Family Protection

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer before the throne of grace has been heard, and we join you in lifting your family before the Lord who hears the cries of His children. We hear the heaviness you carry for your household, and we stand with you in asking for the peace of God which surpasses all understanding to guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

We agree with you that living together outside of marriage is not marriage. Scripture teaches that marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and that sexual union and living together belong within that covenant alone. We do not ask God to bless what He calls outside His design, but we ask Him to bring conviction, clarity and freedom where there has been deception and bondage. We pray that your older daughter would see this relationship truthfully, including the financial hardship, exhaustion, disrespect, isolation and division it has caused, and that the Lord would open her eyes to the red flags she has been blinded to. We ask God to remove stubbornness and pride, to break every unhealthy hold, and to give her a hunger for righteousness and a desire for what is stable, safe and wise. We pray that she would know she belongs to the Lord, that she is not responsible to carry this young man, and that she would be given courage to turn away from this ungodly living arrangement and, if it is the Lord's provision, to return home to safety and stability with a heart marked by freedom and joy rather than shame or regret.

We also lift up the influence of this young man and his mother. We ask the Lord to frustrate every plan that would divide, isolate or control your family, to stop the manipulation and harmful words, and to bring an end to the burden that has been placed on your daughter to care for another household. We pray that responsibility would return to where it belongs and that your daughter would no longer feel she must defend a false image of this relationship or diminish her own family to gain approval. We pray for her health, especially her breathing, and for protection from habits and an environment that harm her. We ask God to guard her future, her finances, her credit, her faith and her relationships, and to restore what has been lost through debt and strain.

We join you in praying for your younger daughter, that the Lord would keep her steadfast in faith, protect the sweet bond she shares with her siblings, and surround her with godly friendships and mentors who encourage her to walk in the ways of the Lord. We pray she would never see cohabitation outside of marriage as an acceptable path, but would in time, if the Lord wills marriage for her, seek a husband who honors Christ and values the sanctity of marriage. We pray also for your son, that he would know deeply that he is a blessing and not a burden, and that the Lord would surround him with love, acceptance and protection. We ask God to block every word curse, mockery and demeaning influence, and to saturate him with peace, joy and the assurance of Christ's unconditional love. We pray his relationships with you, his sisters, caregivers and extended family would be strengthened.

We pray for your home to be a sanctuary of God's presence where love, unity and respect are restored. Where the enemy has sought to bring division, exhaustion and lack, we look to Christ who has already triumphed over every power of darkness. Through Jesus alone we have salvation and adoption as sons and daughters, and His blood has overcome. We ask the Lord to heal what has been wounded, to mend communication, to restore gratefulness and fellowship, and to turn hearts of parents and children toward one another. We ask for wisdom and strength for you as you love your children without enabling what harms them, and for protection from bullying, judgment and hurtful words.

We pray for the Lord's provision for your financial needs according to His riches in Christ, not for selfish gain but so your family may be a testimony of His care and a blessing to others. And we pray that in the Lord's timing He would provide godly husbands for your daughters, men who will love as Christ loves the church and lead in righteousness and honor the covenant of marriage.

We will continue to contend for your family in prayer, trusting that nothing is impossible for God and that He is able to deliver and to supply what is good. May the Lord keep you and your household under His protection, give you strength for each day, and draw each of you closer to Jesus, in whose mighty name we pray. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer from a heavy and burdened heart has been heard, and your love for your family and your desire to see them walk in truth and unity is clear. You are right to bring them before the throne of grace, where the Lord hears the cries of His children, and to plead the covering of the blood of Jesus over your household.

You have discerned rightly that living together outside of marriage is not marriage in God's sight. Scripture is clear that marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and that sexual intimacy and sharing a home in that way belong within that covenant alone. That kind of union does not honor God and it opens the door to spiritual bondage, deception, and deep hurt, as you have seen in exhaustion, financial hardship, and division. We will not ask God to bless what His Word calls outside His will, but we will ask Him to bring clarity, conviction, and deliverance, so that your older daughter may see the reality of this relationship and be set free.

