{"id":301740,"date":"2009-01-05T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-05T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/leaving-an-eternal-legacy\/"},"modified":"2009-01-05T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-05T17:00:00","slug":"leaving-an-eternal-legacy","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/leaving-an-eternal-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving an Eternal Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>His decision to follow Christ left Sammy Tippit homeless when his mother kicked him out of the house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2009-01-05.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"12.09M","filesize_raw":"12677588","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2822],"tags":[2210,4805,4804],"podcast_series":[7625],"cwp_profile":[3342],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301740","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-prayer","tag-praying","tag-praying-for-your-family","podcast_series-praying-for-your-family","cwp_profile-sammy-tippit","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301740\/leaving-an-eternal-legacy","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301740\/leaving-an-eternal-legacy","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"2PoFQMZq0F\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/leaving-an-eternal-legacy\/\">Leaving an Eternal Legacy<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/leaving-an-eternal-legacy\/embed\/#?secret=2PoFQMZq0F\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Leaving an Eternal Legacy&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"2PoFQMZq0F\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"His decision to follow Christ left Sammy Tippit homeless when his mother kicked him out of the house.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2009-01-05.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> I had this opportunity to become an attorney, to make money, to go into politics, and I had some natural abilities in speaking, and so I was going in one direction and then, all of a sudden, Christ came into my heart and took me in a different direction, and she thought I had really flipped out.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> This is FamilyLife Today for Monday, January 5th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 You don't think of somebody being disowned or thrown out of the house in this country because they come to faith in Christ. That's what happened to Sammy Tippit.\u00a0 We'll find out more today, stay tuned.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Monday edition, and today we are kicking off a 40-day adventure for couples, because it's 40 days from today until Valentine's Day, and so we thought we ought to take the 40 days between today and Valentine's Day and have everybody participate in the 40-day Love Dare.\u00a0 If you saw the movie, \"Fireproof\" when it came out in the fall, you know that the Love Dare was kind of central to the plot line.\u00a0 The book, \"The Love Dare,\" was on the New York Times Bestseller List, and so we're going to follow the book and have all of us participate in The Love Dare between here and Valentine's Day.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo you'll get an assignment each day from us here on FamilyLife Today at the beginning of the program, and if you need to review the assignment, it's online at FamilyLifeToday.com, and today's Love Dare is based on Ephesians 4:2, which says, \"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient bearing with one another in love.\"\u00a0 Your Love Dare today is all about being patient with your spouse. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe first part of this dare is fairly simple \u2013 although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart.\u00a0 So for the next day you need to resolve to demonstrate patience; to say nothing negative to your spouse at all for 24 hours.\u00a0 If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything \u2013 better to hold your tongue than to say something you'll regret.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat's your assignment for today in the 40-day Love Dare.\u00a0 Don't say anything negative, bite your tongue.\u00a0 And, again, if you need to review today's Love Dare, it's online at FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 You can also buy a copy of the book, \"The Love Dare.\"\u00a0 You'll find it on our website and, of course, each day we'll remind you of what your assignment for the day is as we head up to Valentine's Day.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, today we're going to talk about your legacy and, you know, I \u2013 I don't know that I ever really thought about this until I came to work here at FamilyLife, and I had somebody who was talking about the difference between a heritage and legacy, and they said, \"You know, your legacy is what's in front of you.\u00a0 It's what you pass down to those who follow you.\u00a0 Your heritage is what's behind you.\u00a0 It's what's gone before you in your family,\" and that's a good distinction to make.\u00a0 I guess I'd never really thought much about it. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI don't know \u2013 I know your parents were believers.\u00a0 Does your heritage go back farther than that in terms of a believing heritage?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You know, I have done some research into that but not a lot.\u00a0 There is so much about our culture today that is \"now\" oriented.\u00a0 I think all of us are in need of not only looking back but looking forward about the legacy we are going to leave, and we have a man who has \u2013 who is in the process of leaving his legacy \u2013 Sammy Tippit, who is a world-renowned evangelist joins us on FamilyLife Today.