attempt to rush the process or move forward on our own strength.

At some point, in the droughts of our lives we must wait on the rains of God. We do not have to wait alone. When we lift our prayers up to the LORD, and as James 5:15 promises, He will lift us up. When we can confess our hurts, habits, and hang-ups with someone we trust we do find healing as instructed in James 5:16. Confession does bring healing and freedom from those lies that can hold us captive.

We can keep each other from wandering down some dark, lonely, and dry paths. Let us pray and find God’s truths and walk with friends who can help each other when we wander away so we will return to God’s refreshing and life-giving ways. Do you pray to God for forgiveness and have someone you can pray with for healing?

Today’s Prayer: Almighty God, we pray to You in our droughts and seek Your rains. We pray to You LORD for salvation and forgiveness. Thank You LORD for bringing the right brothers and sisters into our lives so we find healing. Thank You LORD for bringing family and friends into our lives who keep us from wandering too far from Your ways. We praise Your name LORD for protecting, saving, and forgiving us. We ask that You use us for the healing of others. In You LORD we trust. Amen.