Confessing The Struggle For Healing

Confessing The Struggle For Healing

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16

Max was a longtime patient of mine, and I knew him very well. Some of his gravest sins had been committed against his own body. Unfortunately, his body was now paying him back.

Max was a smoker who never heeded my yearly urgings to quit. Eventually, he developed a chronic cough and then chronic bronchitis, followed by a diagnosis of COPD—chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Though I did everything I could to persuade him to quit, Max was determined to go his own way.

Then everything worsened. Over just a few months, Max was hospitalized multiple times for pneumonia, and each episode was more difficult. I watched the pain envelop him as he struggled to breathe.

One day, I went to Max’s room and sat down on his bed. I looked him in the eye and said, “Max, if you insist on continuing to smoke, there’s nothing I can do to keep you out of the hospital. At some point, you’ll end up in the ICU on a ventilator.”

“You’re right. But I can’t do it on my own. I need help from you and God. Otherwise, I don’t think I can do it at all.”

Tobacco is a hard habit to quit. It is very similar to morphine in that both stimulate the area of the brain associated with pleasure. I started Max on Chantix and talked about what he could do to lessen the cravings, but I knew his recovery wouldn’t be easy.

To my surprise, he quit smoking!

I think one of the reasons he was finally able to quit was because, for the first time, he decided he was going to do it, instead of just nodding in agreement during our conversation. Second, he confessed that he couldn’t do it on his own. He needed help to curb his desire and to make the necessary life changes. It has been five years since Max last smoked, and he now has a healthy outlook on the future.

On our own we are powerless over sin, but when we confess to one another, we find the power we need.

TODAY’S RX

Confess your struggles to someone who will pray for you, and pray together for God’s power.

Lord, place on my heart today the name of a person to whom I can be accountable and pray with to help me get past my struggles. Grow me as a result of this relationship, and allow me to break free of my sin.