James 5:16, "Confession+Prayer=Power"

On the second night of our Chattanooga trip, Cameron led us in a devo using James 5:16. Cameron and Noah Burnett had been leading a few other students through a study of the book of James before we left. So they were familiar with some of the context of the book. Cameron explained that James wrote to Christians in house churches in the city of Jerusalem (in Acts 8, Luke tells how these house churches had been formed). He wrote to remind the Christians how to live authentically for Christ.

Here in verse 16, James instructed his readers to "confess their sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed." The words "and" and "that" are important. They are the words that become the "plus" sign and "equals" sign below.

Confession + Prayer = Healing

Then James goes on to tell his readers that "the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

Righteousness + Prayer = Power

Cameron explained that confession of sin leads to righteousness, so he condensed the equation to this:

Confession + Prayer = Power

Here's the picture: imagine your best friend slandered your name at school for three straight weeks. Then they get home one day, and call you to ask for your help with homework. You don't answer your phone because you're hurt that they would say those things about you. But they keep calling, over and over, leaving messages wondering why you won't help them like the best friend you claim to be. Hellohhh! They have wronged you. It's not that you don't want to help them. Or even that you're not their friend anymore. They just need to come to their senses and apologize for hurting you by slandering your name at school. They need to repair the rupture in your friendship.

It's the same with God. We have a union, or relationship, with God through Jesus Christ. And our prayers flow from our heart to God along that union. But when we sin against God, that sin stands as a barrier between us and God, hindering our prayers from even reaching him. The psalmist says, "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" (Psalm 66:18). God may not always grant what you have asked, but if you have unconfessed sin you can be sure that he is not even listening.

Have you been asking God for something for a little while, but he doesn't seem to be listening? Perhaps it is something that he does not wish for you to have, knowing that it would not be best for you right now. But maybe it's like the psalmist said, he really isn't listening. Maybe you have some unconfessed sin in your life, and it's hindering your prayers from even reaching God. Take some time to ask God to reveal that sin in your heart by his Holy Spirit, and then go find a trusted friend and confess that sin to them and to God. I can't promise that he will give you what you're asking. But I can promise that he will be listening, and having the ear of God is truly a wonderful mercy, even if we never receive the mercy asked for.