Legacy of Prayer

A couple of years ago I was in a Bible study by Jennifer Kennedy Dean, "Live a Praying Life". I was so blessed by the study, that I went online, and being the book junkie that I am, I ordered several of her books, all of which were wonderful. But I wanted to share with you about one particular book today, "Legacy of Prayer, A Spiritual Trust Fund for the Generations". After being blessed with another grandbaby, I thought I'd pull this one out again. My prayers for my sons, their wives, and the babies were fueled with fresh passion and mighty purpose again. Let me share with you just a few nuggets from the Introduction and First Chapter.

"Prayer has no limits, no time limits, no geographical limits. Just as surely as we can provide for our children's present and daily needs through prayer, we can also reach into their futures, laying a foundation of blessings for our children, our grandchildren, and all of our descendants."

"Our prayers are more powerful even than our presence."

"We can leave behind for our descendants a spiritual trust that can never be stolen, squandered or lost. We can leave riches that will only increase in value. We can lay up a store of imperishable wealth."

"It is beyond our imaginations what prayer can effect in the earth. When God's name and His renown are the desire of our hearts (Isaiah 26:8), our prayers for our children, grandchildren, and descendants can be the catalyst that will cause His fame to spread to all corners of the earth."

She quotes E. M. Bounds, "God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. The lips that uttered them may be closed in death, the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God, and God's heart is set on them, and prayers outlive the lives of those who uttered them; outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world."

Continuing with Jennifer's writings, "The answers to the prayers you pray today will be answered in the lives of our descendants at the right time. Those answers will be working in their lives as if you had just prayed them. Your prayers will put spiritual riches on deposit for them. They will have spiritual abundance from which they can make withdrawals as need arises. "

"The spiritual inheritance I will leave behind for future generations begins with my own walk with the Lord. As God is my fortress and my stronghold, part of the inheritance I leave-part of my estate-is my dwelling place."

I lost one of my sweet friends and prayer partners to cancer in 2006. She had two small grandchildren and as her heart broke over not being there for those little ones, she told me, "Trina, I've come to understand that even though I will not be here for these babies, my prayers for them are eternal." A year and a half later, I read Jennifer Kennedy Dean's "Legacy of Prayer" and I was once again sad at the loss of my friend but rejoiced that those babies lives had been saturated in the prayers of a grandmother they would never know. Of course, this brings tears to my eyes once more, but we all as parents and grandparents have the charge and privilege to go before the Father faithfully for every generation that follows us. Let's get on our faces before Almighty God for these precious ones coming behind us.

You can find "Legacy of Prayer" and other works of Jennifer's at http://www.prayinglife.org/catalog/books/index.htm