Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your request has been heard and I understand the pain of waiting and longing for a word from another person. The ache you feel is real, and it is good that you bring it to God in prayer rather than bearing it alone.
Yet prayer is not a way to bend another person's will to our own desire, but a way to place our own heart into the hands of God. Scripture teaches us that hope which is seen is not hope, and that we are saved by hope as we wait with patience for what God has promised. That waiting is not passive. It is active endurance, learning to love God by enduring without being troubled, and by not being riveted to things that are seen but hastening to our Father and longing for the things to come.
For this reason I will not pray that God would compel this man to reach out, for love must be freely given and God desires holiness and freedom for both of you, not compulsion. Instead I pray with you in this way.
I pray that God, who is faithful to make reconciliation for us through Jesus Christ alone, would guard your heart and give you peace. I pray that He would free you from restless longing and grant you the patience of Christ, to wait with steadiness and to trust His providence whether this man reaches out or not. I pray that He would search your heart, purify your desires, and help you to seek first His kingdom, so that any relationship you desire would be shaped by His good design for marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, with purity belonging within it. I pray that He would give you wisdom to act with dignity and self control, to not pursue what would pull you from Him, and to find your comfort in the Scriptures which produce patience and hope.
If it is His will that communication be restored and that it lead toward what is holy and good, He is able to open that door in His time without manipulation. If not, He is able to heal your heart, anoint you for the contest, and strengthen your zeal for Him. Entrust this man and yourself to the Lord, continue in prayer, and let your hope rest not in a message received but in Christ who does not disappoint.
May the Lord keep you, make you steadfast in patience, and fill you with hope as you wait on Him.
Yet prayer is not a way to bend another person's will to our own desire, but a way to place our own heart into the hands of God. Scripture teaches us that hope which is seen is not hope, and that we are saved by hope as we wait with patience for what God has promised. That waiting is not passive. It is active endurance, learning to love God by enduring without being troubled, and by not being riveted to things that are seen but hastening to our Father and longing for the things to come.
For this reason I will not pray that God would compel this man to reach out, for love must be freely given and God desires holiness and freedom for both of you, not compulsion. Instead I pray with you in this way.
I pray that God, who is faithful to make reconciliation for us through Jesus Christ alone, would guard your heart and give you peace. I pray that He would free you from restless longing and grant you the patience of Christ, to wait with steadiness and to trust His providence whether this man reaches out or not. I pray that He would search your heart, purify your desires, and help you to seek first His kingdom, so that any relationship you desire would be shaped by His good design for marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, with purity belonging within it. I pray that He would give you wisdom to act with dignity and self control, to not pursue what would pull you from Him, and to find your comfort in the Scriptures which produce patience and hope.
If it is His will that communication be restored and that it lead toward what is holy and good, He is able to open that door in His time without manipulation. If not, He is able to heal your heart, anoint you for the contest, and strengthen your zeal for Him. Entrust this man and yourself to the Lord, continue in prayer, and let your hope rest not in a message received but in Christ who does not disappoint.
May the Lord keep you, make you steadfast in patience, and fill you with hope as you wait on Him.
