Umbrella Grandmothers: The Trademarks and Legacy of Prayer

For the past few weeks, a group of friends, all grandmothers, have gathered in my home for prayer. We have a burden and a desire for our grandchildren to live biblically and draw on God’s strength and wisdom to navigate a world that is becoming increasingly challenging and difficult. It’s been a remarkable time of getting to know our families through prayer, seeing God answer, and waiting expectantly for His work to unfold. Your group can discover the power and peace of prayer like my group did, whether you are a grandmother, or praying for family and friends. It’s easy: set a day and time, and invite women to join you. To get started, you may want to look at the prayer guides on the articles tab on this website.

[Tweet “In this time of shared confidence, we pray not only for our grandchildren, but for great-grandchildren, and their parents. We also pray for ourselves to be role models and women of faith”]

 “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” (2 Timothy 1:5 NIV).

Later, Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:14–15: “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 

Timothy’s mother and grandmother faithfully taught him the Jewish Scriptures from infancy, then later taught young Timothy about their Messiah, Jesus Christ.

So, what, and how do we pray?  On week one, we opened with our “umbrella” prayer-based on a reference to Jesus’ growth that would be  the basis for following weeks.

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52 NIV

• We pray for our grands, greats, and their parents to have godly wisdom found in the pages of scripture, especially wisdom the book of James describes. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”  We want spiritual and biblical wisdom, for all of us. We know it’s ours for the asking, as James 1:5 says, when we ask, God gives it. We pray our grands learn to ask.

 

• We pray for their stature, their physical growth and development to be healthy, to grow and develop well in God’s design and use their physical gifts in athletics well. We pray they would know that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, to respect their bodies and to know that God has a unique blueprint for each of us. (Psalm 139)

 

• We pray that they would grow in favor with God, that the depth of their relationship with God would grow deeper, wiser, and more precious as they learn more about His character and His attributes, We pray that they develop a praying life, to know God well, and abide with him. (John 14)

 

• Finally, we pray that they grow in favor with others to seek God’s approval, in relationships.  We pray they do not fall to negative peer pressure, and that others’ approval ratings would not be attractive and a snare to them. “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.” (Proverbs 29:25 ESV) We pray for friendships to enrich their lives and that they would reach out to others, with the love of Jesus.

 

So that was our first prayer meeting. No talking about our requests, just praying scriptures filled with God’s purposes, love for each other, and our grands. Each week’s scripture is different, and we all bring scripture as we pray. I’ll share more in future posts. Each time, we commit our children, our grands, and our greats to God, who loves them most, and knows them best. We rest in that for ourselves too and leave our time refreshed and filled.

What are your thoughts? How do you pray for your family whether you’re a grandmother or not? We’d love to hear from you.

Many grandmothers are known for cooking and baking their favorite foods. I have fond memories of my grandmother’s cooking and baking for our family, and I love to do the same for mine. Our prayers will be a legacy, but so are our actions with remembrances of sweet moments, sometimes found in a cookie jar or meals around a table. Here’s one of my legacy recipes from my mother that’s become a trademark and my daughters continue the tradition. Enjoy! Let me know what you think:)

Pineapple Raisin Drops

 

1 cup shortening

2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

‘2 eggs,

1 cup raisins (optional)

4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup drained crushed pineapple

Cream shortening, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla, Set aside. Combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients, raisins (if desired) and pineapple to creamed mixture. Drop from teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until brown. These do not require frosting.