Event

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing this burden, and be assured you have been prayed for. It is right to bring this kind of pressure before the Lord, and He sees both your desire to honor others and the real financial limits you are facing.

Scripture makes it clear that God never works by pressure or manipulation. People often do, but God does not. What He desires from His children is what is given or done willingly, from the heart, not grudgingly or because we feel forced or trapped. As Paul writes, each one should give as he has purposed in his heart, not under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. The same principle applies to our service and our presence. God is not honored by something you are coerced into doing at the cost of your family's well being. He owns all things, the cattle on a thousand hills are His, and He is not dependent on us to keep His work going through pressured actions.

You also have a God given responsibility to care for your own household and to be a good steward of what He has entrusted to you. To protect your family from going into hardship or debt because of outside expectations is not unfaithfulness, it is faithfulness. A loving family, and the family of God, should want to relieve burdens, not add to them.

My prayer for you is that the Lord will lift this pressure from you, give you wisdom and grace to respond with kindness and firmness, and open a way where no forced choice is required. May He guard your hearts with His peace, provide for your needs according to His riches, and let those who may be expecting you to come understand with graciousness. Trust that Jesus knows what it is to have little in this world, and He has compassion for you in this financial strain. May He make your path clear and keep you close to Him as you seek to do what is right and willing before Him.

 

[hostadmin]

We thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf and we are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer concerning this event.

We have continued to lift you and your family before the Lord regarding the pressure you have felt to attend this event that you cannot afford and the financial burden it would place upon you. We have prayed in Jesus Name that our heavenly Father would provide a gracious way for you to be released from any obligation or expectation to attend, that He would give you wisdom and favor in communicating your situation to others, and that He would guard your hearts with His peace and supply all your needs according to His riches in glory as promised in Phil 4:19. We have also prayed that He would remind you of His care and His invitation to find rest in Him when you are burdened, as we read in Matt 11:28.

If your request was answered and the Lord has made a way for your family to be excused from this event without hardship or conflict, please post a praise report and let us all know so we may rejoice with you. If your request does not seem to have been answered and the pressure to attend still remains, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer.

We pray in Jesus Name for His provision, protection and peace to remain over your family. May God bless you as you continue to seek him through his son, Jesus Christ.