Have you ever prayed for people you don’t know? How about grandchildren and future generations yet to be born?
It seems a little odd to offer petitions for people who aren’t yet walking this earth, nameless figments of the future, but God prompted me to do so recently. A fire burned inside to begin covering my descendants with prayer, so I began offering words to God. Is this something He’s prompting you to do as well?
I’m not a grandma yet, which made this prompting even more interesting. All three of my children are teenagers. None are married or even eyeing marriage. But that doesn’t matter. God has those future generations in sight already. With His wisdom, it’s an honor to coat the future with prayer, setting those pavers of truth for grandchildren and other descendants.
So how do we pray for future generations when we don’t even know their name? Why not look to God and the Bible? Following are a few verses and scriptures we can offer as we pray for future family members. Pray these as God leads you.
Praying for Your Grandchildren and Future Generations with Scripture:
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1. Pray Future Generations Would Love God and Hate Evil
“You who love Yahweh, hate evil. He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.” (PS 97:10 WEB)
Father, I pray for faithful grandchildren that love You deeply. May they hate evil, even from a young age, staying far from it. May their children and their children’s children do likewise. Count them among Your faithful ones, gracious God, and guard their lives well. I give You praise.
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2. Pray that Your Grandchildren Would be Generous in Worship
“Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy!” (PS 99:5 WEB)
Lord, may my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and future generations exalt Your name alone. May they be generous in worship, lifting high Your name and spending time at Your footstool willingly and regularly.
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3. Pray Future Generations Would Enter by the Narrow Door
“’Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’” (Luke 13:24-27 WEB)
Father, I pray for a lineage full of folks who have entered by the narrow door. I pray over their faith, that this lineage will be full of children and adults who are known by You—well known—not because of works but because of their love and belief in Jesus.
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4. Pray Your Grandchildren Would Humble Themselves
“But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13 WEB)
Lord, may the generations yet to come walk with humble spirits. May my grandchildren, great-grandchildren and following generations understand and believe in their need for mercy. May they acknowledge to you their sin. May a humble spirit lead their way.
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5. Pray that Future Generations Would Remain in Him
“I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 WEB)
Father, You are the vine and we are the branches. May my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and those further in the future realize their need for you. May pride not garner control of their decisions, but I pray they will remain in You. May they bear much fruit, realizing that truly, they can do nothing apart from You. May they have such an incredible dependency on You, Almighty God, a faith bearing much spiritual fruit, that others see and believe due to it.
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6. Pray Your Grandchildren Would “Keep Their Heart”
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.” (Prov. 4:23 WEB)
Lord, I set my future family in front of You now. I pray that they be a crowd of “heart keepers”, guarding well what they see, listen to, believe, and the emotions welling within them. May they not follow their heart but keep it well according to Your truth. May they forgive easily, refuse offense, deny rejection, cast aside envy. Instead, may love, forgiveness, acceptance and all things godly fill their thoughts and heart. I pray for protection over each heart now, Lord. Only You know what will be inside. Help my future family members unearth any lies they’ve believed. Give them eyes to see, then heal those spaces, Lord.
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7. Pray Your Children Would be Filled with Wisdom and Revelation
“[T]hat the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;” (Eph. 1:17 WEB)
Father, thank You for wisdom. Thank You for the future family members you already have in mind. May wisdom coat their decisions and thoughts. May revelation overflow. May their knowledge of You be rich and deep.
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8. Pray Future Generations Would Have Marriages Not Torn, But Together
“’So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.’” (Matt. 19:6 WEB)
Father, I pray over the marriages of my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and even further down the line. May those marital unions be rich and full of faithfulness. May no man tear apart that which You, God, have joined together. May they remain steady in love, full of hope, overflow with rich communication, and offer forgiveness when needed, not be filled with hurt and actions that lead to divorce.
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9. Pray Your Grandchildren Would Love Well
“Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Co. 13:4-7 WEB)
God, You are love. You lay the groundwork well for us to love others. I pray now over those family members yet to be born, that they will love well because they choose to follow you and rely on Your strength. I pray for their patience, kindness, and rejoicing to be great. May they have a godly ability to bear, believe, hope, and endure as well. Father, may they not envy, brag, behave inappropriately, seek their own way, walk with pride, be easily provoked, keep record of wrongs, or rejoice in unrighteousness. Instead, may they trust You and choose love. May my family leave a strong legacy of love.
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10. Pray that Future Generations Would Have a Secure Identity
“But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name.” (John 1:12 WEB)
Father, trials come. Situations sometimes shake us. My grandchildren and great-grandchildren will face their own situations and storms. Through it all, however, I pray they will remain secure in their identity. May they receive You and believe in Your name. I pray they will lean and rely on their identity as children of God to remain stable through life’s storms. Father, may my descendants cling to You.
Feel free to add other scriptures and prayers to this list. God and His word remain powerful. May our grandchildren and future family members be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
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Why We Should Plan and Pray for Future Generations
Psalm 119:16 assures us that God has written our days before a single one began. Our Creator saw and made plans for us before we were conceived. He does the same for future generations. Even now, those grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grands in our lineage sit central in His thoughts. How powerful!
God focuses on future generations often in the Bible. In Genesis 17:4-5, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. A crowd of descendants would follow.
Psalms also assure us God keeps the future in sight. We find generations mentioned in Psalm 78:6 KJV, “That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children.”
Psalm 102:18 KJV also mentions, “This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.”
Psalm 145:4 WEB also assures, “One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts.”
Even in one of the Bible’s most notable verses, John 3:16, we find evidence of concern for the future. “For God so loved the world…” includes today’s population and tomorrow’s as well.
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Kristi Woods, writer and speaker, is passionate about women walking deeper with God. She writes regularly and offers faith-building tools at www.KristiWoods.net. She contributes monthly at iBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com and is published in three Chicken Soup for the Soulpublications. Kristi, her husband, and their three children survived a nomadic, military lifestyle, and have set roots in Oklahoma. Connect with Kristi here: Facebook and Pinterest.
Originally published Monday, 04 March 2019.
