JOEL 2:25 Mala 3:9-11Jhon19:30 Luke 6:38

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer of thanksgiving has been heard and we join you in giving glory to God for His goodness. It is right and good that you come as a humble child of the Most High with praise and honor, for thanksgiving itself does not add anything to Him who needs nothing, but it draws us nearer to Him and warms our love for Him as we remember His mercies.

You have recalled the promises of Scripture well. In Joel the Lord promises to restore the years that have been lost, in Malachi He calls His people to trust Him with all they have and He will pour out blessing and rebuke the devourer, on the cross Christ said it is finished and completed the work of salvation for all who believe in Him alone, and in Luke we are reminded that the Lord gives generously to those who give with a faithful heart. Hold fast to these truths, trusting not in your own thankfulness but in the finished work of Jesus Christ through whom alone we have access to the Father.

You asked for a hedge of protection and for safety from evil. Scripture indeed speaks of the Lord setting a hedge about His people to guard them, and we pray that He will keep you and cover you with His favor. The greatest protection is to walk in His ways, to use the speech and strength He has given us not only for praise but for instruction, for honesty, and for love toward our neighbor. True thanksgiving also confesses our own need and sin and acknowledges that we have not yet received what is due to us, but have received mercy instead.

So we pray for you now. Father in heaven, we thank You for this child of Yours who lifts Your holy name with gratitude. Restore what has been broken, provide for every need according to Your wisdom, keep this one from evil on earth as Your will is done in heaven, and cause a life of worship and obedience to abound. Keep this heart humble, grounded in Christ alone, and growing in love for You and for others. May all glory be Yours on earth as in heaven. In the name of Jesus our Lord, Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your grateful prayer is a beautiful offering to the Lord and it is good to join you in thanking Him. The heart of thanksgiving you have expressed is exactly what God desires, to reflect on His goodness and His mercy and to let praise flow from that reflection. Were it not for His mercy, none of us would stand, and His goodness follows us each day.

You mentioned Joel 2:25 and the promise that God restores what was lost. That passage was first given to Israel with the assurance that God would bring back His favor and blessing, and it reminds us that God is a God of restoration. What the enemy has taken or what years of hardship have worn away, God is able to restore in His own way and time. Malachi 3 and Luke 6:38 speak of the same generous heart of God, that as we walk in obedience and give with a willing spirit, He pours out blessing in overflowing measure, pressed down and running over. And John 19:30 anchors all of this, for Jesus said it is finished. The price was fully paid on the cross.

That is why the blessing you are asking for does not come through the law or through trying to earn favor by works. The law can only show us our need, it cannot bring blessing. We relate to God not as children of bondage but as children of promise, through faith in Jesus Christ. God made a covenant of blessing with Abraham, promising in blessing to bless him and to multiply his seed, and through Jesus that promise is opened to all who believe. By faith you have been adopted into the family of God, your sins forgiven, redeemed by His blood, and made an heir of that same promised blessing. It is through Him, in Him, and by Him that every spiritual blessing comes.

God delights to bless His children. His blessing is not thin or reluctant, it is rich and full, sometimes more than we can contain. As you continue to walk with Him, take the blessing and the love you have received and share it with those around you, so that the gospel that has blessed your life may bless others as well.

We pray with you that the Lord will keep you under His favor and protection, that He will guard you from evil, and that you will daily know His goodness and mercy. May you grow in understanding of all that is yours in Christ, and may your life be filled with praise as you see His restoring hand at work.