Lord Jesus please glorify yourself

[Chrysostom]

We join you in lifting up your family before the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks for what He has already done and trusting Him for what He will do. Your cry for Him to be glorified in your household is good and right, for all things were made for His glory and our salvation is found in Him alone, the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and cleanses us from all sin.

We pray with you for salvation, healing, deliverance and protection for your entire family, including relatives who do not yet know Christ. Now is the acceptable time and now is the day of salvation, and we ask God to open every unsaved heart to hear the gospel, to receive it not only with hearing but with continual remembrance and obedience, with fortitude and turning away from worldly things. We ask Him to deliver from every bondage, addiction and compulsion, and to grant true repentance where anything grieves Him, so that you may be filled with the Holy Spirit and love Him first and foremost.

We plead the blood of Christ over you in the biblical sense, as the cleansing from sin through His sacrifice, and we ask for His protection around you, your thoughts and emotions, according to His promises in Psalm 91 and Psalm 50:15 that He will answer those who call upon Him in trouble. We ask Him to surround you with His care, to block what is not good and to act quickly according to His perfect wisdom and timing, remembering His promise in Luke 18:7-8 that He hears His elect who cry out to Him day and night. We also stand on Isaiah 54:14-17 with you, asking for His righteousness, peace and protection from every tongue and weapon formed against you, not as a formula but as confidence in His faithful character.

Concerning the relationships you mention, we pray as the historic Christian faith teaches, that God would save and bring to holiness all involved. We do not ask God to bless relationships that are outside His design, for marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman and sexual intimacy and living together belong within it. Where any relationship is dysfunctional or not according to His will, we pray that He would convict, expose what is hidden, break strongholds and lies, and either transform it by salvation and repentance into what honors Him or graciously bring it to an end and guard each person from another harmful union. We pray for healing of wounds, for reconciliation where it is right, and for deliverance and new life in Christ.

We bring before the Lord the specific needs you named. For the child needing friends at school, help with tests, understanding of material, confidence and favor with teachers and classmates, we ask God to let her know He hears her prayers, to strengthen her faith, to remove the physical spasm and heal every part of her being, to guard her from evil behavior and from those who fuel it. For those needing healing in body and mind, including trauma, rejection and burnout, we ask for His restoring touch. For work, workload, meetings, planning, strategy, leadership and shepherding, for the teams and those at headquarters, for care needs and for the process and tasks that feel overwhelming, we ask for wisdom, organization, motivation and guidance, that Christ would be first in everything and that what the enemy meant for evil God would turn to great blessing. For the vacation, for appointments, for homework and for daily provision, we place it all in His hand.

We also pray for your desire to repent, for mercy when you fail, and for the truth that His mercies are new every morning. We ask Him to give you encounters with Him, to anoint the prayer meetings on Friday and other gatherings, the intro course, the sermons, the outreaches to the homeless and in the subway, the children's church and the kids camp, that His Word would be heard, remembered and obeyed, and bear lasting fruit for the salvation of many. We pray for the church leadership, for unity where there is feeling overlooked or bypassed, for wisdom in worship and song choices, and for a greater hunger for corporate prayer. We ask forgiveness where you have spoken in frustration or vented behind another's back, and we ask God to heal those relationships and teach you how to correct what needs correcting in love.

Suffering and waiting are not in vain. As Scripture teaches, affliction can work patient endurance and comfort, and being partakers of the sufferings of Christ, we also share in His comfort. Continue to be steadfast in prayer, in hearing and doing the Word, trusting that God sent His Son not to condemn the world but to save it.

May the Lord grant you peace, direct your steps, fill you with wisdom, and do miracles according to His will for His glory. We thank Him with you for answered prayers and trust Him for those still before His throne. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your heartfelt cry has been heard and we join you in bringing all of these burdens before the Lord Jesus, giving thanks for what He has already done and trusting Him for what He will do.

We agree with you that Jesus is the perfect spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and whose blood cleanses from all sin. That is the foundation of everything you have asked. His name itself declares that He is the Lord our salvation, the One who saves His people from their sins. To confess now with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead brings salvation and eternal life. Scripture warns that there will be a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, but that confession then will not be unto salvation, it will be the acknowledgment of those who rejected Him. That is why the Word urges us that now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all, and it is to be received today without delay. Salvation is not within our own capacity to earn. God placed it outside our ability and made it rest entirely on His grace and on the finished work of Jesus Christ, giving us even the faith to believe.

