Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children by Jodie Berndt

Author:Jodie Berndt
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2017-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

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Prayer Principle

Praying for your grandchildren strengthens your relationship with your children and their spouses.

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In addition to supporting their children with prayer, Susan and John also offer a tangible gift of time. Once a grandchild reaches the age of four, he or she is invited to participate in the annual “Cousins Camp” they host each summer.

Cousins Camp builds family relationships through fun and games (anything goes, from laid-back picnics and fishing trips to heated guacamole-making contests and a race through a giant obstacle course). It also gives Susan and John a window into where their grandchildren are, spiritually. “The thing we prayed most for our kids, and now for our grandkids, is that they would come to Christ at a young age,” Susan said, “and that they would fall in love with God’s Word. The Bible is the only authority and source of wisdom that will never change. Our culture will change; families will change; and parents and grandparents won’t always be around to provide direction or stability in a child’s life. We want our grandchildren to learn to depend on God’s Word as their source of security, instruction, and joy.”

To help facilitate this connection, Susan and John give each camper a journal. Tucked inside the back cover is a letter from “Ghee” and “Poppy.” In addition to affirming a child’s identity and sense of belonging with promises like Psalm 139:14 (“you are wonderfully made”) and Hebrews 13:5 (“God will never leave you or forsake you”), the letter offers a simple explanation of salvation: “Going to heaven isn’t dependent on being good enough to deserve it,” Ghee and Poppy write. “No one is good enough to deserve heaven. This is a gift to those who have accepted that Christ died for their sins.”

Susan and John’s note also includes some key verses about salvation (e.g., 1 John 1:9; John 1:12; John 3:16), but I think my favorite part of their letter is a paragraph that comes near the end, one that points the children beyond the boundaries of Cousins Camp and into the wider family of Christ:

You not only have a big family of cousins who love you and love Jesus, but a great, large family of older brothers and sisters in Christ who will help you grow up in Him. Just as all of us go through different physical growth stages, you will go through different stages in your spiritual growth. It’s so important to have friends to whom you can go with your spiritual questions. There is no question or doubt or feeling that is silly or insignificant. And it really helps to have others who have “been there” to guide you on the way! You can always ask an older Christian any questions you have. They will be glad to help you.

I love this paragraph for several reasons. First, I like the way that Susan and John point their grandchildren toward older believers. At Cousins Camp, the young initiates have the opportunity to partner with

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