An Essential Daily Prayer Request

 

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We all know that prayer is a vital part of the Christian life. I have observed and noted over the years that there are different levels of prayer that Christians tend to live on ...

• some Christians recite daily prayers from Prayer books as they learned from attending their particular religious/church denomination
• some merely pray prayers of thanksgiving before a meal
• some only prayer during a time of crisis or fear
• some pray about their personal and family needs and wants
• some only pray (when requested) on behalf of others who are facing trials
• some pray what I call "full circle" prayers. They pray for others' need of salvation, for Christian friends needs, and for themselves and what they may be facing
• and some are what I call Prayer Warriors. These plead the heart of God for His will to be done in the world and in people's lives. They pray far beyond needs and wants and focus passionately and diligently on God Himself and His purposes for the world and His children.

The above list is certainly not exhaustive. I know that other types of prayer exist but I believe the list covers the most common types.

Thinking About Corporate Prayer 

The traditional mid-week prayer service of many denominations are times when faithful believers gather together and share prayer requests. Many of these requests are related to people who are facing medical issues or who may be facing challenges. Written prayer lists for these concerns are developed and names of family members and friends are added each week. Oftentimes names will remain on the list for months or even years.

There is nothing wrong or inappropriate about these prayer services. In fact, this simple service of prayer is quite often the one weekly event that makes some people feel cared for, loved, and ministered to. This service has always been a vital ministry for countless believers.

Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic caused most of these types of services to go "online." And while I am thankful for modern technology that allows us to gather virtually, it simply isn't quite the same as when we are gathered together. 

Gathering together is as biblical as it gets. Jesus said ...

Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst (Matthew 18:20)

I'm sure that the Lord was referring to gathering physically even though He can be with us as we gather online. 

The writer of Hebrews warned ...

Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of some (Hebrews 1-:25)

Before the pandemic the small church I serve joyously gathered together for the mid-week service to pray for and with one another. We passionately sang along with YouTube videos of southern gospel songs that blessed our souls and reminded us of just how good our Lord is. These songs helped us feel wonderfully close to our Lord and Father. Among our favorites was Midnight Cry as performed by John Starnes.

After we sang we would review and update the prayer list. Then we would pray. It was always such a special time.

Even though the pandemic is behind us for the most part, our church continues to have our mid-week prayer service online rather than physically gathering together. We do meet together for Sunday morning worship but we lost so much due to the pandemic (and other realities) that even Sunday mornings will never quite be the same. 

Among the precious joys of my week is seeing my church family, even if only for a few precious moments on Sunday mornings.

Please Pray for Me 

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 In casual conversation we often ask others to pray for us. Many times we feel as though we could use "all the prayer we can get."

Ever said that? 

Again, there is nothing wrong or inappropriate about these types of requests. They show that the one making the request is depending on God for his or her circumstance or situation.

But if the truth were known we would have to admit that many times when someone asks us to pray for them, we say we will, but often do not. 

But I believe that we should not only actually pray for the one requesting prayer, we should actually pray "with" them as we pray "for" them if it's possible.

I can remember in my seminary days when I was at a low place. Many of my friends and fellow students asked me what was wrong (I always have shown my feelings on my sleeves). I just said to them, "Just pray for me." Most said that they would and that would be the end of it.

On one occasion when I said, "Just pray for me," the friend said "Ok" and immediately put his hand on my shoulder and prayed out loud, right there on the spot, for me. It was such a blessing to have a Christian brother that would pray that way for me. 

Perhaps there is something we can learn from that friend of mine. 

The Essential Daily Prayer Request

In recent days I have gone into my devotional time with renewed passion. During my devotional time I always read from the Bible and reflect upon what I have read. Then I have a time of prayer.  After that I usually read from a book by a Christian author. 

A book I have returned to many times is Charles Stanley's Success God's Way.

In the book Dr. Stanley discusses our modern culture's obsession with success and how that obsession is usually quite worldly. He shares stories of Christian people who were drawn into the culture's understanding of success and how it took them further and further away from their relationship with God. For many, their lives were ultimately ruined until they made a recommitment to the Lord and began to understand success from God's perspective. 

