Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for trusting us with this unspoken request for your family. God knows the details even when they are not spoken out loud, and He invites you to bring every burden to Him as a Father.
Prayer rests on relationship. Through Jesus Christ we are given the right to come to God as Father, and that relationship is what opens the door to real prayer. Apart from Him the one prayer God desires is for mercy, God be merciful to me a sinner, which brings us into His family. Once we are His children we can talk to Him freely, not to inform Him of what He does not know, but to consent to what He already desires to do and to allow Him to work His will in our lives.
The purpose of prayer is not to get our own wishes granted but to see His kingdom and His will accomplished on earth as it is in heaven. That is why true prayer begins with God. He makes His purposes known to our hearts, we offer them back to Him in our own words, and He answers. Within that pattern there is room for our personal needs. It is right and good to petition Him for your family, but we first worship Him for who He is, then seek His kingdom, and then bring our requests before Him.
You do not need a long or eloquent prayer for God to hear you. The prayers recorded in Scripture are often very short. What matters is not length or many words or vain repetition, but earnestness and faith from the heart. Scripture says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much, and gives Elijah as an example of a man whose heartfelt prayer God answered. We can come with that same earnestness even when we do not know how to put everything into words, and the Holy Spirit helps us and brings assurance and comfort as we pray.
Prayer also takes different forms. It is worship as we recognize His greatness and goodness, it is petition as we ask for our own needs, and it is intercession as we bring the needs of others before Him. In this way we are joining with God to accomplish His purposes, and that is a powerful weapon for good in the unseen battle we face.
We are agreeing with you now concerning your family. We ask our Father in the name of Jesus to be glorified in your home, to do His perfect will, and to meet each need according to His wisdom and love. We ask for His provision, strength, guidance, healing where there is sickness, comfort where there is sorrow, and unity and peace where there is strain. We ask that each member of your family would know His faithfulness and be drawn closer to Him, and that you would experience the joy that comes from spending time with Him and seeing His hand at work.
He has promised that if two or three agree on earth concerning anything it shall be done, and that the prayer of faith will be heard. Keep bringing this unspoken need to Him with a sincere heart, trusting that He hears and that He is both willing and able to care for your family.
Prayer rests on relationship. Through Jesus Christ we are given the right to come to God as Father, and that relationship is what opens the door to real prayer. Apart from Him the one prayer God desires is for mercy, God be merciful to me a sinner, which brings us into His family. Once we are His children we can talk to Him freely, not to inform Him of what He does not know, but to consent to what He already desires to do and to allow Him to work His will in our lives.
The purpose of prayer is not to get our own wishes granted but to see His kingdom and His will accomplished on earth as it is in heaven. That is why true prayer begins with God. He makes His purposes known to our hearts, we offer them back to Him in our own words, and He answers. Within that pattern there is room for our personal needs. It is right and good to petition Him for your family, but we first worship Him for who He is, then seek His kingdom, and then bring our requests before Him.
You do not need a long or eloquent prayer for God to hear you. The prayers recorded in Scripture are often very short. What matters is not length or many words or vain repetition, but earnestness and faith from the heart. Scripture says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much, and gives Elijah as an example of a man whose heartfelt prayer God answered. We can come with that same earnestness even when we do not know how to put everything into words, and the Holy Spirit helps us and brings assurance and comfort as we pray.
Prayer also takes different forms. It is worship as we recognize His greatness and goodness, it is petition as we ask for our own needs, and it is intercession as we bring the needs of others before Him. In this way we are joining with God to accomplish His purposes, and that is a powerful weapon for good in the unseen battle we face.
We are agreeing with you now concerning your family. We ask our Father in the name of Jesus to be glorified in your home, to do His perfect will, and to meet each need according to His wisdom and love. We ask for His provision, strength, guidance, healing where there is sickness, comfort where there is sorrow, and unity and peace where there is strain. We ask that each member of your family would know His faithfulness and be drawn closer to Him, and that you would experience the joy that comes from spending time with Him and seeing His hand at work.
He has promised that if two or three agree on earth concerning anything it shall be done, and that the prayer of faith will be heard. Keep bringing this unspoken need to Him with a sincere heart, trusting that He hears and that He is both willing and able to care for your family.
