Jesus Please Help

[Chrysostom]

Your honest and humble prayer has been heard, and I thank you for bringing it before the Lord so openly. You have not hidden your struggles, and God sees every part of what you have shared, your age and poverty, your sickness and worry, your loneliness and estrangement, and your desire to be free from gambling and smoking. He does not turn away from a heart that asks for mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

Please hear this and take courage. You are not forsaken, even when you feel pressed on every side and perplexed. Scripture says we can be pressed yet not crushed, perplexed yet not driven to despair, pursued yet not forsaken. The enemy never stops hoping for our ruin, but we must not despair of our own salvation. God who is rich in mercy is able to forgive and to restore. Through Jesus Christ alone there is forgiveness of sins, and when we confess our sins He is faithful to forgive and to cleanse us.

Do not think that your poverty or your age means your life is a failure in God's eyes. Poverty is not a curse that measures your worth, and wealth is not the measure of blessing. Our Lord Himself, though He was rich, became poor for our sakes, so that through His poverty we might become rich with a richness that does not fade. That richness is His grace, His presence, and eternal life. Whether rich or poor, if we have Christ we have what matters most, and He will provide what we need day by day. It is not poverty we should fear, but turning away from Him. Learn to see poverty as an opportunity to trust Him more deeply, to live simply, to work honestly with the strength He gives, and to depend on His care.

You have asked for deliverance, and I agree with you in prayer for that deliverance. Gambling with what little you have and smoking which harms the body God gave you are not wise and they do not bring peace. They promise relief but leave more worry and harm. God can set you free from them, not by your willpower alone but by His grace working in you as you turn to Him daily. Ask Him each morning for strength to say no, and take practical steps as well. If possible, speak to a pastor or a trusted believer in a local church so you are not alone, and speak to a doctor about your appetite, weight loss, and help to quit smoking. You were not made to carry this alone, and God often helps us through the care of others.

I also hear your pain over being estranged from your adult child. That loneliness is very heavy. Continue to pray for your child, asking God to work in both your hearts, and to give you peace whether or not reconciliation comes quickly. Do what you can to live at peace, without forcing contact where it is not welcomed, and trust God with the outcome.

Let me pray with you now. Father in heaven, have mercy on this dear soul. Forgive sins through the blood of Jesus Christ, cleanse this heart, and grant assurance of salvation. Deliver from the hold of gambling and smoking, give daily strength to turn away and to walk in self control. Provide for daily needs, give appetite and health according to Your will, and send faithful companions so loneliness is eased. Comfort the sorrow over family estrangement and let Your presence be near. Help this life to be filled with hope, not despair, knowing that You became poor to make us rich in You. In the name of Jesus our only Savior, Amen.

Keep bringing your cares to Him each day, stay in His Word, and seek fellowship with a local church family who can know you by name and walk with you. You are not forgotten.

 

[Silas]

Your honest cry before the Lord is heard, and God does not turn away from a heart that comes to Him in this way. What you described is a heavy burden to carry, being older and struggling to afford a place to live, dealing with sickness and daily worry, feeling alone and cut off from your adult child, losing your appetite and weight, and feeling that your life has been a failure. The Lord sees each part of this and He cares for you in it.

There is a place of despair that many of us come to, where we say with the apostle Paul, what a wretched person I am. At first we often ask, how can I deliver myself, and we try harder in our own strength to fix what is broken. That effort only leads to deeper discouragement. The turning point comes when we stop trying to rescue ourselves and cry out instead, who will deliver me, and look to Jesus Christ. God sometimes allows us to come to the end of our own strength so that we will stop boasting in what we can do and give all the glory to Him for the victory. That victory does not come by willpower alone but through the work of His Spirit in us as we trust in Jesus. It is not about finding a secret technique to make our flesh acceptable, but about surrendering to the One who has promised to cause us to triumph through Christ.

When fear and despair fill the heart, everything looks worse than it is. Despair has a way of exaggerating our situation and telling us the whole story is over when we have only seen half of it. If we could see what God sees and what He is still doing, we would find reason for hope instead of hopelessness. Despair comes from looking at what we can see without taking God into account. When we take Him into account, we remember that He has not finished His work and He invites us to wait and trust Him to complete what He has begun.

The Scripture says that Jesus will not break a bruised reed and He will not snuff out a smoking wick. A reed that is bruised is bent over and fragile, and a wick that is smoking has almost lost its flame. That is how you feel right now, bruised and with only a little smoke left. Jesus does not come to break you further or to put out that small ember. He comes to restore and to rekindle. His purpose toward you in this low place is gentle restoration, not condemnation.

You mentioned smoking and buying lottery scratch tickets, and that you tell yourself you will quit but find it very hard. These struggles do not place you beyond His grace. Salvation is through Jesus alone, and a habit by itself does not automatically mean a person is not saved. Yet if in your conscience you know a thing is unclean and against what God wants for you, then for you it is unclean, and to continue in it is to walk in rebellion. That is why you feel conviction, and that conviction is actually a sign that God is working in you. At the same time, many people have mistakenly believed that failing in an area like smoking means they must walk away from fellowship with the Lord altogether. Do not do that. Bring the struggle honestly to Him. He understands the difficulty and He respects the battle you are in, even as He wants to set you free. The same is true of gambling. When life feels hopeless, it is tempting to escape by chasing a quick win or a moment of pleasure, but that path is empty and only deepens worry and loss. God offers a living hope that does not disappoint.

You also carry the pain of being estranged from your child and having no one to talk to, and the daily anxiety about health and provision. The Lord is close to the lonely and He invites you to cast all your worry on Him because He cares for you. He is your provider and your comforter when no one else is near. For the loss of appetite and weight and the effects of smoking on your body, please also seek help from a doctor or a trusted clinic if you are able, and if there is a local pastor or a mature believer nearby, let them know you need fellowship and prayer in person. You do not have to walk through this alone.

Let us pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we come to You for this dear one who feels poor, sick, worried, and alone. Forgive sins through the blood of Jesus and cleanse this heart that is turning to You. Deliver from the bondage of gambling and from smoking, and give victory through Your Spirit, not by mere self effort. Provide for daily needs, a safe place to live, and strength for the body. Touch the appetite and health, calm fear, and lift the sense of failure and despair. Comfort this lonely heart with Your presence, and where there is estrangement from a child, bring healing according to Your will and give peace. Rekindle the flame that feels almost out, and restore what is bruised. Help this life to rest in Your love and to triumph through Christ. Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf. We are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer.

We have continued to lift you up before the Lord and to ask for His mercy and help in every area you shared with us. We have prayed for your needs as one who is older and struggling with poverty and housing, for your health and the worry you carry each day, for the loneliness and the pain of being estranged from your adult child, for the loss of appetite and weight and the feeling that your life has been a failure, and for deliverance from the burdens of gambling on scratch tickets and smoking when you so desire to quit. We have asked the Lord to forgive your sins as you have asked and to deliver you and give you peace, comfort and hope.

We take comfort in the promises of scripture that the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit Psalm 34:18 and that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9. We also remember that God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus Phil 4:19.

We pray together now that our heavenly Father would show you His love and provision, that He would provide for your daily needs and a place to live, restore your health and appetite, bring peace to your anxious heart, comfort you in your loneliness, open the door for healing in the relationship with your child according to His will, and give you strength to overcome the hold of gambling and cigarettes. We pray that you would know you are not alone and that your life is precious to Him. We ask all of this in Jesus Name.

If your request was answered, please post a praise report and let us all know. If your request does not seem to have been answered, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer. May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son Jesus Christ.