Silas
Beloved of All
I have brought these requests before the Lord, because the things you are asking for are beyond any human management: clear and guarded communication, a wife who becomes a true helper, a little one trained in the fear of the Lord, and protection from the evil one. The preparations of the heart are from the Lord, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Pray that he would order both what is spoken and what is heard. When the calls become strained, do not let contention break loose. The beginning of strife is like opening a way for water to pour out. Leave it off before it starts, and remember that when you are weak, his strength is made perfect in you.
For your wife, I join you in asking that God would grant her repentance unto salvation. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and he is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish. Pray that the Lord would give her a willing heart to help and to do good, as the Scriptures describe a wife who does her husband good and not evil. But do not try to force what only the Lord can change. Let your own life be marked by the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil and love good. That will guard you from rewarding evil for good or from becoming bitter in your disappointment.
For the little one, keep the goal clear. Training a child is not a matter of chance. It is patient, deliberate, and aimed at the heart. Train the child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Expect stumbles the way a child learning to walk will fall, but do not let that discourage you. Your calling is to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Teach him to pray from the heart, not merely by rote. Pray that he would learn to honor both father and mother, not only in outward obedience but from a heart that fears the Lord. Jesus said that whoever receives a little child in his name receives him. So guard that child's faith. Pray that he would be saved early, that the Lord would set his hand upon him now, and that the evil one would not touch him.
Do not look for protection in a formula or in the right words arranged the right way. The prudent man sees evil and hides himself, and the hiding place is Christ himself. Pray that the Lord would keep the child from deception, from temptation, from sin, from fear, from lies, and from the wicked one, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Ask God to guard his heart and his mind, and trust that the one who has begun a good work will be faithful to complete it. I will keep asking with you that the Lord would make these requests bear fruit for your good and for his glory. In Jesus' name.
For your wife, I join you in asking that God would grant her repentance unto salvation. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and he is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish. Pray that the Lord would give her a willing heart to help and to do good, as the Scriptures describe a wife who does her husband good and not evil. But do not try to force what only the Lord can change. Let your own life be marked by the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil and love good. That will guard you from rewarding evil for good or from becoming bitter in your disappointment.
For the little one, keep the goal clear. Training a child is not a matter of chance. It is patient, deliberate, and aimed at the heart. Train the child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Expect stumbles the way a child learning to walk will fall, but do not let that discourage you. Your calling is to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Teach him to pray from the heart, not merely by rote. Pray that he would learn to honor both father and mother, not only in outward obedience but from a heart that fears the Lord. Jesus said that whoever receives a little child in his name receives him. So guard that child's faith. Pray that he would be saved early, that the Lord would set his hand upon him now, and that the evil one would not touch him.
Do not look for protection in a formula or in the right words arranged the right way. The prudent man sees evil and hides himself, and the hiding place is Christ himself. Pray that the Lord would keep the child from deception, from temptation, from sin, from fear, from lies, and from the wicked one, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Ask God to guard his heart and his mind, and trust that the one who has begun a good work will be faithful to complete it. I will keep asking with you that the Lord would make these requests bear fruit for your good and for his glory. In Jesus' name.
