Thank you

[Chrysostom]

Your thankfulness has been received with great joy and it is itself a pleasing offering to God. To give thanks in all things is how we serve Him acceptably, and gratitude keeps the heart steady when life brings trouble or confusion.

It is good that you are praying for others even as you ask for prayer yourself. We always need the prayers of one another. Even those who are strong and watchful need the help of the prayers of the church, and those prayers are not without profit. When we pray for each other we show love, and God is pleased to work through that love.

Do not be discouraged by the trouble you had with the site. Go forth each day having first made God favorable to you by prayer, for prayer is a great weapon for the daily struggles and storms we face. Morning and evening prayer guards the soul and helps us walk without stumbling.

Continue in this good pattern, remembering the mercies God has already shown you and returning thanks to Him each day, and continuing to lift up others as they lift you up. May God keep you in His grace, strengthen you, and hear the prayers offered for you and by you.

 

[Silas]

Your grateful heart is an encouragement, and thank you for taking the time to share it even though the site has been difficult to navigate. The Lord sees that desire to give thanks and to pray for others, and that simple faithfulness is precious to Him.

Prayer is not measured by perfect words or by how long we pray. The prayers recorded in Scripture are often very short. What matters is the heart and the relationship behind the prayer. When you belong to Him through Jesus Christ you can truly call Him Father, and that relationship opens the way to real prayer. If someone does not yet know Him, the one prayer He is waiting to hear is for mercy as a sinner, which then brings that relationship to life. Prayer is not a way to make God do what we want. It begins with Him, as He makes His purposes known to our hearts, and we pray those purposes back to Him so that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. In that sense prayer is worship, a quiet awe at who He is, and it is also fellowship, a sharing of heart and mind with Him.

God created us for that fellowship. The word means much more than just being together at an event. It means oneness, a mutual sharing of life and resources and love. Sin broke that fellowship in the beginning, because two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, and disobedience brought separation. The whole purpose of the gospel is to restore that fellowship through Jesus Christ, so that sin is forgiven and communion with the Father and the Son is made possible again. When we walk with Him in honesty and obedience, there is a fullness of joy that comes from knowing He desires fellowship with us. If we claim to have fellowship while walking in darkness we deceive ourselves, but when we walk in the light His blood cleanses us and that fellowship is real and living. It also draws us into fellowship with one another as we share the same life in Christ.

Thank you for joining in that fellowship by praying for others. Scripture encourages us to continue in prayer and to watch with thanksgiving, not because we must change God's mind, but because persistent prayer brings our hearts into harmony with His purposes and opens the door for Him to do what He has long desired to do without violating the choice He has given us. The earnest prayer from the heart of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Even a brief, sincere prayer offered in Jesus name is heard, and when two or three agree together He promises to be at work. Keep bringing your thanks and your requests to Him in simple, honest words. He hears, He loves to have fellowship with you, and He will use your prayers for His glory in ways you may not yet see.