By Gayle Veitenheimer

My visit with Ben following the Navy’s boot camp had been painfully short. One day. Less than twenty-four hours with the son we hadn’t seen for eight weeks. The pageantry of boot camp graduation faded, and my husband and I faced a second separation from our firstborn.

Now officially a military family, we returned to the summer heat of Texas while Ben stayed in Great Lakes, Illinois for eight additional weeks of conditioning, before traveling to San Diego and Navy SEAL training. 

My son faced the most rigorous military training in the world. 

Helplessness doesn’t begin to describe how I felt. 

What’s a mom to do? 

A distance runner at the time, I committed to marathon train while Ben endured the rigors of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S), courtesy of Naval Special Warfare. 

Marathon training calls for a weekly long run to build mileage. A perfect time for intercession, I planned to pray for Ben during my Saturday long runs. The first weekend I ran 13.1 miles, a half marathon, which wasn’t unusual at the time. But as I shoved open the door of our church the next morning, I silently prayed, “Lord, why am I so tired?” 

The answer came immediately. Fatigue. Pray about fatigue for Ben.

Whoa. God knew exactly what Ben needed and He had shared it. With me. My initial response of awe and excitement was followed by a cringe. 

What had I just gotten myself into?

Every Saturday, God gave me a picture of something to pray for as I supernaturally experienced a taste of what Ben did. 

Muscle soreness. 

IT band issues. 

Unrelenting pressure to quit. 

As marathons go, this was not my first rodeo. But the training for this one? I hope I never repeat it.

Weeks passed. My intercession (and marathon) and Ben’s SEAL training continued. 

As for Ben? Swim test. Check. Hell Week. Check. And on and on. 

I ran my marathon that fall, right after Ben completed Hell Week. My worst race ever, but I continued to pray. 

Ben successfully completed BUD/S and moved to the second half of SEAL training, SQT. He graduated with BUD/S Class 298 in October of 2013. 

And I learned the importance of intercession and the privilege of partnering with God in what He was already doing in Ben’s life.

I still pray for my kids. Spouses and children have joined the list. Though I’ll never attempt anything like SEAL training, I’ll gladly sit in God’s school of prayer. 

You can too.

Because God calls you to prayer just as He did me. 

And you can be God’s special forces, equally as effective as a Navy SEAL, only in the spiritual realm. 

As a grandparent, you have several key advantages most moms and dads don’t have.

Time.

Wisdom.

Experience.

All three are key to prayer. 

James tells us in James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” You are important to the spiritual development of your grandchildren (or kids if you’re not there yet). 

Here are some how-tos:

1. Do your grandchildren have a Bible verse that was chosen for them when they were born? Pray that verse. If not, ask God for a verse for them and pray what He shows you. Out loud. I chose Psalm 92:12-15 for two of my boys. Everywhere the passage says “they” I put my boys’ names in that place. 

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

 2. Pray Scripture. Character qualities like Deborah’s leadership and David’s tender heart toward God. Psalm 91 for protection. Psalm 23 for comfort. The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians. The Beatitudes in Matthew. Paul penned some wonderful prayers in Colossians 1:9-12; Ephesians 1:17-19; 3:14-19; and Philippians 1:4-6. And don’t forget Aaron’s blessing in Numbers 6:22-27 or the prayer of Jabez. No shortage of material here.

3. Ask the grandkids (and their parents). Let them know you are praying for them and ask what you should pray about. Be sure to follow up.

4. Pray well-known prayers. Try this list for starters: St. Francis of Assisi’s Peace Prayer, St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer for Protection, Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer. 

4. Divine Prayer Partners. Still feeling a little shaky? You never pray alone. Even when you don’t have the words, you have two companions who do. 

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26 

 Therefore he [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25

7. Where Two or More Are Gathered. Team up with other grandparents and pray together. There’s power in multiplication. And if I were the enemy, the very thought of a team of praying grandparents would send me running. 

God not only calls you to pray, but He also promises to meet you there. Come. Join the ranks of His intercessors, God’s special forces.