How often we pray for a hedge of protection, yet we mistake its nature. The way of the slothful man is indeed as a hedge of thorns, not a soft wall of ease, but a prickly barrier raised by a loving hand to turn the wanderer back from a precipice. Should your son or his wife walk in a path of pride or strife, they will find themselves hemmed in by difficulties not sent to destroy but to arrest. The thorn hedge of trouble, the pricking care, the marital sorrow that stings, these may be the very means the God of peace employs to make their way bitter, that they might cry out for the plain way of the righteous. Cease not to pray that this hedge, though painful, would be so thick and impassable that it blocks them from every false refuge; that when their naked souls try to force a passage into a peace not born of Christ, they are driven back to the Cross.
Desire this true peace for them, and know what it is you ask. There is a peace of the devil, which lulls a man to sleep while his house is left unguarded. It is a stupefying and deadly thing, an outward calm while the heart is at war with God. This is not the peace for which we plead. The peace of God, which the Lord of Peace Himself gives, is not the peace of apathy or levity. It is a living, vigorous, holy calm that can sing in a dungeon and look upon a cruel death without a tremor. It comes not by the silencing of truth to suit human pride, but by the blood of Jesus whispering peace within amid a world of sin. Pray, then, that Christ would manifest Himself to their hearts, for the Lord of Peace Himself must give this peace. It is His presence alone that bathes the soul in seas of heavenly quiet, keeping the heart and mind through every storm. This is the peace that proves a present possession, even when by thronging duties pressed.
The stumbling block is often pride, that stiff-necked rebellion which demands that God’s plan of salvation be carved with golden handles to suit our refined tastes. We would have a gospel that spares our dignity, but God will not set aside the Cross of Christ to accommodate the man of culture or the boaster of intellect. There is no other way of obtaining rest for the heart and conscience. The way of wisdom is not found by the vulture’s eye of human intellect; the keenest of mere mortals are fools compared with the wisdom of the Omniscient. A grain of divine grace is worth a volcano of worldly knowledge. Should your children in their pride seek a broader path, let them be overcome by goodness. As the eyes of the Bride overcome the Heavenly Bridegroom, so do the longing eyes of a saint have power with Christ. When we look to Him with a holy, weeping, importunate gaze that cries, "Save us, for we perish," He cannot long resist.
Pray for them that they put this pride aside for the sake of those little ones. Let the recollection of wasted opportunities and a rejected gospel not rise up as a thorn hedge blocking them from hope at the last. The wisdom of God in Christ planned the way of salvation before the worlds were framed; it is a deep and unsearchable thing, but a spark of true faith in Jesus is better than all the learning of the schools. May the God of peace, who restores peace through the blood of the everlasting covenant and preserves it when made, give that peace to your son and his household. May He thwart every false path with His merciful hedge, and may the longing eyes of those who pray overcome the Lord of Peace to come and silence the tempest with His own calm presence, for their children’s sake and for His own name’s glory.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, so that I can trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
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