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An interesting survey about what
people pray for and how they pray can be found at
Beliefnet.com. This online survey received more than 5,600 responses
to questions such as "How often do you Pray?", "In the last six months, my
prayers have related to...", and "When your prayers relate to health, what kinds
of things do you pray about?". They survey also asked about who is being
prayer for, where and how people pray, and if their prayers are answered.
Beliefnet.com is a multifaith
Internet site on religion, and this online survey (which was published
12/20/04 in
USA and World Report) breaks the results into responses from Christians,
Jews, and Muslims. A few interesting statistics which can be observed from
this survey include:
Among people who identified themselves as Christians, 30.1% most often prayed for themselves and
57.7% prayed for family, but only 9.3% most often pray for friends and 2.9% for
strangers. 68.1% prayed more than once a day.
Among Christians, during the six months before the survey,
prayers most often related to:
-
God's guidance (93%)
-
Giving thanks (91%)
-
Health and safety (78%)
-
God's forgiveness (76%)
-
Stronger faith (74%)
- However, many prayers were for more worldly things, such as:
-
Personal finances or work (55%)
-
Relationships (68%)
-
Pets (12%)
- While 41.9% believed that the most important purpose of prayer was
intimacy with God and 28.7% believed that the most important purpose of prayer
was to seek God's guidance, 2.9% believed that the most important purpose of
prayer was to improve your own life.
Listed below are some important things that we can
pray for, based on God's Word.
- Ask God to reveal to each of us His will for our lives.
[Jesus] went away a second time and prayed, “My
Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it,
may your will be done.” - Matthew 26:42
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the
same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a
result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires,
but rather for the will of God.
- 1 Peter 4:1-2
In Matthew 26 above, Jesus sets the example of
praying for God's will to be done in our lives, even if in this case, God's
will was Jesus' crucifixion. Through prayer we can understand what the
will of God is for our lives. Rather than praying for specific
blessings, consider first praying for God's will to be done, then blessings
will follow.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares
the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope
and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will
listen to you.
- Jeremiah 29:11-12.
- When we pray, pray "according to God's will."
This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know
that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
- 1 John 5:14-15
When you ask, you do not receive, because you
ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
- James 4:3
There is a subtle difference between praying for God's will for our lives, and
praying according to God's will. Praying for God's will for our lives is
giving control of our lives over to God. However, when we pray according
to His will, we can have assurance that those prayers are granted to us. God’s
will is revealed to us through the Bible, and we can be confident that
promises made to us in the Bible are God's will, and will be honored by God.
- As we pray, confess all of our sins to God and ask for forgiveness.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray
for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective. - James 5:16
If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not
hear. - Psalm 66:18
Prayer may be rendered ineffective if there is unconfessed sin in our lives.
However, if we confess our sin, ask for forgiveness from Him, and turn from
our sin, our prayers will be rendered powerful.
- Pray for strength to resist sin and temptation is our lives.
No temptation has seized you except what is common
to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you
can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you
can stand up under it. - 1
Corinthians 10:13
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may
be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. -
Acts 3:19
As a corollary to confessing our sins, praying to resist future sin
and temptation will enable us to remain righteous before God.
Turn away from sin and toward God.
- Pray for wisdom in our daily life and actions.
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is
in you all day long. - Psalm 25:4-5
Sometimes we pray for "God to be with us." Of course, God is always
with us. However, what this really means is that we are praying
for God's guidance, and for His wisdom to be forefront in our daily actions
and decisions.
- Pray for a hunger to study God's Word, pray for a deeper
relationship with Him, and pray to please Him.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. - John 15:7
. . . we have confidence before God and receive
from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases
him. - 1 John 3:21-22
Lack of fellowship with God by not studying His word and by not
praying leads to us drifting away from God. Staying "in the Word" keeps
us on the right path. God is pleased when we are obedient
to Him, but obedience does not earn us salvation or merit points with God.
Instead, we are obedient out of gratitude for all God has done
for us, especially for sending His son, Jesus, to die for our sins so that we
may gain salvation and eternal life.
- Pray for God's purpose to be revealed for our lives.
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some
to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may
be built up.
- Ephesians 4:11-12
While this may seem the same as asking for God's will for our lives, this is
specifically a prayer for our place of service in God's kingdom to be revealed
to us. We are all blessed with at least one spiritual gift, and combined
with our individual talents, God's work in the world will be done through us.
Through acts of service to the Lord, we are deeply blessed, and our lives gain
a purpose.
- Pray in thanksgiving and gratitude for all
things. Give praise to God!
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him. - Colossians 3:17
Be joyful always; pray continually; give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
It is easy to pray in gratitude when everything is going well,
but what about in the face difficult circumstances, adversity, tragedy, and
pain? A song by Kristy Starling (Something More - I Need to Praise
You) answers this question:
Everything's changed, and I want to believe
There must be a reason, there just has to be
Cause my faith is strong, till it all hits home
And it's not enough for me to trust
When it hurts too much
On the days I feel like I've failed you
The days I feel I've been failed
I need to praise You
For I am Yours, I'm Yours
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