Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer has been brought before the Lord with us, and we join you in asking for His mercy. You have rightly remembered that nothing is too difficult for Him. When Sarah laughed and Moses doubted and Jeremiah wondered at the field bought while the city was given to the Chaldeans, the Lord answered in the same way, Is anything too difficult for Me, is My hand too short to save, is My ear too dull to hear. He is not short in power and He is not slow to hear, and what He has promised He is able to perform.
We also hear your heart for your wife and for your marriage, and we stand with you on what Scripture teaches. Marriage is a bond ordained of God, not a loose tie to be cast aside. It is honorable and pure, and its good is to preserve holiness, to keep husband and wife in chaste and ordered love and to guard them from defilement. For that reason the word says, Art thou bound unto a wife, seek not to be loosed. If you are bound, remain faithful in that bond, living chastely and soberly, casting all your cares upon the Lord who cares for you and learning from Christ whose yoke is gentle and humble in heart.
We do not ask God to bless what is outside His design, and we do not celebrate any path that leads away from Him. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, who became Mediator between the Father and us. The Father was displeased with us in our estrangement, and the Son stood between, prevailing for us, so that we might receive forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is through Him alone that any of us is turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that we may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith.
Therefore we pray with you for true repentance for your wife, not only tears or momentary sorrow, but a real turning of heart. Scripture warns that Esau sought the blessing with tears and found no place of repentance because his grief was not true repentance, and it also teaches that it is possible to be renewed unto repentance through Christ when the heart truly turns. So we ask the Lord to grant her godly sorrow that leads to life, to convict her of sin and righteousness and judgment to come, to lead her by His kindness to repentance, and to open her eyes as in Acts 26 verse 18 to 20.
We ask the Father to hedge her way with thorns where she would run from Him, not to harm her but to bring her back, to place faithful witnesses around her, her family and her church speaking the truth in love according to Matthew 18, friends and preachers and evangelists crossing her path, and the clear preaching of the Word wherever she goes. We ask Him to work by His Word and Spirit, and if it pleases Him to use dreams or words of knowledge or prophecies that reveal the secrets of the heart, we ask that it be so that she may say, surely God is among you, and fall down and worship Him. Above all we ask that she hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and believe.
We have noted that some of you have prayed for two years and eight months. Do not grow weary. Continue to pray, continue to walk in holiness and peace with all people, continue to follow every good work and to attend upon the Lord without distraction. Keep your own life pure, keep your table and home ordered and grave, and let your character adorn your prayer.
So we pray now, Father in heaven, You are the God of all flesh, nothing is too difficult for You. Have mercy on this husband and his son and this whole family and church. Forgive our doubts as You forgave Sarah and Moses, and let us see Your word come to pass. Have mercy on this wife, wherever she is. Send Your Word to her, send Your Spirit to convict her, send faithful people to call her back. Turn her from darkness to light, grant her repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, restore what has been broken according to Your will, and keep this marriage in holiness as You ordained it. Give this husband rest for his soul as he takes Christ's yoke and casts his cares on You. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Mediator, amen.
We also hear your heart for your wife and for your marriage, and we stand with you on what Scripture teaches. Marriage is a bond ordained of God, not a loose tie to be cast aside. It is honorable and pure, and its good is to preserve holiness, to keep husband and wife in chaste and ordered love and to guard them from defilement. For that reason the word says, Art thou bound unto a wife, seek not to be loosed. If you are bound, remain faithful in that bond, living chastely and soberly, casting all your cares upon the Lord who cares for you and learning from Christ whose yoke is gentle and humble in heart.
We do not ask God to bless what is outside His design, and we do not celebrate any path that leads away from Him. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, who became Mediator between the Father and us. The Father was displeased with us in our estrangement, and the Son stood between, prevailing for us, so that we might receive forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is through Him alone that any of us is turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that we may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith.
Therefore we pray with you for true repentance for your wife, not only tears or momentary sorrow, but a real turning of heart. Scripture warns that Esau sought the blessing with tears and found no place of repentance because his grief was not true repentance, and it also teaches that it is possible to be renewed unto repentance through Christ when the heart truly turns. So we ask the Lord to grant her godly sorrow that leads to life, to convict her of sin and righteousness and judgment to come, to lead her by His kindness to repentance, and to open her eyes as in Acts 26 verse 18 to 20.
We ask the Father to hedge her way with thorns where she would run from Him, not to harm her but to bring her back, to place faithful witnesses around her, her family and her church speaking the truth in love according to Matthew 18, friends and preachers and evangelists crossing her path, and the clear preaching of the Word wherever she goes. We ask Him to work by His Word and Spirit, and if it pleases Him to use dreams or words of knowledge or prophecies that reveal the secrets of the heart, we ask that it be so that she may say, surely God is among you, and fall down and worship Him. Above all we ask that she hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and believe.
We have noted that some of you have prayed for two years and eight months. Do not grow weary. Continue to pray, continue to walk in holiness and peace with all people, continue to follow every good work and to attend upon the Lord without distraction. Keep your own life pure, keep your table and home ordered and grave, and let your character adorn your prayer.
So we pray now, Father in heaven, You are the God of all flesh, nothing is too difficult for You. Have mercy on this husband and his son and this whole family and church. Forgive our doubts as You forgave Sarah and Moses, and let us see Your word come to pass. Have mercy on this wife, wherever she is. Send Your Word to her, send Your Spirit to convict her, send faithful people to call her back. Turn her from darkness to light, grant her repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, restore what has been broken according to Your will, and keep this marriage in holiness as You ordained it. Give this husband rest for his soul as he takes Christ's yoke and casts his cares on You. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Mediator, amen.
