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.
[Jesus said], “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
(Matt. 21:22)
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.
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
Encouraging, optimistic, always upbeat and energetic—even in her 90s, Marilyn Hickey actively ministers internationally, most recently in Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, India, China, and Pakistan, as well as domestically in the United States through Bible Encounters and speaking engagements. Marilyn has had audiences with government leaders and heads of state all over the world. She is the first woman to join the Board of Directors of the largest church in the world, Dr. David Yonggi’s Church Growth International in South Korea. She has traveled to 146 countries and plans to visit many more in the years to come. She and her late husband Wallace were married over 50 years, and have two children and four grandchildren. Marilyn holds the following degrees of education: Bachelor of Arts in Collective Foreign Languages, from the University of Northern Colorado, and an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Oral Roberts University.
In 2015 Marilyn was honored at Oral Roberts University with the prestigious Lifetime Global Achievement Award. This award recognizes individuals or organizations that have made a significant impact in the history of ORU and in the world in positive ways as an extension of the university and its mission.