What Legacy Are You Leaving?

What Is a Legacy?

I decided to talk about the whole theme of this event: legacy. It's a word we're all familiar with, but I asked for the definition and found the simplest one: a legacy is something that can be handed down from the past.

In light of that, every one of you in this room, without exception, will leave a legacy to somebody. Usually when we think of legacy, we think of someone older, getting ready to pass, talking about what they'll leave behind. But the truth is you don't leave a legacy only because you're old.

I had a precious friend who unexpectedly lost her two-year-old daughter just a few days ago. Looking at the impact of that little girl's life was amazing. In her two little years, she left a legacy. She had touched her grandparents and parents in an incredible way.

I had another friend last week who miscarried a baby she only carried for eight weeks. Even that little life, only eight weeks after conception, left a legacy on the heart of that mother and father they will never forget.

All of us will leave a legacy of some kind — something handed down from our past after we're gone.

Everyone Is a Leader

We have a school of ministry at the Ramp, and one of the classes I teach is on leadership. I tell our students all the time: a leader is anyone whose life can be followed. That makes every single one of you a leader, period.

A leader is not defined by having a platform and a microphone. Leaders are people whose lives can be followed. All of you have someone following your life — and the closer those people are to you, the greater impact you'll have on them.

Our generation understands this even more, because we're constantly being led by influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. You have followers, too. Somebody is following your life. Whatever kind of legacy you leave will affect the people in your world.

The Greatest Leader I've Ever Known

I've been blessed to work under some of the greatest leaders in the church today. But the greatest leader I have personally ever known, in almost 50 years of ministry, is a woman named Nell Harris. She is my mother, and she turns 91 this year.

For 65 years, her life has had — and continues to have — daily major influence on me.

• She taught me to pray because she prayed. Not because she talked about prayer or handed me a book on prayer, but because she prayed. To this moment I can close my eyes and still hear the tone of her voice praying in the living room at night. I remember getting up from my little blue bedroom, going into the living room in my pajamas, scooping up under her arm while she prayed on her knees, and going to sleep as her prayers seeped down into my spirit.

• She taught me faithfulness to the house of God because she was faithful. We were at church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Saturday night youth service, and everything in between. It was never an option. We didn't even know such a thing as optional existed.

• She taught me to be real in God 24/7, because she was real in God every day. She lived a standard of holiness by example, not just rhetoric. I never saw my mother unfaithful to my dad, never heard her say a bad word, never saw her pitch a fit in anger, and never saw her leave the house dressed in a way that surprised me.

• She taught me ministry because she lived a ministry. She never had a pulpit. She was never a pastor. She worked in a garment factory, in at 7:00 in the morning. But on Sunday mornings she'd go pick up little kids outside of town who had no way to church. I can still see them running out of their houses without shoes, in clothes that were rags. Mother would bring them to our house, put them in our tub, put our clothes on them, and take them to church. On Sunday afternoons we went to the jail — she carried the accordion, I had the tambourine — and we sang to the people behind the bars. We went to the nursing home. That's where I learned the value of a soul.

That's the impact of what most people would call an ordinary life — and her impact remains profound.

A Legacy Passed Down Through Generations

My mother lived that life because her mother lived that life. And before my grandmother, her mother lived that life.

My great-grandmother was Molly Lolley — as far back as we have history to know, full of the Holy Ghost. She led her own mother into the deeper things of God. She had 12 children and raised them all in the fear of the Lord. She wouldn't have her picture made without her Bible.

She was known as a woman of great faith and great prayer. Her children said they could hear her praying down at the spring — up to two hours at a time — all the way to the top of the hill. And in our part of Alabama, she was known as the woman you called if you were sick, because they said, "If Molly lays hands on you, you'll be healed."

I never met her; she died right before I was born. But here I am tonight, in 2026, talking about her influence. That's what a legacy is — it impacts not only your children, but generations yet to be born.

What Legacy Are You Working On?

So I have to ask you tonight: what is the legacy you're working on? Because you're building one whether you want to or not — you can't opt out. Someday, 25, 50, or 100 years from now, what will your granddaughter, great-granddaughter, or great-great-grandson be saying about you? What stories will they tell?

Most of the time, when people think of legacy, they think of a natural inheritance. There's nothing wrong with that.

"A godly man leaves an inheritance for his children." — Proverbs 13:22

I want to leave good things for my children. But there is something far more valuable than a bank account, jewelry, or a house.

"If everything around us is going to be dissolved, what manner of godly lives should we be living?" — 2 Peter 3:11

Every natural inheritance you work so hard for — the 401(k)s, the insurance policies, the stuff — is all going to be dissolved, and often squandered not long after you're gone. There are some things you must leave your children that will prepare them for eternity.

