Silas
Beloved of All
Your heartfelt desire to see Jesus glorified in your family is itself pleasing to Him, and He hears the many burdens you have poured out before Him.
You have asked first for salvation for your whole household, and that is the greatest need and the greatest miracle. The name Jesus means the Lord is salvation, for He came to save His people from their sins. Scripture teaches that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. To confess Him now and to submit to Him now as Lord brings salvation and eternal life. There will be a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, but that confession then will not be unto salvation, it will only acknowledge the truth that was rejected. That is why the Bible 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 offered freely to whoever will come. Jesus said whoever comes to Him He will not cast out, and that salvation reaches even the lowest sinner. It is not something we can earn or achieve by our own effort. God placed salvation outside our own ability and made it rest entirely on His grace, on the finished work of Jesus Christ as the spotless Lamb who takes away the sin of the world and cleanses us from all sin, and even the faith to believe is His gift. Because we have received such a great salvation, we are then called to work out what God has already worked within us, with reverence and seriousness. That does not mean working for our salvation, but living out with diligence the new life He has already given, obeying Him whether anyone is watching or not.
Hold fast to the promises you have been standing on. God invites His people to call upon Him in the day of trouble and He will deliver, and He is faithful to hear the persistent prayer of those who cry to Him day and night and to act justly for them. He is our refuge and shelter under His wings, and He has promised that no weapon formed against His people will finally prevail and that He establishes His own in righteousness far from oppression and fear.
You have asked for healing, deliverance from bondage, addictions and compulsions, and for protection over your thoughts and emotions. The Lord does have power in every realm, to heal sickness, to calm the storm, and to command evil to leave, and His authority is complete. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows, and the gospel shows that this includes both spiritual healing from sin and physical healing in the body, as we remember also when we take the bread that His body was broken for us. At the same time Scripture shows that healing is not always instant or in the way we expect. Sometimes Jesus healed immediately with a word, sometimes with a touch, sometimes healing came gradually, and sometimes, as with Paul who prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh, the Lord in His wisdom chose not to remove it. What is true in every case is that our salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, remains the greatest work God does in us, and even when physical healing is delayed, He is still working to heal and restore the heart and mind. You can trust Him to do what is truly best, whether through a sudden touch or through the natural processes of healing He Himself created, which are no less from His hand.
You have also been honest about failing often and needing mercy, repentance, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and about wanting to love the Lord first and to walk in wisdom. His mercies are indeed new every morning, and He gives grace to the humble who turn from what grieves Him and seek to be filled and guided by His Spirit. Ask Him to direct your steps, to give you wisdom for work, for decisions about care and responsibilities, for meetings and tasks and leadership, and for how to speak and act when you feel anger or frustration. He is able to turn what was meant for evil into good and to make even our mistakes a place where His grace is displayed when we confess and seek to make things right.
For your family members who do not yet know the Lord, keep praying that their hearts would be opened to the gospel. When one member of a household comes to Christ and others do not, there can be a painful distance, but the family of God becomes a true and close family, bound together by a deeper tie than blood alone. Pray that each one would receive Christ now, while the offer of salvation stands.
For your children, the Lord sees each need you named, the desire for friendship and favor with teachers and classmates, help with tests and homework and understanding, confidence that is rooted in Him, healing of physical spasms and wounds of the heart, and deliverance from rejection, trauma and the lies of the enemy. Pray that He would replace those thoughts with His truth, that He would surround them with His protection as with a wall of fire, and that He would let them know personally that He hears their prayers. And concerning the relationships that concern you, pray not that God would bless what is outside His good design, but that He would bring true salvation, purity, and deliverance, and that any relationship would be brought into conformity with His will, which reserves sexual union and living together for the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. Ask Him to block what is not good and to establish what is holy and whole.
You have pleaded the precious blood of Jesus and asked for His holy angels to encamp around you. There is only one provision God has made for sin, and that is Jesus Christ Himself. Trust in His blood shed for you, not as a formula, but as simple faith in the Lamb of God, and rest in His promise to guard and keep those who belong to Him.
The Lord knows every detail you have lifted up, even the prayers from earlier that feel unanswered, and the many ministry burdens for prayer gatherings, for teaching and preaching that the Word would take root and bear fruit, for outreaches, for children and for those in leadership who feel overlooked. He who began this good work is the Captain of our salvation who suffered to bring many sons and daughters into glory, and He will complete it.
Continue to call upon Him, to repent quickly, to seek His Spirit, and to trust His timing. He is for you, He is with you, and His grace that has saved you will also sustain you day by day. May He give you peace that guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, and may you have fresh encounters with His presence as you wait on Him.