\u00a0 Sammy, I've heard about your ministry for a number of years, and Bob and I have really been looking forward to having you on the broadcast \u2013 welcome.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Well, thank you, and it's just a great joy to be here and to be able to share during this time together about something so important as our families and the legacy, the heritage, what God has done and what God will do.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Yes, and you had an interesting heritage given to you as a young man growing up, but before we get to that, Sammy has preached in more than 80 nations around the world; he has authored more than a dozen books including the bestseller, \"The Prayer Factor.\"\u00a0 He is the only guest on FamilyLife Today, Bob, whose wife is named \"Tex.\"\u00a0 I don't think we've had a gentleman on the broadcast whose wife is Tex, and that was your nickname of her when you dated her, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Well, she's the prettiest Tex you'll ever meet in your life now.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You all have two children, four grandchildren, and been married since 1968, and you recently have authored a new book called \"Praying for Your Family,\" and eternal legacy.\u00a0 And this really came out of a little bit of a search like Bob was talking about the faith that came from his ancestors.\u00a0 Tell us about the home you grew up in.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Well, I grew up in, and I've been giving my testimony for many years saying that I grew up in a non-Christian family, had no Christian background, and that's what I believed, and, actually, I've discovered in the last few years that that's all not true, and that a lot of what I've been sharing has been false \u2013 not intentionally.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> But my mother, whenever I became a Christian, kicked me out of the house.\u00a0 There were two reasons for that.\u00a0 One was racial attitudes \u2013 when Christ came into my heart, He took away racism and bigotry and that out of me, and my mother said I'd been brainwashed by Martin Luther King, and I said, \"No, I've been heartwashed by the King of kings,\" and that didn't go down real well.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then the other thing was I had the opportunity to study in some of the great institutions in our country.\u00a0 I had my whole life interrupted when I heard a man from a complete opposite background from me share what Jesus had done in His life.\u00a0 And I gave my heart to Christ, and the night that I gave my heart to Christ, it was like everything changed.\u00a0 I knew my purpose, my meaning, my direction.\u00a0 I knew God wanted me in a ministry.\u00a0 I didn't even know the terminology for it, but I knew that's what He had for my life, and I gave my life to that.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd for my mom it was like I was throwing my life away.\u00a0 You know, I had this opportunity to become an attorney, to make money, to go into politics, and I had some natural abilities in speaking, and so I was going in one direction and then, all of a sudden, Christ came into my heart and took me in a different direction.\u00a0 And she thought I had really flipped out.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> You were kicked out of the house?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Yeah, and that came because at LSU during those days, it was in the '60s, mid-'60s, the free speech movement was taking place, and they had these little black boxes, and I stood up one day with a couple of my friends, and we preached at LSU and, literally, hundreds and thousands of students gathered around, and the LSU newspaper came out and covered it and quoted my whole testimony, and, for my mom, it was sort of the breaking point where she felt I had ruined our family name.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> She was hostile toward God and the Gospel altogether?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> That's right \u2013 very bitter, very angry.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> How did she kick you out of the house?\u00a0 Did you go home and \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Well, the night that she got ahold of the paper, I walked in the house that night, I'd been out on a date, and I came in, and she had this paper, and she was sitting there, and she began to yell.\u00a0 And my mom, by the way, was not an abusive person.\u00a0 My mom never abused me physically.\u00a0 I did not grow up in that kind of home.\u00a0 I need to set the record straight there, but she was just so angry, and she had a belt, and she had tied it in a knot with the buckle, and she began to beat me over the head with it, and she beat me out of the house and locked the door and said, \"Do not ever come back into this house.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You walked back into the house as an 18-year-old young man, and you're met by a mom who is pitching a fit and, all of a sudden, starts hitting you with a belt?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> That's correct.\u00a0 And my father was very ill.\u00a0 My father \u2013 my mother really was kind of the strong person.\u00a0 My father, since I had been a little boy, had become ill.\u00a0 He was in the hospital as much as he was out of the hospital, and so that night I walked the streets of Baton Rouge just tears flowing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI was talking to God, and I said, \"God, I don't understand.\"\u00a0 And all I remember is His love just surrounded me and filled me.\u00a0 I have a dear little aunt who is still alive.\u00a0 She's the only one in my upline, so to speak, of relatives that's still alive, and she has always been a mediator.\u00a0 And she eventually got me back into my home with my mother, and got me back in.