Utter evil, hard hearts, lack of remorse, lowest morale, psychopathy, violent opposition

[Chrysostom]

Your suffering and the danger you have endured have been heard, and we bring them before the Lord with deep concern. To receive electric shocks while showering, to bear wounds on your skin, to have medical reports confirm it, and then to be met not with care but with denial, falsified reports, threats and demands for payment, is a grave injustice. It is right that you have sought help and that the truth has been documented by an electrician and by photographs.

God sees all that is done in secret and in the open. Scripture teaches that injustice brings its own bitterness not only to those who suffer it but also to those who practice it, for the conscience within cannot be bribed even when words and flatterers may hide the truth for a time. False accusation, fraud and the oppression of those who are vulnerable are not hidden from Him, and He is both a refuge for the afflicted and a righteous judge.

We join you in prayer that the Lord would soften hard hearts and break through indifference and hardness. We pray that the landlord, the lawyer, the contact person, the team and the woman who has accused you falsely would come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, that the fear of God which leads to wisdom and repentance would come upon them, that they would turn from lying, threats and avoidance, confess the truth and take responsibility for what has happened. We pray that any hidden wrongdoing, including any tampering with the electrical system or the heating and safety devices that put your life at risk, would be brought into the light, for nothing is hidden that will not be made known. We pray that they would show true remorse, speak truthfully and make just restitution where it is due.

We also pray for you, for your healing and protection and peace. We ask the Lord to heal the wounds you have suffered, to calm the distress and psychological harm caused by threats and false accusations, to guard you as you walk in peace, as He has already guarded you when the police saw your innocence. We ask Him to provide for your needs, for a safe dwelling, for a just resolution regarding compensation and for vindication where you have been slandered, and to keep you from bitterness so that you may rest in His deliverance. As you quoted from Psalm 34, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all, and we ask that you would know that deliverance and nearness each day.

Continue to keep careful records, medical reports, photographs and the electrician's documentation, and to seek wise and lawful help for protection and for what is just. Do not return evil for evil, but commit your cause to Him who judges righteously, while also using the lawful means He has provided for safety and justice.

We will continue to pray with you that truth will prevail, that hearts of stone will become hearts of flesh, that those who have done wrong will hear His call and submit to Him, and that you will be restored and strengthened. May the Lord grant you His peace that guards heart and mind, and may His will be done in this situation.

In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing so openly what you have been carrying for many months. To suffer electric shocks in your own home, to have your skin wounded, to need medical care and to have to find other places to shower, and then to be met not with care but with denial, threats, demands for payment and even attempts to falsify reports, is a heavy and frightening burden. It is right to be grieved by the lack of remorse and by words that treat a life threatening danger as if it were only a matter of comfort. God sees what has happened to you, He knows the truth about what was done in that apartment and what has been spoken against you, and He has heard your prayers for protection.

Your repeated request is for hard hearts to be softened, and Scripture speaks very clearly about this danger. We see the pattern with Pharaoh, who hardened his own heart again and again when God gave opportunity to do what was right. Each time relief came he chose to harden his heart once more, until finally God confirmed him in the position he had chosen and made his heart firm in that hardness. Two different ideas are there, first a man hardening himself, then God strengthening him in the hardness he insisted upon. The warning for all of us is not to treat the voice of God lightly. When the Holy Spirit convicts and calls toward repentance, to keep refusing is dangerous, because a heart can become so set that repentance no longer seems possible and belief itself is hindered. That is why we pray urgently for those who have wronged you, that God would intervene before their hearts become fixed, that He would grant them the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, and that they would still hear His call.

What hardens a heart in this way is often an idol that has taken the place of God. An idol can be love of money, desire for reputation, pride, or power over others. It comes between a person and the living God, it estranges the heart and keeps a person from Him. The only hope God holds out is to repent, to turn away from those idols and from all wrongdoing, to turn with the whole heart to the Lord and ask His forgiveness. So we do not pray only that these people would feel sorry toward you, though that is right to desire, we pray that they would be broken before God, that they would see their need for His mercy through Jesus Christ, and that from that true repentance would come honest confession, responsibility, and willingness to make restitution with respect.

The heart is deceitful above all things, as the prophet says, and only God can truly search it and change it. As David prayed, search me, O God, and know my heart, we can ask God to do that searching work in them. He alone can take away a heart of stone and give a heart of flesh, a heart that is tender, responsive, and able to show empathy and remorse. We will continue to ask Him to do that for the owner, the representatives, the lawyer and the others involved, that arrogance would be broken, that lies would be exposed, and that unscrupulous behavior, threats and false accusations would cease.

At the same time we thank God for how He has already delivered you. You quoted Psalm 34, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all, and affliction will slay the wicked. The Lord has kept you, He has protected you when you were falsely accused before the police, He has allowed others in that house to see the documentation and to believe the truth, and He will continue to bring what is hidden into the light. He is the judge who looks at the heart and who will judge with righteousness, and we can entrust both justice and vengeance to Him while we continue to seek what is right through lawful and safe means.

We are praying for you as well, for healing of your body, for peace in place of anxiety, for protection as you walk and as you seek to live quietly, and for wisdom regarding any legal steps and the handing over of keys and matters of compensation. Ask the Lord to keep your own heart soft before Him, not hardened by bitterness or by the long wait for an apology that has not come. Keep bringing your hurt to Jesus, who alone saves, and who understands rejection and false witness.

May the Lord grant repentance to those who have harmed you, may He turn their hearts to Himself, may He bring conviction that leads to truth telling and to fair restitution, and may He guard you, provide for you, and let His will be done in this situation. We will keep praying with you to that end in the mighty name of Jesus.