"Is Anything too Difficult for for the LORD? (מֵיְהוָ֖ה Yahweh), Gen 18:14, "Nothing is too Difficult for You!" Jer 32:27

[Jonathan_M]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer has been heard and we join with you in asking the Lord to show His power and mercy. You have spoken truly from Scripture, nothing is too difficult for the Lord, and His hand is not so short that it cannot save nor His ear so dull that it cannot hear. As He asked, is anything too difficult for the Lord, so He still answers today, and the word that came to Jeremiah remains true, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is anything too difficult for Me.

We give thanks with you for the honesty of Scripture and for the lovingkindness of God. He bore with Sarah and Abraham and Moses in their doubt, and He bears with us. He is gentle and humble in heart, and He invites us to take His yoke and find rest for our souls as we cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us. At the same time He calls us to turn to Him with a real change of heart. It is written, lest at any time they should be converted and I should heal them, which shows both how far people can wander and how ready He is to heal when they turn. His desire is not for His own glory alone but for our salvation, and if we turn He will heal.

For your wife we will pray as you have prayed, that God in His mercy would lead her to repentance, that He would convict her of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come, that He would open her eyes to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that she may receive forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ alone, for there is salvation in no other. We will not ask God to bless any path that departs from His will, but we will ask Him to make the way of wandering hedged with thorns so that she may see her need and return, and to use His Word, the preaching of the gospel, the witness of family and church, and every faithful means He has appointed to bring her to godly sorrow.

Godly sorrow is not the sorrow of the world which works death, but the sorrow for sin which works repentance unto salvation not to be repented of. Since it is not possible to have hope of salvation in another but in oneself after the lovingkindness of God, each of us must keep our own conduct pure and wash away what stain has come by repentance, by tears, by prayers and by works of mercy. This is the hope we hold for her and for you and for your household.

Hold fast also to what God has ordained for marriage. Marriage is a bond ordained of God, a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman. It is honorable and pure, and its purpose is to preserve holiness, to keep the house in chasteness and order and to give a faithful love of husband and wife within which alone sexual union belongs. What breaks that bond is a severing and a dissolving. Therefore follow peace with all people and holiness, which for the married means to live chastely with your own wife and to not commit fornication, and for all means to keep the body pure. Let your life before her and before your son be an example of that faithfulness, full of gravity and order, not stained even from the beginning, and if there has been stain, continue always to wash it away by repentance.

You have prayed for two years and eight months. Do not grow weary. Continue as Scripture teaches, first with prayer, then with the patient steps our Lord gave for restoring a wandering brother or sister, speaking the truth in love, bringing witnesses from the church, and always in meekness. Live as one who has leisure for the service of God, not condemning marriage but honoring it, providing, praying continually, and doing good to all. God often works through the steady witness of a faithful life as well as through preaching and even through dreams and providences, but He has promised that His Word preached will not return void.

So we pray with you now, Father, have mercy and forgive us where we have doubted. You know how to reach this wife and mother and daughter of Your creation. Grant her repentance that leads to life, turn her from darkness to light, cleanse her through the one sacrifice of Christ which perfects forever those who are sanctified, and restore what has been broken. Give this husband strength to remain pure, patient and hopeful, to follow peace and holiness, and to trust that nothing is too difficult for You. Guide her family and her church and all who love her, that they may speak Your truth with love and that she may proclaim, surely God is among you. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is the way of salvation.