\u00a0 But I can remember telling my mom, \"Mom, I love you, but I love Jesus more.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd it was the hardest thing in the world for me to do, but Mom let me come back in, and there were some particular things that she put down.\u00a0 One was I could only go to church once a week.\u00a0 She thought of it as being brainwashed by the church community, and I did not tell her, I must confess, that I continued ministering.\u00a0 I was ministering at a \u2013 at that time, they had separation of institutions of the Negro Orphanage Home.\u00a0 I was going and playing basketball with the kids, and then having Bible studies with them, and that made her very angry because of the racial attitudes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so there was this very tense situation with my mom for many, many years this stayed there \u2013 after I was married \u2013 for a long time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> So as you came to faith in Christ, you had to struggle with what most of us do at that point.\u00a0 \"I want my parents to know.\u00a0 I want those I love to know.\"\u00a0 And the temptation is to go back home and to preach to our parents.\u00a0 But you didn't do that, did you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Well, I started off \u2013 and I have to say that my mom, the first thing she said to me was, whenever I started telling her what Christ had done for me, and I told her that I wanted her to know Christ, and she said this to me \u2013 she said, \"I am not a Christian, I'll never become a Christian, and don't ever talk to me about Jesus again.\"\u00a0 So I could not talk to my mother about Christ again, but I could talk to Christ about my mother.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so I began to pray for her, and I began to pray for my dad and my brother and my sister.\u00a0 My dad, not long before he died, just \u2013 and he died just three years after that \u2013 some men from my church came over to my home, knocked on the door of our home, came in, sat down at the bedside of my dad who was so ill, and led him to faith in Jesus.\u00a0 And there is an incredible story about that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut he came to Christ, he was the first one. Then I was invited to speak in Tennessee where my sister was going to school, and I spoke up there later on.\u00a0 She came to Christ.\u00a0 And then 20-something years later, out of the clear blue, my mother calls me and she says, \"Sammy, I've been a bitter woman.\u00a0 I've been a proud woman.\u00a0 I need God, I need Jesus, I need help.\" I couldn't believe it.\u00a0 On the phone right there, I prayed with my mom and my prayers, for over 20-something years, were answered. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd my mom gave her heart to Christ, and she became one of my greatest supporters, prayer supports, and behind me so much, and everything changed.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> There has to be a ton of listeners right now who are hearing that story, and they've got a family member that they've been burdened for for a number of years, and they care about them.\u00a0 What's the one thing you'd encourage them to do on behalf of that family member who doesn't know Christ?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Don't give up, don't give up.\u00a0 There were so many times when I just said, you know, it's hopeless for my mom.\u00a0 My mom, especially \u2013 she was the hardest \u2013 my mom and my brother, because my brother you couldn't talk to unless he was drunk.\u00a0 That was the only time he'd talk to you.\u00a0 But my mom just \u2013 she was so bitter, and I don't know why she was so bitter, but she was so bitter towards God, and I'd just like \u2013 I just wanted to quit.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn fact, there was a time when I thought she was going to try to get our kids taken away from us because we were bringing them overseas with us traveling, and she thought that was abusive to bring them overseas traveling in ministry.\u00a0 And she just had this anger in her heart, and I just \u2013 I wanted to quit so many times and just walk out.\u00a0 But the Lord said to me, \"No, don't do it.\" \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I'll tell you what \u2013 with my mom there was a turning point that I saw with her.\u00a0 One day I was praying for her, and it was several years afterwards that she had said all this stuff and done all this stuff, and I was having my quiet time, and the Lord spoke to me and said, \"Sammy, the problem is not with your mom, the problem is with you.\u00a0 And the problem is this \u2013 that you have been an ungrateful son.\u00a0 Your mother raised you, she had a hard life.\u00a0 She got up early in the morning, worked until late in the evening, came home, took care of you kids, and you have never once said 'thank you, Mom, for your sacrifice.'\u00a0 And here you are, you became a Christian, you've done all these things, and you've never told her that.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And you are how old at this point?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> I'm married, I'm in my late 20s.\u00a0 So it's been about a 10 years since I've been a Christian.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Wow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> And so the Lord just spoke to me and said I need to call my mom and ask forgiveness.\u00a0 So I called her on the phone.\u00a0 I said, \"Mom,\" I said, \"I need to ask your forgiveness for something.\" And I told her what the Lord had spoke to me in my quiet time, and there was silence, and I didn't know what she was going to say, because she was a pretty tough lady, and then she said, \"Sammy, I cannot tell you how much this means to me.\u00a0 This means more than you will ever know.