The moment our first child entered this world, my wife began praying for her future husband. When our son was born just 17 months later, my wife started praying for his future wife. It may seem strange to pray for someone you might not meet (let alone know and love) for decades to come, but she prayed in faith that the people her children fell in love with and married would be raised as people of character and developed into people of faith. She prayed for their purity, health and education. She prayed for their parents and for their friends—and more.

I prayed, too, but not with the kind of focus and faith my wife showed. But it is easy for me to see how those prayers came to be answered in many wonderful and even unexpected ways. And her faith has opened my eyes to the ways our prayers today can be a key to a door we can’t see, the seed of a sequoia that may shade our ancestors.

1) Pray for your loved ones yet to be born.
You may not have children or grandchildren, but you can still pray for those who come after you, as well as those who come into your sphere of influence.

Read More: Praying with Apps

2) Pray for the people your children (or grandchildren) will meet, befriend, marry, etc.
Pray that the people who cross paths with your children (or grandchildren) will be raised as people of character and developed into people of faith. Pray for their purity, health and education. Pray for their parents and friends—and more.

3) Pray for the friends you haven’t yet met.
It may be easier to pray for your current friends and family because you know them, and you know their needs—some of them, at least. But why not pray for the friends you hope to have, the kinds of friends and family you want God to add to your life? Ask God to start building their character and blessing their lives now, even before you know them.

4) Pray for the person you’d like to become.
Unless you’re that rare person who is a finished product, you can also pray today for the person you’d like to be tomorrow, or next year, or five years from now. Pray for the habits you will conquer, the skills you will develop, and the graces you will accrue.

5) Pray for the doors that may someday open.
In one of his letters to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul once said, “I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me” (1 Corinthians 16:8-9, NIV). Who knows what doors (that may be closed right now) will open to you?

The American poet, Lucy Larcom, wrote, “He who plants a tree plants a hope.” Whether you realize it or not, you are planting seeds every day. Your prayers for the future can be like water and warmth to those seeds. So don’t wait for the future to arrive before you start praying; begin now, envisioning the future your prayers can help to bring about.

Has there ever been a time when people seemed more divided than now?

If you watch or read the news, listen to the radio, frequent social media, or are in any way aware of things going on around you, you have probably noticed that people fight, argue, disagree, get offended and resentful, and bitter and angry a lot these days.

Whether the issue is abortion or gun control or marriage or education policy or economics or a hundred other topics, we seem to have more “enemies” and “opponents” than ever, regardless of our beliefs and opinions on those issues.
But Jesus didn’t tell us to arm ourselves against our

enemies. He didn’t say to shout down or out-argue them. He told us to love them (Matthew 5:44). And He didn’t just say it was a good idea; He commanded it. It was central to His teachings.

But how? How are we supposed to love our enemies? Actually, He answered that question—at least in part—before we even had a chance to ask:

“I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45, NIV)

He did not command us to conjure up warm feelings for our enemies and persecutors, but specifically to pray for them. Doing so, He said, cultivates in us a likeness to our Father in heaven who is kind and giving toward everyone, not only to His friends (see Matthew 5:46).

So how do we pray for our enemies? I suggest five ways:

1) Thank God for them.
Paul the great church planter of the first century once wrote, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you” (Colossians 1:3, NIV). So begin your prayers for your enemies (or people who disagree with you or frustrate you) with thanks—for what God may be trying to teach you through them, for how He is refining you because of them, etc. As you start to do this, you will find it easier and easier as you go along.

2) Ask to understand them better.
The psalmist prayed, “Give me understanding that I may live” (Psalm 119:144, NIV). Pray to understand your enemies’ problems, perspectives, challenges, hurts and fears. Ask God to help you empathize and understand them—what makes them tick and why they seem to tick you off so often or so easily.

3) Ask for God’s grace and love to break through to them.
“When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,” Paul wrote, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:4-5, NIV). Ask God to give them the mercy and grace He showed you. Ask Him to break down barriers and break through to their hearts.

4) Pray for their lives to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit.
The Bible says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV). You can’t go wrong by praying for such qualities to be planted and nurtured in the lives of others.

5) Pray for the means and opportunity to bless them.
The Bible says, “‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink….’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20-21, NIV). So pray for God to show you how and when and where to do that with your enemies. What He commands He will also help you to do.

For people who follow Jesus, it is not an option to love and pray for our enemies. It is a reliable way to reflect the image of our loving God whose Word tells us, “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them” (Romans 12:14, NLT).

It feels so good.

If you’ve ever worked hard on a hot day in the garden—or under a car—you know how good it feels after such a grimy task to step under the shower spout and feel the water wash away all the sweat and soil and soreness.

It is much the same to confess your sins to God in prayer. Confession is good for the soul, the proverb says. It is a way of praying yourself clean, though the cleansing task is not really yours, but God’s. Your task is far simpler. It is to confess.

When King David lost his way and not only sinned with Bathsheba but also compounded his guilt with deception, dishonesty, conspiracy and murder, he eventually was led by the prophet Nathan to a place of sorrow and contrition over what he had done. And, by recording his confession in the form of a poem that has been preserved for millennia as Psalm 51, he also provided us with a helpful guide for praying our own prayers of confession:

1) Remind yourself who God is.
David’s song of confession begins, “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins” (Psalm 51:1, NLT). It helps to begin your confession with a reminder of who God is: a God of mercy, love and compassion. Remembering this can help you to confess well.

2) Be honest.
David went on to pray, “Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:2-4, NLT). He didn’t try to excuse himself or sugarcoat things, and neither should we.

3) Be specific.
David called his actions “guilt,” “sin,” “rebellion” and “evil” (Psalm 51:2-4, NLT). Force yourself to label your sin. Get specific. Was it “pride?” Or “lust?” Did you gossip or cheat? A specific confession calls a lie a lie, and a swindle a swindle.

4) Accept grace and envision a new future.
After admitting his guilt, David went on in his prayer to envision and accept God’s mercy and grace. “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean,” he said. “Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow….Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me…..Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you” (Psalm 51:7,10, 12, NLT). He looked forward to a different future, one that was free of the guilt and burden of his past.

“If we confess our sins,” the Apostle John promised, “[God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, ESV). Notice he didn’t say, “if we beg for God’s forgiveness.” God is more willing to forgive than we are to confess; like the waiting father in the prodigal son story, he will run to meet us before we even finish our apology (compare Luke 15:18-19 with Luke 15:20-22).

So pray yourself clean. Cultivate a daily habit of confession, a way of washing off all the dirt of sin and failure, and step into a different future, free of the guilt and burden of the past.