Silas
Beloved of All
Your heartfelt cry for the Lord to glorify Himself in your family is beautiful, and it is right to bring everything before Him. You have lifted up salvation, healing, deliverance, protection, work, school, relationships, and the deep needs of your heart, and Scripture assures us that God hears those who call on Him in truth.
First, be at rest about salvation itself. It does not rest on your strength or your ability to hold on. God placed salvation outside of our own capacity and made it entirely of His grace through the finished work of Jesus Christ. The perfect Lamb of God shed His blood to take away sin and to cleanse from all sin, and faith to believe that work is itself a gift from Him. That is why the promise is so near. As Romans teaches, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Salvation is as close as your mouth and your heart, because Christ has done all that was needed. You do not work for your salvation, but having received it, God works in you to will and to do His good pleasure, and you work out what He has already worked within you with reverence and trust.
Because of that blood, you now have peace with God. Jesus Himself is our peace. He has broken down the wall that separated us from God and from one another, and He offers forgiveness, healing and restoration. The prophet declared that God says peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, and I will heal him. You may have felt far at times, and you have been honest about failing often, but His mercies are new every morning. When you turn to Christ and receive forgiveness, the war is over. You are no longer fighting against God or running from Him. You belong to Him, and He belongs to you.
From that peace with God comes the peace of God. Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives. The world cannot give this, and it cannot understand it. It is a peace that guards the heart and mind even in chaos. The promise is, You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. As you keep your eyes on Him rather than on the turmoil, that steady trust allows His peace to fill your heart. Grace comes first, then peace, because only when you understand how gracious He is toward you in Christ can you rest.
That is also where righteousness and peace meet. At the cross mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace kissed. God remains righteous, and yet He extends mercy, so you can have peace with Him and stand righteous before Him through Jesus. He wants to speak peace to His people and to put His own name upon them for blessing, for keeping, for grace and for peace. He has also promised to be your protection. As you have stood on Psalm 91 and on Isaiah 54, remember the Lord says that no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and your righteousness is from Him. He is your shelter and your deliverer, and He ordains peace for those who trust Him.
You have asked for the salvation of your whole family and relatives, for God to open unsaved hearts to the gospel and to deliver from bondage, addiction and compulsion. It is good and right to pray and to believe God for your household. Scripture shows households hearing the word of the Lord together and believing together, and we are encouraged to keep praying and sharing the gospel with those we love, trusting God to draw them. Continue to speak the truth of Christ to them with love, praying that they will confess Jesus as Lord and believe.
You have also asked God to block what is not good, especially concerning relationships that are not honoring to Him, and to prevent further dysfunctional relationships. God loves purity and He designed marriage as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, with intimacy belonging within that covenant alone. It is right to ask Him not to bless what is outside His will, but to bring salvation, repentance, healing and a desire for holiness. Pray that where there is compromise or sin, God will bring conviction, a turning away from what grieves Him, and a new desire to love Him first and to obey Him. That same wisdom from above which is peaceable will then help you to sow peace rather than strife, and those who sow peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
For the many practical burdens you named, the Lord sees each detail. He sees the child who needs friends at school and help with tests and confidence, and the desire for her faith to be strengthened and to know her prayers are heard. He sees the physical needs, the spasms and wounds and weariness and burnout, and He is the healer. He sees the work pressures, the teams, the meetings, the planning and leadership responsibilities, and the tensions with coworkers. He sees the need for wisdom and guidance. Bring each one to Him and keep your mind stayed on Him. He has promised that those who call upon Him in the day of trouble, He will deliver, and He will avenge His own who cry out to Him day and night, though He may seem to delay, He will act.
You confessed venting and speaking badly about others and asked for forgiveness. That honesty is pleasing to God. Confess it to Him, receive His cleansing, and where you can, make it right with others. Ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to love Him above all, and to be guided in wisdom. He delights to give wisdom to those who ask.
