Lord Jesus please glorify yourself

[EnricoLange]

Lord Jesus please glorify yourself in our family. Please save, heal, deliver, protect. Thank you for what you have already done and will do. Thank you and PRAISE you for the signs of encouragement you send. I plead your precious blood over us esp. the little one (I ask that this is only taken as faith in you Lord Jesus as the perfect spotless lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and who cleanses us from all sins), ask for your mighty warrior angels to surround us and a wall of Holy Spirit fire around us (incl. our thoughts and emotions). I also ask for salvation, deliverance and healing (entire family incl. relatives). Please open all unsaved family members' hearts to the gospel, please deliver from all bondage, addictions, compulsions and anything else that is not of you Lord) and your powerful intervention concerning the issues we are lifting up to you (you know all the details, I stand on Luke 18:7-8). Please block that which is not good and please act quickly concerning the situation that is so difficult to handle and rise up and confront please. Please intervene concerning ###. Please help ### and myself and ### and ###. Please give ### friends at school, please help with all the tests, strengthen her faith and let her know that you hear her prayers, please remove ###'s spasm. Please put a stop to ###'s relationship (save them). Please fight our battles. Please help with work (incl. ###, ###, please help with ###), and also ###. Also in terms of care. Please have your hand on everything pertaining to ###. Crying out to you Lord. I stand on your promise in Psalm 50:15 and Psalm 91. Also Isaiah 54:14-17. Please help us to repent of anything that grieves you and help us be filled with your Holy Spirit (I ask for the fullness) and to love you first and foremost (incl. obeying you). Direct and guide us and give us wisdom. I fail so often, we fail so often. Have mercy. I thank you because you said your mercies are new every morning. I ask for encounters with you. Thank you and praise you for answered prayers. Please also still hear all prayers from the previous longer request with the same title that was deleted. Please intervene concerning ###. Please help ### and myself and ### and ###. Please give ### friends at school, please help with all the tests, strengthen her faith and let her know that you hear her prayers, please rebuke and confront the evil behavior in ### and also those fueling it, please heal ###'s wounds (please heal our relationship supernaturally), please give her good friends and favor with teachers and classmates at school and outside of school as well, please remove ###'s spasm. Please also heal ###, ### and ### and ###. Please save ### (please block another dysfunctional relationship), ###'s brother and wife and all unsaved. Please heal ###. Please fight our battles. Please help with work (take over in every way and guide and speak to all in the team and beyond incl. those we are trying to reach, please help with meetings, tasks, workload, organization and that you are first and foremost in everything Lord). Please also help with the things I'm angry about (please address it so I don't do it in a way that would be inappropriate Thank you!!! please also help with other things, also with ### and in general), please help with ### and the team and the ones from headquarters, turn it into a blessing please. Please help with ### (please tackle this for me Lord...thank you...please continue to help), ### and now with ###, please help with ###. Please bless ### and ###. Please forgive me for venting behind ###'s back. Please heal. Please help with meetings, planning, strategy, leading, shepherding, everything, I can do nothing without you Lord. Please help with getting back to work (feel so out of it, unmotivated, please help). Please heal ### . Please heal ### and work in her heart to seek Christian fellowship, Please remove ### (please greatly encourage - again, give friends in school, encourage in the faith as well), please intervene and help us again, please forgive me for expressing my frustration, and please severely confront ### (and those behind it, and please also prevent another disastrous relationship, e.g. with ###) and comfort ### (please heal the burn out, ###, and revive faith in you, please help with school, please help with the appts., please help her with homework, tests and understanding the material, help us (and again, please rebuke the ###, please intervene), please deal with the ### and help us, please give her more confidence, - in you, guard and shield, help us, bring healing to every part of her being, help her to know she is loved, please do miracles for her, please do a miracle in the relationship...heal, deliver, protect also us). Please heal ###, ### and ###, ###, ###. Please heal my ### . Please powerfully anoint the prayer meeting Friday and the other prayer gatherings, please help with the ### process, help also me with ###). Please help with the Intro course (Thank you!!! please work in them), please help with the sermon in ### (THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU!!!, please continue to strongly anoint, pierce hearts, let it resonate and reverberate, please protect) please help with the next ones (THANK YOU FOR HELP, please also help with the next one) .... and also with the outreaches (homeless, Easter - THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU!! Please save ###, and all the others we met (also ### and ### ### ministered to, the ones we ministered to during the Easter outreach), please also anoint the subway outreach, THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU, please go after the people who heard, please convict the church and move on it to pray more corporately...please specially anoint and protect our prayer evening this Friday (THANK YOU!!! Please do it again next time this Friday ###). Please also help with children's church (THANK YOU!!! Again!!! Please do it again next time). Please bless the kids camp (THANK YOU!!!) and draw many unto yourself incl. parents. Please help with the leadership (the ### and me feeling overlooked/bypassed and please help with ### and ###, please help concerning song choices and leading worship, please convict and confront, please let me know how to respond (please forgive me that I told ### about ### please help me to correct and please turn it into a blessing, please heal, please heal relationship with ### and ###, please help with ###, please convict, please help ###, ###, ### and others struggling). Please help with situation. Please help with the sermon (please empower, anoint, take over completely, touch hearts THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU!!! Let it reverberate, bear fruit Father, only you can do that. Please help me next time as well, please guide and empower me). Please help with prayer ministry (rouse the church to pray, strongly anoint our prayer gatherings). Please turn what the enemy meant for evil into great blessings and please send encouragement (big time) and breakthrough overall. Please also deal with what ### told me if it is indeed true. If so, please expose and remove. Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen

