Running Together

Empowering God’s Mighty Work in All Generations

By Hal and Cheryl Sacks

Not long ago, the Lord gave us a prophetic picture of three generations of horses running together in a race. The younger generations were like stallions: strong, gifted, spirited, and having great potential. Yet, they needed to be trained to run with endurance and excellence.

In this vision, the more experienced generations were coming alongside the younger horses, much in the same way older believers might come alongside younger ones to offer godly wisdom, encouragement, and instruction in God’s Word. This older generation of horses ran with understanding and a sense of pacing. They nudged the younger horses in the right direction while running alongside them, acting almost like trainers or coaches.

This was a very meaningful picture for us. In 40 years of ministry, we have cherished the opportunity to run with many multigenerational prayer and worship movements that have proven transformational. We’ve learned there is great synergy and multiplication of God’s power in the generations running together!

 

Generational Synergy

A few years ago, four young men came to us with a vision to pray inside Arizona’s most distressed schools and asked for our help. We eagerly said, “Yes!”

They wanted to rent 11 high school auditoriums for 11 straight weekends and pray for each school’s most significant needs. It was a massive endeavor, yet we committed to investing into these young men and their vision.  

Since the young leaders were from various cities throughout the state, they needed to operate from a hub. We gave them office space and loaned our administrative staff to help them with project management, fundraising, and financial oversight. We also gave them keys to our home. They came and went as needed, sleeping in our guest bedroom and on living room couches in between and during all-night weekend prayer events. 

We prayed with these young leaders, helped them raise money, and attended all 11 of their 26-hour events. We held planning meetings and debriefed after the events. During the all-night prayer and worship, they often would come and ask what we were sensing from the Lord as things unfolded.

The results at these schools were astounding. Academic scores went up and drugs and suicides went down. Poor schools received grant monies and donations they had not even applied for. And most notably, the entire atmosphere changed in many of the schools.

Even after these initiatives ended, we continued to walk with these young men in their life journeys, their struggles, and in making big decisions. We prayed with them in choosing their mates, attended their weddings, and have been there as their families grow. We have continued to run together in other Kingdom endeavors.

 

Investing in the Next Generation

The Scriptures are full of examples of young people who did mighty things for God.

In 1 Samuel 17, we find the account of young David’s victory over the Philistine giant, Goliath. Then there was young Joshua, who was trained under the mentorship of Moses and learned from the older leader to cultivate intimacy with the Lord before moving out with decisive action (Ex. 33:11).

Mary, teenage mother of Jesus, demonstrated incredible grace and faith as she welcomed God’s work in her life, making her the mother of the Messiah. She greatly benefited from the nurturing companionship of her older cousin Elizabeth during that strategic season of her life (Luke 1). And let’s not forget Timothy, the protégé of the apostle Paul, who wrote two letters of the New Testament to Timothy and was responsible for much of the advancing, territory-taking work of the early Church.

What all these young biblical heroes had in common was the presence of an older believer in their lives who believed, mentored, and invested in them.

We’ve realized in our many years of ministry that even kids brought up in Christian homes and raised in the church often lack the security and empowering influence of a community that builds a protective hedge around them in prayer and runs alongside them in the race of life and ministry. Somehow in the busyness of home, work, and church life, we adults miss out on opportunities to cover and train the next generation as they run their leg of the “race.”

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Heb. 12:1).

When Moses turned over his leadership to Joshua, he had already mentored the younger man for some time. “Encourage and strengthen him,” God told Moses, “for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see” (Deut. 3:28). Naomi walked with Ruth, Elijah mentored Elisha, Elizabeth taught Mary, Jesus walked with the disciples, Barnabas walked with Paul, Paul instructed Timothy, and Priscilla and Aquila walked with Apollos.

We might think of these relationships as “mentoring” or “discipleship.” Today, mentoring is a buzzword and doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing to everyone. People talk about discipleship, yet many do not understand that there are two basic models of discipline or training. Most commonly we see a Greek form of dialogue, questioning, and information sharing. This model most often looks like the trainer standing before those who desire to learn, downloading information to them. Sometimes questions are solicited, yet usually the trainer charges the trainees with figuring out how to walk it out.

Being raised in a Jewish home, I (Hal) am more familiar with the Hebraic model we see in Scripture. This training method involves the elder or leader bringing around him those who want to walk with him and learn from his life while they are on a journey together. Certainly, Jesus spoke to the 5,000 as He gave the Sermon on the Mount—one of the most potent exhortations in the New Testament. Yet it was the 12 who walked closely with Him who changed the world!

 

Mentoring Makes All the Difference

When I (Cheryl) was a young woman, and at a critical crossroads and spiritual crisis in my life, a mentor made all the difference. At the time, I was moving back to Texas from Florida to be with my mom after the tragic death of my father. 

