“Easier said than done” not only applies to the words we say but also the words we write. I wrote in Big, Bold, Biblical Prayers for the Next Generation that sometimes we feel more urgent about the lesser things and neglect to pray for the greater things. I challenged us to cultivate a sense of urgency for the greater things while trusting God to take care of the lesser things. Since writing those words, my willingness and ability to act on the conviction that undergirds those words has been tested. (more…)

Over the years of our ministry, my wife Sally and I have taught various classes and seminars that offer vision and practical strategies for Christian parents who are committed to faithfully raising their children in the “instruction of the Lord.” (more…)

Everlasting Father,

We come to You as our everlasting Lord and Savior and King who rules an everlasting kingdom that shall never be destroyed, with an everlasting dominion that shall never pass away. (more…)

As you prepare to celebrate Christmas and Christ’s coming into our world, I wanted to share with you a Christmas prayer of praise, actually two prayers of praise. My hope is that these prayers can be encouraging in shaping your personal prayers of praise for Christmas, but also that one of these may be helpful in shaping opportunities you might have to pray with your family and other guests you may be with this week. Each of these prayers would be especially fitting after singing “Joy to the World.” (more…)

I want to do better this next year! I want to step away from the commercialized insanity of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and even the commercialization of what some call “Giving Tuesday.” I have realized over the past several months how random, wimpy, and small my prayers are for the children that matter most to me. I want to do better next year for the sake of the next generation—my children, my grandchildren, the children of my church, and their children after them. I want to pray bigger, bolder, and more biblical prayers for them. I am wondering on this Giving Tuesday if there are 9,999 other people who would want to join me in this effort as we anticipate the beginning of a new year. (more…)

Dear Lord,

Our hearts are full and we barely know where to begin to express our praise and gratitude for the goodness and mercy that has followed us every day of this year, as with every day of our lives. May we never spare You praise or cease to give You thanks for the daily blessings that we have received from Your generous hand. (more…)

The needs of those in the next generation, the challenges they face, and the opportunities before them are great. What might God be pleased to do if His people come to Him with big, bold, biblical prayers of faith? (more…)

The title of this post is my effort to offer a word of encouragement and hope for those who are at the start of another season of ministry with children and youth. The rest of this post is for those who are having difficulty finding encouragement and hope in the title.

I am taking my cues from the Lord Jesus, whose final words for His disciples span chapters 14-16 in gospel of John. One clear message of this discourse is that trouble is coming. (more…)

How are you praying for the next generation?

Over the past several months we are concentrating our prayers on the larger purposes of God for our children, our grandchildren, the children in our church, and the children we have the opportunity to teach–the kind of prayers that we are confident align with the will of God and can be assured of His answers. For example, right now, the church where I serve needs about 90 more workers to volunteer in the next two weeks. Certainly we should not hesitate to ask God for those 90 workers, but we want to concentrate our prayers on larger purposes for which those workers are needed. The challenge for us has been to “seek first” these larger purposes for our children and trust God that all the other things (like the 90 workers) will be provided. (more…)

As a conclusion to his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told a story that, for generations, has been famous among Sunday school children and, for decades, has captured the desire of our hearts for the next generations:

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:24-27).

We don’t want to raise a generation of fools who grow up hearing, yet neglecting, the words of Jesus. We want our children to be among the wise in their generation. (more…)