Hello there everyone! I’m Joshua and we are in the fourth part of our Bible study series, “7 Qualities of Effective Prayers.” Today, I want to talk about a crucial element of our prayers that could dramatically improve your relationship with God — specific prayer.

God Wants to Hear From Us

So, the fourth quality of prayer is specific prayer. Your prayer should be specific. Now, you might say, “Why should we be specific in our prayers? I thought God already knew what’s in my heart.”

That’s a good question. I remember one of my professors in college. He jokingly said that when he prays before meals, he will simply say, “Thank you, Lord. You know what we mean. Amen.”

Now, what do you think about that prayer? If someone tells you, “Thank you,” wouldn’t you want to hear from that person what he or she is thankful for?

In the same manner, while God already knew what was in our hearts, He wanted to hear from us. He wants to listen. Talking to God and spending time specifying what we are praying for or thankful for allows us to draw closer to our Heavenly Father.

Benefits of Specific Prayers

It is true that God already knows what is in our hearts. However, there are many benefits to being specific in our prayers.

Being specific in our prayers helps us to focus our thoughts and emotions on Yahweh. When we pray specifically, we are compelled to think about what we really want and need. This can help us to clarify our thoughts and emotions, and to focus our prayers on the things that are most important to us.

Aside from that, perhaps the most important reason to be specific is to help us grow in our relationship with God. When we pray specifically, we are opening ourselves up to God in a deeper way. We are sharing our hopes, dreams, and fears with Him, and we are asking for His guidance. This can help us to grow in our relationship with God and to experience His love even more.

Biblical Examples of Specific Prayers

Being specific in our prayer is something we can learn from the healing of two blind men as recounted in Matthew 20:31-34:

³¹ Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

³² So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

Did you notice that? Jesus whose real name is Yahshua is God in the flesh. He has the ability to read the hearts and minds of people. Surely, He already knew what these men wanted. He already knew that these men were blind and they wanted to receive their sight.

Yet, what do we read here? Christ still asked them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” So, we read the answer of the two blind men:

³³ They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” ³⁴ So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. 

What is Christ doing here? He wants these men to be specific and by doing so, He is initiating a conversation. Our Savior isn’t just a healer, but also a friend and a brother who wants to have a relationship with us. What do you think will happen if God simply gives everything that we want without us actually knowing who God really is? It defeats the very purpose of prayer, which is to establish a close relationship with God.

Expand Your Prayer

So, next time, don’t simply say, “Thank you, Lord.” Say, “Thank you, Father, for my life. Thank you that I am able to see and appreciate the beauty around me. Thank you because I can hear sweet music. Thank you I can enjoy my food. Thank you for giving me my hands and feet.”

Did you see the difference there? When we are specific in our prayers, we become more thankful and aware of the great blessings that God has poured upon us. It shifts our focus from the things that we don’t have to the things that we already have. It helps us to be more grateful and less discontented. We become more intentional and present in our prayers when we are asking God for blessings and His grace. That’s the power of being specific in our prayers.

Join our Teach Us to Pray Course

With that, I hope I was able to give you a deeper insight into why you need to be specific in prayer. That’s the fourth quality of effective prayers, “Specific prayer.” Now, there are just so many things I want to share with you. If you wish to learn more about prayer straight from the Word of God, I highly recommend you check out our best online course, “Teach Us to Pray.” This course goes deep into the Bible and shows you what it really takes to stay closer to God in prayer. The course comes with 

• 7 modules
• 21 lessons
• 21 course videos
• 21 course audio files
• 21 presentation slides

What’s more, you’ll get the book version of this course. All these allow you to go through the course in your preferred way of learning.

So, do check out our Teach Us to Pray course. I can assure you that it will be a great learning experience for you!

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