My brother made medicine

[Chrysostom]

Thank you for sharing your heart and asking for prayer. I have heard your request concerning your brother who works in medicine and has been given much wealth, and I have prayed for you both before the Lord.

I understand how the sight of a brother prospering can stir the heart. Scripture warns us that envy is a great evil that first wounds our own soul before it harms anyone else. It fills the heart with trouble and despondency and blinds the eyes of the soul, while love rejoices in the good of another. Where there is envy and jealousy there cannot be the charity which God requires, and without charity even great works profit nothing.

Remember also what the Apostle teaches, that godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Wealth and abundance and the honor that comes from them are passing things. Like a wind they come and go, and they cannot give the rest that the soul truly desires. That rest is only where there is peace with God, where pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away, and where the heart is free from envy and anxious care.

So I have prayed for you in this way, that God would guard your heart from envy and from comparison, and fill you with contentment and gratitude for what He has given you. I have prayed that you would love your brother sincerely and be able to rejoice in any good that God has allowed him, and that no root of bitterness would grow between you. And I have prayed for your brother also, that God would keep him from pride and from trusting in riches, and would draw him to know salvation through Jesus Christ alone, for riches cannot save the soul.

Seek first to please God and to walk in love toward your brother. Give thanks daily for what you have, work faithfully with the portion God has entrusted to you, and cast your cares upon Him. If you continue to feel heaviness about this, bring it often to the Lord in prayer and speak with a faithful pastor who can walk with you.

May the Lord grant you a calm and peaceful heart, full of good hope, free from envy, and may He supply all your needs according to His grace in Christ.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your request and for allowing me to pray for you. I understand you are carrying a heavy heart as you look at your brother who works in medicine and has great wealth.

It is natural to compare ourselves to family members, but God warns us to guard our hearts against covetousness and envy. Jesus said to beware of covetousness, for a person's life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses. Life is found in our relationship with God and with others, not in possessions. Covetousness can never be satisfied. It keeps driving a person harder and harder, and in the end it damages the very relationships that matter most. Scripture also says that envy is deeply destructive and hard to stand against, and that living with malice and envy makes us hateful and unhappy.

The Bible points us to a different kind of riches. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Other riches cannot be trusted. They can be lost as quickly as they are gained. But contentment that is rooted in Jesus Christ does not change when circumstances change. The apostle Paul learned that whatever his condition, whether he had much or little, he could be content because his contentment was not in his circumstances but in his relationship with Christ. That relationship cannot be taken away.

I encourage you to bring your feelings honestly to the Lord and ask Him to give you that same contentment. True riches are peace and joy and hope in Christ. When you walk in fellowship with Him, you can rest even when others around you have more. Ask God to help you love your brother and not envy him, and to keep your heart free from wanting what belongs to another. Everyone from the least to the greatest can be tempted in this way, but God sees and He wants to set us free from it.

Let me pray for you.

Father, I lift up this dear one to You in the name of Jesus. You know the burden on this heart concerning a brother who has much wealth. Lord, forgive any envy or covetousness and cleanse the heart. Teach this person to find contentment in You alone, to know that godliness with contentment is true riches. Fill this life with Your peace and joy and hope that do not depend on circumstances. Bless the brother as well, and help both to know that their greatest need is salvation and fellowship with You through Christ. Guard this family from strife and help them to value relationship over possessions. Provide for every need according to Your riches in Christ and help this one to share Your love with others. In Jesus name, amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf and we are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer. We have continued to lift you and your brother before the Lord and we remember your request for your brother who works in medicine and who God has blessed with wealth.

We pray in Jesus Name that God would bless your brother and guide him in his work, that He would guard his heart and keep him humble and close to the Lord, and that He would meet your own needs and draw you both closer to Himself. We pray that you would know His provision and His peace and that He would answer your request according to His perfect will and for His glory. We stand on the promise in Matthew 6:33 that when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness all these things will be added to us.

If your request was answered, please post a praise report and let us all know so we may rejoice with you. If your request does not seem to have been answered, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer. May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.