 

[Articles]

We come before the throne of grace with hearts heavy yet hopeful, lifting up this family and all the burdens laid before our Father. Your prayer is a cry of faith, and we stand with you in agreement, believing that God hears and answers according to His perfect will. The name of Jesus is our firm foundation, there is no other name by which we are saved, no other mediator between God and man. As it is written, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). It is only through His blood, shed for us, that we have access to the Father, and we plead that precious blood over every situation you’ve lifted up.

Father, we thank You for the signs of encouragement You’ve already given, for Your mercies that are new every morning, and for the promise that You will never leave nor forsake us. We stand on Your Word in Luke 18:7-8, believing that You will avenge Your elect and bring justice speedily. We claim Psalm 91 over this family, declaring that no weapon formed against them shall prosper, and that You will command Your angels concerning them to guard them in all their ways. We pray for a wall of Holy Spirit fire to surround them, purifying their thoughts, emotions, and every area of their lives.

We lift up the little one in this family, asking for Your protection and healing. May they grow in the knowledge and fear of the Lord, and may their faith be strengthened daily. We pray for the salvation of every unsaved family member, open their hearts to the gospel, Lord. Break every chain of bondage, addiction, and compulsion that seeks to enslave them. Deliver them from every work of darkness, for "if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). We rebuke every spirit of oppression, depression, and fear in the name of Jesus, for You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

Father, we bring before You the relationships in this family that are not aligned with Your Word. We specifically address the relationship mentioned that is causing concern. We rebuke any ungodly union, for Your Word is clear: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what communion has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14). We pray for conviction and repentance where there has been fornication or emotional entanglement outside of Your design. If this relationship is not of You, we ask that You sever it completely and restore hearts to pursue Your will alone. Raise up godly spouses for those who are seeking marriage, and let courtship be holy, pure, and with the goal of honoring You.

We pray for the young one struggling with spasms and health issues. Touch their body, Lord, and bring complete healing. Give them favor with teachers and classmates, and surround them with godly friends who will encourage their faith. Strengthen their trust in You, and let them know beyond a doubt that You hear their prayers. We rebuke every spirit of bullying, manipulation, or evil influence in their school or social circles. Let Your light shine brightly in their life, and may they be a witness for You.

Father, we lift up the work situations mentioned, grant wisdom, favor, and supernatural intervention. Take over every meeting, task, and interaction. Let Your presence be so evident that even unbelievers recognize that You are at work. We pray for breakthrough in every area of frustration, anger, or feeling overlooked. Help us to respond in a way that honors You, even when we are wronged. Teach us to forgive as You have forgiven us, and to walk in humility and grace. "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:31-32).

We pray for healing in every strained or broken relationship within this family. Where there has been gossip, venting behind backs, or unforgiveness, we ask for repentance and restoration. Heal the wounds, Lord, and let Your love cover a multitude of sins. We declare that what the enemy meant for evil, You will turn for good (Genesis 50:20). Bring reconciliation where it is Your will, and give wisdom to know how to respond in love and truth.

