So admit your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you will be healed.
James 5:16
I believe as singles that we should get together to share our experiences, and to pray for each other. I also believe that as a church family on a whole we should support each other and pray for those singles who would like to be married so that God may provide for the need of a husband or wife.
There are many challenges and problems that we experience as people of faith. We are not perfect. Our lives are not perfect. Believing in God does not make any of us immune from difficulty, and in fact it often makes us a target for problems. That is why we need to speak openly about what we are going through, as singles, and as couples, as families, as younger or older people, by carrying each other’s burdens, and praying with each other, we can find healing. There is something about being vulnerable with others that can then open the door to healing.
When in a counselling situation we speak to a therapist, and open up about the problems that we are facing, it allows them to explore with us our thoughts, our feelings, our habits, reactions, triggers, and cycles of behaviour. When we can admit what is going on in our lives, we can look at it, and call it by its name, this process can help us to understand things more clearly. Sometimes we are too close to our own negative patterns to see them clearly for what they are. It may take a trusted person, or a counsellor, to help us explore, and excavate the deep recesses of our lives to clear the debris and get healing.
I believe prayer is a vital part of our healing. The individual prayer time that we have with God creates a bond with Him. It gives us an opportunity to be real and honest with Him about everything we are going through, we can open up about our true selves, and we can trust Him not to drive us away or cast us out (John 6:37). If we have sinned, and confess our sins he will forgive us (1 John 1:9). If we are discouraged he will be with us to strengthen and uplift us (Isaiah 41:10). We are reassured that “By His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), He suffered so we can get the healing we need.
When we pray for each other, we are sharing each other’s pain, we are giving support and understanding. We are carrying each other’s burdens, and taking it to Our Father who can help. This is what God wants us to do for each other. To be there for each other in time of difficulty, as well as times of Joy, is good for our mental health.