Tell God About It - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - July 4, 2024
Tell God About It
By Rick Warren
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16 (NIV)
We all respond to hidden wounds in different ways. Some people act out. Other people get angry all the time. Others self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. Still others try to escape the pain by moving from relationship to relationship.
Yet the worst possible response to hidden wounds in your life is to just clam up. It’s like taking a soda bottle and shaking it up. One day, you’ll just pop!
You’ll never get over your hidden wounds until you face your feelings straight on by talking to God about them.
Bottling up your hidden wounds will wear you out. The Bible says, “When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long” (Psalm 32:3 NCV).
If you use up your emotional energy on the past, you’ll have little left for today. When you spend so much time on regret and resentment—thinking about how you’ll get even with people who have hurt you—you run out of energy for what matters in the here and now.
God has an answer for your pain: confession. You’ve got to admit your pain. Everything else is just a fruitless attempt to forget what ails you. You need to admit your pain to:
God
Yourself
One other person you trust
Many people want to move past their pain by admitting it to God and themselves and skipping the third part of the equation. Good luck! It’ll never work.
Admitting your pain to others is absolutely essential. You won’t get well on your own. James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (NIV).
You don’t need to confess to a pastor, a priest, or a therapist to obey James 5:16 (though you can). You just need a friend.
Open up about your hidden pain to that person. Tell them what hurts. As you confess to that person, to God, and to yourself, you just might find that long-lost energy you’ve been dreaming about.
Because revealing is the beginning of healing.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!

Let God’s Word Encourage You through Every High and Low
The Life’s Healing Choices Scripture Box and 52 Scripture Cards offer inspiring biblical truth to uplift you and help you trust in God’s promises through every high and low.
A perfect tool to deepen your faith, these specially selected Scripture Cards will fill your day with God’s truth, one uplifting verse at a time.
The Scripture Box and Scripture Cards are our thanks for your gift below to help share the hope of Jesus Christ with people around the world—so request yours when you give today.
Thank you for your partnership!
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.
This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.