In the book, “The Prayers of Peter Marshall”, I read a prayer that he delivered on November 24th, 1947. In that prayer, he prayed,

“We pray for the bifocals of faith – that see the despair and the need of the hour but also see, further on, the patience of our God working out His plan in the world He has made.”

The imagery of faith described caught my attention. The bifocals of faith.
I know I am often remiss in praying with both visions in sight. Our prayers are often focused on the here and now, the issue that has our attention, the need that is present in our thoughts.

Jesus taught us to pray with our sights on both the here and now and the future in the prayer that He taught His disciples.

He tells us to focus on the immediate – “Give us this day our daily bread”.
And he asks us to focus on the God working out His plan – “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

It is a good image to keep in our minds as we pray. May we always look through both lenses of the bifocals as we pray each day to our heavenly Father.