Silas
Beloved of All
Your heartfelt prayer has been received and I join with you in bringing your family before the Lord Jesus, asking Him to glorify Himself in every part of your lives.
You have asked in the right way, trusting in Jesus as the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and whose blood cleanses us from all sin. Salvation rests entirely on His work, not our own. It is by His grace that salvation has come, and it is received by believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing with your mouth that He is Lord. That confession now brings salvation and eternal life. Scripture warns that a day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, but then it will not be unto salvation, it will be an acknowledgment of the truth that was rejected. That is why today is the day of salvation and now is the accepted time. Do not put off God's offer, and continue to plead for your unsaved family members that they would hear the gospel and respond while the door is open, for our eternal destiny hangs on that response.
Because salvation is God's gift by grace, we do not work for our salvation. When Scripture says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, it means to live out in daily obedience what God has already worked within you. He has given you the faith to believe and He works in you to will and to do His good pleasure. So your desire to repent of anything that grieves Him, to love Him first, to be filled with His Spirit, to walk in wisdom and obedience, is the right response. It is God working in you, and your part is to walk it out humbly and reverently before Him. His mercies are indeed new every morning, and when you fail, you can come again to Him for forgiveness and strength.
I also stand with you for protection, deliverance and healing. You claimed Psalm 50:15 that God will deliver those who call on Him in the day of trouble, Psalm 91 that He is our refuge and shelter, Isaiah 54 that no weapon formed against us shall prosper, and Luke 18 that God will bring justice for His chosen ones who cry out day and night and will not delay. These are sure promises. Ask Him to surround you and your loved ones, to guard your thoughts and emotions, and to block what is not good and not of Him, including every bondage, addiction and compulsion.
Concerning healing, Scripture shows that Jesus bore our sins and also our sicknesses, and His body was broken for us. That means we can bring every physical need to Him, whether it is spasms, wounds, burnout or other infirmities, and ask for His healing touch. At the same time, healing in this life is not always instant or in the way we expect. Sometimes it is gradual, sometimes through the natural processes God has built into our bodies, which are still His divine provision. Even the apostle Paul prayed three times for a thorn in the flesh and learned that God's grace was sufficient and His will was sovereign. What we can know with certainty is that the greatest miracle is the salvation of our souls, the forgiveness of sins, and that is more important than any physical healing. So we ask for healing with faith, and we trust His perfect wisdom and timing when the answer looks different than we hoped.
For your family relationships, for your children and their needs at school, for friendships, for tests and understanding, for confidence and for knowing they are loved and heard in prayer, I ask the Lord to encourage them and strengthen their faith and to give them favor. For the relationships you mentioned that are troubled or dysfunctional, I pray as you did that God would save those involved, bring them to Himself, and bring every relationship into alignment with His holy design. Marriage is His covenant of one man and one woman for life, and all intimacy belongs within that covenant, so we do not ask Him to bless what is outside that design, but to save, to convict, to cleanse and to lead toward purity and wholeness according to His will. Ask Him to heal wounds between you and to do a supernatural work of restoration where there has been hurt.
For work, for meetings, tasks, workload and organization, for teams and leadership, for provision and care, for the outreach opportunities and prayer gatherings and ministry to children, I ask the Lord to take over every detail, to anoint what is done for Him, to let His Word sink deep and bear fruit, and to turn what the enemy meant for evil into blessing. When you feel out of it and unmotivated, or when you have felt overlooked, ask Him to renew your strength and guide your steps, and to show you how to respond with kindness and love even in adversity. He knows the frustrations and the things that make you angry, and He can address them in His way so you do not act in a way you would regret.
You are not alone. When some in your own family do not yet believe, the Lord can make the family of God very near to you, with a bond even deeper than natural ties, to encourage and uphold you. Keep calling on Him, keep seeking encounters with Him, and thank Him as you have done for answered prayer and for the signs of encouragement He sends. He hears, He helps, and He will fight your battles as you trust Him.
You have asked in the right way, trusting in Jesus as the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and whose blood cleanses us from all sin. Salvation rests entirely on His work, not our own. It is by His grace that salvation has come, and it is received by believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing with your mouth that He is Lord. That confession now brings salvation and eternal life. Scripture warns that a day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, but then it will not be unto salvation, it will be an acknowledgment of the truth that was rejected. That is why today is the day of salvation and now is the accepted time. Do not put off God's offer, and continue to plead for your unsaved family members that they would hear the gospel and respond while the door is open, for our eternal destiny hangs on that response.
Because salvation is God's gift by grace, we do not work for our salvation. When Scripture says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, it means to live out in daily obedience what God has already worked within you. He has given you the faith to believe and He works in you to will and to do His good pleasure. So your desire to repent of anything that grieves Him, to love Him first, to be filled with His Spirit, to walk in wisdom and obedience, is the right response. It is God working in you, and your part is to walk it out humbly and reverently before Him. His mercies are indeed new every morning, and when you fail, you can come again to Him for forgiveness and strength.
I also stand with you for protection, deliverance and healing. You claimed Psalm 50:15 that God will deliver those who call on Him in the day of trouble, Psalm 91 that He is our refuge and shelter, Isaiah 54 that no weapon formed against us shall prosper, and Luke 18 that God will bring justice for His chosen ones who cry out day and night and will not delay. These are sure promises. Ask Him to surround you and your loved ones, to guard your thoughts and emotions, and to block what is not good and not of Him, including every bondage, addiction and compulsion.
Concerning healing, Scripture shows that Jesus bore our sins and also our sicknesses, and His body was broken for us. That means we can bring every physical need to Him, whether it is spasms, wounds, burnout or other infirmities, and ask for His healing touch. At the same time, healing in this life is not always instant or in the way we expect. Sometimes it is gradual, sometimes through the natural processes God has built into our bodies, which are still His divine provision. Even the apostle Paul prayed three times for a thorn in the flesh and learned that God's grace was sufficient and His will was sovereign. What we can know with certainty is that the greatest miracle is the salvation of our souls, the forgiveness of sins, and that is more important than any physical healing. So we ask for healing with faith, and we trust His perfect wisdom and timing when the answer looks different than we hoped.
For your family relationships, for your children and their needs at school, for friendships, for tests and understanding, for confidence and for knowing they are loved and heard in prayer, I ask the Lord to encourage them and strengthen their faith and to give them favor. For the relationships you mentioned that are troubled or dysfunctional, I pray as you did that God would save those involved, bring them to Himself, and bring every relationship into alignment with His holy design. Marriage is His covenant of one man and one woman for life, and all intimacy belongs within that covenant, so we do not ask Him to bless what is outside that design, but to save, to convict, to cleanse and to lead toward purity and wholeness according to His will. Ask Him to heal wounds between you and to do a supernatural work of restoration where there has been hurt.
For work, for meetings, tasks, workload and organization, for teams and leadership, for provision and care, for the outreach opportunities and prayer gatherings and ministry to children, I ask the Lord to take over every detail, to anoint what is done for Him, to let His Word sink deep and bear fruit, and to turn what the enemy meant for evil into blessing. When you feel out of it and unmotivated, or when you have felt overlooked, ask Him to renew your strength and guide your steps, and to show you how to respond with kindness and love even in adversity. He knows the frustrations and the things that make you angry, and He can address them in His way so you do not act in a way you would regret.
You are not alone. When some in your own family do not yet believe, the Lord can make the family of God very near to you, with a bond even deeper than natural ties, to encourage and uphold you. Keep calling on Him, keep seeking encounters with Him, and thank Him as you have done for answered prayer and for the signs of encouragement He sends. He hears, He helps, and He will fight your battles as you trust Him.
