Special Prayer
If you are reading this and you have developed a relationship with God through a regular prayer life, no doubt you also have some special prayers that you always pray. I’m not talking about pointless repetitions which Jesus warned us against. I’m talking about a few things that are so special and important to you that you continually petition the Lord for them. I know I have some that always come up in my prayer. I won’t share them all, but I’ll let you in on a few. They are simple, but have changed my life.
1) Grant Me Your Divine Wisdom, Understanding, and Direction
I have come to realize that I cannot do the work of God without His input. After all, scripture tells us, “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” That’s me! Man’s ideas cannot accomplish God’s will. There are some shining stars out there who seem to be able to accomplish great things without seeking God (even though we cannot truly do a spiritual work without Him), but I am not one of them. I’m one of the simple ones that needs God for everything.
2) Let People Feel Your Spiritual Draw Through Me
I have had the wonderful privilege of knowing some spiritual giants. They weren’t giants because they pastored mega churches or wrote New York Times bestselling books. They were giants to me, because they had spiritual magnetism. When they walked into a room, you felt the Spirit of God in them drawing you before they even opened their mouth. They had a deep, trusting relationship with Jesus Christ and His Spirit not only filled them, but flowed out to others. Just being near them for a few minutes made you want to pray more, stay closer to God, become better, dream bigger. For years I have prayed that the people I come in contact with, would leave wanting more of Jesus just because they spent time with me. I have come to realize that this depth of relationship with God only comes through suffering. I have a long way to go to even come close to being a spiritual giant, but I want to influence people to love Jesus more.
3) Give Me a Kingdom Heart
I used to have big dreams and thought God would work through me to accomplish all of them. Finally God was good enough to send an Elder my way with a word that changed my thought process. Over the phone, he shared a Dale Carnegie quote. It was something to the effect of “you can accomplish anything if you don’t care who gets the credit.” It may have been just a conversation to him, but his words pierced my heart like flaming arrows. I knew God was speaking to me.
For some time I had bumped up against barriers in reaching my spiritual goals. They were bigger than me. They were beyond me. I suddenly realized that if I did things God’s way, I would probably not receive the credit, but I would see the dreams come to pass. That was what I wanted more than anything … to see the dreams live! Since then, I have continually prayed that God would help me to be a facilitator to others who have more ability and resources than I do. I give many of my ideas away. More and more others get the credit for the vision God has placed in my heart, but the work of God gets done. Isn’t that the point? God give me a Kingdom heart.
By Pastor Phil Lemke
