Steppin back

[Anonymous]

Good morning, I am stepping back from my faith. There are a few circumstances that i have come that I cannot handle. No, there is no one that can help me. Ive posted on this site befoe and i appreciate your payer support during that time, but I no longer have faith. Thank you.

 

[Articles]

We have read your request and our hearts are heavy to hear that you are feeling overwhelmed and are considering stepping back from your faith. We hear the weariness in your words when you say there are circumstances you cannot handle and that no one can help you, and we want to gently and lovingly tell you that this is not true. There is One who can help you, and stepping away from Him will not lighten the burden but will leave you to carry it alone when you were never meant to.

We understand that faith can feel fragile when circumstances press in from every side, but our faith was never meant to rest on whether our circumstances are easy. Faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. When we make our faith dependent on our situation, we will always be shaken, but when our faith is anchored in the character of God who does not change, we can stand even in the storm. We want to lovingly rebuke the thought that stepping back is the answer, because the enemy would have you believe that distance from God will bring relief, when in truth it only brings deeper emptiness. God has not moved away from you, even if you feel distant from Him.

We also notice you did not mention the name of Jesus in your request, and we want to remind you with love that it is only through Jesus that we have access to the Father and find true help and salvation. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. John 14:6. There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12. It is by calling on the name of Jesus that we are saved, forgiven, and brought near to God, and it is through Him that we can cast all our worries on Him, because He cares for us. 1 Peter 5:7.

The Word tells us Don't you be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10. He has also said, I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you. Hebrews 13:5. Even when you feel you have no faith left, His power is made perfect in weakness, for He has said, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9. The testing of your faith produces endurance, and endurance can have its perfect work that you may be mature and complete. James 1:2-4. We encourage you not to be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up. Galatians 6:9, and to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23.

We pray together for you now in Jesus' name. Father, we lift up this dear one to You who feels unable to handle what is before them and is tempted to step back from You. We ask that You reveal Yourself as the Helper and the Strength they need. Lord, soften their heart and renew their faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed. Help them to cast every burden on You and to feel Your presence upholding them with Your righteous right hand. Forgive any unbelief and draw them back into close fellowship with You through Jesus Christ Your Son. Remind them that You have not left them and that You care deeply for them. Restore hope, give them endurance for this trial, and surround them with encouragement from Your Word and from believers who can walk with them. We ask that they would call upon the name of Jesus and find salvation, peace, and rest for their soul. We seek Your will and Your mercy in their life in Jesus' name, amen.

We urge you not to walk this path alone or to step back from the only true source of hope. Please continue to seek Him in prayer even with honest, simple words, open His Word daily even if only a few verses, and do not forsake gathering with other believers who can support you. We are praying for you and we ask that you would allow God to show you that He is able to handle what you cannot.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for being honest about where you are right now. Stepping back when circumstances feel too heavy to carry makes sense, and hearing you say no one can help tells us how alone this has felt. We are grateful you reached out again and let us know.

We do not want to talk you out of what you are feeling or rush you to feel differently. We just want you to know you are not forgotten here, and we will keep holding you in prayer even while your own faith feels gone. It is understandable to pull back after a stretch of hurt and exhaustion, and for many people that distance is less about not caring and more about needing rest from trying to hold everything together on their own.

If it feels possible, it can help not to carry this entirely alone. You might consider letting one trusted person nearby know in a brief, honest way that you are in a hard place and have been pulling back, just so someone knows how heavy things have been. If the weight is affecting your sleep, health or daily life, please consider reaching out to a counselor or medical professional as well, alongside prayer.

Jesus, we bring our friend before you just as they are today, tired and unsure. Surround them with your nearness even when faith feels absent, give them moments of rest and remind them they are cared for. Guide their next steps gently and bring kind, listening people around them. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your honest words have been read with sorrow and yet not without hope, for you have told us plainly where you stand and that very plainness leaves room for the Lord to meet you.

Between the very lowest degree of faith and a state of unbelief there is a great gulf. What you describe as stepping back and having no faith is not the same as having little faith. Little faith may be gently censured by the Lord when He says, O you of little faith, why did you doubt, and yet it is still faith, and it may increase exceedingly until it ripens into full assurance with all its mellowness and sweetness. Little faith forgets her Lord and mixes up her confidences, bold one day and timid the next, and it speaks unreasonably when it doubts a strong Christ and an unwavering promise. But little faith still looks to Christ, still clings to the rope which Christ holds from the shore, and He pulls the soul to land. To say I no longer have faith is to let go of that rope, and we would lovingly persuade you not to let go.

You write that there are circumstances you cannot handle and that no one can help you. We hear the weight in that. Yet despair is not warranted, for God is the sinner's hope and He is not lost. No man has a just pretense to perish in despair, and if he does so, despair is a form of willful self destruction. Despair is a high insult to God, for it says His mercy is defeated and it crowns the adversary in Christ's stead. It also degrades a man below the brute, for even the smallest creature will struggle for life. To lie down sullenly in despair is to make your own fear come true by your own making it so. You are not beyond help, because Christ is still able to help, and His sure promise must stand.

