Silas
Beloved of All
Your honesty in sharing this burden is received with care and with prayer. Feeling distant from God while also knowing He has carried you and your family does not mean He has moved away. His nearness does not rest on the strength of your quiet times, it rests on what He has already done for you.
The record God has given is clear and kind. He has provided forgiveness through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for you. That blood continually cleanses from all sin. God has given eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son does not have life. Jesus Himself said the one who has the Son has everlasting life. When you have trusted in Jesus, you are in Him who is true, and you have that true and eternal life. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You are not under a law that condemns you when you fail to read or pray as you wish you had. You have been brought near through the blood of Christ, and you now have bold and confident access to God through faith in Him. He is the one mediator between God and people.
God has shown His love not by your love for Him, but by His love for you in sending His Son to be the payment for sins. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That cross is the constant declaration of how much He loves you. Because of that love, you can rest even in uncomfortable and anxious places, trusting that He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. As you experience His faithfulness in each worry, your hope is strengthened.
The new life you have in Christ is not simply trying harder to keep a rule. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and all has become new. God writes His law on the heart and directs desires from within. The life you now live, you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death. Walking in the Spirit is not measured only by minutes spent reading, but by a daily turning to Jesus in faith, looking to Him, yielding your body as an instrument for His purposes, and letting His love flow out in love for God and for others.
Prayer itself God has made simple and beautiful. When you do not know how to pray, the Spirit helps you to pray according to the will of God. He knows what is happening in your life and in the lives of those you love, and He is working His good purpose even there. My prayer for you is that you would be strengthened with power by His Spirit in your inner being, that you would grow in knowledge and understanding of His love and grace, and that you would be filled with His fullness so that there is less room for worry and more room for His peace.
For your son as he leaves home for university, I pray that the Lord will guard him and guide him. May he walk in the light and life of Christ, choose friends who will encourage faith, and have discernment to turn from what is harmful. May he know that fellowship with the Father and with the Son is with him wherever he goes.
For your daughter, I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead her each day and give her peace and joy in the Lord. When she considers a life partner, may she be led to seek the Lord's will above all, and if marriage is His path for her, may it be according to His design, a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, centered on Christ, marked by faith and love.
For your whole family, I pray that you would be drawn closer together in Christ. That old divisions would be healed by forgiveness, that love for one another would show your love for God, and that your home would know the unity that comes from being one in Him.
Father, thank You for Your love shown at the cross and for the gift of eternal life in Your Son. Thank You that Your blood cleanses continually and that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. Fill this dear one with strength in the inner man by Your Spirit. Teach them to rest in Your good purpose, to walk by faith in Jesus, and to know Your nearness. Lead their son and daughter by Your Spirit, and draw this family together in fellowship with You and with each other. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
The record God has given is clear and kind. He has provided forgiveness through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for you. That blood continually cleanses from all sin. God has given eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son does not have life. Jesus Himself said the one who has the Son has everlasting life. When you have trusted in Jesus, you are in Him who is true, and you have that true and eternal life. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You are not under a law that condemns you when you fail to read or pray as you wish you had. You have been brought near through the blood of Christ, and you now have bold and confident access to God through faith in Him. He is the one mediator between God and people.
God has shown His love not by your love for Him, but by His love for you in sending His Son to be the payment for sins. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That cross is the constant declaration of how much He loves you. Because of that love, you can rest even in uncomfortable and anxious places, trusting that He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. As you experience His faithfulness in each worry, your hope is strengthened.
The new life you have in Christ is not simply trying harder to keep a rule. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and all has become new. God writes His law on the heart and directs desires from within. The life you now live, you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death. Walking in the Spirit is not measured only by minutes spent reading, but by a daily turning to Jesus in faith, looking to Him, yielding your body as an instrument for His purposes, and letting His love flow out in love for God and for others.
Prayer itself God has made simple and beautiful. When you do not know how to pray, the Spirit helps you to pray according to the will of God. He knows what is happening in your life and in the lives of those you love, and He is working His good purpose even there. My prayer for you is that you would be strengthened with power by His Spirit in your inner being, that you would grow in knowledge and understanding of His love and grace, and that you would be filled with His fullness so that there is less room for worry and more room for His peace.
For your son as he leaves home for university, I pray that the Lord will guard him and guide him. May he walk in the light and life of Christ, choose friends who will encourage faith, and have discernment to turn from what is harmful. May he know that fellowship with the Father and with the Son is with him wherever he goes.
For your daughter, I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead her each day and give her peace and joy in the Lord. When she considers a life partner, may she be led to seek the Lord's will above all, and if marriage is His path for her, may it be according to His design, a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, centered on Christ, marked by faith and love.
For your whole family, I pray that you would be drawn closer together in Christ. That old divisions would be healed by forgiveness, that love for one another would show your love for God, and that your home would know the unity that comes from being one in Him.
Father, thank You for Your love shown at the cross and for the gift of eternal life in Your Son. Thank You that Your blood cleanses continually and that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. Fill this dear one with strength in the inner man by Your Spirit. Teach them to rest in Your good purpose, to walk by faith in Jesus, and to know Your nearness. Lead their son and daughter by Your Spirit, and draw this family together in fellowship with You and with each other. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
