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Gen. 35:18 Benjamin, “as her soul was departing, he called his name.”

Fast-forward to the final chapter of Rachel’s life.  She is on her deathbed and gives birth to the last child of Jacob.  Her name for the child is Ben-Oni which means “son of my pain.”  The father, Jacob, renames the child Benjamin, “son of my right hand.”

Watching his beloved wife depart surely impacted Jacob.  His name for Benjamin, however is a prophetic picture of the culmination of the ages.  The 11 earlier sons, Reuben (a son), Levi (loved), Simeon (heard), Judah (praise), Dan (judge), Naphtali (wrestling), Gad (troop), Asher (happy), Issachar (reward), Zebulon (gift), and Joseph (add) all are types of prayer and levels of maturity in the church.  What begins as simple love for the Son, matures to praise, endures through wrestling, receives the gifts of God’s joy, and then replicates again and again in the lives of others.  You will see each of these seasons come and go again as you walk with God into your destiny and the life stages of a ministry.

Recognizing the seasons helps us better respond to challenges either with laughter and praise, or maybe with wrestling and warfare.  Prayer encompasses all these rich emotions.  Asking for God’s vindication on the wicked, receiving help from the troop around us, expecting a reward and addition to are labors are all themes of prayer.

The final episode of the saga however is postponed several chapters later when Benjamin is born.  Benjamin is the last stage of the church, the son of my pain who is transformed into the son of my right hand.  God’s ultimate desire in history is to bring all things in subjection to Himself.  “He must reign until He has put all things under His feet.” (1 Cor. 15:27, Ps. 8:6) “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” (v. 26)

Once the Father has subdued all of creation under His command, the “Son of His right hand,” Jesus will be the ruler and heir of all redeemed creation.  This redemption will encompass the souls of men, the physical creation, and all spiritual beings who will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father. (Phil. 2:11) Seeing this Son of God’s right hand exalted over all creation is the end goal of our prayers.  Rather than a home in heaven or some earthly blessing, our petitions are ultimately asking that “His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.”

When the Son of Man subdues every enemy under His feet, the end is here which is really the beginning of His glorious Kingdom come on earth.  Our prayers ought to agree with that ending, and when we come to a point of declaring this Kingdom come with authority and power, we have entered in the intercessions of Jesus.

Gen. 30:23 Joseph, “God has taken away my reproach.”

Leah says, “The Lord will add.”  Joseph represents the never-ending blessing of our spiritual heritage.  So often we think our life is an end in itself, but the Bible reminds us of the transgenerational transfer of blessing that endures throughout the ages.  Joseph is the gift that keeps giving.  He adds, not only to the present situation, but he is launched forward into history and sent to prepare a place for God’s people.

Joseph is the child of destiny like “an arrow in the hand of a warrior.” (Psalm 127:4) When we send out our heritage from our house and ministry, we are giving to the generations yet to come and reaching across the ages to establish peace on the earth.

In The Joseph Factor, we explore early the significance of a transgenerational vision.  By now in your ministry, you ought to be thinking about replication and ways your work will continue when you are done.  Joseph is the adding factor that allow the Kingdom of God to continually increase on the earth when we are far gone.

Am I being conscience of the effect I desire to leave on the next generation?  Am I actively sowing into my children and the future leaders of my ministry?  Is the children’s ministry an afterthought? Is documenting the minutes a burden? Strategic plan on the constant to do list?  If so, we are not thinking of adding.

If you do not take time to give to these now, the time will never come.  God will short-circuit a ministry that does not think of the next generation.  When we are only consumed with day to day living, we neglect saving, storing away, discipling our next leader, and taking time to record our insights for years to come.

Joseph is eventually carried away from the entire family so that the process of preparation could take place to prepare the ground in Egypt.  God added to Jacob not be prospering his place of comfort, but by removing him.

Jerusalem experienced the same removal and persecution in order to get out of their insular mentality.  China, India, Argentina, Communist Russia all became difficult places to live and, in the process, created exponential growth for the church.

If America cannot pass these lessons to the generation to come, we will find our children exported and enslaved to a culture that forces their faith grow under the auspices of persecution and difficulty.   Joseph adds to the tribe by undergoing the trials to preserve his people.

Gen. 30:20 Zebulun, “God has given me a good gift.”

“Now my husband will dwell with me,” says Leah after giving Jacob his sixth son by her and the eleventh in the family line.  This child given towards the end of her life represents the deeper desires of a mother and the recognition or our most rewarding gift—dwelling together.

As you overcome challenges and temptations, as you receive rewards and accolades, these will gradually pale in comparison to the value of simply dwelling in God’s presence.

I have noticed that I say less and less in prayer now than before.  I am still and listening, because there is really just one answer that I desire.  I no longer wait or seek a word.  I am not anxious about getting the daily bread or resources I need to survive.  I am even less concerned about my sins which need to be forgiven as I have seen again and again His willingness to restore, forgive, and repeatedly deliver me from temptations which were too great for me to endure.

Instead, the pursuit of my prayer now is His presence.  I am not happy with an answer or a simple acknowledgement of His hearing me.  The gift I desire is Him dwelling with me.

“This one thing I desire,” says David in Psalm 27:4, “That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.”  Nothing else satisfies.  Nothing else is needed.

If you have ever tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord, been enlightened by His heavenly presence and captured by His love, you are now officially ruined.  No drug, pleasure, gossip or temporal victory compares.  Laurels and earthly accolades are just fleeting gestures.

Instead, I am asking God later in my life to turn up the glory of His presence.  I am hungry for more, and the initial feelings and goose bumps of the Holy Spirit are no longer sufficient.  Says David, “I will be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”

When the Lord withdraws His presence, we pray, “My God, My God. Why are you so far from the words of my groanings? In the night season, I am not silent, and in the daytime, my prayer shall come before you.” (Ps. 22)

When He withdraws Himself from me, my yearning only increases.  I think in heaven we will be on a perpetual chase falling ever and ever deeper into the depths of His love.  An endless fall into grace.