I love that feeling of God wrapping His arms around me and letting me know that He cares about every little detail in my life. How awesome is He to grant us these experiences.
It happened yet again last week. I have recently begun watching two of my young grandchildren a couple of days a week while my daughter-in-love completes her student teaching. Originally, the days did not coincide with my participation in a Bible Study I really wanted to be a part of. I decided that this just might not be the season for me to be a part of a Study. Then the very week that Bible Study was to begin my son asked if I could change my days for watching the kids–to Bible Study day. I got on the phone right away to see if there was still a slot in the Study AND two slots in childcare. The answer, YES to both questions!
I mention this little “blessing” in my life for two reasons. First, I just adore that He loves me so lavishly that He would orchestra even my attendance at a Bible Study I desired to participate in. Second, I have already begun to make connections from the Study to grandparenting and praying for our grandchildren.
The Bible Study is The Patriarch’s by Beth Moore. In the very first video, Beth points out that the rebellion in Shinar (Gen. 12:1-2) was, more than anything else, an attempt by the people to make a name for themselves. She really got my attention when she stated that, “We (all) want somebody to remember our name.”
Isn’t that it in a nutshell? Most of us arrive at the second half of our lives and begin to think about leaving a legacy. We look around, see how time has flown, realize the brevity of life, and then begin thinking about leaving a legacy. Isn’t that desire to hand down a part of us to our descendants honestly all about hoping someone will remember our name?
My husband and I have often discussed how we might leave a godly legacy to our children and grandchildren. Yes, we want them to remember us, but more importantly our desire is that they remember us as people who loved God and pointed them toward God. We pray that our grandchildren will know and remember His Name, The Name worthy of being remembered.
If this be our desire, one way each of us can leave a godly legacy to our grandchildren is to be a prayerful follower of Christ. Yes, it’s important to pray before meals with our grandchildren, but it’s also important to let our grandchildren see us in prayer at other times: in church, attending meetings of prayer, on our knees in our homes. We can leave a legacy of prayer by sharing our prayer requests and journals with our grandchildren. What an experience it would be to pray with your grandchild regularly even if over the internet or Skype. In addition to sharing your love of God and the importance of prayer in such ways, you will be creating a value affirming experience for your grandchild. Can you imagine the boost a child would receive knowing that their grandparent cared enough to pray with them about the life events that were important to them? And there’s the added boost of feeling entrusted with praying for a grandparent.
One other way to leave a godly legacy to your grandchildren is to pray Scriptures for them. What more effective way to thwart Satan’s schemes and powers toward them while unleashing the power and provision of God toward them than to pray His word for our grandchildren?
If you would love to pray Scripture for your grandchildren but are unsure which Scriptures to pray, click on the link below or go to the Resources tab to find “Scriptures to Pray for Grandchildren.” This resource is by Lillian Penner and is provided by Christian Grandparenting Network. The sheet lists 31 Scriptures to pray for your grandchild(ren).
I pray that as you consider what legacy you will leave to your grandchildren, you will become intentional about making it a legacy that points them to THE NAME.
