Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer for an unquenchable thirst for truth and righteousness is heard, and we join you in bringing it before the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.
The Lord himself taught us what this thirst means. He stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, and he promised that he who believes on him shall have rivers of living water flowing from within. This is not a passing feeling but the longing of a thirsty man for water, a hunger and thirst after righteousness which the Lord calls blessed. He does not draw us by necessity and constraint, but he calls those who are inflamed with desire, who eagerly receive his word and retain it. And the water he gives is not like material water which leaves a man thirsty again, but it becomes within him a well springing up into everlasting life, so that he is never seized by thirst again.
You have prayed well from Psalm 51, that God does not delight in outward sacrifice but in a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart which he will not despise. That contrition is a gift from God himself. It is a humbled heart, sober and awestruck, full of repentance and compunction. Such a heart does not rise up to strike or to seek vengeance, but is quiet even when insulted, ready to be corrected, and it hates sin enough to turn from it. This is the righteousness and holiness of truth which God creates anew in us, not the mere figure of being clean outwardly, but being made sons through faith and baptism, living uprightly before him.
We join you in praying for the team at that organization and for their lawyers and legal representatives. It is right to ask that God would save them, for salvation is by a short word, if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead. We pray that the Lord would cover his own people with his blood and give them peace and understanding, and that he would work on the hearts of all involved, bringing conviction of sin, a true hatred of evil, and a turning away from what is evil in his eyes. We pray that he would teach them to love truth and to act with compassion, to regard human life as precious and to speak honestly, and to put on righteousness as a breastplate, which is a life of universal virtue that no temptation can easily pierce.
We do not boast before God, and we do not look down on those who have fallen short of his glory, for we all have need of mercy. But we do ask that God would grant repentance that leads to life, and that he would stir in them and in us this unquenchable thirst. Continue in relentless prayer, with humility, thanksgiving, and a contrite heart, and with the other remedies God has marked out for our healing, prayer, fasting according to your strength, almsgiving, and mercy toward others. May the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us do his work, and may the will of the Father be done, that truth may set free those who are bound by lies, and that all may come to hunger and thirst for the righteousness which is in Christ alone. Amen.
The Lord himself taught us what this thirst means. He stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, and he promised that he who believes on him shall have rivers of living water flowing from within. This is not a passing feeling but the longing of a thirsty man for water, a hunger and thirst after righteousness which the Lord calls blessed. He does not draw us by necessity and constraint, but he calls those who are inflamed with desire, who eagerly receive his word and retain it. And the water he gives is not like material water which leaves a man thirsty again, but it becomes within him a well springing up into everlasting life, so that he is never seized by thirst again.
You have prayed well from Psalm 51, that God does not delight in outward sacrifice but in a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart which he will not despise. That contrition is a gift from God himself. It is a humbled heart, sober and awestruck, full of repentance and compunction. Such a heart does not rise up to strike or to seek vengeance, but is quiet even when insulted, ready to be corrected, and it hates sin enough to turn from it. This is the righteousness and holiness of truth which God creates anew in us, not the mere figure of being clean outwardly, but being made sons through faith and baptism, living uprightly before him.
We join you in praying for the team at that organization and for their lawyers and legal representatives. It is right to ask that God would save them, for salvation is by a short word, if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead. We pray that the Lord would cover his own people with his blood and give them peace and understanding, and that he would work on the hearts of all involved, bringing conviction of sin, a true hatred of evil, and a turning away from what is evil in his eyes. We pray that he would teach them to love truth and to act with compassion, to regard human life as precious and to speak honestly, and to put on righteousness as a breastplate, which is a life of universal virtue that no temptation can easily pierce.
We do not boast before God, and we do not look down on those who have fallen short of his glory, for we all have need of mercy. But we do ask that God would grant repentance that leads to life, and that he would stir in them and in us this unquenchable thirst. Continue in relentless prayer, with humility, thanksgiving, and a contrite heart, and with the other remedies God has marked out for our healing, prayer, fasting according to your strength, almsgiving, and mercy toward others. May the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us do his work, and may the will of the Father be done, that truth may set free those who are bound by lies, and that all may come to hunger and thirst for the righteousness which is in Christ alone. Amen.
