You turn to heaven with thanksgiving and entreaty, and that is well, for gratitude opens the door to grace. But hear this also: the healing and protection you seek for your children, for yourself, for all your household, these are not given to idle wishes alone. A pilot does not merely wish to steer the ship; he takes the helm. A merchant does not merely wish for gain; he launches his trade. And when you pray for a productive week, for the completion of your work, do you then sit back and only say, “I wish”? Put your hand to the labor, yet do not think the yield comes from your own sweat. The earth brings forth herbs meet for those who dress it, but it receives blessing from God. Do your part with diligence, but look to heaven for the increase; without His command, no fruit comes.
You plead for the healing of your son and daughter, and of her husband. Christ our Lord stretched forth His hand to cure the man with the withered arm only after He had first tried to heal the heart by His word. The malady of the body often springs from a deeper sickness, and He heals when the soul is ready to receive the remedy. Trust His wisdom, for He desires our wholeness more than we do, but He will not force it. Wait on His timing, and in the waiting, let your own faith be stretched forth like that withered hand, made strong and whole by obedience.
You ask for the fruit of the Spirit, above all love, and that your family may walk so close to God that they see themselves as He sees them. This is no small petition. You must work out your salvation with fear and trembling, not with fine words but with the power God supplies. There is no envy in the household of faith; the work of the Lord is edification. Let your love be genuine; let it not overload itself with anxious cares, for sufficiency is nourishment and health to the soul, while excess brings disease. The love that blossoms is the love that abides in God’s order, not in worldly fussing.
Then you cry out for the unsaved, that the veil be lifted and they be drawn to the Cross. Do not lose heart if you do not see the fruit at once. A tree may receive ten strokes and not fall; then a single blow brings it down. Yet that last blow succeeds only because the ten before had weakened its root. Keep speaking, keep praying, keep living the narrow path before them. Many who seemed insensible through ten hearings have afterward at one word been converted. The ground may look barren, but the sower waits. God is the cause of all things; He commands the harvest to spring up when it pleases Him.
And as for the unspoken needs you humbly entrust to Him, know that He waits for you to act, that you may receive the favor. He does not cast His grace before the idle, but when you have done that which lies within your power, He meets you with mercy. Deliverance from evil is certain for those who abide under the shadow of the Almighty, not because they merely name Psalm 91, but because they live it. Walk the narrow path, work as unto the Lord, and all these things, healing, protection, fruitfulness, will be added according to His will. May you go forward not simply wishing, but laboring in faith, and so receive the blessing from God.