After great-grandma Clara passed away, her ten-foot-long prayer list became a family heirloom. On the long roll of paper were typewritten names of people for whom she prayed regularly. There were many extended family members, her friends, and people her friends were praying for, and the names of high-profile evangelists, pastors, and ministries. New family members and specific prayer requests are handwritten in the margins. I became emotional seeing my mother’s name on the list, added when she was just a child.
The apostle Paul wrote to the early church, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). In his letter, Paul exhorted believers to do many things that displayed love in action—hating evil and loving good (v. 9), honoring others above yourself (v. 10), passionately serving God (v. 11), and practicing hospitality (v. 13). All these good works would be empty without the love of Christ working in us. That’s where faithful prayer comes in. Paul called his friends to “join [him] in [his] struggle by praying to God for [him]” (15:30). Specific requests for safety from opposers and a favorable reception in Jerusalem (v. 32) were on Paul’s list. I wonder if they ended up on the private prayer list of a great-grandma in Rome too.
Prayer empowers us to live in a way that “overcomes evil with good” (12:21). Though we may not always see the outcome, it creates a legacy of faithfulness for generations to come.
