Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a heart that trusts God to do what only He can do, and that is right. The Scriptures you have been holding onto point to the same truth, that salvation belongs to the Lord, that the Word is the seed, and that God Himself must give the growth.
One plants, another waters, but God gives the increase. Your part and the part of others who have spoken truth has been to plant and water. The increase, the new life and the turning of the heart, comes from Him alone, and all glory returns to Him. His Word does not return empty. Like rain and snow that water the earth and cause it to bring forth life, His Word accomplishes the purpose for which He sends it. It is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The Holy Spirit uses that Word to convict of sin and to lead toward truth.
At the center of that work is repentance. John came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, calling people to confess their sins and turn. Jesus came preaching the same call to repent and believe. He said He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, and those who knew their need were the ones who came to Him. Even to the churches in Revelation, His message again and again was to repent, to turn and become what He intends His people to be. True turning is not just words, it is a change that shows itself in a changed life and in restoration where sin has broken what God made. David understood this when he said his sin was against God, and the evidence of a changed heart was a turning away from that sin.
God in His kindness leads toward that turning. Romans says it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance. He is patient, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, and He desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For that reason we pray, and we trust Him to order steps and to bring the right word at the right moment, as He did when He led Philip to the man reading Isaiah, led Ananias to Saul, and directed Paul where to go.
Part of that kindness can be humbling. Before honor comes humility. God humbled Nebuchadnezzar until he came to his senses and lifted his eyes to heaven, and Jesus described the prodigal who came to himself far from home and then returned. In the same way Hosea describes God hedging a wayward path so that the one who has wandered will consider and return. God can restrain evil, expose deception, and protect from the lies of the enemy as a heart is brought to love the truth and be saved. That work is His, and we can ask Him to carry to completion every good work He has begun until the day of Christ.
So continue to pray with thanksgiving, believing that the Father is still working and the Son is still working. Pray that God will keep planting and watering through others, that He will bring fresh truth across her path and across the paths of family and all who have heard the Word in recent months, that He will grant humility, clarity of mind, and godly sorrow that leads to repentance without regret. Pray that He will keep you and your family and all who serve Him from evil and from deception, and that He will be glorified in all of it.
The heavens rejoice over one sinner who truly repents. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep trusting the Lord of the harvest. He hears the fervent prayer of those made righteous through faith, He rewards those who diligently seek Him, and He is able to do far beyond all we ask or imagine, so that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
One plants, another waters, but God gives the increase. Your part and the part of others who have spoken truth has been to plant and water. The increase, the new life and the turning of the heart, comes from Him alone, and all glory returns to Him. His Word does not return empty. Like rain and snow that water the earth and cause it to bring forth life, His Word accomplishes the purpose for which He sends it. It is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The Holy Spirit uses that Word to convict of sin and to lead toward truth.
At the center of that work is repentance. John came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, calling people to confess their sins and turn. Jesus came preaching the same call to repent and believe. He said He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, and those who knew their need were the ones who came to Him. Even to the churches in Revelation, His message again and again was to repent, to turn and become what He intends His people to be. True turning is not just words, it is a change that shows itself in a changed life and in restoration where sin has broken what God made. David understood this when he said his sin was against God, and the evidence of a changed heart was a turning away from that sin.
God in His kindness leads toward that turning. Romans says it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance. He is patient, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, and He desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For that reason we pray, and we trust Him to order steps and to bring the right word at the right moment, as He did when He led Philip to the man reading Isaiah, led Ananias to Saul, and directed Paul where to go.
Part of that kindness can be humbling. Before honor comes humility. God humbled Nebuchadnezzar until he came to his senses and lifted his eyes to heaven, and Jesus described the prodigal who came to himself far from home and then returned. In the same way Hosea describes God hedging a wayward path so that the one who has wandered will consider and return. God can restrain evil, expose deception, and protect from the lies of the enemy as a heart is brought to love the truth and be saved. That work is His, and we can ask Him to carry to completion every good work He has begun until the day of Christ.
So continue to pray with thanksgiving, believing that the Father is still working and the Son is still working. Pray that God will keep planting and watering through others, that He will bring fresh truth across her path and across the paths of family and all who have heard the Word in recent months, that He will grant humility, clarity of mind, and godly sorrow that leads to repentance without regret. Pray that He will keep you and your family and all who serve Him from evil and from deception, and that He will be glorified in all of it.
The heavens rejoice over one sinner who truly repents. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep trusting the Lord of the harvest. He hears the fervent prayer of those made righteous through faith, He rewards those who diligently seek Him, and He is able to do far beyond all we ask or imagine, so that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
