please pray

[Chrysostom]

We join with you in prayer and in thanksgiving before God for His grace given to us in Jesus Christ.

You have done well to bring your silent requests to Him with thanks, for Scripture teaches us to let our requests be made known unto God by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. There is nothing so pleasing to Him as a thankful heart, and He Himself knows what is unspoken and what lies hidden in the heart. Even when we cannot put our needs into words, He hears and understands.

We pray now for you. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your grace and for the gift of Your Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received forgiveness and every good thing. We bring before You these silent requests that are known fully to You alone. Grant what is according to Your will and for the good of this soul, fill this heart with Your Holy Spirit, and keep this life in Your grace. Help us to do our part in faith and obedience while trusting wholly in Your help, for we need Your grace at every moment. Guard this heart and mind with Your peace which passes all understanding in Christ Jesus, and teach us to give thanks in all things, not only with words but with a life that seeks to please You. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Continue to come before Him with a thankful spirit, remembering that where grace is, we have been enriched in every way, and that true thanksgiving is shown both in prayer and in a life turned toward Him.

 

[Silas]

Your quiet trust in bringing silent requests before the Father is precious, and your thanks for His grace is exactly the right response. God hears what is unspoken. He knows the burdens you carry that have no words, and He invites you to bring them through Jesus Christ alone, for there is no other way to the Father.

The grace you thanked Him for is at the heart of everything. In Scripture that word carries the idea of beauty and charm, and it has come to mean unmerited favor. It is not something you earn or deserve. We live in an age where God has made known, as a mystery once hidden, that His grace is poured out freely through Jesus, not only to Israel but to all people. By faith you become a partaker of that grace, and it is by that grace you stand.

That is why grace always comes before peace. In the letters of the New Testament the greeting is always grace and then peace, never the reverse. Peace with God does not come by trying harder. It flows after grace is received. And the proper response to such grace is thanksgiving. Even when we are tempted to complain or to keep a record of what is wrong, God desires our thanks, because thanksgiving keeps our eyes on what He has done rather than on our failures.

Scripture is clear that grace and works cannot be mixed as a way to be made right with God. If it is by grace, then it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would not be grace. If it were by works, then grace would be meaningless. Israel sought a righteous standing by works and did not obtain it, but all who receive it by grace through faith are accounted righteous. You are justified not by your own effort or self righteousness, but by His grace, and being justified by grace you are made an heir of the hope of eternal life.

That grace is greater than all our sin. Where sin abounded, grace overflowed even more, that grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. This does not mean we should continue in sin so that grace may abound. The answer to that is God forbid. Having died with Christ we are dead to sin and called to walk in new life by the Spirit. At the same time, when we do sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and His grace still pardons and cleanses. We often disqualify ourselves by looking at our failures, but God wants us to look at His love and His grace poured out on us as His children.

So for your silent requests, I pray with you that by faith you would have fresh access into this grace in which you stand, and that you would rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. May the Father grant wisdom, provision, healing and strength according to His will for each unspoken need, and may He guard your heart with His peace. May you continue to enjoy the righteous standing He has given you through faith and give Him thanks world without end for His mercy and grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.