Chrysostom
Good and Faithful Servant
The pleas you bring to the throne of grace are many, and the heart that cries out for protection, healing, and deliverance is one the Lord does not despise. Yet I must ask: while you ask for walls of fire and warrior angels, do you also attend to the walls of your own soul? No single part is enough for salvation, and hearing promises is not the same as possessing them. A careful hearing, a continual recollection, fortitude in trial, contempt for the cares of this world, deliverance from all softness and worldly entanglements, these are required. You pray for supernatural trust and love, but love is not a feeling poured in while you remain passive; it is a choice of the will, a labor of mercy, especially toward those who trouble you.
And that brings me to a weightier matter. In your prayer you speak of curses, and you plead the blood, and you ask the Lord to rebuke those who harass and abuse you. But I hear also the echo of an unlawful prayer, the kind that adds to our sins and makes our hope uncertain. Did not our Master teach us to bless those who curse and pray for those who mistreat us? When we pray against our enemies, when we ask God to stop them as though they were our problem alone, we forget that His Son came not to judge but to save. He spoke only what was for their salvation, not their condemnation. Even those who mocked Him at the cross He pardoned. Will you then stand with a list of grievances and ask for the rebuke of souls for whom Christ died? This is not the spirit of the cross.
Let me remind you of the gospel: the death of Jesus is the salvation of the world, and in that death every curse was broken. Not by a formula repeated, but by faith alone, just as Abraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness. The Law says, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written,” but Christ became a curse for us. Now, those who abandon reliance on their own pleading and trust wholly in Him are not cursed, but blessed. So instead of multiplying words and verses as though by them you will be heard, cast yourself upon the mercy of that single sacrifice. His passion is a deliverance from countless evils, a passover that marks you with salvation, not a future hope only, but a present reality for all who cease from their own striving.
Therefore, examine your heart. The burn-out, the relational disasters, the turmoil in your family, do they not stem in part from a soul that clings to its own designs? You ask for healing, but the Great Physician first calls you to lay aside the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, yes, even the riches of having every circumstance under your control. Give Him your trust, not just in words, but in a quieted heart. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Let no root of bitterness remain, and do not vent behind another’s back, as you yourself have confessed. That repentance is precious, but it must bear fruit in a life that refuses to speak evil even when pressed.
The Holy Spirit is not a power you command; He is God, the Comforter who fills those who obey Him. Ask, then, for the grace to walk in love, to keep the commandments, and to leave the outcome of all these trials to the One who works all things for good. He will restore what is broken, but often not until we let go of the shards and trust the Potter’s hands. So I say to you: cease from the endless battle of anxious petitions, and rest in the salvation already accomplished. Let your prayers become shorter and your obedience longer. Love your enemies, bless your persecutors, and so prove yourselves children of your Father in heaven. Then the peace that passes understanding will guard your heart and mind, and you will see the deliverance of the Lord.
And that brings me to a weightier matter. In your prayer you speak of curses, and you plead the blood, and you ask the Lord to rebuke those who harass and abuse you. But I hear also the echo of an unlawful prayer, the kind that adds to our sins and makes our hope uncertain. Did not our Master teach us to bless those who curse and pray for those who mistreat us? When we pray against our enemies, when we ask God to stop them as though they were our problem alone, we forget that His Son came not to judge but to save. He spoke only what was for their salvation, not their condemnation. Even those who mocked Him at the cross He pardoned. Will you then stand with a list of grievances and ask for the rebuke of souls for whom Christ died? This is not the spirit of the cross.
Let me remind you of the gospel: the death of Jesus is the salvation of the world, and in that death every curse was broken. Not by a formula repeated, but by faith alone, just as Abraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness. The Law says, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written,” but Christ became a curse for us. Now, those who abandon reliance on their own pleading and trust wholly in Him are not cursed, but blessed. So instead of multiplying words and verses as though by them you will be heard, cast yourself upon the mercy of that single sacrifice. His passion is a deliverance from countless evils, a passover that marks you with salvation, not a future hope only, but a present reality for all who cease from their own striving.
Therefore, examine your heart. The burn-out, the relational disasters, the turmoil in your family, do they not stem in part from a soul that clings to its own designs? You ask for healing, but the Great Physician first calls you to lay aside the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, yes, even the riches of having every circumstance under your control. Give Him your trust, not just in words, but in a quieted heart. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Let no root of bitterness remain, and do not vent behind another’s back, as you yourself have confessed. That repentance is precious, but it must bear fruit in a life that refuses to speak evil even when pressed.
The Holy Spirit is not a power you command; He is God, the Comforter who fills those who obey Him. Ask, then, for the grace to walk in love, to keep the commandments, and to leave the outcome of all these trials to the One who works all things for good. He will restore what is broken, but often not until we let go of the shards and trust the Potter’s hands. So I say to you: cease from the endless battle of anxious petitions, and rest in the salvation already accomplished. Let your prayers become shorter and your obedience longer. Love your enemies, bless your persecutors, and so prove yourselves children of your Father in heaven. Then the peace that passes understanding will guard your heart and mind, and you will see the deliverance of the Lord.
