Peaceful Night

[Chrysostom]

We give thanks with you for the Lord's provision in having your air conditioner repaired at a reasonable price, and we join you in praying for your son and your whole household.

We stand in agreement with you that the Lord would grant your son a calm, restful night and peaceful days to come. We ask God to rebuke fear, anxiety, torment, frustration and confusion, and to quiet every rigid habit, distress and discomfort that steals his peace. May the Lord fill him with His own peace and joy, and grant him sleep without disturbance, that he may eat in peace, wake refreshed, and find satisfaction in his routines, meals, activities and interactions.

We pray that God would surround him with His hedge of protection and clothe him with the full armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We ask that ministering angels would encamp around him and guard him in all his ways, for He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps, and He watches over His children even while we rest. Night itself is a gift of His mercy, a haven and medicine for our weariness, and we ask Him to make it a time of true restoration for your son.

We ask for healing in his mind, body and spirit according to the Lord's perfect will, trusting that by the stripes of Jesus we are healed. We bring before God his needs related to autism, PTSD, anxiety and sensory challenges, and ask the Lord to remove sources of pain and distress and to grant him gentleness and confidence in communication and ease in adjusting to his schedule.

We pray also for you, for his caregivers, family and friends, that God would fill all who care for him with wisdom, patience and discernment. We ask Him to provide godly mentors, faithful caregivers who will respect him, include him, delight in him and bring out the best in him, and to provide services that will truly help him and not cause regression. We pray for restoration and strengthening of bonds between him, you, his siblings, caregivers and all who love him, with love, compassion, understanding and unity, and that any division, isolation or negative influence would be removed.

We thank God for the victories He has already given and for the ways He is at work even now, and we trust His promise that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is in their midst. We also lift up your entire household, your younger daughter and her dog, and your family in all travels and daily activities, asking that His light would dispel every shadow and His presence would fill your home with calm, joy and safety.

May the Lord keep you all in His peace today and every night, and may you rest in His faithful care. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

 

[Silas]

Gratitude to God is the right place to begin, and thank you for sharing how He has already provided in a practical way with the repair at a reasonable cost. That same faithful care extends to your son and to your whole household.

The Scripture speaks of a perfect peace that God keeps for the one whose mind is stayed on Him, because that person trusts in Him. Jesus told His disciples that the peace He gives is not like the peace the world gives. It is a settled calm that remains even when circumstances are unsettled. It is the peace that comes from no longer being at war with God, but belonging to Him through His Son, and then learning to keep our thoughts resting on Him. God has ordained peace for His people because He desires you to live in it, and that peace can guard hearts and homes.

Your prayers for your son reflect a deep love and a right understanding that true rest and joy are found in Christ. The Bible teaches that the only way we are accepted by God is in His Son, and that whoever has the Son has life. To believe on the Son of God, the only begotten Son who was not created but is one with the Father, is to come into that place of acceptance and life. From that place we can bring every fear, every torment, every anxiety and confusion to Him, knowing that God has not given a spirit of fear. In Jesus name those things must bow and leave, and His peace can remain.

The heart of the Father toward His children is beautifully seen in the story of the son who left home and wasted his inheritance, then came back with nothing to offer but repentance. While he was still far off and still in his filth, his father ran to him, embraced him and covered him with kisses before any cleansing had taken place, and restored him to the place of a son with sandals on his feet and joy in the home. That is how God receives those who turn to Him, not as servants barely tolerated, but as sons and daughters welcomed with joy. You can rest in that same Father's heart for your son.

We join you in praying for healing in his mind, body and spirit. The prophet declared that by the wounds of Jesus we are healed, and the Gospels show Jesus healing even at a distance when a father sought Him for his son. Nothing is too far for His power or too intricate for His compassion. We ask the Lord to ease physical distress and discomfort, to calm sensory challenges, to bring restful sleep and refreshed waking, to soften rigid patterns and to give gentleness and confidence in communication. We pray the promise that no weapon formed against him shall prosper, and ask the Lord to surround him with a hedge of protection, to clothe him with the full armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the readiness of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and to command His ministering angels to encamp around him and guard him in all his ways.

We also pray for you, your family, and all who give care. The Proverbs are filled with a father's counsel to his son, urging him to receive wisdom, to keep instruction, to incline the ear to understanding and to cry out for knowledge. That wisdom is a gift God gives generously when we ask. We ask Him to fill each caregiver with wisdom, patience, discernment and genuine love, to provide helpers who will respect your son, include him, delight in him and bring out the best in him, and to grant services and routines that truly help and do not cause harm. We pray for restored and strengthened bonds among family and friends, with division and isolation removed and replaced by love, compassion, understanding and unity, so that your son's life may reflect the light and grace of Christ to all around him.

Where two or three are gathered in His name, Jesus is present, and He hears prayer according to His perfect will. We stand in agreement with you for peaceful days and nights over your household, for your younger daughter and for all your travels and daily activities, trusting the Lord to dispel darkness with His light and to fill your home with calm, joy and safety in Christ.