“We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in the days long ago.” (Psalm 44:1 NIV)
A few days ago I wrote about God’s past performance record: this idea that we could look back and consider His faithfulness in the past and thus depend upon Him for the future. Yesterday, I sat in a minister’s meeting discussing biblical end times prophecy at length, and I was struck all over again by the faithfulness and forethought of our sovereign God.
I wonder, what if we kept a family record? I believe it was my missionary friends who talked about getting a little leather journal and labeling it answered prayers. What if we put that prayer missive on our coffee table, where friends and family could see? What if we faithfully penned our met requests within it’s pages, wouldn’t it fill up over the passing months and and years? I wish we’d written down each and every prayer request whispered between my husband and I in the last hours of each evening. We’ve seen so many appeals met and exceeded by our faithful Father. I wish we’d chronicled His answers: healing, provision, strength, transformation, restoration. I know our ledger would be full by now, maybe even bursting into volumes two and three. Our God is abundantly faithful and we have seen Him move time and time again. How do we tell our children? How do we promote His faithfulness in a way that impacts their hearts and fabricates their own belief?
As parents and Christ-followers, it’s our job to tell. Not just our children, but any potential son and daughter who might listen. We tell the coming generation for their sake, but also for ours. We forget so easily! We lose sight of all the specifics. We fail to recall how the job we hold is an answer to prayer, the roof over our head, the car we drive, the spouse we come home to. We forget about the healing we’ve prayed for, the wayward child who’s found God again, the doctor’s report that came back benign, the happenstance meeting that was truly divine appointment. How many times we do our love ones get back safe, despite deer and storms and drunk drivers? God answers prayers but we suffer soul amnesia. We forget the thousand prayers He has met with grace and provision and healing and peace. When we stop talking with our children about God’s marvelous works, we start taking them for granted. If it weren’t for answered prayer, would any of us even be here today? I’m thinking specifically of a time that Rob and I and our whole church staff were stuck in a failing service elevator dangling hundreds of feet over the Carlsbad Caverns. We lived to tell the tale because God answers prayer!
So keep that journal on the coffee table. Better yet, open your mouth and talk abut the way God often intervenes in your story. Write and tell to prevent the forgetfulness that plagues all flesh. When we misplace what God has done, we deprive Him of glory. And the next generation is stripped of another opportunity to believe in a God who still answers prayers.
“In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever.” (Psalm 44:8 NIV)
Lord, forgive us for our forgetfulness. You are so faithful and we are so easily distracted. Please bring answered prayers to remembrance today. Remind us of the many ways You have intervened and saved all over again. When we recall those provisions, may we open our mouths and make our boast in You. We have seen Your glory in our story, Lord. May we make You famous to the following generation. Amen.
I went ahead and bought the journal. It’ll be here in a week. <3