4 Fortifying Ideas to Pray for Your Loved Ones…
Friends! This morning I ran across a chapter in a book that begs to be shared…This is a book that when I finish it, I start it all over again. Why?
Because the book contains sixty devotions, each with a plethora of ideas to pray for your grandchildren, PLUS, it can easily apply to your family and friends.
The book? A Grandmother’s Prayers: 60 Days of Devotions and Prayers by Kay Swatkowski
I’ve written about this book from different chapters a lot over the years, simply because Kay gifts us readers with so many wonderful ways to pray for our loved ones, giving us Bible verses to correspond to the prayers, ideas on how to implement them, plus book recommendations for various ages. (You could say Kay has cost me a petite fortune.)
This particular devotion, Day Forty-Six, gives us seven fabulous ideas to pray for, for your loved ones, and for yourself. I’ll just give you four of the seven (because you WILL want to learn more!) and will also include the Scripture which highlights these various traits we’d all love to acquire:
1 - Let’s pray that ____________ (name/names of your loved ones) will have the courage of Daniel.
Daniel 6:11 says, “Then the officials went together to Daniel’s and found him praying and asking God for help.” (NLT)
2 - Let’s pray that ____________ (name/names of your loved ones) will have the integrity of Joseph.
Genesis 39:10 says, “She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible.” (NLT)
3 - Let’s pray that _____________(name/names of your loved ones) will have the boldness of Esther.
Esther 4:14 says, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance fo the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (NIV)
Esther 7:3 says, “Queen Esther replied, ‘If I have favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared.’” (NLT)
4 - Let’s pray that ___________ (name/names of your loved ones)_ will have the heart of David.
Acts 13:22 says, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, he will do everything I want him to do.’” (NIV)
These four traits are ones we should ask God for, for our friends, family, and for ourselves as well! Let’s look at them again:
Courage
Integrity
Boldness
A Heart for God
Kay reminds us we must remember two important follow-ups to these prayers:
1 - We should always thank God for answered prayers—They’re ALL because of His great mercy.
2 - We must persevere, praying as long as it takes, NEVER giving up.
The second follow-up, on persevering isn’t always so easy. When I get tired, it’s easy to give up—and rest assured that’s exactly where Satan wants us to be. That’s enough motivation for us to persevere, right?
And of course, we don’t have to be all alone in our praying endeavors. Kay suggests starting a grandparents’ prayer group. Again, if we don’t have grandchildren, but have friends and family and neighbors we want to pray for, why not start a prayer group?
Years ago I had a neighbor who was new to Louisville. Not long after she moved in, she sent out flyers to all of us neighbors inviting us to a coffee in her home. The invite said the purpose of the coffee was to become acquainted with one another. We were also asked to bring our favorite coffee mug.
This was genius as our favorite coffee mugs became fun icebreakers, leading to great conversations, plus it was another way to learn a little something about each of us. (Naturally I took a mug that was all about CHOCOLATE.)
What evolved from that neighborhood coffee was a neighborhood prayer group. We met monthly and each month brought a donation of some sort for a local charity. For example in November, we all brought frozen turkeys and took them to Dare to Care. Another month, we brought coats and donated them to a homeless shelter. I learned more about local charities in Louisville I didn’t even know existed, plus I loved getting to know our neighbors better. We shared prayer requests, so when I walked in our neighborhood, I could pray for their concerns when walking past their homes.
The crazy thing was it never occurred to me to consider starting a prayer group in our neighborhood. At the time, John and I’d lived in that neighborhood for a few years! It took our brand new neighbor and her creativity and motivation and bold faith to get us all rolling. (Note she has all four of the character traits we’re wanting to pray for: Courage, Integrity, Boldness, and a Heart for God.)
Finally, let’s close with Kay’s excellent prayer. (Notice how many areas she covers in just one paragraph!) My prayer is this post and prayer will encourage you in your own life and you’ll be able to pray for these attributes for yourselves and your family and friends—insert their names where it says “grandchildren”.
“Heavenly Father, you know how our hearts ache for our children and grandchildren as they face so many challenges. We long for them to have a simpler life that will nurture them emotionally and spiritually. Most of all, we long for them to have a Christian worldview that will give them hope and courage in the face of opposition. Father, help us to be skilled in our own apologetics and to be ready to give our grandchildren an answer for the hope that is within us. Lord, you promised that you would send another Advocate to us that would teach us all things. Thank you for fulfilling your promise and sending your Holy Spirit. We pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit would teach our grandchildren the truth and fill them with your power. Lord, we refuse to despair, rather, we hope in you all day long. Amen.”
‘Til next time!
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