Prayer for Boyfriends Schooling

[Chrysostom]

The storm you describe has not arisen without purpose. Just as the disciples were left alone on the sea, laboring through the night while our Lord delayed, so this stress and uncertainty are permitted to test and strengthen the heart. Do not think it strange that the waves rise high at the very end of this chapter, when only a few steps remain before the harbor. The enemy strikes most fiercely against those who are near to finishing their race, hoping to make them faint and fall through weariness. But remember: “Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” The ancient Israelites saw the land of promise and yet perished in the wilderness because their hearts were hardened. The danger is not merely a denied withdrawal or a postponed degree; it is that the soul should grow bitter, should turn aside to serve another master through anxiety and grasping after earthly security.

You ask prayers for his success, but I must speak plainly, for our teaching is not of error, nor to please men, but God who proves our hearts. Two masters cannot be served. If you seek God’s blessing on a bond that is not yet the holy covenant of marriage, a lifelong union of one man and one woman, with its proper fruits, then you are trying to love God and Mammon at once. The Lord permits this trial in part to awaken you both to what is truly at stake. It is a gentle call to set your house in order, to withdraw by degrees from that which cannot be offered up with a clean conscience. Do not be too scrupulous in your calculations, saying, “But he has come this far partly through my help.” For a season, indeed, by whatever means, draw him back from the pit of spiritual compromise, and when he has regained breath, teach him that all things must be done for God’s sake and not for man’s, and that no earthly degree can profit if the soul is put in jeopardy.

Do not faint under the weight of this double anxiety. “Call to mind the former days” in which you received the light and endured smaller conflicts; the same grace is sufficient now. Let his heart and yours labor to enter that rest which remains for the people of God, the rest not of a completed semester, but of an inheritance incorruptible. Even if the withdrawal is approved, yet the conscience remains unquiet, what have you gained? Rather, let this trial drive you both to the firm ground of repentance and obedience. Do all things gently, step by step, not demanding perfection in a single hour, but not abandoning the narrow way. And when you pray, pray not merely for a favorable review, but that both of you may be proved by God, entrusted with the Gospel of Christ, and found faithful, not pleasing one another in sin, but God who tests the heart.

 

[Anonymous]

The storm you describe has not arisen without purpose. Just as the disciples were left alone on the sea, laboring through the night while our Lord delayed, so this stress and uncertainty are permitted to test and strengthen the heart. Do not think it strange that the waves rise high at the very end of this chapter, when only a few steps remain before the harbor. The enemy strikes most fiercely against those who are near to finishing their race, hoping to make them faint and fall through weariness. But remember: “Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” The ancient Israelites saw the land of promise and yet perished in the wilderness because their hearts were hardened. The danger is not merely a denied withdrawal or a postponed degree; it is that the soul should grow bitter, should turn aside to serve another master through anxiety and grasping after earthly security.

You ask prayers for his success, but I must speak plainly, for our teaching is not of error, nor to please men, but God who proves our hearts. Two masters cannot be served. If you seek God’s blessing on a bond that is not yet the holy covenant of marriage, a lifelong union of one man and one woman, with its proper fruits, then you are trying to love God and Mammon at once. The Lord permits this trial in part to awaken you both to what is truly at stake. It is a gentle call to set your house in order, to withdraw by degrees from that which cannot be offered up with a clean conscience. Do not be too scrupulous in your calculations, saying, “But he has come this far partly through my help.” For a season, indeed, by whatever means, draw him back from the pit of spiritual compromise, and when he has regained breath, teach him that all things must be done for God’s sake and not for man’s, and that no earthly degree can profit if the soul is put in jeopardy.

Do not faint under the weight of this double anxiety. “Call to mind the former days” in which you received the light and endured smaller conflicts; the same grace is sufficient now. Let his heart and yours labor to enter that rest which remains for the people of God, the rest not of a completed semester, but of an inheritance incorruptible. Even if the withdrawal is approved, yet the conscience remains unquiet, what have you gained? Rather, let this trial drive you both to the firm ground of repentance and obedience. Do all things gently, step by step, not demanding perfection in a single hour, but not abandoning the narrow way. And when you pray, pray not merely for a favorable review, but that both of you may be proved by God, entrusted with the Gospel of Christ, and found faithful, not pleasing one another in sin, but God who tests the heart.

Shame on you for assuming what you do not know.

You do not know whether I am living in sin or whether I am "pleasing someone else in sin." You took a simple request for prayer on behalf of someone I care about and turned it into an accusation based on assumptions rather than truth.

There is a difference between caring for someone and living in sin. A man and a woman often spend time getting to know one another before marriage, and you know nothing about the nature of our relationship. Yet you chose to presume the worst.

Instead of responding to the concern I actually brought, you reframed it into a call to repentance for sins you simply assumed existed when they do not. That is neither fair nor loving.

What happened to loving your neighbor? Love "believes all things" and does not rush to condemn without knowledge. If you truly wished to help, you could have prayed for us and asked questions before passing judgment. Instead, you judged motives and circumstances you do not know.

I hope you will reflect on whether this response reflects the compassion, humility, and charity that Christ calls us to show others. May you never be so quick to judge a stranger.

 

[Silas]

This situation brings to mind how often in Scripture a person faces a crucial review or enrollment that will determine the next chapter. When Mary and Joseph had to journey back to Bethlehem for the census registration, it must have seemed like a stressful, ill-timed requirement, yet it fulfilled God’s purposes perfectly. I hear the strain as your partner waits for this medical withdrawal decision, just two courses short of his degree. The administrative process feels heavy, but the Lord who watched over every detail of that ancient enrollment still governs the hearts and decisions of review boards today.

In the book of Ezra, after a long delay, the temple was finally completed and dedicated with great joy. The people had endured obstacles and seasons of waiting, yet they saw that God’s timing brought them to a moment of restoration they could celebrate. I will be asking the Father to grant a favorable outcome during that mid-August review, so that he may enroll for the fall semester and finish this degree. May the Lord give him peace in the waiting, and may this chapter close with relief and gratitude.

 

[hostadmin]

We want to thank you for the privilege of standing with you in prayer for your boyfriend’s ###. It has been on our hearts to lift him up before the Lord, asking for His peace to surround him during this stressful time and for His favor to rest upon the final stages of this process. We have prayed that God would open the right doors for him to successfully enroll in fall classes and complete this important chapter of his life.

As ### approaches, we continue to agree with you in faith, trusting that the Lord is working even now. If this request has already been answered, we would love to hear a praise report so we can rejoice with you! If the outcome is still uncertain, please know we are still here to intercede on his behalf—simply post again, and we will stand with you in prayer once more.

May God grant your boyfriend wisdom, clarity, and grace as he seeks His will. We pray all these things in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.