We all know prayer is our lifeline to God, and we are encouraged to cast all our cares upon God, because he cares for us. We know God is intimately interested in our everyday lives, and he rejoices when we rejoice and mourns when we mourn. Jesus empathizes with all our weaknesses because he walked this earthly road like you, and I do.
So, it is normal and wise for us to pray about the circumstances of our lives—to bring all our concerns to God in prayer. As the old hymn says:
“Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”
But I want us to consider the content of our prayers. If all your prayers were answered, would it make a difference for eternity? That’s the exact question my pastor posed, and I’ve been giving that a lot of thought. Do I pray primarily—not exclusively but primarily—about things that would make a difference for eternity if my prayers were answered?
For example, how do you pray for your family and friends? Do you primarily pray for their spiritual condition? Do you pray for the believers to walk worthy of their call? Do you pray that they will use their gifts to glorify God and do the good works he planned for them to do? If they are not yet believers, do you pray mostly that God will do whatever it takes for them to see their need of salvation?
That kind of praying is more important than their health, their financial problems, their success, even their happiness. Sure, we all want our family and friends to be happy, but maybe they need some tough times to bring them back to God. If all your prayers for your family and others were answered, would they maybe just have better grades at school, or better jobs, or more money, or nicer homes? Those are all quite nice, and we can pray about them. But more importantly, if all your prayers for your family and friends were answered, would they start to live more wholeheartedly for Jesus?
I have a fairly large extended family; if my count is right, there are more than 90 of us counting down from my Mom and Dad, including children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and their mates. Whew, that’s a lot of people. I think of the heritage handed to us by my parents—simple people living lives of integrity and honor to Jesus, a godly heritage as the Bible describes it. And as I pray for all of this crew, my first and most consuming prayer is that they will all walk worthy of the teaching and guidance they have received, that they will pass on to their children the lessons passed on to them, the truth handed to them. More than anything else, I pray for their spiritual welfare. That matters for eternity.
I encourage you to examine the content of your prayers for your family. Pray for their physical needs, their success, their health—yes, of course. But make it your habit to pray mostly and primarily for their spiritual condition, for their relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
How do you pray for the world—this huge world we live in? In the Bible, God’s people are urged to engage with the world around them and not to withdraw from it. That means we should always pray for things and people outside of our own personal circle.
Recently, I intentionally reviewed the content of my prayers, and I realized that I often pray for health issues for people I know; I pray for increased financial support for this ministry; I pray for pastors at my church and ministry there. But it became rather clear that my prayers were often limited to my world. How about you? Review what you’ve prayed for the past few days. Have your prayers primarily revolved around you and people you know?
God wants us to pray about the world around us. How do you do that? Well, first you become educated and aware of what’s happening outside your world. A few years ago,
So, it is normal and wise for us to pray about the circumstances of our lives—to bring all our concerns to God in prayer. As the old hymn says:
“Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”
But I want us to consider the content of our prayers. If all your prayers were answered, would it make a difference for eternity? That’s the exact question my pastor posed, and I’ve been giving that a lot of thought. Do I pray primarily—not exclusively but primarily—about things that would make a difference for eternity if my prayers were answered?
For example, how do you pray for your family and friends? Do you primarily pray for their spiritual condition? Do you pray for the believers to walk worthy of their call? Do you pray that they will use their gifts to glorify God and do the good works he planned for them to do? If they are not yet believers, do you pray mostly that God will do whatever it takes for them to see their need of salvation?
That kind of praying is more important than their health, their financial problems, their success, even their happiness. Sure, we all want our family and friends to be happy, but maybe they need some tough times to bring them back to God. If all your prayers for your family and others were answered, would they maybe just have better grades at school, or better jobs, or more money, or nicer homes? Those are all quite nice, and we can pray about them. But more importantly, if all your prayers for your family and friends were answered, would they start to live more wholeheartedly for Jesus?
I have a fairly large extended family; if my count is right, there are more than 90 of us counting down from my Mom and Dad, including children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and their mates. Whew, that’s a lot of people. I think of the heritage handed to us by my parents—simple people living lives of integrity and honor to Jesus, a godly heritage as the Bible describes it. And as I pray for all of this crew, my first and most consuming prayer is that they will all walk worthy of the teaching and guidance they have received, that they will pass on to their children the lessons passed on to them, the truth handed to them. More than anything else, I pray for their spiritual welfare. That matters for eternity.
I encourage you to examine the content of your prayers for your family. Pray for their physical needs, their success, their health—yes, of course. But make it your habit to pray mostly and primarily for their spiritual condition, for their relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
How do you pray for the world—this huge world we live in? In the Bible, God’s people are urged to engage with the world around them and not to withdraw from it. That means we should always pray for things and people outside of our own personal circle.
Recently, I intentionally reviewed the content of my prayers, and I realized that I often pray for health issues for people I know; I pray for increased financial support for this ministry; I pray for pastors at my church and ministry there. But it became rather clear that my prayers were often limited to my world. How about you? Review what you’ve prayed for the past few days. Have your prayers primarily revolved around you and people you know?
God wants us to pray about the world around us. How do you do that? Well, first you become educated and aware of what’s happening outside your world. A few years ago,