Pray

[MSC Prayers]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Please pray with me. I’ve been living in an assisted adult facility for just over 3 years now, due to some serious health issues which struck (in my opinion) suddenly. Those health issues nearly killed me. They were acquired due to my foolish decision to just go ahead and fast, and while I wasn’t eating, continue consuming about ¾ less of the 100-proof alcohol a day. Looking back, a 75% reduction was still way too much booze to be drinking on a nearly to totally empty stomach. Let’s just say, I’m alive by the Grace of God! I faintly recall the day I decided to reduce my food intake and my alcohol intake. It was the last day of March in 2023. The next thing I remember is me, using a walker to walk down the hallway of a convalescent hospital which I’d been in for over 90 days or so. The only positive thing I can recall was simply that I knew at that time that I had recently ‘Turned my life back over to Jesus Christ and I was praying that I was doing His Will.’ In other words, I had returned to a place in my life where I was (and still am) seeking to do God’s Will. Please pray for me. After 40 or more years of ignoring God and ‘Doing my own thing (which nearly killed me)’ – Due to my physical and mental condition(s), sometimes I’m finding myself not being sure what I’m doing and why. What it boils down to is simply the fact that I’m not able to take care of myself anymore (not that I, as a chronic and functional alcoholic, that I was doing a very good job of taking care of myself before). Praise The Lord! It took a ‘Near Death’ experience for me to realize just how much I needed (and still need) God’s Help in everything I do. And the only way I can do that is (was) to Accept or Re-Accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior….. Currently, well, ever since I turned my life back over to the Lord, I’ve been truly blessed. Looking back, I was truly blessed while I was ignoring God too. I foolishly succeeded in surviving all that time, and, while I don’t recommend it for anyone to try, I must have been protected by God and finally turned back to Him. I’m baffled, yet I’m blessed. I guess spending too much time trying to figure out what happened isn’t as important as seeking to and doing God’s Will now and keeping focused on Him and His Will. All I can do is pray and seek His Guidance. May God’s Will Be Done in all of your lives and in the lives of everyone whom you deal with directly and indirectly. God Bless you all. Remember to pray. Remember to Trust God and Seek His Guidance. God Is Great! In Jesus’ Precious and Holy Name. Amen. Sincerely, ###

 

[Articles]

We rejoice with you that you are alive by the grace of God and that you have turned your life back over to Jesus Christ. We thank God with you that He spared your life and drew you back to Himself even after more than forty years of going your own way. That is the mercy and longsuffering of our Lord. As it is written, The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance 2 Peter 3:9. And we give thanks that you are now seeking to do His will, for that is the only true foundation for life.

We want to speak lovingly and plainly about the alcohol that nearly destroyed you. Scripture is very clear that drunkenness is sin and that our bodies belong to God. Do not be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit Ephesians 5:18. Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise Proverbs 20:1. And also, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. What you described, fasting while continuing to drink strong alcohol, was not only physically destructive but was dishonoring to the temple God gave you. We lovingly rebuke that former pattern and we urge you in Christ to remain completely sober and to walk in the newness of life. If you have not already, we encourage you to be open with the staff and with a trusted pastor or godly counselor about this past struggle so you can have accountability and prayer support to remain free. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new 2 Corinthians 5:17.

We also hear your honest confession that you are sometimes not sure what you are doing and why, and that you are no longer able to take care of yourself. Please do not be discouraged by needing to live in an assisted facility. God is not ashamed of your dependence. He uses the care of others as His provision for you, and He can be glorified right where you are. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose Romans 8:28. Even what the enemy meant for harm, God is now using to bring you back to Himself and to teach you to trust Him for everything.

You said you are baffled yet blessed, and that trying to figure out what happened is not as important as seeking and doing God's will now. That is wise and biblical. Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight Proverbs 3:5-6. Your renewed mind will be strengthened day by day as you stay in His Word and in prayer. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind Romans 12:2. If you lack wisdom or clarity in any moment, remember, But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him James 1:5.

We are encouraged that you have re-accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and that you pray in His precious and holy name. You are right to do so, for there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved Acts 4:12 and Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me John 14:6. It is only through Jesus that we have access to God, and we praise God that you are calling upon Him.

We pray together for you now.

Father in heaven, we lift up our brother before Your throne of grace in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son. We thank You for sparing his life when his health failed and for bringing him back to Yourself. We thank You that You forgave his many years of wandering and that You have made him new in Christ. Lord, we ask You to forgive all his sins and to heal him, for You are the One who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases Psalm 103:3. We ask for Your healing touch upon his body and his mind, for clarity of thought, for peace when confusion comes, and for strength for each day. We pray that You will keep him free from any desire for alcohol and that You will fill him with Your Holy Spirit instead. Give him a hunger for Your Word and for prayer, and surround him with godly fellowship and caregivers who know You. Teach him to cast all his anxiety on You, because You care for him 1 Peter 5:7, and to experience Your peace which surpasses all understanding guarding his heart and mind in Christ Jesus Philippians 4:7. Guide every step and decision, and let Your will be done in his life as it is in heaven. Help him to keep his eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, and to trust You moment by moment. In Jesus precious and holy name we pray, Amen.

