The apostle Paul wrote in many of his letter to churches that he needed and wanted the prayers of the people there. He knew he faced opposition on many fronts to his presentation of the gospel, and he had learned through many trials He could not face those things in his own strength.
As I sit here this morning, I wonder how many times I pray with no real purpose. I don’t mean reading off some scripted prayer that includes my bullet points for the day, week, month, year, and everyone I can think of who might need anything. I mean, do I pray knowing there are specific things I need that day (my daily bread – from last Thursday night’s Bible study)? Do I pray with specific needs in mind, and offer myself as a conduit to help meet those needs?
I can tell you, I’m more of a spontaneous prayer. I don’t usually have a plan. I’m not saying that’s always bad – sometimes we just need to spend time with God. Other times, we need a clear plan of prayer because we have clear challenges ahead of us, and we need the creator of the universe to step in and do something supernatural.
Paul let the people know how to pray for him, and miraculously, God stepped in and did those exact things – in His way, but He answered every prayer to the letter. The record of this is in Acts 21-28.
So, what about you? Do you pray specific things for God’s purposes? I ask you to pray for me and our class today.
- Pray that God will bring us people in a flood like we’ve never seen before in our ministry
- Pray that people who come will see their need to be redeemed and see that Jesus is the only way
- Pray that God will guide me in every decision about our class – series, activities, and more
- Pray that God will send us more helpers – when He answers number 1, we’ll need them
Let’s see God answer these requests in His way!
PWG