Those were some of the spiritual doldrums I was
experiencing when a friend mentioned a book on prayer written
in the mid-seventies and asked if I had read it. Based on her
description and recommendation, sounded like it might be just
what I needed. So I immediately ordered it, and it wasn’t long
before God spoke to my heart through a passage of Scripture
quoted in one of the early chapters of the book: “Now if
anyone has caused pain,” Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, referring
to a matter that had grown divisive in the Corinthian church he
was addressing, “you should rather turn to forgive” (2 Cor. 2:5,
7 ESV).
Suddenly my heart burned in my chest.But I kept reading.“You should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he
may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you
to affirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I
might test you and know whether you are obedient in
everything... so that we would not be outwitted by
Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” (vv. 7–9, 11
ESV)