Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family.
– 2 Kings 11:1
What a picture of evil and sin in a family here in 2 Kings 11:1. And what’s startling to me as I’m reading this in 2nd Kings chapter 11, and then a New Testament reading today is 2nd Timothy chapter 1 when Paul is writing to Timothy and he says, I am reminding you of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now I am sure dwells in you as well. What a contrast. In 2nd Timothy chapter 1 you see this picture of a mother and a grandmother who have poured goodness and the gospel into Timothy and the fruit of that in Timothy’s life which is totally different from 2nd Kings chapter 11. And so I and we are driven to pray:
We pray for the salvation of those in our family who do not know you.
God, help us to be faithful parents and grandparents and grandchildren and children. God, help us to pass goodness and mercy on from generation to generation in our families. And God, I personally praise you for grandparents and parents who have loved me. Who would have protected me. Who have passed the gospel onto me. God, I want to be this kind of parent. I want to be this kind of grandparent if you give me the opportunity to do that.
God, for all of us who have parents or grandparents who have passed on faith to us, we give you praise, glory, and honor. God, we pray for parents and grandparents in our lives who may not know your goodness and your grace. We pray for their salvation based on reading these passages. God, we pray, use us to pass faith on to them we pray. God, we pray for children and their children and their children.
2 Kings 11:1 Is an Example of Evil Taking Root in A Family. May Our Families Be Rooted in God’s Word.
God, we pray all the time, all of life, God, that there would be children for generations from my family who love you and know you. God, we pray that over each of our families. And God, we all pray this together over the next generation. God, help us to love and protect and pass the gospel on faithfully to the next generation. God, I pray for single brothers and sisters who I think of right now as we’re praying who are faithfully passing the gospel onto the next generation.
Lord God, we pray that together in your church that there would be faith that is passed on. Passed on in ways that will last far beyond our lives here until you return. Jesus, we pray for this. We pray that there would be a legacy of faith flowing from our lives, in our families, in our churches, and among the next generation. That there would be many who love you and know you and follow you and glorify you for generations to come because of the way we live for and love the next generation in our lives. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