We encourage you to continue each day in simple faith, reading Scripture, praying, giving thanks, and trusting God with the past and the future. Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all his benefits Psalm 103:2. He has blessed you in the past even when you did not see it, and He is blessing you now as you walk with Him. Remain faithful where God has planted you, be a witness of His grace to the staff and residents around you, and keep seeking His guidance. God is great and He is faithful, and He will complete the good work He has begun in you.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for sharing your story so honestly with us. We hear both the gratitude and the confusion in what you wrote, and we are thankful to God with you that you are alive today and seeking to walk with Jesus again after all you have been through.

What you described about that time in March 2023 and waking up months later in a convalescent hospital must still feel disorienting. It makes sense that you would feel baffled at times, and also that you are choosing to focus less on figuring out every detail of the past and more on seeking God's will day by day now. That is a steady and good place to keep your attention.

Living in an assisted facility brings its own adjustments, especially when you are still dealing with physical and mental effects and not able to care for yourself as you once did. We encourage you to keep leaning on the supports around you there. If you have a chaplain, pastor, or trusted staff member, let them know how you are doing spiritually and practically. If health concerns continue, please keep seeing your medical providers alongside prayer. And if there is a recovery group or supportive community available to you, staying connected there can be a real help over time. Healing and growth often come gradually, one faithful step at a time.

Father, we thank You for this brother's life and for drawing him back to Yourself. We ask You to give him daily clarity, peace, and strength, to guard his health, and to guide his steps as he seeks to do Your will. Keep him close to You and surround him with caring help. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[flora]

Praying for this in Jesus Name.

 

[ellie12]

I prayed for this in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your testimony has been heard with thanksgiving to God, who has preserved your life by His grace alone. That you can write of turning your life back over to Jesus Christ and of seeking to do His will, after so long a time of going your own way, is itself evidence of His mercy. Salvation rests not upon the will of man but upon the will of God, and yet when He works by His Spirit He sweetly changes the human will and makes men willing in the day of His power. What you describe, that faint remembrance of yielding yourself again to Christ while still so weak in body, is the Lord's own doing, and He will not despise the work His hands have begun.

You speak truly when you say you are alive by the grace of God. He was near to you in that hospital hallway, though you scarce knew it, and He is near to you still in the assisted facility where you now dwell. He is near at all times and in all places, observing, keeping, ready to interpose and help. You were feeling after Him as one groping in darkness, and He was not far from you. Even when you were indifferent to Him through those forty years, He supplied your breath and kept you in life, and now that you have sought Him He waits to be gracious and gives rest to all who believe in Jesus.

Do not be discouraged because you find yourself weak in body and at times unsure in mind, and unable to care for yourself as once you did. Some weakness is incident to our frail manhood, and other weakness follows upon our own foolish choices, but the Lord has a way of making strength out of weakness. The promise stands, out of weakness were made strong. The strength of His servants often lies where they are weakest, for then they must go to God as to a real God in believing prayer, and He becomes their strength. Beseech Him to increase your faith, your trust in the unseen, your reliance upon His promise and fidelity, and you shall find that even this low and dependent condition becomes a channel for spiritual strength. He will be your keeper when you cannot keep yourself.

You ask rightly how you may know and do His will now. Yield to His superior judgment and lay aside your own reasonings, saying from the heart, Thou shalt guide me. You need not be perplexed by trying to unravel all that has happened. Look rather to what He has plainly shown. Nine times out of ten the Ten Commandments will tell you what you must not do, and you will then know what you may do. Seek His Word daily, imitate the saints of old and above all imitate their Master, asking what would Jesus Christ have done if He had been in your circumstances. The grace of God dethrones obstinacy and gives in its place acquiescence in the divine will, and by that very bowing we are furnished with unerring guidance. He shall guide you with His counsel and afterward receive you to glory, and He will prepare your way as well when you are old and dependent as He did in your youth, even unto your everlasting mansion.

There is no need that you should be afraid to die, though death came so near. Fear of death dishonors our holy religion, but faith drives it out. Death will not separate you from the love of Christ, nor from Christ Himself. He is with you now and He will be with you then, and after death you shall be with Him forever. He loves you today and He will love you tomorrow, in life, in death, and throughout eternity. As your faith grows stronger, that fear will vanish, for to believers death is not a dark terror but an angel from our Father calling us home.

We join our prayers with yours.

O Lord our God, we thank Thee that Thou hast spared this soul and turned his heart again to seek Thy will. Forgive his long years of wandering and his foolish sin, and wash him clean in the blood of Christ who bore our sins in His own body on the tree. By His stripes heal him. Give him clarity of mind where there is confusion, and patience where there is weakness, and make him strong out of weakness by faith in Thy Son. Guide him day by day by Thy counsel, keep him from all evil, and teach him to trust Thee and seek Thy guidance in all things. Let him know Thy nearness, and let Thy will be done in his life as it is in heaven. Sustain him in this place where Thou hast set him, and use him there for Thy glory, until Thou dost bring him safely home. In the precious and holy name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior, we ask it. Amen.

 

[Windwold]

Praying for this in Jesus Name. Amen.