It’s OK to Be Specific When You Pray

Inside: If you think God doesn’t want to hear—or maybe even disapproves of—detailed prayers, this Old Testament example indicates otherwise. ~

I started reading through a new Bible last year.

I don’t know if it’s the Holy Spirit’s prompting or the lack of underlines and highlights, but perusing an unmarked page helps me notice aspects of biblical narratives I may have never considered before. Take, for example, the account in Genesis of Abraham sending his trusted servant to find a wife for son Isaac among Abraham’s kindred.

Along with 10 camels and “all sorts of choice gifts from his master,” the servant traveled to Mesopotamia, where Abraham’s brother Nahor lived (Genesis 24:10). When the servant reached his destination, he stopped at a well outside the city and made the camels kneel down. Then he prayed.

“O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.  Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” (Genesis 24:12-14, ESV)

An Immediate Answer

Before Abraham’s servant even finished praying, Nahor’s beautiful and unmarried daughter Rebekah appeared at the well with her jug. When the servant asked her for some water, she gave him a drink, offered to water all his camels, told him who she was and assured him he was welcome to spend the night at her father’s house.

Later, Rebekah willingly accompanied the servant back home to marry Isaac.

I was familiar with this story, but as I read the servant’s prayer in my new Bible, I was struck by how specific it is. I’m not suggesting that we take a random passage out the Old Testament and turn it into an entire prayer strategy (although this has been done before). But if we think God doesn’t want to hear—or maybe even disapproves of—detailed prayers, we might think again.

Our responsibility as children of our heavenly Father is to approach prayer with the understanding that God’s ways are not our ways. He may have other plans for us, and the outcome of any given situation may look nothing like what we’d prefer. When our hearts remember this, it helps us hold our desires loosely as we share very specific requests with God.

Thy Will Be Done

I’m not talking about telling God what to do, of course. When I veer in this direction, as I am prone to do, the biblical phrase that Mitford author Jan Karon calls “the prayer that never fails” helps reorient me: Thy will be done (Matthew 6:10).

The fact that God answered Abraham’s servant’s prayer down to the smallest detail doesn’t guarantee that He will do the same for us. But it should encourage us to humbly pour out our hearts to Him about anything that might be concerning or perplexing us.

In God’s sovereignty, He knows what is best for us, just like He knew what was best for Isaac and Rebekah. And He will answer our prayers in His timing, according to His perfect will—whether they are short and succinct or long and detailed.

• • •

Since we’re all wired differently, I’m guessing some of us like to keep our prayers simple, while others of us tend to get more specific. Where do you find yourself these days? Please share in the comments.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with InstaEncouragements, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.