Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Jerry and Janet Page
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000286
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00:30 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn and welcome again to Issues and
00:33 Answers. You know Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 that man 00:37 shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds 00:40 from the mouth of God. If the word of God is our spiritual 00:45 nutrition, well then prayer is our spiritual breath. This is 00:49 how our soul breathes. Today we are going to be talking about 00:53 does prayer make a difference in our children's 00:56 lives, intercessory prayer. Let me read a scripture in first 01:00 Samuel and this is in chapter 12 verse 23. Samuel is writing 01:06 and he says: "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I 01:12 should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. " 01:17 Have you been praying a long time for your children 01:21 and you feel like, Lord, I'm ready to give up? You don't 01:23 seem to be answering. Don't give up, because you are 01:27 sinning against the Lord; its a lack of faith if you give up 01:32 on praying for your children. I am so excited to welcome 01:35 back to our program today Jerry and Janet Page. 01:39 Thank you all so much for coming back. 01:41 It's our joy, thank you. 01:43 Now Jerry you are the president for the Central California 01:47 Conference and that is a weighty position. 01:48 Are you saying I'm overweight... No 01:52 Well no, but I know that you've got a lot of, it's a tremendous 01:57 responsibility to be a conference president. 01:59 It reminds you to pray because you can't do it. 02:01 Amen, Amen. Janet, you're the Women's Ministries director 02:06 and the Prayer Ministries coordinator, right? Right. 02:10 Well, I know that you all have a lot to say about praying for 02:14 children, because we have talked so much in the past, and I just 02:18 want to jump right in this. Do you believe, Jerry, (I know the 02:22 answer to this, but for our audience), do you believe that 02:25 it really makes a difference to pray for our children. 02:27 We've seen it over and over and over again, and all I know to do 02:30 is just pray. People try to say that answered prayer is a 02:33 coincidence, but the more you pray, the more you see God 02:36 in specific, unique ways and we know it's not coincidence. It's 02:39 his hand working in mighty ways. We pray about our work, we 02:43 pray about the conference. We see miracles all the time in a 02:46 selection of people and finances and institutions and all that, 02:50 but nothing matters to my heart and to most parents' 02:54 hearts as much as our own children. I have a son, I have 02:56 two sons, but my youngest son I guess had some of my genes in 03:01 him and was experimenting in those late teen years. He is 03:04 a good kid, he has always been a kid that was going to do 03:06 everything 120 percent, you know. He was vegan early 03:09 on he could ride the most miles in the bikathon, you know and 03:12 then he was going to be a rock climber and get up El Capitan 03:16 earlier than anyone else and all this. It's been his style 03:19 to do everything extreme at least. But he was experimenting. 03:23 We didn't know all that he was doing till later on, but things 03:27 kept popping up, symptoms that kind of worried us and concerned 03:28 us. Then I guess it was after his junior year... 03:33 Now when you say experimenting are you talking about 03:35 experimenting with some of the leisure drugs that they have 03:38 out here or are talking about... 03:40 Well, we don't even know to this day all what he was doing, but 03:41 yeah, he was running with some kids and doing some things 03:44 that worried us and he just wasn't... On the outside it 03:47 looked like he was still going to church and serving God, but 03:49 we know more and more that he was doing some other things 03:54 and you know concerned us, but most of all he didn't seem to 03:56 really have a hunger for the word. He went on some mission 03:59 trips and things, but wasn't really seeming to be thriving 04:03 in God and having a real relationship, which eventually 04:05 leads you away in the end and, as I said in my own testimony. 04:07 You know I was not understanding my relationship with Jesus so 04:11 I got real rebellious all the time. So we were praying for 04:14 him much. Every time we got a chance with people we would 04:17 pray for our sons. We do claim those promises and I love to 04:21 just go into late Isaiah. There are just some beautiful promises 04:23 there that have meant a lot to me through the years. 