What if I pray for the wrong thing?

The good news is that God already knows what we really need,

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  (Matthew 6:7-8)

This verse tells us two things, first that God isn’t impressed with the length of our prayers, per se. Going on and on as “filler” or like a lawyer hoping you’ll cover all the loopholes is not necessary.  Why not?  Because, secondly, our wise and loving God already knows our situation and what we really need.

God is not sitting there saying, "Ah ha! You missed a point! Gotcha!" Very much the opposite!

But there is more.  The HolySpirit also intercedes for us because in many ways we don’t really know how we should pray about the outcome of things:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

This is saying that prayer isn’t about telling God what to do, with all the details, as if He needs our advice. Instead, we lay our needs before Him, asking Him to help and to work through and around us--then trusting Him with the outcomes.  We may picture a certain desired outcome, but we should hold it loosely because God knows the best, and may choose a different, better way to answer our prayer.

But maybe we’re afraid we will ask for something that ends up being foolish.  Don’t worry!  Often in the very act of bringing it to Him we begin to see it from His perspective.  What better place for us to take a prayer that might be a bit self-centered or foolish than to our heavenly Father.  If anyone can help us mature it is Him. 

Pray for wisdom every day!

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