The Bible shows that God knows how to deliver the righteous even when they are vexed and worn down by the manner of life around them. Lot was distressed by what surrounded him, and though his family was not thoroughly righteous, God in mercy led them out. In the same way, Peter holds up that deliverance as a picture that God still knows how to rescue His own and to reserve judgment for what is ungodly. We pray that for your older daughter, that the Lord would open her eyes to the selfishness, laziness, dishonesty, and control you have described, to the financial debt and worthlessness and weariness it has brought, and to the disrespect and isolation it has caused toward you, her siblings, and her extended family. May any stubbornness or pride or shame or pressure that keeps her from seeing truth be removed and replaced with a hunger for righteousness, with a desire for what is stable and wise and safe. May she understand that she belongs to the Lord, not to this young man, and that she is not responsible to carry him or to defend a false image of him to others. We pray that every plan to isolate and divide would be frustrated, that her heart would be turned back to the Lord and to the unconditional love of her family, as God promises to turn the hearts of children to their parents.

You have also asked for protection over your home. Scripture teaches that God puts a hedge around His people and gives His angels charge over them. Apart from that protection the enemy would be upon us continually. That protection is real, and the victory of the cross has already disarmed the powers of darkness. At the same time we are exhorted to keep ourselves in the love of God. We cannot walk away from the Lord and His ways and expect to know His sheltering hand in the same way. So we pray not only for a hedge around you, your daughters, and your son, but that each of you would stay close to the Lord, calling on Him honestly and walking in obedience to His Word. We ask the Lord to plead your cause against every deceitful and unjust influence, for He is your strength when you feel weak and overwhelmed.

You have noted the disruptive and controlling influence of this young man's mother, and how she has encouraged your daughter to take on a burden that is not hers to carry, while seeking to draw both your daughters away. Scripture warns that an ungodly influence, especially from a parent, can shape a life toward great harm, and some of the worst patterns are passed down in that way. We pray that the Lord would correct that interference, that this mother would take responsibility for her own son rather than placing it on your daughter, and that all manipulation, division, and harmful words that have made your daughter feel small or ashamed or pressured to put down her own family would be silenced. We pray that your younger daughter would remain steadfast, that she would not be swayed by this example to think that living together outside marriage is acceptable, but that she would seek the Lord and be surrounded by godly friendships and mentors who point her to purity and to the beauty of marriage as God designed it. We pray she would not grow ungrateful or hateful toward you or her brother, but would keep the sweet bond with her siblings strong.

For your son, we pray with special care. He is not a burden or an embarrassment, he is a blessing, made in the image of God and deeply loved. We ask the Lord to surround him with love and acceptance, to guard him from mockery, exclusion, hatred, and every hurtful word, and to let him know the peace and joy of the Lord's unconditional love. May his relationships with you, his sisters, his caregivers, and your extended family be strengthened, and may any influence that looks down on him be removed and replaced with those who will cherish and uplift him.

We also bring before the Lord the practical wounds this season has left, the debt your daughter has incurred, the financial strain on your home, and the concern for her health as she struggles to breathe while living in an environment with smoking and other harmful habits. We ask the Father to protect her body, to guard her future, her finances, her reputation, and her faith, so that what has been built is not destroyed by this entanglement, and to provide for your household according to His riches, not for selfish gain but so you may continue to be a testimony of His provision and a blessing to others. We pray that the Lord who told Jacob to return to the land of his family with the promise, I will be with you, would speak that same call of return to your daughter, drawing her back to safety and stability where she can rebuild strength and health and walk in wisdom. May your home again be a sanctuary of His presence where love, unity, and peace reign, where what has been torn is mended and what has been wounded is healed.

We stand with you on the promises you have claimed, that greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard hearts and minds, and that the Lord Himself will fight for you. May the Lord grant you courage and strength in this overwhelming battle, saturate you with His peace, and restore fellowship, respect, gratefulness, and joy to your family. May He in His time provide godly spouses for your daughters, men who will love them as Christ loves the church and honor the covenant of marriage, and may your family be a light that draws others to the grace found only in Jesus, through whom alone we are saved.

In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, trusting His mercy and power to do what is impossible for us.