Remembrance through Storytelling

The purpose behind the gift of answered prayer is not merely for personal benefit but that in our wise stewarding of it, we take every opportunity to share it and proclaim the nature of God. As Christians, we have a generational responsibility to ensure these stories and the thousands like them are preserved.

Throughout the Scriptures, we see the encouragement, commitment, and responsibility to ensure that the deeds of the Lord are passed down the generations. As we build a long-lasting intimacy with Christ, we should be able to build on the foundation of understanding, revelation, and experience from those who have gone before us. We have a generational responsibility to share that he is still, and always will be, the God who can and the God who does. The word of God is clear when it refers to remembering his deeds, using words like ‘tell’, ‘proclaim’, ‘declare’, ‘announce’. Remembering is active; it is communicative. And it is to the next generation that we need to communicate.

To become a nation of storytellers, to share our stories with each other, with our children and their children, will require a resolute spirit. The Bible is the framework within which we live; it is a picture frame we cannot add to, and we are forbidden from extending the size of the canvas. But within this frame, sharing first-hand experiences of the Jesus who answers can give greater insight to the listener and validity which could empower them to discover the Lord of our life.

The vast majority of the biblical references that talk about sharing God’s deeds are in the context of a population, not an individual – declaring to the nations, proclaiming to the assembly, singing to the peoples. The amount of Scripture is significant: well over one hundred verses encourage us to tell of God’s mighty deeds and miracles to the masses. There is simply no justification, no reasoning or excuse, for the Church to do anything other than telling the nation what God has done and tell it loud. Verse after verse instructs us to tell of the wonderful deeds of God. It is not a private matter. 

Ideas for Reflection

1. Remember what God has done, then tell the world.

2. When you next meet with a friend, ask him or her to share a story of how God has moved in his or her life and encourage the friend to pass on this story to at least one more this week.

3. When you meet in a small group, why not have time together to share stories of God at work in your life and the opportunities you’ve had to share them?

Thank you for following along with this plan. If you have enjoyed and benefited from it, you can read more in Remember by Richard Gamble - available now from SPCK.