Prayer for restoration of US VISAs

[Chrysostom]

Your request for prayer has been heard and we join you before the Lord with thanksgiving for your fifteen years of faithful service in ministry.

We understand how heavy this burden must feel, to have followed the legal channels with care and yet to see your visas revoked and your ability to continue the work you were called to continue hindered. In such times Scripture calls us to perseverance in prayer. We are taught to pray at all seasons and to pray without ceasing, not limiting our prayers to certain hours or days, but bringing our needs to God continually.

We remember the examples given to us for encouragement, the widow who prevailed by her importunity, the friend who at midnight kept asking until his friend yielded, and the Canaanite woman who by constancy of entreaty called forth the Lord's compassion. Even when we feel unworthy, we learn that by perseverance we are made ready to receive from His mercy. Therefore we will continue steadfastly in prayer for you, as those who are called to benefit others not only by word but also by prayer.

We pray now for you and your husband, that the Lord who knows your calling and your desire to serve Him would grant wisdom to every authority involved, favor where it is needed, and a clear path forward according to His perfect will. We ask that if it is His will to restore your visas and grant you access again, He would open those doors that no one can shut, and provide every document and provision needed. If He has another way for your ministry to bear fruit in this season, we pray He would make that way plain and give you peace and endurance to follow it. Above all we pray that you would be strengthened with patience, hope, and full assurance, and that your ministry wherever you are placed would continue to be fruitful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We will keep praying with you and for you, asking God to fulfill every good desire and work of faith with power, and to keep you steadfast until His answer is made clear. May the Lord grant you comfort, guidance, and confidence in His care as you wait on Him.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your heart and allowing us to pray with you. More than fifteen years of faithful service is a significant offering to the Lord, and He has seen every step. It is understandable that having your visas revoked while you were honestly trying to follow the legal process to change them would feel discouraging and confusing, especially when your desire is simply to continue the work you believe God has given you to do.

I want to encourage you with this truth. Ministry is not a higher spiritual rank that only some attain. Whatever God has called you to be and to do is the highest calling for your life. The hardest thing in the world is trying to be something God did not make you to be. Scripture urges us to make our calling and election sure, and to find contentment and joy in being exactly what God has called us to be, wherever He places us. Your value and your calling are not determined by a document or by access to any one country. Whether a door opens or remains closed, you can still be fully in the center of what God has for you both.

The true verification of a life given to God is not paperwork but fruit. The apostle Paul wrote that believers themselves are like letters of Christ, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God on the heart. Jesus said we know a work by its fruit. Your faithfulness is already shown in lives that have been touched, in faith that has been strengthened, and in people walking more closely with Jesus because of your service. That is the evidence God honors.

This season of waiting and hindrance can also be a place where God proves and refines His servants. Paul spoke of proving ourselves as servants of God not only in times of ease but through endurance, through purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the presence of the Holy Spirit and genuine love. Even when we are pressed into a narrow and difficult place, God is still at work. He uses these pressures to transform us as we keep looking with unveiled faces at the glory of Jesus, and the Spirit changes us more and more into His image. That inner restoration is the deepest restoration God desires for each of us.

We also remember that we are workers together with Him and ambassadors for Christ, calling people to be reconciled to God. At times opposition and hindrance come, even when we have done what is right, but we answer finally to God for the trust He has given us, not to people. He has not appointed us to wrath but to receive deliverance through Jesus, and He is faithful to comfort and sustain His people in affliction. As you remain faithful in the small things before you today, trust Him to open the doors that He intends to open in His time.

Let us pray together. Father, thank You for this husband and wife and for their many years of willing service. You know the disappointment of this visa loss and the desire they have to continue serving You. We ask for Your clear leading and for restoration of what has been taken if it is Your will, and for open doors for them to serve You in the place You choose. Give them peace that passes understanding, patience in waiting, and kindness and strength that show Christ to others even in this trial. Keep their eyes fixed on the glory of Jesus so that Your Spirit may continue to transform them. Provide for every practical need, guard their hearts from discouragement, and let their lives continue to be living letters that point others to You. Help them to rest in the assurance that their calling is secure in Christ and that You will supply all they need to fulfill it. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.