We join you together before our Father in Jesus' name and we thank you for calling upon Jesus Christ as you begin this day, for it is only through Him that we have access to God and hope beyond this life. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me, John 14:6, and we rejoice that you have come to Him.
We hear your heart to put your house in order and to not leave a burden for your wife and adult children, and this is wise and loving stewardship. Scripture tells us to prepare as Hezekiah was told, Set your house in order, Isaiah 38:1, and to bear one another's burdens in love. Your desire to plan ahead for your passing so that your family can have peace and know you are at rest with the Lord is honorable, and we pray your appointment in a few hours will be filled with clarity, wisdom, and peace. We ask God to give that young man wisdom to help you with sound counsel and to guide you in making decisions that honor God and love your family well, For the Lord gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding, Proverbs 2:6.
We also lift up your thoughts about cremation and having your ashes scattered in the ocean. We understand your connection to the sea and your marriage there and your desire not to burden your family with great cost and work. The Bible most often shows burial as the pattern for God's people, and it teaches that our bodies are precious to God, yet we know that God is sovereign over all creation and nothing can separate us from His power to raise us. Whether buried or cremated, those who are in Christ will be raised incorruptible, for we know that our earthly bodies will be transformed, and to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5:8. We pray you will seek peace about this decision and consider what will best testify to your faith and give your family a place to remember with thanksgiving that you are with Christ, which is far better, Philippians 1:21.
We weep with you over the burdens you carry for your family, and we must speak truth in love about what you have shared concerning alcohol and cigarette use for your wife and adult son, and your son's use of marijuana. These things do not honor God and they harm the body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Scripture says, Don't be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18, and Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Drunkenness and drug use are works of the flesh that the Lord calls us to turn from, Galatians 5:19-21, not only because they damage health but because they cloud the mind, harden the heart, and open the door to harsh words and division. We pray with you that God will bring conviction, healing, and deliverance to your wife and son, that He will replace these dependencies with a hunger for His Spirit and give them strength to walk in self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit.
We also lift up your adult daughter, her marriage, her pregnancy, and her need to provide for her family. We thank God for the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman and for the gift of new life, and we pray God will strengthen her marriage in love and faithfulness, guard the life within her, and provide for all their needs according to His riches. We pray that her husband will love her as Christ loved the church, Ephesians 5:25, and that their home will be built on the Lord.
We hear your pain about the way your wife speaks to you after drinking, and your desire to forgive and to have a softened heart, and also for her heart and the hearts of your bosses, coworkers, and customers to be softened. God is able to give a new heart, as He promises, I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, Ezekiel 36:26. We pray God softens your heart and hers, that you may forgive as God in Christ forgave you, Ephesians 4:32, and that you may speak the truth in love and set healthy, godly boundaries against sin while still honoring your marriage covenant. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you, Ephesians 4:32. We pray for grace for you to not return harshness for harshness, but to be sober-minded and loving, and for your wife to find freedom from alcohol so her words may be gracious and kind.
We bring before the Lord the pain in your left shoulder and left elbow and your hope for steroid shots and relief. We pray for healing and for wisdom for your doctors, for the Lord is the one who heals all your diseases, Psalm 103:3, and we ask that He will ease your pain and restore strength to your body. We also pray about your desire to retire in a few years and to have your finances and house in order. We ask God to grant you diligence, provision, and contentment, The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit, Proverbs 21:5, and to help you trust Him with the future, not with anxiety but with prayer, In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, Philippians 4:6.
We honor your faithful care for your mother, your father, your brother and sister and their families in their passing, and we see the love with which you have served. Now as you think of your own passing, we pray you will know deep peace that to know Christ is to have eternal life, and that your family will not be left without comfort, for God is the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 2 Corinthians 1:3, who comforts us in all our affliction.
Together we pray, Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ we come before You for our brother. We thank You for his life, for his marriage, for his children and grandchildren to come, and for his faithful service to his family. We ask You to guide his appointment today, give him wisdom to steward well what You have entrusted to him, and let every plan be made in peace and in order. Comfort his heart with the assurance that to be with You is gain, and let his family know he is at peace and thankful for the life You gave him. Lord, we ask You to deliver his wife and son from alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana, heal their bodies, set them free, and fill them with Your Holy Spirit. Protect his daughter, her marriage, and her unborn child, provide for their needs, and establish their home in You. Soften the hearts of his bosses, coworkers, customers, and especially his wife, and soften his own heart to forgive as You have forgiven him. Touch his shoulder and elbow, ease his pain, guide his medical care, and grant him healing according to Your will. Provide for his retirement and let him finish his work with joy and rest in Your grace. Let Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, guard his heart and mind in Christ Jesus, Philippians 4:7. We ask all this in the mighty and only saving name of Jesus Christ, our hope and our resurrection, Amen.