I was fortunate to have a praying mother, and one added benefit was that her best friend Hazel wanted to spend time with me and help me develop my faith and prayer life. She never told me that was her intention and she never used the word “mentor.” I certainly had no idea I was being mentored. But I suspect Hazel knew exactly what she was doing.

For about seven months, Hazel and I spent some part of almost every day together. Sometimes we went out to lunch, or for coffee, or for a walk in the mall. Much of the time, we attended Bible studies and Christian services. Each time we were together, Hazel asked, “How are you doing? How can I pray for you? Is there anything I can do for you?”

Hazel’s life marked with joy and love amazed me, yet it was her supernatural faith and mountain-moving prayers that most filled me with awe. I listened carefully to how she phrased scriptural, positive, faith-filled prayers and determined that I would accept nothing less for my life. As I put the things I was observing and absorbing into practice, new doors began to open to me.

Hazel prayed with me for God’s choice of a husband and attended my wedding. She laid hands on our daughter Nicole as a baby and blessed her. Hazel prayed for me and cheered me on as I spoke in my first church service and wrote my first book. She never had children of her own, but my picture sat on her bedroom dresser as a reminder to pray for me until the day she died.

Embers of passion glow in the spirits of many young people—embers just waiting to be fanned into white-hot flames by mature believers like you and like us. How? By running with young people in prayer, ministry, and Christian living. We can mentor, encourage, pray with, and strengthen them so that they will indeed inherit the land of God’s promises!

 

Giving Up the Reins

When our daughter Nicole and her friend Stephanie were only 15, they and a small group of friends started a successful citywide, youth-led prayer movement in Phoenix called “Sacred Edge.” Its purpose was to call youth to pray for the healing and restoration of their generation. Meeting the first Friday of every month, 100–300 young people came together from across the city for worship and prayer.

The endeavor started small; the first night only 25 kids showed up. Nicole said it felt like “their prayers fell to the ground.” But from this humble beginning, adults began to come alongside to help, support, and pray with them. With the adults’ coaching, Nicole and her team learned how to lead, teach, and draw together other young people for powerful times of worship and prayer.

When young people are on fire spiritually, a coach is generally not needed to get them going so much as to provide wisdom along the way. Many times, the guidance process takes the form of “debriefing” after the young leader has had spiritual encounters or ministry experiences—either positive or negative—and needs to unpack it to gain greater wisdom. This requires sensitivity, patience, and grace on behalf of the coach.

It also includes humility—being willing to give up established ways of doing things and letting young leaders have the reins, so to speak, when the time is right. Every generation struggles with the challenge of holding onto the old ways. But historically, God is always doing something new and fresh with every emerging generation. His Word never changes, but His methods often vary to reach the hearts of the next generation.

God is doing a powerful thing in our young people today. The prayer and ministry lives of the young adults may look different than yours when you were young. That’s okay. Be willing to let God be God and move in their lives in unique and powerful ways. You may learn a thing or two from them—instead of the other way around.

Most of all, remember that the privilege of offering ministry comes only out of relationship.  With that in place, you can partner with the younger generation in advancing God’s Kingdom.

 As we run together, it is our prayer that the “young stallions” we equip and encourage will become “victors in the race” and mentors of their next generation—and that they will run further and faster than we did!

DR. HAL and CHERYL SACKS are co-founders of BridgeBuilders International, with headquarters on the campus of Arizona Christian University. Their ministry mobilizes believers of all generations in transformational prayer. They are the authors of numerous books and articles that equip intercessors to pray for revival and godly reformation in every sphere of culture.

 

Mentoring an Eager Generation

Three times a year, I receive an invitation to teach a session on prayer to a new group of Gen Z interns with an evangelistic organization called Pulse. I share some general prayer principles I’ve learned over the years. But mostly, I tell stories.

That’s because after a lifetime of prayer involvement in my church and various avenues across the city and nation, God has given me some great stories of answered prayer. And they are meant to be shared!

Even though sometimes I feel like I’m staring at a conference table full of blank faces, the session on prayer consistently ranks as one of their most-liked teachings. Recently, a young man approached me in a coffee shop and said he thought he recognized me from Pulse. He was one of the interns I taught several sessions ago.

He asked permission to sit down with me. He started telling me about all the ways he had implemented many of the prayer practices I had shared with the group. He had a journal full of his answers to prayer. He had lots of questions—some I couldn’t answer. In fact, he was thinking about things that had not yet occurred to me. His enthusiasm spilled out as he shared how he has heard God speak and watched Him move.

 

Eager to Learn

I am a witness to how Gen Z is eager to learn from older generations. And they love the stories because it shows authenticity, which is important to them. They don’t want to be preached at—they want to learn practical ways to take great steps of faith. They are inspired by examples of God’s power and grace in answer to bold prayers.

This is a generation wanting to be mobilized. Get to know some Gen Zers. Share your stories. Pray with and for them.

Let’s help lay the groundwork for revival in their generation.

CAROL MADISON is the author of Prayer That’s Caught and Taught: Mentoring the Next Generation.