The Prayers Of A Grandfather

Luke 16:22-31: And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham*s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father*s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

The rich man prayed to Abraham for his five brothers. Part of his torment was the expectation that they would come to the place of torments too and that he felt responsible for their fate. Abraham had no comfort for that rich man. I wonder how he felt if and when his loved ones actually joined him. His prayer for them was too late and he prayed to the wrong person, Abraham instead of God.

I wonder if there are any of your loved ones in the place of torments hoping that you don*t come there. It breaks my heart to believe that I have one grandfather there. I wonder if he is concerned about me. But I thank the Lord that I had another grandfather that was a gentle Christian who prayed for me before I was saved. Lost people all pray when it is too late. It becomes too late for many of them and they seem to taste Hell even before they die.

Genesis 4:13: And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Hebrews 12:17: For ye know how that afterward, when he (Esau) would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Romans 1:28: And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Proverbs 13:15: Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.

I was not a Christian when I graduated from high school. The letter my grandfather wrote to me meant almost nothing to me then but it means everything to me now. I shall share it with you and will translate it from his broken German and shorten it up.

Dear grandson Ronnie:

We will answer your letter. Thank you for it. You have grown up too quickly. We wish you the best of everything. We are always proud of our grandchildren. It sure was nice of you to send us your picture. Thank you. We hope the rest of the family and you are all fine. The Lord be with you is our prayer.

So long from your loving grandparents and may the Lord bless you all!

Care to discuss The Prayers Of A Grandfather with Ron?

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