prayers of petition
Open Your Bible
Luke 11:5-13, Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 22:39-44, James 5:13-18
BY Diana Stone
Text: Luke 11:5-13, Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 22:39-44, James 5:13-18
Of the many types of prayer in the Christian life, petition is often the most common. Whether we are crying out, begging, sending a quick thought up, or in a group assembling requests – our prayers tend to lean toward us asking the Lord to grant what we want or need. This is a beautiful and good thing, since He created us to come to Him and live in relationship with Him.
Still, if God is sovereign and all knowing, why bother asking Him to do or change anything? If you pray for one thing and get another, does that mean He wasn’t listening? Does it mean that you didn’t ask with the right words or with enough fervor or faith?
We ask from God what we believe we need, but we submit what we ask to His all wise, all good plan and we say like Jesus, “Not my will, but your will be done.” (Luke 22:42) One example of this would be Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane where he asks for the cup of wrath to be removed from him (that’s his petition), but he submits his petition to the will of the Father, for he trusts what God would give him more than what he would ask. In that instance, Jesus did not “get” what he prayed for, but he got the better (albeit harder) thing–the cross unto the crown.
When we pray in petition “according to God’s will,” we know that God will answer it. For instance, if we pray for “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” that is a prayer that God is inclined to answer, for that is a prayer that is God’s heart. At the same time, how that kingdom comes and how that will is done will be done according to God’s time and in God’s way. So, it’s not a magic formula or some incantation where we get God to do our thing, but it is a confident petitioning in faith that however God wants to answer this prayer, he certainly will because it’s a prayer that aligns with his heart.
While God has had one decree from the beginning of time, we know that a sure part of that decree is that we live in relationship with Him, and even petition Him. His Word tells us so.
Ask – because He wants to meet your needs. Seek, because you’ll find Him faithful. Knock, because your persistent pursuit of relationship with Him will find you nothing but peace and sustainment.
57 thoughts on "prayers of petition"
-
I am truly enjoying this series on prayer. My Church is also in the middle of a study on the same subject. Haven’t posted in a while having to prepare lessons and sermons.
I thank God for all of you; your insights, testimonies, and comments have been very thought provoking and inspirational. It is always good to get different perspectives on Scripture.
I am praying for you all and may God continue to bless each of you abundantly!
-
Ebee, a lot of people look at Jesus in the Bible stories like the series that was just on tv. They think about the Miracles that He DID. But My Jesus is Alive today and He is still working Miracles! I believe He wants us to ask and believe that it will and can be done! He is our Healer! But His healing can come in all different forms. He knows exactly what we need.
-
Praise God Tina!! Amen! What an amazing God we serve!! He also granted me a miracle back in 1995- my mom’s colon ruptured and she became septic…along with pneumonia so Drs said this is it, call your family. That night as I was leaving to get my little 3yr old girl, I put in a prayer request for the 91st psalm. Family was called, I checked in thru out the night. Sunrise came and I just had this incredible sense of peace- I KNEW she was going to make it and everything seemed to make perfect sense…God was present!!
I became a believer that morning, and when I’m lost, I think of that sunrise and peace fills me again and again. Talk about an “A-HA” moment, or a light bulb moment, it was a real miracle moment!! :)
Blessings to your father- what a special gift!
And blessings to you sister! :) -
Sisters, i.d like to share one of my many testimonies…. Last yes my father easy taken ill and we thought he would die. I live in England, he i Africa…. So i had to fly home really in my mind to say goodbye…
From the moment i got the call i could hear Matt Redmans. Song bless the Lord o my soul…. Particularly the lines let me be singing when the evening comes…. Everything i did, organization wise fell into place ….injections there was a cancellation…someone to cover whilst i was out of the country…high commission…got an appointment for the next week. I was a little grumpy about that, as i believed time was of the essence… Yet the words kept coming ‘ let me be singing when the evening comes ‘. I had people praying for me that i would see dad, that ws my one wish/prayer…i hsdn.t seen him in 8yrs…. Life happened and it wad never the right time to go home until now… I ws petrified as i got off the plane a week later… Got home to find him slipping away….but still here…. Through tears i sat with him praying, praising thanking God that i had got to see him and he, i. I told him how much i loved him and thanked him for whom he had helped me to be through his love and care of me…. I fell asleep… Next day he wad talking… Following day he wad eating small amounts of food…next day he was able to take a few steps…
Let me be singing when the evening comes.