04:26 You know it says fear not for I am with you, I will bring your 04:29 descendants from the east, I will gather you from the west. 04:31 I will say to the north give them up and to the south don't 04:34 keep them back. In the next chapter, Isaiah 44:3, 4 says 04:38 that he will pour our his Spirit on our descendants and His 04:40 blessing on our offspring. They will spring up like 04:44 like grass and like willows by the watercourses. You know 04:45 Isaiah 49:25- I will contend with him that contends with 04:48 you. Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is 04:51 old he won't get away from the training. I will bring it back 04:54 to him. So if it happened in my life and my parents prayed for 04:56 me; but we were praying for Zach. After his junior year, I 05:00 guess, he had a girl come into his life. It was a big explosion 05:03 all of a sudden, one of those things were and they're 05:07 together. She seemed to help him in some areas of 05:10 experimentation, but maybe not in some others. 05:11 We liked her and they went together for about three years, 05:14 but again we didn't see him really thriving in the Lord or 05:17 getting involved in service. He was only going to church 05:20 sporadically so we were concerned to say the least, 05:27 they were going to get married. We liked her and we don't say 05:29 bad things about her, but we just weren't sure it would be a 05:31 good marriage. You know, there were things there that worried 05:34 us. So we thought, well this is one of those things that is 05:36 going to have to happen. You pray, but God doesn't force 05:40 everybody's will on everything, so they would probably get 05:43 married and then maybe have trouble later on, there would 05:45 pain, but we just kept praying for Zach. 05:47 But it was amazing. A couple years ago after a meeting in 05:51 the summer where something happened dramatically right 05:54 after that camp meeting, and they broke up. 05:59 In that experience, we saw the power of God just working to 06:02 free him to give him some new opportunity to do things. 06:05 Within a week or two, after the initial pain that kind of went 06:08 away for him, and he began thinking-Now what do I really 06:10 want to do with my life. He began turning back to God. 06:13 He said, "You know, I would like to be on a youth evangelism 06:16 team. If they could take me, it wouldn't cost any money to spend 06:19 a year out of college and go with them. " 06:20 So we just saw just saw such dramatic changes in Zach. 06:23 He got involved in preaching a series of meetings in Africa 06:27 that next spring and working for young people. Since then he has 06:30 now gone back to college. He is taking theology and just 06:33 in everything he thinks about and does he is hungry for the 06:35 Word. He is preaching and he is interested in working for God. 06:39 We know that is only the beginning of the story. 06:41 We keep praying for the kids all during their lives. Our older 06:44 son has had the same kind of experience along in his life 06:48 and we've seen him and his wife just come into such a 06:49 beautiful ministry for Christ. We know that are an awful lot of 06:53 people who maybe haven't seen their kids come back yet, but 06:55 we can tell stories over and over of people who prayed 30, 06:58 40, 50 years. We have one man in our conference, his mother 07:02 died a year or so ago. She prayed for him for 40-some years 07:05 and he was actually, I think, 70 or so, but right after Mom died 07:08 he came back to Jesus and has gone on mission trips. 07:11 He's a real leader in the conference. So, yes, don't 07:13 give up praying. Because God says when we pray he can do 07:17 things that he can't do if we don't pray. How it all works 07:20 I don't understand but that's what the word says. 07:23 I want to just share a promise with you if you have 07:27 children. You know I am sitting here thinking, your son, you, 07:30 David Ascherick, Steve Wohlberg, so many young men and young 07:34 women who have turned away from the Lord, even turned toward 07:38 drugs. My own sister was drug addict for 15 years, heroin and 07:43 cocaine and it was a serious thing. I prayed every day and 07:47 I would claim two scriptures: Psalm 129 verse 4: The Lord 07:52 righteous. He has cut me free from the cord of the wicked 07:54 that binds me. And I would pray cut her free from the cord of 07:59 the wicked. And then, the second scripture was Acts 26:18: 08:02 that says that He will open their eyes and turn them from 08:06 darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that 08:09 they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance 08:13 among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus 08:16 Christ, and you know what, as I prayed those 15 years I prayed 08:21 for guardian and angels, and would say, Lord send angels 08:23 unaware if that is what it takes to witness to her. You know 08:27 she accepted the Lord, asked to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. 