Silas
Beloved of All
Your continued prayer shows a heart that wants God to be honored and a person you care about to be restored, and that is right to bring before the Lord. The Scriptures you have been praying are the right ones to keep before Him, and He hears persistent prayer offered in faith.
God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance, and He is patient because He does not want anyone to perish but wants all to come to repentance. At the same time Scripture is clear that there is wrath and distress for every soul that persists in doing evil. That tension is why your prayers for warning and intervention are appropriate. Through the prophets and through His Word today God goes out of His way to warn people to turn, so that they might escape the snare of the devil where they are held captive to do his will, and so that others who see will learn to fear sinning.
When you pray for a hedge of thorns as in Hosea, you are asking for a loving restraint. In that passage God blocks the way toward lovers who represent idolatry, so the one who is wandering cannot overtake them and is turned back to consider her true home. That is what you saw in the prodigal who came to his senses, admitted he had sinned against heaven and before others, humbled himself and was willing to take the lowest place. That kind of turning is what God looks for. There is a sorrow that is merely worldly and brings death, and there is a godly sorrow that works repentance. True repentance always brings a change. It is not only feeling sorry or hinting at wrong, but confessing sin plainly and forsaking it, whether it is adultery of the heart or of the body, and walking in a new direction. Without that change there is no evidence of new life.
For that reason the work of conviction belongs to the Holy Spirit. You can ask Him to do what only He can do, to bring deep conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment, and to grant clarity and wisdom. James promises wisdom to those who ask, and Paul prays that believers be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so they may walk worthy of the Lord and stand assured in all His will. Love abounding with knowledge and discernment helps us choose what is excellent and be blameless. That clarity is also needed to recognize and turn away from evil men and imposters who may appear religious but deny the power of godliness. Scripture tells us to avoid such people.
The pattern Jesus gave for help when someone is caught in sin is first to go privately for the sake of restoration, then to take one or two others so the matter may be established, and then to bring it to the gathered believers. The first thought in every step is restoration, not punishment. When done rightly it is gentle and humble, with an eye on ourselves lest we also be tempted, and yet it is firm because sin is dangerous. The purpose of a loving rebuke and even of separation from fellowship, when it comes to that, is that the person would feel the seriousness of being alienated from the life of Christ in His body and be moved to repent. It is to be done not with negligence but with reverence for God and His covenant and with zeal, using the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. It should also be done in a way that does not drive the person away from hearing the Word, but encourages fleeing youthful desires and pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
You are right to ask that those who shepherd do so willingly and under the Holy Spirit's filling, and that family and friends would fear God more than they fear man. The fear of man is a snare, but God looks to the one who trembles at His Word. When leaders honor God above personal ties, they can speak truthfully and lovingly. You have thanked God for those who have said they are willing to bring the Word into this situation. Continue to pray that they will finish what they have purposed to do, gently and firmly, and that God would raise up messengers even from unexpected places if needed to get through.
You also pray for inner healing, and Scripture gives that picture. Our wounds can be like unbound bruises and sores, but the Lord as Shepherd makes us lie down, restores the soul and leads in paths of righteousness. Healing comes as we walk with Him and are made whole from within.
In all of this keep a biblical ethic clear before the Lord. He saves through Jesus Christ alone, and He has ordained marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, with sexual union and living together belonging only within that covenant. We cannot ask God to bless what He calls sin, including adultery or being unequally yoked with an unbeliever. Two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, and the law itself pictured not yoking together what is unequal. If God makes a person holy and gives new birth, we do not call unclean what He has cleansed, but that holiness will show itself in a shared vision, a willingness to support a calling, to receive counsel and to walk in purity. Until there is that evidence of being born again and truly repentant, patience must not be mistaken for permission to continue.
So keep praying as you have, with thanksgiving that God is not finished and will complete the work He has begun, trusting His promise to give a hope and a future to those who turn to Him. Ask for the hedge that blocks every path toward sin, whether online or in person, for confession and forsaking of sin, for deliverance from temptation, lies, evil and the evil one, and for protection for yourself, for the young one you mentioned and for all involved. Ask that God would keep you all from sin and fill you with the fruits of righteousness to His glory. Pray persistently as Jesus taught, believing you have received according to His will, and leave the outcome and the timing in His hands, as you said, who knows what God will do next.
May the Lord grant you steadiness, gentleness, and spiritual understanding as you wait on Him, and may He bring the repentance that leads to life where there is now wandering.
God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance, and He is patient because He does not want anyone to perish but wants all to come to repentance. At the same time Scripture is clear that there is wrath and distress for every soul that persists in doing evil. That tension is why your prayers for warning and intervention are appropriate. Through the prophets and through His Word today God goes out of His way to warn people to turn, so that they might escape the snare of the devil where they are held captive to do his will, and so that others who see will learn to fear sinning.
When you pray for a hedge of thorns as in Hosea, you are asking for a loving restraint. In that passage God blocks the way toward lovers who represent idolatry, so the one who is wandering cannot overtake them and is turned back to consider her true home. That is what you saw in the prodigal who came to his senses, admitted he had sinned against heaven and before others, humbled himself and was willing to take the lowest place. That kind of turning is what God looks for. There is a sorrow that is merely worldly and brings death, and there is a godly sorrow that works repentance. True repentance always brings a change. It is not only feeling sorry or hinting at wrong, but confessing sin plainly and forsaking it, whether it is adultery of the heart or of the body, and walking in a new direction. Without that change there is no evidence of new life.
For that reason the work of conviction belongs to the Holy Spirit. You can ask Him to do what only He can do, to bring deep conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment, and to grant clarity and wisdom. James promises wisdom to those who ask, and Paul prays that believers be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so they may walk worthy of the Lord and stand assured in all His will. Love abounding with knowledge and discernment helps us choose what is excellent and be blameless. That clarity is also needed to recognize and turn away from evil men and imposters who may appear religious but deny the power of godliness. Scripture tells us to avoid such people.
The pattern Jesus gave for help when someone is caught in sin is first to go privately for the sake of restoration, then to take one or two others so the matter may be established, and then to bring it to the gathered believers. The first thought in every step is restoration, not punishment. When done rightly it is gentle and humble, with an eye on ourselves lest we also be tempted, and yet it is firm because sin is dangerous. The purpose of a loving rebuke and even of separation from fellowship, when it comes to that, is that the person would feel the seriousness of being alienated from the life of Christ in His body and be moved to repent. It is to be done not with negligence but with reverence for God and His covenant and with zeal, using the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. It should also be done in a way that does not drive the person away from hearing the Word, but encourages fleeing youthful desires and pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
You are right to ask that those who shepherd do so willingly and under the Holy Spirit's filling, and that family and friends would fear God more than they fear man. The fear of man is a snare, but God looks to the one who trembles at His Word. When leaders honor God above personal ties, they can speak truthfully and lovingly. You have thanked God for those who have said they are willing to bring the Word into this situation. Continue to pray that they will finish what they have purposed to do, gently and firmly, and that God would raise up messengers even from unexpected places if needed to get through.
You also pray for inner healing, and Scripture gives that picture. Our wounds can be like unbound bruises and sores, but the Lord as Shepherd makes us lie down, restores the soul and leads in paths of righteousness. Healing comes as we walk with Him and are made whole from within.
In all of this keep a biblical ethic clear before the Lord. He saves through Jesus Christ alone, and He has ordained marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, with sexual union and living together belonging only within that covenant. We cannot ask God to bless what He calls sin, including adultery or being unequally yoked with an unbeliever. Two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, and the law itself pictured not yoking together what is unequal. If God makes a person holy and gives new birth, we do not call unclean what He has cleansed, but that holiness will show itself in a shared vision, a willingness to support a calling, to receive counsel and to walk in purity. Until there is that evidence of being born again and truly repentant, patience must not be mistaken for permission to continue.
So keep praying as you have, with thanksgiving that God is not finished and will complete the work He has begun, trusting His promise to give a hope and a future to those who turn to Him. Ask for the hedge that blocks every path toward sin, whether online or in person, for confession and forsaking of sin, for deliverance from temptation, lies, evil and the evil one, and for protection for yourself, for the young one you mentioned and for all involved. Ask that God would keep you all from sin and fill you with the fruits of righteousness to His glory. Pray persistently as Jesus taught, believing you have received according to His will, and leave the outcome and the timing in His hands, as you said, who knows what God will do next.
May the Lord grant you steadiness, gentleness, and spiritual understanding as you wait on Him, and may He bring the repentance that leads to life where there is now wandering.
