Silas
Beloved of All
Your heart for your children and your home comes through so clearly in this prayer, and it is right to bring every detail before the Lord who sees and cares for each one of you. The desire for protection, peace, healing and unity is pleasing to Him, and He invites you to cast all of your cares upon Him.
It is good to ask for His covering over your minds, hearts, bodies and spirits, over every room and doorway and over your going out and coming in. Scripture speaks of His peace that passes all understanding guarding hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and of His provision of the full armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. It is right to pray for a hedge of protection around you and for His angels to encamp around those who fear Him, and to declare in faith that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Continue to ask Him to remove fear and chaos, to fill your home with His presence, and to guide every step with wisdom and grace.
You have prayed earnestly for healing, and that faith honors the Lord. We believe strongly in healing and that God still heals today. The Scriptures show that Jesus healed in many different ways. Sometimes He healed instantly with a touch, sometimes with only a word from a distance, sometimes He told people not to speak of it but to show themselves as a testimony, and in one recorded case the healing was gradual. There is not a single pattern that confines Him. Much about healing remains beyond our understanding. We do not fully know why some are healed quickly and others are healed slowly or not as we had hoped. Even the apostle Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh and learned that God had a different purpose in allowing it to remain. Matthew applies the prophecy of Isaiah, surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, to the physical healings Jesus performed, and when we remember the bread of communion as His body broken for us we are reminded that His suffering touches both soul and body. All true healing, whether it comes in a moment or through the slow and orderly processes God has built into our bodies, is divine, for He created those processes. And often His healing reaches the mind and emotions as well, bringing calm and restoration to wounds and memories that have caused deep distress. It is not right to conclude that when healing does not come as we ask that there is necessarily sin or lack of faith in the person who is suffering. We live in a culture that often looks only to what can be seen and measured, and we all have limits in understanding. What we can do is keep bringing your son and your younger daughter before the Lord, asking for His mercy over autism and the effects of trauma and anxiety and sensory struggles, and over physical needs that affect daily strength and health. Pray for His peace to replace rigidity and distress, for gentle and patient caregivers who will bring out the best in your son, for relief from pain and discomfort, and for His grace to sustain you as you love and serve them each day. Whether His answer comes at once or step by step, trust His wisdom and His love to do what is best.
You have also prayed with great burden for your family relationships, and especially for your older daughter. Scripture teaches that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone and that marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, and that sexual union and living together belong within that covenant. Living together outside of marriage is not marriage and does not create the rights or responsibilities of marriage, and it does not give another person authority to direct or control her life. It is loving to speak the truth about this, not to condemn but to call toward repentance and purity that honors God and protects her dignity and future. Pray that the Lord in His kindness would draw her to see this clearly, to find her worth in Christ alone rather than in the approval of this young man or his family, and to have courage to make choices that honor God above any pressure to obey, idolize or imitate what is rebellious or manipulative. Pray also for any ungodly ties and controlling influences to be broken, and if it is not the Lord's will for this relationship to continue, that its hold would be removed completely. If it is His will, pray that both individuals would come to genuine salvation and learn to walk in a way that pleases Him. In the same way, pray for wisdom concerning the influence of others who have overstepped their proper role in your daughter's life. God has placed you as her mother to nurture her in His ways, and you can ask Him to expose and frustrate any pride or scheme that seeks to divide your family or turn her heart away from gratitude for the family God has given her, from her faith, her friendships and her work. At the same time, there is a bond within the family of God that can be even deeper than natural family ties when family members do not share the same faith, and the Lord can surround you with fellowship that strengthens you while you continue to love your children faithfully and respond to adversity with kindness and love.
For your younger daughter, it is right to thank God for a respectful and kind friendship and to ask Him to keep that courtship pure and honoring to Him. Pray that it would remain gentle and considerate, especially in how your son is treated, and that it would be guarded from any demeaning, jealous or corrupting influence. Ask the Lord to give her Godly friendships, focus in her studies, health and strength for her daily responsibilities, and wisdom to stand firm and say no to any path that would lead away from Him. Pray the same for each of your children, that they would be lights for Christ in their workplaces, schools and activities, working efficiently without being overwhelmed, and that they would know His favor and purpose.
May the Lord make your home a place where His light and love are evident to all who enter, where words are kind, thoughts are pure, and actions are led by His Spirit. With God nothing will be impossible, and by His wounds we have hope for healing and restoration. Continue to declare your trust in Him for victory, peace and protection over every area of your lives, asking Him to break every chain that is not of Him and to restore unity, respect, patience and joy among you. May He fill you with an overflow of His Spirit, grant you wisdom for each decision, and help you to walk in gratitude and courage as you look to Jesus each new day.
