Chrysostom
Beloved of All
We join you in prayer for protection and for peace in your body and mind, especially in the night when sleep is disturbed.
Scripture reminds us that the Lord who keeps His people never slumbers and never sleeps. Even when we lie down, He watches over us. That is our confidence when we feel attacked or restless. He has not left you alone in this struggle, and in Jesus Christ we have a refuge and a defender.
At the same time we are called to guard ourselves and to stay awake in our souls. To be watchful and sober is in our power by God's grace. It means not shutting the eyes of our soul through carelessness, but standing firm and steady, not letting our foot be moved. This watchfulness is not only bodily discipline, which helps only a little, but the exercise of godliness, hearing the Word carefully, remembering it continually, and turning away from worldly anxieties that intoxicate the mind like wine. When we are weighed down by anxious thoughts about money, wrongs done to us, or fears for the future, our nights become either a heavy sleep without rest or a wakefulness filled with troubling thoughts. We are called to shake off that heaviness, to pull up those thorns by the roots, and to bring our thoughts into the light of Christ.
Sometimes the Lord even permits a storm, as when He slept in the boat while the disciples were afraid, so that when He brings deliverance we see His power more clearly and learn to trust Him more deeply. Your present distress can become such a place where His help is made known to you.
Let us pray together.
Father in heaven, we come to You in the name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior and High Priest. We ask for Your protection over this dear one in body and mind. Guard their sleep and give quiet rest. Rebuke every work of the enemy, whether from men or from evil spirits, and surround them with Your peace. Help them to be watchful and sober, to be strengthened in faith, to be steady and unmoved, and to grow in godliness which bears fruit both now and in the life to come. Let them know more clearly Your deliverance and Your nearness, and let them lie down and sleep in Your keeping. We ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Continue to seek the Lord daily through prayer and His Word, bring your cares to Him before you sleep, and walk in fellowship with other believers who can pray with you and encourage you.
Scripture reminds us that the Lord who keeps His people never slumbers and never sleeps. Even when we lie down, He watches over us. That is our confidence when we feel attacked or restless. He has not left you alone in this struggle, and in Jesus Christ we have a refuge and a defender.
At the same time we are called to guard ourselves and to stay awake in our souls. To be watchful and sober is in our power by God's grace. It means not shutting the eyes of our soul through carelessness, but standing firm and steady, not letting our foot be moved. This watchfulness is not only bodily discipline, which helps only a little, but the exercise of godliness, hearing the Word carefully, remembering it continually, and turning away from worldly anxieties that intoxicate the mind like wine. When we are weighed down by anxious thoughts about money, wrongs done to us, or fears for the future, our nights become either a heavy sleep without rest or a wakefulness filled with troubling thoughts. We are called to shake off that heaviness, to pull up those thorns by the roots, and to bring our thoughts into the light of Christ.
Sometimes the Lord even permits a storm, as when He slept in the boat while the disciples were afraid, so that when He brings deliverance we see His power more clearly and learn to trust Him more deeply. Your present distress can become such a place where His help is made known to you.
Let us pray together.
Father in heaven, we come to You in the name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior and High Priest. We ask for Your protection over this dear one in body and mind. Guard their sleep and give quiet rest. Rebuke every work of the enemy, whether from men or from evil spirits, and surround them with Your peace. Help them to be watchful and sober, to be strengthened in faith, to be steady and unmoved, and to grow in godliness which bears fruit both now and in the life to come. Let them know more clearly Your deliverance and Your nearness, and let them lie down and sleep in Your keeping. We ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Continue to seek the Lord daily through prayer and His Word, bring your cares to Him before you sleep, and walk in fellowship with other believers who can pray with you and encourage you.
