My beautiful daughters, Amber and Madelyn, have a lot going for them—and it’s not just their cuteness and sweetness. They might not realize it yet in the middle of their addictions to soccer and the Hunger Games, but they are running through life before a ferocious wave of prayer.

Jessica and I have been praying our guts out for them since before they were born, and their four grandparents have probably been praying even longer than that. In fact, Jessica’s grandparents, Arnold and Jean Steele who passed away several years ago, started praying for Jessica’s future family when she was just a little girl.

It kills me to think that before they knew me personally, that precious couple was praying for me. And after Jessica and I swept each other off of our feet, their prayers through the years only intensified.

The Bible refers to our prayers as incense that ascends before the throne of God (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 8:4), and it’s pretty humbling for me to think that some of the incense of Arnold and Jean’s prayer had my name on it.

I wonder how well I’m doing at living out those prayers? I wonder if I’m being the husband that they prayed Jessica would have? I wonder if I’m fathering their great-grandchildren the way they prayed that I would? I wonder if the fragrance of my life matches the incense of their intercession?

And while I’m wondering all of this, and thinking about myself, I wonder if my prayers are tracking anyone else down. I hope they are. I hope, like Jessica’s grandparents, that I’m contributing to an incense-laced, prayer wave that will propel people toward their destinies.

Sea storm with rainbows in Pacifica, California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)