One of my goals is to pray for all our kids, their spouses, their children, and our grandchildren daily. Counting Patty, that is 45 different people. As I wrote about a couple of days ago, we received an electronic picture frame as a gift for Christmas. Once pictures are loaded into it from our phones, iPads, and computers, it rotates through all the photos, each staying on the screen for about 30 seconds. I have it sitting on top of a dresser about three feet away to the right of my recliner. We have every family member in it about ten different times, so now, every time I look over, I pray for the person on the screen.
I have great faith in the power of prayer and in my prayers to God on behalf of others. My most significant influence with God is when I intercede for our family. God gave them to us, and with that responsibility, He gave us the power to guard and influence them through prayer. Jesus declared that same power with His disciples in John 17:9: “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me;” I genuinely believe that one of the reasons our kids have turned out so well in regards to their character and their love for the Lord is the fact that Patty and I prayed for them so much. I think we are even more passionate about praying for our grandkids than we were for their parents.
One of our grandkids is driving our old Kia Rio. We bought it in 2008, and it now has close to 300,000 miles on it, but so far, it is running well. I bug him regularly about checking the oil every time he drives it. It only takes a few minutes, but it is easy to postpone and neglect because of business. Once the engine starts knocking, it is too late to put oil in it.
Many parents are busy and don’t take the time to pray for their kids daily, especially not together as a couple in unity. When they see them messing up, the motivation to pray gets strong, but it could be too late.