May the Lord surround you with His keeping power, let His face shine upon you, and give you His deep and abiding peace as you trust in Jesus. May He save the lost among your loved ones, deliver those in bondage, heal what is broken, guard your thoughts and emotions, and turn what was meant for evil into blessing for His glory.
First, be at rest about salvation itself. It does not rest on your strength or your ability to hold on. God placed salvation outside of our own capacity and made it entirely of His grace through the finished work of Jesus Christ. The perfect Lamb of God shed His blood to take away sin and to cleanse from all sin, and faith to believe that work is itself a gift from Him. That is why the promise is so near. As Romans teaches, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Salvation is as close as your mouth and your heart, because Christ has done all that was needed. You do not work for your salvation, but having received it, God works in you to will and to do His good pleasure, and you work out what He has already worked within you with reverence and trust.
Because of that blood, you now have peace with God. Jesus Himself is our peace. He has broken down the wall that separated us from God and from one another, and He offers forgiveness, healing and restoration. The prophet declared that God says peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, and I will heal him. You may have felt far at times, and you have been honest about failing often, but His mercies are new every morning. When you turn to Christ and receive forgiveness, the war is over. You are no longer fighting against God or running from Him. You belong to Him, and He belongs to you.
From that peace with God comes the peace of God. Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives. The world cannot give this, and it cannot understand it. It is a peace that guards the heart and mind even in chaos. The promise is, You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. As you keep your eyes on Him rather than on the turmoil, that steady trust allows His peace to fill your heart. Grace comes first, then peace, because only when you understand how gracious He is toward you in Christ can you rest.
That is also where righteousness and peace meet. At the cross mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace kissed. God remains righteous, and yet He extends mercy, so you can have peace with Him and stand righteous before Him through Jesus. He wants to speak peace to His people and to put His own name upon them for blessing, for keeping, for grace and for peace. He has also promised to be your protection. As you have stood on Psalm 91 and on Isaiah 54, remember the Lord says that no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and your righteousness is from Him. He is your shelter and your deliverer, and He ordains peace for those who trust Him.
You have asked for the salvation of your whole family and relatives, for God to open unsaved hearts to the gospel and to deliver from bondage, addiction and compulsion. It is good and right to pray and to believe God for your household. Scripture shows households hearing the word of the Lord together and believing together, and we are encouraged to keep praying and sharing the gospel with those we love, trusting God to draw them. Continue to speak the truth of Christ to them with love, praying that they will confess Jesus as Lord and believe.
You have also asked God to block what is not good, especially concerning relationships that are not honoring to Him, and to prevent further dysfunctional relationships. God loves purity and He designed marriage as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, with intimacy belonging within that covenant alone. It is right to ask Him not to bless what is outside His will, but to bring salvation, repentance, healing and a desire for holiness. Pray that where there is compromise or sin, God will bring conviction, a turning away from what grieves Him, and a new desire to love Him first and to obey Him. That same wisdom from above which is peaceable will then help you to sow peace rather than strife, and those who sow peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
For the many practical burdens you named, the Lord sees each detail. He sees the child who needs friends at school and help with tests and confidence, and the desire for her faith to be strengthened and to know her prayers are heard. He sees the physical needs, the spasms and wounds and weariness and burnout, and He is the healer. He sees the work pressures, the teams, the meetings, the planning and leadership responsibilities, and the tensions with coworkers. He sees the need for wisdom and guidance. Bring each one to Him and keep your mind stayed on Him. He has promised that those who call upon Him in the day of trouble, He will deliver, and He will avenge His own who cry out to Him day and night, though He may seem to delay, He will act.
You confessed venting and speaking badly about others and asked for forgiveness. That honesty is pleasing to God. Confess it to Him, receive His cleansing, and where you can, make it right with others. Ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to love Him above all, and to be guided in wisdom. He delights to give wisdom to those who ask.
May the Lord surround you with His keeping power, let His face shine upon you, and give you His deep and abiding peace as you trust in Jesus. May He save the lost among your loved ones, deliver those in bondage, heal what is broken, guard your thoughts and emotions, and turn what was meant for evil into blessing for His glory.
