🙇🏻 Grace to Draw Near through Jesus Our Sympathetic High Priest, Heb 4:15, Receive Mercy and Grace for Help in Need, Heb 4:16, Comfort, 2 Cor 1:3..

[Nochaeld]

Grace to Draw Near through Jesus Our Sympathetic High Priest, Heb 4:15, Receive Mercy and Grace for Help in Need, Heb 4:16, Comfort, 2 Cor 1:3. Grace to Fast Not a "Trumpet Blast" but a Confession of Utter Inability and Weakness, 2 Cor 12:9...

Father, thank You Jesus suffered in all areas as we do, yet without sin, and is a merciful High-Priest who can sympathize with us, Heb 4:15. Give us grace to draw near with CONFIDENCE to the Throne of grace to receive mercy and find GRACE for HELP in time of NEED, Heb 4:16. Thank You that it has been given us not only to believe in Christ but to suffer for His sake, Phil 1:29. God of all comfort, comfort us in my affliction, 2 Cor 1:3, so we might comfort others 2 Cor 1:4. I believe it is necessary for future glory, Rom 8:18, I need more endurance and control over my spirit and am being taught a lesson I am unable at present to bear, 2 Cor 1:8, that I might not trust myself but You who raise the dead, 2 Cor 1:9.

Please give Your angels charge over me, the one who committed to me in solemn matrimonial ceremony officially before You and others, to myself again, since matrimonial co-covenanter is heart-breaking -- pictures don't lie and silence speaks volumes, to our pastors and all of you our prayer partners (including all their and your families and church mates), Ps 91:9, Ps 91:10, Ps 91:11, Ps 91:12, Ps 91:13, Ps 91:14, Ps 91:15, Ps 91:16. Sanctify us in the Truth, Your Word is Truth, John 17:17. May we clearly hear Your voice, John 10:27, being constantly LED by The Holy Spirit (since we received Jesus and He gave the right to be called Children of God, Jn 1:12), as many as are LED by the Holy Spirit they are the Children of God, Rom 8:14, and MOSTLY obeying Your Scripture and HEARING Your voice, even if it's difficult or costs us something, Gen 22:16-18; 2 Sam 24:24. Keep us all from all sin, Zeph 3:13, temptation, evil, evil people and the evil one, Luke 11:4, Matt 6:13, 2 Thes 3:2-3, John 17:15 -- keep deception and lies far from us, Prov 30:8.

Again, allow trials to draw me (and our readers, prayer and financial partners, families, friends, enemies, children and estranged wives or loved ones) CLOSE to You in prayer, James 5:13 and trials, Acts 16:25. Help us read, memorize and apply The Bible, Ps 119:11, with understanding, Lk 24:45, and application, James 1:21-22. Help me worship like Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, Acts 16:25. Help us fast the fast You have chosen, to loose bondages, set the oppressed free and restore righteous dwellings and covenantal relationships, Isa 58:6-12, and be of greater glory for Your Eternal Kingdom both NOW and in the AGE to COME, Eph 1:21, 2 Cor 1:22. Thank You in Jesus' Name.

 

[Articles]

We join with you in this deep and beautiful cry for grace to draw near through Jesus our sympathetic High Priest, and we thank God for your heart that desires not a trumpet blast but a confession of utter inability and weakness.

We love how you have anchored your prayer in the Word, for we know that we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin, Heb 4:15. Because of this truth we can together with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need, Heb 4:16. Your prayer honors Christ as the only way to the Father, for Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me, John 14:6, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved, Acts 4:12. We praise God that you have come in that precious name.

We also hear the weight of affliction in your words and the heartbreak concerning your matrimonial covenant. We want to affirm with you the sanctity of marriage as God ordained it, a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman before God and witnesses. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate, Mark 10:9, and marriage is to be held in honor among all, Heb 13:4. When pictures and silence speak volumes and an estranged wife or loved one seems far off, the pain is real and deep. We do not take lightly the sorrow of a covenant strained, and we pray with you for restoration, healing, and truth to prevail, and for grace to love as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it, Eph 5:25. If there has been sin or distance on either side, we pray for godly repentance and reconciliation according to God's will, for the Lord hates divorce and desires faithfulness, Mal 2:16, and yet He is merciful to forgive and to restore.

Your confession that this suffering is teaching you not to trust in yourself but in God who raises the dead is profoundly biblical. You quoted that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life, 2 Cor 1:8, but we had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, 2 Cor 1:9. We pray with you that in this weakness His grace will be sufficient, for He has said My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness, 2 Cor 12:9. We agree that these present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us, Rom 8:18, and that it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for His sake, Phil 1:29.

We join you in praying for the comfort of the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God, 2 Cor 1:3-4. We ask that trials would indeed draw you and all those you mentioned, readers, prayer and financial partners, families, friends, even enemies, children and estranged wives and loved ones, close to Him in prayer, and that you would be able to worship like Paul and Silas who were praying and singing hymns to God at midnight, Acts 16:25.

We pray together for protection and sanctification. Father, we ask that You give Your angels charge over each one, for he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty, Ps 91:1, and You will give Your angels charge over him, to guard him in all his ways, Ps 91:11. We ask that no evil shall happen to those who take refuge in You, Ps 91:10, and that You would sanctify us all in the truth, Your word is truth, John 17:17. Help us to hear the Shepherd's voice, for Your sheep hear Your voice, John 10:27, and as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God, Rom 8:14. Give us grace to obey even when it costs, and to keep deception and lies far from us, Prov 30:8, and to be delivered from temptation and the evil one, Matt 6:13, and kept from evil, John 17:15, for the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one, 2 Thess 3:3.

We pray also for a true fast, not for show, but as You have chosen, to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, Isa 58:6, so that our light would break forth and our healing spring forth speedily and You would restore righteous dwellings and covenantal relationships, Isa 58:8-12. Teach us to hide Your word in our hearts that we might not sin against You, Ps 119:11, open our minds to understand the Scriptures, Luke 24:45, and help us to be doers of the word and not hearers only, James 1:22.

Father, we lift this dear one, his marriage covenant, his pastors, families, and all prayer partners before Your throne of grace today. Grant endurance and control over the spirit, for he who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city, Prov 16:32. Give confidence to draw near, mercy for failure, grace for help, and comfort that overflows to others. Restore what is broken if it be Your will, guard all from sin and the schemes of the enemy, and make this season of weakness a testimony of Your power and of greater glory for Your eternal Kingdom both now and in the age to come, Eph 1:21. We ask all these things with thanksgiving in the mighty and merciful name of Jesus Christ our High Priest, Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for sharing so openly with us. We hear the ache in your words, especially the heartbreak over your marriage covenant and the silence that feels so loud right now, and also your deep desire to draw near to Jesus for mercy and help when you feel you cannot carry this on your own.

It makes sense that you feel stretched beyond what you can bear. That very place of weakness is often where we learn in a new way not to lean on our own strength but on the One who is steady and able to lift us. Your hunger to keep worshipping, to stay in the Word, and to listen for His leading even when it costs you is a faithful path forward, and we want to encourage you to keep it simple and steady.

One gentle next step that may help is to keep a brief daily rhythm of drawing near just as you described, perhaps a short time of prayer and reading and a moment of worship like you mentioned, and to let one trusted pastor know how you are doing week by week so you are not carrying this alone.

Father, we lift this brother to You, and his spouse and their pastors and families. Cover them with Your care, guard their hearts, give them wisdom and endurance for today, and draw each one closer to Yourself. Comfort him in his affliction and guide his steps as he seeks to follow You. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

We have heard your prayer and we join you at the throne of grace to which you have been bidden to draw near with confidence. You have done well to fix your eye upon Jesus our sympathetic High Priest who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, Heb 4:15. He knows the bitterness of affliction and the weight of sorrow, and therefore you may come boldly to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need, Heb 4:16. It is not presumption but obedience to come, for His grace is sufficient for you, and His strength is made perfect in weakness, 2 Cor 12:9, not with a trumpet blast before men but with a confession of utter inability before God.

Your affliction you rightly call my affliction, for it lies close upon your own heart, and it has brought you low so that you feel you cannot bear it and must not trust in yourself but in God who raises the dead, 2 Cor 1:8,9. This is the mission of affliction. It is a rough knife with which the Gardener prunes you, but it is your Father's hand that holds it, and He designs it for your good. Do not look so much at the affliction as at the end and design of God. You have said with David, It may be that the Lord will look upon my affliction, and so indeed He does, with pity and with purpose to repay with good. And we are taught that our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 2 Cor 4:17. The bark may be bitter as gall, but the pith is sweet as honey when affliction is sanctified, and it leads to glory, Rom 8:18. You have been given not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake, Phil 1:29, and that suffering shall not be wasted if it teaches you endurance and a greater control of spirit under His hand.

Here is your peculiar comfort in affliction, that which belongs to believers alone. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your Word has quickened me, Ps 119:50. The worldling has his purse or his pleasure and says, This is my comfort, but your comfort is the Word of God applied by the Spirit. It is not the letter alone but the Spirit who quickens. Unless Your law had been my delights, I should then have perished in my affliction, Ps 119:92. Therefore cling to that Word. Read it, memorize it, hide it in your heart that you might not sin against Him, Ps 119:11, and pray for understanding that the Lord may open your eyes as He did for His disciples, Lk 24:45, and for grace to be not hearers only but doers, James 1:21,22. There is comfort laid up for you there which no other can give, for when God says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, Isa 40:1, He Himself comforts to purpose and then makes His people comforters of one another, that you being comforted of God, the God of all comfort, 2 Cor 1:3, may comfort others in their tribulation, 2 Cor 1:4.

We pray with you and for you, and for the one who entered covenant with you in solemn matrimony before God and witnesses, and for yourselves again, and for your pastors and all our prayer partners with their families and churches, and for all who are joined to you in this burden including children and those estranged by sin and sorrow. We ask the Lord to give His angels charge over you and keep you in all your ways, Ps 91:11, not that you should be spared all trial, but that you should be kept from falling and be preserved unto His eternal kingdom. We pray that He would sanctify you all in the truth, for His Word is truth, John 17:17, and that you may clearly hear the Shepherd's voice and follow Him, John 10:27, being led by the Holy Spirit as sons of God, Rom 8:14, to whom power is given to become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone, John 1:12, for there is no other name by which we must be saved. We pray that you may obey His Scripture even when it is difficult and costs you much, as Abraham obeyed and as David would not offer that which cost him nothing, Gen 22:16-18, 2 Sam 24:24, holding fast the historic and holy estate of marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, where alone the Lord has placed the gift of union, and abhorring all that would defile it. Keep you all, we pray, from sin, Zeph 3:13, and from temptation and evil and the evil one, Matt 6:13, Luke 11:4, John 17:15, and from evil men, 2 Thess 3:2,3, and remove far from you vanity and lies, Prov 30:8.

May your trials draw you close to Him in prayer, as James exhorts the afflicted to pray, James 5:13, and as Paul and Silas sang praises at midnight in the prison, Acts 16:25. So worship on, though the night be dark. And may your fasting be that which the Lord has chosen, not for show but to loose the bonds of wickedness, to set the oppressed free, and to restore righteous dwellings and covenant relationships, Isa 58:6-12, for His glory both now and in the age to come, Eph 1:21. He who has sealed you with the Spirit, 2 Cor 1:22, will establish you and comfort your hearts in every good word and work, 2 Thess 2:16,17, for comfort alone is not enough without constancy, and constancy cannot stand without comfort, and both are in Christ.

We commend you to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory. May He grant you mercy and grace for this present need, and may the comfort wherewith you are comforted abound to many, in Jesus' name.