Stanley is quick to point out that the God of the Bible is actually quite committed to the Christian's success provided it is in line with His will. He provides several biblical examples of people who were amazingly successful in every respect because they followed what they knew God called and wanted them to do.

Sparing you all the details that lead up to a major principle that Stanley teaches in the book, allow me to cut through the chase and simply state it as clearly as I can.

Stanley teaches that the Christian who seeks to be in God's will and enjoy success on His terms should begin each day praying an essential prayer ...

Lord, what do you want me to do today?

When I read that part of the book this time (because I hadn't been as moved by it in previous readings) something in my spirit resonated with it.

You see, I am a pastor of a small church called Highlands Baptist Church. There are only a handful of active members that remain. But these faithful few want their church to remain intact even though they have seen so much decline over the last decade. 

So, I lead the worship service and preach the Sunday morning message. I also lead the mid-week prayer and Bible study. Serving in this role brings me incredible joy.

Beyond my pastoral responsibilities I operate a small business in the cleaning industry. I am the only employee so I conduct every aspect of the business from marketing and advertising, maintaining the finances, ordering supplies, upkeeping the equipment, and doing the actual cleaning. 

I have tried to grow it my way and without asking for God's guidance very often. I have simply prayed, "Lord, bless my business."

I have pursued "success" in my cleaning business on my terms relentlessly for the last 3 years. Covid-19 almost put my little business out of business and only by God's grace did it survive. 

But I have wanted to see the business grow and have focused passionately in that regard by reading books, studying success concepts of other businesses, paying for coaching, attending webinars, joining cleaning forums and Facebook groups, purchasing online courses, and on and on I could go. But through all of this effort I still remain "behind the eight ball" so to speak.

Please understand, God has been amazingly good to me. I have had plenty of work but the work I do is really more of a self-created job rather than a successful business.

So, as I have been reading through Dr. Stanley's book each morning for the last few days I have noticed that I can't get away from that one essential daily prayer request ...

Lord, what do YOU want me to do today? 

The prayer is not ...

Lord, help me grow my business?

Wrong prayer request. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Wrong as the day is long!

The ESSENTIAL DAILY prayer is ... 

Lord, what do YOU want me to do today?

This reminds me of the words of Jesus when He said in Matthew 6:34, 

Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The essential daily prayer is asking the Lord what He wants me to do for Him in my business and every other aspect of my life TODAY! Why? Because tomorrow may never come for me! All I have is this day, today.

A key word in the prayer is Lord. If I address Him as Lord then it means I believe that He IS my Lord and is Lord over every aspect of my life. This includes my business.

So, when I look at my life in every respect I can see where I have not followed HIS Lordship in every area of my life from finances to devotion to ministry and in my business. 

Please understand that I am not saying that I am a terribly wayward Christian that needs to repent and return to the Lord. Not at all. But I am saying that the business success I seek is predicated on the fact that I simply must trust Jesus as Lord in EVERY detail of my life ... even my cleaning business; each day, one day at a time!

How can I ever expect to receive God's blessing in my business unless I surrender completely to His Lordship in every detail of my life. Asking God what He wants me to do today (in business, in ministry, in relationships, as a pastor, in EVERYTHING) and waiting for His reply and then ACTING upon what He wants me to do TODAY is the first step toward receiving His loving blessings in my life and in my business.

So, God has said a lot to me as I have prayed this essential daily prayer. There are things He wants me to do as a pastor and as a small business man. So, I have decided to say to Him, "Yes Lord! Today is yours"

So what about You?

I know that you fall somewhere on the list of types of prayer people I mentioned above. But that isn't the issue.

The issue is this: Do you need to acknowledge God's Lordship in every detail of your life? Are you like I was and holding on to to a few areas and handling them yourself? Do you need to make a recommitment to the Lordship of our loving Lord in EVERY detail of your life. 

Should your essential daily prayer be ...

Lord, what do you want me to do today?

Blessings, 

Tony Guthrie