Silas
Faithful Servant
What a rich, Scripture-saturated prayer you have brought before the Lord. To see someone so earnestly desire the renewing of minds, the deep honoring of parents, and the flourishing of spiritual fruit is itself a mark of the Spirit’s work. You are asking for nothing less than what God has already promised and what He delights to give: lives transformed from the inside out by the Word and the Spirit.
The very heart of that transformation is a change in the way we think. Paul urged us not to be squeezed into the mold of this age, but to be transfigured by the renewing of our minds. This is not a one-time event but a daily, even moment-by-moment, putting off of the old, hollow way of reasoning and putting on the new self, which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. The old mind, the mind of the flesh, is death because it sets itself against God and cannot submit to His law. But the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. That is what you are asking for these beloved patriarchs and matriarchs, and for yourself, that the Spirit would so reinvigorate the thought life that the mind of Christ Himself would take hold.
And what is the mind of Christ? It is the mind that did not grasp at position or prestige, but emptied itself, took the form of a servant, and became obedient even to death on a cross. It is a mind of radical humility and complete surrender to the Father’s will. We have that mind because we are in Christ. The mystery hidden for ages and now revealed is not a religious self-improvement project, but Christ in us, the hope of glory. So as you pray for these older ones to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, you are essentially asking that this indwelling Christ would increasingly think His own thoughts through them, replacing earthly, darkened understanding with the light that shines in their hearts to give the knowledge of God’s glory.
That is why we can face the deep tension Paul described: delighting in God’s law in the inward man while feeling the pull of another law in our members. The honest cry, “O wretched man that I am!” leads straight to the victory shout, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” The place of defeat, where we cease from trying to manufacture righteousness in our own strength, becomes the place of initial and ongoing victory. With the mind, we serve the law of God, even while the flesh still wars. But we are no longer condemned; we are in Christ, and the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us as we walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.
So when you ask that these men and women move from milk to solid food, that the eyes of their understanding be opened, and that the Word spread rapidly and be glorified in them, you are tapping into this exact reality. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. As they are rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith, they will not be tossed about by spiritual fads or the empty philosophies of this world. The veil that still lies over the mind is taken away in Christ. As they behold the glory of the Lord, they are being changed into that same image, from one degree of glory to another.
Do not lose heart when the process feels slow or when the battle seems intense. We carry this surpassing treasure in jars of clay, common earthen vessels, to show that the all-surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. These bodies and these unrenewed corners of our thinking are the very cracks through which the light of Christ can shine most brilliantly. Your prayer for their protection from harm, from sin, and from the evil one aligns perfectly with Jesus’ own prayer: that we would not be taken out of the world, but kept from the evil one, sanctified in the truth of His Word. That sanctification is the steady washing of water through the Word, cleansing our consciences and retraining our minds to think in line with what is true, noble, and right.
So continue to pray with confidence, knowing that your request for their spiritual, emotional, and even temporal well-being is according to God’s will. Those who abide in Christ and have His words abiding in them will bear much fruit, and their joy will be full. The command to honor father and mother carries a promise that it will go well with us in the land, a principle that touches every dimension of life. As these dear ones are strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner being, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith, they will be rooted and grounded in love. Then, together, you will be able to comprehend with all the saints the boundless dimensions of Christ’s love and be filled with all the fullness of God.
Keep standing fast in the liberty Christ has won. Thank God that He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it. Your prayer will bear fruit among those beyond your natural reach, and even your own joy will be made complete as you see the goodness of answered prayer in their lives.
The very heart of that transformation is a change in the way we think. Paul urged us not to be squeezed into the mold of this age, but to be transfigured by the renewing of our minds. This is not a one-time event but a daily, even moment-by-moment, putting off of the old, hollow way of reasoning and putting on the new self, which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. The old mind, the mind of the flesh, is death because it sets itself against God and cannot submit to His law. But the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. That is what you are asking for these beloved patriarchs and matriarchs, and for yourself, that the Spirit would so reinvigorate the thought life that the mind of Christ Himself would take hold.
And what is the mind of Christ? It is the mind that did not grasp at position or prestige, but emptied itself, took the form of a servant, and became obedient even to death on a cross. It is a mind of radical humility and complete surrender to the Father’s will. We have that mind because we are in Christ. The mystery hidden for ages and now revealed is not a religious self-improvement project, but Christ in us, the hope of glory. So as you pray for these older ones to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, you are essentially asking that this indwelling Christ would increasingly think His own thoughts through them, replacing earthly, darkened understanding with the light that shines in their hearts to give the knowledge of God’s glory.
That is why we can face the deep tension Paul described: delighting in God’s law in the inward man while feeling the pull of another law in our members. The honest cry, “O wretched man that I am!” leads straight to the victory shout, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” The place of defeat, where we cease from trying to manufacture righteousness in our own strength, becomes the place of initial and ongoing victory. With the mind, we serve the law of God, even while the flesh still wars. But we are no longer condemned; we are in Christ, and the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us as we walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.
So when you ask that these men and women move from milk to solid food, that the eyes of their understanding be opened, and that the Word spread rapidly and be glorified in them, you are tapping into this exact reality. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. As they are rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith, they will not be tossed about by spiritual fads or the empty philosophies of this world. The veil that still lies over the mind is taken away in Christ. As they behold the glory of the Lord, they are being changed into that same image, from one degree of glory to another.
Do not lose heart when the process feels slow or when the battle seems intense. We carry this surpassing treasure in jars of clay, common earthen vessels, to show that the all-surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. These bodies and these unrenewed corners of our thinking are the very cracks through which the light of Christ can shine most brilliantly. Your prayer for their protection from harm, from sin, and from the evil one aligns perfectly with Jesus’ own prayer: that we would not be taken out of the world, but kept from the evil one, sanctified in the truth of His Word. That sanctification is the steady washing of water through the Word, cleansing our consciences and retraining our minds to think in line with what is true, noble, and right.
So continue to pray with confidence, knowing that your request for their spiritual, emotional, and even temporal well-being is according to God’s will. Those who abide in Christ and have His words abiding in them will bear much fruit, and their joy will be full. The command to honor father and mother carries a promise that it will go well with us in the land, a principle that touches every dimension of life. As these dear ones are strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner being, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith, they will be rooted and grounded in love. Then, together, you will be able to comprehend with all the saints the boundless dimensions of Christ’s love and be filled with all the fullness of God.
Keep standing fast in the liberty Christ has won. Thank God that He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it. Your prayer will bear fruit among those beyond your natural reach, and even your own joy will be made complete as you see the goodness of answered prayer in their lives.
