Prayer

2 Corinthians 12:8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

In chapter 12 of Paul's second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul is telling the Corinthians that he is not superman, that he has weaknesses and even perhaps even has a disability. He goes on to explain that he is made strong through those very weaknesses, that God can be glorified by Paul's weaknesses or disabilities maybe even more so through his strengths. Good lesson.

Today the preciseness of his prayer is what I noticed. I pray a lot. I started using a prayer system this summer to help me be more diligent and less all-over-the-place in my prayer life. But I am no where close to knowing how many times I pray for any one particular thing. I am not that precise. I don't know if I need to be. I think God accepts our prayers as they are said, whether once or a million times. I just wonder if I'm missing something because I am not precise enough.

If I know precisely how many times I pray a prayer of intercession for another person, it might make me more aware of the answer to that prayer, don't you think? If I am more precise about the specifics of a prayer, won't I be more precise in knowing the outcome, in knowing exactly what I prayed for and how each aspect of the prayer was answered? Will my prayer change over time as I learn more about the situation or circumstances or feel more of the Holy Spirit guiding my request? Will I formulate a more Godly prayer, asking things that are more in line with God's will? I'm certain I'm missing the blessings of knowing all the ways God answers prayers because I am not precise enough.

I'm certainly not saying that all prayers need to be well thought out and planned prayer. But I could be more precise with the prayers to which I want more precise answers. I think I'll try to be more precise with at least one prayer to test my theory. I'll try to remember to keep you posted.

Father and Holy Spirit, Help me to be more precise in the prayers that need to be more precise. Help me to know all the answers to those prayers and how to pray them so I recognize the answers. Amen.

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