James Chapter 5:16-20
5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” “Therefore”: We have here a connecting link with what has been previously stated. The Greek word translated therefore is not found in some Greek manuscripts but it is found in many. James has already linked healing and confession of sins together in 5:15. While every physical disease is not the direct result of our sins, some can be traced to sins that are practiced and kept hidden. The guilt which sin produces in the human heart can cause a lot of physical, mental and emotional damage. In the book “None of These Diseases”, the author has a chapter entitled, “Upset Mind-Sick Body”. He points that anxiety probably places more stress on the heart than any other stimulus, including physical exercise and fatigue. Through such things as worry, anger and guilt we can literally make ourselves sick. Man was not designed by God to be a vessel to carry around guilt. See Psalm 32:1-5; 38:1-8 for a good description of how unforgiven sin can make us miserable spiritually, physically, and mentally. “Confess your sins”: This means to “confess forth, freely and openly” (Vine p. 764). “Be in the habit of confessing your sins” (Roberts p. 220). James here uses the present imperative of continuous action. “We are not to wait until we are ill to do so” (Roberts p. 220). Unfortunately, at times we wait until our guilt is so unbearable, and suffer needlessly before we are willing to repent. Too many of us think that we can live with and get by with some sin in our lives. The word “sins” means a “false step, transgression, sin” (Arndt p. 621). “Because sin is so pervasive in human life, there is continual need for both spiritual sensitivity and appropriate action where sin has been committed” (Kent 1