Prayers

[Chrysostom]

Thank you for bringing these many burdens to the Lord in prayer and for beginning with thanksgiving for the day, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit, for your children, family and friends. God is good to hear a thankful heart and He invites us to cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us.

We want to pray with you in a way that honors what Scripture teaches and that seeks God's best for you.

Concerning work and those who have treated you unfairly, including pay that seems unequal and the situation with the lottery card, God sees injustice and He calls us to desire what is right. At the same time He calls us not to seek revenge or to ask for harm to come to another person, even one who has wronged us. Scripture says vengeance belongs to the Lord and we are to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us. So instead of praying that someone would be fired or that wrong would backfire on them, we can pray that God would bring fairness, that your employer would act justly and honestly, that you would be treated with dignity, and that you would have wisdom to pursue what is right through honest and peaceable means. If you believe your pay is unfair, it is right to respectfully address it or seek wise counsel, while trusting God to be your provider and defender.

Concerning your health, the fluid in your ears and the need for antibiotics, we pray for healing and we also encourage you to continue following sound medical care. God often heals through the care of doctors and through wisdom in using medicine properly. If you are seeing a game or visions when you close your eyes and your eyesight feels affected, bring this to a doctor as well as to the Lord in prayer, asking Him for peace, clarity of mind and restoration of health. God is not the author of confusion but of peace, and any impression or vision should be tested against Scripture.

Concerning the relationship you mentioned, where you miss someone and want God to make you attractive so he will choose to be with you, we understand the ache of longing to be loved and chosen. God created us for love, but His design for romantic love is within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman, with purity and faithfulness, and not through trying to make someone stay or through living together outside of that covenant. Rather than asking God to make you attractive to win someone's choice, we pray that you will find your worth and beauty first in Christ, that God will guard your heart, and that if a relationship is to be, it would be one that honors Him, is marked by mutual commitment, self control and a desire to please the Lord together. If you are not married to this person, we encourage you not to pursue intimacy or cohabitation outside of marriage, but to seek God's will, godly counsel and patience to trust His timing. True attractiveness before God grows from a heart that loves Jesus and walks in holiness.

Concerning your words about Jesus being put back in His place so you can bring Him home to His throne with you, we gently want to remind you of what Scripture teaches. Jesus is already enthroned at the right hand of the Father, reigning as Lord. We do not bring Him to our home as if He has lost His place. Instead, through faith in Jesus alone for salvation, He comes to dwell in us by His Spirit when we trust Him, and we have access to God through Him. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, by His death and resurrection, not through our efforts to place Him somewhere.

We join you in praying for productive work in the days ahead, for God to bring true, kind and trustworthy people into your life, and for your daily needs to be met.

Let us pray together:

Father, we thank You for this person and for the thankfulness You have put in their heart. Thank You for sending Jesus to die and rise again so that we can be forgiven and have new life through Him alone. We ask that You would deepen their faith in Christ and give assurance of Your love.

Lord, we ask for healing for their ears and body, for wisdom for doctors, for proper use of medicine, and for clear vision and peace of mind. Take away confusion and restore health according to Your will.

We pray for their workplace. Provide for their needs, grant honest and fair treatment, give wisdom to employers to act justly, and give grace to respond without anger or desire for revenge, but with truth and love.

We pray for their relationships. Help them to find identity and contentment in You, to pursue purity and to trust You with their future. If it is Your will for marriage, prepare them and a future spouse to honor You. Surround them with faithful, kind friends and family who will encourage them in the Lord.

We pray that Jesus would be clearly seen as Lord enthroned in heaven and living in their heart by faith, and that they would grow in knowing Scripture and walking in Your ways.

In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

We encourage you to stay rooted in Scripture, to meet regularly with a faithful local church, and to share these struggles with a trusted pastor who can walk with you personally and give ongoing counsel and prayer.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for pouring out your heart so honestly before the Lord. He hears you and He cares about every detail of your life, and what He most desires from you is not a ritual or a performance to earn His favor, but a close and loving relationship with Him as your Father. Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father in heaven, and that is the heart of it, to know how much He loves you and to love Him in return, not to try to get Him to do things through special words or actions, but to rest in being known and loved by Him.

