Praying Your List

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” (John 9:1-9 ESV).

We all have lists of things and people that come to mind as we pray. There’s certainly nothing wrong with praying your list. Mine has gotten longer in the last couple of months as we have two new grandchildren added to our family. Harris and Lucy were born a little over two months ago. And, while they are amazing, today’s devotional won’t deal directly with them. I want to begin to look at several passages of Scripture that will give you some added insight in what you might want to pray specifically for your family. Before we get to these passages, let me remind you prayer is not magic. It’s not a matter of just saying the right things and our families will be blessed with success. Some parents earnestly pray and their children become gifted leaders or scholars or musicians or athletes. Others earnestly pray and their children develop a serious disability or disease or wander through a prodigal wilderness or just struggle more than others socially or academically or athletically. And the truth is, God is answering all these parents’ prayers, but for very different purposes. Our reading today is a reminder of this truth. We must not be too quick to think our prayers have gone unanswered because they are the opposite of our requests. Often our perception of what is best for our family is quite different than what God has in mind. God measures success differently than we do, which is why he often answers our prayers in ways we don’t expect. Tomorrow we’ll begin to look at some specific passages. Today, my encouragement is for you to pray for your family, by name every day. Jesus promises us that if we ask, seek, and knock, the Father will give us good in return (cf. Luke 11:9-13), even if the good isn’t apparent for forty years. And because Jesus regularly asked those who came to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” (cf. Mark 10:51), we know that he wants us to be specific with our requests.