Silas
Beloved of All
Your honest prayer shows a heart that is anxious and caring, and God sees both the concern you feel for this man and the unrest in your own heart while you wait to hear from him. It is good to bring your worries to the Lord and to ask Him for protection and peace, because He alone can guard a person physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually when you cannot be present.
Scripture teaches that hope sustains us while we wait, and that waiting itself is part of how God works. We hope for what we do not yet see, and therefore we wait for it with patience. James gives the picture of a farmer waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, having long patience until the early and latter rains have done their work. In the same way we are called to be patient and to establish our hearts, trusting that God is working in His own time. Peter reminds us that the Lord is not slow as we count slowness, but is patient, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. That patience is not indifference, it is mercy. And Paul writes that whatever was written before was written for our learning, that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope. When your eyes grow tired from watching and waiting and your soul feels faint, the Word of God is given to teach you about who He is, to give you patience, and to bring comfort and hope. The God of patience is also the God of consolation.
That hope is needed especially when our desires pull us in a direction that is not God's best. Scripture is clear that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and that marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, with intimacy and shared life belonging within that covenant. Because of this, it would not be right to ask God to bless or to strengthen a relationship that involves a married man and a woman who is not his wife. Love that honors God does not pursue what breaks that covenant, even when feelings are strong. To care truly for this man, and for his wife, is to want what is holy and right for them, which is faithfulness within his marriage and clarity and repentance where there has been crossing of boundaries.
Your prayer that he would reach out to his wife is a right desire. It honors the covenant he made before God. Pray that God would work in his heart to love, protect and be faithful to his wife, and to take responsibility for his marriage. For your own heart, pray not that God would keep an unhealthy connection alive, but that He would calm fear, give you patience while you wait on Him rather than on a message from another person, and show you His will for your life. Ask Him to help you step back from seeking reassurance through contact with a married man, and to find reassurance instead in His presence and in His Word.
May the Lord guard this man and his wife and keep them under His grace, and may He also guard you. Pray that each of you would seek Jesus first, trust His forgiveness and grace made possible through the cross, and walk in obedience. As you wait, open the Scriptures daily, let them instruct you and comfort you, and ask God to establish your heart in hope. He is faithful, He sees what you cannot see, and He will bring His work to pass in His perfect time.
Scripture teaches that hope sustains us while we wait, and that waiting itself is part of how God works. We hope for what we do not yet see, and therefore we wait for it with patience. James gives the picture of a farmer waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, having long patience until the early and latter rains have done their work. In the same way we are called to be patient and to establish our hearts, trusting that God is working in His own time. Peter reminds us that the Lord is not slow as we count slowness, but is patient, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. That patience is not indifference, it is mercy. And Paul writes that whatever was written before was written for our learning, that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope. When your eyes grow tired from watching and waiting and your soul feels faint, the Word of God is given to teach you about who He is, to give you patience, and to bring comfort and hope. The God of patience is also the God of consolation.
That hope is needed especially when our desires pull us in a direction that is not God's best. Scripture is clear that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and that marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, with intimacy and shared life belonging within that covenant. Because of this, it would not be right to ask God to bless or to strengthen a relationship that involves a married man and a woman who is not his wife. Love that honors God does not pursue what breaks that covenant, even when feelings are strong. To care truly for this man, and for his wife, is to want what is holy and right for them, which is faithfulness within his marriage and clarity and repentance where there has been crossing of boundaries.
Your prayer that he would reach out to his wife is a right desire. It honors the covenant he made before God. Pray that God would work in his heart to love, protect and be faithful to his wife, and to take responsibility for his marriage. For your own heart, pray not that God would keep an unhealthy connection alive, but that He would calm fear, give you patience while you wait on Him rather than on a message from another person, and show you His will for your life. Ask Him to help you step back from seeking reassurance through contact with a married man, and to find reassurance instead in His presence and in His Word.
May the Lord guard this man and his wife and keep them under His grace, and may He also guard you. Pray that each of you would seek Jesus first, trust His forgiveness and grace made possible through the cross, and walk in obedience. As you wait, open the Scriptures daily, let them instruct you and comfort you, and ask God to establish your heart in hope. He is faithful, He sees what you cannot see, and He will bring His work to pass in His perfect time.
