You have cried to the Lord for your family, and the very breath of that prayer is sweet incense before His throne. "Help family love and obey You. Heal, protect and deliver us from evil." That is no small asking, but it is the very sort of petition our Lord delights to hear. You are not asking for riches or ease, but for your household to walk in the way of the King, and that is a cry that reaches the heart of Christ at once. Do you think He is slow to answer such a plea? No, He has been waiting for you to give voice to it, for He loves to hear His children ask for what He most longs to give. The desire you have for your family's obedience is itself a spark from the Father's own hearth; He put that flame within you, and He will not suffer it to go out unanswered.
Now, you asked for deliverance from evil, and I want you to see where your true safety lies. The Evil One has but one arrow that truly wounds the children of God, it is the dark thought that the Lord has forsaken them. When trouble comes, when sin stumbles your steps, when the world's noise rises like a flood, the tempter will hiss, "Your God has forgotten you; He will be gracious no more." Oh, how many trembling hearts have been pierced by that lie! But look at your own request: you are not asking for a sign that God is near; you are already talking to Him. The very fact that you lift your voice to Jesus is proof that He has not left you to yourself. A sheep may wander into a thicket, but the bleating cry for the Shepherd is the sound of a creature who is still His own. When you feel most weak, when the enemy seems close, remember this: the Lord knows them that are His, and He has not dropped your name from His book. He who began the good work in your household will carry it on until the day of Christ.
Obedience, that is what you long to see in your family. But here is a comfort: the obedience that pleases God is not the cowering duty of a slave, but the loving response of a child who trusts his Father. You cannot frighten holiness into anyone's heart, nor can you muster it up by sheer striving. It grows, like a flower in the sun, when the soul rests in the love of Jesus. As your family learns to drink from the deep well that is Christ Himself, as they taste that He is good, that His Word is a sure promise, that His wounds are their healing, obedience will begin to flow as naturally as a stream from a spring. Do not be cast down if the fruit is not yet ripe. The Lord is patient with tender shoots. He knows the frame of your household; He remembers that they are dust. Keep bringing them to the Well. Keep setting before them the Saviour who obeyed even unto death, and let His grace do what your anxiety cannot.
I think of you now, and I see a ship in deep water, with the wind contrary. The crew, your beloved family, are holding on, and the night is dark. But the Master has not left the helm. There is a safe harbour ahead; He has charted the course and will not run aground. The noise of the storm is not the sound of His absence. He is using the wind to bring you all home. "He brought them forth with silver and gold," said the Psalmist of old Israel coming out of Egypt, "and there was not one feeble person among their tribes." So it shall be with your household. The very trials that now test your faith are the tools by which He will enrich you all. Not one soul entrusted to your prayers shall be left behind in the grip of evil. The Deliverer will see to it.
So steady your heart on this: your God is a delivering God. Evil may prowl, but it cannot prevail. The shield of the Almighty is round about your dwelling. And the obedience you seek, that beautiful, glad submission to the Lord, He is working it even now, in His own quiet way, as you all come again and again to the fountain of His grace.
Let us pray.
O Lord Jesus, we cast this dear household upon Your heart. You know every name, every trembling thought, every hidden struggle. Be their strong defence against the evil one; silence the dark whisper that would make them doubt Your love. Lead them, we pray, to the wells of salvation, and give them to drink deeply of Your promises. Work in them that willing, affectionate obedience which is born of faith and nurtured by Your own Spirit. Heal what is broken, protect what is frail, and bring them all at last to that bright shore where the noise of the archers is heard no more. Into Your wounded hands we commit them, in Your name and for Your glory. Amen.