PUSH: Persevere Until Success Happens Through Prayer (10 page)

What you do today will affect generations to come. I recently read a study on nutrition that discovered our health is affected in part by what our grandmothers ate two and three generations before we were even born! If this is reflected in our bodies, how much more will we see this reflected spiritually? It is not only within the power of the man, but it is his primary responsibility as the head of his household to pray for a covering over his wife, his children, and his children’s children—down to the fourth generation.

We read in Numbers 14:18,
“The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.”
On the other hand, in 2 Kings 10:30 we read, “
Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in My eyes…your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation”
(NIV). Interestingly enough, according to biblical numerics, four is the number of completion.

The future of your seed requires a covering in prayer. Just as the skin covers the body, the ozone layer covers the earth, the roof covers the house, and Christ covers the Church, the male provides a covering for his descendents. The man who is submitted and obedient to God will see his seed blessed to the fourth generation.

The male also provides direction. It was the men who sat at the gates of the city throughout the Old Testament. They protected and directed the affairs of the community. They also provide a vision for the future. Joel prophesied,
“Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions”
(Joel 2:28). In the Book of Acts, Peter reminds us that this still holds true today,
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams”
(Acts 2:17 NIV). Expect to dream and see visions of the future. Hold on to the promise hidden within your seed by faith, in prayer, and through obedience so your descendants will sit on the throne…to the fourth generation.

By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord…blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
—G
ENESIS
22:16-18

Whenever I held my newborn baby in my arms, I used to think that what I said and did to him could have an influence not only on him but on all whom he met, not only for a day or a month or a year, but for all eternity—a very challenging and exciting thought for a mother.
—R
OSE
K
ENNEDY

A
mother carries human seed within her, where it germinates and grows until a new life is fully formed. A woman is designed to be God’s divine incubator. She has an awesome role, privilege, and responsibility for protecting and nurturing the seed she carries and making sure that all of the possible things that could harm it are removed from the environment.

Once she conceives, her life is no longer her own. She doesn’t eat the same things, do the same activities, or take the same risks. The new life she carries within her takes precedence over all else. In a way, she is in a time of testing during which she must consecrate her entire existence to protecting the unborn child from all the forces that would come against it. Interestingly enough, the time required to complete this period is roughly nine months, or more precisely, forty weeks.

Both the number nine and the number forty are significant throughout the Bible. In the New Testament we read about the nine fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and the nine gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8-10); and in the Old Testament we read about the nine judgments (Haggai 1:11). As nine is the last of the digits, it marks the end and therefore the conclusion of a matter. It is the number of fulfillment.

According to E. W. Bullinger, author of
Number in Scripture: Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance
, “It is akin to the number six, six being the sum of its factors (3 x 3 = 9, and 3 + 3 = 6), and is thus significant of the end of man, and the summation of all man’s works.” Bullinger goes on to explain that “nine is, therefore, the number of finality or judgment…. It marks the completeness, the end and issue of all things as to man—the judgment of man and all his works.”
⁴⁰

Equally significant to the duration of pregnancy are the forty weeks it represents. The number forty is associated with the fulfillment of promise as well as a phase of probation or trial. According to Todd Dennis and Richard Anthony, “The number forty is used by God to represent a period of testing or judgment (the length of time necessary to accomplish some major part of God’s plan in His dealings with various portions of mankind).” They list as examples the “forty days of rain in the days of the flood…. The forty-day periods of fasting, testing, and communing with God faced by Moses and Jesus…. The forty years the Israelites spent in the wilderness were [all forms of] the judgments of God.”
⁴¹

E. W. Bullinger concurs:

Forty has long been universally recognized as an important number, both on account of the frequency of its occurrence, and the uniformity of its association with a period of probation, trial, and chastisement. It is the product of 5 and 8, and points to the action of grace (5), leading to and ending in revival and renewal (8).
⁴²

Christ and the children of Israel were tested in the wilderness over a period of forty days and forty years, respectively. They were tested in three distinct areas. The three temptations of Christ give us insight into the tests put before the Israelites. In Exodus 20:20 Moses reassured the children of Israel with these words,
“Do not fear; God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
If they could learn to honor God in these areas, to align their hearts with His will and His ways, they would be poised to fulfill their greatest potential and inherit all that God had prepared for them.

Jesus did just that on our behalf when He overcame every temptation of the devil during his forty-day trial in the desert. During that time, Christ was tempted to turn stone into bread—He was tempted to do for Himself what only God could do for Him. Likewise, the children of Israel were tempted by a lack of bread. But God demonstrated His ability to provide for them what they could not provide for themselves.

Second, Jesus was tested on whether He would take God at His Word or test Him. Jesus said,
“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’”
(Matthew 4:7 NIV). The Israelites, on the other hand, tested God repeatedly. They constantly complained about their condition, needs, and leaders, and worse, when they finally arrived at their destination, they lacked faith to enter into it. Sound familiar? They tempted God through their lack of faith and perpetual disobedience and missed out on possessing God’s promise.

