Compiled by Deb del Villar
A Grandparent’s Faith Can Influence Generations to Come
As grandparents, we naturally begin to think about the legacy we will leave behind. My husband often reminds me that legacy is not primarily the stuff we leave behind. It is the faith we impart to those we love. So what does an imparted faith look like? How can a grandparent live in such a way that their faith continues to influence generations to come?
As a lifelong lover of God’s creation, I never seek to be amazed at what God teaches us through His creation. Vega is one of the brightest stars in our night sky and one of the three stars that make up the Summer Triangle. Because Vega is about 25 light-years away, the light we see tonight began its journey to us about 25 years ago. When we look at Vega, we are seeing light from the past. Other stars like Sirius are 8.6 light years away so we see its light 8.6 years after it was transmitted. Even sunlight is just over 8 minutes old when we first see it. Mind boggling! So maybe you are wondering what that has to do with grandparenting.
I desire to be a grandparent whose faith continues to shine into the lives of my grandchildren and even my grandchildren’s grandchildren long after I am gone. Not because of anything remarkable in me, but because God’s truth has taken root in their hearts. As grandparents, let’s think generationally with a heart for eternity. One way we can do that is to shine brightly on the eternal promises of God. God’s promises never fail. They do not fade with time or become less true from one generation to the next. They are eternal.
How Grandparents Can Pass God’s Promises to Their Grandchildren
We can share the promises of God in a variety of ways. We can read Scripture together, talk about what we read, pray His promises, and share how His promises have sustained us. Another great way is through reading and sharing of inspiring books. This post highlights three helpful books that our Legacy Coalition staff and friends recently read. May they be a source of blessing to you and whet your appetite to share God’s promises through thought provoking books.
Practice Thankfulness
by Sue Patterson
Sue Patterson, Global Partner Support and Prayer Warrior, imparted five blessings of practicing thankfulness she gleaned from Practicing Thankfulness, Cultivating a Grateful Heart in All Circumstances by Sam Crabtree. Gratitude is certainly a characteristic we want to cultivate in our grandchildren. Sue’s five key takeaways are, Thankfulness:
- Honors God
- Liberates us from envy. Helps develop a grateful heart
- Produces joyful happiness
- Leads to repentance
- Can contribute to restoration and healing in relationships
What a great list to encourage not only ourselves but our grandchildren with. As we follow God’s Word, we experience the goodness of His ways and learn to trust Him more deeply. God calls us to follow His Word and trust Him with the results.
A comparison of gratitude with ingratitude shows that doing things God’s way restores relationships, bringing a decrease in stress while producing peace and joy. Gratitude creates a heart that seeks to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. Ingratitude leads to a heart of bitterness and selfishness, often destroying relationships. Sue encourages us to “Never be so focused on what you are looking for that you miss what you actually find.” [Ann Patchett] Sue ends with a prayer:
Heavenly Father, Thank you for the gift of gratitude that steadies my heart and fills my soul with peace. Help me to repent of my envy, bitterness, and ingratitude. Create in me a cheerful and thankful spirit. Let my words bring healing and restore relationships to my children and grandchildren. Let my heart remain open to the Holy Spirit- producing love, joy, peace, and obedience. May my thankfulness cultivate a grateful heart in me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
A Simple Question to Ask Your Grandchildren
What is one thing you are thankful for today?
Practice Prayer
by Tina Bradford
Tina Bradford, Staff Prayer, shared her golden nuggets of encouragement from the classic book on prayer- With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray. Her five golden nuggets on prayer:
- Foundational: There is nothing we need to study and practice more than the art of prayer. Prayer is the highest part of the work entrusted to us – the root and strength of all other work.
- Faith Building communication: God gives to His children a powerful influence through prayer. Murray emphasizes the extraordinary privilege and influence God gives His children through prayer. As the Author of our lives and faith, Jesus draws us to pray in unison with Him.
- Fellowship: Prayer is fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One.
- Formative: Jesus will teach us as we meditate on His model prayer, “Our Father…”
- Focused: Jesus asks His disciples to pray for God the Father to send forth more laborers into the Harvest. “I say unto you… he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.” (Luke 11:8)
Tina ends with praying: “Lord, breathe Your Spirit into all Your children. Let them learn to live only for the kingdom and glory of their Lord and become fully awake to the faith in what their prayer can accomplish. And let our hearts be filled with the assurance that prayer offered in living faith in the living God will bring certain and abundant answers. Amen.”
What Can Grandparents Pray for Their Grandchildren?
Consider what promise from Scripture you can pray alone and together with your grandchildren?
Practice Praying God’s Promises for the Next Generation
by Harvey Eng
Harvey Eng, friend of Legacy Coalition, read A Watchman’s Guide to Praying God’s Promises by Dick Eastman. Harvey shared his thoughts .
