Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a heart that wants what God Himself desires, that people would know the truth and hunger for what is right. It is right to bring this burden to the Lord Jesus, for He alone can change a heart.
Scripture says the truth will make you free, and Jesus is that truth. In a society that is deeply corrupted, outward learning and position offer no guarantee of righteousness. God does not look as we look. We look on outward appearance, on education and titles, but the Lord looks on the heart. He knows what is in every heart, and His judgment is always according to truth, even when our own perceptions are faulty.
You noted that even those trained in the law can do what is evil in God's sight. That is true, because righteousness does not come by keeping a law or by human wisdom. Many try to establish their own righteousness and remain ignorant of the righteousness God provides through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says with the heart a person believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. It is not outward performance that God delights in. As you quoted from Psalm 51, God does not delight in outward sacrifice alone, but in a broken and contrite heart. That is the sacrifice He will not despise, a heart that truly sees its sin, grieves over it, and turns from it.
That kind of sight comes when God reveals Himself to us. When we see ourselves in His light, we see that our own righteousness is not enough and that in our flesh there is no good thing. That revelation creates a true hunger and thirst after His righteousness. Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. This is a spiritual thirst. Just as physical water leaves a person thirsty again, so every earthly pursuit leaves the soul dry. Only Christ can satisfy the inner thirst of the heart. When that hunger is awakened, God promises to fill it.
It is also right to pray that those who have been deceptive or hard hearted would come to hate their sin and turn from it. The heart can become hardened by repeatedly choosing what is wrong, and at times God confirms a person in the hardness they have chosen. Yet while there is life, there is hope that God will soften and open a heart. Pray that He would do that work, that He would plant truth deep within and lead them to walk in the path of righteousness. The lip of truth endures forever, but a lie lasts only for a moment. God delights in truth in the inward parts, and He desires honest speech that flows from a clean heart.
We do long to see a world filled with righteousness, love and peace, but that cannot come while the enemy still deceives. True righteousness and peace have no end only in the redemption that is ours through Jesus Christ. Apart from Him there is no lasting change.
So continue to pray as you are praying. Ask the Lord to cover His own people with the blood of Jesus and to give them peace and understanding. Ask Him to draw those who are still bound by lies to salvation through Jesus alone, to give them a broken spirit, to create in them a pure heart that can truly see God, and to give them an unquenchable thirst for what is true and right. Ask Him to guard your own heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life, and to search you and try you and lead you in the everlasting way.
May the Lord hear your intercession, answer according to His perfect will, and fill all who truly hunger for His righteousness.
Scripture says the truth will make you free, and Jesus is that truth. In a society that is deeply corrupted, outward learning and position offer no guarantee of righteousness. God does not look as we look. We look on outward appearance, on education and titles, but the Lord looks on the heart. He knows what is in every heart, and His judgment is always according to truth, even when our own perceptions are faulty.
You noted that even those trained in the law can do what is evil in God's sight. That is true, because righteousness does not come by keeping a law or by human wisdom. Many try to establish their own righteousness and remain ignorant of the righteousness God provides through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says with the heart a person believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. It is not outward performance that God delights in. As you quoted from Psalm 51, God does not delight in outward sacrifice alone, but in a broken and contrite heart. That is the sacrifice He will not despise, a heart that truly sees its sin, grieves over it, and turns from it.
That kind of sight comes when God reveals Himself to us. When we see ourselves in His light, we see that our own righteousness is not enough and that in our flesh there is no good thing. That revelation creates a true hunger and thirst after His righteousness. Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. This is a spiritual thirst. Just as physical water leaves a person thirsty again, so every earthly pursuit leaves the soul dry. Only Christ can satisfy the inner thirst of the heart. When that hunger is awakened, God promises to fill it.
It is also right to pray that those who have been deceptive or hard hearted would come to hate their sin and turn from it. The heart can become hardened by repeatedly choosing what is wrong, and at times God confirms a person in the hardness they have chosen. Yet while there is life, there is hope that God will soften and open a heart. Pray that He would do that work, that He would plant truth deep within and lead them to walk in the path of righteousness. The lip of truth endures forever, but a lie lasts only for a moment. God delights in truth in the inward parts, and He desires honest speech that flows from a clean heart.
We do long to see a world filled with righteousness, love and peace, but that cannot come while the enemy still deceives. True righteousness and peace have no end only in the redemption that is ours through Jesus Christ. Apart from Him there is no lasting change.
So continue to pray as you are praying. Ask the Lord to cover His own people with the blood of Jesus and to give them peace and understanding. Ask Him to draw those who are still bound by lies to salvation through Jesus alone, to give them a broken spirit, to create in them a pure heart that can truly see God, and to give them an unquenchable thirst for what is true and right. Ask Him to guard your own heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life, and to search you and try you and lead you in the everlasting way.
May the Lord hear your intercession, answer according to His perfect will, and fill all who truly hunger for His righteousness.
