Silas
Beloved of All
We join you in thanking God for the cross and for the suffering of His holy Son Jesus for all who believe, and we join you in prayer for this man.
God does hear the prayers of His people when they agree together according to His will, and His thoughts and plans for us are far greater than our own. Our confidence is not in the strength of our asking but in the finished work of Jesus Christ and in our standing before God in Him.
Scripture teaches that when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, the old self is crucified with Christ so that the body of sin is put out of its power. We are no longer bound to live after the flesh, but are joined to Christ and married to Him in a new covenant. That does not mean we are free to indulge the flesh. It means we are bound by a greater law, the law of love, and we are called to serve God in newness of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Those who are in Christ bear fruit unto righteousness, and that fruit is the evidence of a living relationship with Him. Jesus said if we abide in Him and His words abide in us we will bring forth much fruit.
Part of what you are praying for is exactly what the Bible describes as deliverance. There is a new law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that sets us free from the law of sin and death that once condemned us. Until a person comes to Christ that law still binds him. When we come to Christ we are delivered from the hold the world has on us. While we remain in the world, Jesus keeps us from the world, as He prayed that the Father would not take us out of the world but keep us from evil. We cannot be made righteous from the outside. Righteousness must come from within through a changed heart.
You prayed that his eyes would be opened to his true identity in Christ and to the false identity he has taken on through sinful relationships and by following his own desires. That is a right prayer. Apart from Christ a person lives according to body and consciousness alone, but in Christ God sees us in the righteousness of His Son. Our bodies are members of Christ and are meant to glorify Him. To use the body in sexual sin or in any relationship outside of God's design for marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman is to act against that holy purpose. The Bible is clear that everyone who names the name of Christ is to depart from iniquity. Real victory does not come by trying harder in our own strength, but by coming to the place of defeat in ourselves and turning everything over completely to Jesus, so that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.
You also prayed for his stony heart to be broken and softened, for courage to walk the narrow path, and for separation from ungodly influences, including those in his household, and from controlling and hateful relationships where he may be manipulated or even in danger. We agree with you in asking God to give him a fear of His holy name, which is the beginning of wisdom, and understanding to depart from evil. A stony heart can only be softened by God, and He does this as a person repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that God will remove influences that entice him away from Christ and that He will draw him away from every relationship that is sinful and destructive. We do not ask God to bless any relationship that is outside His will, but to deliver him from it and to lead him into purity and obedience.
We also pray for his safety, but even more for his soul, that he would know the depth of God's love shown in that while we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly, and that this love would draw forth a responsive love in his heart.
Continue in travailing prayer for him, as one who labors until Christ is formed in a person. That kind of prayer is earnest and patient and trusts God to do the work only He can do. Rest in the finished work of Jesus and encourage this man, as God gives opportunity, to do the same, to count his old life dead and buried with Christ and to rise to walk in newness of life after the Spirit.
Father, we thank You for Your mercy through Jesus Christ. We ask that You open this man's eyes to see who he is in Christ and to see the emptiness and bondage of the false identity and sinful relationships he has pursued. Break his stony heart, soften it by Your Spirit, and give him courage to turn from evil and to fear Your holy name. Separate him from every ungodly influence and from every controlling and destructive relationship, and keep him from harm. Bring him to repentance and faith in Jesus alone for salvation, that he may be delivered from the power of sin and from the hold of the world, and may live to glorify Christ in his body and bear fruit unto righteousness. We ask this in the powerful name of Jesus, amen.
God does hear the prayers of His people when they agree together according to His will, and His thoughts and plans for us are far greater than our own. Our confidence is not in the strength of our asking but in the finished work of Jesus Christ and in our standing before God in Him.
Scripture teaches that when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, the old self is crucified with Christ so that the body of sin is put out of its power. We are no longer bound to live after the flesh, but are joined to Christ and married to Him in a new covenant. That does not mean we are free to indulge the flesh. It means we are bound by a greater law, the law of love, and we are called to serve God in newness of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Those who are in Christ bear fruit unto righteousness, and that fruit is the evidence of a living relationship with Him. Jesus said if we abide in Him and His words abide in us we will bring forth much fruit.
Part of what you are praying for is exactly what the Bible describes as deliverance. There is a new law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that sets us free from the law of sin and death that once condemned us. Until a person comes to Christ that law still binds him. When we come to Christ we are delivered from the hold the world has on us. While we remain in the world, Jesus keeps us from the world, as He prayed that the Father would not take us out of the world but keep us from evil. We cannot be made righteous from the outside. Righteousness must come from within through a changed heart.
You prayed that his eyes would be opened to his true identity in Christ and to the false identity he has taken on through sinful relationships and by following his own desires. That is a right prayer. Apart from Christ a person lives according to body and consciousness alone, but in Christ God sees us in the righteousness of His Son. Our bodies are members of Christ and are meant to glorify Him. To use the body in sexual sin or in any relationship outside of God's design for marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman is to act against that holy purpose. The Bible is clear that everyone who names the name of Christ is to depart from iniquity. Real victory does not come by trying harder in our own strength, but by coming to the place of defeat in ourselves and turning everything over completely to Jesus, so that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.
You also prayed for his stony heart to be broken and softened, for courage to walk the narrow path, and for separation from ungodly influences, including those in his household, and from controlling and hateful relationships where he may be manipulated or even in danger. We agree with you in asking God to give him a fear of His holy name, which is the beginning of wisdom, and understanding to depart from evil. A stony heart can only be softened by God, and He does this as a person repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that God will remove influences that entice him away from Christ and that He will draw him away from every relationship that is sinful and destructive. We do not ask God to bless any relationship that is outside His will, but to deliver him from it and to lead him into purity and obedience.
We also pray for his safety, but even more for his soul, that he would know the depth of God's love shown in that while we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly, and that this love would draw forth a responsive love in his heart.
Continue in travailing prayer for him, as one who labors until Christ is formed in a person. That kind of prayer is earnest and patient and trusts God to do the work only He can do. Rest in the finished work of Jesus and encourage this man, as God gives opportunity, to do the same, to count his old life dead and buried with Christ and to rise to walk in newness of life after the Spirit.
Father, we thank You for Your mercy through Jesus Christ. We ask that You open this man's eyes to see who he is in Christ and to see the emptiness and bondage of the false identity and sinful relationships he has pursued. Break his stony heart, soften it by Your Spirit, and give him courage to turn from evil and to fear Your holy name. Separate him from every ungodly influence and from every controlling and destructive relationship, and keep him from harm. Bring him to repentance and faith in Jesus alone for salvation, that he may be delivered from the power of sin and from the hold of the world, and may live to glorify Christ in his body and bear fruit unto righteousness. We ask this in the powerful name of Jesus, amen.
