The Power of Specific Prayer: True Stories from Church Life

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it”?

It’s often said by people who are unhappy with their lives and long for something different, only to discover that what they wanted didn’t actually satisfy them.

Many people treat prayer the same way.

Some think of prayer like a genie-in-a-bottle experience as if God is standing by to say “poof,” what do you need? Others adopt a name-it-and-claim-it mentality, misinterpreting verses like “ask and it shall be given.”

One of the guys at my church recently told me, “You know, Pastor, you’ve got to be careful what you pray for.” He went on to share a story about wanting to attend our Easter Sunrise Service and praying that God would wake him up in time. Well, God did, but he ended up sitting in his recliner all night, unable to sleep!

He made it to the service, just a little bleary-eyed.

He laughed and said, “I should have been more specific.”

Several years ago, I read The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. It challenges readers to pray boldly and specifically—not in a name-it-claim-it kind of way, but in alignment with the promises God has given to His people.

This past Sunday, I continued our sermon series on Building a Culture of Prayer and preached (45:45 mark) on this very idea. I challenged everyone to pray one BOLD, SPECIFIC prayer this week and see what God would do.

At first, I didn’t hear much response.

Then Wednesday came!

I arrived at the church around 9 a.m. and the Mineral Christian School families were lined up in the parking lot. At first I thought there may have been a delayed start, but when I went inside the kids were lined up in the hallway. They were going home already!

It turns out a water main had burst in front of the local high school, affecting the entire town’s water supply.

As the last child was picked up, I found myself standing outside with three members of the school faculty, two of whom also attend our church. We got to talking about how much we all needed an extra day to catch up on responsibilities. One of them even admitted they had prayed for a delay or cancellation—nothing harmful, just a break.

One of the ladies even mentioned, “I have all kinds of deadlines I need to meet for all kinds of things.”

Then she said it. “I have to admit I prayed for this!”

We all laughed. I told her I had to share that story.

“Hey everybody, I don’t know how many of you took me up on my challenge of praying one, bold and specific thing this week but I know one of you did and her prayer shut the whole school system down for a day!”

Well, okay…at least the middle school, the high school, and much of the town.

Later that week, on Friday, I was talking to someone else from our church. She told me, half-jokingly, that she was now “scared” to pray because if she’s not specific enough, God might answer her in unexpected ways.

She said she often prays for “traveling mercies,” and joked that if she doesn’t clarify how she wants to make it home, she might run out of gas, get a flat tire, or have her car break down right as she pulls into the driveway!

Now she is being hyperbolic, but she got the message.

Both ladies did.

God is far bigger than our prayers often suggest. We tend to pray small because we believe small. Even my wife has commented on that. Our prayers should be so big that they are impossible without God's intervention.

One of my dad’s favorite verses was Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

God is able to do far more than we could ever imagine. His power is at work within us. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in those who believe.

So stop treating God as if He’s small, weak, too busy, or indifferent.

He is able.

So let’s lean on Him.

Pray big.

Pray bold.

Pray specifically.

Pray for His will to be done.

And then stand back and watch Him work.

Anyway, I was just thinking…