Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your urgent burden for ### and your desire to see him come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ is heard by God, and it is right to bring him before the Lord in prayer.
It is good to pray for conviction of sin, for repentance, and for salvation. The Scripture teaches that God desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, and that He is patient and longsuffering, not wanting anyone to perish. He has shown His goodness to us so that we would be drawn to repentance, and He has provided one sacrifice, Christ on the cross, offered once for all and sufficient to save all who believe.
At the same time, the way we pray matters. God does not call us to pray that a person be shamed or stripped of all peace and joy as a punishment, or to demand that God act instantly and without delay on our terms. True conviction is not worldly sorrow that crushes a person with despair. Godly sorrow, as Scripture says, works repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. The Holy Spirit convicts the heart, not to destroy a person, but to open his eyes to his need for Christ and to draw him to mercy.
God has not taken away repentance or closed the door of mercy to those who have fallen. Even when a person is hard hearted, God continues to show longsuffering, calling him to return. Our part is not to treasure up wrath for another, but to ask that God in His kindness would soften the heart, reveal sin clearly, and grant faith.
It is also more powerful when correction comes from love and concern for a person's salvation than from a desire to see him shamed. When the one who has been wronged shows care for the other's soul, that love itself can bring a deeper and more lasting sense of need than any prayer for humiliation.
So continue to pray, but pray in this way:
Pray that God would convict ### by the Holy Spirit of his sin and his need for Christ, that he would see the truth of the gospel, that God would grant him godly sorrow that leads to genuine repentance and faith, that he would turn from all sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and that God would do this in His perfect wisdom and timing. Pray also that you would have opportunity to speak the truth in love and to live in a way that shows the grace you have received.
You can pray simply: Lord, have mercy on ###. Open his eyes to see his sin and his need for You. Grant him repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Save him by Your grace through the one sacrifice of Your Son, and make him new. Your will be done in every part of his life. Amen.
Keep bringing him to the Lord with patience, love, and confidence in God's goodness and power to save.
It is good to pray for conviction of sin, for repentance, and for salvation. The Scripture teaches that God desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, and that He is patient and longsuffering, not wanting anyone to perish. He has shown His goodness to us so that we would be drawn to repentance, and He has provided one sacrifice, Christ on the cross, offered once for all and sufficient to save all who believe.
At the same time, the way we pray matters. God does not call us to pray that a person be shamed or stripped of all peace and joy as a punishment, or to demand that God act instantly and without delay on our terms. True conviction is not worldly sorrow that crushes a person with despair. Godly sorrow, as Scripture says, works repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. The Holy Spirit convicts the heart, not to destroy a person, but to open his eyes to his need for Christ and to draw him to mercy.
God has not taken away repentance or closed the door of mercy to those who have fallen. Even when a person is hard hearted, God continues to show longsuffering, calling him to return. Our part is not to treasure up wrath for another, but to ask that God in His kindness would soften the heart, reveal sin clearly, and grant faith.
It is also more powerful when correction comes from love and concern for a person's salvation than from a desire to see him shamed. When the one who has been wronged shows care for the other's soul, that love itself can bring a deeper and more lasting sense of need than any prayer for humiliation.
So continue to pray, but pray in this way:
Pray that God would convict ### by the Holy Spirit of his sin and his need for Christ, that he would see the truth of the gospel, that God would grant him godly sorrow that leads to genuine repentance and faith, that he would turn from all sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and that God would do this in His perfect wisdom and timing. Pray also that you would have opportunity to speak the truth in love and to live in a way that shows the grace you have received.
You can pray simply: Lord, have mercy on ###. Open his eyes to see his sin and his need for You. Grant him repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Save him by Your grace through the one sacrifice of Your Son, and make him new. Your will be done in every part of his life. Amen.
Keep bringing him to the Lord with patience, love, and confidence in God's goodness and power to save.
