Prayers Not Requested
What are you currently praying for?
What questions, burdens, or joys are you bringing to the Lord on a regular basis?
As we pray, we commune with God through the interceding power of Christ. He has conquered our sins, which would separate us from God.
Through Christ’s sacrifice, we have the sweet opportunity to submit to God’s lordship in our lives.
We can come to Him burdened, and we are able to receive rest (Matthew 11:28).
We can come to Him confessing our sins, and we are forgiven and cleansed from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
And we can come to God each day rejoicing in his creation and character (Psalm 118:24). Prayer is a sweet gift from the Lord.
However, there may be many things that we don't want or don't think to take to the Lord in prayer.
So, what are you not praying for?
Prayers of Omission
It can be really common for us to not pray for things that we consider mundane or things like material possessions that we want. In Paul Miller’s book, A Praying Life, he uses the example of praying for a vacation home to illustrate this point.
How would you feel praying, “Lord, please give me a vacation home. I really want one. Would you give me one?”
It might feel odd to pray that, and I know it would sound odd if I heard that from someone else in a prayer group.
But if that is your desire, and you don't pray for it, what happens to that desire?
The desire doesn’t dissipate. Usually, we simply act on that desire by our own means.
Rather than praying, we may start strategizing for how that dream can become a reality. You may work more hours at your job, pick up a side hustle, or set aside a portion of your budget, and if all of that works, then eventually, you purchase the vacation home.
Rather than pray for the vacation home, it’s probably more common to make the purchase and then ask God to bless that decision. The vacation home itself is not inherently bad, but in that situation, who is really exercising lordship in our lives?
When we act in our own interests and then ask God simply to bless those decisions, we treat God more like our life advisor rather than our Lord.
We may chat with Him about the big decisions, challenges, and goals, but feel that we can handle the mundane and material. As long as he handles the provision, we will handle the spending.
Unknowingly, we can put on a facade of holiness by bringing our needs to God in prayer but pursue our wants by our own means.
If we do this, we ultimately live according to lies. We get lured by the individualism and consumeristic world around us and begin to believe that God can only do the things that our debit cards can’t. We fail to submit to God’s lordship in the mundane.
But by God’s grace, we don't have to stay in this place.
Prayers of Dependence
Through the Holy Spirit within us, we can grow in our prayer life. We can grow in submission to God as we grow to pray for all areas of our lives, both our wants and our needs! Every uncomfortable subject of prayer can bring us closer to understanding God’s all-encompassing reign in our lives.
As you seek to grow, try these steps.
First things first, we need to realize that our hearts will desire all sorts of things, both good and bad. We also need to realize that we can struggle to know the difference.
1. Pray (the end of) Psalm 139
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139:23-24)
In praying this, we submit our thoughts and actions before God, but we also humbly recognize that we need God’s help in all things because we are tainted by sin. He is faithful to reveal our desires that oppose His, and to bless what brings Him glory.
Second, let’s take anything and everything before the Lord in prayer as an act of submission.
2. Pray about everything
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)
As we grow to ask for God’s provision and wisdom in the otherwise mundane, we are continually reminded of our dependence on God and His gracious providence. Everything from big purchases to weekend plans to tonight’s dinner choice is an opportunity to embrace God’s lordship over us.
Let’s embrace God’s lordship and let it shape our whole lives through prayer. Who knows what God would be pleased to do with a church that prays like this?