Father God, I come before You right now lifting up my brother Matt. Lord, Your Word says to taste and see that You are good, and that the man who trusts in You is blessed. I anchor this week's prayer there, and this week I get to anchor it in thanksgiving, because Matt and Deb have been tasting Your goodness on the far side of grief.
Thank You, Father. Thank You that they are doing better. Thank You that Deb's mom is standing strong in her faith through her loss. Thank You for the time Matt and Deb spent with family and friends in Portland. Thank You for London, for the quality time together that a busy season rarely allows. And Lord, thank You for Malik. A first grandson. New life in a family that recently walked through a death. That is exactly how You work, and I want to say so out loud.
Lord, keep healing them. Grief does not finish on a schedule, and there will still be days when Deb's dad is missed sharply. Meet them on those days. Let the sadness be met with the settled truth that he is with You, that he is whole, and that this goodbye is not permanent. Keep holding Deb's mom in her widowhood. Keep her faith strong.
Father, I thank You for the man Matt is. He poured himself out for his family through the hardest stretch and kept pointing everyone to You. Refill him now. Let this season of family and travel and a new grandson be Your way of pouring back into a man who gives so freely. Do not let him rush past the good. Let him receive it.
Bless his marriage to Deb. Let their home stay a sanctuary of love, laughter, and Your presence. Bless Malik, Lord. Bless his parents. Let this little boy grow up knowing he was prayed over by men who love his grandfather.
And Father, I rebuke every attack of the enemy on Matt and his family in this season. Satan, you have no authority here. You do not get to use lingering grief to steal the joy God has given them. You do not get to convince Matt that a good season is just the calm before the next storm. You do not get to touch this family's peace. We see your schemes, and we shut the door on every one of them in the name of Jesus.
Father, build a wall of protection around Matt's mind, his marriage, his home, his children, and his grandson. Send Your angels ahead of him into every room he walks into this week. Let him feel Your nearness so clearly that the enemy's voice loses every inch of ground it tried to take.
Refill what is empty, Lord. Give Matt moments of joy this week that come out of nowhere, just to remind him that You see him, You delight in him, and You are fighting for him.
I thank You for Matt. I thank You that You are good in the valley and good on the mountain, and that You have shown him both.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Taste and see that the Lord is good, brother. You have been tasting it. Portland. London. A grandson named Malik. Deb's mom standing strong. A family that is doing better. Months ago, the prayer over you was about grief and exhaustion. This week it is about gratitude, and that is not because the grief vanished. It is because God is good on both sides of it.
Here is what I want you to do with a good season. Receive it. Men like you are wired to pour out, and sometimes you forget that God also wants to pour in. This is Him pouring in. Do not rush past it looking for the next thing to carry.
And when the hard days about Deb's dad still come, and they will, let them come. Missing him is not a lack of faith. It is love. He is with the Lord, and he is whole. That truth does not erase the ache. It just gives the ache somewhere to rest.
Your prayer request was sent directly to me. I'm praying with you. You don't have to carry this one alone.