Promised Blessings

Lillian Penner

“. . . , I, the LORD YOUR God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the father to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:6

Do you want God to bless your children, grandchildren, and future descendents? I invite you to consider what you can do to ensure that God will bless our families.

God told Moses that He would show His love to a thousand generations, to those who love Him and keep His commandments. However, there are prerequisites we must fulfill if we want God to show His love to our future generations

In Isaiah 44:3 God told the Israelites, “I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendents.” God has given us a powerful resource in the avenue of prayer. The seeds of prayer we plant today will yield a harvest of blessing in the future. We can aggressively pray for godly seed to come from our children, grandchildren, and future generations. Our prayers can bring God’s power and blessing to the lives of our grandchildren and future generations.

In her book, When Mother’s Pray, Cheri Fuller (1997) writes,

Our prayers make a highway for God to come and bring His salvation and intervention…Prayer isn’t a secondary thing; it’s the most important thing we can do for our grandchildren and ourselves, and it will dispense the most blessings. If all we do as grandparents flows out of the fountain of prayer, we will experience grace, joy, and rest in the heart of the Father. It doesn’t mean we won’t have difficulties, but we will be able to face them with more energy and confidence.

Cheri Fuller, When Mothers Pray (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishing, 1997) 20, 22

However, in addition to prayer our part is to love and obey God, the Holy Spirit still promises He will pour out His blessings on our descendents. Let’s demonstrate to our grandchildren that when we love and obey God He is always there for us.

Some challenging questions we can ask ourselves are: 

• Do I realize that my walk with God will affect my future generations? 

• Am I praying that my grandchildren and future descendents will love God and walk with Him on their journey of life? 

• In what ways am I allowing my future generations to see authenticity in my life? 

• Do I realize the importance of my prayers for my grandchildren and future descendents?

Check out “Suggestions to Pray for your Grandchildren” in the “Prayer” link of this website posted weekly. I would love to hear your comments and suggestions.

Email me at lpenner@christiangrandparenting.net

© 2008 Lillian Penner
March 3, 2008

Lillian Ann Penner is a retired secretary from public high school in Bakersfield, CA. She and her husband, John, have been married 48 years and currently reside in Portland, OR.  They have three married sons and nine grandchildren.

Lillian has been active in church ministry for 45 years, and has led a "Heart to Heart" mentoring program for women, participated in a short term missions trip in Ukraine, volunteered at the Northwest Regional office of Wycliffe Translators, Jose Zayas Evangelistic Association, and Focus On the Family. Currently, she teaches a women's Bible study in her home church.