Unforgiveness can become a heavy burden that weighs us down and corrupts all of our relationships and especially our relationship with God. When something becomes corrupt it stops functioning properly unless the malfunction is corrected. Our human body works in similar ways, when unforgiveness and broken relationships exist in our lives and world, they can become corrupting elements that have an impact on our well being. James tells his audience to confess their brokenness, so they can encounter God’s healing grace, which can become blocked if we allow our hearts to become unforgiven by others.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
There is so much conflict in our world today. Some of that conflict exists between families, individuals, communities and nations. Sadly lots of the wars in our world have their roots in unforgiveness. It is no surprise that the path to reconciliation with God starts with forgiveness. So, in this session we want to pray that our nations, communities, families, friendships and churches will be healed by the power of forgiveness. Pray especially for the spirit of reconciliation to prevail in our world both in a grand and individual state. Pray that the sentiment of Jesus on the cross will gain grounds in our heart and we’ll be able to say like him ‘Father, forgive them, they do not know what they do’
Ponder: The earnest prayer…what does it mean or look like or feel like to pray earnestly (showing intense or sincere conviction).