Confession of Sins

Nehemiah 5:10 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest.

Here Nehemiah publicly confessed that he, his brothers and his servants were also lending money to the poor. There are different speculations from the commentators on this verse:

1. Few believe Nehemiah was also lending and exacting interest on the poor Jews

2. Few believe Nehemiah confesses on behalf of his brothers and servants who were exacting interests 

In any case, Nehemiah didn’t hesitate to confess his/his men’s sins. Being a leader, watched, criticised and followed by many,  he sets a great example by publicly confessing that he and his brothers were exacting interest and gives a call to everyone to give it up. 

Great Joy and Great Power:

Dear sisters, May be we are quick to confess our sins to the Lord, but are we confessing to the ones whom we have sinned against? The prodigal son teaches us a lesson on confession:

Luke 15:21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

This confession and repentance brought a great joy in the Heaven!

There is a great power in confessing our sins to the ones we have sin against. 

We see it in James:

James 5:16 Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

The prayer of the righteous man, who is humble enough to confess, is so powerful!! 

Testimony:

I have already shared this testimony here but was reminded again today. Few years back, I was very much badly treated by a short tempered senior colleague. She was shouting at me very often. Though I didn’t give her back and was silently bearing it, I was shouting and screaming at her in my heart. As I was harbouring these thoughts and fuming inside, I felt completely disconnected with the Lord in my prayers.

As i was struggling in prayers, I had a dream where I saw myself sitting as a lamb before that shouting senior. And suddenly I heard a fierce voice of mine shouting more louder than her,  though my mouth was closed and my face was innocent. This clearly showed me that this internal fuming on her was the reason for the disconnect with the Lord. As I confessed this bitter thoughts to the Lord, the Holy Spirit nudged me to confess it to the colleague.

I was greatly challenged to confess because I was the one getting mistreated and I shouted her only in my heart. Little I knew that my thoughts are words before the Lord!! But I couldn’t afford of losing the fellowship with the Lord for a sorry. Lord pushed me forward.. I held the hands of my colleague and said sorry for being bitter towards her in my heart. This amazed her greatly, she started coming to the prayer cell that I was conducting and started believing in Christ. She shared with her room mate and she started coming her as well & got saved.

What a miracle it is! 

That’s the power of confession of sin! 

It breaks and opens up hard hearts & a makes a way for Christ to invade! 

Praise the Lord!!

Dear sisters, may we not hesitate to confess our sins to one another. 

Nehemiah was watched by many, but still he confessed! 

May we not hesitate to confess privately or publicly, for great will be the joy in the Heaven and greater will be the power in our prayers!!