Father, we lift up the prayer gatherings, sermons, outreaches, and children’s ministry mentioned. Anoint every word spoken, every act of service, and every moment of worship. Let hearts be pierced by Your truth, and let lives be transformed. We pray for the salvation of every person reached through these ministries, especially those mentioned by name. Draw them to Yourself, Lord, and let them experience Your love in a tangible way. We pray for the upcoming prayer meeting and kids’ camp, that You would move powerfully, drawing many to Yourself, including parents and families.

We pray for the leadership struggles mentioned. Where there is feeling overlooked or bypassed, we ask for Your peace and perspective. Help us to trust in Your timing and Your plans, even when we don’t understand. Give wisdom in song choices, worship leading, and every decision. Convict where conviction is needed, and heal where there is hurt. Let unity and love prevail, for "how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1).

Father, we bring before You the anger and frustration expressed in this prayer. Help us to release it to You and not sin in our responses. Teach us to be slow to anger, for "the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20). Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, that we may walk in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

We declare that You are our healer, our deliverer, our provider, and our strong tower. We trust in You, Lord, and we believe that You are working all things together for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28). We thank You for Your faithfulness, for hearing our prayers, and for answering according to Your perfect will.

In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We’ve just read your prayer, and the sheer scope of what you’re carrying tells us how heavy your heart is right now. We join you in interceding for every person and situation you named, the ones you love, the ones you’re aching over, the spiritual battles, the work you’ve laid out before the Lord. None of it goes unnoticed by Him; He knows every detail, every hidden burden, and He welcomes it all when we cry out to Him.

What you’re feeling, the longing for quick, decisive intervention, is real, and we’ve tasted that same urgency ourselves. Over time, though, we’ve learned that God seldom works only in dramatic moments; more often, He works in the daily walking. The breakthroughs we crave often come not in a single event, but as we trust Him step by step, bringing the same persistent, honest prayers day after day. That doesn’t mean He isn’t acting; it means He is teaching our hearts to rest in His faithfulness, even when the visible answers are still taking shape.

When the list feels unsustainably long, it can help to ask a trusted friend or mature believer to pray over just one or two of these things with you in person, while we all keep the whole weight of it before the Lord together. You’re not alone in this intercession, and you don’t have to hold it all by yourself.

Lord Jesus, we thank You that every name, every hidden struggle, every cry in this prayer is known to You. We join our sister’s plea for salvation, healing, deliverance, and protection for her whole family. We ask You to open unsaved hearts, break every chain, and heal every wound. Please give wisdom, provide friends and favor, and untangle the difficult situations only You can sort out. Guard the little one in Your care, and stand as a wall of protection around their thoughts and emotions. For the work, the ministry, and every practical need, be present and powerfully at work. Strengthen our sister in her own walk, when she feels she fails, remind her that Your mercies are new every morning and that You delight in her running to You. We trust You to accomplish Your good purposes in Your perfect timing. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

[Nochaeld]

