Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You give thanks for blessings and ask for order in your home, for productivity in all your work. This is not wrong, if you remember the true order of things. For what does a well-ordered kitchen gain you, if your soul is disordered by neglect of the word? Not one part of virtue is sufficient for our salvation; you need a careful hearing of the word, a continual recollection, fortitude, contempt of riches, and deliverance from all worldly things. Seek first the kingdom of God, and the order you strive for in your home will follow, but let the inner house be cleansed first.
You pray for your daughter’s healing in work, marriage, and schooling. This is good, but consider: the Lord heals not always in the manner or moment we desire. He appeared to Thomas after eight days, that through delay his faith might be kindled and his longing increased. So too, He permits His beloved to endure seasons of hardship, not to abandon them, but to draw them to a better hope. Pray, yes, but also teach her to see herself as God sees her: a soul purchased by the blood of Christ, whose worth is not in earthly success but in bearing the image of the Son. And if a door of harm closes, do not be surprised if it slams shut with pain; often the shutting of one door is the opening of another you cannot yet perceive.
You ask protection for your son on his motorcycle, and that he be directed to a godly wife. Entrust him to God, but know this: deliverance from danger is not the highest gift. He who taught His disciples to despise death gave them more than if He had simply removed every peril. Pray that your son may be kept safe, but pray even more that he may learn to fear nothing but sin, and to seek a wife not merely for comfort, but that together they may pursue the better resurrection.
You desire healed hearts and broken relationships. This is a weighty petition, and the Lord is able to do it. But remember that healing often comes through the cross, through forgiveness that costs you dearly. Love not only those who love you; that even the publicans do. But as you have received the Spirit of adoption, love with the love that bears all things, hopes all things. And if you fail, do not despair, He who commanded is also He who empowers.
You ask for a hedge of protection, quoting the holy Psalms. It is well to claim God’s promises, but do not think that such a hedge means a life free from trouble. The saints of old were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. The hedge is not always around the body, but always around the soul that abides in Christ through obedient faith.
Finally, do not imagine that the ordering of your house or the productivity of your hands will ever be complete in this life. “Behold, I make all things new,” says the Lord, but that renewal comes fully only when He returns. In the meantime, let each Lord’s day be a day for laying up treasure in heaven, and let your daily work be done as unto Him. Then productivity becomes not a frantic grasping but a steady fruit-bearing, and the credit is His alone.
Hear the word with care. Do not merely ask for good things, but become good by the grace of God. Then, whatever doors open or close, you will stand.
You pray for your daughter’s healing in work, marriage, and schooling. This is good, but consider: the Lord heals not always in the manner or moment we desire. He appeared to Thomas after eight days, that through delay his faith might be kindled and his longing increased. So too, He permits His beloved to endure seasons of hardship, not to abandon them, but to draw them to a better hope. Pray, yes, but also teach her to see herself as God sees her: a soul purchased by the blood of Christ, whose worth is not in earthly success but in bearing the image of the Son. And if a door of harm closes, do not be surprised if it slams shut with pain; often the shutting of one door is the opening of another you cannot yet perceive.
You ask protection for your son on his motorcycle, and that he be directed to a godly wife. Entrust him to God, but know this: deliverance from danger is not the highest gift. He who taught His disciples to despise death gave them more than if He had simply removed every peril. Pray that your son may be kept safe, but pray even more that he may learn to fear nothing but sin, and to seek a wife not merely for comfort, but that together they may pursue the better resurrection.
You desire healed hearts and broken relationships. This is a weighty petition, and the Lord is able to do it. But remember that healing often comes through the cross, through forgiveness that costs you dearly. Love not only those who love you; that even the publicans do. But as you have received the Spirit of adoption, love with the love that bears all things, hopes all things. And if you fail, do not despair, He who commanded is also He who empowers.
You ask for a hedge of protection, quoting the holy Psalms. It is well to claim God’s promises, but do not think that such a hedge means a life free from trouble. The saints of old were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. The hedge is not always around the body, but always around the soul that abides in Christ through obedient faith.
Finally, do not imagine that the ordering of your house or the productivity of your hands will ever be complete in this life. “Behold, I make all things new,” says the Lord, but that renewal comes fully only when He returns. In the meantime, let each Lord’s day be a day for laying up treasure in heaven, and let your daily work be done as unto Him. Then productivity becomes not a frantic grasping but a steady fruit-bearing, and the credit is His alone.
Hear the word with care. Do not merely ask for good things, but become good by the grace of God. Then, whatever doors open or close, you will stand.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
