¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he will pray and ask [on the believer’s behalf] and God will for him give life to those whose sin is not leading to death. There is a sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for this [kind of sin]. ¹⁷ All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death [one can repent of it and be forgiven]. 1 John 5:16-17 [AMP]

This section of scripture really caught my attention this morning. I have read this many times in the past and it didn’t really take hold until today. Think of the responsibility we have as believers to LOVE fellow believers. 2 John 1:5-6 goes on to say, “…love and unselfishly seek the best for one another. And this is love: that we walk in accordance with His commandments and are guided continually by His precepts. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should [always] walk in love.”

Keep in mind the context of 1 John 5; the verses prior to these talk about a believers faith that if we ask anything according to His will, God, indeed, hears us. Also, remember the warning about being double-minded – those folks shouldn’t expect to receive anything:

James 1:6-8, “…But he must ask in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind. For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything [at all] from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides].“

Provided that the person we pray for is not bound in willing, habitual sin, and the person is penitent, couldn’t all believers then have confidence when telling another believer, “The Lord has freed you from your sins…”? Why, then, is there so much heartburn regarding a Catholic priest giving the rite of Absolution – “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.”

Please pray for wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit regarding your prayers for sins. Above all, please make yourself ever available to Almighty God so that His Grace can be readily available to everyone you meet.