Pray for One Another

After touring the amazing sites each day on our recent tour of the Holy Land, the ladies and I would meet in my hotel room and we would pray for one another. It was a beautiful time of fellowship filled with love and understanding. It took time for the ladies to feel safe enough to open up and be free to honestly share from their hearts, but in time, and with a little encouragement they did.

James 5:16 admonishes us to , “Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

When we confess our faults to another, we make ourselves vulnerable to them, we openly reveal a weakness or wrong doing that causes us shame or embarrassment. It’s not an easy thing to do, and hopefully we use wisdom to be able to discern who is trustworthy and who is not. But for the sake of this lesson, let’s assume  we share what’s on our heart with a safe person, or group of people.

Oftentimes, when people share their deepest hurts someone else will give an encouraging word not to give up, and there isn’t anything wrong with this, except it is forgetting an important element to healing –prayer. According to James’ teaching on healing we are to confess our faults, then we are to pray for one another.

And while on this topic, let’s not forget that we are to confess (our) faults, our weaknesses. It’s not the time to gripe an complain about everyone else, but to examine our own hearts so we can heal.

Why is this so important? Because truth sets us free. It releases us from the bondage of pride, self-pity, vengeance, and entitlement that blind us spiritually, and from the lies that the enemy holds over us. John 8:32 says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.“

And when we pray for one another, we are to pray the prayer of faith. The kind that puts forth power, and activates the mercy and compassion of God. To pray a glorious sounding prayer and then add the tagline, #if it be your will, is declaring that you do not fully believe your own prayer. The Word of God is very clear about this point, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.“ James 1:6-8. Whether we are asking for God’s wisdom as in this portion of Scripture above, or healing, provision, or for something else, we need to pray in faith. Believe and trust that God is faithful.

When we honestly confess our weaknesses, and pray with faith, then according to James 1:16 we can heal. This word heal, in Strongs G2390, iaomai  means to cure, heal, make whole, to free from error and sins, and / or to bring about (one’s) salvation.

And this healing process was so beautifully demonstrated on our recent tour of Israel with all the ladies in the group. As we willingly did what James 5:16 admonishes, individuals were set free from the bondage of years of deep pain, emotional scars, rejection, and confusion. And revelation knowledge came forth via the gifts of the Holy Spirit as we confessed and prayed for one another. Just as our group did, the Lord wants all of His people to open up and confess their faults one to another, pray in faith, and heal in Jesus’ name.

Becky Dvorak is a prophetic healing evangelist and the Destiny Image author of DARE to Believe, Greater Than Magic and The Healing Creed. Visit her at authorbeckydvorak.com.