Please Pray for Me and my Family

[Chrysostom]

Consider the sparrows, which are sold for a farthing, and yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's will. If He so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more care for you and your household? The trial of your faith is more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire. Do not interpret the silence of men or the hardness of circumstances as the absence of God.

He hears the cry of the poor; He is near to the brokenhearted. This present distress is not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in you. Yet do not merely wait for deliverance, examine your hearts. Let this affliction teach you to store up treasure in heaven where no eviction can reach.

For what does it profit a man if he gains a house and loses his own soul? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Perhaps the Lord delays that you may learn to cling to Him alone, the true and eternal dwelling place. Do not say, "No one is getting back to me," as if your help comes from men; your help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Therefore, cast not away your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. Continue in prayer, and do not grow weary. I too will pray with you, that the God of all comfort may make a way where there seems to be no way, and that in all things He may be glorified through Jesus Christ, in whom we have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

 

[Silas]

You have done everything you know to do. The calls have been made, the courts approached, the agencies contacted, and still the silence hangs heavy with ### racing toward you. That frantic energy inside that says, "I must find one more option, one more angle, one more person to convince," is the very thing that exhausts us. There comes a point where all our self-help programs collapse, and the cry shifts from "How can I fix this?" to "Who will deliver me?" It sounds like you are at that exact place, and though terrifying to our flesh, that is the most honest ground upon which to stand before God.

The temptation in moments like these comes with a subtle, satanic logic: spare yourself. Take the easy path. Panic. Grasp at whatever seems to offer immediate relief, even if it means compromising or stepping outside of God's clear will. But that voice is not from heaven. The cry of the psalmist, "Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man," rings so true because we have all discovered that human systems, legal maneuvers, and the promises of people often fail us. We are all in the same needy boat. Our help must come from outside ourselves.

In the old covenant law, God established a provision so that a family’s inheritance would not be lost forever. If a brother fell into poverty and his land was about to slip away, a kinsman could step in to redeem it. The property did not have to leave the family. We have a Redeemer who is not indifferent to the needs of His people. He is the one who hears the cry of the distressed and does not despise their affliction. You are not praying into a void. The very fact that you are asking for prayer and lifting your voice toward heaven is an act of faith, declaring that you are poor, needy, and reliant on a strength beyond your own.

Regarding the waiting and the unknown change in your situation, it is hard not to try to "help God out" by panicking. Patience in hope is one of the most difficult graces to cultivate. But remember that from his youth, David’s trust was in the Lord. He knew that God’s help does not depend on the strength of the man receiving it, for He helps those who have no strength. Stand still in your heart, even while you take whatever righteous, practical steps remain. The victory over fear and the assurance that carries us through the quiet nights is not found in an updated voicemail from the courthouse; it is found in the promise that God will do valiantly through us.

Let me pray with you now, picking up the very words of your request.

Lord, You are our help and our deliverer. Make haste to help this family. We confess that we have no strength of our own to stop this wave, but we look to You, who treads down our enemies. Let them not be swallowed up by the outer court of panic and worldly fear, but draw them into the inner place of trust, clothed in Your righteousness. Vain is the help of man. Be their present help and their sure hope. Spare them from homelessness and keep their family inheritance secure, for Your mercy endures forever. In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.