For What Do You Pray?

by Linda Mershon

February 1, 2012

When you get down to pray, what do you pray about? For good health, for a new car, new house, more money? While it is not wrong to pray for these things, if needed, these shouldn’t be the priority of your prayers. I believe God wants to see a different priority in our prayer lives.

Solomon’s prayer pleased God. Remember the content of his prayer? It is recorded in I Kings 3:5-14. Solomon was king of Israel and he realized his great responsibility so he prayed for an understanding heart – a heart that had the wisdom of God so he could judge correctly. God was pleased that he asked for this and did not ask for long life, riches or the life of his enemies. Therefore God gave him the thing he requested and then gave him what he didn’t request. – riches and honor.

Too often we have the wrong priority in our prayer life. How often do you hear people making spiritual prayer requests for themselves rather than temporal? How often has someone asked for an understanding heart, for discernment, for knowing God better, to have more faith and to realize God’s power?

If we look at the prayers the Apostle Paul made for God’s children, we will find he more often prayed for the spiritual than the temporal.

In Ephesians 1:16-23, he prays that (1) God would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, (2) the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened, (3) they would know the hope of his calling, (4) they would know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints (5) they would know the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.

In Ephesians 3:14-21, he prays that (1) they would be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, (2) Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith, (3) they would be rooted and grounded in love, (4) they would comprehend the love of Christ, (5) they might be filled with all the fulness of God.

In Phil 1:9-12, he prayed that (1) their love would abound more and more in knowledge and judgment, (2) they may approve things that are excellent, (3) they may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness.

In Colossians 1:9-11, he prays that (1) they will be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, (2) they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, (3) they would be fruitful in every good work, (4) they would increase in the knowledge of God, (5) they would be strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, (6) they would have patience and longsuffering with joyfulness, (7) they would be thankful.

What prayer requests! Not once does he mention their temporal afflictions. Now it is obvious that Paul did pray for these things – He prayed three times that God would remove his thorn in the flesh in II Cor 12:7-9. But many times we focus on these things and neglect prayer for our spiritual needs.

And sometimes when we do pray for spiritual needs, we pray for others’ needs with wrong motives. Do we pray that others would be corrected in minor areas just so they live up to our belief system? Perhaps we need to ask God to show us the pride in our own heart that makes us so critical of others. Or do we pray for others so it makes our life easier, not because we are concerned for them. That is a selfish prayer and maybe we need God to show us how selfish we are and how we need to love others more than ourselves.

So, again, I ask, for what do you pray? Take stock today.