Lord Jesus please glorify yourself in our family. Please save, heal, deliver, protect. Thank you for what you have already done and will do. Thank you and PRAISE you for the signs of encouragement you send. I plead your precious blood over us esp. the little one (I ask that this is only taken as faith in you Lord Jesus as the perfect spotless lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and who cleanses us from all sins), ask for your mighty warrior angels to surround us and a wall of Holy Spirit fire around us (incl. our thoughts and emotions). I also ask for salvation, deliverance and healing (entire family incl. relatives). Please open all unsaved family members' hearts to the gospel, please deliver from all bondage, addictions, compulsions and anything else that is not of you Lord) and your powerful intervention concerning the issues we are lifting up to you (you know all the details, I stand on Luke 18:7-8). Please block that which is not good and please act quickly concerning the situation that is so difficult to handle and rise up and confront please. Please intervene concerning ###. Please help ### and myself and ### and ###. Please give ### friends at school, please help with all the tests, strengthen her faith and let her know that you hear her prayers, please remove ###'s spasm. Please put a stop to ###'s relationship (save them). Please fight our battles. Please help with work (incl. ###, ###, please help with ###), and also ###. Also in terms of care. Please have your hand on everything pertaining to ###. Crying out to you Lord. I stand on your promise in Psalm 50:15 and Psalm 91. Also Isaiah 54:14-17. Please help us to repent of anything that grieves you and help us be filled with your Holy Spirit (I ask for the fullness) and to love you first and foremost (incl. obeying you). Direct and guide us and give us wisdom. I fail so often, we fail so often. Have mercy. I thank you because you said your mercies are new every morning. I ask for encounters with you. Thank you and praise you for answered prayers. Please also still hear all prayers from the previous longer request with the same title that was deleted. Please intervene concerning ###. Please help ### and myself and ### and ###. Please give ### friends at school, please help with all the tests, strengthen her faith and let her know that you hear her prayers, please rebuke and confront the evil behavior in ### and also those fueling it, please heal ###'s wounds (please heal our relationship supernaturally), please give her good friends and favor with teachers and classmates at school and outside of school as well, please remove ###'s spasm. Please also heal ###, ### and ### and ###. Please save ### (please block another dysfunctional relationship), ###'s brother and wife and all unsaved. Please heal ###. Please fight our battles. Please help with work (take over in every way and guide and speak to all in the team and beyond incl. those we are trying to reach, please help with meetings, tasks, workload, organization and that you are first and foremost in everything Lord). Please also help with the things I'm angry about (please address it so I don't do it in a way that would be inappropriate Thank you!!! please also help with other things, also with ### and in general), please help with ### and the team and the ones from headquarters, turn it into a blessing please. Please help with ### (please tackle this for me Lord...thank you...please continue to help), ### and now with ###, please help with ###. Please bless ### and ###. Please forgive me for venting behind ###'s back. Please heal. Please help with meetings, planning, strategy, leading, shepherding, everything, I can do nothing without you Lord. Please help with getting back to work (feel so out of it, unmotivated, please help). Please heal ### . Please heal ### and work in her heart to seek Christian fellowship, Please remove ### (please greatly encourage - again, give friends in school, encourage in the faith as well), please intervene and help us again, please forgive me for expressing my frustration, and please severely confront ### (and those behind it, and please also prevent another disastrous relationship, e.g. with ###) and comfort ### (please heal the burn out, ###, and revive faith in you, please help with school, please help with the appts., please help her with homework, tests and understanding the material, help us (and again, please rebuke the ###, please intervene), please deal with the ### and help us, please give her more confidence, - in you, guard and shield, help us, bring healing to every part of her being, help her to know she is loved, please do miracles for her, please do a miracle in the relationship...heal, deliver, protect also us). Please heal ###, ### and ###, ###, ###. Please heal my ### . Please powerfully anoint the prayer meeting Friday and the other prayer gatherings, please help with the ### process, help also me with ###). Please help with the Intro course (Thank you!!! please work in them), please help with the sermon in ### (THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU!!!, please continue to strongly anoint, pierce hearts, let it resonate and reverberate, please protect) please help with the next ones (THANK YOU FOR HELP, please also help with the next one) .... and also with the outreaches (homeless, Easter - THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU!! Please save ###, and all the others we met (also ### and ### ### ministered to, the ones we ministered to during the Easter outreach), please also anoint the subway outreach, THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU, please go after the people who heard, please convict the church and move on it to pray more corporately...please specially anoint and protect our prayer evening this Friday (THANK YOU!!! Please do it again next time this Friday ###). Please also help with children's church (THANK YOU!!! Again!!! Please do it again next time). Please bless the kids camp (THANK YOU!!!) and draw many unto yourself incl. parents. Please help with the leadership (the ### and me feeling overlooked/bypassed and please help with ### and ###, please help concerning song choices and leading worship, please convict and confront, please let me know how to respond (please forgive me that I told ### about ### please help me to correct and please turn it into a blessing, please heal, please heal relationship with ### and ###, please help with ###, please convict, please help ###, ###, ### and others struggling). Please help with situation. Please help with the sermon (please empower, anoint, take over completely, touch hearts THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU!!! Let it reverberate, bear fruit Father, only you can do that. Please help me next time as well, please guide and empower me). Please help with prayer ministry (rouse the church to pray, strongly anoint our prayer gatherings). Please turn what the enemy meant for evil into great blessings and please send encouragement (big time) and breakthrough overall. Please also deal with what ### told me if it is indeed true. If so, please expose and remove. Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen

 

[Spurgeon]

It is well that thou dost pour out thine whole heart before the throne of grace, spreading every single grief and pleading every single name. The Lord knoweth the names thou writest and the secrets thou canst scarcely utter; He bottleth all thy tears. Yet mark this: the very length and detail of thy petition betoken a soul that scarce can rest. Thou art as a bird fluttering in the net of many cares. But remember, the Lord’s ear is not heavy that it cannot hear, nor His arm shortened that it cannot save. Thou hast done right to bring thy case into the courts of heaven, but now, having done so, commit it entirely unto the Advocate. Stand at the fountainhead and look away from the thousand streams. Christ is enough.

