The stores are already displaying Christmas decorations and stocking their shelves with an abundance of every imaginable toy and gadget. As you walk down the aisles, you can almost hear the toys and gadgets calling out: You really want this. You need this. You deserve this. This is what will make you happy! Our children and grandchildren are no more immune to the lure of new and exciting things than we are.
As a child, I received many wonderful Christmas gifts. I’m sure they brought me some level of enjoyment. But, interestingly enough, I cannot recall what these gifts were in any great detail. They have all dimmed from my memory. They were fleeting treasures that succumbed to the passage of time, indifference, boredom, wear and tear, and more.
Knowing this reality does not mean I am opposed to giving material gifts to my children and grandchildren this Christmas. But, more than all the wonderful gifts of this world, I want to give them something much more valuable that can serve as a means toward their everlasting joy.
What is this gift I want to give them? A treasury of prayers. Joel Beeke helps explain why:
The salvation of our children is priceless; their spiritual needs far outweigh their physical needs. They need our prayers—our earnest prayers with hearts aflame, both for their initial repentance and coming to Christ by faith, and for their life of ongoing growth in faith. Matthew Henry rightly declared that it is of far more value for parents who die to leave behind a treasury of prayers for their children than it is to leave behind a treasury of silver and gold.
(“Praying for Our Children’s Salvation,” ligonier.org)
I want to give them prayers that earnestly and continually call upon our sovereign, good, loving, and almighty heavenly Father to bring about the miracle of salvation in our children and grandchildren, and the children in our churches, neighborhoods, and throughout the world. Prayers that they will be joyful and faithful followers of Jesus. Prayers that they will be equipped for every good work. Prayers that they would love the surpassing worth of Christ more than anything the world has to offer. Prayers that they will proclaim the excellencies of Christ all their days, all for the glory of God.
This Christmas season, we would love to have thousands of you join us in concerted prayer for the faith of the next generations. Pastor David Michael has a special challenge to set before us:
…to see what God might be pleased to do
if 10,000 or more people invest time at least once a week to
pray a big, bold, biblical prayer from their hearts for the next generation.
Imagine this: thousands of parents, grandparents, and others leaving a priceless legacy of prayers for the faith of the next generation. Prayers that, by God’s sovereign will and grace, will serve their eternal joy—a joy that far surpasses any pleasures of this world!
Visit Truth78.org/prayer to download a free digital version of the new book Big, Bold, Biblical Prayers for the Next Generation and to join a community of people committed to praying for the next generation.
