Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for bringing these five young men before the Lord in prayer. It is a beautiful burden to carry them to the throne of grace and to ask God to cause them to grow.
My prayer joins yours that they would grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ as 2 Peter 3:18 says, and that they would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, walking worthy of the Lord and strengthened with His power according to Colossians 1:9 to 12. Spiritual growth is not automatic. It comes as they learn to hunger for the pure milk of the Word as 1 Peter 2:2 describes, and as God opens the eyes of their understanding to know Him better as Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:17 to 20.
You asked for wisdom for them, and Scripture encourages us that God gives wisdom freely to all who ask Him, without scolding or reproach, as James 1:5 promises. Wisdom is the most important thing they can seek. It is better than rubies and nothing we desire can compare to it. Knowledge gives facts, but wisdom is the proper use of knowledge in daily life. True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and it is found in Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The wisdom that comes from above is very different from the wisdom of this world. Worldly wisdom is earthly and leads to envy and strife, and God has shown it to be foolish. The wisdom from above leads to purity and peace and can be seen in a life that bears the fruit of the Spirit. Pray that these young men will love wisdom, keep her, and let her preserve their path, and that they will learn to choose what is excellent, abounding in love with knowledge and discernment as Philippians 1:9 and 10 says, with love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith as 1 Timothy 1:5 teaches, and with wholehearted love for God and for others as Jesus commanded in Mark 12:30 and 31.
You also prayed for their protection from temptation, and that is so needed. Temptation itself is common to everyone and is not sin. Even Jesus was tempted. Sin comes when desire is allowed to conceive and we give in. Every temptation presents a choice whether to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. The enemy often suggests that we can have immediate fulfillment if we will just step off God's path for a moment, but that path never satisfies. God uses the testing of faith to develop patience in us, teaching us to wait upon Him. So I pray with you as Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one, according to Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4, and as He prayed in John 17:15 that the Father would keep them from the evil one. May they be kept from sin and from the pride that puffs up, which 1 Corinthians 8:1 warns about, and may they walk in truth with no deceit found in them.
I join you in praying for their growth in prayer as the disciples asked in Luke 11:1, for a life of worship and faithful witness as 2 Timothy 2:1 to 3 encourages, for thankfulness in all things and peace that guards their hearts as 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to 18 and Philippians 4:6 and 7 describe, and for the Lord's blessing and keeping over them as Aaron's blessing in Numbers 6:22 to 27 declares. I also bring before the Lord your requests for healing and wholeness, remembering that He forgives and heals and redeems as Psalm 103:2 to 5 says, and that by His wounds we are healed as Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 proclaim.
We can thank God in advance with confidence, believing that what we ask according to His will in the name of Jesus He hears, as Mark 11:23 and 24 teaches. May the Lord establish these young men, cause them to be strong in grace, rooted in the Word, growing in prayer, wise in choices, pure in love, and kept from the snares of the enemy, all for His glory. In Jesus' name, amen.
My prayer joins yours that they would grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ as 2 Peter 3:18 says, and that they would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, walking worthy of the Lord and strengthened with His power according to Colossians 1:9 to 12. Spiritual growth is not automatic. It comes as they learn to hunger for the pure milk of the Word as 1 Peter 2:2 describes, and as God opens the eyes of their understanding to know Him better as Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:17 to 20.
You asked for wisdom for them, and Scripture encourages us that God gives wisdom freely to all who ask Him, without scolding or reproach, as James 1:5 promises. Wisdom is the most important thing they can seek. It is better than rubies and nothing we desire can compare to it. Knowledge gives facts, but wisdom is the proper use of knowledge in daily life. True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and it is found in Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The wisdom that comes from above is very different from the wisdom of this world. Worldly wisdom is earthly and leads to envy and strife, and God has shown it to be foolish. The wisdom from above leads to purity and peace and can be seen in a life that bears the fruit of the Spirit. Pray that these young men will love wisdom, keep her, and let her preserve their path, and that they will learn to choose what is excellent, abounding in love with knowledge and discernment as Philippians 1:9 and 10 says, with love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith as 1 Timothy 1:5 teaches, and with wholehearted love for God and for others as Jesus commanded in Mark 12:30 and 31.
You also prayed for their protection from temptation, and that is so needed. Temptation itself is common to everyone and is not sin. Even Jesus was tempted. Sin comes when desire is allowed to conceive and we give in. Every temptation presents a choice whether to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. The enemy often suggests that we can have immediate fulfillment if we will just step off God's path for a moment, but that path never satisfies. God uses the testing of faith to develop patience in us, teaching us to wait upon Him. So I pray with you as Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one, according to Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4, and as He prayed in John 17:15 that the Father would keep them from the evil one. May they be kept from sin and from the pride that puffs up, which 1 Corinthians 8:1 warns about, and may they walk in truth with no deceit found in them.
I join you in praying for their growth in prayer as the disciples asked in Luke 11:1, for a life of worship and faithful witness as 2 Timothy 2:1 to 3 encourages, for thankfulness in all things and peace that guards their hearts as 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to 18 and Philippians 4:6 and 7 describe, and for the Lord's blessing and keeping over them as Aaron's blessing in Numbers 6:22 to 27 declares. I also bring before the Lord your requests for healing and wholeness, remembering that He forgives and heals and redeems as Psalm 103:2 to 5 says, and that by His wounds we are healed as Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 proclaim.
We can thank God in advance with confidence, believing that what we ask according to His will in the name of Jesus He hears, as Mark 11:23 and 24 teaches. May the Lord establish these young men, cause them to be strong in grace, rooted in the Word, growing in prayer, wise in choices, pure in love, and kept from the snares of the enemy, all for His glory. In Jesus' name, amen.
