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Episode 1 - Ask Specifically
88 Plays5 months ago
Welcome to the Pray & See podcast, a ministry of Central Ohio Youth for Christ! Join us each week as we share truth from the Bible, and real-life stories, aimed at helping you learn to pray more effectively so you can see God move and answer prayer.
The very first episode looks at the power of praying specific requests, how they sharpen our focus to see when and how God answers our prayers.
If this content was helpful you to, send a line to: pray@coyfc.org and let us know.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast's Purpose
00:00:10
Speaker
I'm Brian Brooks, Ministry Director at Central Ohio Youth for Christ. I love praying and more importantly, seeing answers to prayer. This podcast exists to invite followers of Jesus to pray together, expecting God to positively change the world around them.
00:00:26
Speaker
And this podcast is for you if you're busy with life but you want to see a spiritual breakthrough. Or maybe you want to volunteer with a Christian ministry but you aren't sure where to start or don't feel like you have the time. Or if you need encouragement to ask God things in prayer and expect that he's listening.
Encouragement and Role of Prayer
00:00:43
Speaker
We hope that you'll pray more, pray with focus, and pray with joy as you listen because you're learning who God is, what he cares about, and how he fulfills his mission through prayer and his people. So let's pray and see.
00:00:57
Speaker
We've seen amazing answers to prayer in Youth for Christ and even in our own lives. We're convinced that prayer is the engine that move God's work forward. And that's what we want to talk about. Followers of Jesus need to pray and experience answers to prayer. And for me, seeing answers to prayer is motivating. It helps me to pray more. Maybe you have a track record of faith-building answers to prayer. That's great. But if not, I want to help you get there.
00:01:25
Speaker
I'm not an expert on prayer, but I've been encouraged by God over years of seeing him answer things that are specific, and I love it. But the podcast will not take the place of you praying in your actual life.
Structure of the Podcast and Prayer Experiences
00:01:40
Speaker
However, in each episode, I'm going to pray. You can join in. I'll share a story or two of answers to prayer. Then we'll look at something from the Bible together that will shape how we pray.
00:01:51
Speaker
And I'll give you a challenge that you can do immediately. And the challenge gets even better if you do it with someone else. The podcast is my invitation to you to see more of God at work, showing people his love and answering prayer. I hope this invites you to really pray and talk to Jesus to see him act in your life and to connect you with other followers of Jesus so you can pray together and that he would connect you with people who need to come to know him.
00:02:18
Speaker
and we'll see God move together. If you want to go deeper and pray with other followers of Jesus locally, that's great. We want to facilitate a movement of prayer groups in person praying for young people in our communities. Stay tuned for more on that. Pray along with me. Thank you, God, that you always hear me when I pray. Would you please grow our confidence in prayer so we'd have the faith to see you answer specifically, personally, and powerfully? Amen.
Stories of Answered Prayers
00:02:46
Speaker
So in real life, this past summer, I got to attend a large Irish music festival here in Ohio. Each year I get to see some of the same vendors, volunteers, and organizers. And this year in particular, I wanted to meet up with Jim, a local vendor, to see how he was doing.
00:03:02
Speaker
I had been praying for him when I remembered him because I knew he had a health struggle. So when I found his booth at the festival, I felt a burden. I wanted to ask him if he wanted to pray with me. And the booth was really crowded. Silently, I felt awkward. I told God, if you want me to pray with Jim, could you clear out this area?
00:03:25
Speaker
and within seconds all but one person had left. I told Jim, Jim, I've prayed for you. I wonder would it be okay with you if we prayed together right now out loud?
00:03:37
Speaker
Surprisingly, he told me I would love that, and we had a sweet time of real heartfelt prayer where I got to pray for him. Minutes earlier, I felt awkward, I felt unsure, and I asked for God to do something specific.
Insights from Psalm 5 and Trust in God
00:03:50
Speaker
He answered, I noticed, it was an encouragement to me, and I was able to bless someone else. This experience reminded me of a Psalm that David wrote in the Old Testament about praying and waiting with expectation that God would do something.
00:04:04
Speaker
And today we're going to look at Psalm 5. In each episode, we're going to look at a point from the Bible for guiding truth from God, maybe examples of prayer, stories, commands that God gives us to pray, but in general encouragement, not only on what prayer is, but how to pray in a way that lines up with God and His truth. Here's Psalm 5. O Lord, hear me as I pray. Pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God.
00:04:33
Speaker
For I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." This is poetry from the Old Testament written by the King of Israel, King David. He's in a difficult spot. People are against him, but he's crying out to God. He asked God to hear him, to listen to his cry, and listen to his voice in the morning.
00:04:56
Speaker
David, he would regularly meet with God. It says that he would wait expectantly. What's that like to wait expectantly? I think it's to watch closely, to observe and look out for something and notice it. ah Think about when you order something online and you get a notification that it's out for delivery. you know If you're home, you're looking to see when it arrives or you're checking your phone, it's 10 stops away, it's four stops away. This is watching and waiting expectantly.
00:05:25
Speaker
Do you believe that prayer to God works this way? It can, and it does, especially when you ask for something specific, because there's a difference between praying for something vague in general versus a specific request. Praying a specific request, it focuses our attention on the situation, and it really invites God into what's happening in our lives and the lives of people around us.
00:05:52
Speaker
There's a deeper trust here of inviting God into a real thing that's happening.
Praying for Others and Observing God's Work
00:05:59
Speaker
And God is inviting us to pray to him, to talk to him with your words or out loud in your head. Here's an approach I take. I ask God for something specific. I tell him that usually I'm pretty dense. I miss it when he shows up, but I want to see it. So I ask him to show me when he's answering my prayer.
00:06:20
Speaker
And then I ask him to help me remember to pray. I think God's into all those things. Well, you might be wondering, so, should I only pray for specific things? Like, are you saying general prayers don't work? No, we can and should pray for everything. Sometimes, though, we can pray and not see or really perceive an answer. And if you sit long enough in this place, like I have, you start to wonder, does this matter? Does it work? Is God a God who answers prayer or not?
00:06:49
Speaker
So here's my challenge. I want you to pray for someone else with them. I want you to pray with a friend or a family member for something specific. You could think of a need in their life, a challenge that you know they have at work, something that's broken on their car, their house, a health problem.
Invitation to Join Next Session
00:07:06
Speaker
Or you can ask them, what is something that I could pray for for you specifically? And then pray together and ask God to help you notice how he answers that prayer.
00:07:19
Speaker
Thanks for listening and praying. We'll see you next time on the Pray and See podcast, where we will look at the effect that us praying for other people can have on their lives.