Your Prayers Outlive Your Life

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20-21

“Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them.” E.M. Bounds

Your Prayers Outlive Your Life

I struggled with my weight as a teenager. Over time, I decided to slowly start exercising. This simple habit helped me want to eat a little better and maintain a healthier body weight. But then we had kids, and I found out how hard it was to maintain a habit of exercise as a new mom! Getting the kids out the door to the gym was impossible, so we purchased a cheap treadmill. I decided I could get my workout in first thing in the morning before the kids got up. In the beginning, running on the treadmill was great, but then I began to get bored. It became harder and harder to motivate myself to get up and run.

During this season, I discovered what is now one of my favorite movies, The Gospel of John. I began watching it as I ran, and this routine not only kept me exercising, but God used those little treadmill sessions to change my life. In the movie, the characters only speak word-for-word Scripture, so it helped me understand Jesus better by allowing me to visualize what was happening in the book of John and how Jesus lived His life on the earth. I was hooked on this video and couldn’t get enough of it! Since I didn’t go to church as a kid, I had no idea who Jesus was. God really used this workout time to help me grow in intimacy with Jesus.

I love the scene in the movie where Jesus prayed for His disciples and for all the believers who were to become Christians from their message. As I watched, I began to realize that Jesus was praying for me and the entire body of believers to be one, as He and the Father are one. This prayer that Jesus prayed more than two thousand years ago is still being answered today and will keep being answered in the lives of other believers until He comes back to the earth. I was so excited because it became clear to me that our prayers keep going too. Since God is outside of time and can answer our prayers at any moment or any year, our prayers are timeless!

Let’s think about this for a second. Our prayers reach further and are more powerful than we could ever understand on this side of heaven. I love how E.M. Bounds, a Civil War army chaplain who was known for praying for four hours each day, put it:

“How vast are the possibilities of prayer! How wide is its reach! What great things are accomplished by this divinely appointed means of grace! It lays its hand on Almighty God and moves him to do what he would not otherwise do if prayer was not offered. It brings things to pass which would never otherwise occur. The story of prayer is the story of great achievements. Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of his saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results. Prayer reaches to everything, takes in all things great and small which are promised by God to the children of men. The only limit to prayer are the promises of God and his ability to fulfill those promises. “Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.”

E.M. Bounds had a great understanding of the power of prayer. Our prayers move heaven and achieve unusual results. I love the fact that our prayers are timeless.

When we pray, we are sending a message forward to a time we will not see! Our prayers transcend time and keep going, even for our great-great-grandchildren and beyond.

Think about it: We can pray now for those in our lineage to know Christ and to serve Him with their whole heart. This is really good news, especially if you’re like me and weren’t raised in a Christian home, because you can pray and have a completely different family lineage. God makes all the difference in our lives and brings lasting change. So take the box off of God and pray big prayers!

Question to ponder

  • What is your greatest desire for all of your descendants? Write this one powerful prayer in your journal.

Faith- Filled Idea

  • My prayer binder has meant the world to me over the years, and I still refer to it often. It’s a great place to keep the prayers
    you want to pray regularly over your family at your fingertips. You can also go to https://helpclubformoms.com/how
    -to-make-a-prayer-binder/   for more detailed instructions and examples of my personal prayers for my husband and kids from years ago. Making a prayer binder and praying for your family regularly is worth the time and effort, and it will change your life and the life of your family.

 

**Today’s devotional comes from The Help Club for Moms Book. You can find it on Amazon HERE!

 

 

image

“Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them.” -E.M. Bounds

 

Click HERE to check out The Help Club for Moms Book on Amazon!

Deb Weakly

4 Comments on “Your Prayers Outlive Your Life”

  1. This is so great!! I personally didn’t think to have a prayer binder, but this has encouraged me to start one. 🙂 I find it so interesting how our prayers last forever. ❤️

  2. Oh this is so good! I just love this topic on prayer! The truth that our prayers are timeless makes me want to pray more. I had a great grandmother who was known for her prayers and also my Grandfather prayed for the generations who would come after him. I want to build a legace of prayer for those in my family who come after me!

    Some of my favorite verses on prayer are Philippians 4:6-7. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

    No matter what it is, we can ask God, and turn it all over to Him. He cares about everything we pray about, even the small stuff!

    1. You are so right Mari Jo! It makes me want to pray more too! I pray that I would build a legacy of prayer for those in my family who come after me as well!

Leave a Reply to Deb Weakly Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.