Family Tree

We were all sitting there captivated by the television series Roots when my late father-in-law casually said, "Alex Haley, the author, is a good friend of mine."

I nearly fell out of my chair. But it made perfect sense. My father-in-law was also a historian and author. 

While Alex Haley preserved the story of families searching for their heritage, my father-in-law devoted years to preserving the story of the Buffalo Soldiers—African American post-Civil War soldiers whose courage and sacrifice deserved to be remembered.

Ever since then, I've been fascinated by family trees. So are the millions of people who search through old records, photographs, and DNA tests because they want to know where they came from. 

I have several branches in my family tree. Through my father I inherited a rich Jewish heritage. Through my mother came English, German, and Dutch roots. 

Trace and I understand another kind of heritage as well. Our children were born in Korea, yet through adoption they became part of our family tree. Their story didn't replace one heritage with another—it simply added another beautiful chapter.

Every Christian has a family tree far bigger than they realize.

We have a family heritage.

We have a national heritage.

But above all, we have a spiritual heritage.

Our spiritual family tree stretches from Abraham... through Moses, David, and the prophets... through Jesus and the apostles... and then through countless men and women who faithfully carried the roots and fruit of prayer from generation to generation.

Prayer is one of the family traits God wants every branch to inherit.

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In God's providence, many of the branches that shaped America's spiritual heritage came through England and Wales. 

John and Charles Wesley. George Whitefield. George Müller. Smith Wigglesworth. Rees Howells.

These men were different in personality, ministry, and calling. Yet they all shared one family resemblance.

They prayed.

John Wesley famously said, "God does nothing but in answer to prayer."

Years later, E. M. Bounds echoed the same conviction:

"If men would pray as they ought to pray, the marvels of the past would be more than reproduced…and the Word of God would have a conquering force rarely if ever known before."

That isn't merely an inspiring quote. It's a biblical principle.

James makes a bold declaration:

"The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed..." (James 5:16–18)

Don't miss James' point.

The miracle wasn't that Elijah was extraordinary.

The miracle was that an extraordinary God answered the prayer of an ordinary man.

James doesn't tell us Elijah's story to impress us. He tells us Elijah's story to invite us.

The same God who answered Elijah still answers prayer today.

The same pattern appears throughout our spiritual family tree.

When God's people faced extermination, Esther called for prayer and fasting, and God overturned the plans of the enemy.

When spiritual warfare raged behind earthly kingdoms, Daniel prayed, and heaven released angels to accomplish God's purposes.

When Israel fought in the valley, Moses interceded on the mountain, reminding us that victories on earth are won first in the place of prayer.

When King Jehoshaphat faced armies he could not defeat, he sought the Lord, and God gave a strategy no military commander could have imagined.

When Jabez prayed for God's blessing, God answered his prayer with what no amount of human effort could have accomplished.

Different generations.

Different battles.

Different prayers.

The same God.

Prayer wasn't a religious tradition woven into their stories as an interesting detail. Prayer was the turning point.

The New Testament explains why.

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against... the spiritual forces of evil..." (Ephesians 6:12).

As we pray today for our nation and our world—including the ongoing conflict in Iran—we take our place in a long line of believers who discovered that Kingdom victories are first won in the spiritual realm.

During World War II, while armies battled across Europe, Rees Howells believed God had called the students at the Bible College of Wales to another battlefield—the place of intercession. 

While soldiers fought the visible war, these students believed the Church had been entrusted with the invisible one.

Again and again, their times of extraordinary prayer coincided with pivotal moments in the war—like the evacuation at Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain.

When Hitler prepared Operation Sea Lion, his planned invasion of Britain, Rees called for continual prayer. As those students interceded, unexpected fog and storm clouds covered the English Channel, making the invasion impossible.

German commanders later admitted that "the weather turned against us."

Some saw only unusual weather. Those praying students, and many of us today, believed they had witnessed the hand of God.

They believed prayer mattered enough to devote themselves to it—and history was different because they did.

America has faced moments like that before.

During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress repeatedly called the colonies to seasons of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. Before placing their confidence in muskets and militias, they humbled themselves before Almighty God.

Benjamin Franklin urged prayer during the Constitutional Convention because he understood that wisdom for building a nation ultimately comes from the One who rules the nations.

The Appeal to Heaven flag commissioned by George Washington proclaimed that America's greatest hope was never merely military strength. It was God's help. 

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Today we are facing our own battles. Wars among nations. The battle for truth. The battle for the family. The battle for the soul of our nation. The need for another Great Awakening.

And once again, God is raising up praying people.

We're not just reading about awakenings. We're praying for one.

We're not merely studying revival. We're asking God to send it.

Across churches, homes, prayer meetings, online gatherings, and communities, believers are crying out to God in faith. 

We aren't trying to recreate history. We're continuing the family trait.

We honor our political founding fathers by preserving the freedoms they secured.

We honor our spiritual fathers by praying the way they prayed.

Every branch on God's family tree has been nourished by the prayers of those who came before.

Now it is our turn to see our branch bear fruit for this generation and the generations that follow.

One day, someone will look back at our place on the family tree.

What will they find?

Will they discover people who merely admired the prayers of previous generations?

Or will they discover men and women who keep the family tree growing by interceding for another awakening, becoming living branches through which God changes hearts, churches, and nations for His glory?