Confess Sins and Fix Faults

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. (James 5:16)

While living here on earth, we are surrounded by sin and its consequences. For this reason, James wrote this powerful statement to Christians. Life is complex, and so are people. The truth is that we all make mistakes, and we do so regularly. These mistakes can fall into two categories: sins of omission and commission. Sins of commission are sins that we intentionally commit. It’s a wrong choice; it’s a hurtful word or a sinful action we knew was bad and did it anyway. Sins of omission are when we should do something and don’t. For example, a sin of omission is when we refuse to help, give, or forgive.

The first step toward freedom from sin is to confess our sins and fix our faults. We confess our sins to God, not to other people. But sometimes, we also must make amends with those we’ve hurt. I call that fixing your faults.

Confession is not about shaming or beating ourselves up but embracing honesty and accountability. We open the door to spiritual and emotional healing when we confess openly to God and admit guilt to those we have wronged. However, the healing is not final. James noted that healing happens when brothers or sisters who have been hurt or done the hurting pray for one another. After James talked about confessing and praying for one another, he wrote that the fervent and effectual prayer of the righteous has much power! I believe he wrote about the power of prayer here because unconfessed sin restricts power (dunamis in the Greek) from working. For powerful praying, confess your sins to God and fix any faults you might have with your brothers and sisters.

Practical Application

Ask the Holy Spirit if there is anyone in your life you have wronged, hurt, or need to apologize to. Your honest and heartfelt admission and prayer will give you a powerful prayer life.

Psalm 34:15; John 9:31