The Legacy Box

So on the way here I called a friend and had her go to Hobby Lobby and Walmart with a list. I brought what I'm calling my legacy box, and I want to encourage you to start your own. Even if I had Queen Elizabeth's jewelry, it would not be nearly as valuable as what's in this box.

1. Your Example

The first and most important thing you leave behind is your life — your example.

"Follow me as I follow Christ." — 1 Corinthians 11:1

What an astounding thing for Paul to say. Watch how I pray and pray like I pray. Watch how I study the Word and study it like I do. Watch what I stand for and stand for the same thing — because I'm following Christ. And someday when my life is over, I'll step out of the way, and the only one you'll see is Jesus.

Everyone in your world will be influenced by one of two sources: our corrupt, evil culture, or your godly life. You can let Instagram and TikTok tell your children and grandchildren how to think, how to dress, and how to live — or you can show them by your life. Most of the time, your values will become their values, your priorities their priorities, and if you do this right, your faith will become their faith.

A Word for Those With Prodigal Children

There are times when you raise your children the best you know how, in the fear of God, and they still go their own way. That's hard. I've been there. It leaves you with a million questions and often no answers. How? Why? What did I do wrong?

But there's a beautiful promise for you:

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." — Proverbs 22:6

Your job is to train them. You may not know what happens between the time they leave your house and when they are old, but you have a promise: the seed you planted will come out somehow, sometime.

Listen to what Charles Spurgeon said about his mother's prayer:

"Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish. And my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ."

Spurgeon said the thought of his mother bearing a swift witness against him pierced his conscience. He never forgot the day she wrapped her arms around his neck and prayed, "Oh, that my son might live before thee." And she raised Charles Spurgeon.

So what do you do when they're away from God and you've done all you know to do? Some people will tell you, "Well, they're going to do what they're going to do." No. As long as you're breathing on this planet, it's because God needs you here. You pray, and you keep praying, and you keep praying. As long as their heart is beating, you keep praying.

Nobody can pray for your son like you can. Nobody can pray for your daughter like you can. Others can help you — that's wonderful — but nobody prays like a mother.

Because love prays different.

"Love never gives up. Never loses faith. Is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." — from 1 Corinthians 13

That's a mother if I've ever heard one.

What is hope? It's the simple belief that things can change. You can't lose hope, because if you lose hope, you lose your faith — faith is the substance of things hoped for. You have to keep believing things can change, because our God is a God to whom all things are possible.

The enemy's goal is to get you so tired, so drained, so hurt by the one you're praying for that you quit. But you have to make up your mind: I've set my face like flint. I'm not moving from the promise God gave me.

I was preaching recently in Louisville, Kentucky, when a precious woman stopped me in the hall. She'd driven five hours because her daughter was in a terrible situation. She was shaking, and she said, "Lately I'd just quit. I'd given up. But tonight after this word, I unquit." Somebody tonight came here to make up your mind: "I came discouraged, but tonight I unquit. I'm going to be the worst nightmare the devil's ever seen."

"Faith works by love." — Galatians 5:6

When you take a word God has given you, put your faith in that word, and filter that faith through love, your prayer becomes an unstoppable force.

"But they have their own will — you can't control them." True. But when there's an intercessor, God can help them want His will really badly. He helped Jonah want Nineveh. He knocked Saul off his high horse. Somebody was praying for Saul — the church had been told to pray for their enemies, and Saul was their greatest enemy. Their prayers got through to heaven and brought Jesus down in person on the road to Damascus. Your prayers can help them want the will of God.

2. Your Prayers

One of the most priceless treasures you can leave your loved ones is your prayers. Leave those prayers for your children behind.

Remember that special knowledge, tongues, and prophecy will all pass away. But three things last forever:

"Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love."

So if you go to your grave without seeing the manifestation of what you've prayed for, you go to your grave still believing it. I told my daughter Lauren the other day, "There's some stuff I haven't seen yet, and I'm still praying for it. If something happened to me, I want you to engrave two words on my tombstone: Still believing." Just to torment the devil every time he walks by my grave — to let him know my body may be down here, but my faith is still working.

Here's a scripture I've been praying over my kids and grandkids:

"For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." — Philippians 2:13 (NLT)

There's nothing more powerful than praying the Word of God. When you pray the Word, you pray the will of God, and you can have what you ask for.

3. Your Promises

You're going to leave behind your promises. Take good account of them in your journal — write down every promise God has given you, because your children can inherit your promises.

"...and so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promises." — from Hebrews 11:8-9

Isaac and Jacob inherited the promises God gave Abraham. How did they activate them? They believed them. How did they know how to believe? They saw an example of faith lived out in their father and grandfather. Abraham left his children a legacy of faith so profound that his sons and daughters were still talking about it.

