The moment our first child entered this world, my wife began praying for her future husband. When our son was born just 17 months later, my wife started praying for his future wife. It may seem strange to pray for someone you might not meet (let alone know and love) for decades to come, but she prayed in faith that the people her children fell in love with and married would be raised as people of character and developed into people of faith. She prayed for their purity, health and education. She prayed for their parents and for their friends—and more.
I prayed, too, but not with the kind of focus and faith my wife showed. But it is easy for me to see how those prayers came to be answered in many wonderful and even unexpected ways. And her faith has opened my eyes to the ways our prayers today can be a key to a door we can’t see, the seed of a sequoia that may shade our ancestors.
1) Pray for your loved ones yet to be born.
You may not have children or grandchildren, but you can still pray for those who come after you, as well as those who come into your sphere of influence.
2) Pray for the people your children (or grandchildren) will meet, befriend, marry, etc.
Pray that the people who cross paths with your children (or grandchildren) will be raised as people of character and developed into people of faith. Pray for their purity, health and education. Pray for their parents and friends—and more.
3) Pray for the friends you haven’t yet met.
It may be easier to pray for your current friends and family because you know them, and you know their needs—some of them, at least. But why not pray for the friends you hope to have, the kinds of friends and family you want God to add to your life? Ask God to start building their character and blessing their lives now, even before you know them.
4) Pray for the person you’d like to become.
Unless you’re that rare person who is a finished product, you can also pray today for the person you’d like to be tomorrow, or next year, or five years from now. Pray for the habits you will conquer, the skills you will develop, and the graces you will accrue.
5) Pray for the doors that may someday open.
In one of his letters to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul once said, “I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me” (1 Corinthians 16:8-9, NIV). Who knows what doors (that may be closed right now) will open to you?
The American poet, Lucy Larcom, wrote, “He who plants a tree plants a hope.” Whether you realize it or not, you are planting seeds every day. Your prayers for the future can be like water and warmth to those seeds. So don’t wait for the future to arrive before you start praying; begin now, envisioning the future your prayers can help to bring about.
