Pray Network Forum

I was talking with some friends today about medical issues. I told them I had heard people say they didn't want any extreme measures if they were critically ill. But I said, “I want extreme measures.” Life is precious. And it is good even if I am in pain or debilitated.

Immediately one of them gave the common answer that I was reacting against in the first place.

“Well,” he said, “you don't want to live if you don't have quality of life.”

I did not answer him, but I have been thinking about what gives quality of life. I don't believe it is comfort or freedom from pain.

I believe quality of life has to be related to purpose. As writers you know something about purpose. But in fact, any believer in Jesus Christ should be aware of divine purpose. If you are still alive God has a purpose for you on this Earth. God has a purpose for you even beyond this life. And knowing hope beyond this life ought to make us want to fulfill every purpose God has for us until we step into eternity.

If you do not know God's purpose for your life, you need to seek earnestly to learn what He is doing around you. Even if you don't know all that God wants to do through you, you can begin by obeying Him in small things that you know to do.

Among other things, this will shape your prayer life. I have frustrated some loved ones by telling them, “Every time I have prayed for God to heal me, I have sensed Him reminding me that it is appointed unto man once to die. In fact, I have seen a kind of healing. I am still alive years longer than my doctors thought I would be. But I still have cancer.

Earlier one of the friends I was talking to said, possibly in jest, that he wouldn't want to live if he couldn't play golf. Particularly as a writer I know I can still enjoy things I can no longer participate in. This really relates to being an intellectual. I don't think being an intellectual necessarily means you are smart. I have explained it like this for years. I would rather hear or tell a story about a boy hitting a homerun than to hit a homer myself. I have enjoyed fly fishing for a long time. I am afraid I can longer negotiate the rough stream banks. But I can still enjoy fishing in my memories and imagination.

So how do I pray for my cancer, and my life for that matter? I pray what David prayed in Psalm 138. “Lord, fulfill your purpose for me.” If God allows me to live when I can no longer write, then I hope I can still pray for people around me. And I pray that He will be glorified in me however He brings that about.

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When I was a young woman, I had many opportunities to visit my widowed grandmother while I attended college in her town. As she grieved my grandfather’s death, she reflected her trust in God to care for her and showed how God sustained her each day, by claiming the promise Jesus gave His disciples after His resurrection. 

“Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

Matthew 28:20 (KJV).

My grandmother’s faith that God would always be there for her made a significant impact on my life. Her testimony influenced me to incorporate that verse into my daily experiences. Since those early adult years, whenever life has been painful, disappointing, or downright discouraging, I have claimed that same scripture verse. My prayer is that I will have opportunities to reflect my life experiences of trusting God during my difficult times to my children and grandchildren.

In Proverbs 27:19 we read, “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the person.” However, we may ask what does that look like. When we meditate on God’s Word and grow in our relationship with God, we will reflect God’s glory because we are being transformed into His image. We glorify God when we reveal or manifest his character by the way we live by demonstrating God’s love to those around us.   

 Grandparents, who love the Lord, have a responsibility to reflect a godly lifestyle to our grandchildren. We must ask ourselves, is my walk with the Lord in the lives of my grandchildren. 

My grandmother made a lasting impression on my life because she reflected her faith in God’s provision to sustain her during her time of grieving. When we reflect God’s love to our grandchildren, and they are walking with the Lord, our love for God will keep on living through our grandchildren.

Questions to ask ourselves:

• What does the reflection of my life look like to my grandchildren?
• Do I want my grandchildren to imitate my spiritual life?
• Will they want my Jesus?

Pray your love for God will keep on living through your grandchildren, even after you are deceased. 

Read the ebook “Reflecting on my Grandparenting Journey” to learn more about my grandparenting journey go to the Free Resources on this website.

http://www.grandparentingwithapurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reflecting-on-Grandparenting-Journey-E-Book.pdf

 Prayer

Lord, forgive me when I have not taken the time to be in Your Word

and model the life of a godly grandparent.

Help to take the time to read and meditate on Your Word every day

So I will reflect your face in the heart of my grandchildren,

Even after I have passed on to be with you.

In Jesus name.

What is the result of prayer? Does it make the pray-er feel better? Yes, but it does more than that. Does it fulfill biblical instructions? Yes, but it does more than that. Does it follow the model of Jesus? Yes, but it does more than that. Prayer opens heaven. Jesus lived with an open heaven. At His baptism, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened” (Luke 3:21). In the midst of His ministry, Jesus encountered one who was deaf, and seeking power from heaven, the Scripture records, “Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’” (Mark 7:34). Neither was this experience limited to Jesus. An open heaven was experienced by Stephen (Acts 7:54-55), Paul (Acts 9:5), Peter (Acts 10), and John (Revelation 4:1-2). When heaven opens, God does what God alone can do. Have you ever prayed for a miracle? For revival? For renewal? How about for a mighty spiritual movement? These are things we can’t provide on our own. But God can. When heaven opens, we have access to that which only God can provide, To “pray without ceasing,” as instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, allows us to live under an open heaven. Need supernatural strength? Need godly wisdom? Need divine favor? Pray till heaven opens.

