The Ripple Effect of Praying Grandparents

During the summer, many grandparents vacation with their grandchildren. It is an excellent opportunity to spend extra time with the possibility of quality interaction. Now imagine you are camping with your grandchildren in the mountains. You have cooked your campfire stew for dinner, and you are relaxing around the campfire beside a big lake. It is perfectly still; there is no wind. The lake is a mirror reflecting a beautiful sunset. Sticky-fingered grandchildren delight in s’mores while skipping stones across the lake’s glassy surface. The grandchildren are enthralled with the traveling waves seeing who can make the biggest ripples.

Grandpa tells Grandma, “Just as the kids are making ripples in the water with the rocks, we can make ripples in the lives of our grandchildren with our prayers.” Our prayers for our grandchildren to invite Jesus Christ into other lives and to walk with Him throughout their lives will have a ripple effect on their families, friends, their world, and their future.

Another way we as grandparents can have a ripple effect on the lives of our grandchildren is by the way we live our lives, investing time, energy, and effort in our spiritual walk. Our example will have a ripple effect on our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and future generations.

My Great-grandfather’s Prayer

I found a letter in my family archives written by my great-grandfather in Poland, addressed to my grandfather who had immigrated to America. In the letter, he wrote that he was praying for my grandfather and his future generations. It was a special blessing for me to see in writing that my great-grandfather prayed for me before I was born. His prayers had a ripple effect on my grandparents, my parents, my life, my children, my grandchildren and now my great-grandchildren.

 My Grandmother’s faith

When I was a young woman, I had many opportunities to visit my lonely, widowed grandmother while I attended college in her hometown. 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. “And be sure of this, I am with you always.”(Matthew 28:20).

My grandmother’s reflection of her 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 the daily experiences of my life. 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 to my children and grandchildren.

 Note from Granddaughter

I want to share a note from my oldest granddaughter, a confirmation that praying for these precious grandchildren is never a wasted effort.

“Your phone calls, cards, and emails were encouraging and made a significant impact on my life, especially in my teenage and college years. Your prayers and encouragement have been rock-solid reminders of God’s truth in my incredible, crazy life-shaping years, and now in my married life. Your prayers help me surrender the craziness of my life to God.”

In Proverbs 27:19 NLT we read, “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.”  We may ask ourselves, “What does that look like.”  When we are committed to read and meditate on God’s Word, we will reflect a life transformed into His image. We glorify God if we reveal or manifest his character by the way we live, demonstrating God’s love to those around us.

 Be a Prayer Warrior

God has placed our grandchildren into our families so we can be their prayer warriors. He has given us the excellent opportunity to partner with Him on behalf of these dear ones. He has given me nine grandchildren to pray for, and He has given you your grandchildren. Our grandchildren are our mission field.

If you did not have a Christian heritage, you have the privilege to start the ripples in your family. Prayer is the greatest gift we can give our family. Material things are needed, but they are temporary. Our prayers will affect them for a lifetime. Sometimes, as we get older and limited physically, we might feel useless. However, if we have grandchildren, God has a purpose for keeping us on this earth.

As grandparents, let’s pray deliberately and pass on our love for God to our children, grandchildren, and future generations. This ripple effect of specific prayer communicates our love and acceptance, as well as giving them an example of living a God-centered life.

“Your faithfulness continues through all generations;” (Psalm 119:90a)

Have you heard about Grandparents’ Day of Prayer?

Christian Grandparenting Network is inviting grandparents to unite in prayer for their grandchildren and their grandchildren’s parents. This day is scheduled to coincide with National Grandparents’ Day, which falls on September 9, 2018.  We desire is to make this day a day of prayer for our grandchildren.

We believe the battle for the hearts and minds of our dear grandchildren and their parents can be won only by praying grandparents who sense the urgency and unite to do battle in prayer.

Please check our website http://www.grandparentsdayofprayer.com for more information, testimonials, promotional materials and free downloads. For additional information or if you have any questions, please contact us.

Lillian Penner,  lpenner@christiangrandparentinng.net or Deborah Haddix, deborah@deborahhaddix.com