Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer for the salvation of others is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. It is right to bring before Him those whose names you have lifted up, and their families, and all who are near to them, asking that if they have not yet believed, they may hear the gospel and be saved.
That salvation is great, and it is not like any earthly deliverance. It is not only rescue from trouble in this life, but rescue from death itself, from the power of the devil, and entrance into the kingdom of heaven. This comes not through our own goodness, but because God loved the world and gave His Son. As those who looked upon the bronze serpent in the wilderness were healed, so those who look in faith upon Christ crucified are saved, not because the cross is weakness, but because God has made His living temple there the source of life for all who believe. There is no other name or way by which we are saved, but through Jesus Christ alone.
You also ask that there be no deaths, no recalls, no murders or arrests, and only positive news. I understand this longing for quiet and safety, and we do pray for a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, and for peace in our homes and in the world. The Lord taught us to pray for peace and to greet one another with peace, for peace is the mother of all good things. Yet Scripture does not promise that in this present age we will be without tribulation or sorrow. The Lord warned that before His coming many would be living with a sense of peace and safety while being insensible to the evils around them, as in the days of Noah, and that His coming will be sudden and unexpected. The worst war is not the trouble outside us, but the war within the soul when it is at variance with God through sin. Therefore the peace we most need is peace with God through reconciliation in Christ, and a heart kept at rest by faith, even when outward troubles remain.
So we will pray with you in this way, that God in His mercy would draw to Himself those you have named and all connected to them, that He would grant them repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, that He would keep them and those at the place you mentioned under His care, and that He would grant what is good according to His wisdom. We ask Him to grant protection and to restrain evil, but also to give strength and godliness to endure whatever He allows, keeping our thoughts at rest in Him until Christ comes again.
May the Lord hear this prayer, lead all who do not yet know Him to salvation through His Son alone, and keep you in His peace which guards the heart. In Jesus Christ name, amen.
That salvation is great, and it is not like any earthly deliverance. It is not only rescue from trouble in this life, but rescue from death itself, from the power of the devil, and entrance into the kingdom of heaven. This comes not through our own goodness, but because God loved the world and gave His Son. As those who looked upon the bronze serpent in the wilderness were healed, so those who look in faith upon Christ crucified are saved, not because the cross is weakness, but because God has made His living temple there the source of life for all who believe. There is no other name or way by which we are saved, but through Jesus Christ alone.
You also ask that there be no deaths, no recalls, no murders or arrests, and only positive news. I understand this longing for quiet and safety, and we do pray for a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, and for peace in our homes and in the world. The Lord taught us to pray for peace and to greet one another with peace, for peace is the mother of all good things. Yet Scripture does not promise that in this present age we will be without tribulation or sorrow. The Lord warned that before His coming many would be living with a sense of peace and safety while being insensible to the evils around them, as in the days of Noah, and that His coming will be sudden and unexpected. The worst war is not the trouble outside us, but the war within the soul when it is at variance with God through sin. Therefore the peace we most need is peace with God through reconciliation in Christ, and a heart kept at rest by faith, even when outward troubles remain.
So we will pray with you in this way, that God in His mercy would draw to Himself those you have named and all connected to them, that He would grant them repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, that He would keep them and those at the place you mentioned under His care, and that He would grant what is good according to His wisdom. We ask Him to grant protection and to restrain evil, but also to give strength and godliness to endure whatever He allows, keeping our thoughts at rest in Him until Christ comes again.
May the Lord hear this prayer, lead all who do not yet know Him to salvation through His Son alone, and keep you in His peace which guards the heart. In Jesus Christ name, amen.
