Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for bringing these requests before the Lord with such care for fellowship, for the Word, and for the older loved ones God has placed in your life. Your desire for true Christian fellowship is at the very heart of what God intends for His people.
Scripture teaches that God created us for fellowship with Himself, and the purpose of the gospel is to restore that fellowship which was broken by sin. To have fellowship with God is to share life together with Him in a real partnership, a mutual sharing of heart and resources. That fellowship brings fullness of joy, which is deeper than happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances, but joy flows from abiding in Christ and walking with Him.
The Word also makes clear that we cannot claim fellowship with God while walking in darkness. If we say we are one with Him and yet continue in sin without repentance, we deceive ourselves. Fellowship requires agreement with God and walking in the light as He is in the light. That is why the work of Jesus on the cross is so essential. Sin must first be dealt with through His blood, and then fellowship is restored. John wrote so that we might have power over sin and live in that restored communion. When we abide in Christ and His words abide in us, we bear fruit and know the blessing of answered prayer.
That fellowship with the Father and with His Son overflows into fellowship with one another. True Christian fellowship is more than a cultural label. To be called Christian means to be Christlike, and true fellowship among believers is a source of strength, support, and encouragement that we often do not fully appreciate until we need it. As you gather in His name, His promise is to be in your midst, and His Word dwelling richly among you will build you up, renew your minds, and transform you to prove His good will.
Your prayer to honor your parents is pleasing to God. The command to obey parents in the Lord and to honor father and mother is right and carries a promise that it will go well with you and you will live long in the land. That phrase in the Lord reminds us that our first allegiance is to Christ, yet within that allegiance God has established the family as the foundation of society, and honoring parents is central to its health. It is a blessing that you want to share the Word with your elders in a way they can hear and receive, moving from the milk of the Word to solid food, being rooted and grounded in love, growing in grace and knowledge, and maturing into the fullness of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
For your patriarchal and matriarchal loved ones and for yourselves, we join you in asking for the Lord's mercy and grace. He forgives iniquities, heals diseases, crowns our lives with tender mercy, and satisfies our years with good things. We believe He still heals. Sometimes healing is felt in a moment, sometimes it comes gradually through processes He has built into our bodies, but every true healing is from Him, whether of body, mind or spirit. We do not always understand why some receive immediate healing and others wait, but we trust His wisdom and compassion and continue to ask Him to provide all that is needed for life and godliness, to grant health to soul and body, to keep you from evil and from the evil one, to sanctify you in His truth, and to grant peace within your walls.
We pray that God will give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to open the eyes of your understanding, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you will crave the pure milk of the Word and grow thereby, that you will retain the Word and be doers and not hearers only, and that the Word of Christ will spread and bear fruit as you continue in it. May you abide in Him, bear much fruit as true disciples, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and have the mind of Christ as you walk in the light together.
Scripture teaches that God created us for fellowship with Himself, and the purpose of the gospel is to restore that fellowship which was broken by sin. To have fellowship with God is to share life together with Him in a real partnership, a mutual sharing of heart and resources. That fellowship brings fullness of joy, which is deeper than happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances, but joy flows from abiding in Christ and walking with Him.
The Word also makes clear that we cannot claim fellowship with God while walking in darkness. If we say we are one with Him and yet continue in sin without repentance, we deceive ourselves. Fellowship requires agreement with God and walking in the light as He is in the light. That is why the work of Jesus on the cross is so essential. Sin must first be dealt with through His blood, and then fellowship is restored. John wrote so that we might have power over sin and live in that restored communion. When we abide in Christ and His words abide in us, we bear fruit and know the blessing of answered prayer.
That fellowship with the Father and with His Son overflows into fellowship with one another. True Christian fellowship is more than a cultural label. To be called Christian means to be Christlike, and true fellowship among believers is a source of strength, support, and encouragement that we often do not fully appreciate until we need it. As you gather in His name, His promise is to be in your midst, and His Word dwelling richly among you will build you up, renew your minds, and transform you to prove His good will.
Your prayer to honor your parents is pleasing to God. The command to obey parents in the Lord and to honor father and mother is right and carries a promise that it will go well with you and you will live long in the land. That phrase in the Lord reminds us that our first allegiance is to Christ, yet within that allegiance God has established the family as the foundation of society, and honoring parents is central to its health. It is a blessing that you want to share the Word with your elders in a way they can hear and receive, moving from the milk of the Word to solid food, being rooted and grounded in love, growing in grace and knowledge, and maturing into the fullness of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
For your patriarchal and matriarchal loved ones and for yourselves, we join you in asking for the Lord's mercy and grace. He forgives iniquities, heals diseases, crowns our lives with tender mercy, and satisfies our years with good things. We believe He still heals. Sometimes healing is felt in a moment, sometimes it comes gradually through processes He has built into our bodies, but every true healing is from Him, whether of body, mind or spirit. We do not always understand why some receive immediate healing and others wait, but we trust His wisdom and compassion and continue to ask Him to provide all that is needed for life and godliness, to grant health to soul and body, to keep you from evil and from the evil one, to sanctify you in His truth, and to grant peace within your walls.
We pray that God will give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to open the eyes of your understanding, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you will crave the pure milk of the Word and grow thereby, that you will retain the Word and be doers and not hearers only, and that the Word of Christ will spread and bear fruit as you continue in it. May you abide in Him, bear much fruit as true disciples, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and have the mind of Christ as you walk in the light together.
