TWENTY UPs!

Part 5

Matthew 6:24 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.”

Here is another point to point us upward.

17. Wise Up

Paul reminded Timothy, “From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15) It is obvious that Timothy’s mother did not read the Scriptures occasionally to her son. It was a habitual part of her life. Timothy “knew” the Scriptures from a child.

When is a child old enough to receive the Scriptures? I think we can start in the womb. A child can hear the Word even while he is in the womb. When do we start Family Devotions with our children? When they are at an age of understanding? No. We commence reading as they nurse at the breast. Norman Williams in his book, “How to have a Family Altar” writes, “A child of three months is too young to understand Galatians 5:22-23, but he is not too young to enjoy it. The greatest secret of shaping the life of the child from one day to six years of age is to make Galatians 5:22-23 the very spirit and life of your home! Then your child will literally feed on the love of God both emotionally and spiritually. He will absorb that out of his environment which will make him emotionally and spiritually healthy and strong.”

He goes on to say, “Our aim is to lead our child to Christ as soon as possible. Many parents object that a four-month-old baby is too young to understand the Word of God. Therefore, they reason, he should not hear it. But God’s Word says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Your duty, dear parent, is to let your baby hear the Word of God. Somehow by the action of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, that child will receive faith. Babies have ears to hear with! They have hearts to believe with!”

The reading of God’s Word prepares our children for salvation. Nearly all our children had a definite experience of receiving Christ into their lives at the age of four. The power of this experience has continued into their adult lives, even as they now raise children of their own.*

Let me quote again from Norman Williams, “The parents’ great privilege during the first six years is to make his child acquainted with Christ as his Maker and his loving Friend. Before the child is three and one-half, he should be saved and know that Christ made him and loves him. The child should learn to lovingly speak the name of “Jesus” right along with the name of “Daddy” and “Mother.”

“In the first six years of his life, the child has a strong sense of the reality of the invisible. There is a strongly developed dimension of his being that senses the reality of the invisible and that reaches out to experience and to know that reality… The failure to supply this need through the Word of God causes him to people the invisible with objects of his own imagination—fairies, gremlins, Santa Claus, and so on. God has given the child a strong sense for the reality of the invisible as a foundation for receiving the truth of Christ and His Word in the earliest and tender years. We should pray diligently for those parents who starve their children for the Word of God and then feed the child lies about fairies, Santa Claus, witches, gremlins, and other such stories. These are the devil’s lies and substitutes for the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God.”

Not only does the Word of God have the power to prepare our children to receive Christ, but it makes us wise in all areas of our lives. When we read the Word we are in touch with the Giver of all wisdom and knowledge. I have a friend who has three teen daughters. Every time they go out of the home she says, “Be wise.” It’s good that she backs this up by reading good doses of God’s Word to them each day.

Psalm 19:7 says, “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

You can even be wiser than your teachers! You can be wiser than your opponents who would intimate you with their humanist jargon. Psalm 119:98-100 MLB says, “Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have deeper insight than all my instructors, because Thy testimonies are my meditation. I have a better grasp on truth than have the elders, because I have kept thy precepts.”

Do you want your marriage and family to withstand the storms of life that we all face at different times? Jesus said the wise ones will hear His Word and obey it. Daily read the Word personally. Daily read it with your husband. Daily read it to your family. And your home will be built upon the rock, ready to survive whatever comes against you.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

Above Rubies, www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Oh God, please help me to be faithful in preparing my children for salvation.  Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am wiser than all my opponents because I meditate upon the Word.

P.S. I highly recommend the little book, “How to have a Family Altar” by Norman V. Williams. You can obtain it from www.amazon.com

* You can read about some of our children’s experiences in my manual, “Gate-keepers of the Home.” You can order this book from the webpage, www.aboverubies.org

Here is a little excerpt from Chapter 2, The Sheep Gate in “Gate-keepers of the Home.”