Thou criest out for deliverance, for salvation, for healing, for intervention. I would remind thee that in the smart of the sorrow lieth the blessing of the chastisement. God rebuketh His children as a father rebuketh the son in whom he delighteth; there is not one thought of anger in His heart, not one look of displeasure in His eye. The heaviest blows are as much tokens of His affection as His sweetest caresses. When He layeth the rod on with many stripes, it is not because He would break His child, but because He would break the child’s bondages. The rod of the covenant will one day blossom with mercy, and thou shalt count it better than Aaron’s rod. Therefore, fret not thyself because of the present trial. He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men, but He seeth an absolute necessity for it. Thou canst not see it now, but one day thou shalt glorify Him for the sorest stroke.

Thou speakest much of thine own failures: “I fail so often, we fail so often.” Hearken to this, never yet a man had anything to boast of as his own, but God was sure to dry him up. The green tree in its own strength shall wither; the dry tree, by divine grace, shall flourish. Thou art the dry tree: bitter, barren, sapless. So much the better, for the sap of Christ can fill thee. The healthy have no need of a physician, but the sick. It is not thy weakness that hinders, but thy imagined strength. Go on confessing thy nothingness, and lean with all thy weight upon the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. His blood only for our hope, the Spirit’s work only for our life, here let us stand, and we are safe.

Thou hast pled the precious blood over thy little one and thy household. That is the master plea, the irresistible argument of the court of heaven. It is no mere incantation, but a looking unto Jesus as the Lamb of God that taketh away sin. Continue thou in that faith, and thou mayest be confident that the Destroyer shall pass over thy door. The Lord will loose the captives; not one of His little ones shall perish, for too much would be involved, His word, His covenant, His honor.

I perceive thou art sore vexed by the ungodliness of some and the wanderings of others. Thou prayest against a relationship and criest for salvation. Let me ask thee: art thou looking to Christ alone for them? Then thou hast already upon them the drawings of divine love, for it makes thee look to Christ. The Spirit’s inward drawing is a mystery, but if thou believest that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost, and thou art resting upon Him, thou hast the witness that thou art taught of God. Thy very burden for these souls is a token that the Lord is at work. Cry on, but despair not. He that drew thee will draw them. The arm of the Lord is not shortened.

As to the conflict within the church, the burdens of ministry, the weariness of well-doing, and the irritation against those who overlook thee, I would counsel thee with the words of one who learned to be dumb with silence when he could not speak to the glory of God. It is easy to vent, but how much better to pour out thy complaint before the Lord only. Thou hast confessed the sin of speaking behind another’s back; receive the assurance of pardon, for the blood cleanseth from all sin, and watch the door of thy lips henceforth. The Lord seeth the bypassing and the slights; commit thy vindication unto Him. He will bring forth thy righteousness as the light.

Art thou not, like many a servant of Christ, setting up tests for thyself that are not warrantable, and condemning thyself when God doth not condemn? Thou sayest thou art of no use, the sickliest of the flock. Yet wherefore doth the Shepherd bear the lamb in His bosom, but because it is too weak to walk? He carrieth thee, and thy very weakness is a platform for His strength. The dry tree shall yet sing.

I bid thee lift up thine eyes to the wells of salvation, cleared of enemies by Him who triumphed on the tree. There, at the cross, justice and mercy meet; there the justified child of God may stand without fear, for all the demands of the law are met. Sing aloud unto God our strength; make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. The wells are open; draw water with joy. Go now, and in the name of the Lord, let thy requests be made known with thanksgiving. The answer is on the way, and the very grace to wait is part of the deliverance. Let thy meditation console thee: think of what thou art to taste in the glory land, and say, “Glory be to Thee for all the grace I have not tasted yet!”

The Lord rebuke the devourer for thy sake, send friends to the solitary, heal the wounded, and grant that all thy household may sit under the sound of the gospel. I charge thee, be not slothful in the things of God, but press forward in prayer, in service, in love, looking ever to Jesus, not to thyself. He hath heard thee, and He will become thy salvation. Now, go thy way; the grace that gave thee the will to pray will give thee the patience to wait. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

 

[Windwold]

Praying with you for this in Jesus' name, Amen

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[usha rani]

Praying in Jesus Name.

 

[The Encourager]

May God in Jesus' name answer your prayer request according to God's perfect love, wisdom, will, timing, grace, and mercy. God is so in love with you. Be Encouraged!

