Living Letters – Chapter 8 – Prayer – September 20, 2026
Living Letters – Chapter 8 – Prayer
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Living Letters: A Christian Legacy
Chapter 8 — Prayer
Review
The first seven chapters of Living Letters have helped us look at the Christian legacy we received and the one we are building. We began with our salvation and baptism, then considered how Christ has transformed us and how we can share our salvation story. From there, we looked at church life, giving back, discipleship, and the place the Bible has in our continued growth.
Each chapter has added another part to the same picture. A Christian legacy is being formed through the way we live, the people we influence, and what we intentionally pass to others. Prayer adds something we may not always see. It allows us to bring the people we care about before God and ask Him to work in their lives.
LESSON FOCUSPrayer allows us to bring the people we care about before God and ask Him to work in their lives. |
We have already met several people in this series who can help us understand how prayer becomes part of that legacy. One of them is David.
David Prepared for Solomon and Prayed for His Heart
Chapter 5 took us to the closing years of David’s life. David wanted to build a temple for God, but God chose his son Solomon to build it. David responded by preparing for the work Solomon would someday do. He gathered materials, gave from his own possessions, organized the work, and encouraged the people of Israel to give. David was using what God had placed in his hands to prepare for something that would continue after his life was over.
First Chronicles 29 records one of David’s final public acts as king. The materials had been gathered, the people had given willingly, and Solomon would soon receive the responsibility of building the temple. David prayed before the congregation, thanking God for everything He had provided. Near the end of that prayer, David prayed specifically for Solomon.
| 1 Chronicles 29:19 — And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision. |
When David asked God to give Solomon a “perfect heart,” he was asking for a heart fully devoted to God. He wanted Solomon to obey what God had commanded and faithfully complete the work he had been given. David had spent years preparing the materials Solomon would use, and now he prayed about the man Solomon would become.
David could give Solomon instruction, resources, and an example to follow. In his prayer, David asked God to work within his son so that Solomon would have the heart he needed for the responsibility ahead.
That gives us our first picture of prayer as part of a Christian legacy. David cared about what Solomon would accomplish, and he cared about the kind of man Solomon would become. Both concerns became part of the legacy David was leaving his son.
As we think about the people God has placed in our lives, David gives us a useful question to consider: What would we like to see God develop in them?
Jesus Prayed for the People He Had Prepared
John 17 gives us another example. This time we are allowed to listen as Jesus prays for the men in whom He had invested approximately three years.
The chapter takes place during Jesus’ final night with His disciples before the crucifixion. John 13–16 records much of what Jesus taught them during those final hours together. He had already spent years teaching them, correcting them, answering their questions, showing them how to minister, and preparing them to carry His message to others.
Jesus knew what was coming. Within hours He would be arrested. After His death and resurrection, these disciples would eventually carry the gospel into the world. As His time of personally preparing them came to an end, Jesus prayed.
| John 17:9 — I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. |
In this part of the prayer, “them” refers to the disciples Jesus had been teaching and preparing. As the prayer continues, Jesus tells us what He wanted the Father to do in their lives.
A Prayer for Their Unity
| John 17:11 — Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. |
When Jesus asked the Father to “keep” them, He was praying for God to guard and preserve the men who belonged to Him. Their lives were about to change dramatically. They would face fear, opposition, temptation, and the responsibility of carrying Christ’s message to others. Jesus prayed for the Father’s care over them and for them to remain united.
A few verses later, Jesus made His request more specific.
A Prayer for Their Protection
| John 17:15 — I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. |
These men had a work to do in the world. Jesus was sending them to people who needed to hear the gospel, and He prayed for God to protect them as they carried out that work.
Then Jesus prayed about what would shape them as they served.
A Prayer for God’s Truth to Sanctify Them
| John 17:17 — Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. |
To sanctify means to set apart for God and His purposes. Jesus prayed for God’s truth to shape these men for the work they had been given. The connection with our previous lesson about the Bible is easy to see. The disciples had received God’s truth, and that truth was to continue shaping what they believed, how they lived, and how they served.
If we had been standing nearby listening to Jesus pray, we would have heard Him pray about the spiritual lives of the people He had spent years preparing. He prayed for their protection, their unity, their faithfulness, and for God’s truth to continue working in them.
That expands what we learned from David. David prayed about the heart Solomon would need for the future ahead of him. Jesus shows us several specific areas of another person’s spiritual life that can become part of our prayers. Then, before Jesus finished praying, He looked even farther ahead.
Jesus Prayed for People Who Would Believe Through the Disciples
| John 17:20 — Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. |
“These” refers to the disciples Jesus had just been praying for. “Their word” refers to the message about Christ that these men would proclaim. After the resurrection, the apostles would preach Christ, people would believe, and the message would continue spreading through their witness.
Jesus was praying for people who would someday believe through the message carried by the disciples He had prepared. His prayer reached beyond the men immediately in front of Him to people who would be influenced through their lives.
That fits naturally with what we have been learning about Christian legacy. Someone brought the truth of Christ to us. Someone shared the gospel, taught us Scripture, answered questions, encouraged us, or helped us grow. Now our lives touch other lives, and those people can eventually influence someone else.
Think about how that can work in an ordinary family. Parents can pray for a child to know Christ and grow into a faithful Christian. They can also pray about the home that child may someday build and the people that life may influence. A grandparent can pray for a grandchild to know God’s Word and someday pass those truths to another generation.
The same principle works in discipleship. Someone helping a new Christian grow can pray for that person to understand Scripture, develop Christian character, discover ways to serve, and eventually become capable of helping someone else grow.
We cannot see where another person’s influence may eventually reach. Jesus looked beyond His disciples to people who would believe through their witness. Prayer gives us a way to think beyond the present and ask God to use the lives of people we are helping today.
Paul Shows Us What We Can Pray for Someone
The gospel spread just as Jesus said it would. The book of Acts records the disciples preaching Christ, people believing, churches being established, and believers helping other believers grow. Paul became one of the people God used to carry that work into new places.
Paul’s letters allow us to see something helpful about his relationships with those Christians. He often told them exactly what he was praying for.
Paul had a close relationship with the church at Philippi. He had first preached the gospel there during his missionary work, and Acts 16 records the beginning of that church. Years later, while Paul was a prisoner, he wrote to those believers and told them what he continued asking God to develop in their lives.
Love That Grows in Knowledge and Discernment
| Philippians 1:9–11 — And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. |
Paul wanted their love to “abound,” or continue growing. He connected that love with “knowledge and all judgment.” The word translated “judgment” carries the idea of discernment, the ability to recognize what is right and make a wise choice. Paul wanted these believers to have a love shaped by truth so they could recognize “things that are excellent” and live accordingly.
His prayer becomes very practical when we follow its progression. Paul wanted their love to grow with knowledge and discernment. That discernment would help them recognize what was best. Those choices would shape their character, and their lives would produce the “fruits of righteousness,” the visible results of living according to what is right before God.
Paul was praying about the Christians these people were becoming.
That gives us another useful question for prayer: What does this person need in order to continue growing? Scripture gives us many possible answers. Someone may need wisdom, discernment, a better understanding of God’s Word, strength to remain faithful, growth in Christian character, or wisdom for a responsibility God has placed in that person’s life.
Paul’s example helps move our prayers from a general “Lord, help them” to requests shaped by what Scripture says God wants to develop in a Christian’s life.
Scripture Can Shape the Way We Pray for People
Once we notice what David, Jesus, and Paul prayed, the Bible itself becomes a useful guide for our prayers.
David’s prayer teaches us to think about a person’s heart and the responsibilities ahead. Jesus’ prayer teaches us to think about protection, faithfulness, unity, and the work of God’s truth in a person’s life. Paul’s prayer teaches us to think about spiritual understanding, discernment, character, wise choices, and the fruit a Christian’s life can produce.
As we learn more of Scripture, we also learn more about what God wants to develop in His people. Those biblical truths can give direction to the way we pray for someone.
Scripture also gives us an example for praying for people who need salvation. In Romans 9–10, Paul writes about his fellow Israelites. They were his own people, and he deeply wanted them to know Christ. Paul explains that they had religious zeal, but they were seeking righteousness in the wrong way. They needed the righteousness God provides through faith in Christ.
That concern became a prayer.
A Prayer for Salvation
| Romans 10:1 — Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. |
Paul knew what he wanted for these people. He wanted them to know Christ, so he prayed for their salvation.
That connects naturally with our earlier lesson about sharing our salvation story. We can think of people we know who need Christ, pray for them by name, ask God for opportunities to speak with them, and be ready to explain how they can be saved.
Putting These Biblical Examples to Work
By the time we put these examples together, Scripture has given us several ways to pray for the people God has placed in our lives. We can pray about their relationship with God, their understanding of His Word, their character, their decisions, the responsibilities they carry, the people they will influence, and their salvation if they do not know Christ.
The People in Your Life
Think about the people who make up your life. That may include a husband or wife, parents, children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, extended family, close friends, people in your church family, someone you are helping grow, or someone who needs Christ. Each relationship is different, so the prayers will be different too. The biblical examples we have studied can help us think specifically about what to pray.
David’s prayer may help us pray for someone facing new responsibilities or entering a new stage of life: Lord, give them a heart that wants to know You, obey You, and faithfully handle what You have placed before them. Jesus’ prayer may lead us to pray for someone to remain faithful, be protected spiritually, and have a life shaped by the truth of God’s Word. Paul’s prayer may help us pray for someone to grow in love, understanding, discernment, Christian character, and wise decision-making. Romans 10 may bring to mind a family member, friend, coworker, neighbor, or someone else we know whom we want to see saved.
Praying Through Changing Seasons
The people closest to us will also change through the years. Children grow up. Parents grow older. Friends move. Church members take on different responsibilities. Someone we once helped may eventually become the person helping others. Prayer allows us to keep investing in people through those changing seasons by knowing something about where they are spiritually and bringing those needs before God.
That is where prayer fits into Living Letters. Throughout this series, we have considered what we are passing to others through our salvation story, our changed lives, our church life, our giving, our discipleship, and our use of God’s Word. Prayer gives us a way to bring those same people before God and ask Him to work in their lives.