Acts 2:39 - The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call.
When God gives us something that we can grab hold of & hang on to & believe Him for individually (as in, just for us as His dearly loved child) it's terribly comforting. It's very personal.
When God gives us as His whole body, His whole Church, a promise, that's just plain beautiful.
And when God gives us promises that are generational - as in, for those who ...
Acts 2:39 - The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call.
When God gives us something that we can grab hold of & hang on to & believe Him for individually (as in, just for us as His dearly loved child) it's terribly comforting. It's very personal.
When God gives us as His whole body, His whole Church, a promise, that's just plain beautiful.
And when God gives us promises that are generational - as in, for those who will come after us (specifically our children and our grandchildren and so on) --- well, that is something else entirely!
When you spend time in prayer for your children - which I hope happens every single day - don't fail to utilize and make the most of the promise from this New Testament verse. I want to encourage you to use this verse in your beseeching (and if your prayers aren't exactly "beseeching" the Lord for specific things for your offspring, I guess this is your challenge to make sure they become "beseeching" prayers!). Please be willing to pray God's Word back to Him on behalf of your loved ones. Don't miss this!! It delights Him when His children know His Word and speak His Word in prayer. Praying in this manner reveals that we believe His Word is true. It reveals our faith in Him when we pray His promises in belief.
Ask God to give you specific promises for your children. And be sure to write those promises down where you will see them often and pray them often.
Be sure to put them down in ink, not with a pencil. God's promises are not able to be altered or erased, so don't treat them as if they might be "erase-able" by writing them down with lead rather than with ink, if you get my meaning.
Have you ever met a kid who just sort of keeps on this type of rant: "But you promised! You said you would do that! You said! But you said...!!!"
Believe it or not, we need to behave a bit more like this in our prayer lives and a whole lot less timidly. (God's Word tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in our time of need --- check out Episode #1 of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show to hear more about that verse from the book of Hebrews).
We need to become more importunate in our praying.
Let's look at these words from Jesus when He taught His disciples about prayer:
Luke 11:5-10 (NLT) - Then, teaching them more about prayer, He used this story: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 'A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.' And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, 'Don't bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can't help you.' But I tell you this - thought he won't do it for friendship's sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you as for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."
Luke 18:1-8 (NLT) - One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. "There was a judge in a certain city," He said, "who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying 'Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.' The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, 'I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!' " Then the Lord said, "Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?"
Definition of IMPORTUNITY: persistence, especially to the point of annoyance --- shamelessness --- lack of modesty --- urgent request
In the King James Version, Luke 11:8 uses the word IMPORTUNITY where the NLT uses the phrase "shameless persistence".
This is, my friend, how the Lord Jesus TAUGHT His disciples to pray. And it is how He wants us to pray.
*** Quick Side Note for Those Who Do Not Have Children ***
You are a child of God. There is nobody - and I do mean absolutely nobody! - on the outside looking in when it comes to the Kingdom of God. I want you to take it from me - take this from me right now and don't set it down somewhere...take it and hold on to it, please! - You are not an outsider. You are absolutely and insider in God's Kingdom. You matter. Did you hear me? I said, YOU MATTER!!! Having or not having children does not mean you matter more or less - and this podcast episode is a promise for those who don't have children just as much as it is for those who are parents. Remember, you matter! There are no outsiders in God's family. You truly do matter. Ask the Lord to lead you to godly friendships, to places where you will not feel as if you are on the outside looking in, but are on the inside inviting others in to join you. Don't give up hope - pray to the God of all hope to give you a place where you can know you belong and not feel as if you are merely tolerated. Don't resign yourself to staying on the outside and looking in longingly...that is not what Jesus died for. Never forget, you matter!
Now, let's take a look at the remainder of the promise in this verse.
This promise is for all whom the Lord our God will call.
There is a sense of the future tense in this verse. This is for all who will ever be called by the Lord. And we know that He wants everyone, as in all of mankind, to be saved and none to perish, so He is calling out to everyone. We can pray big prayers based on this promise!
Pray God's promises and pray them again tomorrow and then the next day and just do not stop praying!!
God's promises are for you ... & for your family... & for your circle of influence. So pray that way, believe this promise because it is 100% the truth.
And a quick FYI - at the very tail end of July/start of August I am going to be hosting an online prayer retreat. It will take place via a Facebook group and all the prayer sessions will be there to watch & rewatch & members will be able to invite friends to join. And it will be totally, completely free. Stay tuned for more info or follow me on Instagram or Facebook to keep up with updates.
Lots going on the next few weeks - I would love your prayers as I work overtime to get done in about 10 days what normally has about a 3 month runway...it's gonna be wild!
Lord bless you - see you back here next time!
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JanLBurt@outlook.com
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