Silas
Beloved of All
Your honest and tender words about these first three days show how deep your love is for your son and how heavy this separation feels. To have shared every first day of school for so many years, to have built a home with your son and daughter together, and now to face his sophomore year starting in another home far away, it is understandable that it feels unreal and devastating. Thank you for letting us pray with you in this torn place.
What you described about the battle in your mind is very real. When fear rises and doubts whisper, you are right to turn away from that fear and to rebuke it. Scripture teaches that the beginning and the sum of true wisdom is the fear of the Lord, which means to stand in awe of Him and to hate what is evil. When we walk in that reverent awe of God all day long, we are kept quiet from the fear of evil. That does not mean the pain goes away, but it means your heart can rest under His watch even while you hurt. The Lord is your light and your salvation, whom shall you fear. The Lord is the strength of your life, of whom shall you be afraid. Even through the valley, you can say with the psalmist, I will fear no evil for you are with me.
You also asked for strength, and that is a right prayer. If we look inside ourselves for enough strength to get through, we will find it is not enough and we will fall. But when we trust in the Lord for His strength, He does not let us down. His strength is sufficient for what you cannot carry on your own today, tomorrow, and in the days ahead as you wait and pray for your son. He will hide you and hold you in His care in the time of trouble.
For your son, we will pray that God gives him wisdom and a listening heart in this new school and new season with his father. The Scriptures speak so often as a father to a son, saying hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother, bind them on your heart and let them guide you when you go, keep you when you sleep, and speak to you when you awake. A wise son who speaks what is right brings great joy to both father and mother. Pray that your son will incline his ear to wisdom and apply his heart to understanding, that he will love what is good and hate what is evil, and that the Lord will lead his steps clearly, whether that means finishing this season where he is or returning home to graduate with you. We can trust the Lord to do what is best for him and to keep him.
So let us pray together. Father, we lift this mother to You in her grief and longing. You see her tears over these three days and You know her love for her son and daughter. Be her light and her salvation and the strength of her life right now. Quiet her heart from the fear of evil and fill her with Your peace as she stands in awe of You. Guard her mind from the lies of the enemy and help her to trust Your goodness even when she cannot see the way forward. We lift her son to You as he begins this new school. Surround him with Your presence, give him wisdom, protect him, and teach him to love Your ways. Give his father wisdom to lead him well. Guide this family according to Your perfect will, and let Your healing and hope be evident in each of them. We ask this in the name of Jesus, trusting that You hear and that You care. Amen.
What you described about the battle in your mind is very real. When fear rises and doubts whisper, you are right to turn away from that fear and to rebuke it. Scripture teaches that the beginning and the sum of true wisdom is the fear of the Lord, which means to stand in awe of Him and to hate what is evil. When we walk in that reverent awe of God all day long, we are kept quiet from the fear of evil. That does not mean the pain goes away, but it means your heart can rest under His watch even while you hurt. The Lord is your light and your salvation, whom shall you fear. The Lord is the strength of your life, of whom shall you be afraid. Even through the valley, you can say with the psalmist, I will fear no evil for you are with me.
You also asked for strength, and that is a right prayer. If we look inside ourselves for enough strength to get through, we will find it is not enough and we will fall. But when we trust in the Lord for His strength, He does not let us down. His strength is sufficient for what you cannot carry on your own today, tomorrow, and in the days ahead as you wait and pray for your son. He will hide you and hold you in His care in the time of trouble.
For your son, we will pray that God gives him wisdom and a listening heart in this new school and new season with his father. The Scriptures speak so often as a father to a son, saying hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother, bind them on your heart and let them guide you when you go, keep you when you sleep, and speak to you when you awake. A wise son who speaks what is right brings great joy to both father and mother. Pray that your son will incline his ear to wisdom and apply his heart to understanding, that he will love what is good and hate what is evil, and that the Lord will lead his steps clearly, whether that means finishing this season where he is or returning home to graduate with you. We can trust the Lord to do what is best for him and to keep him.
So let us pray together. Father, we lift this mother to You in her grief and longing. You see her tears over these three days and You know her love for her son and daughter. Be her light and her salvation and the strength of her life right now. Quiet her heart from the fear of evil and fill her with Your peace as she stands in awe of You. Guard her mind from the lies of the enemy and help her to trust Your goodness even when she cannot see the way forward. We lift her son to You as he begins this new school. Surround him with Your presence, give him wisdom, protect him, and teach him to love Your ways. Give his father wisdom to lead him well. Guide this family according to Your perfect will, and let Your healing and hope be evident in each of them. We ask this in the name of Jesus, trusting that You hear and that You care. Amen.
