How to Pray for the Right Stuff
Many Christians have disenchanted prayer lives because they don’t know how to pray, or when they pray, they don’t seem to get what they want (Rom 8:26).
They may try to claim the prayer promises of Israel:
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” – Mat 21:22
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” – Mar 11:24
But what about when they ask God, in full faith, for a better job, a healing, a nice house, or for a problem in their life to go away, and it doesn’t happen?
What if you don’t get the raise and get demoted? Your loved ones don’t get healed? Your house falls apart? The problem gets worse?
Is God a liar? Of course not! (Titus 1:2)
Does He not love them? If they’re saved by God’s grace, then nothing can separate them from His love. (Rom 8:38-39)
So what are we to do? How do we wrestle with these passages? Unfortunately, many Christians turn to doubting God’s word with things like:
“Maybe God didn’t really mean what He said there… maybe the Greek says something different…”
Well, the good news is, we CAN believe God’s word. We just have to understand the dispensational context to know that God is true all the time, but that the whole Bible wasn’t written for us to follow. There are different instructions given for different groups at different times (Heb 1:1, 2Ti 2:15).
For example, at the beginning of creation, Adam and Eve were instructed they could eat every herb-bearing seed or fruit on the trees (except one, Gen 1:29). Under the Mosaic Law, there were many dietary restrictions including abstaining from pork. Now, under grace, nothing is to be refused (1Ti 4:3-4).
These kinds of instructional changes happen throughout the Bible and also apply to prayer as well! The focus of God’s physical intervention with Israel through covenantal prayer has changed, and we have a different prayer pattern now under grace that pertains to our spiritual growth!
We are told to set our affections on things above, not on things on the Earth (Col 3:1-2). We are told to be content with God’s sufficient grace (1Ti 6:8, Php 4:11). When Paul prayed for the thorn in His flesh to be removed, God told him that His grace was sufficient in his weakness (2Co 12:8-10).
This disposition is the complete opposite of being focused on physical, earthly comfort and possessions. In fact, it points to a far greater joy found in Christ alone!
In Colossians, we get an insight into how we should pray under grace:
“[9] For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; [10] That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; [11] Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; [12] Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:” – Col 1:9-12
Paul prays that they would be filled with the knowledge of His will so that they can:
Have wisdom and spiritual understanding
Walk worthy and be fruitful in every good work
Increase in the knowledge of God
Be strengthened by the power of the Spirit
Grow in patience, longsuffering, and joyfulness
Give thanks to the Father
Every single thing that is prayed for pertains to the inner man and the spiritual walk of every saint in Colosse. Not a single request for their problems to go away, for them to be comfortable, for them to be rich, or for their sicknesses to go away. This is our pattern too! (1Ti 1:16, Php 3:17)
The strength to endure a challenging situation, rely on God’s grace, and then subsequently preach the sufficiency of the gospel to get you through a tough situation is a much stronger testament to God’s grace than you having all of your problems go away.
The goal of the Christian walk is not ease: it is other people being saved from their sin through the gospel and their spiritual growth in Christ (1Ti 2:3-4).
Next time you pray, try thanking God for His grace, for other believers, and orienting your requests to God towards things of spiritual significance. You might be surprised by the way your heart and mind are softened toward the things of eternal value (Php 4:4-9)!
