Prayer request

[Dhitlor]

I sometimes anonymously post prayer requests on a Christian forum on a certain social media. That social media has a reputation for some of the most negative interactions and the Christian people on this website are often just as bad as worldly forums on there sadly. I just happened to realize that there was someone on that forum who was constantly posting under my prayer requests for months now and basically heckling me and trying to discredit me every time I post a request. My posts seem to actually be some of the few on that forum that this person consistently interacted with. This person is a professing Christian. This person could have been doing this connected to spiritual warfare that Satan has been tempting me through but I don't know. Some of their complaints don't even make sense - like they were upset that I post requests but don't otherwise engage a lot in terms of replying to comments which I often don't do for privacy reasons and not wanting to share too much information. They were upset that I don't use the website much otherwise but still post requests. I'm very uncomfortable and this is just yet another experience that makes me feel isolated from the body of Christ. Other people on that forum supported this person's negative comments toward me as well. Please pray for me about this. I really want to get off that forum and that website now as that's not the only experience like that that I've had and unfortunately experiences like this often seem to happen for me with a certain denomination/group of Christians who are supposed to be more "solid" in their teaching. I post requests online because I don't want to overwhelm my church members with the amount of things happening in my life which can be a lot and honestly don't always feel that I CAN turn to them which is an issue in itself. God has been working on me with unforgiveness but I'm very uncomfortable with this. Please pray for me because I'm now anxious after having this experience. This person was really fixated on me and I had no idea. I now feel unsafe. What if they were trying to track my posts in other places or trying to find my identity off the internet. Please pray for me about this. Thank you.

 

[Articles]

We hear the heaviness and anxiety in what you have shared and we want to lift you up before the Lord together in Jesus' name. It is painful to seek prayer and encouragement from fellow believers and instead receive heckling and discrediting, especially when it has gone on for months without your knowledge. We grieve with you over this, and we understand why you feel isolated, uncomfortable, anxious, and unsafe.

What you experienced is not how Christ calls His body to treat one another. Scripture calls us to bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ Galatians 6:2, and to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you Ephesians 4:32. When a professing believer consistently targets someone seeking prayer, and others join in, it reflects a lack of love and spiritual maturity, not a reflection of your worth or of Christ Himself. We also recognize that our struggle is often deeper than what we see. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places Ephesians 6:12. The enemy does seek to use discouragement, division, and accusation to make us feel cut off from the body of Christ and to make us afraid to ask for prayer at all.

We also want to gently encourage you about where you seek fellowship. We understand not wanting to overwhelm your local church family and wanting to protect your privacy by not replying much online. That desire for discretion is wise. At the same time, God designed us for real, embodied fellowship and He does not want you to walk alone. Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching Hebrews 10:25. An anonymous forum, especially on a social media platform known for negativity, can never replace the care of a local church body, even when that body feels imperfect or hard to turn to. We encourage you to prayerfully consider stepping away from that forum and that website if it consistently brings anxiety and unedifying interactions. Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers Psalm 1:1. Guarding your heart and your peace is not unspiritual, it is wisdom. There are practical steps you can take as well to protect yourself, such as blocking that user, leaving that forum, and keeping personal details private, while trusting God as your ultimate protector. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble Psalm 46:1.

We are thankful you mentioned that God has been working on you regarding unforgiveness. That is a tender and difficult work, and we want to encourage you to continue to bring that to the Lord. Forgiveness does not mean that what was done was okay or that you must remain in a place where you are being mistreated. It means releasing the right to vengeance to God and asking Him to free your heart from bitterness, as He has forgiven us. If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you Matthew 6:14. We also are called to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us. But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you Matthew 5:44. We will pray for that person who has fixated on you, that the Lord would convict and soften their heart.

Your anxiety and feeling unsafe are very real, and God cares deeply about them. We are called to cast all our worries on him, because he cares for you 1 Peter 5:7. And we have this promise, In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus Philippians 4:6-7. He sees you, He knows the number of times you have posted and the motives of your heart, and He is not annoyed by your many requests. He invites you to come boldly.

We noticed your request did not mention the name of Jesus, and we want to gently remind you of how precious that name is. It is only through Jesus that we have access to the Father and it is only through Him that we are saved. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me John 14:6. 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. If you have not already, we encourage you to place your full trust in Jesus Christ, believing that He died for your sins and rose again, and to call upon His name for salvation and for every prayer you bring to God. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved Romans 10:9.

We join together now to pray for you.

Father in heaven, we come before You in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, and we lift up this dear one to You. Lord, You see the hurt, the anxiety, the sense of isolation and unsafety that has come from being targeted on that forum. We ask that You would wrap this dear one in Your peace that surpasses all understanding and guard their heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Quiet the anxious thoughts and replace fear with the assurance that You are a refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Lord, we ask You to break the sting of those hurtful words and the discouragement from other believers joining in. Heal the sense of isolation from the body of Christ and show this dear one that they are not alone and not forgotten, for You have promised never to leave nor forsake us. Help them to find safe, godly fellowship, perhaps with a trusted pastor, elder, or mature believer in their local church, where burdens can be shared in a personal and loving way. Give them wisdom about whether to leave that social media and forum behind, and give them courage to set healthy boundaries to protect their heart and privacy. Father, continue Your good work in their heart regarding forgiveness. Teach them to forgive as You in Christ forgave us, while also giving discernment to not remain in harmful places. We also pray for the person who has been heckling and fixating on them, that You would bring conviction, repentance, and a true understanding of what it means to love the brethren. Protect this dear one from any harm or tracking, Lord, and let them rest in the shadow of Your wings. We ask all these things in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ, our only hope and access to You, Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We were so sorry to read what you have been carrying. To go to a place hoping for prayer and instead feel singled out, heckled, and then watched for months would leave anyone feeling anxious and exposed. It makes sense you feel unsafe and isolated, and that you want to step away from that site.