It is good to ask for His covering over your minds, hearts, bodies and spirits, over every room and doorway and over your going out and coming in. Scripture speaks of His peace that passes all understanding guarding hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and of His provision of the full armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. It is right to pray for a hedge of protection around you and for His angels to encamp around those who fear Him, and to declare in faith that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Continue to ask Him to remove fear and chaos, to fill your home with His presence, and to guide every step with wisdom and grace.
You have prayed earnestly for healing, and that faith honors the Lord. We believe strongly in healing and that God still heals today. The Scriptures show that Jesus healed in many different ways. Sometimes He healed instantly with a touch, sometimes with only a word from a distance, sometimes He told people not to speak of it but to show themselves as a testimony, and in one recorded case the healing was gradual. There is not a single pattern that confines Him. Much about healing remains beyond our understanding. We do not fully know why some are healed quickly and others are healed slowly or not as we had hoped. Even the apostle Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh and learned that God had a different purpose in allowing it to remain. Matthew applies the prophecy of Isaiah, surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, to the physical healings Jesus performed, and when we remember the bread of communion as His body broken for us we are reminded that His suffering touches both soul and body. All true healing, whether it comes in a moment or through the slow and orderly processes God has built into our bodies, is divine, for He created those processes. And often His healing reaches the mind and emotions as well, bringing calm and restoration to wounds and memories that have caused deep distress. It is not right to conclude that when healing does not come as we ask that there is necessarily sin or lack of faith in the person who is suffering. We live in a culture that often looks only to what can be seen and measured, and we all have limits in understanding. What we can do is keep bringing your son and your younger daughter before the Lord, asking for His mercy over autism and the effects of trauma and anxiety and sensory struggles, and over physical needs that affect daily strength and health. Pray for His peace to replace rigidity and distress, for gentle and patient caregivers who will bring out the best in your son, for relief from pain and discomfort, and for His grace to sustain you as you love and serve them each day. Whether His answer comes at once or step by step, trust His wisdom and His love to do what is best.
You have also prayed with great burden for your family relationships, and especially for your older daughter. Scripture teaches that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone and that marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, and that sexual union and living together belong within that covenant. Living together outside of marriage is not marriage and does not create the rights or responsibilities of marriage, and it does not give another person authority to direct or control her life. It is loving to speak the truth about this, not to condemn but to call toward repentance and purity that honors God and protects her dignity and future. Pray that the Lord in His kindness would draw her to see this clearly, to find her worth in Christ alone rather than in the approval of this young man or his family, and to have courage to make choices that honor God above any pressure to obey, idolize or imitate what is rebellious or manipulative. Pray also for any ungodly ties and controlling influences to be broken, and if it is not the Lord's will for this relationship to continue, that its hold would be removed completely. If it is His will, pray that both individuals would come to genuine salvation and learn to walk in a way that pleases Him. In the same way, pray for wisdom concerning the influence of others who have overstepped their proper role in your daughter's life. God has placed you as her mother to nurture her in His ways, and you can ask Him to expose and frustrate any pride or scheme that seeks to divide your family or turn her heart away from gratitude for the family God has given her, from her faith, her friendships and her work. At the same time, there is a bond within the family of God that can be even deeper than natural family ties when family members do not share the same faith, and the Lord can surround you with fellowship that strengthens you while you continue to love your children faithfully and respond to adversity with kindness and love.
For your younger daughter, it is right to thank God for a respectful and kind friendship and to ask Him to keep that courtship pure and honoring to Him. Pray that it would remain gentle and considerate, especially in how your son is treated, and that it would be guarded from any demeaning, jealous or corrupting influence. Ask the Lord to give her Godly friendships, focus in her studies, health and strength for her daily responsibilities, and wisdom to stand firm and say no to any path that would lead away from Him. Pray the same for each of your children, that they would be lights for Christ in their workplaces, schools and activities, working efficiently without being overwhelmed, and that they would know His favor and purpose.
May the Lord make your home a place where His light and love are evident to all who enter, where words are kind, thoughts are pure, and actions are led by His Spirit. With God nothing will be impossible, and by His wounds we have hope for healing and restoration. Continue to declare your trust in Him for victory, peace and protection over every area of your lives, asking Him to break every chain that is not of Him and to restore unity, respect, patience and joy among you. May He fill you with an overflow of His Spirit, grant you wisdom for each decision, and help you to walk in gratitude and courage as you look to Jesus each new day.
