We join you in thanking God for this day and for His presence as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in your life and in the lives of your sons and daughters, your children, your baby brothers and sisters and your brothers. We give thanks with you for His mercy that is new every morning and we praise Him that you have lifted up the peace of Jerusalem before Him, for we are instructed to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper who love you, Psalm 122:6.
We lift up your close friend to the Lord with you. We understand she has met a man but she struggles to trust him because of how she was treated in the past. We pray that God will fill her with His clarity, love, light, peace and truth, and bring deep healing to her heart. The Lord sees her wounds and He is the one who heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds, Psalm 147:3. We pray she will cast all her anxiety on Him, because He cares for her, 1 Peter 5:7, and that she will experience the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, which will guard her heart and her thoughts in Christ Jesus, Philippians 4:7. We encourage her to seek the Lord first for her healing and to guard her heart with wisdom. If she is entering a courtship, we pray it will be with a Christian believer and with the goal of godly marriage, for marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the bed undefiled, Hebrews 13:4. We pray she will not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, 2 Corinthians 6:14, and that she will pursue purity and keep herself from fornication, which is sex outside of marriage, and wait upon the Lord's timing. We pray she will trust in the Lord with all her heart, and not lean on her own understanding, in all her ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct her paths, Proverbs 3:5-6.
We also hear your heart for the man you have been burdened for, the one you were working with before he was taken away, and your desire that God would bring him back into that life and into contact by phone so you can continue to speak truth to him. We understand your love and concern for him, and we share your prayer that Jesus would be working on his heart. We gently encourage you to surrender this desire fully to the will of God, for we must pray not to control or manipulate another person but to seek God's perfect will. We know that God desires all to return to Him, yet each person must choose to respond to Him. We pray that if it is God's will, He will open the door for communication, but above all we pray that this man will hear the voice of the Lord Himself and be drawn to salvation. We are reminded that we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, Romans 8:28, and that God has plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give hope and a future, Jeremiah 29:11.
We also lift up your own situation, as you share that you are no longer married. We pray for your healing and strength and that God will guard your heart in this season. We believe marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman ordained by God, and we pray that if God wills another marriage for you in the future, it will be to a godly spouse who is a believer in Christ and that any future courtship would be entered with prayer, purity and the goal of honoring God in marriage.
We thank you that you prayed in the name of Jesus, for Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me, John 14:6, and there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved and have access to God. We rejoice that you know this truth.
We pray together now, Father, we thank You for Your goodness and for hearing our prayers. We ask You to pour out Your clarity, love, light, peace and truth upon our sister's friend, heal her from past hurt and teach her to trust You first, and guide her steps in any relationship according to Your Word. Lord, we place the man who is on our sister's heart into Your hands, work in his heart by Your Holy Spirit, draw him to Yourself, and let Your will be done regarding contact and influence, not ours. Let him hear Your voice above all others. We pray for our sister and her family, her sons and daughters, her children, her brothers and sisters, cover them with Your protection and lead them all to walk with You. We continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for all we know, that at the end of the day we all may return to You through faith in Jesus Christ, believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, Romans 10:9. We ask all this in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.