Request for prayer support 🙏

[Chrysostom]

You have asked for prayer concerning your business and health, and it is good to seek God's blessing and protection. Yet I must also ask: do you not see how your words are entangled with the very things that so often choke the seed of the Gospel? You speak of glory for God, but the bulk of your request is consumed by inventories, invoices, cargo disputes, and the fear of tax officials and competition. Remember that our Lord said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Are you seeking these earthly additions more ardently than the kingdom itself?

Consider what I have often preached: the flesh profits nothing if we hear carnally. To pray “for God's glory” while the heart is fixed on profit and the stomach churns over lost shipments is to walk very close to that carnal hearing. It is like the man who hears the sermon and is awed, but as soon as he departs, plunges into unsuited business and the flame of zeal is quenched. Where is your awe when you ask for invoices to be made as high as possible for your financial advantage? Is that a thing to lay so earnestly before the Lord as part of your ministry to His heart? Do not mistake worldly ventures for the work of the Kingdom simply because you append the Holy Name to them.

If this business was truly given by God, then prove it by your freedom from anxiety and by your contentment in gain or loss. Do not seek signs and special guidance to outmaneuver competitors or evade officials, but seek a pure heart that can use this world as not abusing it. The Spirit blows where He wills, beyond your control, yet you try to direct His power toward invoices and cosmetic boxes. Instead, pray that you may be found faithful in little, that you may bear dishonesty with patience, and that your first concern be for your soul and the souls of others, not for the condition of your teeth or the bumps on your leg, though we do pray for healing, we must not let such cares surpass the weightier matters.

Lay down this clamor for protection from every unkind person and spirit. If you are reviled, blessed are you. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, for the testing of your faith produces patience. Instead of asking God to rebuke every adversary and thwart every intention, ask Him to give you strength to love your enemies and to do good to those who despitefully use you. That will truly be for His glory, and it will be something far greater than a successful shipment. Go now, and weigh your requests on the scales of the sanctuary, and let your prayer be rather for a humble and contrite spirit, which He will not despise.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer reveals a heart that earnestly desires to honor the Lord in every area of life. That is a precious thing. You are asking for wisdom, guidance, and blessing so that your work and your very being might bring glory to God. This longing to be useful for His kingdom and to have your life be a joy to His heart is exactly where we should be. Rest assured, these are prayers God delights to answer because they align with His own purposes.

The central thread running through everything you’ve lifted up is a plea for wisdom. You’ve asked for it in your ministries, in your business decisions, in dealing with difficult suppliers and customers, and in navigating confusing and unjust situations with your shipment. This is the principal thing to seek. Scripture personifies wisdom as calling out, inviting us to come and partake of what she offers; and we are told that in Jesus Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So, when you cry out for wisdom, you are ultimately seeking the mind and direction of Christ Himself.

Remember that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. This isn’t a terrified fear, but a profound reverence and submission that hates evil and chooses God’s way. You’ve prayed to act entirely according to God’s will. That is the path of true wisdom. There is a wisdom that seems right to the world, a shrewdness that often relies on cunning or cutting corners. But God has made the wisdom of this world foolish. It leads nowhere in the end. The wisdom from above, however, is first pure, then peaceable. It produces a harvest of righteousness. In your business, this will look like the diligence, faithfulness, and honesty you are praying for. False balances are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. A reputation for integrity, even when it seems costly, is a powerful testimony that God can use for His glory far more than a quick profit gained through compromise.

You’ve asked for protection from deceptive customers, unfair competition, and even spiritual opposition. The man who gains wisdom is promised that she will preserve and keep him. As you walk in the fear of the Lord and seek His counsel, He becomes your defense. That doesn’t mean problems won’t come, clearly, you are facing them right now with the courier company and the shipment, but it means you won’t face them alone or without a sure guide. Wisdom will teach you how to answer and how to act. Solomon didn’t ask for wealth or the life of his enemies; he asked for an understanding heart to govern rightly. And God gave him not only what he requested but also what he didn’t ask for, riches and honor. Seek first His wisdom in all these tangled business dealings, and trust Him to add what is needed.

Regarding the new business idea you believe God has given you, hold it before Him with open hands. The wisdom that comes from God will confirm His leading, often through a growing sense of peace, clear circumstances, and counsel from mature believers. If it is truly from Him, He will not only confirm it but empower it for His glory. For the practical chaos with the supplier and the legal documents, ask God for that witty invention that wisdom speaks of, a creative and righteous solution that turns what others meant for harm into a testimony of His faithfulness.

Finally, your need for physical healing is not separate from this. Your body is the instrument through which you serve God’s kingdom. I stand with you in prayer for complete and final healing in your teeth, eyes, leg, and every part of your gastrointestinal tract. A sound body supports a sound pursuit of God’s purposes.

Let your whole life, from the marketplace to your private prayer closet, be a pursuit of this wisdom that is embodied in Christ. Keep asking. Keep seeking. He will pour out His Spirit of wisdom upon you, and your life will bear the fruit of His guidance. You are not forgotten in this trial, and God’s mercy is being woven through every detail. We are praying with you, expecting Him to move mightily for His own name’s sake.