“Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession to your future descendants.'” (Genesis 48:3)
This is so similar to what God said to Abraham, and then to Isaac.
“And to you [Abraham] and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:8)
“For I will give all these lands to you [Isaac] and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.” (Genesis 26:3)
It was right here, in the book of Genesis, that I learned that God is generational. That in the same way He has been faithful to me, He will be faithful to my children and to their children. I understood, on a much deeper level, that those coming after me could know God, know His goodness and His mercy and His love, just as I had come to know them.
“I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.” (Joshua 1:5)
The revelation of this part of God’s character changed how I prayed for my family. There is a boldness, borne out of confidence in the truth of His Word, that begins to rest on your prayer life when you know that He desires for your children and their children the same thing He desired to do in you.
I believe that if you stopped random people on the street and asked them what they wanted most for their children, the majority of them would say “I want them to be happy.” We all want good things for our children – happiness, good health, good education, financial security, good job, good friends – all the things that will benefit and help them in life.
But most of the things we want for them will not follow them into eternity.
The greatest desire that I have for my children and their children is that they would know God the way I have known Him, and even more. That they would know His faithfulness to them, His goodness toward them, His mercy, grace, love, and the incredible peace that comes from trusting in Him above any other, including themselves. That desire becomes my prayer life for them, because of the revelation that it is the same desire that dwells in His heart.
But, as we pray, we also must obey…
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—” (Dueteronomy 4:9)
We cannot just let our Sundays at church, our kindness to others, or our prayers over our food be the extent of our children’s vision of God. Those are things they see us do, but unless we tell them, they will not know the things God has done. We must testify to our children so that they can know that He is faithful, even before they have seen it in their own lives.
Tell them that His covenant with you is also for them.
Karla Jo Wasion 