Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for trusting us with this burden and for the love you are showing to this young boy in a season of such loss. We are praying with you for a breakthrough for his visa to come home, for stability and for a good start in school, and we join you in leaving what you cannot control in the hands of God.
You mentioned the promise in Isaiah that He will not crush the weakest reed. That picture is of the Lord's gentleness toward those who are bruised and fragile. He does not break what is already bent, He does not put out a flickering flame. He is tender toward the vulnerable, and He is especially tender toward children who have lost the protection of a parent. Scripture calls Him a Father to the fatherless and says that to care for orphans is at the very heart of true faith. Your desire to give this twelve year old a stable home reflects His own heart.
Jesus made this clear when He placed a little child in the midst of His disciples and taught them. He said that unless we are converted and become like a little child we cannot enter the kingdom, and that whoever receives one such little child in His name receives Him. He warned us not to despise one of these little ones, for their angels always see the face of the Father. There is a special love and watchfulness God has for a child, and to welcome and protect a child is to welcome Him. The natural affection a parent should have to guard a child at all cost is from God, and when a child is left without that covering, God Himself draws near to be that covering.
We also remember how God sovereignly arranges even the affairs of governments to accomplish His purposes. When the time came for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem according to prophecy, God used a decree from the ruling empire to move Mary and Joseph from Nazareth at just the right moment. No detail of distance or paperwork was beyond His reach. In the same way, no visa office, no waiting period, no border is beyond His reach now. He is able to move hearts and open doors in His perfect timing, even when we have done all we can and must simply wait and trust.
We are praying that the Lord will hasten what can be hastened and give you peace in the waiting. We ask Him to keep this boy safe where he is, to comfort him in his grief over his mother, and to prepare a place of stability, love and instruction for him here. Our prayer is not only for a document to be granted, but for his whole life to be established. May he be trained in the way he should go, according to the unique way God has made him, with the patience we show when we teach a child to walk, expecting stumbles but guiding each step. And may he from his youth come to know the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
As long as there is opportunity to pray, we pray with hope, trusting that God is gracious and that He hears. We rest with you in the confidence that He who is gentle with the bruised reed does all things well and loves this child even more than we do.
Father, in the name of Jesus we bring this child before You. You see him, You know his name, his sorrow and his need. We ask for Your favor over this visa process, for no unnecessary delay, and for wisdom for every official who handles it. Bring him home safely, provide stability, a loving home and a place to learn and grow. Guard his heart, heal his grief, and let him know from his earliest days that You love him and that Jesus died for him. Give his guardian strength, patience and peace as he waits on You. We entrust him fully to Your care and Your timing. Amen.
You mentioned the promise in Isaiah that He will not crush the weakest reed. That picture is of the Lord's gentleness toward those who are bruised and fragile. He does not break what is already bent, He does not put out a flickering flame. He is tender toward the vulnerable, and He is especially tender toward children who have lost the protection of a parent. Scripture calls Him a Father to the fatherless and says that to care for orphans is at the very heart of true faith. Your desire to give this twelve year old a stable home reflects His own heart.
Jesus made this clear when He placed a little child in the midst of His disciples and taught them. He said that unless we are converted and become like a little child we cannot enter the kingdom, and that whoever receives one such little child in His name receives Him. He warned us not to despise one of these little ones, for their angels always see the face of the Father. There is a special love and watchfulness God has for a child, and to welcome and protect a child is to welcome Him. The natural affection a parent should have to guard a child at all cost is from God, and when a child is left without that covering, God Himself draws near to be that covering.
We also remember how God sovereignly arranges even the affairs of governments to accomplish His purposes. When the time came for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem according to prophecy, God used a decree from the ruling empire to move Mary and Joseph from Nazareth at just the right moment. No detail of distance or paperwork was beyond His reach. In the same way, no visa office, no waiting period, no border is beyond His reach now. He is able to move hearts and open doors in His perfect timing, even when we have done all we can and must simply wait and trust.
We are praying that the Lord will hasten what can be hastened and give you peace in the waiting. We ask Him to keep this boy safe where he is, to comfort him in his grief over his mother, and to prepare a place of stability, love and instruction for him here. Our prayer is not only for a document to be granted, but for his whole life to be established. May he be trained in the way he should go, according to the unique way God has made him, with the patience we show when we teach a child to walk, expecting stumbles but guiding each step. And may he from his youth come to know the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
As long as there is opportunity to pray, we pray with hope, trusting that God is gracious and that He hears. We rest with you in the confidence that He who is gentle with the bruised reed does all things well and loves this child even more than we do.
Father, in the name of Jesus we bring this child before You. You see him, You know his name, his sorrow and his need. We ask for Your favor over this visa process, for no unnecessary delay, and for wisdom for every official who handles it. Bring him home safely, provide stability, a loving home and a place to learn and grow. Guard his heart, heal his grief, and let him know from his earliest days that You love him and that Jesus died for him. Give his guardian strength, patience and peace as he waits on You. We entrust him fully to Your care and Your timing. Amen.
