Living in a house someone else built

"When God, your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you're going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn't build, well-furnished houses you didn't buy, come upon wells you didn't dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn't plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don't forget how you got there-God brought you out of slavery in Egypt. (Deuteronomy" 6:10-12 MSG)

About two years ago I read a book by Dutch Sheets titled "History Makers".  At one point in the book Dutch wrote about a time he was attending a prayer service at CFNI.  During the prayer meeting Dutch felt the Lord tell him to partner with the prayers of the founder of CFNI that had been prayed years and years ago.  I thought that was unique. I’ve never heard of someone partnering with prayers from generations before their time.  I began praying, even though I didn't completely understand the concept, "Lord I partner with the prayers of those that have seen your face."   I figured partnering with prayers of generation after generation that had gone before would be a good thing.

I've spent the last few days looking into the history of Syracuse.  I've been looking into some of the revivalists that had visited Syracuse in the past, and looking into our political and governmental history.  I haven't come across anything that has surprised me yet, although I have a feeling that I will.  I'm curious to see what struggles the Christians from the history of Syracuse, experienced. I have an odd feeling they are similar to the same issues we face today.  What I'm more curious to find is any documented prayers from the ministers that had visited Syracuse in the 1800 and 1900's.  I want to see what they prayed for and what they preached about.

What I am beginning to believe is that the ground we are walking on and the air we're breathing is filled with the prayers of the generals in the faith that walked this earth before our time.  Their unfulfilled promises from God are waiting to manifest upon this city.  I believe God has been waiting for the generation that will grab this understanding and begin walking in the fulfillment of those promises.

So why is it so important to find out what happened in the past? If we don't understand and know our history we will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes generations made before us.  That idea is the same most non-Christians have concerning history.  I'll take it a step further and say, as Christians, if we do not know and understand our Christian history, we'll never know or understand what we don't have to struggle with.
It's not simply knowing our Christian history that will change things, it's knowing the prayers of pastors, evangelists, revivalists, and missionaries that went before us.  It's knowing what they prayed for and what God promised them.  

Let's say Joshua never knew what God promised Moses.  Joshua would have spent just as many years in the wilderness as Moses did.  He would've never walked into the promised land, or he would've walked into the promised land just much later in life.

We wouldn't be where we are today if it were not for the generations before us and we won't get to where we need to be tomorrow if we don't learn what those generations went through and what they prayed for.  

I believe this generation of Christians is beginning to receive the keys to a brand new house we never built.  We are walking into a land promised to our ancestors.
We will have to work for this promised land. I'm not saying it's going to be handed over to us. The key is that we will be the generation that lives in the house, not the generation that builds it.
We should always be thinking of the generation that follows ours and working towards success for their lives.  Don't be self-centered. Don't forget to leave a lasting legacy for your children.  Take care of the task our generation has been given while setting future generations up for success.