A Legacy of Prayers
By Shelly Thompson
Sitting on the steps of this little country church my grandmother attended…I remembered the many times she brought me here and shared her stories with me. Now...it was my turn to share with my own grandlittle…overwhelmed with gratitude, and humbled before God, I told her about the Godly legacy surrounding her…those who were here before...her great cloud of witnesses who were cheering her on...even though she didn’t know them yet. One day…she would. As I sat on those stairs surrounded by generations of unseen Godly family members…I knew God was answering my grandmother’s prayers, and the prayers before her prayers, and the prayers before those prayers…a spiritual blanket of a legacy of prayers from long ago completely encircled and covered us as we sat on the stairs. From generation to generation…our prayers outlive us. We will die, but our prayers are very much still alive as God honors the prayers whispered at His throne.
My grandmother’s prayers were voiced when she was living and found written in her Bible after she died in 2004. She was a prayer warrior who left behind a prayer record showing how beautifully God continued to answer her legacy prayers. Prayer is our best weapon against the enemy and his brutal and planned attacks on those we love. Sometimes…we watch…we wait…we believe…that our whispers of prayer gently landing at the throne with our tears will produce the BUT GOD moment we are asking for…begging for…pleading for. During her lifetime, my grandmother experienced those moments and she realized her legacy would know those moments too…and she might not be here…so she covered her legacy circle with prayer…and more prayer…and more prayer…until God called her home. She left behind a beautifully whispered unseen blanket of prayer covering her legacy.
My grandmother is part of my large cloud of witnesses…Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us. Hebrews 12:1 Holman Christian Standard Bible. How beautiful…when my heart pictures my grandmother, in heaven with Jesus, her first love, and he’s sharing with her glimpses of what doors her prayers opened for her legacy. She sees the battles…she sees the race…the endurance it requires…the joys and struggles…but she’s cheering loudly! She’s a member of the heavenly cheering section watching the steps of her legacy from the view of heaven’s perfect seat. She isn’t sad when she sees things going wrong, because she knows the BUT GOD moment will arrive at exactly the right time. The ending is still be written by God’s pen. She instilled in her legacy to never give up on prayer…to pray without ceasing…regardless of seasons of peace or storms of difficulty…prayer is the most important privilege we are granted. It is also our most powerful weapon. It outlives us…it surpasses whatever we ask for…it reveals God’s heart…
…it covers us like a blanket of protection from heaven. And nobody…nobody…can ever remove it. Heartfelt prayers are sacred to God. Those who have joined Him in the clouds know that…we should too.
Are we placing the sacred covering of prayer around our legacy? Are we creating the sacred blanket square by square…prayer by prayer…that will outlast us? Not just for those we know now, but the generations that we will not meet here. Prayers are not limited by our knowledge, or our time on earth…prayers solely rely on God’s knowledge and authority throughout eternity. Jesus joins with us as our great intercessor, making our prayers even more beautiful before God. God is waiting at the throne of heaven…for us to give Him our heartfelt prayers. Imagine the God of the universe…waiting…for whispered words of prayer…your great cloud of witnesses cheering you on like thunder claps from the bleachers of heaven…
I want to look down from heaven one day as part of the great cloud and see my prayer requests answered as God reveals His perfect plans…for those I know now…and the legacy I will welcome to heaven later…
I know my prayers reach heaven…His holy dwelling place and He hears me…The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place. 2 Chronicles 30:27
Because He loves me…
I trust Him to write my perfect life story and the stories of my legacy that I will cover…like my Grandma and those before me…with the unmovable blanket of prayer…square by square…prayer by prayer…
Shelly Thompson
Publisher, The Notebook Café
**If this uplifted and encouraged you, you may enjoy Shelly's last book, 'Heart of a Warrior' A Legacy of Faith. Click here for more information!
By Shelly Thompson
Sitting on the steps of this little country church my grandmother attended…I remembered the many times she brought me here and shared her stories with me. Now...it was my turn to share with my own grandlittle…overwhelmed with gratitude, and humbled before God, I told her about the Godly legacy surrounding her…those who were here before...her great cloud of witnesses who were cheering her on...even though she didn’t know them yet. One day…she would. As I sat on those stairs surrounded by generations of unseen Godly family members…I knew God was answering my grandmother’s prayers, and the prayers before her prayers, and the prayers before those prayers…a spiritual blanket of a legacy of prayers from long ago completely encircled and covered us as we sat on the stairs. From generation to generation…our prayers outlive us. We will die, but our prayers are very much still alive as God honors the prayers whispered at His throne.