In that grace we pray for your entire family, including relatives who do not yet know the Lord. We ask God to open unsaved hearts to the gospel, to draw each one to repentance and faith in Christ alone, for there is no other provision for sin. It is a great salvation, open to whosoever will come, reaching even the lowest sinner, and Jesus is the captain of that salvation who brings many sons and daughters into the glory of God's family. We pray that those you love would receive Him now, while the offer stands. We also understand the pain when faith in Christ creates distance within a natural family. The bond in the family of God, where Christ is known, is deeper than blood alone, and the Lord can provide fellowship, comfort and strength even in that alienation.

You asked for deliverance from bondage, addictions, compulsions and every influence that is not of the Lord, and for protection over your minds and emotions. We pray that God would surround you with His protection, that He would guard your thoughts and give peace, and that He would block what is not good and not according to His will. You stand on promises such as Psalm 50:15 where God says to call upon Him in the day of trouble and He will deliver, and Psalm 91 of His shelter and refuge, and Isaiah 54 where no weapon formed against His people shall prosper. We claim those truths with you, trusting His faithful keeping while also submitting to His wisdom and timing. You also mentioned Luke 18 where Jesus speaks of God bringing justice for those who cry out to Him day and night. We join you in persistent prayer, trusting that God hears and will act in His perfect time, and we ask Him to rise up and intervene in the difficult situations you face that feel beyond your ability to handle.

You have asked for healing in many areas, for spasms to be removed, for wounds to be healed, for burnout and trauma and rejection to be restored, for bodies and minds to be made whole. We believe God does heal, both spiritually and physically. Matthew shows that the prophecy of Isaiah about Christ bearing our infirmities includes physical healing as well as the deeper healing from sin, and the bread of communion reminds us that His body was broken for us. At the same time Scripture shows that healing is not confined to one pattern. Sometimes healing is instant, sometimes it is gradual as with the man who at first saw men as trees walking, sometimes it is through the natural processes of healing that God Himself established in our bodies, which are no less divine. The apostle Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh and learned that God's grace and purpose stood even when that particular healing was not granted as he asked. We do not always understand why some are healed as we hope and others wait, but we know this, the greatest miracle in any life is the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. We pray for each physical and emotional need you lifted up, asking for the Lord's healing touch according to His will, and for strength to trust Him whether the answer is immediate, gradual, or sustained through His grace.

You asked for help with your children, for friends, favor with teachers and classmates, for help with tests and homework and understanding, for confidence and assurance that God hears their prayers, and for protection from harmful influences and lies. We pray that the Lord would give them good friendships, encouragement in faith, clarity of mind, and a deep sense of being loved and guarded by Him. Where there is evil behavior or strongholds of lies, we ask God to confront what is wrong, to remove what harms, and to bring supernatural healing to relationships.

Concerning the relationships you mentioned, including the one you asked God to stop and the concern about another dysfunctional relationship, we join you in praying for salvation and purity for all involved. We do not ask God to bless what is outside His design, for marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman and intimacy belongs within that covenant. We pray that God would bring conviction, repentance, and deliverance where needed, that He would block what would lead away from Him, and that He would lead each person into holiness and wholeness in Christ.

You also lifted up work, meetings, tasks, workload, organization, leadership, shepherding, and the challenges with teams and those in authority, as well as feelings of being overlooked, frustration, venting, lack of motivation, and the need for wisdom and direction. We pray that God would give you wisdom, guide your planning and leading, anoint your words, and help you to love Him first and to obey Him. Scripture exhorts us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, not as working for salvation, but as living out what God has already worked within us, for it is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. When you feel you have failed, remember that His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is great. Confess what grieves Him, receive His forgiveness, and ask to be filled with His Holy Spirit. Where you have spoken in frustration behind another's back, we pray for grace to make it right as He leads and for healing in those relationships.

For your prayer gatherings, outreaches, times of teaching, and ministry to children and others, we pray that God would anoint His Word, pierce hearts, cause it to bear lasting fruit, protect what is sown, and draw many to Himself, including parents and those who have heard the gospel through these efforts. We pray that He would stir His people to pray more and to love Him above all.

We bring all of these requests together before the Father in the name of Jesus, asking for His mercy, His guidance, His protection, His deliverance, His healing, and above all His saving grace to be evident in your family. May He give you peace, encounters with His presence, and renewed strength to trust Him day by day.