08:31 God delivered her overnight and for 20 years she has been 08:35 totally drug free from the day that she 08:37 surrendered to God. So, you know, when everybody else was 08:41 telling' me, give it up, she's a lost cause, she will never 08:43 after that long, she will never turn back. She did. 08:47 So Janet you've got two sons and one grandbaby, a grandson 08:55 right? What is his name? Daniel. 08:56 Daniel. And he is a little doll. 08:59 Daniel Duke. Ah! He is absolutely adorable. 09:00 The most precious baby in the world. 09:01 The most precious. Yeah. So I know that you are doing a lot of 09:06 intercessory prayer, even now, for your baby boy. 09:08 Yes, well before he was born. One thing I would like to share 09:14 about Jerry and I praying together or to do this with a 09:17 group when you pray together. You get together with a group 09:21 of people and most of us dread the idea of getting together 09:24 to pray, because you are going to pray this long prayer, then 09:27 he will pray this long prayer, and then you get to me and I'm 09:29 asleep by the time you get done, it's so boring. What we found 09:34 really meaningful, and prayer can go on for hours doing this, 09:38 and everybody enjoys it, is we pray in sentence prayers. 09:41 Like I will pray one subject in just a few short sentences and 09:47 then you might come in, or he might come in and agree together 09:49 with what I just prayed and pray it also in a few short 09:52 sentences and then someone... You know it may go as God leads. 09:55 You may pray about that subject again, or start another subject 09:58 like that. It's conversational; you don't have to open and close 10:03 it with Dear God... Amen each time. It's a conversation 10:06 between us with God and the beautiful part is, too, if we 10:12 pray together, and I'll pray everything I can think of so 10:15 that you can pray next, it's like you don't get time for the 10:19 Holy Spirit to impress you how to pray. Whereas if we pray 10:22 conversationally in sentences it gives us a chance to, you know, 10:26 to, Lord what else should I pray about; to let 10:28 God impress you what is on His heart and how he wants you 10:31 to pray. So Jerry and I, the only hobby we have, I guess, 10:37 can we try to walk together, but we spend the whole time 10:43 praying. We pray a lot for our church work in California, for 10:47 our kids, just many things, but we pray back and forth. (That's 10:50 right.) But even I did this when my kids were little and 10:53 they loved it. They can take part in it easier. 10:56 We do it while we are driving. Of course, you keep your 10:57 eyes open. 10:58 Yes. Well, you know, I like that because... you know this 11:01 is one thing... you know you and I are cut from the same 11:02 cloth. We just tell it like it is. It can be boring if you 11:07 get in a group prayer where people are praying long prayers 11:11 and it's 40 minutes and two people have finished 11:13 praying in 40 minutes and it is your turn and you're kind of 11:16 like, Ha! But I love that idea, because I see that you would 11:20 give room for the Holy Spirit to direct. 11:24 Do you remember the first time we met with you here I talked 11:26 about my conversion and how bitterness and resentment had 11:30 really caused a separation between God and me? 11:34 Um, part of what happened was my life was changed and it was 11:36 because of people praying for me that changed me there. 11:40 My older son, he was a young teenager then, came up to me 11:43 after this all started happening and God was moving on my life. 11:46 I started spending time with God every day. I let God take care 11:49 of that bitterness in my life and do what he told me to do 11:52 there. My older son came up to one day and he said "Mom, you've 11:56 changed. " He said, "Will you teach me to know Jesus the way 11:59 you do now. And even my younger boy who was 12:03 was a little bitty guy then came up to me and he said, 12:05 "Mommy, you're so happy now. Will you teach me to spend time 12:08 with Jesus like you do. " And to see that 12:10 in my kids... You know, as parents we see our kids doing 12:16 things that break our hearts and we just know it's wrong. 