Peaceful Night

[Chrysostom]

We have lifted your household before the Lord and join you in asking for His peace to fill your home tonight.

We thank God with you that He is the One who keeps Israel and neither slumbers nor sleeps, so while your son sleeps and while you watch over him, the Lord Himself watches over you all. Even when the house is hot and the air conditioner is not working, and when schedules and caregivers change, He remains steadfast, and He is able to give rest that the world cannot give.

We pray for your son, that the Lord would grant him a calm and quiet night, sweet sleep without fear or bad dreams, and freedom from anxiety, restlessness and distress. We ask that God would ease any discomfort in his body, give him peace at his meals without pain, and help him to adjust with gentleness and calm to the heat and to the new schedule with his caregiver. We ask for healing and strength for his mind, body and spirit, and that the Lord would guard him from all that would steal his peace, surrounding him with His protection and covering him with the full armor of truth, righteousness, peace, faith and salvation through His Word.

We pray also for your younger daughter and even for her dog, that the Lord would grant them restful and undisturbed sleep, and help your daughter to study well and to rise refreshed for the morning. We pray that your home would be marked by quietness and peace, and that the relationships between your children would be strengthened in love, patience and unity. We ask that God would give you and all who care for your son wisdom, patience and discernment, and bring faithful helpers and friends to encourage him.

Scripture reminds us to follow peace with all and to lead a quiet and peaceable life in godliness, and that true peace comes when our hearts are kept steady in Christ. The peace of God surpasses all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Him. We ask that this peace would rule in your home tonight and every night, driving away fear and confusion, and filling each room with calm, joy and safety.

We stand with you in agreement, trusting that where two or three are gathered in His name He is present, and that nothing is impossible for Him. We thank Him for the victories He has already given and for the mercy He will continue to show.

May the Lord bless your household, keep you through the night, grant your son calm and satisfying rest, and let you all wake refreshed in His grace. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer for your son and for the peace of your whole household is deeply moving, and it is a joy to stand with you before the Lord.

Scripture shows how precious children are to Jesus. He took a little child and set him in the midst of His disciples and taught that we must become humble like a little child to enter the kingdom, and that to receive one such child in His name is to receive Him. He also warned us not to despise one of these little ones. To care for a child, to minister to a child, to pray for a child, is a blessed privilege in His eyes. Your son is seen and valued by Him, and your faithful love and prayer for him matters greatly.

You asked for calm and restful sleep and for freedom from fear and torment and restlessness. The Bible teaches that as children of God we are not promised a life without distress or discomfort, but we are promised that God will deliver us out of our distresses. His hand is not short that it cannot save, and His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. When we come to Him with a heart that is open before Him, not holding to sin, He hears us. He is the shepherd who lies down at the door of the fold so that nothing can get to His sheep without passing Him. He commands His angels to encamp around those who fear Him and He gives us the armor of truth and righteousness and the gospel of peace and faith and salvation and His Word to stand against every attack. No weapon formed against His child will ultimately prosper.

I join you in praying for healing in body and mind and spirit for your son. By the wounds of Jesus we have healing, as Isaiah declares, and we ask the Lord to bring relief from physical discomfort, from sensory distress, from anxiety, and to grant ease in eating and in sleeping and in waking refreshed. We ask Him to quiet fear and confusion and to replace rigidity and restlessness with His peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding, which guards heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

We also pray for grace in the practical challenges you mentioned, the heat in the home, the change in caregiver and routine, and the need for quiet in the house so your daughter can study and rest well along with her household. The Lord knows these details. In His wisdom He moved history itself so that His Son would be born in Bethlehem according to prophecy, showing that He rules over circumstances great and small. He can bring calm over schedules and meals and routines and interactions, and help your son adjust with gentleness and satisfaction.

God's Word teaches us to train a child according to his own way, recognizing that each child is uniquely made with his own personality and needs. That training calls for consistent, loving instruction and for great patience, like the patience we have when we teach a child to walk. We expect stumbles and we do our best to protect from falls, but we keep guiding with love. Continue to keep his heart and your own heart with diligence, holding fast to the commandment which is a lamp and the law which is light. The Lord will give wisdom and patience and discernment to you and to his caregivers as you seek to guide him.

We agree together according to the promise that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is in the midst. We ask the Father to surround your home with His presence, to let His light dispel darkness, to pour out showers of blessing in season, and to restore and strengthen the bonds between your son and his siblings with love and unity. May He provide godly encouragement for your son and fill your family with strength for each day and with restful, protected sleep.

We thank the Lord for the victories He has already given and trust Him for the work He is still doing. May He keep you all in His perfect peace.