Granny’s Prayers

"Lord, teach us to pray.”
Luke 11:1 (NIV)

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. This week’s Bible Bits is a tribute to my Granny Muir, a true prayer warrior.

I remember being nine years old and spending a couple of summer nights at my grandparents' farm in the country. My seven-year old sister Jan and I were city kids who loved playing with our cousins at Granny and Papa's house. We'd spend hours riding bicycles up and down country gravel roads, playing games of kick-the-can or Hide 'n Seek, or walking through the woods to Papa's fishing hole at the pond. I loved my grandparents’ farm- in the daytime. Night times, however, were a different story. I readily confess that I was a Type A, certified scaredy cat. Lying on a sleeper sofa in Granny's large living room, listening to the unfamiliar night sounds of owls, frogs, crickets, and who knew what else, I wanted my Mama and the comfort of home. Jan, though two years younger, was always much braver than me. She could usually talk me through staying the first couple of nights, but I never managed our full week's stay. 

Oddly enough one of my sweetest memories from our time spent on the farm was listening to my Granny and Papa pray for us. And not just the prayers for Jan and me, but prayers for other members of our extended family. I can still close my eyes and see the light shining under the big crack of my grandparents' bedroom door. I remember opening the door a bit to see both Granny and Papa praying on their knees and Granny quickly and sternly ordering us to get back in bed before she returned to praying. I remember hearing Granny and Papa’s muffled prayers as they prayed. Their voices were usually the last sound I heard before finally falling asleep.

I've thought a lot about my Granny's prayers through the years. My Dad was 71 years old when he finally realized he needed a Savior and not just a church membership or religion. One of Granny's prayers was answered with that decision. One by one as my children realized that they could never be good enough to get to heaven on their own, Granny's prayers were answered. Through the years of having children and now grandchildren, I've purposed to pray like my Granny. To intercede personally on each child's behalf, one by one, name by name, asking God to work in each one's life and do what only God can do: change a heart.

Granny’s prayers continue to bear much fruit in this season of my grandparenting. I want to be the grandmother who prays, not just generic prayers for blessing, safety, and protection, though those are important. I want to pray specifically for each grandchild at this particular age and stage of life. To that end, two of my favorite questions to ask them or their parents are, “How can I best pray for you?” and “What does your week look like?”

Often their answers to those two questions surprise me and I don’t wait to pray for them; I immediately pray with them by saying, “Let’s pray!” Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “Short prayers are long enough!” Indeed, they are.

Granny’s prayers also encourage me to pray for the Evans grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren yet to be born. Throughout the Bible, God’s covenant blessings and curses are extended to the fourth generation of his people. Listening to sweet two-year-old Birdie James sing Jesus Loves Me last week, I realize that Granny’s prayers are bearing rich fruit in our fourth generation. From Granny to Daddy and me, then to my children and now to my grandchildren, four generations have been impacted by her prayers.
May it be so for me!