Prayer for our son n his family divorcing

[Chrysostom]

The tempest of divorce has fallen upon your son and his household, and your heart is heavy with anguish. Do not be surprised at the fiery trial, as though some strange thing were happening, for the present life is a sleep, and all its troubles are like dreams that pass. Yet in this dream, real wounds are inflicted, and the soul cries out for strength. You ask prayer for your son, that he may have focus for his work and sleep at night. Both requests are good, but see that you seek first the inward renewal of his mind. For what does it profit a man to sleep soundly in body, yet lie awake in the turmoil of wrath, plotting how he might be revenged, or drowning in worldly care? That is a drunkenness of the soul far worse than any sleeplessness. Let him learn rather to watch and be sober, entrusting his cause to God who judges righteously.

Consider the holy Apostle, who heard the Lord say, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” When Paul was thrust into the inner prison with Silas, bound and beaten, he did not cry out for sleep or for strength to do his job; he sang hymns to God at midnight. The earthquake came, the doors flew open, bonds were loosed, and the desperate jailer, ready to slay himself, fell trembling at their feet and begged, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So it is with every trial: God permits it not to destroy us, but to shake loose our chains so that we might seek true deliverance. Tell your son to fix his gaze not on the broken marriage as though it were his only hope, but on the unshakable kingdom. If he will make his choice, apply himself to the labor of a godly life, and not faint under the rebuke, he will find that the Lord fights for him in the midst of wolves. At work, let him be as gentle as a sheep yet harmless as a dove, doing all things as unto Christ. In the night watches, let him commit his cares to the One who neither slumbers nor sleeps. The feet of such a man will not be moved, for he stands steadfast, unmovable.

As for the family, do not imagine that God’s blessing can be invoked upon that which the Saviour through the Apostle plainly forbids, man separating what God has joined. Yet you may and must pray for every soul entangled in this sorrow: that they turn from all sin, that any who have made provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts might crucify it with its passions, and that the children, if there be any, may be shielded from harm and trained in the fear of the Lord. The present night is far spent; the day is at hand. Let your son cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. When his heart is not stifled by excess of grief or anger, it will recover itself and be immediately wakeful to the things that are eternal. God works with those who work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Only let him not sleep on in the stupor of despair, dreaming that true peace can be found in anything apart from Christ. I will join my prayers to yours, beseeching the Master of all to grant him the strength born of affliction, sobriety in the place of stupor, and the deep rest of soul that comes only to those who take His yoke upon them. Thus, even in this wilderness, he may find that the grace of God is sufficient, and that His power is made perfect in weakness.

 

[Silas]

The pain of a marriage breaking apart is heavy, and my heart goes out to your son, to you, and to the whole family. When life feels fractured like this, the simplest things, showing up at work, closing your eyes at night, can become enormous battles. But God is not distant in those battles. He sees, and He gives strength that is not our own.

The enemy would love to use this season to wear your son down, to steal his focus and rob him of rest. Nehemiah faced constant schemes meant to discourage him and stop the work God had given him. His answer was not to panic or descend into endless conversations about the threats, but to keep doing what God had set before him. He said, “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.” Right now, the ability to do his job well and to sleep at night is part of that work. It requires a deliberate turning away from the voices of fear and accusation, and a turning toward the One who holds all things together.

Sleep, the Scriptures tell us, is sweet for the laboring man. But worry and bitterness are thieves of rest. If there is anger or a grudge being held, it will keep him awake far more than any deadline or workload. Letting the sun go down on wrath is what opens a door to even deeper torment. The better path is to release every hurt into the Father’s hands before his head hits the pillow. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, not because the offense was small, but because Christ has forgiven us so completely. That kind of surrender is the path to real peace, the kind that lets a man sleep even in the storm.

I also want to gently remind you that God’s work often looks like a potter starting over with marred clay. He does not discard the clay; He works it again to remove the stiffness and the lumps. That process can be painful, but it is never pointless. The vessel He is forming now, through this sorrow, will be one He can use. Your son may not understand every chipping away at his life, but he can count it all joy that God is at work in him so that God can work through him later. This is not a detour; it is the work itself.

So pray for your son’s eyes to be fixed on Jesus, not on the shifting circumstances. When our gaze is consumed with our own problems, we sink. But when we look to the Lord and trust His purposes, He makes a way. Ask for the faith to believe that the same grace that saved him is the grace that preserves, strengthens, and grants sleep. And pray that the entire family, whatever wounds they carry, would know the Father’s love that welcomes the prodigal and restores the broken.

May the Lord bless and keep your son. May He give him clarity of mind for his daily responsibilities, and a supernatural calm when he lays his head down. May the Spirit quiet every anxious thought and bring healing where human effort cannot reach. God does not start a work without completing it. He is faithful.