12:19 It will destroy them, Eventually it is going to cause 12:23 them heartache and pain, and plus we are not sure, you know, 12:25 are they going to go to the kingdom or they even going to 12:26 want to.. So as parents we feel we've got to be sad 12:31 around them and let them know what they've done is wrong. 12:34 What I learned is our kids know what's wrong. We have raised 12:39 them up and by the time they get to that age of 12:41 accountability, you know, and a young adult, they don't need me 12:45 telling' them any more what's right or wrong, because they 12:48 know and the Holy Spirit is fully capable of telling them. 12:50 What they need is for me to show them God's joy. (That's 12:54 good.) (Yeah.) Our kids are so needing to see God's aliveness 12:59 in us and his joy. Why should they want my religion 13:02 if they don't see that I'm a happy Christian? 13:04 It needs to be modeled is what you are saying. 13:06 Yeah, it needs to be that we have that joyful relationship 13:09 with him. My younger boy, he came... actually I was out of 13:12 town when it happened... but he got suspended from school 13:14 for doing something that was... I couldn't believe he did it; 13:19 I was shocked. It was so embarrassing. 13:21 The nut doesn't fall too far from the tree, does it? 13:23 Chuckling 13:24 So when I came back home and he came home, I know he was 13:29 fully expecting me to lecture him for what he'd done and to 13:32 scold him. But I had spent time with God and in that time I 13:36 said, "Lord what is it about me that would cause my son to do 13:39 what he did?" Because I was so shocked at what had 13:43 happened. I tell you, don't ask God that question if you 13:46 don't want to know. Because he really let me know what it 13:49 was that I had done in modeling to this kid that caused him to 13:53 do what he did. You know, I wept before the Lord, it just 13:56 broke my heart. But when my son came home and we met, he 14:00 was wondering what was going to happen and I started to share 14:03 with him. I said, "Zach, I went to God about this situation 14:07 that happened with you at school," and I said, "I asked 14:09 God, 'What was it about me that caused you to do it?' He said, 14:12 'You did?'" I said, "and God told me and Zach I want to ask 14:15 you to forgive me for the bad example I have been to you. " 14:18 I said, "God has forgiven me and I need you to. I want to 14:21 be a right example to you, so that you will know how much 14:24 God loves you and that it is fun to be obedient to him. " 14:27 You know what that did: Instead of causing my son to get angry 14:31 he was fighting back the tears. We cannot go wrong... I can't 14:35 encourage our audience enough. If they have a child that is not 14:38 in the Lord and they are praying for them, they are 14:41 struggling, you know, what to do. It may be they haven't done 14:45 anything wrong, but I would encourage them to spend quality 14:48 time with God, maybe even fasting and asking God, Lord 14:51 is there something about me that has caused my son or 14:55 or daughter to not accept you, to turn away from you, and let 14:58 God talk to them. I don't know how it is with you, but I even 15:01 had it happen this week. I'm reading God's word and just 15:04 enjoying that time with him and God starts speaking. But I 15:07 don't want to hear what he is saying and so I start reading 15:10 louder. I going to just keep reading God's word; I'm going to 15:13 learn stuff here, and I'm avoiding what God is trying to 15:17 say to me, something he wants me to take care of or change 15:20 in my life. Do you do that? 15:22 Uh huh. There has been a time or two, yes. That is why I'm 15:24 I am laughing so heartily. 15:25 You know what I have found, too, Shelley; I even have an 15:27 an experience going on in my life right now with a worker in 15:30 my area. You know, it is hard to apologize, when someone 15:34 else is not reacting well to us. If we spend with the Lord 15:37 usually he can show me some- thing that I haven't done 15:40 enough like Jesus. I haven't loved them like Jesus, I haven't 15:43 treated them according to the golden rule at all the way I 15:47 I should have. So with the kids I think that usually if we spend 15:50 time enough with God, we can find something that we could 15:53 actually ask them to forgive us for. I think it breaks down 15:57 the wall and allows them to begin to bond with us again 16:01 and maybe want to ask forgive- ness of us for some things. I'm 16:04 