I've been struggling with prayer lately- specifically around how specifically to pray. Lots of specificallys, huh? I've been told and I believe that God asks us to pray specifically for the things that we want and need, and I have also read and believe that it's most important to pray for God's will in your life, because more often than not, God has a better plan for us than we could imagine ourselves.
So anyway- I've got a very specific prayer request but should I pray for that request in detail or pray for God's will? And if we are just supposed to pray for God's will- what's the point in telling God what is going on in our life and asking him for help, etc, when we could just always say "Please let your will be done?"
Really would like some feedback...and also would like to know who "a" and "ll" are. I love seeing everyone's comments- just want to know who they are coming from. :)
oh i shouldn't be the first one to comment on this... but i had something like this conversation years ago with steve kinney and his ideas on this god's will/vs specificity prayer have been the most helpful explanation yet, for me. he talked about prayer as orientation - to pray for something, specifically, is really to take the time and thought and heart to focus on it. because prayer isn't a tool that changes god's will, it is, by steve's explanation, a tool that orients us... the example he used was the austin botanical gardens, going there, walking and appreciating the detail of the roses grown there, the plants relationship to the soil, etc was a thankful prayer, without words or conscious 'i am praying' but in that it was attention, real attention to a set of circumstances.
ReplyDeletereally, what do i know about this, but i did like what steve had to say on it...
xoxo
n
and p.s. i don't know why i can only post as 'red' but that seems to be the case!