When exactly should you pray about something? How big of a deal does it need to be before you bring it to God? Does God really have time to be concerned about every little detail of your life?

Honey, there are 70 billion trillion stars in the sky, and God calls each one of them by name. He counts the sand on every shore, and numbers the very hairs on your head. Yes, he has the capacity to handle your prayers about every detail of your life. But not only does he have the capacity, he has the care.

Philippians 4:6-7 gives us a great guide on what to pray about – “Pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. THEN you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

There’s nothing you can’t or shouldn’t pray about, because there’s nothing God doesn’t care about or hold power over. How long do you pray about it? Until you have peace over it. Peace is God’s gift in response to prayer. And something truly amazing happens when you have God’s peace – you no longer have to force your way, manipulate the situation, or stress over the details. God’s peace filling our hearts and minds allows us to flow with God’s design and live in alignment with his good plans for our lives.

Again – how do you get that level of peace? Only by praying about it. What should you pray about? Everything!

It’s a trick of the enemy to make you feel unimportant to God. It’s a lie from the pits of hell that tell you God doesn’t have time for your specific prayers. He is fully capable of calling all 70 billion trillion stars in the sky by name, counting the sand on every shore, and handling your every concern brought to him in prayer.

The question for you today is, HAVE YOU PRAYED ABOUT IT?

Not just worried about it. Not just played out every scenario in your head. Not just talked to family and friends about it. Not just complained about it. PRAYED ABOUT IT. Have you asked God for help? Have you asked him for clarity? Have you sought him for discernment? Have you surrendered the outcome to him fully? If you have, then you can take your next step as he directs, or wait has he prompts, all in utter and complete PEACE.

This week, my friend Catherine taught me the most powerful prayer and I want to share it with you today. When you come to God with a specific problem, a specific request, a specific choice that needs to be made, start your conversation with God by praying this: Lord, at the beginning of this time, would you get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to this matter.

It’s our own heart that gets in the way. Our heart is how we “feel” about it. When we want what we want more than what God wants, we begin twisting things. When our feelings sit on the throne, God isn’t directing our lives, we’re doing it. And listen to me – you aren’t good on that throne! You seriously suck at directing your life on your own.

We start forcing doors open when our heart is out of alignment. When our heart is set on one thing, we miss the other thing God has for us. Our feelings lead us down halls we don’t belong and into rooms never meant for us. So, to begin, we ask God to get our heart to a place that it has no will of its own over the specific matter. God, I fully want YOUR will, your way, in your time. Remove my feelings from it.

Genesis 24 tells the story of Abraham’s servant setting out on a mission to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. This wife would be very important because she would be the mother of all these promised future generations blessed by God. It couldn’t just be any pretty girl, it had to be the RIGHT girl.

How do you know for sure you’re making the right decision, choosing the right person, going in the right direction? There’s only one way – YOU PRAY ABOUT IT. You pray until your feelings are surrendered, your thoughts are hushed, your heart is in alignment, and you are filled with God’s peace.

So here’s what Abraham’s servant did before this monumental task of finding a wife for the son Isaac – he prayed. Genesis 24:12, “Please give me success today.”

Woah – that’s powerful! Lord, please give me success today. This morning, did you ask God for success? Why wouldn’t you do that every day? Oh yeah – because you don’t really think God cares that much about you. HE DOES! He cares about your decision. He cares about your next steps. He cares about your relationships. He cares about your work. He cares about your health. He cares about your today and your tomorrow.

When you seek God first for success, it’s a heart in alignment with the truth that God is the source of your success. Not your brilliant ideas, your big plans, or your grind and grit. Nope – it’s GOD FIRST.

On Saturday morning, my husband and I watched one final sunrise from the harbor in the Florida Keys before heading out on our roadtrip. It was one of the most stunning sunrises I’ve ever seen and I have the frame worthy photo to prove it. Standing there in the harbor with us was a man on his yacht who travels around from island to island. I mean he’s basically living the life! He says to me, “You know, it’s all luck and motivation.”

Really, is it all luck and motivation?

In that moment, I could sense God shaking his head and saying, “Oh, my child – you have no idea! Nothing is luck. And any ounce of motivation you have came from me first as a gift.”

I used to count on luck and motivation – now, I count on God first. Lord, if I have success, I know it is because of YOU!

Abraham’s servant prays first – “Lord, please give me success today.”

He prays for a specific confirmation of the right woman to be chosen as a wife for Isaac. It was an outstanding act that would require a truly outstanding woman to fulfill. Here’s what the servant prayed. “See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’ – let her be the one you have selected as Isacc’s wife. This is how I will know …”

Is it okay to pray specific prayers? Well, if it wasn’t, why would God want this example included in his holy word? Does God answer specific prayers with clarity and confirmation? Well, let’s keep reading.

Verse 15-21, “BEFORE HE HAD FINISHED PRAYING, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. Running over to her, the servant said, ‘Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.’

‘Yes’, she answered, ‘have a drink.’ And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, ‘I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink.’ So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels.

The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission.”

To understand the enormity of this task is to understand the character of this young woman Rebekah. The servant had 10 camels, each camel drinks up to 20 gallons of water. Gathering 200 gallons of water from a well would have taken hours of hard work for a complete stranger who hadn’t offered to pay her in any way. Rebekah had the character of a servant! Her appearance was of no concern, it was her heart!!!

The servant had prayed for God’s success and removed his thoughts and feelings from the outcome. He didn’t want to manufacture anything on his own. That’s the place of complete trust and surrender we must come to in our prayers. God, get my heart into such a state that my heart has no will of its own regarding this matter.

After seeing Rebekah’s servants heart, fulfilling the sign that had been prayed for, Abraham’s servant goes to her family and shares his prayer and request to take Rebekah back to be Isaac’s wife. And he says in verse 49, “Please tell me yes or no, and then I’ll know what to do next.”

He’s not forcing his will or way. He’s prayed for success from God. He’s fully removed his will from the matter. And now he’s willing to accept either a yes or no with no personal influence.

Rebekah’s family agrees, Rebekah says yes, and the mission is a success, blessed by God!

What do you need to bring to God in full surrender of his will? What feelings do you need to lay on the altar and allow your heart to get in alignment with God’s? Where will you ask for God’s success today?

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