Today's Verse: James 5:16b

Monday, July 8, 2013

ToGather: Our Father's Grace Becomes Our Mission

Few truths are more important to us than Jesus' promise to intercede for us.

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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 5:16b

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

So many hearts, hopes, and homes are broken by sin. This brokenness infects our culture and invades our lives. God has provided both a deterrent to sin and a means of forgiveness for its guilt: honest and genuine confession of our sin. At the heart of confession is a passion to see sin for what it is in the eyes of God and to be anguished for our participation in it. No wonder confession is so healing (cf. 1 John 1:5-2:2). No wonder God wants us to confess our sin to each other and then come to him for each other's healing from sin and its damage. No wonder God grants such power to the prayer of a righteous person interceding for one led to confess. Let's confess our sin and leave it behind.

My Prayer...

O loving Father, God of holiness and grace, please forgive me for my sin... (list specific sins you need to confess before God). Please lead me, dear Father, to the group of your children with whom I can lay down my burden of sin in confession and know that they will pray for my forgiveness and lead me to greater confidence in the power of your grace and the might of your Spirit to help me overcome the sin in my life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Illustration

Illustration of James 5:16b — 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.

About This Devotional

Today's Verse is a free daily devotional that includes a Bible verse, thought and prayer.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

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