Fight with Prayer for Your Family

When Nehemiah faced opposition rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem, he told the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14) Just as Nehemiah asked the people to fight for their families, we as grandparents need to fight the opposition that our children and grandchildren face each day with our prayers for them. 

Abraham Lincoln said, “A child is a person who is going to carry on what you have started. He is going to sit where you are sitting, and when you are gone, attend to those things which you think are important…The fate of humanity is in his hands.”^[1]  If you are like most grandparents, you would like your grandchildren to place their faith in Jesus Christ. As the moral and spiritual climate in our world is eroding, it is becoming more difficult for our grandchildren to grow up in a Christ-like environment. 

Fighting the opposition with our prayers for the ongoing guidance and spiritual growth for our grandchildren takes daily discipline. To pray effectively we need to know their frustrations, dreams, fears, concerns, and expectations. Now and then we will need to ask them “What is going on in your life right now, how can we pray for you?” or ask their parents how we can specifically pray for the grandchildren. 

To fight for our families as Nehemiah told the Israelites we have to pray intentionally and regularly. According to God’s Word, praying for our children and grandchildren should be a high priority. Not all prayers are going to be answered immediately or even in our lifetime. However, God will acknowledge our intercessory prayers and answer them at just the right time. 

Have you shared with your grandchildren you are praying for them? Grandparents are fond of giving gifts to their grandchildren but the greatest gift we can pass on to them is the gift of a praying grandparent. 

The most important task we have as grandparents is to communicate our faith in Christ.  A family’s faith can be lost in one generation; however, we as grandparents can be defenders of our faith. Life is full of disappointments and crises. If our children and grandchildren turn their backs on their heritage of faith, they will face these challenges and trials without God in a chaotic world. When we, as grandparents, unite in prayer to pray for our grandchildren we threaten the enemy (Satan). Our children and grandchildren desperately need our prayers in this morally and spiritually deprived culture we live in today.  Communicate your faith.

Have you thought about praying with other grandparents for your grandchildren? Check out the information at  https://christiangrandparenting.net/prayer/grandparents-at-prayer/.

This blog is taken from the book: Grandparenting with a Purchase: Effective Ways to Pray for your Grandchildren available on this website.

I have developed “Thirty-one Scriptures to Pray for Grandchildren” that many grandparents have found helpful to pray Scripture for their grandchildren. Just by joining the mailing list on the right side of this page you will receive the blogs about grandparenting and prayer suggestions. I will email you a free downloadable copy of “Thirty-one Scriptures to Pray for your Grandchildren” you can print.