Glory in the Specifics

Praying rightly, specifically, and intentionally

1Ki 17:20 And he cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?"
1Ki 17:21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again."
1Ki 17:22 And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.
1Ki 17:23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives."
1Ki 17:24 And the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."

Notice how Elijah prays here. He prayed 3 times which means he was steadfast. But what we need to see here is that he prays a very specific and courageous prayer. Specific because he asks God exactly what he wants. Courageous because asking God to bring a girl back from the dead is a big deal. Would you feel comfortable praying such a prayer? We could argue that this is Elijah. We are not Elijah. But look at what Paul tells the church in Romans.

Rom 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Rom 8:10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

We have the same spirit in us that raised Jesus from the dead. We have the same spirit that raised that little boy in Elijah’s arms that day. We have our Helper. We have our Counselor. We have the Holy Spirit living in us. What does that mean for us? It means that we can approach the throne of God with confidence because it wasn’t us who chose him first; He chose us first.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
-Jesus Christ, John 15:16

Knowing this, we can ask God very specific and very courageous prayers. We tend to stay away from praying like this because we think that our requests are just too big and too specific.  We fear that if we asked God, we might be let down. We are afraid that God isn’t going to answer. Trust in His word and His promises and that He has chosen us and appointed us to cry out to Him.  Share with God the specific details of your heart and allow Him to reveal to you all of His glory.