16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. (James 5:16 CSB)

Prayer can be a powerful thing. Throughout scripture we are encouraged to pray. But prayer has a prerequisite; confession.

For our prayers to be effective we must confess, repent and turn from our sins. If we continue to harbor sinful ways we cannot expect that God will turn his ear to us and act in our behalf.

This is not to say that there is anything we can do to manipulate God. No. We must confess, repent and turn from our sin. We can then come before him in our brokenness and supplication and fall upon His mercy and grace.

The beauty of God’s mercy and grace is that it is always there for us.

When we strive to live a righteous life (doing our best to recognize our sins and do them no more – no one is perfect in this), we can know that our prayers are powerful.