Prayer Requests

Dear Victorious,

When someone asks me to pray for them, I am sometimes in a quandary as to what to pray. I mean, what they want may not be what I think is best - or what I think God would want for them. So do I tell them I can't pray for that? What else can I do? It feels insincere to agree to a prayer request and then not pray it.

Marcel J. - Brampton, ON

Dear Marcel,

Yes, it would feel insincere to agree to a prayer request and then not pray it. It would also be sinful for you to do that! So how should you pray when you don't agree with what's been desired? It's simple. Just pray for God's perfect will to be done in the situation.

So, for example, your friend John asks you to pray that he get this job - but you think he's not qualified. You might say something like, "Yes, John, I will pray for you about that."

Then you pray and ask God to work His perfect will in John's life. You ask God to give John this job, if it is His will that John have this job. And if it's not God's will that John have this job, then ask God to help John accept that and find peace with his circumstances, learning to lean on God's perfect provision in his life. You ask God to give John wisdom and discernment about where to focus his job-search efforts. And you ask God to give John patience and endurance through the job hunt process.