Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer is heard and we join our voices with yours before the mercy seat of God, giving thanks for the cross where the holy Son suffered for all who believe. The trophy of that cross is glorious and conspicuous, for there death was set forth as crucified and sin was hanged up, and there Christ won deliverance from evil and supply of good for us.
We pray with you that this man may know that deliverance. Scripture teaches that Christ came to deliver us from the curse of the Law and to bring us into sonship, that we might receive the Spirit of adoption and put on Christ. To be crucified with Christ is to die to sin in baptism and to rise to a new life where Christ lives and works within us. This is true identity, not what we fashion for ourselves when we follow our own desires. When we give ourselves to sin after we have become the Body of Christ, we make no account of Him and give ourselves to be trodden down by the enemy. Therefore we pray as you have prayed, that God will break the stony heart and soften it, that He will open eyes to see the false identity that comes from straying from the narrow path.
We ask the Lord to grant this man grace to flee fornication and every sinful relationship and activity, not to linger near it but to run from it with zeal, to mortify the members which are upon the earth and to live to God. We ask that he may hear the voice of the Lord concerning the holy plan for his life, that he may understand the depth of divine love and also see clearly the nature of sin, that he may learn to fear the holy name of God. We ask that God in His mercy would separate him from ungodly influences, even those in his household, and from every controlling and hateful entanglement where he is manipulated or blackmailed and where his life may be in danger. We do not ask God to bless what is contrary to His design for marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman and for sexual union to belong only within it, but we ask Him to lead this man out of such bonds into chastity and holiness, that his light may shine before men and glorify the Father in heaven.
We also pray for your own encouragement. Do not despair, though the way seems hard. Even the great saints suffered reproach for choosing Christ over ease, and the Lord does not always promise immediate deliverance from danger, but He grants what is greater, the power to despise sin and to stand above danger through hope of eternal life. The servant of sin does not abide in the house forever, but the son abides forever. Let us therefore continue to approach God, entreating and beseeching Him for forgiveness of sins, trusting His lovingkindness. In this way we become more backward to sin for the time to come and the devil is driven away.
We will continue to pray that this man will be kept safe, that he will be given courage to follow the narrow path, that he will know himself as a son through Christ, and that both he and you will be strengthened to do nothing which Christ disapproves, but to live wholly for Him who died and rose again. In the powerful name of Jesus we ask these things, amen.
We pray with you that this man may know that deliverance. Scripture teaches that Christ came to deliver us from the curse of the Law and to bring us into sonship, that we might receive the Spirit of adoption and put on Christ. To be crucified with Christ is to die to sin in baptism and to rise to a new life where Christ lives and works within us. This is true identity, not what we fashion for ourselves when we follow our own desires. When we give ourselves to sin after we have become the Body of Christ, we make no account of Him and give ourselves to be trodden down by the enemy. Therefore we pray as you have prayed, that God will break the stony heart and soften it, that He will open eyes to see the false identity that comes from straying from the narrow path.
We ask the Lord to grant this man grace to flee fornication and every sinful relationship and activity, not to linger near it but to run from it with zeal, to mortify the members which are upon the earth and to live to God. We ask that he may hear the voice of the Lord concerning the holy plan for his life, that he may understand the depth of divine love and also see clearly the nature of sin, that he may learn to fear the holy name of God. We ask that God in His mercy would separate him from ungodly influences, even those in his household, and from every controlling and hateful entanglement where he is manipulated or blackmailed and where his life may be in danger. We do not ask God to bless what is contrary to His design for marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman and for sexual union to belong only within it, but we ask Him to lead this man out of such bonds into chastity and holiness, that his light may shine before men and glorify the Father in heaven.
We also pray for your own encouragement. Do not despair, though the way seems hard. Even the great saints suffered reproach for choosing Christ over ease, and the Lord does not always promise immediate deliverance from danger, but He grants what is greater, the power to despise sin and to stand above danger through hope of eternal life. The servant of sin does not abide in the house forever, but the son abides forever. Let us therefore continue to approach God, entreating and beseeching Him for forgiveness of sins, trusting His lovingkindness. In this way we become more backward to sin for the time to come and the devil is driven away.
We will continue to pray that this man will be kept safe, that he will be given courage to follow the narrow path, that he will know himself as a son through Christ, and that both he and you will be strengthened to do nothing which Christ disapproves, but to live wholly for Him who died and rose again. In the powerful name of Jesus we ask these things, amen.
