Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a right understanding of what every person needs most, an unquenchable thirst for truth and righteousness that only God can give.
Scripture shows that man is body, soul, and spirit, and each part has its own thirst. There is physical thirst, there is emotional thirst for love and meaning and security, and deeper still there is spiritual thirst for God Himself. Jesus told the woman at the well that whoever drinks of ordinary water will thirst again. That is true of every physical and earthly pursuit. Degrees, accomplishments, knowledge of the law, success in profession, none of these can satisfy the inner thirst or make a person righteous before God. As you noted, education does not produce righteousness. Jesus said that if anyone thirsts, let him come to Him and drink, because He alone is the source of living water that becomes within a person a well springing up into everlasting life.
That spiritual thirst is really a thirst for a right relationship with God. David expressed it when he said as the deer pants after the water brooks, so his soul pants after God. We try to fill that thirst with many other things, but they do not satisfy. Only Jesus can quench it because He is God, and those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
You prayed Psalm 51, that God does not delight in outward sacrifice but in a broken spirit and a contrite heart. That is exactly what God looks for. True revelation of God brings true revelation of ourselves. When we see ourselves in His light we realize our own righteousness is as filthy rags and that in our flesh dwells no good thing. That realization creates a hunger and thirst after His righteousness, not our own. Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. That hunger is the turning point that drives a person to Jesus Christ for the righteousness that comes only by grace through faith in Him.
Scripture makes clear that righteousness is not attained by keeping the law or by establishing our own standard. Israel sought righteousness by the law and did not attain it, while those who did not seek it that way attained the righteousness which is by faith. God accounts faith for righteousness. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Our own righteousness will never exceed what is required, Jesus said our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, and that is only possible when we are found in Him, not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ upon all who believe.
You also prayed that the truth would set them free. Jesus said His words are truth and they remain forever. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the truth in our hearts and seals it there. To love in truth and to walk in truth is the greatest joy, and the truth dwells in us and shall be with us forever. When God works in a heart He stirs that love for truth and makes a person hate sin enough to turn from it. At times God even allows difficulty and judgment in the land to awaken people and turn them toward righteousness.
We join you in praying that God would do this work in the hearts of these lawyers and all involved. That He would grant them a broken and contrite heart, open their eyes to see their need, give them a genuine thirst for Him, and reveal to them that forgiveness and righteousness are found only through the blood of Jesus Christ. We pray they would come to thirst for Him, drink of the living water, receive the righteousness that comes by faith, and walk in truth and compassion. Only through Christ will there be that world of righteousness and peace for which we long, for of the increase of His righteousness and peace there shall be no end.
We thank God that His Holy Spirit intercedes continually, and we trust His will and His redemption, which is so beautifully pictured in the story of Ruth, to accomplish what only He can do. May the Lord cover those who are His with peace and understanding, and may He mercifully draw those who do not yet know Him to Himself.
Scripture shows that man is body, soul, and spirit, and each part has its own thirst. There is physical thirst, there is emotional thirst for love and meaning and security, and deeper still there is spiritual thirst for God Himself. Jesus told the woman at the well that whoever drinks of ordinary water will thirst again. That is true of every physical and earthly pursuit. Degrees, accomplishments, knowledge of the law, success in profession, none of these can satisfy the inner thirst or make a person righteous before God. As you noted, education does not produce righteousness. Jesus said that if anyone thirsts, let him come to Him and drink, because He alone is the source of living water that becomes within a person a well springing up into everlasting life.
That spiritual thirst is really a thirst for a right relationship with God. David expressed it when he said as the deer pants after the water brooks, so his soul pants after God. We try to fill that thirst with many other things, but they do not satisfy. Only Jesus can quench it because He is God, and those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
You prayed Psalm 51, that God does not delight in outward sacrifice but in a broken spirit and a contrite heart. That is exactly what God looks for. True revelation of God brings true revelation of ourselves. When we see ourselves in His light we realize our own righteousness is as filthy rags and that in our flesh dwells no good thing. That realization creates a hunger and thirst after His righteousness, not our own. Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. That hunger is the turning point that drives a person to Jesus Christ for the righteousness that comes only by grace through faith in Him.
Scripture makes clear that righteousness is not attained by keeping the law or by establishing our own standard. Israel sought righteousness by the law and did not attain it, while those who did not seek it that way attained the righteousness which is by faith. God accounts faith for righteousness. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Our own righteousness will never exceed what is required, Jesus said our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, and that is only possible when we are found in Him, not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ upon all who believe.
You also prayed that the truth would set them free. Jesus said His words are truth and they remain forever. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the truth in our hearts and seals it there. To love in truth and to walk in truth is the greatest joy, and the truth dwells in us and shall be with us forever. When God works in a heart He stirs that love for truth and makes a person hate sin enough to turn from it. At times God even allows difficulty and judgment in the land to awaken people and turn them toward righteousness.
We join you in praying that God would do this work in the hearts of these lawyers and all involved. That He would grant them a broken and contrite heart, open their eyes to see their need, give them a genuine thirst for Him, and reveal to them that forgiveness and righteousness are found only through the blood of Jesus Christ. We pray they would come to thirst for Him, drink of the living water, receive the righteousness that comes by faith, and walk in truth and compassion. Only through Christ will there be that world of righteousness and peace for which we long, for of the increase of His righteousness and peace there shall be no end.
We thank God that His Holy Spirit intercedes continually, and we trust His will and His redemption, which is so beautifully pictured in the story of Ruth, to accomplish what only He can do. May the Lord cover those who are His with peace and understanding, and may He mercifully draw those who do not yet know Him to Himself.
