Reason 2 - What to Pray About

So another reason why I don’t go to prayer meetings is because I don’t know what to pray about. This problem is probably more of a personal nature, rather than a problem endemic to the nature of prayer meetings. In simpler terms, my life is rather boring. I have a job, which I thank God all the time, and there aren’t too many other things I need to pray about.

However, even if I did have stuff I need, I’ve been conditioned or taught, to not pray for such things. A Bible verse that has always eluded me is: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (1 Jn 5:14) It’s very tough to divine what is according to His will. The pithy answer of course is to say that the Bible tells us His will. But, if you haven’t noticed lately, the Bible is a kinda big book, and not every passage explicitly talks about His will. Sure, there is an overarching theme that runs through every book, every passage, which is His will. But that still isn’t too helpful for me. For example, let’s go back to that now-famous prayer, the Prayer of Jabez , “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” (1 Chr 4:10) First, let’s make sure the verse is not taken out of context. Jabez was named because his mom gave birth to him in pain…I assume in more extreme pain than the one normally accorded to childbirth. And, now this is important, but vague, he was more honorable than his brothers. Now, look at the verse closely. He prays to enlarge his territory, or in other words, “Give me more stuff”. Whether it is land or what, we know it’s good stuff, not bad stuff, because he says bless. So judging by this verse alone, it seems like it’s ok to ask God for more stuff, since the Bible did say that God granted his request. Does this mean it’s God’s will to bless us with stuff when we ask him?

If you’ve been a Christian long enough, you know that’s not always true. I’ve prayed many times for a Nissan Z, Touring Edition, but so far none has appeared in my driveway. Am I praying in accordance to Jabez? I’d like to think so. He asked for more land, all I’m asking is for one small, very small car. However, am I praying in accordance to God’s will? Huh… if I haven’t received it yet, I guess I haven’t then. So, how do I know when it’s ok to pray for stuff, and when is it not ok? I’m not talking about spiritual stuff either, like for my friend to believe in Christ, or for the missionary work in the field. I’m just talking about physical stuff. I have a friend who had also prayed for a car once. And she got it! The Lord granted her request. Hmm… perhaps He grants things based on need then. I forgot to mention, that she didn’t have a car, and she needed one. I already have a car, I just want the Z :(

But that’s not a hard and fast rule either. Take illnesses for example. There are good Christian people dying out there. They have incredible needs for healing, yet God does not always grant it. My father, for example, was diagnosed with cancer. He went to so many prayer meetings, my whole family must have spent hours and hours in total, praying for him to get better. But he knew he was dying. My family needed him, but God still did not grant our request. Surely a man’s life is according to the will of God? A psalm that I’ve been memorizing says, “Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?” (Ps 88:10)

Hmm… I kinda went off on a tangent there. Anyway to sum up, it’s hard for me to pray in a public forum because I’m not sure if the things I’m asking for is according to God’s will. And I don’t want to look shallow in front of my peers when they’re asking for God’s guidance or God’s will, while my real need is making sure my 60 year-old house doesn’t have any more plumbing leaks.

How to solve this problem. One thing I’ve learned is it’s always safe to pray about God’s guidance for my life. It gets old and maybe trite since other people also pray for that. I like to be unique, and pray about things not many people pray about. I’ve also learned another good request that seems to be in line with God is to pray for a closer relationship with Him. You can’t really go wrong with that. I also like to pray for my friends, who don’t believe in God, but I don’t pray for their conversion, because that may not be according to God’s will (Yup, that is something I learned from a friend, and it’s a controversial topic, so I’ll stay away from that one for the time being.). I mainly pray that they are given the chance to know God and His love. So now that I told you my handy-dandy secrets, I best not hear you pray for these things when I’m at a prayer meeting! Those are mine! Now go find your own!