Hello,<\/p>\n
I would first of all like to say that I was not ignorant of what I was doing. I knew what I was doing and its consequences, but I did it anyway. I know the doctrines of the church and the Bible and I knew what great promises lie ahead for the church and the people of God.<\/p>\n
When I entered the university, I had a strong relationship with God. I learned His word and it brought me peace. In my second year, I got into a relationship with a man who was a leader of the church. Sexual immorality with him started gradually until my conscience became dead to that sin. I felt the guilt anyway but I did not change my ways.<\/p>\n
About a month or two ago I found out that I was pregnant. I knew what that would do to me. I looked at the disappointment it would bring my family; my mom especially as we had suffered such before from my sister. I looked at how the church would see me with my sins brought to light. We had been taught the Bible’s view on abortion, and I knew what God’s take on it was. But I couldn’t bear the shame. I did it willfully and cried many times.<\/p>\n
Now, I go to God in prayer but I know my unholiness cannot approach God. It was a willful sin. I did it thinking I could ask for forgiveness after. How can God forgive me for something I did trampling on His grace? I go to church constantly, but I know in my heart God cannot bear to see me. I thought about telling my local preacher, but I was too shy and scared to even see the look on his face. I believe that God listens to the prayer of the righteous and hence I need someone to pray to God with me on my behalf. I am deeply sorry for my betrayal and need to have God on my side again.<\/p>\n
I know it was willful.\u00a0I have no reasons to ask for mercy.\u00a0But I look at the story of the prodigal son and hope within me that God will spread His arms open for me again.<\/p>\n
Can you kindly help me with a prayer for forgiveness?<\/p>\n\t
I see that you are sorry for what you did, but there is one item that is missing. “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter<\/em>” (II Corinthians 7:9-11). The question I must ask is: “What’s changed?”<\/p>\n God’s forgiveness is based on our repentance — our effort to change our lives to conform to His will.<\/p>\n I will assume you have changed and pray that God forgives your past as you make a new future for yourself.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hello, I would first of all like to say that I was not ignorant of what I was doing. I knew what I was doing and its consequences, but I did it anyway. I know the doctrines of the church and the Bible and I knew what great promises lie ahead for the church…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1572],"class_list":["post-52645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fornication"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67039,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/joel-a-leader-who-knew-what-to-do-next\/","url_meta":{"origin":52645,"position":0},"title":"Joel: A Leader Who Knew What to Do Next","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Max Dawson \"So, what are we supposed to do now?\" I have heard that question so many times over the years. Leaders may be faced with a moral issue within the church, or maybe a budget shortfall, or possibly a disaster (like a hurricane?) has come upon them. What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22332,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-teach-my-girlfriend-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":52645,"position":1},"title":"How do I teach my girlfriend the truth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You have helped me in the past, and I'm very happy to be asking you a question on much better and different terms. I am a Christian and attend a church of Christ.\u00a0I believe in what the Bible teaches and like to think the church I worship at does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-marriage-for-a-few-months-is-a-disaster-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":52645,"position":2},"title":"My marriage for a few months is a disaster. What should I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi there. I got married several months ago. The night before my marriage was a complete disaster. My husband had too much to drink and he fought with me in front of other people. I felt humiliated but thought it was only wedding stress. Long story short, the wedding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36521,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ive-been-involved-in-acts-of-lewdness-with-a-married-man-while-leading-a-church-what-do-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":52645,"position":3},"title":"I’ve been involved in acts of lewdness with a married man while leading a church. What do I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am born again and have been upholding purity and faithfulness to God. I did not have any dealings with men because I told myself I was waiting for the guy that God has destined for me. I would stick to that and really serve God to the fullest.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92746,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-did-not-marry-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":52645,"position":4},"title":"I Did Not Marry a Christian","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Author Unknown Several months ago, an article appeared entitled \"I Married A Christian.\" I read the article with great interest, and it drove home some very sobering thoughts. As I read the article, I could not help but think of what a contrast my own life was, for you see,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40778,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-i-hurt-the-reputation-of-my-ex-boyfriend\/","url_meta":{"origin":52645,"position":5},"title":"Did I hurt the reputation of my ex-boyfriend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Over five years ago, I met a man who became my boyfriend.\u00a0He was a deacon in his church.\u00a0 He brought me to his church\u00a0and there I attended. He has a history of being involved in multiple relationships before being converted to Christ many years ago.\u00a0 He has been divorced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n