In multiple places in Scripture, we are admonished to persevere despite difficulties. In the story of Christ and the Syrophoenician woman, for example, recounted in Matthew 15: 21-28 and Mark 7:24-30, this non-Jewish woman asks Our Lord for a healing for her daughter. Our Lord seemed to at first ignore her, and the Apostles asked Our Lord to send her away. When she persisted, Christ seemed to respond harshly: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” (Matthew 15:26) But the woman replied without seeming to take offense or missing a beat: “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” (Matthew 21:27)
Her persistence won His admiration and a cure for her daughter: “O, woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” ((Matthew 21:28)
What a lesson for us. Never give up!
With this in mind, let us turn to our families and their many needs. I know that everyone reading this has problems of some sort in their families: illness, estrangement, unemployment, lack of faith, bad behavior and much more. But remember that Jesus loves your family, and is ready to extend to each member His love, mercy and blessing.
But how do we transform our families to embrace the love, mercy and blessing of Jesus? Let me offer seven steps to help you achieve this end.
- Consecrate your family to the love and mercy to Jesus. Picture every member of your family individually and offer them up as “sweet incense” onto the Lord! In this way, we plead to God’s mercy.
Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
- Pray for your family’s salvation. One of the most important Scriptures to “stand on” and believe is Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household!”
Think about this verse. A family can all be saved through the prayers of the parents. Why? Because of the indescribable love and mercy of God and His desire that all be saved.
Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4 ).
As much as we want to have things go perfectly in this life, the most important thing is to have your family and loved ones with the Lord for all of eternity in heaven. Trust in the mercy and love of Jesus that He wants that much more than we do. Become even greater prayer warriors to obtain this eternal objective for your family!
For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8: 38-39 ).
- Pray for an increase of faith to obtain mercy and blessings for your family. When we pray in faith, it is important that we believe that God has heard us and will provide mercy for the family and individual members. Reflect on this critical Scripture,
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
It is faith that moves mountains!
For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you (Matthew 17:20).
We must believe and we will succeed!
Mark 11:24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24).
We see this clearly in 1 John 5: 14,
And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
Let us pray,
Heavenly Father, increase our faith and that of our loved ones as we stand in the gap for our loved ones, to have the faith of a mustard seed. Thank you for your mercy and for giving us a hundredfold increase of faith, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
- Use praise and thanksgiving to transform your family. In Psalm 22 we discover that God inherits the praises of His people. Why? We see the answer in Isaiah 43:21, “the people whom I informed for myself so that they might declare my praise.” How do we do this? Hebrews 13:15, “Through him then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.”
It is critical that we thank God for His love and mercy and praise Him for what He is doing in our lives! When our attitude changes, God supercharges blessings to us. When we praise God for our family, we are saying we trust God and His mercy! We realize that we are all on a journey and that God, through His mercy, will watch over us and our family.
Please pray this prayer, “Heavenly Father, we thank and praise you for my spouse, my children, my parents, and all the people in my life that I love. Thank you for your love and mercy. Teach me to show them your love and mercy in Jesus’s name amen.”
- Lord, help me to see my family through your eyes. Read this Scripture out loud and insert every family member’s name in the verses.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him (Ephesians 1: 3-4 ).
Be an encourager! Build up and not tear down. Be merciful to your family. Say these words often and sincerely, “I love you! I believe in you!”
Say this prayer;
Heavenly Father, thank you for your mercy! I praise you for my family. I thank you for giving them every spiritual blessings in the heavens. I thank you for making them blameless. Thank you for giving me the gift of encouragement in Jesus’s name amen.
- Pray for your family without ceasing.
Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18).
Pray through the power of the Holy Spirit!
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8: 26-27).
Pray a family rosary. Pray with the Blessed Mother. Pray in the Spirit.
- Pray for other families. Make a list of people and families for whom to pray and intercede. You will never regret it! You will be blessed for praying and showing mercy to families. Show mercy by praying for family and friends in Purgatory.
God is healing your family through His neverending love and mercy!
