Skip to main content

Memory Verse With Explanation

Scripture:James 5:16 NIV‬
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

When i first read this scripture in 2021 i thought God wanted me to run off to my friends and tell them every bad thing that i did or I'd done to hurt them or someone else in my entire life.. And my! You guessed right i acted upon my puny thinking *sobs* 
I used this scripture as an excuse to vent to all and sundry, with the hope that I'd be free afterwards. I only ended up exposing what i ought to have kept a secret to people who went and ratted me out. 
I did learn,but i learnt the hard way.
Now what does James 5:16 truly mean?
What has the Holy Spirit to say about this scripture? Let's unpack this shall we?

In ancient times, the early church had a tightly knitted community where they broke bread together frequently. 
They didn't have physically erected structures called church buildings like we do today, they only had access to fellow members houses. This was were they met and held services. 
As a result of this, their circle was really small and very intimate seeing as they were in hiding most of the time, they barely had much space or edicts to endorse large gatherings lest they be considered rebels. 

They didn't have social media and cell phones or simply put technology like we do today which aids the spread of news if you know what i mean *wink*
So in their time speaking to their leaders who they believed was more experienced than they themselves was very advisable. 
As a leader one code of conduct you swear by is secrecy. Not much Leaders do it these days, If you're lucky your gist would be used as a reference for next Sunday's sermon.(If you know you know). If you're not so lucky, it stays between their circle of friends and family, or between Counselling walls. *pun intended* 
So applying this scripture the way they did in the past isn't applicable to modern times. 
How then does this apply to us?

Ever heard the term "a problem shared is a problem solved"? That's what today's verse is about.
This scripture speaks largely about Vulnerability with one another. Being able to open up about our flaws and shortcomings as regards our walk with Christ or other areas that burdens us.
As humans we can't bear all the burdens ourselves, we do need a friend or a relative with "GODLY WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING" to share our problems with.. 
Could be your spouse, your Parent, your Friend, Mentor or whoever you're sure you can trust to keep your secret safe and give good counsel if need be. 
The symbolism of prayer in the text is "WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT". It is necessary to avoid people who gaslights or flatters you should you intend putting this scripture into practice.

The Holy Spirit urges us to declutter every now and then before Him and should you need someone else to talk to, seeing as God doesn't communicate like we humans do,He is more than willing to point you to someone who you can share it with. Someone more advanced in conversing with God than you are. 
It is advisable for you to be extremely discerning about who pours into you these days, and God is here to partner with you anytime any day.
Shalom!!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Memory Verse With Explanation

Luke 7:37-38 NIV‬ [37] A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. [38] As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. If you're an ardent bible study attendee then this scripture would be very familiar to you. So familiar a scripture that even unbelievers know it. It's the story of the woman with the alabaster box. A woman who poured out more than a year's wages on the feet of Christ as a form of reverence to him, not only that, washed his feet with her tears and wiped them clean with her hair. One thing about this popular scripture is that the woman in question was a renowned prostitute,one who at her time was considered unworthy to be in the presence of noble men let alone the presence of the King of Kings. This story has been acted on stag...
Post a Comment
Read more

Memory Verse With Explanation

Galatians 4:1-2 NIV‬ [1] What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. [2] The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.  I remembered having a conversation with my dad one time during my childhood days that made everybody seated there burst into laughter.  I asked if i could get money to buy "pampers"(Sanitary Pad) seeing as my elder sisters were using one LOL!! Yeah feel free to laugh at my childishness as everyone who heard the story after that day laughed at me and called me miss pampers.  I wanted to do grown up stuff when i wasn't even at that stage yet. I hadn't started menstruating but i wanted money to buy pad that i wasn't ready for, I thought it was the coolest thing to do as girls i didn't realise i would first have to spot miss red flag before getting my own pampers. Today's scripture is no different from my childhood ta...
Post a Comment
Read more

Memory Verse With Explanation

Matthew 6:25-26 NIV‬ [25]  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? [26] Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Since i was born and now i am getting old never have i seen or heard that rats lost weight as a result of food inflation. I have never heard that wall geckos ever ran out of supplies to the point of carrying placards to protest before God. I haven't also seen where wild animals in the jungle like lions and crocodiles ate weeds. They always had their supplies undisrupted.  Animals who were created less than us have since creation been provided for how much more you and i who were made in God's image and likeness? Impatience is not what we suffer from as humans but trust issues is. We fear what...
Post a Comment
Read more