The Spirit’s Power In Confession

Satan has great power over us only to the extent that we deny our wrongdoing. When we confess our wrongdoing before God and another trusted person, however, the enemy flees and the Spirit’s power to break the shackles of the sin is enacted.

But it takes much courage to confess; to make ourselves vulnerable to the judgment, rebuke or rejection of another.

The Holy Spirit’s power is accessed and released upon true confession. This happens naturally and supernaturally.

The Natural Effects In Confession

Something wonderfully empowering occurs when we hear ourselves say the words: “I was wrong,” “I refused to forgive,” “I was so envious of her/him,” “I couldn’t control my alcohol intake,” and “Having an affair made me feel so dirty and worthless.”

But the power in saying the words is magnified when we trust someone else to hear them. Once we have spoken our hidden and shameful truths, aloud, into a safe environment, God cleanses us in the moment and through succeeding days as we reflect. The burden is no longer solely ours. God takes a good deal of that weight.

We feel the fresh breeze of confidence, that, though we ‘failed God’, we are still loved by God—and never less!

The natural effects of confession are the lightening of our burden of guilt, fear, and shame.

An additional great blessing in having confessed our sin is we much more readily face it; the full weight of our responsibility; the consequences upon us into the future. For that moment we have possession of a fearless courage to own our junk.

The Supernatural Effect In Confession

Imagine a small group accountability meeting. The beauty in such a meeting is, having shared the grips of our sins, apart from the natural support we gain, there is a supernatural blessing upon the individuals of the group as they separate and move out into the breadth of their lives.

As each individual in that group goes about their daily lives, the Holy Spirit drops ‘scenes’ into their consciousness, in random moments: the plight of someone who has confessed. Instantly this individual is, of a sense, praying. The Holy Spirit is working in mysterious ways—hardly even at a conscious level. And the power of prayer is manifested over the life of the one who confessed—without them even knowing!

The supernatural ripple effects in confession are incalculable.

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Great is our receipt of the Spirit’s power when we honestly and courageously confess our sin before God and another person or persons. There is a ripple blessing where the Spirit’s power is manifested naturally and supernaturally. Confession doesn’t weaken us, it strengthens us. It is a key in the Spirit transforming us.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.