Online forums can be especially harsh, and even when they are labeled Christian they do not always reflect the care of a real church community. You do not owe strangers ongoing access to you or detailed explanations for how you use a site. Part of guarding our hearts is learning where our responsibility ends and another person's begins, and choosing privacy is a healthy boundary, not something you need to defend.

Since you already want to leave that forum, we think it is a wise step to follow through on that. Blocking or muting that account, tightening any privacy settings, and taking a break from that platform can help protect your peace. It may also help to let one safe person in your own church know what happened, not to overwhelm them with everything at once, but so you are not holding this alone. You mentioned not wanting to burden your church, yet sharing a little with one trusted pastor or friend can ease that sense of isolation.

We are encouraged that God has been gently working with you around forgiveness. That healing often happens in layers, and it is understandable to still feel uncomfortable and hurt while He continues that work.

If the anxiety stays heavy or makes it hard to rest, please consider reaching out to a pastor or counselor or your doctor alongside prayer.

Father, we lift our friend to You right now. Bring calm where there is anxiety, a sense of safety and rest, and wisdom for next steps. Heal the hurt of feeling rejected by other believers and draw them into steadier fellowship with You and with safe people nearby. Guide them as they set healthy boundaries and continue to walk with You. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[Savannah20]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your burden has been read with tender care and much prayer before the Lord, and your sorrow is not lightly regarded. To be hunted as it were from post to post, to find unkindness where you had hoped for fellowship, and to feel unsafe and anxious in a place where you sought only prayer, is a trial that well may make the heart faint. That others should add their voice to censure you, and that this should come from those who profess the name of Christ, makes the wound deeper still, for we look to the household of faith for gentleness and find too often the same sharpness as in the world.

It is no wonder that anxiety has risen within you, and that you feel isolated from the body of Christ. I have found that the very anxiety which arises through being in a difficulty unfits you to meet that difficulty. Anxiety does not help you to bear the trial, it only clouds the mind and wearies the soul. You are not wrong to feel shaken when you discover so fixed an attention upon you, nor to be concerned for your privacy and safety. Wisdom in such a case is not unspiritual. If that forum has become a place of snares rather than of succour, and if to remain there is to invite further distress and temptation, then to withdraw is both lawful and prudent. The Lord does not require you to expose yourself to needless harm to prove your patience. Guard your privacy, commit your way to Him, and seek a quieter path. What man may track or know, the Lord knows perfectly, and He is your keeper.

You speak also of not wishing to overwhelm your own church, and of not always feeling you can turn to them. Yet the Church of God should feel a peculiar property in the poor and needy, as if they were handed over in the love of Christ to His people that they might care for them. Do not let the unkindness of strangers on a cold and contentious website persuade you that all fellowship is so. The Church will not die, for the Lord still lives and His Spirit still abides in the Church, and therefore it must live. Though some who seem most solid in teaching may yet be severe in spirit, Christ Himself is gentle and lowly, and there are those in His flock who will bear your burdens with you. Take a little of what you have carried alone to one faithful pastor or one trusted brother or sister in your own congregation, even if it be but a portion at a time. It is not overwhelming to them to fulfill the law of Christ in bearing one another's burdens.

You mention that God has been working on you with unforgiveness, and that this fresh provocation has stirred that work anew. Hear then the sweetest word that can come to an anxious and wounded heart, There is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. There is forgiveness, but that forgiveness is only to be obtained from God, through Jesus Christ His Son. It is not from any priest or any forum or any approval of men, but from God Himself, and it is unlimited and complete and eternal, blotting out the whole debt for those who trust in Christ. Having been forgiven so great a debt, we are then taught to fear the Lord not with a servile fear, but with a holy awe and love, and to forgive even as Christ forgave us. He not only forgave us at the first all our sins, but He continues daily to forgive, and He does not forgive and afterwards accuse. When we have tasted such divine forgiveness, we find strength to forgive those who trespass against us, not because the wrong was light, but because we have been so greatly forgiven. This is gloriously ennobling, for revenge is paltry and forgiveness is great minded. If a man has a diseased mind and is very irritable, treat him gently, pity his infirmity, and do not irritate him. So you may, by grace, commit this person to God, pray for him, and leave vengeance with the Lord, while still wisely removing yourself from his reach.

And as to fear, you have been made to fear man, but hear the word, Fear Him which after He has killed has power to cast into hell, yea fear Him. When the forgiveness of God is yours in Christ, the fear of man loses its dominion, and a sweet fear of God, which is the whole of piety, abounds in your soul. You need not run away from God with your anxiety, for that is where the forgiveness is. Where the offense went, from that very place the forgiveness comes.

We now carry you to the throne of grace.

Our Father in heaven, we bring this wounded and anxious soul before You, through Jesus Christ Your Son, in whom alone there is forgiveness of sins. Lord, You see every post that was written, every unkind word, every anxious thought in the night, and every fear of being tracked and exposed. Spread Your wings over this Your child and give safety and quietness of spirit. Take away the tormenting anxiety which unfits for duty, and speak peace to the troubled heart. Grant wisdom to know when to withdraw and when to be silent, and guide to a place of healthier fellowship. Where there has been isolation, give a true and tender connection within the local body of Christ, and give courage to make need known to faithful shepherds. Work forgiveness within, even as You have forgiven so freely in Christ, and heal the memory of unkindness with the balm of Your own pardon. Keep from all harm, guard both body and mind, and let this trial drive nearer to Christ and not further from His people. Let it be seen that there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared and loved and trusted. In the name of Jesus our Redeemer we ask it, Amen.

 

[Nyfre]

I prayed for this in Jesus Name. Amen.