Prayer Transcending Time and Space

 Prayer Transcending Time and Space

Dedicated to long-lost friends

Recently, after retiring, I went through a whole bunch of very old correspondence--sometimes from people with whom I have had no contact for over 50 years.  In some of these cases, I do not know if these people are still alive.

But, as I read what they wrote to me so many years ago; and as I was sure I was blessed by their kindnesses so many decades ago, I felt compelled to pray for them again, (as I am sure I had prayed for them when I was in vital communion with them).

Here is the point of what I wish to share today: is it not wonderful, that we can pray for dear souls with whom we have had no interaction for years--and yet pray for them as if they were standing right in front of us?

When these people are faithful and persevering regenerated Christian churchmen, then I think that this prayer for them is something related to our conception of the Communion of the Saints.  One of the glories of heaven, is that we will see people again (whom we have not beheld with our eyes in decades).

Because the Triune God subsists *outside* (or apart from) the space/time universe of creation (and its continuum of sequences), He is not bound (or constricted) in anyway relative to anything--least of all when and where and for whom His saints pray to Him.

Therefore, if, like me, you come across some names of people whom you thought you had long-forgotten; but you still have a love and concern for them, then go ahead and pray for them.  If your curiosity compels you to seek to discover if they are still alive or not, go ahead and do so, so long as this endeavor stays within Christian wisdom, prudence, and propriety.  (I grant that there is no sense in praying for dead people; but even if you simply have enough rational basis to think that someone probably still is alive--I would say, feel free to pray for him or her.)

In this "transcendent" sense, prayer is a unique privilege and advantage that the church's true saints enjoy.  In what other undertaking in this life are we able to literally "transcend" time and space?  I suppose all the aspects of our redemption in Christ are involved in this wonderful category--but these blessings are all of God Himself.  We are the passive recipients of them.

Maybe in the enterprise of sanctification this may be safely said of us--in that we participate (by the Holy Spirit) in our sanctification in Christ. . . . I guess I agree with myself now (smily-face), since prayer is certainly a main component of sanctification.

At any rate, if you are in Jesus, and you love God in and through Him, enjoy your special privilege.  You get to "sail" through the "realm" of the eternal, by praying to the God of all grace, in and through Jesus Christ alone!

Rev. Mark J. Henninger

Treatise #10

13 March 2025

https://theologicaltreatisesinretirement.blogspot.com

https://henningerdevotions.blogspot.com/

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