How do you measure the church? Do you measure it by the beauty and size of the building? Do you measure it by the number of programs and activities? Do you measure it by the number of people who attend or the size of the offerings gathered?

In Revelation 11 John was told to do some measuring. And I think his measurements tell us something about measuring the church.

“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there.’”

YOU MEASURE A CHURCH BY THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

I do not believe that the temple which John was told to measure was just the temple of God in heaven. I believe it is also the temple of God where he dwells in His church. Ephesians 2:21 says we are being built together as a dwelling for God. You measure the church partly by how its members are bonded together like bricks in a wall. This comes from fellowship, from working together, from facing trials together, from believing together, and most of all from praying together. God’s presence blesses a church whose members are bound together in Him. Is your’s a gathering where God dwells? You can sense the presence of God in a church.

YOU MEASURE A CHURCH BY ITS WORSHIP.

The altar is the place of worship. How important is worship to your church? Do people worship sacrificially, giving everything in their lives to God? Does your church worship joyfully, praising God with all of your hearts? Does service and sacrifice spring up out of love for God?

YOU MEASURE A CHURCH BY THE GROWTH OF ITS MEMBERS.

I think it is telling that John was told to measure the temple and the altar and those who worship there. You do not measure a church simply by the number of people who attend. A church must be measured by the spiritual growth in the lives that God has trusted to it. Are people becoming more Christ-like. Are people becoming more and more faithful, more and more devoted, more and more loving from the ministry of your church?

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What I have to say in this blog is particularly painful because I know it is quite likely that knaves will take the truth I write and twist it to make a trap for fools. But while what I say may be misunderstood and misapplied, I believe I have to say it.

I am afraid we have entered times where some of us will need write with a sharp but tearful pen. In The Revelation as God portrays the conclusion of judgment and the bringing forth of righteousness on this Earth, a mighty angel descends from Heaven placing one foot on the sea and one foot on the land declaring that there will be no more delay. John was told to go take a small book from the hand of the angel and to consume that book. Revelation 10:10,11 read's,

“And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

I believe we are already in days when God will give us things to say that will be as sweet as honey. But as we see those things being so alien to the world around us, they will become bitter in our stomachs, and we will have to proclaim them in sorrow.

Concerning his two end-time witnesses to the nations God tells us in Revelation 11:3

“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Some of us will have to write in sackcloth.

Revelation 11;9-11 tells us how the world will celebrate the death of those two when, as their witness is complete, the beast from the bottomless pit finally overcomes them.

“For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.”

It is been at least 10 years since I first wrote that I was resigning from the church growth movement. I knew then that while I needed to say hard things in love and wisdom, I would have to allow God to draw people, and some would not be persuaded. This is not new. Jesus faced the same rejection. John 6:66 tells us,

“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

I suppose the church growth movement would have instructed Jesus at this point. “Jesus did you have to use such inflammatory language as ‘Eat my flesh and drink my blood?’ Couldn't you have said the same thing in a more palatable way?”

Such a ministry is even more onerous in these days because there will be some whose message does not come from God. Let's face it. Most fake news that I read attacks others for not holding conservative values. You can be sure that lying and cheating and calling people wicked names like junior high bullies does not come from God. We will have to counter their proclamations with clear expressions of the truth in love.

Note also that these God-sent prophets in the last days will not prophesy in bitterness and hatred. They are prophesying in sackcloth and sorrow. Their hearts will be broken over the condition and judgment of our world. They will cry out for God to bring people back to Himself.

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If Timothy’s grandmother Lois had not been faithful in passing on her faith to her daughter Eunice and grandson Timothy we would not have the books, I and II Timothy in the Bible today. Their example is an excellent generational example of the importance of passing on the faith to future generations. Lois is our forerunner who modeled grand mothering for us.

Isn’t it interesting that nowhere in the Bible does it say that the church has the primary responsibility to pass on our faith to the next generation? It makes clear that parents and grandparents are the principal conduits to instruct their children and grandchildren about God and his love for them.

Today, many parents are not passing on the values and faith by which they were raised. Therefore, grandparents have a crucial role to fill, if faith is to be found on earth when Jesus comes back for his own. In the Bible, we read about many people God used in the autumn season of life for life’s most significant work. According to God’s Word, God wants grandparents to focus on passing a godly legacy to the next generation. The demonstrations of our faithful walk with the Lord and our prayers for our grandchildren are potent ways to pass on our faith to the next generation.

