My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Psalm 5:3
Today I was thinking about prayer.
More specifically, I was recalling the answers I’ve seen and experienced to the prayers I have prayed. The big one that stood out to me right away was the prayer I prayed years ago when my sister and I decided we wanted more siblings. (Sometimes I wonder what was wrong with just four of us, but most of the time I am awfully glad we are six!) Let me tell you the story…
When I was probably about 12, we began to ask God for a little brother or sister. It seemed like a tall order because our mom wasn’t exactly young anymore and our youngest sister was at least 5 or 6 at the time. But we prayed anyway. With God all things are possible, right?
A few years slipped by and nothing happened. I don’t even recall how consistently I prayed over that time, but I’m pretty sure I was not very diligent. God had heard my feeble prayers, though, and was making plans I could have never imagined!
My mom did get pregnant eventually, making all of us thrilled. Our excitement soared, but then was shot down when she miscarried. I was crushed, wondering if God had made a mistake. Why would He answer my prayer only to take it away?
I had much to learn about God’s mysterious ways that are “past finding out.”
Not too long after the miscarriage, my mom was pregnant again. This time carrying to full term a healthy boy. Finally, we had our baby brother that I’d only been able to dream about and imagine for years.
I didn’t think it could get any better than that. God had answered our prayers! And then, almost exactly 13 months later a second baby joined our family. God had given us not just one, but two little brothers!
While recalling this story today of answered prayer in my life, I thought about my prayer list. Currently I don’t have one in writing, and probably most of us don’t. Yet we have one in our minds as we think of people, situations and other things to pray for and about. I want to make up a written list sometime for myself, and when I do I’ll use the list of ideas I am going to share here. They aren’t necessarily in any particular order, nor is it complete.
– My family
Instead of complaining about them or getting angry or annoyed with what they may do or say, pray! Talking about them with others will not solve my problems. I need to pray especially for my mom and dad, who are in authority over me that God would steer their hearts in the direction He wants. I need God’s help to love and honor them at all times, even when I don’t think they are doing things the way that they should.
-My church family
Same thing applies to them. I must be quicker to talk about them on my knees than to discuss them with others. And pray especially for the young people!They are facing endless worldly pressures just like me and are in need of godly encouragement. Pray for the church as a whole that they would be all the way for Christ.
-The country, world and leaders
This is harder for me to remember to do this for some reason. Yet, we are told in the Bible to pray for our leaders – those in authority around us. It is in my best interest to pray for godly leaders and for God’s will to be done in this country.
-My future spouse (Lord-willing)
When the Lord convicted me on this one several months ago, I balked. Sure, I’d done it before randomly in the past, and I wasn’t questioning it’s importance. The fact of the matter was, I just didn’t want to. I still don’t. Why? I suppose maybe it is because I’ve not been very encouraged so far by what I’ve encountered when it comes to guys. Perhaps it is because I don’t see many thriving, healthy marriages around me. Or maybe I’m just fed up with the whole relationship thing. I don’t know for sure, but I know what God told me so I’m going to listen. It helps me if I think that perhaps he is praying for me too! And another point is, I need to pray that God would be making me into the kind of godly spouse that will bless a future mate.
-My friends
This is another one I tend to overlook. But it is so important! So often we have no idea what our friends might be going through. Especially those who might not share with you some of the deeper, private issues in their lives. Cover them with prayer and seek to encourage the struggling friend in your life. As a note, be careful with this in opposite sex friendships… It’s a sticky place and everyone’s boundaries will be different, but be cautious! Your great intentions can easily get turned into something you never intended! Young men need godly men to help them and young women need women. Stick with that and your life will be less complicated. 🙂
-The lost and dieing
This covers nearly everyone else. The whole world is lost (if they don’t have Jesus), and they are dieing. Pray for those that don’t know Christ as their Savior, that they would hear the gospel through some means. Pray that God would use me and you to tell them the good news! Pray for the homeless, sick, injured and those in prison.
-Persecuted Christians
Another important one is praying for those that are tortured, beaten, imprisoned and hunted for their faith in Christ. Paul instructed the early church to “remember them that are in bonds as bound with them.” (Heb 13:3). I need to do the same.
So, that is my list of prayer points. It’s not complete but it covers most main areas that I can use to then write a more specific list with names and other details.
Lately I have been convicted that I need to pray more, and think and talk less. Talking isn’t so much a problem for me as is the thinking. The mind is a powerful thing, and all too often mine needs to be reigned in.
And last but not least for that prayer list of mine, I should be praying for myself. Pray and intercede for others, and then ask God to help you too! He is always just right there, waiting for us to connect and draw near to Him in prayer and supplication.
Hiding in the Light 