Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing your heart so honestly and for giving thanks to God even in a difficult season. We hear your gratitude for rest, your desire to be a better husband and father and worker, your love for your wife and adult children, and your longing for God to soften hearts including your own. God hears those prayers and He invites you to bring everything to Him through Jesus Christ alone, who is our only hope for forgiveness and new life.
We want to pray with you about your drink and your health. You mentioned that you have a high tolerance and will not be drunk, but Scripture warns us that it is not only obvious drunkenness that harms us. The habit itself can cloud the mind, weaken the body, and make it harder to have the clear courage and strength you are asking God for. As one of the homilies reminds us, this kind of desire is not stopped by adding more to it, but by turning the mind away from it and taking away what feeds it. Your liver and your brain matter to God because your body matters to God, and caring for it is part of honoring Him. If you and your wife are struggling with alcohol use, and your son with beer and cigarettes and marijuana, please do not face this alone. Bring this into the light with a trusted pastor, a biblical counselor, and a medical professional who can help you wisely. God can give you strength to step away from what harms you, and He often does that through the help of other people, through honest accountability, and through daily choices to choose what is good for your soul and body.
We thank God for your desire to be a better husband and father. Marriage is a bond ordained by God, and it is made strong when it is kept honorable and pure. Holiness in marriage is not just avoiding what is wrong, but faithfully loving the wife God has given you, living with her in understanding and kindness, and keeping your life ordered and chaste before Him. That same faithfulness extends to your children, even when they are adults. You cannot control their choices, but you can love them, pray for them, and model repentance and steadiness.
We will pray for you and your family.
Father, we thank You for Your mercy through Jesus Christ, through whom alone we have forgiveness of sins. Forgive this brother as he confesses to You, and give him assurance of Your grace. Grant him and his wife deliverance from dependence on alcohol, and give their son freedom from beer and cigarettes and marijuana. Protect their bodies and minds and give them wisdom to seek help and to walk in sobriety day by day. Bless their adult daughter in her marriage and in her pregnancy, keep her and her child safe, and give her joy on her birthday and in the days ahead. Strengthen this brother for his work, help him to be diligent and honest and to do his tasks well, and soften the hearts of his bosses and coworkers and customers toward him, and soften his heart toward them. Guard this family and many others from disease and fear, including the plague he mentioned, and help them to trust You rather than live in dread. Make this home a place of peace, prayer, and holiness, where each person seeks You first. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Please keep seeking the Lord in His Word and in prayer, stay connected to a local church where you can be known and encouraged, and reach out quickly for support for alcohol use. If you ever feel unsafe or unable to care for yourself, please contact a pastor, a trusted family member, or a medical professional right away. We are praying for you to have true courage, which comes from a clear mind and a heart made new by Christ, and for God to continue the good work He has begun in you and your family.
We want to pray with you about your drink and your health. You mentioned that you have a high tolerance and will not be drunk, but Scripture warns us that it is not only obvious drunkenness that harms us. The habit itself can cloud the mind, weaken the body, and make it harder to have the clear courage and strength you are asking God for. As one of the homilies reminds us, this kind of desire is not stopped by adding more to it, but by turning the mind away from it and taking away what feeds it. Your liver and your brain matter to God because your body matters to God, and caring for it is part of honoring Him. If you and your wife are struggling with alcohol use, and your son with beer and cigarettes and marijuana, please do not face this alone. Bring this into the light with a trusted pastor, a biblical counselor, and a medical professional who can help you wisely. God can give you strength to step away from what harms you, and He often does that through the help of other people, through honest accountability, and through daily choices to choose what is good for your soul and body.
We thank God for your desire to be a better husband and father. Marriage is a bond ordained by God, and it is made strong when it is kept honorable and pure. Holiness in marriage is not just avoiding what is wrong, but faithfully loving the wife God has given you, living with her in understanding and kindness, and keeping your life ordered and chaste before Him. That same faithfulness extends to your children, even when they are adults. You cannot control their choices, but you can love them, pray for them, and model repentance and steadiness.
We will pray for you and your family.
Father, we thank You for Your mercy through Jesus Christ, through whom alone we have forgiveness of sins. Forgive this brother as he confesses to You, and give him assurance of Your grace. Grant him and his wife deliverance from dependence on alcohol, and give their son freedom from beer and cigarettes and marijuana. Protect their bodies and minds and give them wisdom to seek help and to walk in sobriety day by day. Bless their adult daughter in her marriage and in her pregnancy, keep her and her child safe, and give her joy on her birthday and in the days ahead. Strengthen this brother for his work, help him to be diligent and honest and to do his tasks well, and soften the hearts of his bosses and coworkers and customers toward him, and soften his heart toward them. Guard this family and many others from disease and fear, including the plague he mentioned, and help them to trust You rather than live in dread. Make this home a place of peace, prayer, and holiness, where each person seeks You first. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Please keep seeking the Lord in His Word and in prayer, stay connected to a local church where you can be known and encouraged, and reach out quickly for support for alcohol use. If you ever feel unsafe or unable to care for yourself, please contact a pastor, a trusted family member, or a medical professional right away. We are praying for you to have true courage, which comes from a clear mind and a heart made new by Christ, and for God to continue the good work He has begun in you and your family.
