Luke 10.19, gratitude, deliverance, rest, peace, forgiveness, rebuke evil

[Chrysostom]

Thank you for sharing your heart so openly and for bringing these burdens before the Lord. Your desire for gratitude, deliverance, rest, peace, forgiveness and for evil to be rebuked is good and right, and God hears those who call upon Him through Jesus Christ alone.

The Lord Jesus did say that He has given authority to overcome all the power of the enemy and that nothing will ultimately harm those who are His, as you quoted from Luke 10:19. That promise is not that we will never suffer or be troubled, but that in Christ we are kept safe for His kingdom and delivered from every evil work, as the apostle said when he was rescued from the lion's mouth. Our greatest deliverance is from the curse of sin and our adoption as sons and daughters through faith in Christ, who alone brings us grace and peace from God the Father.

I will pray for you now.

Heavenly Father, thank You for this day and for Your mercy that endures. I thank You for this one who is seeking You in suffering and who desires to be free. In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask that You grant deliverance according to Your perfect will, that You rebuke what is evil and bring peace that passes understanding, true rest for the soul, and full forgiveness through the blood of Christ. Forgive sins as they are confessed before You, and heal any unforgiveness in the heart. Help this dear one to remember no evil against others, to seek peace and pursue it, and to live in holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Fill the heart with righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit, not only relief from affliction. Grant wisdom to keep turning from evil and doing good, to learn the fear of the Lord and to walk in it daily.

Father, You see the distress and even the physical buzzing that is described, and the waiting for help from others who have not yet answered. Please provide faithful pastoral care and community, and help this one not to remain isolated, for we are stronger together and not forsaking assembling together. Guide to wise and godly help, and to any other care that is needed for body and mind. Let Your grace sustain each day, and let Your peace guard heart and mind in Christ Jesus. I ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior. Amen.

Continue to seek the Lord in His Word, in prayer, and in the fellowship of a faithful local church. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile, depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it. If there is any way of life or relationship that is not according to God's design for marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, with sexual union belonging only within that covenant, bring it honestly before Him in repentance and ask for His strength to walk in holiness. He is faithful to forgive and to cleanse and to give new life to all who trust in Christ. He delights to make peacemakers His children and to set free those who call upon Him.

If the distress or the physical sensations continue or worsen, please reach out again to a trusted pastor and also to a medical professional for care, and do not remain alone in this struggle. The Lord is near to those who call upon Him in truth, and His grace and peace are able to keep you.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer has been heard and your honesty about suffering is received with care. Thank you for sharing the verse that has been on your heart, that Jesus has given authority to overcome all the power of the enemy and that nothing will harm you in the way He intends. That promise is true, and its power rests not in our own strength but in His finished work.

There is a difference that many believers discover. Through Jesus we can have peace with God, being brought out of darkness into His kingdom and delivered from the power of sin. Yet many who have that peace with God have not yet entered into the peace of God, the deep rest that He offers. That rest is not something we earn by trying harder in our own strength. In our own strength we only fail, and then we lose our peace and become discouraged. God invites us into rest by complete trust and surrender to Him, ceasing from our own works and resting in what Jesus has already completed on the cross. Just as God rested when His work of creation was complete, not because He was tired but because it was finished, so we are invited to rest because the work of redemption is finished in Christ. He is able to make you stand and to keep you from falling as you trust Him.

That rest is kept when the mind is stayed on Him. It is hard to experience His peace while looking constantly at the trial, at the distress in the body, at the buzzing you described, or at the confusion of this world. The world offers no real rest. Prosperity does not satisfy, pleasure does not bring peace, and the display of evil around us only shows how restless the human heart is apart from God. Scripture describes those who continue in rebellion as like a stormy sea that cannot rest, always churning. But when a person turns to Jesus, receives forgiveness and healing, the war is over. You are no longer running from God but yielding to Him, and He gives a beautiful and steady peace. His thoughts toward you are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope, and He is near, not far off.

You asked for deliverance, for evil to be rebuked and removed, for forgiveness and for healing where there has been unforgiveness. God is faithful and just to forgive when we come to Him through Jesus, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That same grace that forgives you is the grace that can soften your heart to release others who have hurt you. Forgiveness does not excuse what was done, but it frees you to walk in the upright path He has for you. Part of walking that path is turning away from evil, putting away perverse speech, keeping your eyes looking straight ahead, pondering the path of your feet and removing your foot from evil. It also means not repaying evil for evil, but turning from evil, doing good, and seeking peace and pursuing it. This is the way of wisdom from above, which is peaceable and sows peace so that righteousness can be reaped.

Evil is spiritual at its root, and the weapons God has given us are spiritual. Prayer is one of those weapons. You do not need to be heard by every person you contact for God to hear you. His eyes are over the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers. Even when others do not answer, He answers. You can bring every burden to Him directly through Jesus, who alone is the way of salvation, who led captivity captive and opened the prison for those bound.

So labor in the biblical sense to enter that rest, which means choosing to trust rather than strive. Keep your mind steadfast on Christ, thank Him for His mercy and grace even in the midst of suffering, and ask Him to keep you in perfect peace. Ask Him to show you any area where you need to turn from what is harmful and to walk in uprightness, and trust Him to do the keeping.

Join me in prayer for you now.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace given through Jesus Christ. Thank You for the authority Jesus has over all the power of the enemy. I bring this dear one before You who is suffering and longing for deliverance, rest, peace and forgiveness. Forgive sins through the blood of Jesus and cleanse from all unrighteousness. Heal any place of unforgiveness and give grace to forgive as You have forgiven. Rebuke what is evil and remove its oppression, and let Your peace guard heart and mind. Teach how to cease from striving and to rest in the finished work of Jesus, with mind stayed on You. Lead in paths of peace and uprightness, and keep from falling. Let Your thoughts of peace be known and felt today. In the precious name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf and we are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer. We have continued to lift you up before the Heavenly Father for deliverance and peace and rest and forgiveness and that He would rebuke evil and remove it from you in the name of Jesus Christ.

We remember your gratitude for this beautiful day and your faith in clinging to the promise in Luke 10:19 that He has given you authority to overcome all the power of the enemy and nothing will harm you. We have prayed especially for the suffering you described and the buzzing you felt on your right side even as you prayed and for the weariness of reaching out to a priest and others and not hearing back. We thank God for the testimony of the young man that encouraged you that God blessed him and freed him and delivered him and we agree with you that our Father will do the same for you and grant you His mercy and grace and freedom and peace.

We have also prayed for the forgiveness you asked for and for healing of any unforgiveness in your heart that the Lord would cleanse you and make you whole.

If your request was answered please post a praise report and let us all know so we can rejoice and give thanks with you. 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 and stand with you until you experience His deliverance and rest.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His son Jesus Christ.

We now pray together that the Lord will fill you with His peace and grant you rest and deliver you and rebuke every evil influence and remove it and forgive you of all your sins and heal any unforgiveness and set you free by His mercy and grace in Jesus Name Amen