family prayer

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for your family has been received and we join you in bringing it before the Lord. We ask our heavenly Father to spread His hand of protection over you and your household, to keep you from harm, to guard your hearts in peace, and to let His presence dwell in your home.

We also lift up the silent requests you carry, those burdens known only to you and to God. Scripture reminds us that He hears even what is unspoken, and that His Spirit intercedes for us when words fail. You do not need to shape perfect prayers for Him to understand. He sees the heart and knows every need.

We pray that you will continue to trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and strength, walking in His grace day by day, and that He will give you wisdom, unity, and hope as a family. May the Lord answer according to His perfect will and draw each of you closer to Himself.

We stand with you in prayer, asking all this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your request for protection over your family and for those silent needs you hold in your heart has been heard, and we are joining with you in prayer before our Father.

We take comfort that prayer does not depend on many words or on length. The prayers recorded in Scripture are often very short, and the Lord hears even the prayers that are never spoken out loud but are lifted in the mind and heart. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him, and He hears those unspoken requests just as clearly as those you put into words. Nothing you have brought to Him in silence is missed by Him.

There is great power in sincere prayer from the heart. Scripture says the fervent, heartfelt prayer of a righteous person avails much, and gives us Elijah as an example of a man whose prayer God answered, and Job as an example of patience under trial. That righteousness is not our own, but what we have through faith in Jesus Christ. Through Him we have the relationship that allows us to truly say Our Father and to come to God with confidence. Apart from that relationship, the one prayer God desires to hear is, God be merciful to me, a sinner, which opens the door to become His child. If you know Christ, you already have that access, and you can bring your family before Him as His own.

The purpose of prayer is not to inform God or to bend Him to our will, but to open the door for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. He will not force His way past the choice He has given us, but when we pray we invite Him to act freely in our lives. The wisest prayer we can pray is, Lord, work out Your perfect will in my life and in my family. So we are asking not only for protection as we understand it, but for His will, His wisdom and His keeping power to rest over your household in the way He knows is best.

We also remember that prayer and wise action go together. Like Nehemiah who prayed and then set a watch, and like Daniel who continued faithful in the word and in prayer three times a day even when it could have cost him his life, we are to be people of both prayer and the word, trusting God while also walking in careful, responsible ways. Difficulties often drive us to our knees as they did with David, and in that place of prayer the Spirit of God brings assurance and comfort.

We are agreeing with you now, as the Lord said that if two or three agree on earth concerning anything it will be done by our Father in heaven, and we will continue in prayer and watch with thanksgiving, trusting God to keep His covenant of mercy toward those who love Him. May He guard your family, give you peace in those silent matters you have entrusted to Him, and make His presence and His will known in your home. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.