We rejoice with you on your daughter's birthday and thank God for the gift of life and for the godly marriage He has given her. We praise Him that she is united with her husband in holy matrimony as one flesh as God designed, and we honor her husband's service as a firefighter and the faithful years they have shared together. Children are a heritage from the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward Psalm 127:3, and we thank Him for the precious little baby now growing inside her womb, for You formed her inward parts, You knitted her together in her mother's womb Psalm 139:13. Life indeed goes by so quickly, for our life is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away James 4:14, so we cherish these milestones and give thanks.
We join you in praying for their safety as they drive to pick up their dogs and return home and prepare to return to work. We ask the Lord to watch over their going out and their coming in Psalm 121:8 and to keep them in His care on the road and in all their ways.
We also lift up your adult son before the Lord with love and concern. We hear your heart for him to drink less and smoke less, but we must speak the truth in love that God calls us not to moderation in what harms us but to sobriety and holiness. Do not be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit Ephesians 5:18 and we are called to be sober and self-controlled, for your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Peter 5:8. Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are His 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Smoking cigarettes and marijuana defiles that temple and clouds the mind God gave us to serve Him clearly, and drunkenness is sin that separates us from His best. We pray not just for less, but for complete deliverance and freedom through Christ, that your son would repent, turn to Jesus fully, and walk in newness of life and find strength and community in fellowship with other believers who will encourage his sobriety.
We lift up your wife and her needs, though they are unspoken, for God knows them intimately, and we ask Him to supply every need according to His riches in glory and to give her peace and joy in Christ. And we pray for you as a husband, father, and worker. We praise God for your desire to be a better husband and a better father to your adult children and a faithful worker. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly and gave himself up for it Ephesians 5:25 and whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men Colossians 3:23. We ask God to give you wisdom, discipline, and endurance to complete your projects and proposals correctly and on time, for as we commit our works to the Lord, our plans will be established Proverbs 16:3 and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us Philippians 4:13.
We pray together now, Father in heaven, we come before Your throne in the name of Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved Acts 4:12 and through Him we have access to You. We thank You for this family, for birthdays and marriages and new life in the womb. We ask You to place Your hand of protection over the daughter and her husband as they travel, keep them safe from harm, and guard the little baby growing within her, grant a healthy pregnancy and birth. We pray for the son, Lord, convict his heart, set him free from dependence on beer, cigarettes, and marijuana, cleanse him, renew his mind, and lead him into sobriety and into a deep walk with Jesus. We pray for the wife, meet her needs, strengthen her faith, and draw her closer to You. We pray for this father and husband, make him more like Christ each day, give him grace to lead his family well, to be diligent and excellent in his work, to manage his time wisely, and to trust You with the heavy workload before him. Fill this home with Your peace, unity, and thanksgiving. We ask all these things together in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.
