Pray Without
Ceasing
"My Grandpa's a lot like God ... only he doesn't have a beard."
BOBBY
Age 5
The best way to raise a child is on our knees. We should use common sense, experience, and counsel of child experts, roll them all together, and bathe them with God's strength. I've often wondered, "How does anyone live in the world today without knowing Jesus?"
I can remember how it was to live without God and know how it has been to live for Him. My life has not been easy, but I wouldn't change a thing, because I know it has been designed by the Master of the universe. He doesn't make mistakes.
He wants to hear from us. If we never communicate with Him, how will He know what we are thinking? How will He hear our appreciation for what He has done, if we don't tell Him?
My family is so large and spread out that I'm not able to communicate with them as much as I would like. For the past few years I have been on the road more that I am home. When I am home, Roy and I like to spend quiet times together, playing dominos, walking, watching favorite programs, and attending church. We can and do communicate with our heavenly Father, asking Him for specific requests for the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He's never too busy to listen.
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Mindy, our first grandchild, was born with only one hip socket; I prayed hard that she would be all right. (Why do we pray when things go wrong and forget, so often, to thank the Lord when we're getting along fine?) Let me share the story of answers to prayers in the life of grown-up Mindy, her husband, Jon Peterson, and their three small children.
Mindy was not raised in deprivation, nor in the lap of luxury. Her parents, Tom and Barbara, were not what you would call affluent, since they minister with music in churches, and Tom taught public-school music in a junior high for several years before that. However, they gave their children every advantage that was possible and have been marvelous Christian parents.
Mindy always wanted to be a missionary, and Jon was raised in a mission-school environment. They gave up a brand new home in Grants Pass, Oregon, to be available to minister wherever the Lord called them. They trained for mission work with Youth With a Mission, on the Kona coast of Hawaii, and are now stationed in Amsterdam, Holland. That may sound like glamor, but listen to this:
Well, we are finally settled in our community life-style here on Kona, and we really love it! There's such rest in being in the "bull's-eye" of God's will. The village here is very international. This is really a launching pad for many missionaries into the Asia and Pacific regions. Just in the past three days, for instance, we had people arrive from Australia, Holland, Thailand, and Saipan. And we sent out a family refugee camps in Somalia — and our director, to a leadership conference of 800 nationals in Korea, where he commissioned thirty new national pastors! So you can understand the world exposure we're getting here. Our eyes and hearts are being opened up to the tremendous needs of the lost and the Lord's church in
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other parts of the world — and in Third World countries in particular. We feel no loss at having left a "secure" comfortable life, only tremendous privilege to have been called. God has mighty things to accomplish through His people in these last days [italics mine].
Part of our burden, too, is to be used to help the American church to see things in a more realistic view. Statistically, there is not a food shortage on the planet. The food is simply not balanced in its distribution. We Americans could cut back on so much and still live like kings comparatively. I am now eating to survive and be healthy, and not just because I like to eat.
She went on to give me sample meals, healthy food, well balanced for their physical well-being. She said her husband and children were thriving beautifully. As for herself, she wrote:
And me, well you can probably tell from the tone of this letter than I'm thrilled to be here. We've gone through some difficult adjustments, but each time we find that God has built into us more trust than the time before and has made us more flexible. So the big thing with me is a time of setting priorities straight and learning to grow.
The beautiful part of their training for nine months is the face that their family is together in this venture. There are no cars, no luxuries; they are enjoying each other in a rather stringent regimen and finding real life in Christ, not in things. She said she has learned to just look in stores and not buy.
My mission field is not the same as Mindy's, but I can pray for her and the family as they reach out to people I might not be able to touch.
Do you sense an awareness of the need to return to good
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family relationships, instead of overemphasis on material acquisitions? It's a most healthy sign, so let's keep on praying!
Security Blanket
Watching television recently, I listened with fascination to Dr. Linder explain the effects of the drug PCP, often known as "angel dust." The good doctor called it "devil dust," which is more appropriate. There were some shocking film clips of PCP victims. He explained that the only way to overcome the temptation to experience the PCP "high" (a false feeling of power, security, fast-mind acrobatics) was the security of a loving family, belief in God, and prayer. He admitted that medical science had no real cure.
Ben Kinchlow, the cohost on the 700 Club, was acquainted with drugs during the B.C. times (before Christ in his life) and said there was no such thing as "cold turkey" quitting — that Jesus Christ was the true liberator from drugs. Amen and amen!
Jesus is the true liberator of all that harms us in body, mind, and spirit. This has been my own experience, although I have never indulged in mind-bending drugs.
When Dr. Linder stressed the family as a security blanket, he mentioned that a survey showed many fathers spent about forty seconds per day with their children. Grandpa, where are you? You most certainly are a father image to that grandchild. Fill the gap!
Telephone Lines Are Never Down
The phone companies have some touching advertisements of grandchildren calling grandparents and vice versa. Faces light up and bills go up as the ad campaign is effective. God's lines are never busy, and the circuits are in good repair. It's not al-
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ways possible or feasible for us to touch or talk to each other, but we can always pray.