not talking about being phony and fake with it but I'm just 16:06 saying asking God, "Have I been like Jesus with my children 16:09 or with my coworkers.. It is You know 16:12 it is. It opens the door and it takes down that barrier of "I'm 16:14 better than you. " 16:16 Well, God started leading me when they were young to ask 16:18 their forgiveness. If I got irritated or impatient with 16:21 them, and I would think, well I can't do that because what 16:24 they did was wrong and they'll think it is okay what they did. 16:27 But God said, "No, I don't want my children treated like that. " 16:30 So I started going to them and saying that and saying, "Will 16:33 you forgive me. Jesus doesn't want you treated like that. 16:36 Will you pray for Mommy to be a better Mom. All that has done 16:40 has kept us close. Through every stage in their life, you 16:44 know they want me to pray for them and it kept us close and 16:47 and able to communicate. 16:48 We cannot go wrong in obeying God's word, 16:51 Have you with your own... I know you've got so many 16:54 stories on intercessory prayer about children, but with your 16:58 own children, is there anything that kind of stands out in your 17:01 mind that you were praying for them for something? 17:03 One of the things: I was beside myself, you know. What to for 17:07 Zach, because I wanted so much for him to have a heart for God 17:11 I knew that he loved God and accepted Him there wasn't 17:15 that passion. I started asking God, "What do I need to do 17:19 different and how should I pray?" and God would give me 17:22 scriptures, but the thing that happened one day was, Zach 17:25 pointed out to me was "Mom, I really don't appreciate your 17:29 or Dad's lecture prayers. I'm going, lecture prayers! What is 17:33 is he talking about. Then I realized what he was talking 17:36 about was before we would go out the door in the morning, "Lord, 17:39 help Zach not to tailgate, help Zach not to speed, help Zach 17:43 not to get another ticket, help Zach not to have a car... you 17:45 know, these kinds of things and he was taking it as our 17:49 lecturing him, which maybe it was. I didn't think it about 17:52 it at the time. (Manipulation 17:58 prayers.) I started asking God, how do I pray for him without 18:01 it coming across as a lecture? As I kept asking God about this, 18:03 God said pray prayers of blessing on him. Now I don't 18:07 hear God saying things. It is just impressions. I want to 18:12 stress that because so many people say well I don't hear 18:15 speaking. I'm convinced God's yelling at us and we are not 18:18 listening, he really is and we're not believing 18:22 it's Him. But he said, pray prayers of blessing on him and 18:25 just that. So I started doing that. I started hunting in my 18:28 Bible what I could bless Zach with. Then before he would 18:30 leave or at night before he'd go to bed, I'd start praying 18:33 prayers of blessings on his life and you know what 18:36 happened? This kid, instead of rushing out the door would 18:40 linger at the door waiting for us to pray for him. It made 18:44 such a difference. I don't know if you have read Roger Morneau's 18:46 books, Incredible Answers to Prayer and then he got so much 18:50 response from that he wrote More Incredible... and then a 18:53 third on, When You Need Incredible... But in the 18:55 last chapter of that book he talks about this couple who 18:59 said our son never calls us, he never comes to see us, you 19:02 know, he's an adult, and he doesn't want to have anything 19:06 to do with God and Roger told them, he said, the next time 19:08 your son does call, do not talk about God, do not talk about 19:12 religion, but be happy and ask him about his life. Listen to 19:15 him and talk to him, don't lecture him, don't scold him, 19:17 don't criticize or make digs at him about the way he is living 19:20 his life. Just love him and try to find something about his life 19:28 kid who only called about every six month-I shouldn't say kid, 19:31 he was an adult-started calling more often. Pretty soon he came 19:35 to visit, pretty soon he came back home, pretty he started 19:37 coming back to church and to God. 19:39 Praise the Lord. What is it about it that we think sometimes 19:43 that we are the ones that are in the cleaning up business. We're 19:47 the fishers of men. Jesus is the one who is going to clean 19:51 them up ourselves. 