Grandmother’s Role

The role of godly grandparents is to communicate their faith in Jesus Christ and pray diligently for their grandchildren. We are also to tell future generations how God has walked with us and demonstrated his mighty works in our lives. God is waiting for us to ask Him for opportunities if we are overwhelmed with how to be a godly influence on your grandchildren. God has given us the responsibility to set a positive example. We do affect our grandchildren one way or another, positively or negatively.

In Proverbs 27:19, we read, “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person” (NLT).What does the reflection of our “real person” reflect? When we are committed to read and meditate on God’s Word, we will reflect a life transformed into his image. As we invest in our walk with the Lord, we are spiritually investing in the lives of our grandchildren by modeling a godly example. As spiritual role models, we can demonstrate the reality of our faith by walking with God through both the storms and sunny days of our lives.

Grandmother’s Prayers

We, as grandmothers love to give gifts to our grandchildren, however, the most significant and most lasting gift we can give them is to be their prayer intercessor, affecting and imprinting their generation with God’s faithfulness. The material things we leave our grandchildren are temporary; however, our prayers and examples can make a significant impact on them for a lifetime. Our most significant blessings will come when we see God answering our prayers in their lives, and we get to see the results. However, we may die before our prayers are answered. Our prayers will not be canceled when we go to heaven, and they will outlive us.

With the pressure on families today, grandchildren need our hugs, reassurance, and wisdom more than ever. It is also imperative for us to communicate to our grandchildren that we love them and accept them, even though we may not agree with their behavior. In today’s broken world, Satan’s purpose is to destroy the family. It is crucial that we pray God will give the mothers and fathers of our dear grandchildren godly wisdom in the monumental task of teaching and guiding our grandchildren in the ways of the Lord. 1

Do your grandchildren see authenticity and sincerity about you in your relationship with God? What a blessing it would be for me to hear my grandchildren say, “I want to have a relationship with the Lord like my grandmother modeled for me.”I hope I can say in the years to come, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children and grandchildren are walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4).

Ask yourself:

• What kind of memories will my grandchildren have of me when I pass away?
• Is my walk with the Lord what I want to be reflected in the lives of my grandchildren?
• Do I want my grandchildren to imitate my spiritual life?
• Will they want my Jesus?
• Will my love for God keep on living through my grandchildren, even after I am deceased?

Prayer

Dear Lord, forgive me when I have not taken the time to read your Word or modeled the life of a godly grandparent.

Help me to take the time to read and meditate on your Word every day

so I will reflect your face in the heart of my grandchildren.

Help me to be a godly example, teaching my grandchildren to live lives of truth

with integrity, authenticity, and seriousness.

Help me to give sound, wise, wholesome counsel and guidance,

encouraging my grandchildren to know and follow Christ wholeheartedly.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Father, please forgive us your church for the ways in which we have failed to honor you in our country.  We  pay so little attention to you in our lives and then we decry when our country wanders far from you.  We allow our teaching to be more influenced by the culture around us than by your word, substituting the "wisdom" of men for the timeless truths of Scripture.  We fix our eyes on things of this world rather than on things above, living lifestyles indistinguishable from the world in the ways we use our time, money, and resources.

We rightfully decry unjust systems but then fail to work for justice ourselves.  We have looked to government and politics, to education, to many different places as solutions - when You are the only real solution.

Father, we confess that we are not that spotless bride prepared for her Groom's return.  And we ask for your forgiveness - not only for our sake, but for the sake of your glory.  Bring honor to yourself once again through your church.  Cleanse us.  Purify us in doctrine and practice; in our personal walks and in our community life; in our relationships with our brothers and sisters in you and in our relationships with those far from you.  

We long to see revival in our land, Lord, and we know that you will begin it in the church.  Pour out your Spirit on your people afresh, and let your Spirit overflow out of the church into our nation.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

Isaiah 40:31 speaks powerfully to our hope in the Lord. It is one of the most powerful teachings on the practical application of God's hope in our lives.

“They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
   they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
   they shall walk and not faint.”

What is the difference between waiting and hoping?

THE STRUGGLE OF WAITING

If you are waiting, you may have put yourself in the place to receive what or who is coming. If you are waiting your eyes are probably not on the horizon as much as they are on your watch. “Why is he late?” “When will they get here?”

There is tension expressed in the word wait. Hebrew words often have vivid metaphors. The word for wait here comes from the word for a string or a cord. And the picture is first of a cord being twisted or stretched.

But then the picture evolves into a cord being bound around something. So we find ourselves bound together with what we hope for when we wait. We see our lives bound tightly to what we are hoping for.

THE STRENGTH OF WAITING

Throughout the Bible our hope is presented as something that is certain. It is dependable. You can Bank on your hope in Jesus Christ. And as your grip on that hope is strengthened, it shifts to waiting as we trust in the fulfillment of the promises of God.

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