Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden for your friend is a loving and discerning one, and it is right to bring it to the Lord in prayer. You have seen a change that has shocked and saddened you, a turn toward hurt, fear, a desire to get even, and a focus on self that is not like the kind and giving person you have known. Scripture warns that in the last days people will become lovers of themselves, and what you are describing fits that warning. It is painful to watch someone you care about move in that direction.
The Bible teaches that the heart is the real issue of life. Out of the heart flow the issues of life, and what fills the heart will shape words and actions. The heart can be deceitful and cannot be trusted on its own, which is why we are told to guard the heart with all diligence and to ask God to search us and know us. When a person harbors hurt and keeps rehearsing wrongs against a former spouse or loved one, that heaviness makes the heart stoop. Bitterness takes root and the heart begins to turn inward. No one else can fully know that bitterness. Only the one who wears the shoe knows where it pinches, and only God fully sees what is happening inside.
When life is lived on the human plane apart from God, centered on self, on what the eyes desire, on what the flesh craves, and on pride, the end is emptiness. The searcher in Ecclesiastes tried every path of pleasure, achievement, and self satisfaction and found that apart from God it all ends in vanity and vexation of spirit. It promises much but leaves sorrow, restless nights, and a grief that does not satisfy. The gospel of Jesus Christ breaks into that cycle. God does not merely correct behavior from the outside. He writes His law on the heart, He plants His desires within, and He gives a new heart that can love and forgive.
That is why the prayer you are praying is the right one, that God would soften this heart. No one who hardens his heart against God prospers. A hard heart stirs up strife and leads to foolish choices, but a heart that trusts in the Lord is made whole. What God desires is not outward religious performance while the heart remains distant, but a broken and contrite heart that turns to Him in honesty. He knows the heart, He knows weakness, and He receives the person who seeks Him with the whole heart and asks not to wander from His ways.
Continue to be the faithful friend God has called you to be. Scripture says a friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity. Do not forsake friendship in this difficult season. Like ointment and perfume that rejoice the heart, so does the sweetness that comes from sincere counsel and quiet conversation with a friend. A good word can lift a heavy heart. You may not be able to fix what your friend is carrying, but you can keep showing friendly love, speaking truth gently, and pointing toward Christ, who is the friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Pray that God would incline your friend's heart toward His testimonies and away from self seeking, that He would help your friend to put away what is wrong, to turn from vindictiveness to forgiveness, and to find again the joy of delighting in God's commands. Pray for a merry heart that brings health to the soul, and for a sound heart that brings life. And as you pray for your friend, guard your own heart as well, asking the Lord to keep you from bitterness or discouragement and to keep your own heart tender toward Him.
Let us pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus we bring this dear friend before You. You see the hurt and fear and the temptation to hold onto wrongs. You see the vanity and self focus that only leads to emptiness. Soften this heart, Lord. Take away the hardness and grant a broken and contrite spirit that turns fully to You. Write Your word on this heart, teach the mouth through a wise heart, and let pleasant words that are sweet to the soul come forth again. Restore kindness, love, generosity, and understanding. Help this one to trust You and not the own heart, to forgive as You have forgiven, and to walk again in the path of Your commands with delight. Give comfort to the one who is interceding, grant wisdom for every conversation, and keep both hearts close to Jesus. Amen.
The Bible teaches that the heart is the real issue of life. Out of the heart flow the issues of life, and what fills the heart will shape words and actions. The heart can be deceitful and cannot be trusted on its own, which is why we are told to guard the heart with all diligence and to ask God to search us and know us. When a person harbors hurt and keeps rehearsing wrongs against a former spouse or loved one, that heaviness makes the heart stoop. Bitterness takes root and the heart begins to turn inward. No one else can fully know that bitterness. Only the one who wears the shoe knows where it pinches, and only God fully sees what is happening inside.
When life is lived on the human plane apart from God, centered on self, on what the eyes desire, on what the flesh craves, and on pride, the end is emptiness. The searcher in Ecclesiastes tried every path of pleasure, achievement, and self satisfaction and found that apart from God it all ends in vanity and vexation of spirit. It promises much but leaves sorrow, restless nights, and a grief that does not satisfy. The gospel of Jesus Christ breaks into that cycle. God does not merely correct behavior from the outside. He writes His law on the heart, He plants His desires within, and He gives a new heart that can love and forgive.
That is why the prayer you are praying is the right one, that God would soften this heart. No one who hardens his heart against God prospers. A hard heart stirs up strife and leads to foolish choices, but a heart that trusts in the Lord is made whole. What God desires is not outward religious performance while the heart remains distant, but a broken and contrite heart that turns to Him in honesty. He knows the heart, He knows weakness, and He receives the person who seeks Him with the whole heart and asks not to wander from His ways.
Continue to be the faithful friend God has called you to be. Scripture says a friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity. Do not forsake friendship in this difficult season. Like ointment and perfume that rejoice the heart, so does the sweetness that comes from sincere counsel and quiet conversation with a friend. A good word can lift a heavy heart. You may not be able to fix what your friend is carrying, but you can keep showing friendly love, speaking truth gently, and pointing toward Christ, who is the friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Pray that God would incline your friend's heart toward His testimonies and away from self seeking, that He would help your friend to put away what is wrong, to turn from vindictiveness to forgiveness, and to find again the joy of delighting in God's commands. Pray for a merry heart that brings health to the soul, and for a sound heart that brings life. And as you pray for your friend, guard your own heart as well, asking the Lord to keep you from bitterness or discouragement and to keep your own heart tender toward Him.
Let us pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus we bring this dear friend before You. You see the hurt and fear and the temptation to hold onto wrongs. You see the vanity and self focus that only leads to emptiness. Soften this heart, Lord. Take away the hardness and grant a broken and contrite spirit that turns fully to You. Write Your word on this heart, teach the mouth through a wise heart, and let pleasant words that are sweet to the soul come forth again. Restore kindness, love, generosity, and understanding. Help this one to trust You and not the own heart, to forgive as You have forgiven, and to walk again in the path of Your commands with delight. Give comfort to the one who is interceding, grant wisdom for every conversation, and keep both hearts close to Jesus. Amen.
