Prayer Targets

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“We pray the safest kinds of prayers–

the ones so passive and vague we’d 

never be able to tell if God responded to them.”  Tyler Staton

My gut took a punch when I heard that. 

Dude, how often do I pray like that instead of how Jesus prayed?

“Dear Lord, bless this day. Thank you for the sunshine and for helping the people around me have a good day. Amen.”

Yep, vague, passive, and totally hard to tell if God answers them.

What if I prayed for specifics?  

“Lord, my friend has been having panic attacks. Last weekend, he went to the emergency room. He’s not sleeping and is very confused. Would you meet him with your presence?  Would you help him and the medical team as they figure out what’s going on?  Would you use me to support my friend as he faces this rough season?”

Ok, perhaps we’re getting somewhere. Do you think that prayer can be tracked? Do you think we could tell if God answers?

In his book “Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools”,  (pages 91-93), author Tyler Staton tells a story of answered prayer for his brother-in-law, Van. In his early thirties, Van had eaten some spicy shrimp at his friend’s house. Later he complained of chest pains, figuring it was heartburn from what he ate. When it didn’t go away, he eventually sought medical help. Tests discovered internal bleeding from a torn aorta. Emergency surgery by the best surgeons at one of the top cardiac hospitals couldn’t find the tear. The medical team informally declared him dead.  

A nursing student in the operating room prayed the surgeon would take one more look to find the torn aorta. The surgeon went back into Van’s chest. He found the tiny breach and saved his life!

A specific prayer for a specific need, that God answered through a non-believing surgeon.

I relate to this story because I faced open-heart surgery, not for a torn aorta, but for blocked arteries. It’s what the medical world calls a CABG  Coronary Artery Bypass Graft.  Mine was four grafts (quadruple). In fact, the surgery, which normally takes three hours, took four due to complications.

My surgery was on a Monday. That weekend prior, friends came over to worship God and pray over me, for complete healing. Guiding the surgeons to find every blocked artery. During my surgery, Sandy was surrounded by perhaps twenty friends in the waiting room, praying.

I obviously survived. Not without pain, or a lot of cardiac rehab, but the specific prayers were answered.

Prayers are not always answered instantaneously. Tyler’s prayers for his brother-in-law took time. God was working in and through Van’s body, and the medical team was part of how He answered. It was no less an answer to prayer just because trained medical professionals were involved. 

Perhaps specific prayers relate more to logistics and circumstances; much-needed financial help at the right time, health concerns being answered, or a job situation getting resolved.  You get the idea. 

But what about specific prayers for inner transformation? Your dad’s anger issues. Issues that stem from his lifelong sadness over living with a physical handicap. Or, your porn addiction. Sure, you hide it fairly well, but the truth is your heart is wounded, and all that clicking and acting out is a poor way to medicate.

“But, I’ve asked God to take it away.”  How specific have you been in asking for His help? Perhaps your prayers for freedom are too vague. What if you asked God to identify the specific triggers and the wounds in your heart that you are self-medicating? What if you found a mentor who is safe and can be trusted with your struggle with sin, to pray specifically with you for freedom?

It’s easy to pray vague.

Yes, God wants the world to be saved. The Gospel is for everyone, so we should pray for the big picture vision of salvation. We also should pray for our specific friends, by name, who need the work of Jesus in their lives. 

“Jesus, my roommate, Juan, is deeply depressed. He got drunk again this weekend. His hangover was awful. I helped him clean up and get sober. He needs you, Jesus. He let me pray over him while he was in his stupor, but I don’t know if he remembered anything. God, I specifically ask that you pinpoint the pain in his heart that is driving him to get drunk. I ask that you would draw him to you. I pray specifically that he would listen from his heart when I share the good news about you. That he would repent and trust you for salvation. Give me Holy Spirit courage to do so, Jesus, cause right now I’m super nervous.”

How do you think God will answer that prayer?

When’s the last time you prayed for specifics?

We are reminded that if we pray for things that align with God’s heart, He will answer.  Might not be tomorrow, or the next day. Might be a decade from now, but God will answer.

When I was 21, I prayed alot in the shower, God pinged me to start looking for a wife. Yeah, in the shower! 

I prayed specifically for a godly wife. A woman who loved Jesus, who was passionate about life, and whom I could love deeply. I prayed for a woman who would be an awesome mother to our kids someday. I also prayed for a shared vision for ministry; someone with whom we could challenge each other in our walks with God.  Yes, I prayed she’d be gorgeous. Not some swimsuit model, gorgeous, but a woman who turned me on, and as a married couple with whom we could have great sex!  Yes, I was specific.

It took four years of praying before I first met her (through letters).  We were introduced by a matchmaker. She lived in Canada while I was in the USA. I won’t give the entire romance story here, but let’s just say, it took another four more years of praying before God brought us together in marriage. Over eight years total of praying for a wife; from the day God pinged me at age 21 until the day we got married. I was almost 30. 

Would I have liked to have seen God answer that prayer when I was 21?  Absolutely! Sandy didn’t pop into my apartment as I got out of the shower! (In your dreams!)  Nor did she say yes the first time I proposed.  OK, maybe it wasn’t the best proposal ever, but I kept praying. 

The amazing thing is that as I prayed specifics for more than eight years, God was shaping Sandy into that specific woman for me. He was also simultaneously shaping me into the man she needed me to become as her husband. 

For a lot of guys in their young adult years, dreams, aspirations, and figuring out what’s next can derail their focus. It’s good and right to pray for the big picture stuff. BUT, also be specific.

I appreciated a comment Tyler Staton made on a Wild at Heart podcast (Episode 837) about seeking God. This is a paraphrase, but Tyler commented that when we bring the specifics of our days to Jesus, it gives the bigger decisions more clarity when they show up on our doorstep.  

If you want to be a shallow man with a vague life, pray vague.  “Jesus, bless my day.”  (As a sidenote; women aren’t that interested in shallow men.) If you want to become a man of depth, a man who wants to see God respond on His timetable, not yours, pray specifics. Pray specifics for yourself, for those you love, for those you’ve never met but know need a specific touch of God in their life.

Start by praying for three specific things. Be persistent at it. Develop patience in the process. If your specific prayers involve others, pray out of love for them. Prayer isn’t about manipulating God. It’s to see Him bring what is in heaven done on earth. “Thy Kingdom come.” If God responds, share it with us at info@mentoring-warriors.com We’d like to know how God is working in the specifics.

Warrior On!