The third area of testing was whether they would worship God, and only God, with their whole heart, which is the first commandment.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength”
(Mark 12:30). When Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for His allegiance, Jesus responded,
“For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’”
(Matthew 4:10). The children of Israel didn’t fare so well in this area either. While Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s commandments, they were down below molding a golden calf to worship instead of God.

We can divide the earth’s history from before the Flood to the present time into three “forty Jubilee” periods of testing as well. According to C. Gary Hullquist, author of
Sabbath Diagnosis
, there were forty Jubilees—or 1,960 years—that represented the “Flood Era” (during which people did not trust in God), and forty Jubilees that represented the “Jewish Era” (during which God was tempted time and time again), and forty Jubilees that represent the “Christian Era” (during which time people have been challenged to worship God in spirit and truth [John 4:23-24]).

A Jubilee cycle is seven times seven years, or forty-nine years. Forty represents the number of Jubilee cycles since Christ was crucified until the present time. The earth’s probationary period is almost over. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans,
“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now”
(Romans 8:22). Because even the earth has been pregnant with the divine promise of God:
“the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God”
(Romans 8:21).

It is common knowledge that a woman’s pregnancy is divided into three trimesters, each characterized by a unique set of trials. The first trimester is when the mother may be tempted to question her ability to provide and choose to abort the baby out of fear. It is the most difficult because of the overwhelming uncertainly, sickness, and fatigue that accompany it. As with the Israelites and Jesus in the desert, this is a time during which she finds herself the most physically weak.

The second trimester is associated with the uneasiness of change and transformation. Although the energy and appetite return, this time requires a new level of trust in God’s leading and what the future holds. It is easy to fall into periods of discontentment, restlessness, and impatience. Unlike the children of Israel, she must remain faithful and obedient,
“fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ”
(2 Corinthians 10:5 MSG).

The third trimester can be the most challenging due to the increasing pressure of the growing baby—the kicking, the backaches, the swelling; the difficulty in breathing, standing, and walking; doing even the most mundane tasks. But as the night is darkest before the dawn, so it is just before the baby is born. The task at hand may seem insurmountable, but she must not take her eyes off of the God of her salvation. It is important she continue
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”
(Hebrews 12:2). The Israelites did not keep their focus on God but on the world in the form of a golden calf. Jesus, on the other hand, could not be persuaded to turn away from God for
“all the kingdoms of the world and their glory”
(Matthew 4:8).

Because women are carriers of the promise, because they are the incubators in which the seed of humanity germinates and grows, Satan works overtime to destroy them. In Genesis 3:15, God said,
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed.”
There has always been supernatural vengeance against women throughout history. Even today around the globe we see women oppressed, abused, raped, and sold into slavery. There are more slaves in the world today than at any other time in history—and the majority of those slaves are young girls and women who are held in bondage to the sex trade. In some cultures, female castration, or genital mutilation, remains prevalent. These injustices are more demonic than cultural in nature and are aimed at a woman’s reproductive organs because the enemy knows the power contained within the seed she carries—power to destroy his works in the earth.

In spite of all these factors, however, the strength of a woman is incredible. Women are resilient and have always affected the fate of nations. You will find that where women are disempowered and oppressed a weak and underdeveloped nation will be present, and where women are strengthened and empowered a strong and powerful nation will be there.

There is a saying that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Every leader, every lawyer, every doctor, and every male has been birthed through a woman. If it is true that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, then if that hand is broken, you will have a broken world; if that hand is bruised, you’ll have a bruised world; if that hand is hurt, you’ll have a hurting world. So it is imperative for women to understand the significance of their role as mother. It is one of the greatest honors God has placed on anyone, because even as the Messiah was carried in the womb of a woman, so are women carrying the next generation of doctors and lawyers and movers and shakers.

By the God of your father who will help you, and by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
—G
ENESIS
49:25

But there is a spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent.
—J
OB
32:8

I
have heard it said that our physical body makes us world-conscious, our soul makes us self-conscious, and our spirit makes us God-conscious. God interacts with us through our spirit. He plants His Word, His will, and His promises within our heart. God revealed this through Isaiah when He said,
“My Spirit, Who is upon you…writes the law of God inwardly on the heart”
(Isaiah 59:21 AMP). He writes His Word on your heart by speaking to you through your spirit.

“All My words that I shall speak to you, receive in your heart and hear with your ears”
(Ezekiel 3:10 AMP). He has given us ears to hear His voice, but we must be willing to listen. Again, God spoke through Isaiah,
“Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live”
(Isaiah 55:3). Through the prophet Jeremiah He instructed,
“Hear the word of the Lord…let your ear receive the word of His mouth”
(Jeremiah 9:20). And in Revelation He simply said,
“He who has an ear, let him hear”
(Revelation 13:9 NIV).