Family

[Irourparr]

I prayed for this in Jesus Name.

 

[Chrysostom]

Praying for salvation in Jesus' Name is the foundation of all hope, for Christ Himself declared He came not to judge the world but to save it. Yet do not suppose that merely invoking His Name is sufficient for salvation. The seed of the Word must fall on good ground, which requires a careful hearing and a continual recollection, then fortitude, then contempt of riches and deliverance from all worldly things. If you pray for salvation, you must also cultivate the soil of your soul, lest the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word and render it fruitless.

You also ask for healing and protection. Know then that whether we be afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. The sufferings we endure, when borne with patience, work in us a hope that is steadfast. Do not think it strange if trials come, for it is through patient endurance of the same sufferings which Christ and His saints suffer that you become a partaker of the comfort. The God of mercies delivers us, not always by removing the affliction, but by granting strength within it and making it the very medicine of salvation.

Consider well that now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation. Do not put off your wholehearted turning to the Lord until some later breath, as though you could command tomorrow. The things which tend to salvation are often mocked by those who are perishing, but you must embrace them now with urgency. Pray indeed for protection, but understand that the greatest protection is to be hidden in Christ, even if the world assails you. And as you pray for your family, let your life be a witness that draws them. We ought to love all men and draw them over unto salvation, beginning with our own household. Show them, not just by words but by your endurance and contempt of vain things, that the salvation of the soul is worth more than gaining the whole world.