James 5:16 [AMP]
Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].
One of the most important ‘One Anothers’! This verse gets to the heart of biblical community. THIS is why we need each other, need Life Groups, need accountability. Confessing our sim to God is a no-brainer but confessing our sim to each other not only makes it real but also grounds us into a reality of the separation it causes us to be from God Himself. When we lean into each other through this kind of openness, we have the support of our brothers/sisters in helping us glorify God through obedience to Him.
Additionally, prayer for one another is such a powerful tool. It causes a vested interest into the well being of our community of believers. It takes the focus off ourselves and puts it onto those in our sphere of influence. We start to look for the Hand of God working in the lives of those we are praying for and it grows our faith to see His hand work for the good of those we care about.
There is a lot here in the line “the earnest prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available”. Whoa!! First, ‘earnest’ -> resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction. The Amplified above uses ‘heartfelt’ and ‘continued’; add in conviction and we start to see what it means to pray for people ‘earnestly’. Second, when prayer comes from a righteous man, a man close to God, who has a heart for right living; it says that ‘tremendous power’ is made available. I want this for my brothers in Christ! I want to be able to provide these types of prayers to the Father on behalf of the people closest to me!
Application:
The best thing I can do for my Christian Community of brothers and sisters is to pursue righteousness and conviction in my prayer life. As a Life Group leader, I need to make prayer a more poignant piece of our time together, praying for one another and supporting through extended prayer through the week.