What Do You Pray About?

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; 3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, 4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:2-6 NKVJ

Prayer is essential for keeping your relationship with Christ alive and well. How many human relationships would stay together, if the couple never spoke to one another? Probably not many would survive. Without speaking so many things can be misinterpreted. Paul urges the Colossians to “continue earnestly in prayer”. Do not become complacent or lazy about praying. It may be easy to stop praying, but the consequences would be devastating. Proverbs 12:24 “The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.”

Prayer is a vehicle that draws us closer to God and others. In our prayers, we praise God for who He is, what He’s done for us and thank Him for all He’s giving us. It’s important to continue giving thanks with vigilance. Prayer is also a weapon we must use to defend our walk. We when praise our God as He deserves, our enemy hates it! If ever you find the enemy hurling negative thoughts your way, try thinking about everything you can thank God for. In doing so you will be submitting to the Lord, resisting the devil, and the result is he will flee from you (James 4:7).

Prayer is not only about God. We pray for other’s needs as well. There’s several little tricks for helping us remember all the folks we can pray for. One is the five finger prayer. I used this one to help teach my son how to pray. It’s very effective and easy to remember. It something goes like this:
1. Your thumb represents those closest to you, so pray for your family and friends.
2. Your index (pointer) finger represents those who pointed you to Christ, so pray for those you lead you to your savior, pastor, Sunday school teacher, etc.
3. Your longest finger represents those in authority over you. That means the president, government, police, teacher, husband, etc.
4. Your ring finger is also the weakness finger. This reminds us to pray for the weak. Pray for single moms, widows, orphans, the sick, and the homeless.
5. Lastly is your little finger. This represents you, so pray for what you need.

Did you notice the order? Everyone else’s needs came before our own needs. That is honoring to God. When prayer becomes like breathing to you, meaning you find yourself talking to God about everything throughout the day, it you stay on track with the Lord. You begin to develop God’s perspective in your life. As a result you choose your word carefully. You walk in wisdom and your speech is full of grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer anyone who asks you why you have such a hope.

How’s your prayer life today? Is it filled with requests all about you? Or do you remember to pray for others? Are you praising God before you rattle off your requests? Talk to God, He’s waiting.