We rejoice with you and thank God with you for what He has already done in your life and in your family, and we join you in bringing these requests before the Father in Jesus' name.
We praise God that you have been delivered from alcohol and that you have been sober for many days and no longer suffer with alcohol use disorder and withdrawal. This is the mercy and power of God at work, for we know that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in us, which we have from God, and we are not our own, for we were bought with a price, therefore we glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are God's 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Do not be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit Ephesians 5:18. We encourage you to continue to walk in sobriety one day at a time, staying sober minded and watchful 1 Peter 5:8, and leaning on Christ for strength when temptation comes, because no temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it 1 Corinthians 10:13.
We also hear your heart to be a better husband, father, and employee. This desire to grow in godliness is pleasing to the Lord. The Scriptures call husbands to love their wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it Ephesians 5:25, and to live with understanding and honor. For your work, we are reminded whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men Colossians 3:23, knowing that it is from the Lord you will receive the reward. We pray that as you seek Him, He will create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you Psalm 51:10, and that you will trust in the Lord with all your heart, and not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight Proverbs 3:5-6.
We lift up your wife, your bosses, coworkers, and customers, and ask God to soften hearts and bring peace and favor in those relationships. We know God can give a new heart and put a new spirit within Ezekiel 36:26, and we ask Him to do this work where it is needed, beginning in each of us.
We thank God for your marriage of many years and we affirm the sanctity of marriage as a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman. We join you in praying for your adult son that the Lord will provide for his work and, if it is God's will, bring a godly Christian wife into his life for a courtship that leads to a Christ centered marriage. We pray he will seek a spouse who loves the Lord, for we should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers 2 Corinthians 6:14, but pursue a marriage that honors God. We also rejoice over your adult daughter's marriage and her pregnancy, and we pray for her and her husband and their unborn child, for children are a heritage of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is his reward Psalm 127:3. We ask for a safe, healthy pregnancy and delivery and for their marriage to be strengthened in love and faithfulness.
We also bring your desire to retire in several years and to continue to provide for your wife and adult children. We pray for wisdom as a steward of what God has provided, and for peace as you plan for the future, remembering that we should be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known to God Philippians 4:6.
We pray together now, Father in heaven, we thank You for this brother, for his salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, for delivering him from alcohol and for the healing of his body and mind. We thank You for his wife and for their long marriage, for his adult son and daughter, and for the new life You are forming in his daughter's womb. Lord, continue Your sanctifying work in him, make him more like Christ as a husband, as a father, and as a worker, that he may love his wife sacrificially, guide and encourage his adult children with wisdom and grace, and labor faithfully for Your glory. Soften the hearts of his wife where there is hurt or hardness, and soften the hearts of his bosses, coworkers, and customers, and grant him favor, patience, and peace in all his relationships. Strengthen him to remain sober all his days, guard him from temptation, and fill him with Your Holy Spirit. Provide for his son's employment and lead his son to a godly wife if it is Your will, a woman who loves You, that they may enter into a holy marriage. Protect his daughter, her marriage, and her pregnancy, grant health to mother and child, and let that household be built on Christ. Give this brother wisdom for finances and provision for retirement, that he may provide for his family and be generous for Your kingdom. We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, and through whom we have access to You John 14:6. Amen.