Passing the Baton

When our son Harrison was still very small, I used to spend time teaching him how to pray—both speaking and listening to God.

One night as we were kneeling together, having just prayed for a number of people and things, I said, “Son, let’s ask God if there is anyone or anything else He wants us to pray for. If anything comes into our hearts after we ask, we will pray.”

We knelt quietly for a few minutes, and then I could tell he had something he thought we should pray for. “What is it, son?” I asked.

“I feel like God wants us to pray for the squirrels,” he responded. So, we prayed for the squirrels, that they would be warm and have enough nuts for the winter.

The following evening we were praying again and, once more, were quietly awaiting any “prayer instructions” in our hearts. I watched the funniest expression come over my son’s face as he knelt there with his eyes closed. He suddenly said out loud (to God, I think), “Squirrels again?!” After I finished laughing, we prayed once again for the squirrels!

Yet Harrison began learning to listen for God’s voice in prayer, and it wasn’t long before he was distinguishing between what was a genuine Holy Spirit prompting and what was not.

He was learning about God because he had someone in his life who was generationally minded—an older person who was “passing the baton” of faith to him.

Many worry that passing the baton to the next generation means resigning to a life of obscurity. In truth, that sequence of stretching out, handing over, and running together can last a whole lifetime.

The great English preacher Charles Spurgeon was once asked about what he was doing to reach the next generation.

He answered by referring to Acts 13:36, which says, “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep.”

Spurgeon basically said that, like King David, he was serving his own generation and the next generation would have to work things out for themselves. It was a clever response, but one that I think fell a bit short of the biblical mandate for reaching and raising up the coming generations.

And when we read the Scriptures, we find that King David was extremely focused on passing the baton to those who would come after him. He speaks several times in the Psalms about imparting truth to the next generation.

David prepared wealth, resources, building materials, workers, and a leadership team to help Solomon. He also prayed for his son, encouraged him, and instructed him in the Word of God. A successful transition was made, the baton was passed, and the Kingdom was established in Solomon’s hand.

I believe the Church today can do the same, by God’s grace.

The price of dropping the baton of faith is far too high. Be intentional with the younger people in your life. Pass the baton— and in doing so, you’ll empower the coming generations to reach the world with our living Jesus!