“Evangeline was also four years old when she experienced a mighty encounter with God. She says, “God saved me at four years of age. Even today, it is still the most vivid and powerful experience of my life. I was lying in bed. I still remember the orange bedspread cover. My mother came into my room and said, “Stephen (my twin) has just asked Jesus to come into his life. Would you like to also?” At that moment the world stopped and the fight between the powers of darkness and heaven began. My whole body was shaking. With all my heart I wanted to ask Jesus into my life, but the pull from Satan was so strong. “No, no, no…” the voice of Satan pulled at my heart. The struggle was powerful.

Eventually I said, “Yes” with all my heart. I followed my mother in prayer asking Jesus to come into my life. At that moment I knew God. I experienced the reality of God. He came into my life and filled me. He opened my mind to Him. I was saved for life--no turning back! I have known His powerful presence in my life ever since. Instantly I felt peace. Instantly I was not afraid of the big owl outside my room--or of anything. I have never been afraid of anything from that day.”

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  You are welcome to copy this article and forward it to your friends or through your Blogs and Face books.

THE SECRET OF PRAYING

The secret of praying is to PRAY.

We go to seminars on How to Pray and yet still do not pray. We read books on How to Pray and yet still do not pray. I believe that there is only one way to learn how to pray and that is to PRAY. We must open our mouth and speak to God.

It is sad to find believers who are reticent about praying. They don’t open their mouths in a prayer meeting. Many don’t even want to come to a prayer meeting. What is wrong? We should be known as the people who “call upon the Lord.” Praying should be second nature to the believer

Pray out Loud!

Don’t just pray in your mind in your prayer time. There will be times when you will do this because prayer should be a habitual part of our lives. But when you have your specific times of prayer, pray out loud. Get used to hearing your own voice in prayer. It can be strange when you first start but it is the way to get used to praying.

I have always prayed out loud in my personal times of prayer and found it a great blessing.  Firstly, if I pray out loud, I know when I stop praying! And that can often happen. When you pray in your mind it is easy to go into dreamland and soon forget what you are praying about. When you start to do this when praying out loud, you come back to prayer with a jolt when suddenly there is silence! It also keeps your mind on what you are doing. It also gets you used to praying out loud in corporate prayer meetings.

Teach your Children to Pray out Loud!

Teach your children to pray out loud so they get used to praying. Praying should be normal to them. Encourage them to pray out loud in their personal praying. Encourage them to pray out loud at Family Devotions.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He didn’t go into a great discourse on how to pray. Instead, He prayed a prayer. He showed them how to pray by praying. We learn to pray by praying. Your children learn to pray by praying.

I am frustrated when I go to a prayer meeting and have to listen to a long message. I thought we had come to pray! Why don’t we get stuck in and pray? The need is so great. The nation is in peril. Our only hope is to call upon the Lord. Let’s do it.

We all know 2 Corinthians 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and hear another sermon…” Ooops! Did I get it wrong? Sorry. But isn’t that what we do? We come together for another sermon. Prayer is the last thing on our minds! But God won’t save our nation by another sermon. He will save our nation when we pray.

Let’s get it right, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Pray out Loud at Church!

My husband was convicted about this Scripture. Therefore, we no longer have church as usual. We don’t have a prayer meeting before the service where about three or four people turn up. We pray when we come together as a body. We spend, sometimes up to an hour, praying together as believers before we open the Word of God. Guess who is first to pray. The moment my husband says, “It’s time to pray,” the children run to the front. They get in line to pray for our nation and the different nations of the world. They are learning to be intercessors as they are given opportunity to pray.

Fellow believers, let’s get praying.

Pray individually.

Pray together as husband and wife. Faithfully pray together each day for each of your children and their needs.

Pray together as a family. Encourage all the children to pray.

Get involved in a prayer meeting where people love to pray. Or start one in your home. Gather neighbors, friends or whoever you can together and incorporate your whole family. Pray for the nation. Pray for Israel. Pray for the nations of the world. Pray as God leads you.

For the last ten years we have prayed faithfully every week with folks who live around us here in the Tennessee woods—people from different denominations who normally would not see eye-to-eye. But we don’t come together to discuss doctrine. We come together to pray. Consequently, God has drawn our hearts together in love and unity.

Now you know the secret! You don’t need to read any more books or hear any more sermons on prayer. Just start praying—and remember to pray out loud.

Start today.

NANCY CAMPBELL

www.aboverubies.org