Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a deep trust in the Word of God and in His power to save, and we join with you in that trust. Thank you for bringing these burdens before the Lord with so much Scripture and faith.
The kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance, as Romans 2:4 teaches. That is the heart of the gospel call from the beginning. John came baptizing and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, calling people to confess their sins and turn. Jesus came with the same call, and when He spoke to the churches in Revelation He still called them to repent and be changed. Repentance is not a small thing. It is a turning, a change of mind and heart that bears fruit in a changed life. Where there is true conversion there is a turning from sin and a restoration toward God, because all sin is ultimately against Him.
You have planted seed and you have asked others to water, and that is exactly the pattern Scripture gives us. One plants, another waters, but God gives the growth. The seed is the Word of God, and Isaiah reminds us that His Word does not return empty but accomplishes the purpose for which He sent it, like rain watering the earth. Our part is to be faithful to sow and to speak the truth in love. His part is to bring life, and all the glory belongs to Him alone. From Him and through Him and to Him are all things, and salvation belongs to the Lord.
We join you in asking that the Lord would continue the work He has begun and carry it to completion until the day of Christ. We pray that He would order steps and bring across the path of your wife and your family members, your children and those who come after, and all who have heard the Word in recent months, those who will speak truth and show the kindness of God. As the Lord directed Philip to the man reading Isaiah, and directed a disciple to go to Saul, and directed Paul and his companions where to go, so He still orders the steps of those who seek Him.
We also pray with you for the humbling work that must come before honor. Scripture says honor comes after humility, and we see this when a proud king was humbled until he came to his senses and blessed God, and when the prodigal came to himself far from home, and when Hosea's wife was hedged in so she would turn back. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to life. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the heart of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, and the Word of God is living and active, piercing to the thoughts and intentions of the heart. We can trust that work even when we do not see it.
The Lord is perfect and patient, not wanting any to perish but for all to come to repentance, and He desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. He even uses our prayers toward that end. He is always working, and He is the one who keeps His people from evil and deception as they receive the love of the truth. He hears the fervent prayers of those made righteous through faith in Jesus, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. He is able to do far beyond all we ask or imagine, and He invites us to call to Him for great and mighty things we do not yet know.
So we continue to pray with you that the Lord would restrain evil, guard your family and all who serve Him, protect from temptation and the evil one, and cause the truth that has been heard to take deep root. We ask for salvation through Jesus Christ alone, for that is the only name by which we are saved, and for lives that turn fully to Him and walk in His ways, including honoring marriage as He designed it, a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman with purity within it. We do not ask God to bless what is outside His will, but to bring every heart into repentance and faith and obedience for His glory.
May the Lord strengthen you to keep praying with thanksgiving, believing you have received according to His will, and may all praise return to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. We ask this in the name of Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen.
The kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance, as Romans 2:4 teaches. That is the heart of the gospel call from the beginning. John came baptizing and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, calling people to confess their sins and turn. Jesus came with the same call, and when He spoke to the churches in Revelation He still called them to repent and be changed. Repentance is not a small thing. It is a turning, a change of mind and heart that bears fruit in a changed life. Where there is true conversion there is a turning from sin and a restoration toward God, because all sin is ultimately against Him.
You have planted seed and you have asked others to water, and that is exactly the pattern Scripture gives us. One plants, another waters, but God gives the growth. The seed is the Word of God, and Isaiah reminds us that His Word does not return empty but accomplishes the purpose for which He sent it, like rain watering the earth. Our part is to be faithful to sow and to speak the truth in love. His part is to bring life, and all the glory belongs to Him alone. From Him and through Him and to Him are all things, and salvation belongs to the Lord.
We join you in asking that the Lord would continue the work He has begun and carry it to completion until the day of Christ. We pray that He would order steps and bring across the path of your wife and your family members, your children and those who come after, and all who have heard the Word in recent months, those who will speak truth and show the kindness of God. As the Lord directed Philip to the man reading Isaiah, and directed a disciple to go to Saul, and directed Paul and his companions where to go, so He still orders the steps of those who seek Him.
We also pray with you for the humbling work that must come before honor. Scripture says honor comes after humility, and we see this when a proud king was humbled until he came to his senses and blessed God, and when the prodigal came to himself far from home, and when Hosea's wife was hedged in so she would turn back. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to life. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the heart of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, and the Word of God is living and active, piercing to the thoughts and intentions of the heart. We can trust that work even when we do not see it.
The Lord is perfect and patient, not wanting any to perish but for all to come to repentance, and He desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. He even uses our prayers toward that end. He is always working, and He is the one who keeps His people from evil and deception as they receive the love of the truth. He hears the fervent prayers of those made righteous through faith in Jesus, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. He is able to do far beyond all we ask or imagine, and He invites us to call to Him for great and mighty things we do not yet know.
So we continue to pray with you that the Lord would restrain evil, guard your family and all who serve Him, protect from temptation and the evil one, and cause the truth that has been heard to take deep root. We ask for salvation through Jesus Christ alone, for that is the only name by which we are saved, and for lives that turn fully to Him and walk in His ways, including honoring marriage as He designed it, a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman with purity within it. We do not ask God to bless what is outside His will, but to bring every heart into repentance and faith and obedience for His glory.
May the Lord strengthen you to keep praying with thanksgiving, believing you have received according to His will, and may all praise return to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. We ask this in the name of Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen.
