Why and not what are you praying for?

Nehemiah 1:11 NIV

Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah 2:12 NIV

I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.

Often our prayers are focused on ourselves, our needs, our projects.

Nehemiah instead prays with the purpose of blessing Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:11).

Right motivations. Tonight the Holy Spirit wants to spur us to pray moved by the right motivations:

James 4:3 NIV

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

It is important that we have right motivations, pure motivations, holy motivations.

Man sees your actions, but God your motives.

Thomas à Kempis (Ascetical Writer)

God is interested in our holiness; we are interested in our happiness.

A new Job. Tonight we will not just pray for a new job, but we will pray that God will use us in the new job to promote biblical values.

A new car, a new home. We will pray for the car, we will pray for the house, with the goal of using both to bless God's people.

A baby? I know a couple who have a daughter who could not have children. This daughter no longer attended services. God answered her request by granting her a son. When their son was born, the parents stopped coming to church.

A wife, a husband? What is the point of praying for a partner if our motivations are not to spend our lives together serving the Lord?!

Nehemiah prayed for success. His success was to do good toward Jerusalem.

You can pray for everything! Let's make sure our motivations match those of the Lord.