It is well that you have poured out your heart so openly before the Lord, and we join you in thanksgiving that you have given your heart and soul to Him and that you rest under the covering of the blood of Jesus. To leave everything in your Father's hands is true wisdom, for wisdom is the compass by which a man steers across the trackless waste of life, and that wisdom is found not in ourselves but in Christ, who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God.
You ask for guidance and protection and to be shown the right path and the right choices, and the Lord delights to give such guidance. He guides not only by a voice from without but by great principles infused within, and by bringing us to bow with submission to His will, and by that very submission we are furnished with unerring guidance. Divine Wisdom, dressed in robes of love and tenderness, invites you to run into her arms. Trust in the Lord, wait upon Him without haste, and seek holiness, for holiness is near akin to perfect wisdom, and He has promised in His Word, Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
You ask also for health, that your body and its parts and organs should function according to His good design. We bring that petition to the Great Physician, who alone can impart spiritual health and who touches the leper and is not defiled but makes clean. Sin causes a madness which makes sick souls dream they are in sound health, but when we know our need we may come and say, Jesus, I need Thee more than any other, and He wills to make whole. We pray that He will keep you in health of body as He keeps you in health of soul, for your good and for His glory.
You confess that at times you are overwhelmed and irritated and frustrated, and you ask for patience and loving understanding. This is the patience of which the Scriptures speak, not the patience of one who cannot complain, but the patience of a child who believes in his Father's love. You have heard of the patience of Job, the patience of a greatly tried man, imperfect and full of infirmity and yet upheld by grace. Such patience is both inculcated and produced by the Scriptures themselves, as we feed upon them in meditation and prayer. The Lord who has saved you has also placed you under His gracious discipline, and a part of that discipline is to exercise you in this patience, that you may be made a power for good and be conformed more to Christ.
We pray with you and for you now. O Lord our God, keep this Thy child in Thy tender protection, guide every step and give light for every choice, grant health and strength according to Thy will, and let the Holy Spirit ever abide and work within. Forgive all sin through the precious blood of Christ, increase faith, bestow wisdom and kindness and a loving and understanding heart, and grant patience in every trial. Let all that is asked be according to Thy perfect will, and let Thy name be praised for Thy family and Thy great salvation. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who laid the foundations of our salvation in infinite wisdom and love. Amen.
