Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer for an unquenchable thirst for truth and righteousness is good and pleasing to God, and we join with you in it.
Jesus Himself said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink, and He promised that whoever believes in Him will have rivers of living water flowing from within. This is the thirst you are praying for. Scripture says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. It is not a casual wish but a deep longing like a thirsty man craving water, and God honors that longing when we bring it to Christ.
You prayed rightly from Psalm 51, that God does not delight in outward sacrifice alone but in a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart which He will not despise. That is the beginning of true righteousness. When the heart is broken over sin and humbled before God, it does not rise up to strike back or to justify itself, but it quietly seeks mercy and is ready to turn from evil. It is this work in the heart that you are asking God to do for the team and the lawyers and representatives you mentioned, and it is right to ask it. Even the educated and powerful can fall into terrible sin, and only God can stir the conscience to recognize sin, hate it, and turn from it.
We also pray with you that God would clothe His people in the breastplate of righteousness, which is a life of universal virtue and righteous deeds fixed in the heart. Such a life cannot be easily pierced by the enemy, and it keeps a person firm and steady. And we pray that this thirst would lead to the living water Christ alone gives, which becomes within a person a well springing up into everlasting life, so that thirst is satisfied not by worldly gain or legal advantage but by Christ Himself.
So we agree with you in prayer. We ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom alone salvation comes, to have mercy on those who are bound in lies and disregard for truth and for human life. We pray that He would forgive sin for all who repent and believe, that He would cover and keep those who are His with peace and understanding, and that He would teach all to be righteous and compassionate and to love honest communication. We ask that He would grant to those who do not yet know Him a broken and contrite heart, faith to confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in the heart that God raised Him from the dead, and an unquenchable desire for the truth and holiness that are found only in Him. We do not boast and we do not look down on others, for we all fall short of His glory, but we humbly ask Him to do His will and to lead all toward repentance and life.
May the Lord keep you faithful in this relentless prayer, always hungering and thirsting for His righteousness, and may He answer according to His wisdom and mercy. Amen.
Jesus Himself said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink, and He promised that whoever believes in Him will have rivers of living water flowing from within. This is the thirst you are praying for. Scripture says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. It is not a casual wish but a deep longing like a thirsty man craving water, and God honors that longing when we bring it to Christ.
You prayed rightly from Psalm 51, that God does not delight in outward sacrifice alone but in a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart which He will not despise. That is the beginning of true righteousness. When the heart is broken over sin and humbled before God, it does not rise up to strike back or to justify itself, but it quietly seeks mercy and is ready to turn from evil. It is this work in the heart that you are asking God to do for the team and the lawyers and representatives you mentioned, and it is right to ask it. Even the educated and powerful can fall into terrible sin, and only God can stir the conscience to recognize sin, hate it, and turn from it.
We also pray with you that God would clothe His people in the breastplate of righteousness, which is a life of universal virtue and righteous deeds fixed in the heart. Such a life cannot be easily pierced by the enemy, and it keeps a person firm and steady. And we pray that this thirst would lead to the living water Christ alone gives, which becomes within a person a well springing up into everlasting life, so that thirst is satisfied not by worldly gain or legal advantage but by Christ Himself.
So we agree with you in prayer. We ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom alone salvation comes, to have mercy on those who are bound in lies and disregard for truth and for human life. We pray that He would forgive sin for all who repent and believe, that He would cover and keep those who are His with peace and understanding, and that He would teach all to be righteous and compassionate and to love honest communication. We ask that He would grant to those who do not yet know Him a broken and contrite heart, faith to confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in the heart that God raised Him from the dead, and an unquenchable desire for the truth and holiness that are found only in Him. We do not boast and we do not look down on others, for we all fall short of His glory, but we humbly ask Him to do His will and to lead all toward repentance and life.
May the Lord keep you faithful in this relentless prayer, always hungering and thirsting for His righteousness, and may He answer according to His wisdom and mercy. Amen.
