In Point Man, Steve Farrar tells the story of George McCluskey. When George married and started a family, he decided to invest one hour each day in prayer, since he wanted his children to follow Christ. Over time, he expanded his prayers to include his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Every day between 11 AM and noon, he faithfully prayed for the next three generations. As the years went by, his two daughters committed their lives to Christ and married men who entered full-time ministry. The two couples produced four girls and one boy: each of the girls married clergymen, and the boy became a pastor. The first two children born to the next generation were boys who chose the same college and shared a dorm room. During their sophomore year, one of the cousins decided to enter the ministry, while the other boy did not. Instead of continuing the family legacy, he decided to pursue his interest in psychology. He earned his doctorate in the field and ultimately wrote parenting books that became bestsellers. He also started a radio program heard on more than one thousand stations each day. This cousin’s name is Dr. James Dobson.
George McCluskey didn’t simply pray for his family; he invested himself in prayer on behalf of his family. The dividend for which he hoped was the salvation of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but the returns were far greater than even he could imagine. Anyone who has ever been blessed by the guidance and advice of Dr. Dobson has been directly impacted by the prayer life of George McCluskey; it serves as a wonderful example of James 5.16, which states: “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (NIV).
Dr. Steve Seamands writes, “True intercession is simply a participation in the ongoing intercession of the risen and ascended Christ…As Paul declares, ‘It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us’ (Romans 8.34) …Christ, then, is the principal actor in intercessory prayer. The burden of intercession is his, not ours… Consequently, we are not called to bear the burden of intercession ourselves, but to piggyback upon Jesus’ intercession – to be laborers with Him in His ongoing intercession in heaven.”
In other words, follows of Christ pray because Jesus prayed…and He continues to pray!
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