Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16
This verse is such an important part of Christianity. I think it means for us to befriend one another. The confessing of sins helps to keep us accountable. We need to know that first– God forgives us our sins, and forgets. So we are not confessing to receive a lashing. I think we confess to release. Confessions bring about healing, and it is for us. We need to learn to fess up and let it go. Only then can we actually move ahead with our sins washed away.
I want to focus on the part where it says we are to pray for each other, so we may be healed. God hears and honors our prayers. The verse says the prayers of a righteous man (woman) are powerful and effective. This is not all fluff and pretty words. This is healing and freedom.
I have found there are times in my own life when I do not have “close” friends. Not ones that I can call up and chat – let alone confess my sins and ask for prayer. Well, I will come closer to asking for prayer than confessing my sins. However, since the advent of the internet, I have forged friendships that run deep and are real. I am talking about friendships with my “sisters.”
I have faced some of the darkest times of my life (when my mother died) and other really tough times, by leaning on my sisters in Christ, my faithful online friends. Yes, I have my family, my husband, and my children and friends. They are there for me, but at times, I need a little something more, I need a hand, a shoulder to cry on, an ear to bend. These friends have been there for me, offering encouragement, tears, prayers, and it is a view of how God wants His children to act. This is what this community does – Sisters in Bloom – offering hands extended in the name of Jesus Christ. Sisters in the Lord, that’s what we are!