REFLECTIONS ON REQUESTS

Time for some reflection and recap! We’ve spent the past four months focusing on the supplication aspect of prayer. We’ve covered ideas for keeping track of requests, praying for specific groups of people, what things Jesus and Paul requested in prayer, and different types of requests. I hope this has been as inspirational and motivational for you as it has been for me. Here are some of my observations from the last four months:

1. It’s important to develop a system for keeping track of requests. I’ve been using the app Prayer Mate and it has been working for me better than any other system I’ve tried! I like that it’s with me all the time on my phone so I can easily add a request wherever I am. It is a well organized app with just enough flexibility and customization options to make it useful without being too complex. I still need to spend an hour or two finishing off my categories, but if you want to jump in and add as you go, this works great.

2. It’s good and biblical to ask things of God. I have a fear (and rightfully so!) of treating God like a vending machine or a magic 8 ball so sometimes I trick myself into not asking for things because I think it would be more respectful or pious. While we do need to check our motives, there’s nothing wrong with asking for things. Jesus and Paul made requests. Our check and balance is the Word of God. If we are saturated in the Word and growing in maturity in Christ, our types of requests and our heart attitudes will better align themselves with the will of God. We also should be content with God’s answer even if we don’t like it.

3. There are so many more things to request in addition to physical healing and wisdom! Reading through all of Paul’s prayers back to back was so eye opening. Often I get bored asking for the same things over and over, but Paul’s requests are so varied. He asks for doors to be opened (Col. 4:3), the unity of the church (Rom. 15:5), the salvation of an entire nation (Rom. 10:1), enlightened hearts (Eph. 1:16-23), strength to comprehend God’s Word (Eph. 3:18-19), steadfastness (1 Thess. 1:2), hope (Rom. 15:13), and so much more! But to pray for more varied things for people, we have to take the time to analyze a person’s situation and we can only do that if we are connecting with people. It takes time to develop relationships. If you feel like you only ask for shallow things, maybe it’s because you have shallow relationships.

4. Only praying for requests is a great way to kill your prayer time. As mentioned above, it can become boring to pray for the same thing again and again. Kids might have no problem hounding their parents for something, but adults are more likely to experience boredom or embarrassment in continuing to ask God for the same requests. It’s easy to just give up on praying altogether because it seems futile. A solution is to keep your prayer time balanced by also praying God’s attributes, thanksgiving, and confession. Just praying requests is like just reading one book of the Bible. It’s great and beneficial, but you’d only have a piece of the picture. Keep your prayer time healthy by developing a well-rounded prayer time.

I was pleasantly surprised we were able to talk about prayer requests for four months! In fact, I feel like we just scratched the surface of all the Bible has to offer on the topic. Spurgeon was right when he said, “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” The same is true of prayer. Continue steadfastly and you will be blessed with a much deeper relationship with God and others.

---