Surrendering in Prayer

In my lifetime I suppose I 've prayed for about everything imaginable--people, pets and medical procedures as well as life, death and the suffering in between. And if I know my God the way I think I do, I'm confident he never tires of hearing his childrens' prayers. But I've been recently challenged by a little book titled Praying Like Paul. (Actually, I'm a little envious of the class that is studying through this book right now; wish I could participate.)

Author Jonathan Graf writes a simple, profound book in which he simply highlights almost 30 of the Apostle Paul's prayers as recorded in his letters. He does this under four categories: knowing and praising God; spiritual growth through suffering; the ministry of the gospel; and praying for other believers. Here's what strikes me most--while Paul certainly prayed for people and churches in a variety of settings about a variety of issues, his prayers tend to focus on big themes. God's praise and glory, gratitude for God's work in Christ, the preaching of the gospel, that people become Christ and Spirit formed, etc.

Now I plan to continue praying for specific people, circumstances of health, wealth and suffering, needs, family and so on. But I want to pray more about the big themes like kingdom, peace, the lost. Of his own prayer walk, Graf writes:

"I began being struck more and more by the prayers of Paul...(who) had people with huge problems under his care, people who were facing life-and-death situations. Yet in all his recorded prayers, nowhere do I see that he prayed for specific answers to everyday situations. (Yes, he prayed for himself, that his 'thorn in the flesh' would be removed. But remember, God said, 'no,' so he stopped praying about that.) Don't get me wrong. I would be surprised if Paul didn't pray for some specific things for people he knew, so I am not saying we should never pray for specific answers. But, since all of Paul's recorded prayers were in a different vein, I wonder if a majority of our prayers for ourselves and people shouldn't be of the same kind."

Next time I pray, I want to place my personal requests for specific things in the greater context of the kingdom and the honor of God. I'm just wondering what difference that might make.

--Terrell