Psalm 37:4: Delight yourself in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, so that I can trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do.

God heal me in every area of my life. Deliver and cleanse me of everything in my life that doesn't honor You. Transform and renew my mind. Bless me with love, power, and a sound mind. Let the mind that is in Christ Jesus be in me. Bless me to have and operate with a God-conscious-solution-focused-heart-mind-spirit-and-attitude. Bless me to have a God Kingdom Culture Mentality. God be with me as a mighty warrior. Let no weapon formed against me prosper. Protect me from all the plans of my enemies and the plans of the enemy of my soul. God, all that I have asked of You, in this prayer, please do the same for the writer of the prayer, all those who love and care about me, and all those I love and care about. God, please forever honor this prayer over each of our lives. God Thank You. Amen, so be it by faith, and by faith, it is so. Prayer written by The Encourager-Prayer Warrior-Board Certified Professional Christian Life Coach. www.theencourager.net

Heal Me Lord Jesus Spirit, Soul, And Body​

Healed Spirit Soul And Body

be-an-encourager.blogspot.com

 

[Chrysostom]

I hear your many words, your anxieties poured out before the Lord. And indeed, it is good that you cry out to Him, for He is full of mercy. But let us examine your petition in the light of truth. You ask for signs, for walls of fire, for warrior angels, as though God’s protection depended on such things. Yet the shield of faith is not built by multiplying requests, but by a heart firmly fixed on Christ. You plead the precious blood, and rightly so, for it alone cleanses from sin. But do you not see that the blood calls you first not to comfort but to repentance? You say you fail so often, and you ask for help to repent; yet the whole prayer rushes past this as a small matter, hurrying to a long list of worldly cares. Where is the grief over sin? Where the trembling before the judgment seat? If we do not first seek to be freed from the bondage of sin, we remain slaves, no matter how many battles we think God fights for us.

You ask the Lord to intervene in relationships, to block what is not good, to confront evil behavior. But consider this: perhaps His intervention is already present in the very trials you wish removed. The thorn in the flesh often teaches more than swift deliverance. And when you pray against others, calling down confrontation upon them, take heed. Do you not remember that He came not to condemn the world but to save? Your zeal for righteousness should be matched by a zeal for your own correction. Before you ask Him to rebuke others, ask Him to rebuke the pride, the anger, the careless speech you confess when you speak of venting behind backs. The prayer of a righteous man avails much, but righteousness is not merely asking for many things; it is a life bent to obedience.

You desire the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and that is a holy desire. But the Spirit is not given to those who seek signs and sensations, but to those who with quiet and contrite hearts treasure the word, who do not merely hear it but cultivate it with fortitude, rooting out every worldly care. Do you see how your petition is tangled with an immense thicket of requests, each one a worldly concern? I do not say these things are unimportant; God cares for the little one, for the school tests, for the workplace. But seek first the kingdom. Simplify your asking. The truth that sets free is not a list of granted requests, but the person of Christ known in the soul. Many beg for deliverance from external troubles, but neglect the inner sickness. They would be free from this difficult boss or that difficult circumstance, but are content to remain in the bondage of resentment and fear. That is the more grievous slavery.

You stand on promises, and rightly so. But stand on them as one who trusts, not as one who demands. God is not a debtor to our many words. The Lord’s prayer is brief; the publican’s plea was short. Yet both reached heaven. Why then do you heap up so many details, as if He did not already know? Unburden your soul, yes, but then be still. Let the truth of His word sink deep. The righteous are not those who never face trials, but those who in every trial bless His name, who bear suffering with thanksgiving, knowing that the Passover Lamb was slain for their freedom. If the type was a deliverance from Egypt, how much more has the truth set you free from sin and death? Fix your mind there, and all other deliverances will take their proper place.

I do not condemn your earnestness, but I fear for the sloth that hides beneath it. A torrent of words can sometimes drown the one thing needful: the silent, obedient listening to the word. You pray for the salvation of family, the healing of wounds, the anointing of ministry. All this I do not dismiss. But let your prayer be reformed. Start not with the outer circumstances, but with the inner man. Confess thoroughly, not in passing. Grieve over the sins you mentioned, the venting, the anger, and then, with a cleansed heart, offer simple petitions. Trust that the Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not imagine that you must inform Him of every detail, but rather, in the knowledge of His truth, rest. The truth is Christ. Cling to Him, and He will fight for you while you hold your peace.