Prayer is a vital aspect of the Christian life, both as individuals and as the body of Christ. Yet not all prayer is as effective as it could be.

Sometimes prayers can be so general that they are more akin to lists of things or people, rather than actual prayers. I’ve often heard the phrase “we pray for so and so…”, without any further detail. What exactly are you asking for, or giving thanks for? Are you wishing them good or harm? Is it a physical, emotional or spiritual need? The great preacher Charles Spurgeon put it well when he said, “There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision. It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. Possibly somebody would be killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed.”

We don’t need to avoid including details in prayer (Ephesians 6:18), as if God does not have time to listen to us, or is bored by what we say! He delights to hear His children pray (Luke 18:7), and to answer according to His will and timing (1 John 5:14).

Naturally, we often tend to focus our prayers on things like healing and help for ourselves or others when faced with challenging situations. Prayers that relate to everyday life and address our earthly needs can be easier to articulate. Spiritual needs, on the other hand, don’t always the space they deserve in our prayers. Yet these are infinitely more important than our physical needs. To pray for the salvation of the lost, naming them, and asking God to help them overcome any hindrances to faith. To pray for Christians and for the church, pleading with the Lord for spiritual and numerical growth, for more effective witness, for increased holiness, love, the raising up of gifted people for all kinds of ministry, and so on.

These are the types of requests that God is sure to answer, for they are in accordance with His will, and bring glory to Him. So let’s get on our knees (literally or metaphorically), and pray with precision.