James 5:16-18
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
This verse has been rolling around in my mind and heart for a few weeks now. I am slowly beginning to see that this is not only a command to walk in a lifestyle of submission, vulnerability and support to each other within Christian fellowship. This verse is also an invitation for us to walk in God’s supernatural power and anointing through allowing His light and love to permeate every dark stumbling block within us, through the grace of confession. The concept presented is confession. Confession is not only a form of vulnerability and submission to your brothers and sisters in Jesus, but it's also a conduit of Jesus' power to move through you in greater measure.
Humbling myself in order to bring light through confession to a dark and hidden sin in my life that needs exposing, better positions me for God’s strength to move through my life. In this way I am also illuminating and disarming a place where the enemy once held me in secret bondage through darkness. I can never overcome the things within me which I am afraid to confront. The things that I am afraid to confront are typically the things I am afraid to have revealed before my peers. Secret-ness and darkness can often seem and feel like protection from being caught. Though the truth is, any sin that I willingly keep secret in my life is also an area of my heart I am willing to surrender to the enemy. Of course, the devil knows this and will fight overtime to make us believe that keeping secret sin hidden is a form of power and control. The devil knows that if you can just be too ashamed of yourself to embrace confession, then you’ll never find the anointing God has prepared for you when you choose to walk in the light.
Walking in the light and being vulnerable, is walking in righteousness and power. This type of anointing is the same anointing that Elijah walked in, and was the reason His prayer life and ministry was so effective. What an incredible passage of Scripture. This makes it so much easier to understand why it is so hard to be vulnerable in front of our Church peers. The enemy cannot afford for you to grab hold of this reality. You and I must choose to be diligent in staying connected and creating relationships with true accountability.
True accountability is not just sharing the things that you are comfortable sharing, it's sharing the things that make you uncomfortable that someone else might know. Then also giving that person of accountability the privilege to check in and confront you, to make sure you are ok in your times of struggle. Is it easy and pleasant? No, not really. But it is freedom and totally worth fighting for. Are you supposed to share all things with all people? No, of course not. Jesus also talked about the wisdom of being wise and selective about who you shared sensitive information with (Matthew 7:6). Not everyone is going to share the same Biblical standards of honor and trust that is expected in a relationship with accountability. Other times you’ll find yourself betrayed by people you thought you could hold yourself accountable to. It’s important to remember in these circumstances that the point was to be fully surrendered to God, and that God himself is fully capable of redeeming whatever needs to be redeemed. The point is that you not allow yourself to be dissuaded from practicing the spiritual empowerment that is confession and accountability. I encourage you to join a Life Group that works for your schedule. Create real and authentic relationships within that group. Practice being honest, before your peers, about uncomfortable stuff you're dealing with. Connect with same gender friends who can hold you accountable as you move toward holiness. Watch as God’s power moves through those places that you allowed yourself to be vulnerable in.
Love,
Pastor John
