Praying for the Future

Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.     John 17: 20-21

                                                                  "Argus"                        Salvador Dali c. 1963

The first thing that strikes me here in this passage from John’s Gospel is that Jesus prayed for his disciples.  I don’t know why this surprises me, but it does.  And more surprising still is that Jesus goes on to pray for all of us who would one day become his disciples!  We are in this fellowship of Christ that we call “The Church” because Jesus prayed for us!

So now I’m wondering about prayer existing without the limitations of time and space. In other words, Jesus was praying for the generations who would come after him. Prayers for the future of humanity.  How often do we pray for the generations that are to come after us? If our Lord did, then we ought to give it a try.

How boldly might we pray if we prayed that our children’s grandchildren might inherit a world that is safer, cleaner, and more beautiful than the one in which we now live.   “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, I pray that they may also be in us….”

Pray for our future.