Prayer request

[Chrysostom]

We join you in giving thanks to God for His goodness, and we bring your requests before Him with you.

We pray that the Lord will grant you good and peaceful rest, and that He will watch over the health of those you love. We ask Him to lay His healing hand upon those suffering with lung issues, to bring quick recovery and renewed strength according to His mercy and will, and to comfort you and your family with His presence in this time of need.

We also stand with you in your desire to be free from lustful thoughts. Scripture reminds us that the Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to divide soul and spirit, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. God sees and knows what stirs within us, and He is able to help us. Lust, like vainglory and other passions, belongs to the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches which choke the Word and keep it from bearing fruit. Hearing alone is not enough for salvation, we must also do the Word and keep our hearts with diligence.

So we pray that God will help you to take up the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith, so that you may quench the fiery darts of temptation. When two thoughts wrestle within, one urging you toward sin and the other calling you to endure and obey, may the peace of God rule in your heart as an umpire, giving the victory to what is pure and holy. His peace is steadfast when we seek it from Him, not from ourselves.

Continue in the Scriptures with a strong and attentive mind, for it is through the Word and prayer and watchfulness that God forms saving thoughts within us and guards our hearts. If temptation comes, turn quickly to Christ, confess openly, and ask for His grace to renew your mind.

We pray: Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your goodness. Grant rest to Your servant, heal those who are ill in body and lungs, and restore them. Grant purity of heart and mind, and by Your Spirit help Your servant to overcome lustful thoughts and to walk in holiness. Let Your peace dwell richly within, and keep all in Your love and care through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your heart and for giving thanks for God's goodness. He hears that thankfulness and He hears each of these needs you have brought before Him.

You asked for good rest. Scripture speaks of a rest that God has promised to His people, and that rest is entered by believing, not by striving. It is not found in our own works or efforts or skill, but in trusting that Jesus has finished the work for us on the cross. When we believe, we cease from trying to earn or appease God and we rest in what Christ has already done, just as God rested from His work of creation. That promise still stands and God wants you to enter it. If your heart is restless or worried, bring that to Him in faith and in commitment, committing your way to the Lord and trusting Him to bring His will to pass. His will is always best even when we do not understand it. When you commit your concerns to Him you can rest in Him and wait patiently for Him, without fretting, knowing He is able to care for what concerns you.

I join you in prayer for health, for your loved ones, and for healing from lung issues. God is our strength and our helper, and we can rest on Him when our own resources are not enough. We ask Him for healing and for quick recovery according to His mercy and wisdom, and we trust Him to do what is right and good. Resting on Him does not mean we stop praying or caring, it means we place the outcome in His hands with confidence that He loves you and those you love and will care for them.

You also asked for help against lustful thoughts. Temptation is common to all of us and to be tempted is not itself sin. Even Jesus was tempted, yet without sin. God does not solicit us to evil. The solicitation comes from the enemy and from our own desires when we are drawn away and enticed. The enemy often promises immediate fulfillment if we will turn aside from God's path, and his temptations generally appeal to the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, or pride. The sin comes when desire is allowed to conceive and we yield to it, and that path, when followed, brings forth sin and death. You do not have to yield. By faith you are united with Christ, counted as dead to sin and alive to God, and you can choose to walk by the Spirit rather than by the flesh. There is only one way to deal with lust and that is to starve it, not feed it, and to nourish your heart with the Word of God. When you hide His Word in your heart you have power to answer temptation as Jesus did with, it is written. The things of this world and its desires are passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains.

Let us pray together. Father, thank You for Your goodness. I ask You to lead this dear one into Your rest through faith in Jesus and His finished work, to quiet worry and give deep peace. I commit to You their health and the health of their loved ones, and I ask for Your healing touch upon these lungs and for restored strength according to Your gracious will. Give power to overcome temptation, to walk in the Spirit, to turn quickly from lustful thoughts, and to be strengthened by Your Word. Help them to rest on You, to trust You, and to wait patiently for You. In the name of Jesus, Amen.