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, she did not give her heart to Christ.\u00a0 It was close to 15 years later after that, but from that point forward, I could talk about Jesus in front of her.\u00a0 Before that time, I couldn't mention the name of Jesus, couldn't mention God, couldn't mention what we were doing.\u00a0 I mean, I had to stay away from that subject, but from that point on, it was different.\u00a0 Something happened.\u00a0 There was a barrier that was broken, and it was with me having the, first of all \u2013 I was praying to God, \"Change Mom, change Mom,\" and, really, the more I prayed for mom to be changed, the spirit of God was tenderizing my heart to say, \"Hey, the problem is not with your mom, it's with you.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know, and so God did that work in me, and then as that happened, over the years, all the bitterness began to just fall off, and she began to be more open and more open until one day she said, \"I need God.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Dennis, you've written on that very theme that Sammy is talking about \u2013 encouraging adult children to honor their parents, to ask for forgiveness, to speak encouraging words, and you've heard stories like that over and over again from men and women who have taken that step that's sometimes a hard step to take, but God has honored it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You know, I think there's a reason why the First Commandment that has anything to do with human relationships out of the Ten Commandments has to do with our relationship with our parents, and God commanded it.\u00a0 He says, \"Honor your mother and your father that it may be well with you.\"\u00a0 And I think the tendency we want to have when we hear a story like Sammy's is we want to turn it into a formula.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Mm-hm.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And we want to think, \"If I do this plus this plus this then it will equal this.\"\u00a0 And God goes beyond the formulas.\u00a0 As you said, Sammy, He wanted to do a work in your heart just as He did in mine.\u00a0 It's interesting \u2013 the spirit of ungratefulness, that was where God convicted me that I had not been a grateful son and expressing appreciation to my parents just for what they had done, and the whole concept of honoring them really came from some baby steps that I took just of saying, \"thank you,\" and of saying \"I love you,\" and then, ultimately, as Bob was talking about \u2013 writing a tribute to both my mom and my dad just honoring them for the impact they had in my life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Let me share with you a word on that tribute, because I heard about that, and the Lord spoke to me about writing a tribute to my mom, and I wrote a tribute to her and gave it to her as a Christmas present, and four weeks later she died.\u00a0 She was diagnosed two weeks after I gave her that Christmas present.\u00a0 She was diagnosed with lung cancer, and just three weeks after the diagnosis she died.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Did you read that tribute to her?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> I read it to her, and I gave it to her, personally, and she just wept.\u00a0 And, you know, I was so thankful that I was able to do that.\u00a0 At the time, I didn't know that she was going to be diagnosed with cancer and she was going to die.\u00a0 I was able to do that before her death, and I was very honest in it.\u00a0 You know, I said, \"Mom, we've had some rough times together, but I want you to know what,\" and I told her what she had imparted to me that had been such a blessing and how I appreciated her and thanked God for her, and she hung it up right in the living room.\u00a0 Of course, I grew up in a fairly poor family, you know, and not much hanging up, but that was hanging up there right in the center of the living room whenever she died.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> I like what you say \u2013 \"I decided I would \u2013 instead of talking to Mom about Jesus I talked to Jesus about Mom.\"\u00a0 And, to me, the toughest part of prayer is the persevering prayer \u2013 the prayer that doesn't get answered in 30, 60, 90 days, a year, five years, 10 years.\u00a0 That is tough, tough stuff.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, you get to thinking, \"God knows what's on my heart.\u00a0 I've said this over and over again.\u00a0 Do I really need to say it another time?\"\u00a0 Why is it, Sammy, that God would have us keep bringing this before the throne?\u00a0 He is omniscient.\u00a0 He knows what's on our heart.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> Well, I believe one of the reasons for that, and it's not the only reason is we don't understand what prayer is.\u00a0 Prayer is intimacy with God.\u00a0 It's having communion with Him.\u00a0 God is more interested in our communion with Him \u2013 He wants to have fellowship with us.\u00a0 He loves us.\u00a0 He wants to spend time \u2013 and in doing that, as we see Him, and we behold Him and who He is, then we are transformed.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, you see, what happens in perseverance is not changing the person.\u00a0 I am convinced that when we read that parable over in Luke, chapter 18, where the Scripture talks about the woman who went to the unrighteous judge, and we sort of compare that to our prayer life with God.\u00a0 Well, it's not a comparison, it's a contrast, because there are two things it says about the judge \u2013 he's unrighteous, and he doesn't care about people.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, there are two things we know about God \u2013 He's righteous, and He loves people.\u00a0 So the tarrying, the waiting, the persevering is not to change God, but as we go into His presence and get to know Him, we are changed.