Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus. Welcome as we study the Word of God. The Bible says in James 5:16: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” This means that when we intercede for one another, an additional grace descends upon us… (God releases healing). When we plead with the Lord to have mercy on us and on others, we open a wide channel through which the one we are praying for can be healed—and we ourselves also receive healing, while a multitude of sins is covered. “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”James 5:20 (KJV) Let us reflect on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.As many of us know, before God rained fire from heaven to destroy those cities, He first revealed His intentions to Abraham. And we know what Abraham did… Even though he knew that Sodom and Gomorrah were morally decayed, he did not accuse them before God. Instead, he sought a way to rescue them from God’s wrath. He began by asking God whether He would still destroy the righteous along with the wicked if fifty righteous people were found. And as we know, the Lord replied that if He found fifty righteous ones, He would not destroy the cities. Abraham continued to intercede, reducing the number until it reached ten. Yet God’s response remained the same: if there were ten righteous people, the cities would be spared. Genesis 18:23-3323 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?…32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.33 And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place. But we see that Abraham stopped at the number ten. Now ask yourself: what if he had gone lower, maybe to five—or even one? Perhaps those cities would still be standing today. Because within those cities, there was one righteous man—Lot. But because Abraham didn’t know this, he assumed that surely there must be at least ten righteous people. He believed that, without doubt, there would be at least a few thousand righteous. So he left God’s presence in peace, thinking he had succeeded in saving Sodom and Gomorrah through his intercession. However, he didn’t know that only one righteous man remained—his nephew Lot. Then in the morning, Abraham rose and saw thick smoke rising from the east—this deeply grieved him. Had Abraham known there was only one righteous man in the whole region, he would not have stopped pleading. He would not have ended at ten; he would have pleaded down to one person and would have spoken to God on behalf of that one righteous man—so that the entire city might be spared. A solution would have been found right there. What we learn from this is that we must pray for one another deeply, not superficially! We shouldn’t assume that things are fine with our brothers and sisters, with our community, or even with our nation. Things are not as peaceful as we think. So if we don’t engage in deep intercession—crying out for mercy and grace—destruction may come upon us and our brethren suddenly. James 5:16“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Job was a righteous man, yet he never stopped interceding for his children. In the same way, we as the Church of Christ must pray for one another—sometimes even mentioning names—so that God not only heals us but extends mercy to entire communities. May the Lord bless us and help us