Day 14

I feel the need to confess that being a mom of teens, volunteering with youth, and just being "too busy" most of the time, praying for the future church doesn't often hit my radar, and being raised in the church, I have heard the phrase with your "whole" heart many times, but was not sure how to define that. Now that I have your attention aren't you all excited to continue reading? Please do though because God showed up and He spoke to me, and I want to share with you!

I have the privilege, joy and sometimes sadness of serving in our high school TREK ministry. Last week our teaching topic was the Gift of God's Peace. One of the leaders asked the students in our community group "what wall stands between you and God's peace?" Then he told them to write that down on an index card so the adult leaders could be praying for them. The answers we received were heart-wrenching. As I have been praying for these students and the deep issues they are dealing with, God revealed to me how I am actually praying for the Church of the Future, and I am to continue praying for them and any other child/young person God allows to cross my path with my WHOLE heart; all of my being, just as I pray and sometimes agonize over my own children. Children and young adults need God-fearing adults to be their prayer warriors; our future and theirs depend on it!

So I asked God this week to give me a fresh perspective on interceding for future generations with my whole heart, and He did in a way that I can understand and relate to. This may be TMI, but God often speaks to me while I am in the shower, and earlier this week He brought Hannah to my mind—kind of random I thought. I went to 1 Samuel and read about Hannah in chapters one and two. What a woman of faith, devoted mother and pray-er she was!! Hannah began as a desperate woman. She was childless and wanted nothing more than to be a mom. She prayed with her WHOLE HEART; with every part of her being, constantly and persistently! It's the mother's heart that helps me to understand what praying with my whole heart can look like, because when I am praying for one of my children about a matter; it engulfs me. I pray without ceasing. I know that my whole heart is in it.

As I am reading about Hannah and Samuel, God reminds me of another mom in Exodus. Her name is Jochebed (Moses' mother). She is resourceful, focused and a fearless woman of faith and prayer. God saw the hearts of these women, heard their prayers and intervened on their behalves. Their fame lives on through the lives of the remarkable children they had so diligently and whole heartedly prayed for. The bigger result is having prayed on behalf of these children for the great tasks God gave to each of them.

Now I realize not all of us reading this have our own children. However, we can still intercede for children and young people that God puts in and around our lives. So many don't have anyone praying for them. I challenge you to ask God over break and into the new year to show you or bring into your life the young ones He wants you to stand in the gap for. The influence of prayers on generations to come is far reaching. We can't see the big picture; but we may be praying for the next Samuel or Moses. Let's choose to be women who pray with our whole hearts for the present and future impact of generations in God's church!!

Day 14
The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer by Andrew Murray

What to Pray: For the Church of the Future

"We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands" (Psalm 78:4-7). "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants" (Isaiah 44:3).
We must pray for the generations who will follow us. Unless the Word of God, the knowledge of the character of God, and the message of the Gospel are taught to our children and our children's children, what will come of the generations that follow? We can pray with relative ease for our own children, but we must think too of the young children in our churches, our schools, our neighborhoods, and pray for them and all their teachers and instructors and leaders at work among them; that whatever they do, Christ may be honored and the Holy Spirit gain entrance into their lives. The future of the church and the nation depend on it.

How to Pray: With the Whole Heart

"May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your request" (Psalm 20:4-5). "You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips" (Psalm 21:2). "I call with all my heart; answer me, O Lord, and I will obey your decrees" (Psalm 119:145).
Prayer for future generations is crucial, and God desires to answer our supplications. He lives to hear and grant every petition with regard to souls and their eternal destiny. Each time we pray, the whole infinite God is there to hear us. He asks, as well, that in each prayer we pray, the whole person will be there too; that we will cry unto Him with our whole heart. Christ gave himself to God for us, and so He takes very seriously our call to Him for help. If once we seek God with our whole heart, we will see the difference between this and perfunctory ritualistic prayers. The whole heart will be in every prayer which we come to God. Pray with your whole heart for those who will follow us.

Sometimes we don't know what to pray. A great place to go to is God's word. Here is some Scripture to pray for others: Ephesians 3:14-19; Colossians 1:9-14, Philippians 4:6-7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Tammie Jarka
Associate Director of Women's Bible Study