I enjoy being in the mix of prayer requests from different people for different people with different people on a daily basis.
As a matter of fact, for years I believed that what I learned at the seminary was true: pastors spend more time preparing and preaching their sermon than doing anything else.
Recently, however, I wonder if the ministry of prayer might occupy more of my time and attention than preaching. I love this! Praying and preaching competing for the preeminent activity of a pastor.
With that in mind, I pray regularly for my prayers to improve. Here is the focus of my most recent improvement effort. Knowing less what I’m praying for.
In other words, testing my assumptions and questioning my assertions when it comes to prayer. It looks like this:
A couples’ marriage is breaking apart and the wife sends me a text, asking me to pray for reconciliation. But what if that’s not the best next step? Can I help this couple by praying for something else, like humility, repentance, or courage?
A family reaches out to me and informs me that grandma has been hospitalized. They ask for prayers that she would be healed and recover. Understandable. But what if God’s will is for her to fall asleep that night and wake up in heaven? Can I better support that family by praying for the family’s comfort and peace?
A local non-profit community partner of our church needs more volunteers, more money, and more attention on social media. CrossLife Church loves responding to these needs. Should they be prioritized over our own members’ needs in the Sunday prayers of the church (after all, we only have a limited amount of time to include a limited amount of prayer requests before losing people, right)?
So here is a prayer that I’m praying more these days: “Lord, what should I pray for? Teach me how to pray, Father. Holy Spirit, reveal to me how I can support this request. Open my eyes, my heart, and if necessary my hands or home to help in ways that you know are best.”
“We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:26,27).
PRAYER: God, teach me to know less what to pray for, so that I pursue more of you, and what you know is best in prayer. Open my eyes, my heart, and if necessary my hands or home to pray your ways and your will. Amen.
ACTION: Journal your praying. Write down your requests and review them. Look for patterns, gaps, blessings and learning moments.