In Jesus name, Amen.
You have asked first for salvation for your whole household, and that is the greatest need and the greatest miracle. The name Jesus means the Lord is salvation, for He came to save His people from their sins. Scripture teaches that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. To confess Him now and to submit to Him now as Lord brings salvation and eternal life. There will be a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, but that confession then will not be unto salvation, it will only acknowledge the truth that was rejected. That is why the Bible 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 offered freely to whoever will come. Jesus said whoever comes to Him He will not cast out, and that salvation reaches even the lowest sinner. It is not something we can earn or achieve by our own effort. God placed salvation outside our own ability and made it rest entirely on His grace, on the finished work of Jesus Christ as the spotless Lamb who takes away the sin of the world and cleanses us from all sin, and even the faith to believe is His gift. Because we have received such a great salvation, we are then called to work out what God has already worked within us, with reverence and seriousness. That does not mean working for our salvation, but living out with diligence the new life He has already given, obeying Him whether anyone is watching or not.
Hold fast to the promises you have been standing on. God invites His people to call upon Him in the day of trouble and He will deliver, and He is faithful to hear the persistent prayer of those who cry to Him day and night and to act justly for them. He is our refuge and shelter under His wings, and He has promised that no weapon formed against His people will finally prevail and that He establishes His own in righteousness far from oppression and fear.
You have asked for healing, deliverance from bondage, addictions and compulsions, and for protection over your thoughts and emotions. The Lord does have power in every realm, to heal sickness, to calm the storm, and to command evil to leave, and His authority is complete. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows, and the gospel shows that this includes both spiritual healing from sin and physical healing in the body, as we remember also when we take the bread that His body was broken for us. At the same time Scripture shows that healing is not always instant or in the way we expect. Sometimes Jesus healed immediately with a word, sometimes with a touch, sometimes healing came gradually, and sometimes, as with Paul who prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh, the Lord in His wisdom chose not to remove it. What is true in every case is that our salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, remains the greatest work God does in us, and even when physical healing is delayed, He is still working to heal and restore the heart and mind. You can trust Him to do what is truly best, whether through a sudden touch or through the natural processes of healing He Himself created, which are no less from His hand.
You have also been honest about failing often and needing mercy, repentance, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and about wanting to love the Lord first and to walk in wisdom. His mercies are indeed new every morning, and He gives grace to the humble who turn from what grieves Him and seek to be filled and guided by His Spirit. Ask Him to direct your steps, to give you wisdom for work, for decisions about care and responsibilities, for meetings and tasks and leadership, and for how to speak and act when you feel anger or frustration. He is able to turn what was meant for evil into good and to make even our mistakes a place where His grace is displayed when we confess and seek to make things right.
For your family members who do not yet know the Lord, keep praying that their hearts would be opened to the gospel. When one member of a household comes to Christ and others do not, there can be a painful distance, but the family of God becomes a true and close family, bound together by a deeper tie than blood alone. Pray that each one would receive Christ now, while the offer of salvation stands.
For your children, the Lord sees each need you named, the desire for friendship and favor with teachers and classmates, help with tests and homework and understanding, confidence that is rooted in Him, healing of physical spasms and wounds of the heart, and deliverance from rejection, trauma and the lies of the enemy. Pray that He would replace those thoughts with His truth, that He would surround them with His protection as with a wall of fire, and that He would let them know personally that He hears their prayers. And concerning the relationships that concern you, pray not that God would bless what is outside His good design, but that He would bring true salvation, purity, and deliverance, and that any relationship would be brought into conformity with His will, which reserves sexual union and living together for the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. Ask Him to block what is not good and to establish what is holy and whole.
You have pleaded the precious blood of Jesus and asked for His holy angels to encamp around you. There is only one provision God has made for sin, and that is Jesus Christ Himself. Trust in His blood shed for you, not as a formula, but as simple faith in the Lamb of God, and rest in His promise to guard and keep those who belong to Him.
The Lord knows every detail you have lifted up, even the prayers from earlier that feel unanswered, and the many ministry burdens for prayer gatherings, for teaching and preaching that the Word would take root and bear fruit, for outreaches, for children and for those in leadership who feel overlooked. He who began this good work is the Captain of our salvation who suffered to bring many sons and daughters into glory, and He will complete it.
Continue to call upon Him, to repent quickly, to seek His Spirit, and to trust His timing. He is for you, He is with you, and His grace that has saved you will also sustain you day by day. May He give you peace that guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, and may you have fresh encounters with His presence as you wait on Him.
In Jesus name, Amen.
