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PROGRAM D-8478
What changes would there be in your life if all your prayers for yourself were answered? I’m asking us all—including me—to review the content and focus of our prayers and make sure we are praying about things that matter for eternity.
As I look at the prayers of the Apostle Paul, I note that his prayers focused mostly on spiritual needs not physical needs. For example, here is what Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus:
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 1:17-20)
Just imagine what would change in your life if you prayed this for yourself:
- Lord, please give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation; I want to know you better.
- Lord, please open the eyes of my heart to know the great hope to which you have called me.
- Lord, help me to understand your incomparable great power for me, the power of the Holy Spirit in me.
If God answered your prayer (which I’m assured he would), you would become wiser, which means you’d make fewer mistakes and better choices. You would have truth revealed to you—revelations that open your eyes to wonderful truths you’ve never seen before. You would know God better and better, and Jesus said that this is eternal life—to know God and his Son, Jesus. You would be filled with great hope, getting rid of despair and discouragement. And you would have this great power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do God’s will—and who knows where that would take you?!
Can you get a glimpse of the power of praying for yourself in totally new ways, ways which are far more important than just your earthly or physical needs? You can pray about those, too, for sure, but pray beyond and above that.