\u00a0 So He says, \"Wait, tarry, persevere, in prayer.\"\u00a0 And what happens is God changes us.\u00a0 God does something in us, and then there's another thing, and that is that there are certain mysteries in prayer, and sometimes we \u2013 you talk about the formulas \u2013 prayer is a great mystery where the sovereignty of God and the will of man come together, and you don't understand everything.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Sammy:<\/strong> And yet those two things \u2013 I like to say, and I say in my book, that \"prayer is the corner at which the sovereignty of God and the will of man intersect.\"\u00a0 They come together, and it's at that point that God is able to do things that are so far beyond anything that we would have ever dreamed, and that's where the legacy is left because it comes into even future generations.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> This is an important theme, though, Dennis, because as Sammy is praying for his family, we can pray not only for the family members we know, but there are family members coming along in the future that we don't know, and we can be praying for them as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> That's right.\u00a0 The ones that God has given us now, that's the challenge for the day, and that's what Sammy has challenged us with here on the broadcast, and I just want to read a passage from 1 Thessalonians 5 \u2013 \"See that no one repays anyone, evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.\u00a0 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.\"\u00a0 And, really, Sammy, you story illustrates all three of those verses.\u00a0 You did good to your mom, you didn't give her evil for evil, you didn't match her bitterness with your own.\u00a0 You prayed without ceasing with her.\u00a0 You never stopped praying for her, and ultimately you embraced those tough circumstances as God's will for how God used it in your life and ultimately in your ministry.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I think that's really what Sammy is challenging us with today, Bob, is to live a life by faith and really trust what we can't see in the future.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yeah, I'm just sitting here thinking about the resources we have in our FamilyLife Resource Center that are devoted to the issue of prayer for families, because we really believe that this spiritual discipline is an essential part of what it takes to be a godly family.\u00a0 We've got the book that Sammy's written called \"Praying for Your Family,\" as one of those resources.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe've got John Yates's book, \"How a Man Prays for His Family,\" the book, \"While They Were Sleeping,\" a prayer guide for parents, we've got prayer cards, the devotional you and Barbara wrote for couples called \"Moments With You,\" is designed so that couples can pray together each day.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I want to just challenge our listeners \u2013 go to FamilyLifeToday.com and just review those resources and ask yourself this question \u2013 is this something that I need to make more of a priority in the coming year?\u00a0 Does praying for our marriage, praying for our children, praying for our legacy, need to be a bigger priority for us?\u00a0 And, if so, maybe some of these resources can help make that happen.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain, our website is FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 It will take you right to where you need to be to review these resources, and you can order online, if you'd like, or call 1-800-358-6329.\u00a0 That's 1-800-FLTODAY.\u00a0 When you contact us, someone can let you know more about these resources and help you pick out the ones you need, and then make arrangements to have the ones you need sent to you.\u00a0 Again, the toll-free number \u2013 1-800-FLTODAY or go online at FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSpeaking of your devotional book, \"Moments With You,\" with the new year just getting underway, couples may want to begin that regular spiritual discipline of praying together as a husband and a wife, and this month we want to make a copy of that devotional available to any of our listeners who can help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today with a donation of any amount.\u00a0 Because we are listener-supported, we depend on those contributions to be able to continue this ministry on this station and on other stations all across the country, and this month when folks are able to make a donation, we wanted to be able to say thank you by sending a copy of this daily devotional guide for couples \u2013 365 different devotions for husbands and wives to read through together.\u00a0 There is a Scripture verse each day and some suggested questions for conversation and a suggested topic for prayer.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you are making a donation online at FamilyLifeToday.com and you'd like to receive a copy of \"Moments With You,\" just type the word \"moments\" into the keycode box that you find on the donation form or call 1-800-FLTODAY, make a donation over the phone and simply mention that you'd like a copy of Dennis and Barbara Rainey's devotional, \"Moments With You.\" Again, we're happy to send it out to you, and we do appreciate your financial partnership with us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, tomorrow we're going to be back to hear more of Sammy Tippit's story about the faithful prayers of a grandmother that were a part of his coming to faith in Christ.\u00a0 I hope you can join us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas \u2013 help for today; hope for tomorrow.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. 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