Transcript
A (0:00)
This is Anne Graham Lotz. What if this Mother's Day, every mother in America made a commitment to daily pray for their children? What if every grandmother in America made a commitment to pray for her grandchildren? And what if when we prayed for our children and grandchildren, we didn't just pray now I lay me down to sleep kind of prayers, but we prayed the Daniel prayer, a prayer that moves heaven and changes nations.
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Welcome to Living in the Light with Bible teacher Anne Graham Lutz for today's special edition. Joining Ann is her youngest daughter, Rachel Ruth Wright. The two share memories of a faithful, praying mother and grandmother, Ruth Bell Graham, and encourage all mothers and grandmothers to be women of the word and women of prayer.
A (0:45)
Being a mother is one of the hardest, most challenging, most rewarding, most discouraging, most thrilling, most depressing, most joy filled, one of the most challenging positions you can hold. And being a mother, more than any other thing, has taught me that I need God. And I think it's put me on my knees more often than any other particular thing in my life. I'm so thankful that God placed me in a family where I had a godly heritage. And Psalm 16:6 David said that my lines have fallen in pleasant places. Lo I have a goodly heritage. And as I look back into my heritage, I had grandparents who knew how to pray and who prayed for their children and grandchildren. I had a mother and father who prayed for their children and their grandchildren. So I actually know that my life today is an answer to my mother's prayers, my grandmother's prayers, and the prayers of those who've gone before me. Ann Graham Lotz as she reflects on
B (1:44)
her mother, Ruth Bell Graham
A (1:47)
One of my earliest memories was of my mother on her knees in prayer in the house that we lived in, which we now call my father's house in Montreat, North Carolina. My bedroom was on the second floor over the bedroom of my mother's bedroom, which was on the first floor. So it didn't matter what time I got up in the morning, if I got up very early in order to study, for I would look out my window and I could see the lights from my mother's room reflected on the trees outside my window. And I knew she was on her knees in prayer. And at night when I went to bed, it didn't matter what time I went to bed, if I slipped downstairs and wanted to talk to Mother, you know, just to say goodnight or something, I would find her on her knees in prayer. And when I did, I knew not to stick around because she would not disturb her prayer time. She stayed on her knees until she finished and it could be a couple of hours. And I knew firsthand that my mother was a woman of prayer. I never saw my mother lose her temper. Isn't that amazing? With five children, one of which was Franklin, who would give anybody fits. But my mother never lost her temper. She had patience, she had joy, she had strength. And I know it came from her relationship with God that she developed through daily prayer and Bible reading. And I know I'm an answer to her prayers. One of her verses that she put inside a bracelet that my daddy had made for her, on the inside was a Bible verse that was Psalm 100, that God is faithful to every generation. And she claimed God's faithfulness not only to her generation. She had seen it in the generation before her. And she claimed it for my generation and even for my grandchildren. And so I have the joy of knowing that my mother was someone who prayed daily for me and she prayed daily for my children. God was gracious and gave me three children, and the youngest of which is Rachel Ruth. And she's joining me in this conversation on Mother's Day. I'm just so glad to welcome her into this conversation. I want to tell you something about her before I pull her in, but Rachel Ruth was my third child. She has three daughters. When they were younger, they were in a Christian school. She taught Missions chapel once a month. And every month when she taught Missions chapel, she presented the Gospel and children came to Faith in Jesus as a result of her presentation. She's a gifted evangelist with children. It's amazing. But then years ago, the basketball coach at the University of North Carolina, she's no longer there, but still Sylvia Hatchell, she's in the Naismith hall of Fame basketball winningest women's coach ever alive right now. But anyway, she started a Bible study and the teacher moved away and she picked up the phone and called Rachel Ruth and asked Rachel Ruth if she'd teach her women's Bible class in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. So Rachel Ruth agreed. And she's been teaching that Bible class and it's been amazing what God has done in the lives of the women. And they range from 18 year old students to 80 something retired in the community. But they've come to Faith. She just has a mixture and it's been a wonderful group. And then Covid came and shut them down. But don't we thank God for zoom? You know, I mean, what we're able to accomplish with that. So now she offers her Bible study online. And she has the same woman. She directs their discussion online. But she also is the chairman of my prayer team. So I'm just so thankful to welcome her into this conversation and say that it's a joy for me to have her. And it's by God's grace that I have a daughter who's as precious as this and as godly that God is using in such a wonderful way. Rachel Ruth, welcome to this conversation. And I'd like to know how you view prayer as a mother, what prayer means to you.
