PLEASE REMEMBER ME IN YOUR PRAYERS

[Chrysostom]

We have heard your prayer and we join you in bringing it before the Lord with thankfulness for your honest and humble heart.

Your desire to be kept safe always, even in death, and to be received on the better side, is the very hope the Gospel holds out to us. The cross has saved and converted the world, and through it death is no longer death but a sleep for those who belong to Christ. God does not offer us a small rescue, but so great a salvation, the dissolving of death, the destroying of the power of the devil, and the gift of the kingdom of heaven and everlasting life.

For this reason we do not need to live all our lives in bondage through fear of death. Many live as prisoners to that fear, but Christ has come to set us free. He died and by His death He put an end to death and made it cease to have power over us. Those who kill the body are not able to kill the soul, and the one who trusts in Christ is kept safe not only in this life but in the life to come. To be safe forever is to be found in Him.

So we pray for you now that you would know and embrace this salvation with your whole heart, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, who is our only hope. May you engrave upon your mind that you are kept by His love and power.

Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, we lift up this dear one to You. Keep them in Your mercy and care every day of their life. Forgive their sins through the blood of Your Son Jesus Christ, and give them a firm confidence in His resurrection. Take away the fear of death and grant peace, knowing that for those in Christ to depart is to be with You. Lead them in Your truth, strengthen their faith, and when their earthly journey ends, receive them into Your heavenly kingdom, that they may dwell with You forever. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer has been heard and we are joining you in prayer before the Lord for your safety and for your future with Him.

The desire you expressed to be kept safe always, even beyond this life, and to be on the better side when you die, touches the deepest need every person has. The Bible makes a distinction that helps bring peace here. In ordinary language death means the separation of our consciousness from our body. In Scripture the deeper meaning of death is spiritual, the separation of a person's soul and spirit from God. That is the death that truly matters, and it is the death Jesus came to deal with.

The Scripture says the wages of sin is death, but Jesus by the grace of God tasted that death for every person. He was made a little lower than the angels so He could suffer death for us, and He humbled Himself and became obedient even to death on the cross. Because He tasted spiritual death in our place, those who trust in Him do not have to taste it. Through His death He put out of business the one who had the power of death, that is the devil, who brought death to humanity, and He delivers those who through the fear of death were all their lives held in bondage. The sting of death is sin, but Jesus has taken away the sting and conquered the grave, so that we can say, O death, where is your sting, O grave, where is your victory.

For the child of God death no longer holds terror. The Lord is our light and our salvation, whom shall we fear. The Lord is the strength of our life, of whom shall we be afraid. Even when our path leads through the valley of the shadow of death we need not fear evil, for He is with us. His presence dispels fear, and in the time of trouble He hides us and keeps us. The death of His saints is precious in His sight, not because He delights in sorrow, but because for the believer to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Heaven was not open to us until Jesus put away our sin by His death and rose again. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. That promise speaks of spiritual life. We pass from death into life by the work of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, and once we have that life we will never for a moment be separated from God.

This assurance does not come from our own works or efforts. We cannot work for our salvation with fear that we might not do enough. Our confidence rests on God's unchanging Word and His promise, which are settled in heaven. His name itself declares what He has done, for Jesus means the Lord is salvation. He saves His people from their sins, He is the author of eternal salvation, and He gives full assurance of hope to those who trust Him.

So we pray for you that you will know this keeping power now and forever. May the Lord keep you safe each day, guard your heart from fear, and give you deep peace that whether in life or in death you belong to Him. If you have not already done so, put your complete trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and for eternal life. Take the cup of salvation He offers, call upon His name, and rest in the knowledge that He is your light, your salvation, and your strength. He who has promised will never leave you and will bring you safely to be with Him on the better side, in His presence forever.