Praying Specifically and Scripturally

In my personal devotional time, I am working my way verse by verse through the New Testament book of Colossians.

I was stopped short the other day by this verse:

"So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding." (Colossians 1:9).

Paul the pastor is telling his people what he prays for them - it is something very specific: complete knowledge of God's will along with spiritual wisdom and understanding.

And it hit me that I under-use on very big resource for prayer: specific Scriptural prayers.

I pray for lots of people. My family. The people of Next Level Church. The people of Matthews, Stallings, Indian Trail, Charlotte...all our local community. Disconnected people. Folks who have great need. Political leaders.

But with the exception of my two sons - both of whom I choose a prayer verse for each year - my prayers tend to be general and out of my own head and heart..."God help the people of Next Level to walk closely with you. Strengthen families...Be with the folks in Shannamara and Fairhaven and help us to reach them with Christ's love." Stuff like that.

Which is good, I think.

But how much better is Paul's prayer? It is the prayer of a pastor for his people and so it is a timeless, Holy Spirit-inspired prayer. I resolved to find more of Paul's prayers and pray them for you guys!

Lord, I pray for the people of Next Level - that they will have complete knowledge of your will for their lives and that you will give them spiritual wisdom and understanding in every arena of life.

See, I might not always know exactly what to pray for everyone I pray for. But God does. And I can't go wrong using his words.

Who in your life do you regularly pray for?

How can you identify some specific, Scriptural, Holy Spirit-inspired prayers to pray for them?