2/126-129 — Abraham's prayers
The first — for the city: "My Lord, make this a secure town and provide its people with fruits." Safety first, provision after. And the prayer is met elsewhere in the Qurʾān with the record that this city was in fact so: "who has fed them against hunger and secured them against fear" (Quraysh 106/4) — the same two needs, in the same order.
One detail: while Abraham qualifies his prayer with "those of its people who believe", the answer removes the qualification — "and the one who covers over I shall let enjoy a little." Worldly provision, that is, is not conditional on faith; this distinction will be preserved in the later parts of the sūra too.
The second — for acceptance: "Our Lord! Accept from us." The prayer said while raising the walls of the Kaʿba is not for the soundness of the building but for its acceptance. The value of the work done is seen not in the work itself but in its being accepted.
The third — for the future: "Our Lord! Send them a messenger from among themselves." The prayer is not for himself but for what comes after him.
These three prayers complete the picture at the head of the section. The attitude criticised throughout the sūra was leaning on a privilege given in the past. Abraham's prayers look in exactly the opposite direction: he does not count what he has as a guarantee, he asks for it to be accepted; and his eye is not on himself but on those who will come after.