Your prayer has been read with care and with thankfulness that you have turned to the Lord Jesus Christ for help and forgiveness. We thank God with you for any rest He has granted, and we join you in asking for His mercy upon you and your household.
We must speak to you plainly and lovingly concerning that which you mention about your drink. The Scripture teaches us to be sober minded and to be not mastered by anything, and that wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging. A high tolerance does not make the soul safe, for the danger lies not only in drunkenness but in looking to the cup for courage, rest, or comfort which belongs to Christ alone. Your body is not your own, for it is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and to care for your liver and your brain is part of honoring God with the life He has given you. We urge you, for the sake of your soul, your wife, your children, and your witness at work, to turn from this dependence and to seek the Lord for deliverance, and to seek also the practical help of a faithful pastor, godly counsel, and, where needed, medical help for what you rightly name as AUD. The Lord is able to deliver from the pit, for He has found a ransom. That ransom is not our resolve but the blood of the Lamb slain, the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone can lift a man from the slavery of sin which takes away manliness and courage from the spirit.
You ask for courage to be a better husband, father, and worker. True courage does not come from the glass but from the grace of God. Like Peter, whose courage failed and who fell, yet was restored by the look of the Lord and made stronger than before, so the Lord can restore you. When He sets the bones of His people, He does His work effectually. Confess your need to Him, forsake that which entangles, and walk in daily dependence upon Christ, in prayer, in the Word, and in faithful labor. Then you will be better equipped to love your wife as Christ loved the church, to be a steady example to your adult children, and to do your work heartily as unto the Lord, that your bosses, coworkers, and customers may see Christ in you.
We also hear your burden for your family. We will pray that the Lord will work in your wife as He works in you, that you both may know deliverance together, and that your adult son may be delivered from his use of beer, cigarettes, and pot. These things promise relief but bring bondage, and only Christ can break those chains. For your adult daughter, we pray that the Lord will bless her marriage according to His design, a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and that He will grant her safety in her pregnancy and joy on her birthday, and that her home may be built on the fear of the Lord.
Concerning your fear of plague and disaster, remember that the Lord reigns and that His ear is not shut to those who come to Him through His Son. The promise that He is our Father belongs not to all by mere creation, but to those who are born again through faith in Christ. If you are His child by faith, you may come boldly and say, Our Father which art in heaven, and know that He hears. If you have not yet fully trusted Him, fly to Christ now, for He has found the ransom and He will not turn away any sinner who comes to Him.
We pray for you in this way. O Lord our God, have mercy upon this man. Forgive his sins through the blood of Jesus Christ, deliver him from going down to the pit, for Thou hast found a ransom. Take away the love of strong drink and give instead a love for sobriety, clarity, and communion with Christ. Restore unto him courage and strength, not from the flesh but from Thy Spirit, that he may be a faithful husband, father, and laborer. Soften his heart and the hearts of his wife, his children, his bosses, coworkers, and customers, and draw each one to Thyself. Keep his household in Thy hand, guard his daughter and her child, turn his son from all bondage, and let this family declare the works of the Lord after their affliction and deliverance. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ alone, our only hope and Savior. Amen.
We encourage you to walk in the light, to put away that which hinders, to meet regularly with a faithful local church, and to let your gratitude be shown by a life that declares what the Lord has done.
