Be Specific In Prayer

Recently I have really been studying prayer and faith. Luke 11:1-13 talks about prayer and how to pray. Verse 9-10 says: 

⁹ And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

¹⁰ For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

This verse tells me that God is willing and able to answer prayers when we ask. Then Jesus goes on to say: 

¹¹ If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

¹² Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

¹³ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

This passage is assurance that God is more than willing to meet our spiritual and material needs. One thing that the God has been challenging me with recently is to be specific with my prayers. He give you what you ask for if it is according to His will and if you are not asking to consume it upon your own lusts (James 4:1-4). When one prays a general prayer it is mostly because of unbelief. We don’t want to ask God for specifics because in the back of our minds we think “Well I might not get what I pray for.”. 

I love Luke 11:11-12 because Jesus is telling us that whatever we ask He WILL give it to us. If we ask to have an opportunity to witness to 5 people tomorrow He will give us those 5 opportunities, not 1 or 3 but what we ask for! James 5:16 tells us that the fervent, EFFECTIVE prayers of a righteous man avails much. 

So I encourage you to study prayer out for yourself, it’s a much larger topic than what I am covering, but here are some points that you can apply in your prayer life today.

• Have faith in God to provide your needs
• Don’t be general about your prayer, be specific and watch God provide
• Believe ONLY don’t let doubt tell you God doesn't hear or answer.
• Meditate on God’s Word to build your faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17)

 

What Do People See When They Look At You?

Genesis 39:3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. Potiphar could actually see the Lord was with Joseph. Joseph was just a slave but the Lord was with him. Joseph exhibited the outward manisfestion of God's blessing because the Bible says "LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand". The Bible goes on to say - Genesis 39:4-6 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured. Do people see the Lord in us? Do we exhibit the traits of Joseph? Remember he was just a slave but Potiphar saw something special in Joseph. People today, like Potiphar, are looking for Christians that are true and who actually manifest the blessing of God. They are more than willing to put us in charge. Joseph's main focus was God and this evidently led to him becoming 2nd in charge. Let's be like Joseph and show the world the God we serve!

Written By: Mike Mosier