Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16 (NIV)
Great Power
Gwynne Dyer’s book, Canada in the Great Power Game 1914-2014 is a serious contemplation of what it means to engage in major world conflicts, and the price we pay when we do. The First World War was Canada’s baptism of fire, or at least the only one that people now remember. From 1914 to 1918, after a century of peace, Canadians were plunged back into the old world of great power rivalries and great wars. So was everybody else, but Canadians were volunteers.
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It has been said that with great power, comes great responsibility. There are those with great power: many leaders-for-life in countries around the world rule with an iron fist and people lose their freedom. That would make the other phrase about great power also true: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That’s the way it is in the kingdoms of this world. As usual, the Kingdom of God turns everything on its head. James 5:16 says “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” In the Kingdom of God, great power is found in the prayers of a righteous person. Prayer is a sign of humility – it signifies our recognition that there are many things we can’t do on our own. When we recognize our need – when we confess our sins, when we pray for others, when we seek the Lord for healing, the power of the Kingdom of God is unleashed. When we recognize our need for Jesus, even our prayers become powerful and effective.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley