Silas
Beloved of All
There is a sincere hunger in your prayer to hear God and to stay close to Him, and that desire itself is good. To abide in Christ and to let His words abide in you, to abide in His love, is the place where guidance grows. His Word is a lamp for your feet and a light for your path, and it is the measure for everything else. The Scriptures were given by inspiration as holy men were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they do not return empty but accomplish what God intends. When that Word is received with an open heart it plants faith and does its work in us by the Spirit.
That is why any other leading, counsel, dream, vision, prophecy, or impression must be tested by the law and the testimony. Many things can claim to be the voice of God, but the true voice of the Spirit always exalts Jesus and draws us to Him. Jesus said the Scriptures testify of Him, yet we must come to Him to have life. One person can hear the Word with power while another hears the same Word and finds it dull, though both have ears. The difference is whether we are hearing as His sheep and responding. Jesus said His sheep hear His voice and follow Him, and they will not follow a stranger. Hearing is not enough without following.
Your burden for a husband, a wayward wife, children and family is deeply felt, and prayer for them is right. The purpose of prayer is to seek that God's will be done on earth. We are taught to ask according to His will, and to love from a pure heart and a sincere faith and a clear conscience. That kind of love is often impossible in our own strength, and it is right to pray, Lord, You require me to love, but I cannot do it on my own, work Your love in me and perfect it in me. The life God gives us in His Son is a life of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and that life shows itself in love for God and love for one another.
God's ideal for marriage from the beginning is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman. Vows are meant to be kept for life. Because of hardness of heart there was provision under the law for divorce, but that was never His perfect desire. When a breach comes because one believes and the other does not, Scripture teaches that if the unbelieving one is not willing to remain, the believing one is not under bondage in such a case. Yet the heart of God is restoration. As Hosea was told to seek his broken wife and bring her back and restore her, so God speaks of restoring Israel as His own. He is able to restore what is broken, and He desires reconciliation where repentance and faithfulness are present. He will not force anyone to be saved or to walk with Him. He does not make us miserable by compulsion. Each person chooses, but His invitation remains and His arm is not shortened that He cannot save.
God has spoken in many ways in the past, in dreams and visions to both those who knew Him and those who did not, to warn, to turn people from wrongdoing and from pride, and to preserve them. He still leads those who are led by the Spirit, and He still gives divine appointments and godly counsel. At the same time, the ordinary and most certain way He speaks today is through His written Word applied by the Spirit, through faithful preaching that lifts up Christ, and through the quiet leading that aligns with that Word. Anything that contradicts or questions what He has already said is not His voice.
Continue to bring these loved ones before Him, asking for His will above all. Pray that His Word would have its full effect in each heart, that eyes would be opened, that each one would hear the Shepherd's voice and follow, and that whatever is not of Him would be exposed and turned from. Ask Him to keep you and your household from temptation and evil and deception, and to guard you by His peace that passes understanding as you make your requests known with thanksgiving. Trust that your times are in His hands and that He will sustain you as you seek to fulfill His purpose, growing in the knowledge of His love and grace and walking in the Spirit day by day.
That is why any other leading, counsel, dream, vision, prophecy, or impression must be tested by the law and the testimony. Many things can claim to be the voice of God, but the true voice of the Spirit always exalts Jesus and draws us to Him. Jesus said the Scriptures testify of Him, yet we must come to Him to have life. One person can hear the Word with power while another hears the same Word and finds it dull, though both have ears. The difference is whether we are hearing as His sheep and responding. Jesus said His sheep hear His voice and follow Him, and they will not follow a stranger. Hearing is not enough without following.
Your burden for a husband, a wayward wife, children and family is deeply felt, and prayer for them is right. The purpose of prayer is to seek that God's will be done on earth. We are taught to ask according to His will, and to love from a pure heart and a sincere faith and a clear conscience. That kind of love is often impossible in our own strength, and it is right to pray, Lord, You require me to love, but I cannot do it on my own, work Your love in me and perfect it in me. The life God gives us in His Son is a life of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and that life shows itself in love for God and love for one another.
God's ideal for marriage from the beginning is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman. Vows are meant to be kept for life. Because of hardness of heart there was provision under the law for divorce, but that was never His perfect desire. When a breach comes because one believes and the other does not, Scripture teaches that if the unbelieving one is not willing to remain, the believing one is not under bondage in such a case. Yet the heart of God is restoration. As Hosea was told to seek his broken wife and bring her back and restore her, so God speaks of restoring Israel as His own. He is able to restore what is broken, and He desires reconciliation where repentance and faithfulness are present. He will not force anyone to be saved or to walk with Him. He does not make us miserable by compulsion. Each person chooses, but His invitation remains and His arm is not shortened that He cannot save.
God has spoken in many ways in the past, in dreams and visions to both those who knew Him and those who did not, to warn, to turn people from wrongdoing and from pride, and to preserve them. He still leads those who are led by the Spirit, and He still gives divine appointments and godly counsel. At the same time, the ordinary and most certain way He speaks today is through His written Word applied by the Spirit, through faithful preaching that lifts up Christ, and through the quiet leading that aligns with that Word. Anything that contradicts or questions what He has already said is not His voice.
Continue to bring these loved ones before Him, asking for His will above all. Pray that His Word would have its full effect in each heart, that eyes would be opened, that each one would hear the Shepherd's voice and follow, and that whatever is not of Him would be exposed and turned from. Ask Him to keep you and your household from temptation and evil and deception, and to guard you by His peace that passes understanding as you make your requests known with thanksgiving. Trust that your times are in His hands and that He will sustain you as you seek to fulfill His purpose, growing in the knowledge of His love and grace and walking in the Spirit day by day.