God never breaks a promise. Some of you are walking in ministries, anointings, and blessings that don't even make sense for your life. It may be because a great-great-great-grandmother in your lineage received a promise from God — and you're the one it's coming through, because God keeps His word. Write your promises down, leave them for your children, and teach them how to believe for them.

4. Your Mantle

You will also leave your mantle. Every calling, anointing, and purpose in this room is different — yours belongs to nobody else. But there's an anointing on your life that empowers your gift to bring healing and miracles in a supernatural way. That mantle can be inherited.

Ask Elijah. Elisha said, "I want your mantle — I want what you have." Elijah said, "Follow me, see what I see, stay close to me." Elisha did, and he received a double portion. Timothy inherited a mantle from Paul. Billy Graham passed a mantle to Franklin — and also to his daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, even in a denomination that didn't always believe in women preachers. Joel Osteen inherited a mantle from his father John.

The last five weeks have been the most challenging season of my 65 years. In the middle of that pain and warfare, I drove 20 minutes from my house to Molly Lolley's grave. I stood there alone and said, "God, if a dead man was thrown on the bones of Elisha and came to life, then there can still be something left in bones. I'm the great-granddaughter of Molly Lolley, and I carry her faith." I lay on her grave, on my face, and said, "God, give me her mantle — her mantle of prayer and faith and anointing that will help me rise above everything." Leave your mantle behind, because your children are going to need it.

5. Your Arsenal

When I'm gone, my girls Lorna and Lindsey will still be on this earth fighting battles. So I'm leaving them my arsenal — an understanding of the weapons of our warfare.

"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." — from 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

I'm going to leave behind my index cards — every promise God gave me when Lindsey was gone. I kept them in my Bible until the stack grew thick, slept with them against my chest at night when I didn't know where she was, and read them out loud like a dagger against the enemy until I wore them out.

I'll leave my victory flag — I waved it when everything looked like the opposite of victory, just to make the devil mad.

And I'll leave my crown. I won this crown as queen of camp at the Church of God of Prophecy youth camp when I was 10 years old — better than Miss America. When Lindsey was gone, I dreamed I was standing with my mother and sister singing, "And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown." I knew the Lord was telling me, "Karen, it's going to be over someday, and when it's over, you're going to wear the crown. In Me, you've already won."

So I found my crown and started praying with it on — in my house, on the prayer mountain, everywhere. I washed dishes in my crown. I wanted the devil to know: "I'm in battle right now, but when this is over, I'm going to wear it. I've already won."

The point of it all is this: it doesn't matter what the weapon is when God is in the weapon. If God's in the feather, it can knock down any wall. If God's in the stone, it'll bring down a giant. If God's in the rod, it'll part a sea. When Lindsey was gone and I saw her behind a thick ancient wall, I asked God for a weapon to bring it down — expecting a sledgehammer or a bulldozer. Instead He handed me a white feather, to show me how easy it is when God is in it.

6. Your Road Map

The last thing in your box is your road map. Leave each of your children a Bible.

"Set up road signs, put up guideposts, and mark well the path by which you came." — Jeremiah 31:21

Mark it up. Don't leave them a Bible that looks like you never used it. Underline it, circle it, draw arrows, date the promises, write personal notes to them. So they can know: This is where she went when she was discouraged. This is where she went when she needed healing in her body. That's a road map worth inheriting.

Standing in the Gap

Tonight I want to pray over you. If you're believing God for a child, a grandchild, a spouse, or a sibling who isn't right with God, and if He came tonight they wouldn't be ready — reach out in the spirit and take that loved one's hand. Lift up their hand before the Lord in faith.

Now reach up with your other hand and take the hand of God. There you are — standing in the gap. This is your role as an intercessor: praying mother, praying grandmother, praying wife, praying sibling, praying friend. This is your position and your stand until Jesus comes, and you'll never move from this place.

If God is looking for intercessors, let Him know: "Here I am. I'm standing in the gap and I won't let go." Say to your loved one, "God, they can't hear You, but I can. I'll be the conduit. You whisper to my ear, and I'll speak it into their life by faith."

Father, in Jesus' name, I pray for every praying mother, grandmother, and friend in this room. I pray for those who are tired, battling a fatigue that doesn't make sense. I pray that the mental fog that makes it even hard to pray is broken by the power of the blood of Jesus. Strengthen their minds and bodies, encourage their faith, renew their hope — that yes, my daughter can change, my son can change, my home can change, my family can be restored, because with God all things are possible.

"God, I'll stand in the gap, and I unquit. I'm going to hold my ground. I believe for a miracle for my family, and I'm not moving, in the name of Jesus."

Father, make them women of God who leave a legacy of faith that will impact generations from now until You come. In Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah.