Praying For Specifics

I mentioned recently that I had received some enlightenment about my prayer life and so I thought  I would share that tonight.   One of the things that our Pastors have talked about on multiple occasions is the need to be specific with our prayers. 

Unfortunately I don't have any of the scriptures that they referred to right at hand but I believe part of it was Psalm 37:4.

Psalms 37:4(NKJV)

4    Delight yourself also in the Lord,     And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

What I draw from this is that it is OK to have desires.  Things we want.  Not only that but God wants to give them to us.  In Matthew it talks about "Ask and it shall be given..".  So it is OK to ask for things, not just material but spiritual, physical, etc.

They had several other scriptures that talked about the need to be specific when we pray.  That was not something I have ever really been comfortable with and I was trying to figure out why.

I'll try to trace the thought process as to why I was uncomfortable with it.  Part of it stems from Solomon's request when God said Solomon could have anything.  Instead of asking for great wealth or something, he asked for great wisdom.  And with the wisdom he got the great wealth and everything else. 

The other things is that I don't want to be a bother.  Now that's not to be confused with not feeling worthy, that's not the issue.  God's a great God and He's got a lot of stuff to do.   There are a lot of people out there who need His help way more than I do.  He's blessed me with lots of talents and abilities and I should be able to take care of this myself. 

So my prayer requests have always been more general in nature.  Something like "Lord could you help me with this issue please?  Just give me a bit of wisdom and guidance and I'll take it from there cause you've got more pressing issues to deal with. Thanks!" 

So the other day God drops this thought on me.  Maybe my always praying in generalities  is really just another way of me continuing to be in charge?  "Just give me a little guidance and I'll take it from there".  Interesting.

So I've been trying to make a conscious effort to be more specific in my prayer life.  The results have been very cool so far.  I'll share more on that at another time.   If you are also a person that prays in generalities, try getting specific and see what God does in your life!