[Jesus said], "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."Luke 8:11 says that the Word of God is a seed. It is never bad seed. Rather, it is incorruptible; it cannot decay. It has to come up, but it doesn't always come up at the time we are expecting it. That is especially true if you plant a seed today and expect it to produce tomorrow.
(Matt. 21:22)
I have noticed that at times I have prayed over an immediate need, but I did not see the answer until three or four months later. The Lord began to deal with me about this.
He said, It takes time for seed to come up. You don't expect carrots to come up the day after you plant them, do you? Pray now for tomorrow's needs.
I'm learning to plan now for what my children will need in the future, perhaps ten years from now. I believe there is much planting that we can do by praying for our children, our families, and the needs that we will have in the future.
That is what I call "preventative praying." Too many times when we have a big emergency, we enter into "curative praying," which takes much more effort and can be a very frustrating battle.
The important thing is to pray and believe God's promises now for the needs of the future; then when the time comes, you can reap the results. 1
Think of a couple of important issues that your children will have to deal with in the future, such as their choice of career, their marriage partner, their relationship with God. Plant seed in prayer today, so your children will reap God's blessing in those areas tomorrow.
1 Marilyn Hickey, God's Covenant for Your Family, (Tulsa, OK: Harrison House Publishers, 1982) pp. 106-107.
by Lindsay Roberts
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers