Today I finally filled the last opening in my frame of 8 grandchildren, completing the group with a picture of newborn Andrew, who arrived at the end of May.

What a joy it was to put him on the family roster and also on my prayer list by name, though I’d talked to God about him well before we knew what his name would be.

And he wasn’t the only unborn person in those conversations. Before Andrew had arrived and given us the answers to our wonderings, Linnea announced that my 9^th grandbaby was on the way, too. Since God already knew the “who” about him or her just as he did about little Andrew ahead of time, he and I added that grandchild to our conversation.

Then today, as I was praying through my list of 9, God asked a good question. It was as if he said, “Are you going to hunt for a 9-way picture frame now, or will you think bigger, like I do?” He was inviting me to pray with a new kind of math:

9 + X = G *

At that point he and I teamed up to have some fun, embarking on a conversation about all my grands: those born, the one in process, and those yet to be. None are unknown to him, and as I prayed, he privately filled in the blanks about those in a future generation.

I know I’m praying requests that are ok with him when I claim verses about my grands learning of God’s love early, running toward him and not away when troubles come, and trusting in the dark whatever he teaches them in the light.

Hundreds of his other scriptural promises and principles sit ready for any of us who desire to pray for our yet-to-be-born descendants. Since God is a Being outside space and time, he can easily reserve our prayers for the lives coming after us, applying them down the line. This holds true even if we’ve died before those births occur.

All of us have heard the old motto, “Give the gift that keeps on giving.” I can’t think of a more long range, continually-giving gift than the supernatural activity of our mighty God in the lives of our relatives.

And so, as I go shopping for a picture frame to hold my 9 grandchildren, maybe it should have 10 openings. Or maybe a dozen? Or 16? Or 20? Or maybe I should just earmark a big blank wall and buy a giant roll of tape? I’m not sure, but the one thing I am sure of is that praying for them all is going to be absolutely grand!

“This is my covenant with [those who love me],” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Isaiah 59:21)

* Grandchildren