My grandmother’s prayers were voiced when she was living and found written in her Bible after she died in 2004. She was a prayer warrior who left behind a prayer record showing how beautifully God continued to answer her legacy prayers. Prayer is our best weapon against the enemy and his brutal and planned attacks on those we love. Sometimes…we watch…we wait…we believe…that our whispers of prayer gently landing at the throne with our tears will produce the BUT GOD moment we are asking for…begging for…pleading for. During her lifetime, my grandmother experienced those moments and she realized her legacy would know those moments too…and she might not be here…so she covered her legacy circle with prayer…and more prayer…and more prayer…until God called her home. She left behind a beautifully whispered unseen blanket of prayer covering her legacy.
My grandmother is part of my large cloud of witnesses…Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us. Hebrews 12:1 Holman Christian Standard Bible. How beautiful…when my heart pictures my grandmother, in heaven with Jesus, her first love, and he’s sharing with her glimpses of what doors her prayers opened for her legacy. She sees the battles…she sees the race…the endurance it requires…the joys and struggles…but she’s cheering loudly! She’s a member of the heavenly cheering section watching the steps of her legacy from the view of heaven’s perfect seat. She isn’t sad when she sees things going wrong, because she knows the BUT GOD moment will arrive at exactly the right time. The ending is still be written by God’s pen. She instilled in her legacy to never give up on prayer…to pray without ceasing…regardless of seasons of peace or storms of difficulty…prayer is the most important privilege we are granted. It is also our most powerful weapon. It outlives us…it surpasses whatever we ask for…it reveals God’s heart…
…it covers us like a blanket of protection from heaven. And nobody…nobody…can ever remove it. Heartfelt prayers are sacred to God. Those who have joined Him in the clouds know that…we should too.
Are we placing the sacred covering of prayer around our legacy? Are we creating the sacred blanket square by square…prayer by prayer…that will outlast us? Not just for those we know now, but the generations that we will not meet here. Prayers are not limited by our knowledge, or our time on earth…prayers solely rely on God’s knowledge and authority throughout eternity. Jesus joins with us as our great intercessor, making our prayers even more beautiful before God. God is waiting at the throne of heaven…for us to give Him our heartfelt prayers. Imagine the God of the universe…waiting…for whispered words of prayer…your great cloud of witnesses cheering you on like thunder claps from the bleachers of heaven…
I want to look down from heaven one day as part of the great cloud and see my prayer requests answered as God reveals His perfect plans…for those I know now…and the legacy I will welcome to heaven later…
I know my prayers reach heaven…His holy dwelling place and He hears me…The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place. 2 Chronicles 30:27
Because He loves me…
I trust Him to write my perfect life story and the stories of my legacy that I will cover…like my Grandma and those before me…with the unmovable blanket of prayer…square by square…prayer by prayer…
Shelly Thompson
Publisher, The Notebook Café
**If this uplifted and encouraged you, you may enjoy Shelly's last book, 'Heart of a Warrior' A Legacy of Faith. Click here for more information!
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The Notebook Cafe -- Inspired Words for the Journey is an online cafe brewing up words of inspiration and encouragement to equip us for this journey. The Cafe (and The Vault Mercantile) is located in the quaint historic town of Walnut, Iowa. 'The Cafe' offers a place where women gather to share a time of fellowship, devotion, and a tour the circa 1875 historical bank building restored by Shelly and her husband. Shelly is the Publisher of The Notebook Cafe and coauthor of two books, Entwined, now in it's fourth printing; and Heart of a Warrior; in it's third printing. Shelly has a passion for writing what God places in her heart. Taking a giant leap of faith she left the corporate world to pursue a dream God gave her of developing a monthly inspirational faith based online reading café in February 2015. Today, The Notebook Café reaches over 2,000,000 people each month. She has found the road in unknown territory is not always easy, BUT GOD always finds a way to bring about what He has promised. Shelly has also developed The Notebook Cafe Annual Woman's Conference. The Notebook Cafe has hosted five women's conferences since October 2015. Shelly and her husband, Dave, spend time with their family and many weekends working on home renovation projects…that thankfully never seem to end.
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