I left home 2weeks later, dad was on the mend. He celebrated his 80th last month….. I was ready for the worst. Prayer from the heart works…
Prayer works full stop.
God bless each and every one of you this day, and thank you fir allowing me to share with you.
x x-
That was a beautiful testimony Tina, God was surely faithful!
-
Tina, thank you for sharing, what a beautiful example of The Lord answering your heartfelt prayers and blessing you with more time with your Dad!
My Dad will be 97 in July! Never did I ever imagine at 50 yrs. old I'd have both of my parents with me! Mom is 86!
God bless your precious time together.
-
-
I have a long prayer list. Thank you AmyKelly213 for the reminder about writing it out and highlighting them when they are answered. Somehow that simple habit got lost years ago. Life sometimes gets in the way of good, sound habits. It's exciting to see how God answers us! To have a visual list makes his goodness more clear. More real.
I am praying for a friend of mine, Bruce, who has been on life-support after contracting flesh-eating disease. He is a dedicated Christ-loving guy with a beautiful wife and 3 young children. There are a lot of people praying for his full recovery. Small improvements are taking place, but he is still under and needs to breathe on his own. There are some kidney issues going on as well. This man needs a miracle so he can go home to his family and continue to minister for the glory of God.
I feel like I need to put my prayer request out there today since we are on the subject. Thank you. Bless you.
-
JuneBug, praying for Bruce and his family.
-
JuneBug, I am holding Bruce & his family in my prayers.
-
-
Sue :-) I too returned to faith and I love your prayer! I just want to learn and KNOW so much more- I’m a little impatient! Haha! Then I’m not sure if i’m interpreting His answers correctly…
I had an incident yesterday that really stunned me! Not only did the pastor preach about what has been on my heart, I also was praying on the way home for the Lord to guard my tongue.
About an hour later someone was at my door, bible in hand, asking if he could pray with me!
He prayed about the POWER of the TONGUE and HOW to pray and receive the Holy Spirit !! I’m still in awe and digesting what happened…I don’t get door to door missionaries in my area,
I don’t believe in “coincidence”, yet I’m STILL wondering… What just happened?!? Maybe I need to get bonked on the head!! It had been on my heart that maybe I wasn’t truly believing and hadn’t received the Holy Spirit, and then asking Him to guard my tongue…He really answered ME! What more do I need?!
Thank you Father, for your answers and your love! Humbly I am yours, your will not mine be done for your glory- AMEN!
Thanks Sisters for your beautiful, faith-filled posts! Again, more proof He is at work in our lives! Have a blessed day!! :)-
Ellen I think that is amazing!! I sent you an email yesterday about your post. Sounds like God heard your prayer. I would love to hear what happened. Email me!
-
-
Hi sister ebee I’m sorry your going through so a tough time as this. In isaiah 53 5-6 igt states ….by His stripes we are healed,he was wounded for our trangressions. We know that the blood of Jesus heals our bodies because sickness and disease is not of Him. We look at the women with the issue of blood and she touched the heim of his garment and she was made whole. Because of faith she had been made whole. Trust Jesus my sisters and hold on to his hand. God is our Great Physican and this will be a testimony to others who hear it. Just continue to hold on to His hand. God bless you and ill be praying for you.
-
Yikes, I need some support today. I read this devotional this morning and read thru the comments and I am not sure what to think. For a few years now, I've been seriously struggling with some health stuff. God has carried me thru some of the deepest valleys and the health stuff is ongoing. My husband and I pray every day for healing, knowledge, wisdom, and the strength to keep fighting. Is it wrong to pray for healing? Should we be praying "God, your will be done" instead? This is really messing with my mind today. My husband and I believe that we will see the other side of this but is that selfish? I'm so thankful for you guys; especially in times like this when the tears flow and flow.
-
Ebee it is not wrong to pray for healing. God does still heal today and yet sometimes there are reason we are going through the trials in our life that we can't see. I wrote a post on my blog about this very thing called He Heals Me, He Heals Me Not. I want you to read it and see if it helps explain it for you. My blog is a place for encouragement. You can contact me from the blog or at [email protected] I would be happy to talk to you about this. He has not forsaken you!! God bless.
http://hopeinthehealing.com/2013/03/25/he-heals-m…
-
Post Comments (57)