During my college years, I carried a pocket-sized booklet filled with God’s promises. It was a manual for a life I was just beginning to navigate. Today, that little book is misplaced somewhere in a stack of boxes—unintentionally forgotten along with the version of myself that first read it.
As a grandparent, I’ve realized that the promises of God have moved from the pages of a booklet to the soil of my life. They are no longer just ‘reassurances’ for my own peace of mind; they have become the very ground I stand on as I look out for the next generation.
Stand Watch in Prayer
I’ve found myself transitioning from a student of promises to a watchman on the walls.
In this post, I want to take you through my ‘watch and pray’ experience. This isn’t about a Watchtower perspective, but about the gritty, beautiful reality of the watchman described in Isaiah 62:6: On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest.
Bring Your Grandchildren’s Needs Before God
I’m learning that being a watchman means faithfully bringing the needs of the next generation before God and trusting Him with the outcome.
Let me share with you the journey as seen through the quiet unfolding of the landscape. I actually found this landscape through a digital screen. Reading online isn’t usually my cup of tea, but this has been an unexpected adventure. As someone who isn’t tech-savvy, I found a surprising ease in enlarging the print and navigating the pages to compose my own prayer entries. Yet, the real shift was internal; unlike other books on the promises of God, this journey became a quiet opening of my eyes. From the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the introduction to the 31-day framework that maps out the spheres of influence and the needs of the nations, the path became clear. I loved how it shifted my focus; it wasn’t just about my own life anymore, but about the fabric of our society and a global perspective.
Don’t miss the wisdom on page 12: ‘Don’t become a “slave” to the system but let the system become a “servant” to your prayer watch.‘ Far from being a rigid list, this book is an impactful tool because of its sheer variety. It helps you pray with authority over situations you might not face daily but that God deeply cares about—topics as diverse as Healthcare and the Homeless to the Military and the Disabled. I was particularly moved by the section on the homeless (p. 189). It’s anchored by 1 Samuel 2:7-8, reminding us that God ‘raises the poor from the dust.‘ But Eastman goes beyond just listing verses like Ps. 12:4-6 or Isa. 16:3-5; he actually models how to pray them.
- The Scripture: ‘Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail… who is lord over us?“‘ (Ps. 12:4)
- The Prayer: ‘Father, I pray specifically for those who are homeless because they suffer from disabilities, addictions, or mental illness. I ask for healing and deliverance…‘
Trust God With the Outcome
This format makes it easy to move from reading God’s promises to praying them back to Him and trusting Him with the outcome.
If you’re looking to move from “I don’t know what to say” to “I know what God has promised,” this book will be instrumental for your prayer life. Think through what are you asking God to do in your family?
Think Generationally With a Heart for Eternity
Hopefully these short book reviews bolstered your faith in God’s promises as well as being food for thought as you seek to be an intergenerational disciple whose light shines well into the future. Even more importantly, may the light of God’s promises lead and light the way as your grandchildren’s grandchildren follow Him!
Frequently Asked Questions About Passing Faith to Grandchildren
How can grandparents pass their faith to their grandchildren?
Grandparents can pass their faith to their grandchildren by intentionally sharing Scripture, praying together, talking about God’s faithfulness, modeling a life of faith, and looking for everyday opportunities to point grandchildren toward Jesus.
How can grandparents create a spiritual legacy?
Grandparents create a spiritual legacy by faithfully living out their relationship with Christ and intentionally investing in their grandchildren’s faith. This can include praying for them, sharing biblical truth, telling stories of God’s faithfulness, and encouraging them to follow Jesus.
What can grandparents pray for their grandchildren?
Grandparents can pray that their grandchildren will know and love Jesus, understand God’s Word, grow in wisdom and character, make choices that honor God, and develop a lifelong faith. Grandparents can also pray Scripture and God’s promises over their grandchildren while trusting God with the outcome.
How can grandparents teach grandchildren about God’s promises?
Grandparents can teach God’s promises by reading Scripture together, discussing what the Bible says, sharing personal stories of God’s faithfulness, memorizing Scripture, and praying God’s Word together.
Why is prayer important in Christian grandparenting?
Prayer allows grandparents to bring their grandchildren before God and trust Him with their lives, decisions, challenges, and faith. Prayer is also an opportunity to model dependence on God and teach grandchildren that they can bring everything to Him.
What does intentional Christian grandparenting mean?
Intentional Christian grandparenting means purposefully using the opportunities God provides to influence grandchildren toward a relationship with Jesus Christ. It involves more than being present. It means praying, modeling faith, sharing biblical truth, building relationships, and looking for opportunities to disciple the next generation.
