Prayers That Outlive Your Life

Prayers That Outlive Your Life

The four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

Revelation 5:8

I have prayed many prayers for my husband, our two sons and our daughter, and their spouses. I’ve uttered many petitions for my six grandchildren, my nieces and nephews, my sisters and sisters-in-law, my brother, and my friends and acquaintances. For salvation, provision, healing, restoration of relationships, and help in time of need. Some of these prayers have been marvelously answered, and for some I am still awaiting answers.

At times I have been discouraged about what may look like “unanswered” prayers. Maybe you have too. But the fact that prayers aren’t answered today or next week or in two months doesn’t mean they don’t have an impact. When I realized that truth, it transformed my prayer life. Today’s verse tells us our prayers are held in golden bowls beside the throne of grace. They are set before God, and he doesn’t ignore them. Even when my home address changes from earth to heaven, prayers will keep on being answered in the lives of people I prayed for.

The best word picture I know was given to us by Ole Hallesby, a Norwegian theologian. He said that those of us who pray have answers that gently shower our lives. When we pass out from beneath the shower of answered prayer, our dear ones will step into it. Every prayer and sigh you’ve uttered for their future welfare will, in God’s time, descend on them as a gentle rain of answered prayers. This bigger picture of prayer can renew and transform your attitude and spiritual life if you catch it. The legacy of prayer is a legacy worth investing in, and it’s the best thing we can leave to those who come after us. —CHERI

Thank you, Father, that prayer is not just a gift for me but a gift for all those for whom I intercede. And I thank you for the power of this gift, which is so great that it outlives my earthly life and will continue to bless those I pray for even after my heart stops and I see you face-to-face.

God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. The lips that uttered them may be closed in death, the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God. . . . Prayers outlive the lives of those who uttered them; they outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world.

—E. M. BOUNDS (1835–1913), METHODIST MINISTER AND AUTHOR