There is power when someone confesses the name of Jesus. A number of years ago a good friend of mine took a detour from his walk with Christ. He became very distant from youth group and I sought him out and he became very defensive and said that there was nothing I could do or say that would convince him to change.
As he was walking out of my office I told him that he was right. Nothing I could tell him would change his mind but I reminded him about the power of prayer and said that I would be carving out time every day just to pray for him. It worked. Six weeks later he came back to my office and said he was ready to make a change. He was heavily involved in drugs and he had a tough road ahead of him. We prayed and fasted together and asked God for a miracle.

As we were praying one day I felt compelled to tell him to confess Jesus. I told him to start confessing Christ to those friends that were dragging back into that world. Two things happened. Many were unable to handle that name when he confessed Christ before them and they ceased being his friends. Others wanted to know more. With that confession of Christ this young man was set free of the addiction to drugs. But that's not the end of the story. Many of his friends that he confessed the name of Jesus to wanted to know more. They desired to be free too.

Today this young man just graduated from seminary and is now a pastor. God is so faithful. He's in the business of redeeming those who need redeeming. Confession of Christ, yeah, it's good for the soul!

11-12 You did it: you changed wild lament
into whirling dance;
You ripped off my black mourning band
and decked me with wildflowers.
I'm about to burst with song;
I can't keep quiet about you.
God, my God,
I can't thank you enough. Psalm 30:11-12 (message)