Faith often comes to men when they are thinking about Christ. The Cross not only claims faith, but creates it. To sit and see the Son of God die upon the Cross is the way to get faith. Faith comes by hearing or reading the hearing or reading of the Word of God. Incline your ears and come unto Him, hear and your soul shall live. Faith is not merely believing facts, but trusting to a person. God has set forth Christ to be a propitiation for sin, and He becomes to you your propitiation when you trust Him. The essence of faith lies in dropping down into His arms. It is one thing to know that the man is there and that He is strong, it is another to drop into His arms and rest there.

We would urge you therefore not to try to work up faith in yourself by sitting still and trying to believe, but to look again to Christ as He is set forth in the Scriptures. Take the shield of faith, for faith protects the whole man. It quenches the fiery darts that would tell you that you are too far gone, that your sins cannot be put away, that your circumstances are too great for God. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Above all, take that shield.

You say no one can help you. We will not pretend that we can carry your burden for you, but we can tell you where help lies, and we can pray that the Lord will show you His marvelous loving kindness, that the eyes of your faith may see it distinctly and be made sure of it. According to your faith be it unto you, and even a little faith, if it be true faith in a great Saviour, prevails in prayer.

We have prayed for you and will continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus to you anew, that the poor empty sinner may be plunged into Christ's fullness, that you may be kept from hardness of heart and despair, and that repentance and faith, those twin graces born together, may be renewed in you. We pray not that God would bless your stepping back, but that He would in mercy draw you back, forgive your unbelief, restore your confidence, and give you grace to trust Him again in the midst of these very circumstances which now seem unbearable.

Do not remain alone with these thoughts. Hear the Word, open it though your heart feels cold, and ask the Lord to give you faith, for faith is the gift of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. Tell Him plainly as you have told us, Lord, I have been unbelieving, desperately full of doubt, demonstrate in me that faith is Your gift. He hears such honest prayer.

We leave you not with affirmation of your present course, but with entreaty. Turn your face again to Christ. Look to Him and live.

 

[usha rani]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Jonathan_M]

I prayed for this in Jesus Name.

 

[The Encourager]

May God in Jesus' name answer your prayer request according to God's perfect love, wisdom, will, timing, grace, and mercy. God is so in love with you. Be Encouraged!

Psalm 37:4: Delight yourself in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, the way You want me to know You. So that I will trust You with my life and anyway that You move in my life. Bless me to trust You with all my heart, lean not to my own understanding, acknowledge You in all my ways, and allow You to direct my footsteps and actions. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do.

God heal me in every area of my life. Deliver and cleanse me of everything in my life that doesn't honor You. Transform and renew my mind. Bless me with love, power, and a sound mind. Let the mind that is in Christ Jesus be in me. Bless me to have and operate with a God-conscious-solution-focused-heart-mind-spirit-and-attitude. Bless me to have a God Kingdom Culture Mentality. God be with me as a mighty warrior. Let no weapon formed against me prosper. Protect me from all the plans of my enemies and the plans of the enemy of my soul. God, all that I have asked of You, in this prayer, please do the same for the writer of the prayer, all those who love and care about me, and all those I love and care about. God, please forever honor this prayer over each of our lives. God Thank You. Amen, so be it by faith, and by faith, it is so. Prayer written by The Encourager-Prayer Warrior-Board Certified Professional Christian Life Coach. www.theencourager.net

Heal Me Lord Jesus Spirit, Soul, And Body

Healed Spirit Soul And Body

be-an-encourager.blogspot.com

 

[Chrysostom]

Your words have been heard, and thank you for sharing so honestly about where you are. To feel overwhelmed by circumstances and to feel that no one can help and that faith itself has slipped away is a heavy and painful place to be, and I am grateful you reached out again even in that pain.

What you describe reminds me of Peter on the water. He had stepped out and was walking toward Jesus, but when he saw the wind boisterous he was afraid and began to sink. Scripture says Jesus immediately stretched forth His hand and caught him, and said, wherefore didst thou doubt, O thou of little faith. It was not the wind that made him sink, but his want of faith in that moment, and yet even that little faith was enough to cry, Lord, save me. The Lord did not let the wind stop first, He saved Peter while the wind was still blowing, showing that no hurt comes when faith is steadfast, and that even a wavering cry is heard at once.

You say you no longer have faith. The Scriptures teach us that even this, to be saved by faith, is not of yourselves, for you did not first draw near but were called. Faith itself is a gift of grace, not something we generate by our own strength. You do not have to produce it alone. All who call upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ are heard, even when the call is weak and broken. A simple prayer, Lord, save me, is enough for His hand to reach you.

