“What To Do Before Prayer Of Faith!”

“What To Do Before Prayer Of Faith!”(Jm.5:13-16).
Awesome God, at the light of a new day, I shout to you with joy. “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power…”(Ps.66:1f).
There are two look-alike verses of scriptures that are often bypassed while reflecting on the pericope in which they are found.
In the sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift”(Mt.5:23-25).
In today’s pericope, James says, “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
In Matthew, Jesus prescribes reconciliation before an acceptable worship. Such reconciliation restores harmony within the community; not only the worshipping community because the offended brother may not belong to the worshipping community.
James recommends confession to each other before effective prayer for each other can bring about healing. When we confess our sins to each other, we now stand before God as righteous, and our prayers become powerful and effective. This is what makes for a prayer of faith. This is especially so since confessing to each other brings holistic healing and restoration within the community. The point is not about public declarations. It is about meeting with the offended person and asking forgiveness.
However, both passages are often bypassed, minimised, or ignored. While the verse in Matthew is used in the liturgy of Holy Communion, we have not seen or heard that somebody came with offerings before the altar and went back for a reconciliation before returning to give the offering. But we have had to sit after service or another day to settle grave disagreements between people who just brought their offerings before the altar.
On the other hand, we have not confessed our sins to each other, but we have prayed for each other, hoping that we may be healed after such prayers.
Is there hope for a fully restored community if we cannot face each other to offer or receive pardon?
It is possibly in this sense that Archbishop Desmond Tutu said South Africans had “no future without forgiveness.”
The many delegations to the presidency of the country are all emphasising the need for peace before, during, and after the elections? Can there be peace without justice? How do we pray for peace, yet do not address an ongoing war? While we have locked ourselves in fear under the guise of lockdown and our children have not gone to school, we continue to say everything is under control!
Truth is our prayers remain stunted and stultified as long as we ignore the instructions of Christ and his brother James on reconciliation before offering and confessing to each other before praying for each other.
Ironically, sometimes the elders who are called to pray for the sick are the cause of the sickness!😢
Dear friend, a healing restoring and renewed community/country hinges on confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
May we make our prayers powerful and effective by confessing our sins to each other before praying for each other.
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit, help us to confess to each other before praying for each other. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
13/09/2025.