Silas
Beloved of All
It is understandable to feel unsure how to pray when people you love are hurting and choices have caused pain. Your desire to pray is itself a good and loving response, and God invites you to come to Him simply as a Father who hears you. Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, to show that prayer is not a ritual or a set of correct words, but a living, loving relationship with God Himself. He does not want a formal or legal performance from you. He wants you to know how deeply He loves you and to love Him in return, and to come honestly as His child.
That close relationship with God is the most important part of life. It is like the vertical axis on which everything else turns. When your relationship with God is right, it brings balance to every other relationship. When that vertical relationship is out of order, our relationships with other people also become out of order. Sin always separates us from God, and that separation then wounds our fellowship with one another. So the best place to begin praying for your brother and for his girlfriend is for each of them in their relationship with God.
You can pray first that each one would know Jesus Christ and be known by Him, because salvation and a right standing before God come through Jesus alone and through the atonement He made. Pray that any sin would be brought into the light with honesty and repentance, and that each would receive His forgiveness and grace. God established marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and He designed sexual intimacy and living together to belong within that covenant. We do not ask God to bless what is outside His good design, but we do ask Him to lead each person toward what is holy, truthful and healing. That means praying for your brother to walk in honesty, to take responsibility for his choices, to turn from what is wrong, and to seek purity and faithfulness going forward, rather than moving quickly from one relationship to another.
You can also pray for the fruit that naturally grows from a right relationship with God. When we are alive to God through Christ, love, compassion, kindness, patience and self control begin to grow not by striving under rules, but as the natural result of being close to Him. Pray that both of them would experience that kind of inner transformation, and that whatever healing and growth God does in them would then strengthen all of their other relationships in a healthy way.
For his girlfriend who is hurting deeply after so many years together, pray for comfort and for healing. Healing is always in God's hands, and it is not always instant. Sometimes He heals gradually, and He heals not only outward circumstances but also the wounds in the heart and mind. Pray that God would draw near to her as Father, that He would comfort her in her sorrow, heal the hurt and rejection she feels, and surround her with wise and caring support. Pray that she would not be defined by this loss, but would find her worth and security in being loved by God.
For your brother, pray that God would give him a clear sense of conviction where it is needed, humility to act with kindness and truth, and a willingness to seek God before seeking another relationship. Pray that he would desire a loving relationship with the Lord more than simply trying to manage his circumstances, and that his decisions going forward would honor God and respect others.
You might pray in a simple way like this: Father, I bring my brother and his girlfriend before You. You see their pain and their choices. I ask that each of them would come to know You through Jesus Christ and walk closely with You. Forgive sin, bring truth into the light, and lead them into what is right and pure according to Your design for marriage and for life. Comfort her heart and heal her wounds. Give him humility and wisdom to act with honesty and love. Make Your presence and Your love more real to each of them than any other relationship, and let that vertical relationship with You bring health to every other part of their lives. Do Your gracious work in them in Your time and Your way. In Jesus name, amen.
Continue to bring them before the Father with that kind of honest, loving prayer, trusting that as He is sought first, He will work in each life for what is truly good.
That close relationship with God is the most important part of life. It is like the vertical axis on which everything else turns. When your relationship with God is right, it brings balance to every other relationship. When that vertical relationship is out of order, our relationships with other people also become out of order. Sin always separates us from God, and that separation then wounds our fellowship with one another. So the best place to begin praying for your brother and for his girlfriend is for each of them in their relationship with God.
You can pray first that each one would know Jesus Christ and be known by Him, because salvation and a right standing before God come through Jesus alone and through the atonement He made. Pray that any sin would be brought into the light with honesty and repentance, and that each would receive His forgiveness and grace. God established marriage as a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and He designed sexual intimacy and living together to belong within that covenant. We do not ask God to bless what is outside His good design, but we do ask Him to lead each person toward what is holy, truthful and healing. That means praying for your brother to walk in honesty, to take responsibility for his choices, to turn from what is wrong, and to seek purity and faithfulness going forward, rather than moving quickly from one relationship to another.
You can also pray for the fruit that naturally grows from a right relationship with God. When we are alive to God through Christ, love, compassion, kindness, patience and self control begin to grow not by striving under rules, but as the natural result of being close to Him. Pray that both of them would experience that kind of inner transformation, and that whatever healing and growth God does in them would then strengthen all of their other relationships in a healthy way.
For his girlfriend who is hurting deeply after so many years together, pray for comfort and for healing. Healing is always in God's hands, and it is not always instant. Sometimes He heals gradually, and He heals not only outward circumstances but also the wounds in the heart and mind. Pray that God would draw near to her as Father, that He would comfort her in her sorrow, heal the hurt and rejection she feels, and surround her with wise and caring support. Pray that she would not be defined by this loss, but would find her worth and security in being loved by God.
For your brother, pray that God would give him a clear sense of conviction where it is needed, humility to act with kindness and truth, and a willingness to seek God before seeking another relationship. Pray that he would desire a loving relationship with the Lord more than simply trying to manage his circumstances, and that his decisions going forward would honor God and respect others.
You might pray in a simple way like this: Father, I bring my brother and his girlfriend before You. You see their pain and their choices. I ask that each of them would come to know You through Jesus Christ and walk closely with You. Forgive sin, bring truth into the light, and lead them into what is right and pure according to Your design for marriage and for life. Comfort her heart and heal her wounds. Give him humility and wisdom to act with honesty and love. Make Your presence and Your love more real to each of them than any other relationship, and let that vertical relationship with You bring health to every other part of their lives. Do Your gracious work in them in Your time and Your way. In Jesus name, amen.
Continue to bring them before the Father with that kind of honest, loving prayer, trusting that as He is sought first, He will work in each life for what is truly good.
