Praying specifically
As many of you know I am taking Aletheia Tampa through the book of Philippians. It has truly been a source of encouragement for me and I have learned so much from this practical book. In true Aletheia fashion, we are methodically working through the book verse by verse and word by word. Tonight I will be talking about Paul’s prayer in verses 9-11. In this prayer he prays for some very specific things in relation to the desire he has to see this church (and all of us) continue to progress.
Looking at how specific Paul is in this passage really gets me thinking about how bad I have been over the years of not praying specific prayers. Now I know we all pray specifically for things. But do we focus on certain details? My prayers are usually very general. Here’s one example. I always pray that God will bring my son Andrew to the saving knowledge of Him at an early age. Now that’s one awesome prayer. But there is so much more that can go into that. How about when he finally does accept the free gift of salvation, that he will grow in God daily, always seeking after Him, striving to be like Him in all that he does, leading others around him to God (whether at school, in the neighborhood, or on the ball field), actively pursuing ministry, impacting his world for Jesus, always loving those around him, and serving God unconditionally with his life. That is a little more detailed wouldn’t you say?
But this is what I see in the Bible. Here are just a few examples that I came across last night. In Isaiah 38, King Hezekiah knew that he was dying of poor health. Well, he prayed to God that his life would be spared and God gave him 15 extra years. In James 5:17, we are reminded that Elijah, who was a man “with a nature like ours,” prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t…for 3 years and 6 months! How about Hannah and her lack of being able to bear children? Well at the end of the first chapter in 1 Samuel, we see that God gives her a son. And then there’s Moses. His specific prayer to the Lord caused God’s wrath to stop literally burning up the Israelites.
Those are just a few of the many prayers that are answered when people pray specifically in the Bible. So if God answers specific prayers, why don’t we get more specific? I even have personal examples of how praying specifically has brought incredible answers from God. This is how I need to be in relation to everything and everyone that I pray for, even for our church plant here in Tampa. I have a whole list in my head now of what I am going to pray for specifically in regards to this new church.
So what have YOU prayed for specifically in the past that God has answered? I definitely want to hear some of your stories. Post a comment and let me hear about God’s answers in your life.
How about praying for a new band to rise up.
And seeing an album released four months later.
God is so good.
Love you buddy!!
orrrrrr, how about needing a girl to sublease your room in a Cru christian house of 11 for only one semester who will be excited about the movement so that I can scoot my way on down to Tampa. DONE. She was the only girl to show any interest since I posted my room in Decemeber, and she met every single qualification I could ask for. Thanks God.
How about this journal entry I blogged about a couple months ago:
Excerpt from Journal Entry #4
“I pray for the colleges across the world father, that you would start a radical movement, that these coming generations would know you and stand for you”
(Um.. have you heard about Aletheia Tampa yet? Not the only college movement, I know… just saying!)
ha, love it.
My mom was going through a very prolonged dry period…(six years) she began to doubt her salvation, thought God no longer cared about her and “whatever” was her response to everything. My daughter encouraged me to continue standing in the gap for my mom, just as she had done for us. After a powerful time of intercession, decreeing that she would HEAR his voice, she called me and told me she finally HEARD God speak! She is once again on fire!
hmmm, or this one time (today) just before reading this blog I prayed that two people would come to know the Lord today at USF… and it happened. no big deal. Praying for you guys like crazy.
I prayed that God would provide all the money I need to go to Israel this summer and it all came in through ONE fundraiser! God is amazing.
Thanks, AP, for the challenge to pray specifically!
Two just this week:
1) Prayed God would bless my google search for a solid church to suggest to my brother and his girlfriend in Philly. Found a website. Emailed him. 3 minutes later he emails back and says he has a friend who goes there and that he is interested. (this is major progression)
2) A few nights ago I asked God to encourage me more tangibly during a period of discouragement and really reaching my arms out to feel him near. Within a few minutes I got a simple text message of a comforting scripture from a friend and an encouraging email from a bible study leader. I know that I can be faithful without these responses to prayer, but PRAISE HIM for answering many prayers in this way.
Thanks for the reminder, Aaron!
here is a story from my teaching days.
As you probably know, I taught special education. For several years I had a student that I will call Janet. When I first met her Janet was an 8 year old severely autistic child with major behavior issues. Before she became my student she was being considered for a residential placement. Janet would destroy a room. She was constant motion, tearing everything off the walls, climbing bookcases with no fear, grabbing any and all food…….She was pretty much kept in a chair with restraints both in school and at home. Her safety was a major concern. When I took the class my first thought was, “how can she learn to behave out of the chair if you don’t get her out of the chair”. So my 3 aides and I took turns working with her, constantly holding her hand. She would jerk away, do flips, suddenly drop to the floor. Our bodies were feeling the brunt, but we thought we saw a slight improvement. I could go on with techniques we used but let me just say that things were maybe getting better until……….
One day she came to school and started screaming-about every 10 seconds, very rhythmic, very ear piercing, VERY annoying! We took turns with her. Sort of a tag team. We tried everything that is fairly common with autistic students-nothing, nada, zilch. We were frustrated, exasperated, at our wits end. One day I sent the rest of the class out into the school halls. Janet and I sat in a darkened room, squished in an overstuffed chair, my arms hugging her. Her screaming was constant. It took every ounce of control for me not to shake the daylights out of her-”Janet STOP, you’re frustrated, we’re frustrated. Just stop screaming and we will all be happy, Don’t you understand!”-I felt like saying and doing.
I couldn’t take much more. I had tried every conventional and unconventional technique I could think of. I was out of ideas. There was only one thing I hadn’t tried. As she screamed, I started praying. “Dear God, give me one thing to help this child”, “Dear God, I just need one thing”. “Please help me”. “Give me just one thing”, over and over and over. As she screamed, I continued to pray. We sort of got into a rhythm. After about 10-15 minutes she was still screaming and I was still frustrated. I thought, well He has got to have heard me by now, I couldn’t think of anything else to do. I had prayed all I could pray. I had said it all. So now what do I do………
I decided to sing, “Old McDonald had a farm”. You know it has enough verses to go on for days. If nothing else it might help keep my sanity. I started singing. After about one verse I noticed that Janet was not screaming. OK, a coincidence. I stopped singing; she started screaming; I sang again, she stopped. I played around with this for a few minutes and realized that as long as I kept singing she STOPPED screaming.
HE gave me ONE thing.
Singing and songs became part of Janet’s curriculum. We used recording devices, singing, anything we could think of. I found a music therapist who gave us great ideas. Janet’s behavior started changing. She was happier, we were happier, and she was now able to start a program that made a big difference in her behavior and ability to learn.
I truly know that my prayer was answered. It wasn’t a major thing, it didn’t change the world, but it made a difference to me. And it definitely made a difference to Janet.
I apologize for such a long story. But, I will never forget it.