19:52 I so often try to be the Holy Spirit instead of asking the 19:55 the Holy Spirit to give me life for others by praying and 19:58 waiting and trying to figure out how I can be different. I'm a 20:02 fixer so I like to rush out and try to do His work for Him, but 20:05 I have discovered that the Holy Spirit is very able to do it if 20:06 will pray, claim his promises, wait and stay out of it. 20:10 You know, I'm a fixer, too, and I think... That's one thing 20:14 before I married, I prayed so hard and said Lord me a 20:18 scriptural wife and show me what that means to be, and the 20:22 Lord showed me that I couldn't be my husband's god and that had 20:25 to be... You know, I prayed so hard and said, Lord, just 20:28 put a guard at the doorpost of my lips and don't let me speak 20:33 out of turn. Boy! I'll tell what, I sure did bite my inside 20:39 of my cheek a whole lot that first year or two. And the 20:43 Lord showed me that the only time God really allowed me to 20:45 speak the word into my husband's life, other than praying it over 20:52 him, was when J.D. asked me a question and then God gave me 20:55 permission, but other than that every time I would start to say 20:58 now this doesn't agree with the word of God, God would just, 21:02 shush, shut it down. So there is really something to that. I 21:05 have to add this: Did you know that our first year of marriage 21:08 J.D. came home one day and I was all upset trying to do our 21:12 budget and he said, I did not think that was the way the 21:16 system worked. And I said, what do you mean? And he said, well 21:18 you're always running' around here talking about 21:20 walking by faith and not by sight. Now I had never said 21:23 that to him. Now I don't know if he heard me counseling with 21:25 someone over the phone or if it was he just heard me say 21:30 it, but he had seen me model it and now, I mean, I realize that, 21:36 you know the scripture in Peter that says that you witness to 21:38 your husband by your gentle spirit, which is of good value 21:42 to the Lord. I realized that that really was working. 21:46 Hmm. Well, that's good. The other thing, too, is we have a 21:50 lot of prayer partners that have prayed for our son and 21:54 there is something about, as we've talked earlier, united 21:59 prayer. There is a power un- leashed there that we will not 22:03 experience alone and I am so grateful to prayer partners who 22:06 have taken it on to pray for our kids. That is why I love 22:09 Central California because so many have prayed for our family, 22:12 for our kids. 22:13 You got a bunch of praying people out there. 22:15 We do and it isn't us, they were praying when we got there 22:19 and it's like there was an excitement that happened 22:21 they realized that we wanted to pray too. We all started 22:24 joining together praying. But you know, people say California! 22:26 Nothing good comes out of California. I'm telling you, 22:29 we've got some beautiful, praying people there. But it 22:32 gives me a passion now to pray for their kids, to claim God's 22:35 word for them. And you know we met as a prayer group and we've 22:38 prayed I know for this one girl for years and really you know in 22:42 our mind we thought, is anything ever going to happen? 22:47 Dramatically, just nine months or so ago, this girl 22:49 has had a major turn-around. We say her go really getting 22:55 bad. But over and over, if we will keep pressing it to his 22:58 throne, in thanksgiving, in praise, walking by faith. Pray 23:04 in scripture. You can pray all kinds of scriptures 23:05 into people's lives. 23:06 I don't know if you have heard of Virginia Collins? 23:09 She's a prayer warrior down in Florida. She prays for us. She 23:12 is praying right now for our audience, but she 23:15 has taught me to take Genesis, take the story of Joseph, take 23:18 Daniel, pray those in your kids lives. I have a son that is 23:22 starting law school this fall. He's fought it for several 23:26 years to do it, but he feels like God is compelling him to go 23:29 the law school, and it's a whole matter of prayer. But I'm 23:33 taking the book of Daniel and praying the book of Daniel into 23:36 his life. 23:38 Just to reemphasize though some- thing Janet has been saying, 23:40 she does this so much better than I do, but asking God what 23:43 is it you want me to pray about and letting him indict the 23:46 prayers out of us. In Romans 8:26, Shelley, it says, 23:49 "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. 