Praying for Courage & Light

[Chrysostom]

Your gratitude in the midst of pain has been heard, and it is good that you hold fast to quiet faith even while you are hurting. God sees the health trials and treatments you are carrying, the desire to remain kind and calm, and the burden you feel for those two children who have been forced to shape their lives around adult conflict.

It is right that you do not want to be dragged into that battle. Scripture teaches us not to rush into conflicts but to deprecate them, to be quiet when we are not summoned and to stand nobly only when we must. That quietness is not weakness. It shows freedom from vainglory and nobleness of spirit. You can be present and kind without taking a side in cruelty, and you can love those children by praying for them from a distance and helping in simple, practical ways as you have done, without allowing yourself to be used as a weapon in someone else's strife.

Much conflict in this life springs from covetousness, envy and vainglory. When we are at peace inwardly we learn to despise those earthly contentions. Here people fight over boundaries and walls, but the dwelling God builds for us in heaven is not touched by such strife. It does not decay, no one can encroach upon it, and even the poorest offering given in faith helps build it. Keep your treasure there. If others act as bullies, they harm their own souls more than yours. Do not let their ways steal your heavenly treasure or your peace.

True courage is also different from mere audacity. Courage speaks truth with meekness and gentleness, as John the Baptist and Elijah did, while audacity only insults and tears down. Pray for the kind of courage that remains calm, speaks only what is necessary in love, and refuses to return evil for evil. It is brave to step back quietly to yourself, to guard your health, and to continue faithfully in the small good works God has given you to do.

We pray for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ who alone is our salvation, grant light to guide this dear one and courage to walk in it. Bring healing and strength through these health treatments, and give wisdom to know when to help and when to remain at a distance. Protect those two children, cover them in your mercy, and bring conviction and repentance where there is cruelty and manipulation between their parents. You ordained marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman to reflect your faithfulness, and we ask that you would bring peace, restraint and humility into that home. Let this one who prays be kept unscathed, unfettered by bullies, calm in your presence, and restored quietly to the life and faith you have called them to. Remind them that this trial will not be both long and severe without end, and that you bring near your deliverance. Build for them a sure hope in heaven while they walk faithfully on earth. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thankfulness in the midst of pain is itself a work of grace, and it is good to hear that quiet faith still held close even when hurt and confusion press in. Your compassion for those two children is Christlike. Scripture teaches that children are a heritage from the Lord and that the strength of a people is in the family as God designed it, so it is deeply unsettling when children are made to shape their lives around the chaos of their parents. Your desire to help in a simple, practical way, like helping with studies, and to pray from a distance, honors God.

Being pulled into an escalating conflict between others is a heavy test, and your longing to remain kind, calm, brave and unfettered is understandable. God Himself models the importance of boundaries. When the tribes received their inheritance, their portions were marked out by rivers and valleys and mountains and lots were cast to define where each family should live and serve. In the same way, the Lord gives each of us a place to stand and limits that are for our protection. You are not required to become a participant in someone else's battle or to be used as an instrument against either parent. Love can remain firm and compassionate while still saying, I will not take sides in this strife, I will pray, I will do what is good within my proper bounds, but I will not be drawn into vengeance or manipulation. In ancient cultures a wrong against one family demanded retaliation against another, an endless cycle of revenge. The gospel breaks that cycle. Jesus is our peace, who has made us one and who calls us to pursue peace rather than to repay hurt for hurt.

You also speak of your own journey with health mishaps and treatments while this trial continues. Please be assured that ongoing health struggles are not a sign of weak faith or lack of devotion. Some of the most faithful followers of Jesus live with great physical affliction. Scripture does contain a warm personal greeting that wishes a dear friend may prosper and be in good health even as his soul prospers, but that is a loving wish, not a promise that spiritual maturity guarantees physical health. There is a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body, and attitudes and peace can affect us deeply, yet we cannot equate spirituality with physical wellness. God sees your treatments and your pain, and He remains faithful. He will not allow you to be tested beyond what you can bear, and He has already gone before you into every experience you will pass through.

Trials of this kind are not strange for the child of God. We are told not to think it strange when fiery trials come to test us, and we are called to endure hardness as good soldiers. That does not mean we curse the trial, but that we can count it as joy because God uses these very pressures to draw us closer to Jesus. Every testing can become an instrument that pushes us nearer to Him, and that nearness is the purpose. Often when anxiety keeps us awake and our hands are wringing, heaven is waiting for us to simply pray. Bring this whole situation to the Father, who names the whole family in heaven and on earth and who has made you part of His own household. Once you were a stranger, now you are at home in His kingdom, built together on Christ.

My prayer for you is that you would be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner person, that you would know more of the breadth and length and depth of His love, a love that endures and that was shown fully at the cross. May you have wisdom to keep kind boundaries, to remain present to what God has given you to do, and to entrust those children and their parents to the Lord who loves them more than you do. As the psalmist said in a season of deep discouragement, hope in God, for you shall yet praise Him who is the health of your countenance and your God. Even this trial will one day be part of a song of praise as you see how He kept you, taught you, and made you more like Christ through it.

May the Lord keep you calm and unscathed, not by your own strength but by His peace dwelling in you, and may He quietly draw you back to Himself, to the simple faithful walk you have long pursued, where you continue to walk in truth.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf. We are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer and for the gratitude and honesty with which you shared your heart with us.

We have been lifting you up before the Lord these past few days, especially your prayer for courage and light as you seek to reconcile the hurt and confused parts within you with the quiet faith you have held and continue to hold close despite moments of pain. We have been praying for your protection and for peace as you are being pulled into the middle of that very calculated and extremely cruel spat between those two parents, and we have continued to pray for those two children who have been forced to shape their lives around that chaos. We thank God for your kindness in helping one of them study for exams and for your compassionate heart that continues to intercede for them from a distance even when you have not been able to do more.

We have also been bringing before the Lord your own personal journey with health mishaps and treatments, and your desire to remain kind and present, to be brave enough to remain calm and come through unscathed, and to remain unfettered by bullies and their ways. We pray that the Lord will be your refuge and strength and that He will make a way for you to quietly return to yourself and continue in the path He has for you. We pray that He will guard your heart and mind with His peace as promised in Philippians 4:7 and that you will take courage knowing He is with you wherever you go as we are reminded in Joshua 1:9. We also pray that He draws near to you in this time of pain for He is close to the brokenhearted as written in Psalm 34:18.

If your request was answered and the Lord has granted you that calm and courage and protection, please post a praise report and let us all know so we may rejoice with you. If your request does not seem to have been answered yet, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer. We count it an honor to continue to stand with you.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. We pray this in Jesus Name, amen.