Lord Jesus please grant

[Chrysostom]

We have read your prayer with care and we join you in bringing it before the Lord Jesus, the only name by which we are saved, for God sent His Son not to judge the world but to save the world.

We thank God with you for all He has already done and answered, and we hear your longing not to lose sight of His mercies while you still wait for complete deliverance, healing and salvation for your whole family. It is right to plead the promises of Psalm 91, Psalm 34:7 and the other scriptures you named, asking for His protection as a wall of fire and for His angels to encamp around those who fear Him. At the same time we are reminded that hearing alone is not sufficient for salvation, but there is need of careful hearing and continual recollection of the Word, then fortitude in trial, and deliverance from all worldly things. Your patient endurance in these painful attacks and long difficulties is not wasted. As we are partakers of the sufferings of Christ, so also we are partakers of His comfort, and affliction endured with patience works for comfort and salvation.

We pray with you now that today, while it is still called the acceptable time and the day of salvation, the Lord would draw each one in your family to Himself. We ask that He pour His love into your hearts according to Romans 5:5, give you new hearts and new minds, restore your souls as in Psalm 23, manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit in you, and turn what has been meant for harm into blessing through Christ who bore the curse for us. We ask for His healing according to Isaiah 53:5 and Jeremiah 30:17, for deliverance, for reconciliation and unity where there has been trauma, rejection and abandonment, and for the restoration He promises in Joel 2:25 of what seems hopelessly broken.

Concerning the many relationships and concerns you named for family members, for school and teachers, for homework and understanding, for sleep, for work and new responsibilities, for vacation and daily needs, we ask the Lord to intervene according to His holy and good will. We do not ask Him to bless what is outside His design, but to bring every relationship into conformity with His will, to grant purity, wisdom and self control, to heal wounds, to stop what is dysfunctional and harmful, and to establish what is whole and faithful. For marriage we hold to what Scripture teaches, a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and that intimacy belongs within it, so we pray that the Lord would either make relationships holy in that way or graciously separate what should not be joined, and give supernatural confidence and favor in school and in all duties for His glory alone.

We also join you in confession. You asked forgiveness for talking about ### behind her back, for venting about others, for explosive anger in your heart, and for fear. God is faithful to forgive through the blood of Jesus when we confess, and He gives grace to do better, to speak truth in love, to be slow to anger, and to trust Him rather than leaning on our own understanding. We ask Him to give you His trust and His faith, to guard your heart from fear, to rebuke what is not of Him, and to comfort and encourage those who have been hurt.

We pray for your prayer gatherings, for this Friday evening and for the ongoing prayer ministry, that the Lord would anoint, protect and guide it, and move hearts to come together to seek Him. We pray for your devotions, for the sermon and the next sermon, for the workshop and the Live Nativity and for worship, that He would anoint your lips to speak clearly His saving truth and use it to bring many to salvation. We pray for the conflicts you mentioned and for feeling overlooked, that He would guide, convict where needed, bring back those who have strayed, and give you great encouragement and breakthrough.

May the Lord keep you in His peace as you wait, remembering His past mercies and trusting His present power. We ask all this in the holy name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our salvation and our hope. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for pouring out your heart so honestly before the Lord. Your longing for protection, salvation, deliverance, healing and unity for your family is heard, and the many burdens you carry for school, work, relationships and ministry are not hidden from Him.

Scripture teaches that to confess now that Jesus is Lord and to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead brings salvation. There will be a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will acknowledge that He is Lord, but that confession then will not save, it will only confirm the truth that was rejected. That is why the offer of grace is so urgent. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared, and now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Do not put off receiving or sharing that gift. Your prayers for family members who do not yet know Him are right and good. Salvation is not something we can earn or achieve by our own effort. God placed it outside our ability on purpose, so that it rests entirely on His grace and on the work of Jesus Christ, and even the faith to believe is His gift to us. It is a great salvation because it is open to anyone who will come. Jesus said whoever comes to Him He will never turn away, and it can reach the lowest sinner. It began to be spoken by the Lord Himself, and He is the captain and originator of our salvation who suffered to bring many sons and daughters into glory as part of God's family.

Because salvation is by grace, the call to work out your salvation with fear and trembling does not mean to work for your salvation. It means to live out with reverence and diligence what God has already worked within you. It is a call to walk in obedience, to deny the self centered life, to take up your cross and follow Him. That is the path of reconciliation with God, and it is the only way lasting unity and reconciliation can come to a family.

You asked for a wall of fire around you, for warrior angels to surround you, and for protection according to Psalm 91 and other promises. The Lord is indeed a shield around His people, His angels encamp around those who fear Him, no weapon formed against you will finally prosper, and if God is for us nothing can stand against us. It is right to plead the blood of Jesus and to ask for His covering, and we join you in asking for His protection over your home, your sleep, your health and your loved ones from every attack and abuse.

You also prayed for healing, and we pray with you. Isaiah shows us that the Messiah bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, and Matthew applies that to physical healing as well as forgiveness of sin. Jesus healed the leper, the centurion's servant, Peter's mother in law and multitudes, sometimes with a touch, sometimes with a word, sometimes instantly and once gradually, showing that He is not bound to one pattern. All healing, whether sudden or through the natural processes God built into our bodies, is from Him. At the same time, Scripture shows that God does not will physical healing in every case in this life. Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh and the Lord allowed it to remain. What is certain is that your greatest miracle, and the greatest need for every person you love, is salvation and the forgiveness of sins. That is more important than any physical healing, and we pray that healing, when God grants it, would point to that deeper wholeness.

You asked God to pour His love into your hearts, to give you new hearts and new minds, to restore your souls and to make the fruit of the Spirit evident, to break curses and turn them into blessings, and to restore what seems hopelessly broken. Those are biblical prayers. God promises to give a new heart and put a new spirit within us, to pour His love into us, to restore our souls as our Shepherd, to become a curse for us so that the blessing might come to us, and to restore the years that have been lost. We ask Him to do that for you and for each member of your family, to bring deliverance where there is bondage, to heal trauma and wounds of rejection and abandonment, and to bring supernatural trust and faith which only He can give.

For the relationships that concern you, we pray with you for clear intervention. We do not ask God to bless what is outside His design, because His design for sexual intimacy and for living together is within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman, and His way for salvation is through Jesus Christ alone. Where relationships are destructive, dysfunctional or pulling loved ones away from Him, we ask the Lord to bring conviction, to stop what is harmful, to heal deep wounds, and to lead each person into purity, wisdom and wholeness. Where restoration is according to His will, we ask Him to build it on repentance, truth and holiness. We pray especially for the young people in your family, for favor and help with teachers and fellow students, for confidence rooted in Christ, for understanding in schoolwork, and for protection from harmful influences.

You confessed speaking badly about others, explosive anger and fear, and frustration poured out to others. It is good to bring that into the light. When we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us through Jesus and to cleanse us. We ask Him to help you grow in kindness, self control and courage, and to guard your tongue and heart.

Thank you for remembering answered prayer even while you wait for complete deliverance. God has already done much, and remembering His faithfulness helps us trust Him and not lean on our own understanding. He is building His people together as a dwelling for His presence, and He delights to work when His people pray together. We ask Him to anoint, protect and guide your times of prayer, your devotions, your worship and your preaching, to give you the exact words He wants spoken, to use them for salvation and encouragement, and to give you wisdom and strength for work and for new responsibilities.

May the Lord keep you and your family in His grace, surround you with His presence, fill you with His Holy Spirit, and be glorified in a mighty way in all of your lives. We pray this in the holy name of Jesus. Amen.