I want to pray with you about work, and also gently help you see how to pray there. It is right to ask God for provision and for honest and fair treatment, and to want your workplace to be healthy and productive in the days ahead. When you feel you are being paid unfairly or that a manager is not acting with integrity, bring that to God and ask Him for wisdom and for justice, and also take practical steps where you can to seek clarity and fairness through proper channels. God does not call us to pray for harm to come to a coworker or for someone to lose their job, or for trouble to backfire on them personally. Scripture tells us to love even those who mistreat us, to pray for them, and to leave justice in God's hands. You can ask God to work in the hearts of your employer and your coworkers, to bring honesty and kindness into that place, and to guard your own heart from bitterness.

You mentioned your health, fluid in your ears and concern about your medicine. God cares about your body as well as your soul. There is a real connection between our inner peace and our physical well being, and a heart at rest before the Lord can bring great good to the body. At the same time, God has given wisdom to doctors and medicine to help us, and He does not heal in every case in the same way or at the same moment we ask. Please continue to follow your doctor's guidance about your antibiotics and your ears, and do not let anyone take away what you need for your health. Pray for healing, and also faithfully care for the body God has given you, and seek help promptly if symptoms continue.

You also shared about seeing a game in your mind when you close your eyes and about wanting your vision restored. In the Bible a vision is God opening a person's eyes to see into the spiritual realm, which is real but unseen to our natural eyes. Much of what we experience in our minds, however, comes from stress, fatigue, imagination, or spiritual confusion, and not every picture we see is from the Lord. If these images trouble you, bring them to Jesus in prayer, ask Him for peace and clarity, and keep your focus on Him and on His Word. A healthy spiritual life is fed daily, just as the body needs daily food, so stay rooted in Scripture, in prayer, and in fellowship with trustworthy believers who can help you discern what is from God.

About the relationship on your heart, I hear how deeply you miss this man and how much you want to be chosen and loved. God understands that longing, and He created love and marriage to be beautiful within His design, which is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, with physical intimacy kept within that covenant. True beauty that draws the right kind of love is not first about outward attractiveness that you can try to maintain to win someone, but about the inward beauty of a life centered on Jesus. When your relationship with Him is right, it shows in your countenance and it strengthens every other relationship. Rather than asking God to make you more attractive so that this man will choose you, ask Him to shape your heart to want His will above all, to guard you in purity, and to lead you both clearly. If it is His will for you to be together in marriage, He is able to guide that in His time and His way. If not, He will give you grace to walk in His best and to be surrounded by people who are truly kind and faithful to you, as you prayed.

You also prayed about bringing Jesus back to His throne with you. Be encouraged that Jesus is already enthroned. He rose from the dead, He reigns in heaven, and by His Spirit He lives in every person who trusts in Him. You do not need to bring Him home or put Him back in place. Through faith in Him you are already brought near to God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and you can come to your Father at any moment.

Let me pray for you in a way that seeks God's good and holy will.

Father, thank You for Your love for this dear one, for family and friends, and for daily grace. Thank You that through Jesus we can come to You as our Father. I ask that You would deepen a loving and living relationship with You, and give peace to a troubled mind. Provide for daily needs at work, bring fairness and integrity there, and help all involved to act honestly and kindly. Touch the body and bring healing according to Your wisdom, give guidance to doctors, and give wisdom to care well for health. Guard the heart in matters of love, help surrender every relationship to Your perfect will, grow inward beauty and Christlikeness, and bring godly and true friendships. Quiet troubling images and restore calm and clear sight, and let Your presence be the center that brings every other part of life into balance. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Keep seeking Him first, staying in His Word, caring for your health, and walking in honest and loving ways with others. He is faithful to lead you step by step.