We join you in lifting up your precious older daughter before the throne of grace, and we stand with you in agreement for her freedom, protection, restoration and healing. We hear your heart as a mother who has raised your children in biblical values, and we grieve with you over the exhaustion, financial hardship, division, isolation and spiritual attacks that have come upon her and your whole family through this toxic and ungodly living arrangement.
We must speak clearly in love about what the Lord shows us here. Living together outside of marriage is not marriage, it is fornication, and Scripture calls us to flee from it. Hebrews 13:4 says Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled, but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. And 1 Corinthians 6:18 says Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. What is being presented as a significant other or a home is not a covenant before God. A godly courtship is not cohabitation, it is a man and a woman seeking the Lord together with the goal of marriage to another Christian believer, a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman that honors God. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness and iniquity? We rebuke the greed, laziness, control, dishonesty and manipulation you have described, for these are not love. Love does not exploit finances for selfish benefit or seek to take authority that belongs to God and to family. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 reminds us Love is patient and is kind, love doesn't envy, love doesn't brag, is not proud, doesn't behave itself inappropriately, doesn't seek its own way. We also rebuke the idolatry of putting this young man and his mother before faith, before God-given family, and before the purpose God has given her in her work. Exodus 20:3 says You shall have no other gods before me, and no person should take the place that belongs to the Lord in her heart.
We also see the spiritual battle you have discerned so rightly. The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, and he uses division, confusion, ungratefulness, disrespect and exhaustion to isolate and wear down. But Jesus came to set the captives free. John 8:36 says If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. Romans 12:2 says Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. We pray that her mind, heart and spirit will be renewed and that she will see clearly that she is not being loved, she is being used, and that this lifestyle is not a home but a trap. We pray she will stop seeking counsel from those who guide her to remain in this ungodly arrangement and will instead seek wisdom from the Lord, for James 1:5 says But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
We take great comfort that you are declaring over her what the Lord Himself declares, You are Mine, You are My daughter, You belong to Me. Isaiah 41:10 says Don't you be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. And Isaiah 43:1 says Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. She does not belong to this young man, she belongs to the Lord, and she is deeply loved and seen by Him. Psalm 34:17-18 says The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. We pray she will see the peaceful, beautiful courtship modeled by her younger sister and understand that God wants that same purity, honor and joy for her, a relationship that protects her fellowship with loved ones and her unity with family rather than destroying it.
So we pray together now. Father in heaven, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we come before You and we thank You that we have access to Your throne only through the name of Jesus, for there is no other name by which we can be saved and no other name by which we can approach You. We lift up this beloved daughter to You. Lord, flood her mind with supernatural clarity today and onward. Open her eyes to see this young man for who he truly is, a wolf in sheep's clothing, not a shepherd, not a provider, and not ready for a godly marriage. Remove the veil from her eyes, soften her heart to Your voice, and give her courage and wisdom to release herself swiftly and completely from this toxic relationship and from living together outside of marriage. Break every chain of control, financial exploitation, manipulation and false loyalty to this young man and his mother. Let her see that this arrangement was not Your will and that it has stolen her peace, her independence, her self-worth, her purpose and her fellowship with family.
Lord, whisper to her even now, Walk away, trust your family, trust Me, I will provide, protect and restore everything he is trying to take from you. Give her a spirit of power and not of fear, for 2 Timothy 1:7 says For God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. Guide her gently to see herself and her mother and siblings through Your eyes, not through the eyes of those who look at them with disrespect and exclusion. Lead her to turn from fornication and to repent and to walk in purity, and guide her to move back home swiftly with no regret and with full assurance that You will protect her with every ounce of Your power.
Father, we ask You to restore what the enemy has stolen. Joel 2:25 says I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. Restore her faith, her freedom, her independence, her self-worth, her peace, her satisfaction and her sweet fellowship with her family. Heal the division, isolation, chaos and exhaustion in the home and let Your peace reign. We ask for a special blessing upon this whole family today and tonight. Fill each one with Your Holy Spirit in every aspect of their lives. Saturate them with Your peace, love, favor, protection, respect and healing. Let Your Holy Spirit fill every room and every heart. We trust You to provide, to protect and to make her path straight as she trusts in You with all her heart, for Proverbs 3:5-6 says Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. We thank You that You are already at work and that You will complete what You have begun. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.