Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing your heart so honestly and for allowing us to pray for you. The weight you are carrying is heavy, with financial pressure, your husband's back injury and struggles at work, and your son's ongoing illness and recent symptoms, and it is understandable that you feel weary and afraid and that you are longing to sense that God is near.
Please be assured that your uncertainty about a woman who calls herself an apostle has not caused God to leave you and has not made you guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God does not draw attention to a person or demand that you believe in that person's claims. Jesus said the Holy Spirit testifies of Him. One way we test what is from God is to ask what it says about Jesus Christ and whether it points to Him. If a teaching or a leader points to themselves and uses fear to control you, that is not the witness of the Holy Spirit. Being cautious and unsure in that situation is not a sin against the Spirit, and your hardships are not a punishment from God for that uncertainty.
You asked how you can know that God is still with you. Scripture gives a clear answer. We know that He abides in us by the Spirit which He has given us. When you trusted in Jesus Christ, God placed His Spirit within you. That indwelling Spirit is described as a seal, a mark of ownership that says you belong to Him, and as a down payment or earnest of your full redemption, showing that He is sincere in His promise to keep you and to complete His work in you. Your body is His temple because His Spirit dwells in you. You do not need to earn this or reach a certain level of holiness to receive Him. You receive Him by faith in Jesus, as a gift.
That same Spirit bears witness with your own spirit that you are a child of God. One of the evidences of His presence is the way He is perfecting the love of God in you, enabling you to love as He loves, which you cannot do in your own strength. As you yield to Him and ask to be filled and led by Him, He conforms you to the image of Jesus and gives you power to live for Him. The cure for fear is the consciousness of His presence. When you remember that He is with you, fear is dispelled. Walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit brings that quiet assurance that you are His child and His heir.
Your trials do not mean you have been abandoned. The Spirit who lives in you is with you in this valley, and God invites you to bring every need to Him.
Let us pray together. Father, we thank You for Your Holy Spirit whom You have given to every believer. Thank You that You have sealed this dear one as Your own and that Your Spirit within her is Your promise that You will never leave her. Dispel her fear with the assurance of Your presence. Help her to discern what is truly from You, keeping her eyes on Jesus, and free her from false guilt and condemnation. We lift up her husband for healing in his back and for strength and provision in his work. We lift up her son for healing, for restored energy, and for wisdom for the doctors as they care for him. Provide for this family financially and give them peace in the midst of pressure. Fill them anew with Your Spirit, lead them day by day, and perfect Your love in their hearts. In the name of Jesus we ask this, amen.
Please be assured that your uncertainty about a woman who calls herself an apostle has not caused God to leave you and has not made you guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God does not draw attention to a person or demand that you believe in that person's claims. Jesus said the Holy Spirit testifies of Him. One way we test what is from God is to ask what it says about Jesus Christ and whether it points to Him. If a teaching or a leader points to themselves and uses fear to control you, that is not the witness of the Holy Spirit. Being cautious and unsure in that situation is not a sin against the Spirit, and your hardships are not a punishment from God for that uncertainty.
You asked how you can know that God is still with you. Scripture gives a clear answer. We know that He abides in us by the Spirit which He has given us. When you trusted in Jesus Christ, God placed His Spirit within you. That indwelling Spirit is described as a seal, a mark of ownership that says you belong to Him, and as a down payment or earnest of your full redemption, showing that He is sincere in His promise to keep you and to complete His work in you. Your body is His temple because His Spirit dwells in you. You do not need to earn this or reach a certain level of holiness to receive Him. You receive Him by faith in Jesus, as a gift.
That same Spirit bears witness with your own spirit that you are a child of God. One of the evidences of His presence is the way He is perfecting the love of God in you, enabling you to love as He loves, which you cannot do in your own strength. As you yield to Him and ask to be filled and led by Him, He conforms you to the image of Jesus and gives you power to live for Him. The cure for fear is the consciousness of His presence. When you remember that He is with you, fear is dispelled. Walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit brings that quiet assurance that you are His child and His heir.
Your trials do not mean you have been abandoned. The Spirit who lives in you is with you in this valley, and God invites you to bring every need to Him.
Let us pray together. Father, we thank You for Your Holy Spirit whom You have given to every believer. Thank You that You have sealed this dear one as Your own and that Your Spirit within her is Your promise that You will never leave her. Dispel her fear with the assurance of Your presence. Help her to discern what is truly from You, keeping her eyes on Jesus, and free her from false guilt and condemnation. We lift up her husband for healing in his back and for strength and provision in his work. We lift up her son for healing, for restored energy, and for wisdom for the doctors as they care for him. Provide for this family financially and give them peace in the midst of pressure. Fill them anew with Your Spirit, lead them day by day, and perfect Your love in their hearts. In the name of Jesus we ask this, amen.
