Prayer is such a vital element of the Christian life.
It is our life-line to God for a healthy, growing, meaningful, and purposeful life. Sometimes we seem to have so much to pray about and at other times it seems like we struggle to know what to pray about. During my devotions last week I came across Luke 6:12-13.
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles
Luke 6:12-13
In these two verses we see Jesus praying before he makes one of His most important decisions on earth – who will be the 12 He pours Himself into, who will be the 12 who will take His story to the ends of the earth – the 12 Apostles. I think you will agree that that was a big decision and it was a pretty specific prayer request. That got me to think about the many specific prayer requests we see in the Bible. Things that we can and should pray to our Heavenly Father about on a daily basis. Take a look at just some of these specific prayer requests.
1. Decision making – Luke 6:12-13
2. To endure suffering and for healing – James 5:13-14
3. Anxiety and worry – Philippians 4:6
4. Forgiveness & restoration – Psalms 51
5. Food – Matthew 6:11
6. Deliverance from evil – Matthew 6:13
7. Understanding of God’s will for our life – Colossians 1:9
8. Our walk with the Lord and spiritual fruit bearing – Colossians 1:10
9. To be steadfast and patient in our journey with Christ – Colossians 1:11
10. A “quick” pray for answers for pressing needs – Nehemiah 2:1-5
11. God honoring desires of our heart – 1 Samuel 1:9-11
12. Boldness to overcome fear, in order to speak the gospel of Jesus Christ – Ephesians 6:19-20
Please take some time to consider this list of specific prayer requests. Even better take some time to look up each one. God wants to hear from us on a daily basis and He has promised to meet our needs. Prayer is such a vital and under-tapped source. My prayer is that each of us will learn to linger and be specific in our prayer life. Prayer changes things – prayer changes us, and prayer changes the world around us for the glory of God.