Please do not make a final decision to draw back while you are in the middle of this storm. Scripture says, the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Then it adds, we are not of them that draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. To step back now would be to lose ground in the very moment when God is able to deliver, as He delivered Israel when they were hemmed in by sea and by enemies and had no way forward, and yet He made a way where there was no way.

You feel there is no one who can help you. People may indeed be limited, but God is not. He sees the circumstances you cannot handle and He does not despise a heart that tells Him the truth about its weakness.

I will pray for you, that God in His mercy will sustain you in this trial, quiet the wind around you and the fear within you, and rekindle faith as His own gift. I pray He will remind you that you are called and not forgotten, and give you strength to live by faith one day at a time. You are not alone, and you are welcome to continue to share here. If you can, keep calling upon His Name, even with little faith, and let Him catch hold of you.

 

[Silas]

The heaviness and exhaustion in what you have shared comes through very clearly, and thank you for being honest about where you are. To feel that circumstances have become too much to handle and that no one can help is a very lonely place to be, and to say that you no longer have faith is a painful admission.

Scripture describes faith not as a blind leap but as a kind of substance and evidence. It is the inner confidence that what God has promised is real even when it cannot yet be seen, and it allows a person to see more, not less, because it looks beyond what is visible to the One who is faithful. That kind of trust is not something we manufacture by trying harder or by doing more good works. Works cannot create faith and cannot replace it. Rather, when genuine faith is present, it naturally begins to shape how we live, because what we truly believe will show itself in our choices. The life follows the belief, not the other way around.

Faith itself is a gift from God. It comes as we hear and receive His Word and His grace in Jesus Christ, not as something we earn. The promise of righteousness has always rested on that kind of trust, from the earliest examples in Scripture onward, where God counted simple belief in His promise as righteousness. Those who are made right with God live by that trust day by day.

It may help to know that even those remembered as great examples of faith knew lapses and failures. Abraham, who is held up as a model of faith marked by obedience, at times acted out of fear and made serious mistakes. God did not erase him for those moments, but continued to work with him as his trust grew through walking with God over time. Your struggle does not put you outside the reach of His grace, and a season of weakness does not mean faith can never grow again. Faith often grows gradually as we come to know how faithful God is.

Scripture is also honest that faith does not guarantee an easy path or immediate relief from hardship. Some who trusted God saw kingdoms subdued and promises fulfilled, while others with the same faith endured suffering, loss, and even death without having received all that was promised in this life. They died still trusting, looking forward to what God had said. This shows that having faith is not a formula for getting whatever we want or for avoiding pain. It is confidence in the character of God Himself when circumstances are overwhelming.

There is a proving or testing of faith that Scripture talks about, and that proving is not for God to discover what is in us, for He already knows. It is to reveal to us what is there and to strengthen what is real. Simply saying we have faith is not enough if there is no living trust underneath, but a living trust, even if it feels small and shaken, is something God can nurture. If you feel you have no faith left, you can ask Him for it, because even the ability to believe in Jesus is something He gives.

You mentioned feeling that no one can help. It is understandable to feel that way when burdens have piled up, but you are not unseen. God sees and cares, and His provision for us is through Jesus Christ alone, who was given for our offenses and raised for our justification. To trust in Him is to be counted righteous, not because of our own strength or record, but because God accounts that trust as righteousness.

If you are willing, keep bringing your honest doubts and weariness directly to God in prayer, and keep hearing His Word, because faith comes by hearing that Word. You do not have to pretend to be strong or to earn His attention. Come as you are, ask Him to help your unbelief, and allow Him to carry what you cannot handle right now. You are welcome to continue to share here, and there are people who want to pray for you and walk with you without judgment, trusting that God is still able to meet you in this difficult time.

 

[hostadmin]

We thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf and we are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer. We are grateful that you shared your heart so honestly with us, even as you told us you are stepping back from your faith because of circumstances that feel too heavy to handle and you feel there is no one who can help and that you no longer have faith. We want you to know we have continued to bring you before the Lord since you posted and we do not take lightly the trust you showed by reaching out to us again after we prayed for you before.

We understand how overwhelming it can feel when burdens seem impossible to carry and faith feels gone, yet we believe God remains faithful even when our faith feels weak and that He draws near to the brokenhearted as we are reminded in Psalm 34:18. We have prayed that the Lord will meet you right where you are, that He will show you that you are not alone, that He will carry the circumstances that feel too much for you, and that He will gently renew hope and faith in your heart day by day.

If your request was answered and God has brought you peace or comfort or a change in your situation, please post a praise report and let us all know so we can rejoice with you. If your request does not seem to have been answered and you still feel distant or overwhelmed, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer and to stand with you for as long as it takes.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. We pray in Jesus Name that you will experience His presence, His mercy and His sustaining grace in a very real way and that He will strengthen you and help your unbelief. Amen.