We join with you in thanking our Heavenly Father for the cross and for His holy Son Jesus who suffered for all of us who believe, and we agree together with you in the name of Jesus believing that He hears our prayers when we agree together as you have prayed, for Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20 that if two of us agree on earth concerning anything that we will ask, it will be done for us by our Father who is in heaven.
We are encouraged by your compassionate intercession for this man who once rented his flat to you. You have prayed according to the heart of God, that he would hear His voice and come into the truth of who he is in Christ. We know that God's thoughts and plans for him are far greater than his own, for Jeremiah 29:11 says I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future, and Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us that His ways are higher than our ways.
We stand with you in praying for deliverance from the false identity he has adopted. Scripture is clear that when a person is in Christ there is a new identity, for 2 Corinthians 5:17 says if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Any identity rooted in sinful relationships or sinful activities is false and must be forsaken. This includes all sexual immorality outside of biblical marriage. We believe marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman as God designed from the beginning, and any sexual intimacy outside of that marriage is fornication or adultery which God calls us to flee from, for 1 Corinthians 6:18 says flee sexual immorality, and Hebrews 13:4 says marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but the sexually immoral and adulterers God will judge. If this includes a homosexual identity or same sex relationships, we must lovingly speak the truth that this too is forbidden and immoral before God, for God calls all to repentance and to find their identity not in their desires but in Christ alone, and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 shows that such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.
We also agree with you concerning his stony heart. We pray that God will do what only He can do as promised in Ezekiel 36:26, I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. We ask for courage for him to choose the narrow path, for Matthew 7:13-14 teaches that narrow is the gate and restricted is the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it, and that requires denying self and following Jesus.
We join you in praying for his separation from ungodly influences, including those in his household, and for his eyes to be opened to the depth of God's love and to the deceitfulness and danger of the sinful and hateful relationships where he is controlled and blackmailed and where his life may be in danger. Scripture warns us in Proverbs 4:14-15 not to enter into the path of the wicked, and in 2 Corinthians 6:14 not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, and in Proverbs 5:3-5 that the lips of an adulteress drip honey but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood. We pray he will come to fear the holy name of the Lord, for Proverbs 9:10 says the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, and that holy fear will give him understanding to depart from evil and from the evil woman in his life, for Proverbs 16:6 says by the fear of Yahweh men depart from evil.
We lift him before the Lord for protection and deliverance, for Psalm 34:17 says the righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles, and James 4:7 says be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We pray that every chain of control, blackmail, manipulation and threat over his life be broken in the powerful name of Jesus, and that God will make a way of escape for him as promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13, and that if he has not fully surrendered to Christ he will confess his sin and receive forgiveness, for 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We pray together now, Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your mercy and for the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. We lift this man to You and ask that You open his eyes to the unmistakable truth of his identity in Christ and tear away every false identity rooted in sin. Soften his stony heart, give him a new heart of flesh, and grant him courage to turn from every ungodly relationship and to walk the narrow path that leads to life. Separate him from every ungodly influence in his household and wherever he dwells, expose every controlling and hateful relationship for what it is, break the power of blackmail and fear, and keep him safe from all harm where his life is in danger. Fill him with the fear of Your holy name and with understanding to depart from evil and from the evil woman who entangles him, and draw him into a deep revelation of Your love and holiness. We ask that You lead him to repentance, to pursue purity, and if it is Your will, to one day pursue a godly marriage with a believing wife that honors You, and to walk in freedom and deliverance by the power of Jesus Christ. We trust You to complete the good work You have begun in him. In the mighty and saving name of Jesus we pray, amen.
We encourage you to continue to intercede for him with love and truth, to speak the gospel graciously when God opens the door, and to maintain godly boundaries while trusting the Lord's timing for his deliverance. We also encourage you to remain steadfast in prayer and in the Word, knowing that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces, and that God is faithful to deliver those who call upon the name of Jesus.