Pt. 1
I walk. I walk a lot. Every weekday morning, I wake up about
4am, (if I’m fortunate enough to sleep at all) and prepare to walk one of three
or four pathways I have made a habit of walking. And when I walk, I pray. It is
the time I set aside each day for my private time with the Creator. And when I
pray, I pray about lots of things. And one thing I pray for is something, (based
on my interaction with friends and relatives) that very few people who pray
ever pray for. And that one thing happens to be… my yet unborn spiritual and
biological descendants. As a matter of fact, those whom I share this concept
with seem surprised that I would have even thought of such a “strange and
wonderful” thing.
However, I am convinced that praying for one’s yet unborn, yet
unnamed descendants is not without an amazing precedent. And I think that I can
prove this notion with the use of scripture. For you see, in the seventeenth
chapter of the Book of John verses 6-9 we find our Lord Jesus Christ praying
not only for his disciples, including others who had invested their faith in
Him, but also, I am convinced, for those who would believe on Him as the result
of their testimonies, including the multiplied millions who would inhabit the
earth long after they gone on to their well-deserved reward.
Read it
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave
me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have
obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have
given me comes from you. For I gave them the words
you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came
from you, and they believed that you sent me. I
pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for all you have given
me, for they are yours.”
Pt. 2
Yes, my friends, I pray for my biological and spiritual
descendants on a daily basis, my grandchildren’s grandchildren in both these categories;
while they have yet to be named, while they are yet to be known, while their
faces are yet to be seen, while their voices are yet to be heard.
If Jesus tarries, I expect there will be those who come after
me who know me, as I know those who preceded me; simply by their names and
photographs. (And perhaps they may bear an uncanny resemblance to me).
And then, there are my spiritual great great grandchildren who
are unlikely to know my face or name. Very much like the two men whom I refer
to as my spiritual fathers. I have no idea who impacted them, and filled a
similar role in their lives, they whom I might rightly refer to as my spiritual
grandparents. (I have so often wondered who they were).
And just as each of us possess an unbroken chain of biological
ancestors, those among us who refer to ourselves as ‘believers’ possess an
unbroken chain of spiritual ancestors with an amazing heritage of multiplied
dozens of men and women; going back to one or more of the original disciples,
and to Jesus, Himself!
In the Old Testament we read about the blessings and the curses
which have followed those who have either embraced or denied the God of the
Bible. I am convinced that such blessings and curses are in large part a matter
of role modeling. That is, one generation role modeling their thoughts,
attitudes, words and actions to succeeding generations which either honor our
Creator or fail to do so.
The futures of our biological and spiritual descendants are
not yet written. As a result, I think it behooves us as believers to pray for
them, and to role model the kind of lives before them, literally before
they put on flesh and blood, of which they might one day be proud.
Father God, I pray for my biological and spiritual
descendants, as I am sure that some of my biological and spiritual ancestors
prayed for me; while I was yet unborn, without a name and my future was not yet
written.
Precious Lord, would you bless them physically, spiritually, relationally
and mentally. Protect them. Bless them.
Save them. And give them great impact upon those whom you set in their
pathway.
Holy Father, I ask that I might role model my thoughts,
attitudes, words and actions in such a way that I might please You, and mightily
influence those who will follow me. I commit the Heritage which you have bequeathed
to me, the Destiny which I am still pursuing, and the Legacy which I will one
day leave behind to Thee.
In Christ Name. Amen.
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