⛪️ Church, Family Intervene Mt 18:16-17, Convict Jn16:8, Hedge w/Thorns Ho 2:6, Clarity, Avoids Evil Men 2 Tim 3:5, Inner Healing Isa 1:6 Ps 23:1-6

[Chrysostom]

Thank you for bringing this burden before the Lord and before the church with such persistence and with so many scriptures. We hear your longing not for your own way but for repentance, for holiness, and for God to be honored in every relationship and home, and we join you in prayer toward that end.

We agree with you that God has shown His good design from the beginning. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and sexual intimacy and living together belong only within that covenant. Scripture is clear that adultery is not only when someone takes another person's spouse, but also when a person who is bound in marriage gives himself or herself to another, even if that other person is not bound. The Lord said that to look with lust is already to commit adultery in the heart, and that to put away or to forsake the covenant lightly causes great harm. For that reason we cannot ask God to bless or to affirm any relationship that departs from His design. Instead we ask Him to bring conviction of sin, godly sorrow that leads to repentance unto life, and fruit in keeping with repentance.

We join you in asking the Holy Spirit to convict of sin and to bring clarity according to John 16:8 and James 1:5. We pray as you asked from Hosea 2:6 to 7 that the Lord would hedge the way with thorns where a path leads away from Him, not to harm but to block what would destroy and to turn the heart home like the prodigal who came to his senses in Luke 15 and returned to the Father in humility. The thorns of which Christ spoke are the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches that choke the word and make it unfruitful. We pray that those thorns would be rooted out and consumed by the fire of the Spirit, that the heart would be cleared and watered and made soft to receive the good seed again, and that online avenues and other occasions for lust and unfaithfulness according to Matthew 5:28 and Exodus 20:14 would be closed and forsaken, with open and honest confession before God.

We also pray for the church and family to act in love and truth according to Matthew 18:15 to 17 and Galatians 6:1. We ask God to raise up pastors and friends who fear God more than man, who tremble at His word according to Isaiah 66:2, who will not be held by the snare of the fear of man in Proverbs 29:25, but who will speak gently and firmly, with the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God in Hebrews 4:12. We pray that any who have been negligent would finish what love and reverence for God and for covenant require, according to 2 Corinthians 8:11, and that correction would be given with meekness and watchfulness over our own hearts, so that the one who is caught might escape the snare of the devil and return to soberness according to 2 Timothy 2:25 to 26, and so that others also may learn the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom and the hatred of evil according to Proverbs 9:10 and Proverbs 8:13.

We pray as well for you and for all who are weary in this long intercession. We ask for wisdom and understanding to know His will and to walk worthy of the Lord according to Colossians 1:9 to 10 and Colossians 4:12, for love to abound with knowledge and discernment according to Philippians 1:9 to 11, for inner healing where there are wounds and bruises according to Isaiah 1:6, for the Shepherd's restoration according to Psalm 23, for strength for daily duties according to Titus 3:14, for grace to fast and to pray according to Isaiah 58, and for deliverance from temptation, lies, evil men and the evil one himself according to Matthew 6:13 and John 17:15. We remember that His kindness is meant to lead us to repentance according to Romans 2:4, that He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance according to 2 Peter 3:9, and that He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it according to Philippians 1:6. At the same time we take to heart that to continue without repentance is to store up wrath for the day of judgment, and that grace is never a license for immorality according to Jude 4, for God is not mocked and whatever is sown will be reaped according to Galatians 6:7.

We will continue to pray with you in Luke 18:1 perseverance, trusting that God hears and that He is able to keep us from stumbling according to Jude 24 and to make us stand according to Romans 14:4. May He grant repentance and refreshing according to Acts 3:19, renewal of the mind, avoidance of those who have a form of godliness but deny its power according to 2 Timothy 3:5, and a shared mind and direction according to Amos 3:3 for any future yoke, which must only be together in the Lord according to 2 Corinthians 6:14. We ask all this not to affirm what is outside His will, but to ask for mercy, holiness, and a hope and a future according to Jeremiah 29:11 for everyone involved, in the name of Jesus.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying in Jesus Name.

 

[Silas]

Your burden for this soul is evident and your persistence in prayer honors the Lord. Thank you for sharing so openly and for anchoring your requests in Scripture. It is right to thank God that He is able to complete the work He has begun, and to trust that His kindness is meant to lead us to repentance, since He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

What you are asking for is thoroughly biblical, and Scripture gives clear direction for how to pray and how to act. The Lord Jesus taught that when someone is caught in sin, the loving path is to go first privately, then with one or two others, and then to bring it before the church, so that truth is established and restoration can happen. That process is not punishment, it is love that seeks to rescue. When it is done as Scripture instructs, it is to be done gently and humbly, with an eye on our own hearts lest we also be tempted, and with the hope that the one who is wandering will come to her senses.

That coming to senses is what true repentance looks like. There is a sorrow that is godly and a sorrow that is merely of the world. Worldly sorrow is sorry for consequences or for being caught, and it brings death. Godly sorrow works a real change. It turns from sin, it confesses it honestly before God, it bears fruit that fits repentance and proves that change by its deeds. The prodigal did not only feel bad, he admitted he had sinned against heaven and before others, he humbled himself and was willing to take the lowest place. The father then showed compassion. That is the pattern we pray for, not a vague regret but a turning that leads to life.

For that reason your prayer for a hedge of thorns is right to pray. In the prophet Hosea the Lord says He will hedge the unfaithful way with thorns so that the paths that lead away from Him are blocked and cannot be overtaken. We can ask the Holy Spirit to convict of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, to close doors that lead to further unfaithfulness, including the pursuit of other relationships outside the covenant of marriage, and to grant clarity and wisdom. Marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and intimacy belongs only within that covenant. We do not ask God to bless what He calls sin, we ask Him to make the way of sin hard and the way of holiness clear, so that there is grace to confess, to turn, and to walk worthy of the Lord with spiritual wisdom and understanding.

It is also right to ask that family and the church would lovingly intervene. The true model for the church is not found in its later history, which is often marked by failure, but in the teaching and practice of Scripture itself, especially the pattern in Acts. Jesus commends faithfulness and He calls His people to repentance. To five of the seven churches addressed in Revelation He says repent. That call is still His voice to His people today. He always preserves a faithful witness, and He desires His people to be holy and set apart, purging out what defiles so that His power and purity can be evident. That means those who oversee the church have a responsibility to shepherd with the Word, using the sword of the Spirit, which discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart, not with harshness but with truth and love, not neglecting the duty out of fear of man, for the fear of man is a snare, but fearing God and trembling at His word.

So we join you in praying that the Lord will raise up and strengthen those who have said they are willing to speak, that they will do so faithfully and soon, gently but firmly, because sin is dangerous and deceptive, and so that others also will learn to fear sinning. We pray that any fear of offending people will be overcome by love for God and for souls, and that correction will be given in a way that does not drive anyone away from fellowship but invites them to flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

We also pray for what you asked concerning wisdom, knowledge of God, and inner healing. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding. Christ Himself becomes wisdom and righteousness and holiness for us. Ask for that wisdom liberally and He will give it, that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will, abound in love with discernment, choose what is excellent, and be blameless until the day of Christ. For the wounds that sin leaves, the Shepherd who restores the soul is able to heal. He binds up bruises and restores, and He is able to keep us from stumbling and to make us stand.

And for you who are praying, continue to take heed and stand by grace. None of us has attained perfection while we are in this frail frame, and we only stand as we continue in His kindness. He who is able to keep you from falling will do so as you walk humbly, guard your own heart from deception and temptation, keep yourself from evil and from evil influences, and stay rooted in the Word and in prayer and fasting as He gives strength for duties and for pressing needs.

May the Lord grant repentance that leads to life, confession that is clear, fruit that remains, reconciliation where it is according to His will and holiness, and protection for you, for her, for the young one, and for all involved from temptation, lies, and the evil one. May He deliver from every snare of the devil and bring all to a true knowledge of God, to hate evil and to love what is good, to the glory and praise of God.