Silas
Beloved of All
Your heart for prayer and for the Word to take root and bear fruit is clear, and it is right to bring this before the Lord in the way you have.
God has shown us that repentance is at the very center of His call. The one who came preparing the way preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and people came confessing their sins. Jesus Himself came preaching repentance, and when He spoke to the churches in Revelation He still called them to repent. That call has not changed. What God desires is not outward religion but a true turning of the heart, a change of mind and direction that turns away from sin and toward Him. When that turning is real, it shows itself in a changed life and in restoration, as when David acknowledged that his sin with Bathsheba and against Uriah was ultimately sin against God. That honesty before God is the mark of true conversion.
It is also right that you are asking for that work to be done in your wife's life according to Romans 2:4, that the kindness of God would lead her to repentance. Repentance is needed because we have all sinned, and Jesus said He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He came for those who know their need, and heaven rejoices over one sinner who truly repents. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts the heart of sin and truth as Jesus taught in John 16:8, and godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to life as described in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10.
You have prayed well in asking for planting and watering while trusting God for the growth. Scripture teaches that one plants and another waters but God alone gives the increase, as in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7. Isaiah 55:10-11 reminds us that His Word does not return empty but accomplishes what He purposes, like rain watering the earth. The seed is the Word of God as in Mark 4:14, and it grows in ways we cannot fully see or control. Your part and the part of others who speak truth and show kindness is to faithfully sow and water. God's part is to cause life to spring up in His time and for His glory alone, as Psalm 115:1 says, not to us but to His name be glory.
Continue to pray that God would humble where humbling is needed and restore where restoration is needed. Scripture shows this pattern in Nebuchadnezzar who was humbled until he lifted his eyes to heaven in Daniel 4, in the prodigal who came to his senses in Luke 15:17, and in Hosea's wife who was hedged in until she turned back. Before honor comes humility as Proverbs 18:12 teaches, and God is patient, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance as in 2 Peter 3:9, desiring all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth as in 1 Timothy 2:4.
We join you in thanking God that His Word is living and active and judges the thoughts and intents of the heart as in Hebrews 4:12, and that the Father is always working as Jesus said in John 5:17. We thank Him that He who began a good work will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ as in Philippians 1:6, and that all things are from Him and through Him and to Him as in Romans 11:36. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb as in Revelation 7:10, and every answer will be for His glory and according to His perfect will.
May the Lord keep you and your household, and all those you have mentioned including the generations before and after you, from evil and deception, and may He cause you to receive the love of the truth. May He order your steps as in Psalm 37:23 and bring the right people across each other's paths to speak truth in love, as He did with the Ethiopian official and Philip in Acts 8, with Ananias and Saul in Acts 9, and with Paul and the man from Macedonia in Acts 16. Keep praying with confidence, for the fervent prayer of the righteous has great power as in James 5:16, and God is able to do far beyond all we ask or imagine as in Ephesians 3:20, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him as in Hebrews 11:6. We ask all this in the name of Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen as in 2 Corinthians 1:20.
God has shown us that repentance is at the very center of His call. The one who came preparing the way preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and people came confessing their sins. Jesus Himself came preaching repentance, and when He spoke to the churches in Revelation He still called them to repent. That call has not changed. What God desires is not outward religion but a true turning of the heart, a change of mind and direction that turns away from sin and toward Him. When that turning is real, it shows itself in a changed life and in restoration, as when David acknowledged that his sin with Bathsheba and against Uriah was ultimately sin against God. That honesty before God is the mark of true conversion.
It is also right that you are asking for that work to be done in your wife's life according to Romans 2:4, that the kindness of God would lead her to repentance. Repentance is needed because we have all sinned, and Jesus said He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He came for those who know their need, and heaven rejoices over one sinner who truly repents. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts the heart of sin and truth as Jesus taught in John 16:8, and godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to life as described in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10.
You have prayed well in asking for planting and watering while trusting God for the growth. Scripture teaches that one plants and another waters but God alone gives the increase, as in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7. Isaiah 55:10-11 reminds us that His Word does not return empty but accomplishes what He purposes, like rain watering the earth. The seed is the Word of God as in Mark 4:14, and it grows in ways we cannot fully see or control. Your part and the part of others who speak truth and show kindness is to faithfully sow and water. God's part is to cause life to spring up in His time and for His glory alone, as Psalm 115:1 says, not to us but to His name be glory.
Continue to pray that God would humble where humbling is needed and restore where restoration is needed. Scripture shows this pattern in Nebuchadnezzar who was humbled until he lifted his eyes to heaven in Daniel 4, in the prodigal who came to his senses in Luke 15:17, and in Hosea's wife who was hedged in until she turned back. Before honor comes humility as Proverbs 18:12 teaches, and God is patient, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance as in 2 Peter 3:9, desiring all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth as in 1 Timothy 2:4.
We join you in thanking God that His Word is living and active and judges the thoughts and intents of the heart as in Hebrews 4:12, and that the Father is always working as Jesus said in John 5:17. We thank Him that He who began a good work will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ as in Philippians 1:6, and that all things are from Him and through Him and to Him as in Romans 11:36. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb as in Revelation 7:10, and every answer will be for His glory and according to His perfect will.
May the Lord keep you and your household, and all those you have mentioned including the generations before and after you, from evil and deception, and may He cause you to receive the love of the truth. May He order your steps as in Psalm 37:23 and bring the right people across each other's paths to speak truth in love, as He did with the Ethiopian official and Philip in Acts 8, with Ananias and Saul in Acts 9, and with Paul and the man from Macedonia in Acts 16. Keep praying with confidence, for the fervent prayer of the righteous has great power as in James 5:16, and God is able to do far beyond all we ask or imagine as in Ephesians 3:20, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him as in Hebrews 11:6. We ask all this in the name of Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen as in 2 Corinthians 1:20.
