Time for Prayer and Preparation

"None are so lost whom God is not powerful to save."

My husband and I prayed together last night, and the quote above is something he said that was so profound and declares the truth I cling to in preparation for the coming weekend. I can hardly believe that only days remain now before I travel to visit family and hopefully come face-to-face with my brother. For those of you who read my blog frequently, I am going to take this week as a break from the blogosphere. While I am away, there are some aspects of this fast-approaching trip for which you can be praying:

• "Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant..." (2 Corinthians 3:4-6) - I ultimately have nothing to fear if the Lord ordains that I am able to talk with my brother. The wisdom and power for the Gospel to be effectively communicated are not things I can conjure up from within myself. I ultimately have nothing to offer but the hope of the Gospel. Pray that I will continually be mindful of my utter weakness, and the Lord's redeeming power and grace of which I am an undeserved recipient and witness.
• My brother was very angry when he found out that I am coming down to see him. He still sees me as his kid sister whom he is trying to hide himself from, ashamed and embarrassed of who he is. Oh, that this would be an opportunity for me to show unanticipated compassion and grace toward him, speaking the truth boldly while also pointing out the reality that he has much more to be concerned with than my opinion of him.
• Pray for the brokenness in my family. Pray that the fog of guilt, resentment, wrongs committed, and mistakes made might be swept aside. My hope is that my time there will not feel idle, but truly fruitful. May the Lord give me clarity in speaking the truth to those in my family who have tended to place me on a moral pedestal, and instead may they see Christ's redemptive and transforming work.