23:51 For we do not know what we should pray for 23:53 as we ought, but the Spirit Himself 23:55 makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be 23:58 uttered. " I have always thought well then the Holy Spirit is 24:00 praying for me. But Jesus is praying for me and really 24:05 He does do that at times, but I like what Ellen White says 24:08 commenting on that. She says, "We must not only pray in 24:10 Christ's name, but in the inspi- ration of the Holy Spirit. This 24:13 explains what is meant when it is said that the Spirit makes 24:16 intercession for us with groan- ings. Such prayer God delights 24:21 to answer. When with earnest- ness and intensity we breathe a 24:23 prayer in the name of Christ, there is in that very intensity 24:26 a pledge that God is about to perform mighty things 24:30 exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think. 24:32 So I think God knows what he is doing. We need to join him in 24:36 his work and we need to say, God, what are you doing? 24:38 How can I pray and help some way in the great controversy 24:40 with what you need to do what you plan to do, instead of just 24:44 here's what I want, God. 24:45 You know, what you just said reminds me of the scripture 24:49 that talks about Jesus only spoke what the Father wanted Him 24:52 to speak, he said he only did what the Father wanted him to 24:56 do. So Jesus when he was praying he was looking for what God was 24:59 was doing and saying Lord join me to your work, show me how I 25:02 can be a benefit of this. So many times, what we are doing is 25:06 we are trying to direct God and tell him this is what we want 25:10 done when God's got a better plan. 25:11 The neat thing in Zach's life, we were praying for him so much 25:14 but come to find out for a year he had been praying every 25:17 morning, Lord, you know I am a loyal person. I'm not going to 25:19 break up with this girl. I'm probably going to marry her. 25:22 If you don't want that, you break us up. 25:24 So for a year every morning he had been praying what we 25:27 thought was beyond reach. It was God that indicted that out of 25:30 him. The other thing he had been doing is every morning he would 25:33 read 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. He would read that 25:36 every day when he suddenly realized months later he had it 25:40 memorized. But it changed his life.. 25:42 Ah, that's beautiful, beautiful. 25:43 The word. One of things he says is Mom, sometimes when I read 25:47 God's word, I don't feel like I'm getting a lot out of it. 25:49 He says but I have such a peace come over me and such a sense of 25:53 God's love when I read his word. 25:54 That's wonderful. We've got about a minute left in this 25:58 program. What would you tell a parent out there who doesn't 26:02 know how to pray for their children? Where do they start? 26:06 With God. To pray and ask God, how do I pray for my child. 26:10 Lord is there anything about my life that you want to change 26:15 or that I need to ask forgiveness for with my kid. 26:17 And ask God what scriptures... 26:18 Lord, how do I pray scriptures into his 26:21 life. But go to God. Start there.. 26:25 And just do it. I think, you know, the danger of these 26:28 these programs is that we might think that we got to do 26:31 everything a certain way. The important thing is to call on 26:33 the name of the Lord and he will answer and show you great and 26:35 mighty things you know. 26:36 Exactly, and that's what it's all about, is calling on the 26:39 name of the Lord. I can't believe how rapidly our time 26:42 passes. When you are here it just seems like we sit down 26:45 and the next thing I know I look at the clock and it's 26:48 already gone. Janet, thank you so much for what you shared 26:53 today and Jerry, you too. You will come back?. 26:57 All right. Thank you all so much. Here is a scripture that 27:00 I want to share with you to pray for your children. It's 27:02 something that I often pray for those I love and it comes from 27:06 Zechariah chapter two and verse five. 27:09 God says that he will be a wall of fire around us, well let me 27:14 read it. "For I,' says the Lord, 'will be a wall of fire round 27:19 about and I will be the glory in the midst of her. " 27:22 Pray that God will be a wall of fire around your children. 27:26 Pray that he will be the glory in their midst, so that they 27:30 will learn to reflect the character of God. That is a 27:33 wonderful thing to pray for your children. You can't go wrong 27:36 there. We prayed for you that this program will be something 27:40 that you put into practice. 27:41 Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the 27:45 Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you 27:49 throughout the rest of this day, the rest of this week, the rest 27:53 rest of your life. Thank you. |
Revised 2014-12-17