At Tuesday evening Bible study we always begin with prayer requests. And the “rule” is that everyone has a praise and/or concern. Because we always have something we need to be thankful for and something we need to pray about.
One evening recently, this time inspired an interesting conversation about asking for what we need and why we often don’t ask for specifics. And what I concluded is that we don’t always ask for what we need because we don’t always take the time to know what it is.
Say you’ve been sick. You might request prayer for better health–a good thing to ask for. But is that all you need? Maybe you also need someone to make a big pot of chicken noodle soup so you don’t have to cook. Maybe you need someone to take the kids to a movie so you can rest. Maybe you need someone to listen to you whine a little.
But we don’t ask for those things. We might ask for general prayer–anyone can take a few seconds to pray (and honestly, do you pray much longer than that for a single concern?). But to ask someone to help meet your specific needs? Well, that might seem pushy. And you might have to take a minute to think about what would really and truly help in a given situation.
And here’s the thing. I think people like specifics. They like being given specific tasks to do and specific outcomes to pray for. So here are my top three specific requests for prayer in 2013. Please share at least one of yours in the comments section so we can pray for each other.

• The RIGHT publisher for my book. I waited for the right agent, now I need patience to wait for the right editor and publisher.
• Continued good health–I have atrial fibrillation that’s kept under control with medication. Please pray that my heart stays well.
• God’s leading as I find the right balance between my two jobs–fundraiser for a children’s ministry and author.