Here is what Billy Graham's dear mother wrote in her book They Call Me Mother Graham:
Since the children have married and gone their separate ways, and since my husband's death, I have found myself with more time to devote to prayer. I pray without ceasing for Billy and the tremendous responsibility that God has given to him; but also for my other children, my thirteen grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren (at the time of this writing), and for world wide needs.I often wonder if we, as mothers, recognize how much our prayers have influenced our children's choices through life. It is something we should contemplate seriously.
I spend so much time on airplanes and find those isolated moments in the sky are wonderful times to write a few thoughts and to pray. People won't bother you when you have your eyes closed, but God can be your seat companion, listening and caring.
When I have speaking and singing engagements, there is no time for socializing before or after an appearance. My little hotel room is an oasis from the world where I can hole up and pray out loud without interruptions.
Take a moment to place a long-distance message on someone's behalf. You may be calling at just the right time!
We Love 'Em so Much It Hurts
How can we explain it unless we've experienced it? There's something so special about being a grandparent, and sometimes we feel so helpless in the role.
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We do have an important part in their battles with the pressures of life, providing stability in a changing world; but we must be careful to let them know that true security is in a personal relationship to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. The song "They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love" could be our theme. Grandchildren are no dummies; they will know if we really believe in Jesus. I am amazed how they can cut straight through the facade of a phoney.
Grandparents without Jesus can build memories, be fun, listen to their problems, provide a sense of roots and tradition — all those good things — but the most important quality we can give them will be missing.
I'm not making any sanctimonious statements without a backup. I have no righteousness of my own, but I have claimed the righteousness of Jesus Christ and claim His righteousness as my own. The Bible says: "...The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results" (James 5:16).
When I pray, I expect God's power to work. I have claimed that verse for my children and grandchildren, just as my mother claimed it for me through those twenty-five years of wandering from the teachings she gave me.
We can love and pray and live our faith in front of our children and grandchildren and trust God for the rest. We cannot live their lives for them; they are accountable to God, but we can live a consistent life before them. They must see something in us to command respect.
Final Rules for Grandparents
1. Accept your age.
It's wonderful to have the years behind us, the experience of living. Face-lifts and crash diets will not make us teenagers
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again. The miles are recorded inside us. We know where we have been and how long we've been on the road.
The Bible gives us a guide to clothing: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12 NIV).
However, let's not get sloppy in our personal appearance. It's not vanity for Grandmother to have her hair done or for Grandpa to wear snappy clothes; it's sanity.
2. Don't hold grudges.
A grandparent who doesn't accept his daughter-in-law or son-in-law or who criticizes them to the rest of the family can't expect to earn the respect of his grandchildren.
In that wonderful passage in Colossians that spells out the "rules for holy living," it says: "Bear with each other and forgive what ever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13 NIV).
I have known grandparents who vent their displeasure with their own children or in-laws through the grandchildren. They say such things as, "Don't your parents ever check what you're wearing before you go out?" Or, "Why is your hair so dirty; doesn't your mother wash it?"
A grudge will make a grump out of Gram and Gramps.
3. Stay young in heart.
The same story repeated over and over is one of the best ways to turn off young ears. You could say, "Have I told you about...?" And if you have, forget it. Vain repetitions are a sure way to canceled communications.
4. Learn and teach Bible principles.
If the world is pushing our grandchildren into its mold, show them what the Word of God has to say about the major temptation they face. The Bible says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all
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wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16 NIV).
5. Keep your sense of humor.
A friend was telling me about taking her three-year-old granddaughter shopping. Grandma lost her briefly in a clothing store, and after a few frantic moments of calling her name, she saw the little culprit, stark naked, standing on a raised platform beside a mannequin. The astonished grandmother grabbed the little nudist just as she shouted, "Grandma, I have to go to the bathroom." Only a keen sense of humor will suffice in a ridiculous situation.
We need to laugh at ourselves. We have enough miles recorded in us to know the therapy of hilarity.
6. Pray continually.
Frequently we may think, "I've tried everything else, now I might as well pray." Today I pray first and fly later. The Lord tells us to pray for everything, and that means the little, insignificant things as well as major issues. Pray for His angels to surround the grandchildren and keep them free from harm. Pray for them to accept Him and love Him. Pray for wisdom for the parents and understanding during the times when things look bleak. Pray with thanksgiving.
Trouble may drive us to prayer, but prayer will drive trouble away.
How Important Are We?
I saw two licence plates on cars parked side by side in a carport. One said, "GAM 77," and the other said, "GAMP 77." That couple was so delighted with their new status as grandparents in the year 1977 that they displayed it publicly.
Across the street was another car with a license that said, "Happiness is being a grandparent."
After the blush of pride is over, what can we do?
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Grandparents can make a unique contribution. We can love when they are the most unlovable, because we remember what their parents did. We can play when Mom and Dad are too busy or too tired, because we slowed down and have more time. We can listen when no one else seems to care, because we've heard almost everything in our lifetimes.
We can heal wounds with the balm of experience. We can provide bridges across troubled waters when parents and kids are churning. We can be available when the world doesn't seem to care.
We have been called by God to do things no one else can do. How privileged we are to be such chosen people. Come on, grandparents, join us in prayer to change the world we touch with the magic of love.
"May the Lord continually bless you with heaven's blessing as well as with human joys. May you live to enjoy your grandchildren!..." (Psalms 128:5, 6).
