What Should We Pray For? Study #4:

[David]

Our prayers can easily become a wish list. Health, finances, family, work, problems, circumstances. Those are real concerns, and there is nothing wrong with bringing them before God. Jesus Himself taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11, KJV).

The issue is not that we pray about personal needs. The issue is whether our own needs have become almost the entire content of our prayers. God’s Word teaches us not only how to pray, but what should increasingly matter to us when we pray.

Jesus Begins With God, Not With Us​

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He began this way:

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–10, KJV).

Before daily bread comes God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. Then Jesus moves into our needs: daily provision, forgiveness, and protection from temptation and evil.

Jesus is not giving us a rigid formula that must be repeated word for word every time we pray. He says, “After this manner therefore pray ye.” He is showing us what should matter in prayer. Our needs belong there, but prayer reaches much farther than our own circumstances.

John 17 shows this even more clearly because there we see what Jesus Himself prayed for. He prayed that His disciples would be kept by the Father. He prayed, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15, KJV). Then He prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17, KJV).

Jesus did not simply pray that His followers would have an easier life. He prayed for their spiritual preservation, protection from evil, unity, and sanctification through God’s truth. Those things should matter in our prayers too.

Paul’s Prayers Show Us Spiritual Priorities​

When we read Paul’s recorded prayers, we find the same pattern. Paul certainly knew about suffering, physical needs, danger, and hardship, but many of his prayers for believers focus on what was happening spiritually in their lives.

In Ephesians 1:16–19, Paul prayed that believers would grow in wisdom and in the knowledge of God, that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened, and that they would know the hope of God’s calling and the greatness of His power.

In Philippians 1:9–11, he prayed that their love would “abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment,” so that they could approve what was excellent and be filled with the fruits of righteousness.

In Colossians 1:9–12, Paul prayed that believers would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in wisdom and spiritual understanding, walk worthy of the Lord, bear fruit in every good work, increase in the knowledge of God, and be strengthened with patience and longsuffering.

These prayers should make us examine our own. How often do we pray for another believer to grow in wisdom? How often do we pray for their love to grow in truth and discernment? How often do we pray for holiness, spiritual strength, patience, fruitfulness, and perseverance?

There is nothing wrong with praying that someone’s circumstances improve. But Scripture shows us that spiritual growth should occupy a substantial place in our prayers for ourselves and others.

Pray Beyond Our Own Lives​

Prayer also reaches outward.

Paul wrote, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved” (Romans 10:1, KJV). That gives us a clear biblical example of praying concerning the salvation of the lost.

Jesus told His disciples, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38, KJV).

Paul asked believers to pray that God would open “a door of utterance” for the Word in Colossians 4:2–4. In Ephesians 6:18–20, he asked them to pray that he would be given the words and boldness needed to make the gospel known.

We should be praying for other believers, for those who are lost, for gospel laborers, for open doors, for boldness, and for God’s Word to spread.

Scripture also tells us to pray for people we may not naturally think about. Jesus commanded us to pray for those who persecute us in Matthew 5:44. First Timothy 2:1–2 tells us to pray for kings and all who are in authority. James 5 tells believers to pray for the sick. Ephesians 6:18 tells us to persevere in prayer “for all saints.”

Biblical prayer keeps widening our concern beyond ourselves.

“Lord, Make Me Faithful in This”​

Acts 4 gives us one of the clearest examples of this.

Peter and John had been threatened because they were preaching Jesus Christ. The believers gathered and prayed. They certainly knew the danger they were facing. But notice what they asked:

“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word” (Acts 4:29, KJV).

They did not merely ask God to make the trouble disappear. They asked Him to make them faithful while the trouble was still there.

Sometimes one of the most biblical prayers we can pray is not simply, “Lord, get me out of this,” but, “Lord, make me faithful in this.”

That does not mean praying for deliverance is wrong. Acts 12:5 tells us that when Peter was imprisoned, “prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” God then sent an angel and brought Peter out of prison.

Scripture gives us both kinds of prayer. We can ask God for deliverance, and we can ask Him for faithfulness whether deliverance comes or not.

What If I Do Not Know What to Pray For?​

This study is not meant to turn prayer into another checklist.

There will be times when we simply do not know what outcome we should ask God for. We may not know whether He will remove a difficulty, heal an illness, open a particular door, change someone’s circumstances, or accomplish His purposes another way.

Scripture acknowledges that weakness.

Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.” The passage goes on to say that the Spirit intercedes for the saints “according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27, KJV).

That should keep us humble. God has clearly revealed many things we should pray for, but He has not revealed every particular outcome ahead of time. When we do not know, we can still come before Him honestly and depend upon the Spirit’s help.

Prayer also includes confession, praise, and thanksgiving. Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9 contains confession. Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2 is filled with praise. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6 to bring our requests to God “with thanksgiving.” Prayer is much more than asking God for things.

Let God’s Word Expand Our Prayers​

Bring God the doctor’s appointment. Bring Him the bills. Bring Him the family problem, the job situation, the illness, the fear, and today’s needs. Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread, so there is nothing unspiritual about bringing our real needs before our Father.

But do not stop there.

Let God’s Word expand what matters to you when you pray. Pray for God’s name to be honored, His kingdom, His will, holiness, wisdom, spiritual growth, perseverance, other believers, the lost, gospel laborers, open doors, boldness, and the spread of His Word. Pray for faithfulness when circumstances do not change. And when you genuinely do not know what to pray for, remember that the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

When we compare our prayers with the prayers recorded in Scripture, what does God’s Word show us should matter more to us when we pray?