Do you even know what you’re asking for?

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said.  Mark 10:35-38

Have you ever had those moments when your spouse or one of your children is looking in the fridge, and they call out, “Do we have any milk?” and you reply, “Yes, it’s in the fridge.” And they say, “Where is it? I don’t see it.” Or they are vaguely looking in the pantry while asking if you have any potato chips when a new bag is right next to the cereal. It’s all right in front of their eyes, if they would only take a moment to look or simply move another item out of the way.

They want the quick answer, or better yet, they want you to stop what you are doing and move the cereal or orange juice aside and hand them what they are looking for without any effort on their part.

That was the visual message I received about my current prayer life. I just love how God works. He shows me something that I complain about, and then reminds me that I do the same thing.

Just like the two men in today’s passage, I have begged God to give me something or answer a prayer request for someone without seeing the bigger picture. How many times has God already answered my request in His Word before I even asked? How many times have I asked for something that was not God’s will, but my own selfish desires?

For example, I was feeling very anxious, and I quickly rattled off a prayer asking God to give me peace. I wanted instant relief from what I was feeling. His answer was, “What does my word say about the peace I give you? Look it up!

• Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. – John 14:27
• He says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” – Psalm 46:1
• Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:16

I was praying for something that God had already given me, but instead of taking the time to look into God’s Word and move a few pages of my bible, I asked God to just do it for me. After I read a few verses, guess what? I was at peace! Also, a bit embarrassed about making requests, but not putting in any effort to see what God had already said, done, or promised on the matter.

From that moment on, I have had a whole new way of doing things when it comes to praying. I write out each prayer request and ask for God’s leading to find the words He wants me to pray. I then begin searching through His Word for the passage that He wants me to pray over specific issues. Sometimes when I find a passage, I realize that He already gave me the answer, even before I wrote the request.

What I quickly noticed was that my list became shorter. I wasn’t praying for things that I already had the answer to. My prayer time became more real because I’m backing my prayers up with scripture. I also discovered that as I was searching God’s word for a specific request, He would lead me to scriptures that I would never have thought of to pray over each circumstance, because He sees the bigger picture. I became passionate about searching God’s Word and with an expectation of hearing from Him. The best thing was that by praying this way, I began to pray God’s will, not my own.

For example, I used to pray, “Lord, please join me in this day.” Now that prayer is, “Lord, I am so grateful that Your Word tells me that You will never leave me nor forsake me. I look forward to all that we will experience together in this new day, full of new mercies that You have blessed me with.”

Another example was that I was praying for a young woman to “open her heart to receive Christ.” That’s pretty basic and lacked any depth on my part. As I turned page after page in my Bible, I came to Joel 2:25 and knew that it was the verse I was to be praying for her, because God sees the bigger picture of her past life and the future He has planned for her. My new prayer for her is, “Lord, restore they years that the locust have eaten in this young woman’s life. I pray that she will learn about Your love for her and trust You as she commits her life to You, to accomplish the plans You made for her before the world began.”

God’s Word also spoke to me for my own life in a passage that I pray will be true of me, “The prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective.” – James 5:16. The reason these types of prayers are powerful and effective is that they are what God says on the matter, not what I wish or want. Each time I discover the passage God wants me to be praying for someone, it blesses me because I am involved in His work, and what a privilege that is!