Prayer is all about communication and your relationship with God. As you are here looking for how to be specific in prayer, think about being specific in talking to your friend, your family member, etc. For instance, when you are thirsty, you specifically ask for water to drink or a specific drink such as juice or a soda.
Whatever is in your heart, simply communicate it to God in your prayer. Philippians 4:6 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
You can pray in this manner:
Heavenly Father, I praise and thank You for Who You are. Thank You, for I can make my requests known unto You whatever they may be. (You may state your specific prayer.) Thank You for hearing my prayers in Jesus’ name. Amen.
How To Be Specific In Prayer
Praying to God with specific prayers tends to bring about specific answers and better results to increase your faith in Him. When you are clear in your heart and mind about a specific desire, you can expect God to answer you specifically as well.
Jesus Christ taught us this principle in Matthew 7:9-11:
“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
Thus, to be specific in prayer is to simply state whatever is in your heart and mind. As Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7:11, the Father will give good things to those who ask of Him. If you want to pray for family restoration, pray about it. If you want to pray to conceive a child, you may do so. If you want good grades in school, pray about it.
Just note that most prayers may require action on your part. For instance, you cannot expect God to answer your prayer for conceiving a child when you and your spouse are not doing your part—having intercourse, taking necessary health measures, making lifestyle changes, etc.
If you are praying for good grades in school, you can’t expect God to answer when you are spending more time playing or scrolling through your mobile than studying and doing what’s necessary to get a good grade.
Or if you are praying to get a job but you are just sleeping all day, and your heart is not motivated to look for a job at all, how can God answer such a prayer request?
James 2:17
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
How To Be Specific In Prayer
It says that faith without action is dead. We can say that praying to God without taking necessary action is meaningless.
How can I have many answered prayers?
As you pray specific prayers, you can expect specific answers from the Father. As mentioned earlier, Jesus Christ said that if earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give to those who ask Him?
When it comes to God answering prayers involving specific requests, you need to keep these three things in mind:
1. Your motive and intention
James 4:3 says, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
How To Be Specific In Prayer
When you pray specific prayers to God, make sure you have the right motives and intentions for what you’re asking. There is nothing that we can hide in His sight. For instance, if you are praying for a promotion at work because you want to prove to the people how good you are or that you are the best, such intentions are for selfish reasons. But if you want to get promoted at work because you want the company to excel or to bless your family members with the financial raise that comes with promotion, you can expect God to answer your prayers.
2. Your prayers’ alignment with God’s Word
1 John 5:14 says, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.”
How To Be Specific In Prayer
Similar to point number one, when your motives and intentions are aligned with God’s Word, and thus your specific prayers are supported as well, God will hear them. It is important to study and meditate on the Word of God as a Christian, not because it is a responsibility but so that your mind and heart will be aligned according to the will of God. God’s Word is God’s will, and the more you know about His Word, the more you will pray according to His will.
3. God’s perfect timing and ways
2 Peter 3:8-9 says, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” While the context of this scripture is referring to the Lord’s sudden return, these passages reveal how different our concept of time can be in comparison to the Lord’s. You can have certain timelines and specific ways framed in your mind as you pray to God, but He will answer your specific prayers according to His own way and His own timeline. And we know that His ways and timing are far better than our own. As 2 Peter 3:8-9 says, God’s promise may take time because He wants repentance first – the alignment of hearts and minds according to His Word – before He answers the prayer.
Will God answer every specific prayer?
As we have discussed from the three points above regarding God answering specific prayers, we can be confident that if our hearts and minds are aligned according to His Word and His will, He hears us (see 1 John 5:14).
Sometimes, we can have good intentions but our prayers aren’t being answered. You can even declare His Scripture, such as for the healing of a person, but sometimes the person isn’t healed.
With regard to the Father, answering every specific prayer will still depend on Him. Romans 9:16 and 9:18 say, “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy…Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”
You can trust that whatever the Father’s answer is concerning your specific prayers, it is always for the best and for the good of all. You can always count on His perfect wisdom, ways, and timing, which cannot be compared. After all, He loves you like no other, and He will always give you what is best.