Be Specific!

Brad Dillan called me on my cell to tell me what was going on. “What, specifically, can we pray for?” he asked.

Feeling a little odd about it, I told him what Dr. O’Holleran had said would be a good sign for Colton. So that night might be the only time in recorded history that eighty people gathered and prayed for someone to pass gas!

—HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, 50–51

Sonja

I’m a big believer in specific prayer. I don’t think I’ve prayed for someone to be flatulent since Colton’s crisis in the hospital, but certainly our experience reinforced for me how powerful specific prayer can be, no matter how personal or intimate it is.

When it comes to talking with God, my motto is, “Ask not; have not.” I don’t just ask God to bless my day. I already feel like I live in a general state of blessedness all day every day. Instead, I pray for specific parts of my day, the work or activities planned, and for specific people in that day. Especially my children.

I’ve prayed for my kids since before they were born. The Bible says God formed them in my womb and knew them before they were born, and as I prayed for them each day of my pregnancy I got to “know” them too. I imagined their developing bodies and prayed for each part of them: their skeletons, their digestive systems, their heart and lungs, their hands and fingers. I asked God to protect them, keep them safe, and bring them safely into the world.

I’m still praying for them that way. I don’t pray for something once and drop it. I’m persistent! I’m that mom who just won’t stop. I like to think God recognizes my voice because it’s one he hears all day every day.

And just as I prayed for my kids before they were born, I’m also praying for their marriages and their spouses long before they’re married. (As I write this, Colby is only seven!)

I pray for God’s protection of their future marriage, and I pray that their spouses love Jesus. I ask God to give Cassie a husband who respects and loves her and is a good leader in their home. I pray that the women Colton and Colby marry are loving and supportive.

I don’t pray that they’ll be in full-time ministry, although of course that would please me; but what’s really important to me is that they will live their lives for Jesus and serve others. That’s what I pray for.

And I don’t just offer up specific prayers for my biological children. Every day at 3:00 p.m. I also pray for “my kids,” the children in whatever Sunday school and weeknight classes I’m teaching. I set the alarm on my wristwatch, and every day when it goes off, I’m reminded to pray for those kids by name.

The thing is, many of the kids in my classes come from homes where church isn’t part of their family life. They end up in my class because a friend invites them. Or a friend invites a teenager to youth group, and the younger siblings come along and end up in my class. I want to make sure that the name of each of those kids is spoken to Jesus at least once a day. I ask him to bless them, to keep them safe. And I pray that they come to know him closely and intimately.

When someone asked me recently if I pray for trivial things, like a good parking spot when I go to the mall, I had to stop and think. My conversations with God are ongoing, but I couldn’t remember praying for anything like that. Still, I know that I whisper a “Thank you, Jesus!” when it’s raining and a good spot opens up near the door.

Not long ago I was traveling somewhere, and as I was gathering my things to rush out the door and head for the airport, I glanced at the boarding pass I had printed from my computer. Uh-oh. The travel agent had misspelled my name Sonya instead of Sonja.

If you haven’t flown recently, you may not know that changing an airline ticket is no easy matter, no matter what you’re trying to change. Knowing all the travel warnings and restrictions that have come about since 9/11, I prayed throughout the drive to the airport that the TSA agents in the security line would realize it was just a typo and let me through. But just as I know there’s power in prayer, I also know that God sometimes answers prayer in ways other than what we’re asking for! So I prayed for that misspelling, and my sister-in-law Becki, our office manager and a true woman of prayer, was also praying that it would be overlooked.

And when it was overlooked, I whispered another fervent “Thank you, Jesus!” prayer of gratitude as I hurried to the gate.

That’s probably my most frequent specific prayer throughout the day. I want to live with an attitude of gratitude, constantly recognizing the many blessings God has given me.

What specific prayer do you need to start praying today for your children, your spouse, or maybe even yourself?

You do not have because you do not ask.

—James 4:2