FBCD_FaithEssentials_June_FlipBook

Todd Gaddis

 Confession should be carried out swiftly and specifically.  Confession must be followed up with repentance and renewal.  Confession can be prompted by a prayer for God's illumination . In 1884, Grover Cleveland ran against James G. Blaine for U. S. President. During the campaign, Blaine supporters discovered that Cleveland, a bachelor at the time, fathered a child by Mrs. Maria Crofts Halpin, an attractive widow who had been on friendly terms with numerous politicians. To capitalize on the situation, they tried to pin an immorality tag on Cleveland by distributing flyers showing an infant titled, “One more vote for Cleveland” and by having crowds chant, “Ma, ma, where’s my pa? Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!” The move backfired badly when Cleveland chose to tell the truth and admit to the scandal. His confession diffused the issue and he eventually won the race. 5 Coming clean before God is never a bad idea. As the Bible says, “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion” (Proverbs 28:13). Carefully include acknowledgement and confession before moving into the next key component, praying on behalf of people and circumstances. The Scriptural term for such praying is intercession, which typically means intervening for others and situations. I’d like to simplify the topic by zeroing in on these two challenges. Focus first on the matters of spirituality and eternity— Most of the praying that takes place in our churches centers on temporal, mostly health related issues. As someone once quipped, “We pray more to keep saints out of heaven than sinners out of hell.”

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