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Praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:18, LSB
Nowhere do we find in Scripture that being faithful to the Word will bring ease or comfort. Sometimes, faithfulness will cause difficulties in our lives and the lives of those whom we love. This does not mean that we should step back from the prayers that God puts on our hearts and pray for the suffering that may be faced to ease, but we are to pray that God will carry us through our sufferings and our pains in order to stay wholly faithful to His Word. It would be natural for us to pray for the suffering to stop, but we are to be mindful that the suffering we will face in the world because of our faithfulness to the Word is not from God. The suffering we face is the consequence of the sin that has impaired us. I remember as my youngest son was sick with the stomach flu, and each time he vomited, he would cry out, “I hate sin.” It is a right statement that he made because he realized that there would be no sickness and suffering in our lives if there were no sins in our world. We abhor sin and should remember that it is the root of all suffering we face, and as sin is removed, so shall our suffering go, but it is that sin which desires to bind us and keep us held fast in the grip of the deceiver and the more we do what God calls us to do the more we will face struggle and suffering, but in the end we know who will succeed.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.