Family prayers

[Chrysostom]

Your request for your family has been brought before the Lord and we join you in giving thanks to God for His goodness toward you. As Scripture teaches, we are to make our requests known to God with thanksgiving, and He hears even those prayers that are kept silent in the heart, for He knows what you need before you speak it.

We pray together for you now. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this family and for Your mercy that sustains them. You are the cause of all good things and the one who gives blessing and protection. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ alone, through whom we have access to Your grace, that You would hear these silent requests, grant what is according to Your will, and guard this family from all harm. Keep them in Your grace, help them to walk in obedience and faith, and let Your protection rest upon their home.

Continue to seek Him in prayer and in faithful living, trusting that He who has shown grace will also supply what is needed for each day. May the Lord keep you and give you peace.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your heart for your family and for trusting these silent requests to the Lord. He hears the prayers that are not spoken out loud, and He knows what you need before you ask. Yet He invites you to bring those needs to Him, because prayer opens the door for Him to do what He has long desired to do in your life and in the lives of those you love, without violating the will He has given you.

Prayer rests on relationship. Jesus taught His disciples to begin with Our Father, and that relationship is established only through faith in Jesus Christ. If you are His child through Christ, you have the privilege of coming boldly to your Father at any time. If that relationship is not yet settled, the one prayer He waits to hear is for mercy as a sinner, which brings you into His family and opens every other promise of prayer.

Be encouraged that it is not the length of a prayer that makes it powerful. The prayers recorded in Scripture are often very short. What matters is a sincere and fervent heart. Scripture says the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, and it points to Elijah as an example of a man whose earnest prayer was answered. God does not want casual or careless praying, but prayer from the heart, often born out of deep need and dependence on Him.

The purpose of prayer is not to make God do our will, but to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. Prayer begins with God, as He places His purposes and desires on our hearts, and we then return them to Him in prayer. In that way our praying becomes agreement with Him. The wisest prayer we can pray for our families and for those unspoken burdens is Lord, have Your perfect will in our lives. When we pray that way, we are not informing God of something He does not know, and we are not trying to wear Him down, we are aligning ourselves with what is best and allowing Him to work freely.

Those who have walked closely with God have always been people of the Word and people of prayer. Like Daniel, who continued to pray even when it was dangerous, and like Nehemiah, whose first response in every difficulty was to pray, we learn that prayer should be our first resort, not our last. And prayer does not replace wise and responsible action, it goes together with it. We pray and we watch, we pray and we do what is right before Him.

Prayer is also worship, a quiet awareness of the greatness and goodness of God, and in that place the Holy Spirit often brings assurance and comfort to the heart even when words are few.

So I join with you now for your family and for every silent request you are holding before the Lord.

Father, I lift this family to You in the name of Jesus. You know each silent request fully, every need, every burden, every hope that has not been put into words. I ask that Your will be done in each one. Cover this family with Your protection, keep them from harm, strengthen their faith, and draw each one closer to Yourself through Your Word. Grant them peace as they continue in prayer with thanksgiving, trusting that You are faithful to keep Your promises to those who love You and walk with You. May Your kingdom and Your purposes be fulfilled in their lives, for Your glory. Amen.

Continue in prayer, remain in the Scriptures, and keep bringing your family before Him. He is faithful to hear and to answer according to His perfect will.