We thank you for sharing your heart with us and we count it a privilege to stand with you in prayer before our Father. We rejoice that you desire to walk in sobriety, to grow in love, to be a faithful father to your son, and to see God provide for your needs regarding work, housing and financial stability, and we rejoice that you have asked this through Jesus Christ, for it is only through Him that we have access to God. As it is written, There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:5, and In no other is there salvation, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved, Acts 4:12. We cling to that name together with you.
We commend your desire for strength to stay sober and we want to encourage you that true strength does not come from willpower alone but from the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. Scripture calls us to be sober and watchful, Be sober and self-controlled, Be watchful, Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, 1 Peter 5:8, and also, Do not be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and God promises that No temptation has taken you except what is common to man, God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it, 1 Corinthians 10:13. We encourage you to walk daily in that way of escape by abiding in Christ, by daily prayer and the Word, by fellowship with other believers who will hold you accountable, and by fleeing places and influences that would draw you back. The fruit of the Spirit includes self-control, Galatians 5:22-23, and we pray God cultivates that in you day by day.
We also lift up your relationship with your loved one and your desire that it continue to grow with happiness and love. We believe marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman as God designed from the beginning, Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh, Genesis 2:24, and Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the bed undefiled, but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers, Hebrews 13:4. Because of this we must lovingly encourage you to examine this relationship in light of Scripture. If you are not yet married to this loved one, we urge you to view this time as courtship with the goal of marriage to a fellow believer in Christ, for we are told Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, 2 Corinthians 6:14. We strongly endorse marriage rather than simply continuing as partners, and we encourage you to pursue purity together, for to engage in sexual intimacy outside of marriage is fornication, and Scripture says Flee sexual immorality, 1 Corinthians 6:18. If there has been fornication, cohabitation outside of marriage, or any impurity, we lovingly rebuke that and call you to repentance and to seek God’s forgiveness and to walk in holiness from this day forward. If this relationship is between a man and a woman who both know Christ, we pray God will lead you toward a Christ-centered marriage that honors Him, where love is patient and sacrificial as Christ loved the church, Ephesians 5:25. If you are already married, we pray God will deepen that covenant in faithfulness, forgiveness and joy.
We are moved by your prayer to become a loving and caring father to your son. Children are a gift from the Lord, Behold, children are a heritage of Yahweh, Psalm 127:3, and God calls fathers to bring their children up in nurture and admonition of the Lord, Ephesians 6:4, and to Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it, Proverbs 22:6. This requires not only affection but example, consistency, discipline in love, and pointing your son to Jesus by your own walk of sobriety, integrity and faithfulness. We pray God gives you wisdom, patience and humility to lead your son well, to be present, to speak life over him, and to model what it means to be a godly man.
We also join you in praying for work, housing and financial stability. God knows your needs and promises My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, Philippians 4:19. Yet He also calls us to diligence and stewardship, If anyone will not work, neither let him eat, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, and Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, Colossians 3:23. We pray God opens doors for honest work that provides for your family and allows you to be a blessing, and that He guides you to stable housing where you can dwell in peace. As you seek these things, we encourage you to Seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, Matthew 6:33, trusting that as you put Him first, He will provide and will teach you contentment and wise stewardship.
We pray together now, Father in heaven, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ and we lift up our brother to You. We ask You to strengthen him by Your Spirit to remain sober, to flee temptation, to walk in self-control and to find his satisfaction in You. We ask You to purify and bless his relationship, to lead it toward holiness and, if it be Your will, toward a godly marriage between a man and a woman that reflects Christ and the church, keeping it free from fornication and filled with true love, forgiveness and commitment. Give him wisdom to be a loving, caring and faithful father, to shepherd his son with grace and truth and to raise him in the knowledge of Your Word. Provide for him, Lord, open the right doors for work, establish him in safe and stable housing, and grant him financial stability through diligent labor and trust in Your provision. Fill his heart with peace, hope and perseverance, and let his life bear witness to Your redeeming power. We ask all this in the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
