What Are You Actually Called to Pray For?
You don't have to carry the whole world. Even Jesus was sent "only to the lost sheep of Israel.” We each have our own lane.
When I started to become more interested in prayer, I figured that an enthusiastic prayer person would like prayer of all types. So I signed up for different emails about prayer.
Some were more political, asking for prayer for government leaders. That seemed important.
Some were more international missions focused, asking for prayer for people groups and individuals around the world. That seemed important.
Some were more local. That seemed important.
But after a month or two, I mentioned to my sister that I could hardly open my inbox because I always felt like I was about to be assaulted.
Jonelle said, “That’s strong language! Why do you feel like your inbox is attacking you?”
She gave me permission to unsubscribe from any emails that left me feeling guilty and unsettled.
But I still didn’t understand: if prayer is important and good, why did I feel so bad?
Some months later, I talked this over with my mentor, Bob Perry. “Shouldn’t I be excited to pray about everything?”
He said, “Oh, no! That is actually a completely wrong assumption.”
Even Jesus, God’s son, was called to a limited number of people: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 15:24).
Not one of us is called to “the whole world.”
We each have a specific purpose and mission.
Jesus had his, and it was important for him to fulfill it.
Likewise, we, too, have a specific purpose and mission.
How does this show up in prayer?
• Some people pray for revival, because they burn with the desire that the church would rise up in power, that the Holy Spirit would fall, that the earth would see signs and wonders.
• Some people long for the United States to become a godly nation, to get rid of child sacrifice, to get rid of idolatry, to get rid of perversion.
• For some people, their heart’s cry is Psalm 2:8: “Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” They ask for God to move worldwide.
• For myself, I find that I return, again and again, to healing and deliverance. Lord! It’s not okay that your people are oppressed! It’s not okay that they believe lies. Come, Lord! Heal!
These are all different lanes, and I’ve just shared a few. Many more exist.
For some months now, I’ve been on a prayer call in the mornings. Different people have really different passions about what they pray for. Education, health care, the gaming industry, business, local government, national government, Israel.
And that’s beautiful because all of those passions are beautiful to God and he needs all our voices.
And so if, at times, we really want to pray for our nation, then we should be released to pray for our nation.
And if we think, “What I really long for is reform in the prison system,” praise God, and pray for that.
Or if we yearn for our friends to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus, praise the Lord for this heart of an evangelist and pray.
My sister and I were talking about this, and she had a picture of each of us in a vending machine, each of us in our own section. The candy bar isn’t obscured by a bag of potato chips.
We are in our own lanes, and God put us there for his glory.
Lord God, thank you that in 1 Corinthians 12, you talk about how we’re all members of one body: “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”
Thank you, Lord, that we each have our own function, and that we need one another.
Oh, Lord God, raise up your body to act in greater power and authority, for global impact, while we each exercise our unique gifts in each separate sphere and field.
Lord God, raise up your people. Let us exalt your name together,
Lord God, we worship and praise you. We ask that your kingdom would come in power, because Jesus is Worthy of all praise. Thank you. In the holy name of Jesus, amen.
Whatever you do, do it with love,
Amy Joy
P.S. My favorite prayer resource for praying for Muslims is Two Billion Souls, full of fascinating articles and prayer points.
The Spanish version is here: Dos mil millones de almas.