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
Marilyn passed away peacefully at her home on April 25, 2026. But before she graduated to heaven, God told Marilyn not to be buried with her mantle. Instead, she was to pass it on to all who were willing to receive it. Marilyn obeyed this directive and spent decades developing, discipling, and commissioning partners and team members. Because of this, when Marilyn slowly stepped back from active ministry in her 90s, she did so with peace and confidence. Marilyn knew that what God had started would be carried into the future by faithful hands on whom a portion of her mantle rests.
A large portion of Marilyn’s mantle also rests on her granddaughter, Isabell, who stepped into a powerful teaching ministry with Marilyn in 2023. Isabell brings both reverence for the foundation that has been laid and a God-given ability to preach the Word in fresh, effective ways. Along with Marilyn’s ministry team, Isabell is powerfully walking into the future, using decades of Marilyn’s teachings—thoughtfully curated and digitally restored—to expand the reach of her grandmother’s ministry through modern platforms, international outreach, and the daily television program. Marilyn’s powerful teachings are currently being translated into multiple languages that will reach people around the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ in their native tongue.
Marilyn’s vision to cover the earth with God’s Word is still alive and powerful today. Her ministry is continuing to walk through open doors, taking the gospel to nations that desperately need to experience the miracle power of the Word of God and reaching future generations with the hope of the gospel.