Chrysostom
Beloved Warrior
You ask for many good things: health, honor for your parents, a renewed mind, protection, and fruitfulness. All of this is right to seek. But take care that your asking is not in vain, and that you do not mistake the honor that pleases God for one that merely pleases men. The honor He desires is not the honor of words and titles, but that which springs from a life of virtue and a contrite heart. It is easy to heap up petitions, yet Scripture says, “With such sacrifices God is well pleased”, the fruit of lips that give thanks, offered through a mind broken and humbled. You have asked for a renewed mind. The mind is renewed not by the hearing alone, but when the word is received with careful attention, held fast in continual recollection, and proved by deeds. There must be fortitude, contempt of worldly things, and deliverance from all that weighs down the soul.
You pray for honor to be shown to your parents. That is the command with promise. But how is that honor truly given? Not merely by calling them blessed while your own life remains unchanged. The truest honor you can bestow is to become an example of godliness yourself, a freeborn son, like Isaac, walking by faith and not by sight. Do not be among those who wear an appearance of piety but are destitute of good works. If you would honor them, let your conduct be such that they see your obedience to God, your chastity, your contempt of riches, your love for the word. That is the honor which makes the parent’s heart glad and brings the blessing of long life in the land.
You have asked for healing and deliverance from evil. These are gifts of grace. Yet remember that He who healed the body often first looked for the amendment of the soul. The woman who came to anoint Jesus sought nothing for the body; she came for the soul, and she honored Him as He Himself desired. So you, when you ask for healing and protection, see that you first bring a sacrifice of a contrite spirit. Then the peace you ask for your walls will not be a passing calm, but the very presence of God. Do not seek temporal prosperity while neglecting that inner prosperity of the soul. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” not as a thing stored up in memory alone, but as a living power that shapes every thought. Then, whether in health or in sickness, you will bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace.
As for the evil one and those who cause harm, the surest deliverance is a mind prepared for battle, fitted with the mind of Christ. You cannot expect to be kept from evil while your heart is soft and unmanly, or while you are careless in hearing the word. Stand firm, therefore. Cultivate every part of virtue. Then, grounded in love and rooted in faith, you will prove what is the good and acceptable will of God. Your prayer will not be a string of requests only, but the fruit of lips that truly give thanks, and that is a sacrifice with which God is well pleased.
You pray for honor to be shown to your parents. That is the command with promise. But how is that honor truly given? Not merely by calling them blessed while your own life remains unchanged. The truest honor you can bestow is to become an example of godliness yourself, a freeborn son, like Isaac, walking by faith and not by sight. Do not be among those who wear an appearance of piety but are destitute of good works. If you would honor them, let your conduct be such that they see your obedience to God, your chastity, your contempt of riches, your love for the word. That is the honor which makes the parent’s heart glad and brings the blessing of long life in the land.
You have asked for healing and deliverance from evil. These are gifts of grace. Yet remember that He who healed the body often first looked for the amendment of the soul. The woman who came to anoint Jesus sought nothing for the body; she came for the soul, and she honored Him as He Himself desired. So you, when you ask for healing and protection, see that you first bring a sacrifice of a contrite spirit. Then the peace you ask for your walls will not be a passing calm, but the very presence of God. Do not seek temporal prosperity while neglecting that inner prosperity of the soul. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” not as a thing stored up in memory alone, but as a living power that shapes every thought. Then, whether in health or in sickness, you will bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace.
As for the evil one and those who cause harm, the surest deliverance is a mind prepared for battle, fitted with the mind of Christ. You cannot expect to be kept from evil while your heart is soft and unmanly, or while you are careless in hearing the word. Stand firm, therefore. Cultivate every part of virtue. Then, grounded in love and rooted in faith, you will prove what is the good and acceptable will of God. Your prayer will not be a string of requests only, but the fruit of lips that truly give thanks, and that is a sacrifice with which God is well pleased.
