The Power of Family Prayer: Standing Together Before the Lord
2 Chronicles 20:13
And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
The nation of Israel was in distress. A neighboring kingdom had risen up against them and was planning an attack. When they heard of it, they immediately began fasting, praying, and calling upon The Lord together as a nation, for wisdom and protection against their enemies. And NO ONE was excluded. Not even the infants. “And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.” In other words, every member of every family stood before The Lord, seeking His guidance and protection for their families, and ultimately, their nation.
Now, could you imagine what kind of difference this would make, if every member of every family in God’s church would stand before Him today, seeking guidance and protection? Unfortunately, however, my heart breaks at the deafening silence that the absence of children creates in our churches across this land. What has happened? Why, it seems that we have time for our children to play, but we do not have time with them to pray. It seems we have time for teaching them recreation, but we have no time to teach them repentance. It seems we have time to give them entertainment from this wicked world, but we have no time to give them enlightenment from God’s Holy Word.
Furthermore, we feed our marriages on worldly wisdom and advice, while neglecting what God teaches us about it. Husbands lead their wives to sin, but seldom lead their wives to The Savior. No wonder the breakdown of the family is so prevalent today. We have forsaken God’s design for a successful family unit. In fact, we are so far removed from what God expects of the family as a whole, that the average family is hardly even recognizable as a Biblically defined family anymore. And we wonder why divorce rates are at an all-time high. We wonder why little Johnny or Suzy walks away from church at age 18, if they’re even raised in church at all. We wonder why sexual promiscuity is the social norm, and why no one seems to blush over adultery and fornication any more.
Dear friend, we have gotten used to the dark. We have forsaken God’s plan for the family unit. We MUST repent and get our houses in order, if we are ever going to procure God’s blessings as a nation again!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
The nation of Israel was in distress. A neighboring kingdom had risen up against them and was planning an attack. When they heard of it, they immediately began fasting, praying, and calling upon The Lord together as a nation, for wisdom and protection against their enemies. And NO ONE was excluded. Not even the infants. “And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.” In other words, every member of every family stood before The Lord, seeking His guidance and protection for their families, and ultimately, their nation.
Now, could you imagine what kind of difference this would make, if every member of every family in God’s church would stand before Him today, seeking guidance and protection? Unfortunately, however, my heart breaks at the deafening silence that the absence of children creates in our churches across this land. What has happened? Why, it seems that we have time for our children to play, but we do not have time with them to pray. It seems we have time for teaching them recreation, but we have no time to teach them repentance. It seems we have time to give them entertainment from this wicked world, but we have no time to give them enlightenment from God’s Holy Word.
Furthermore, we feed our marriages on worldly wisdom and advice, while neglecting what God teaches us about it. Husbands lead their wives to sin, but seldom lead their wives to The Savior. No wonder the breakdown of the family is so prevalent today. We have forsaken God’s design for a successful family unit. In fact, we are so far removed from what God expects of the family as a whole, that the average family is hardly even recognizable as a Biblically defined family anymore. And we wonder why divorce rates are at an all-time high. We wonder why little Johnny or Suzy walks away from church at age 18, if they’re even raised in church at all. We wonder why sexual promiscuity is the social norm, and why no one seems to blush over adultery and fornication any more.
Dear friend, we have gotten used to the dark. We have forsaken God’s plan for the family unit. We MUST repent and get our houses in order, if we are ever going to procure God’s blessings as a nation again!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill