Day 11: Asking (Petition) Prayers Part 1

Moses said to Aaron,
“Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burn offering
and make atonement for yourself and the people…
So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself.”
Leviticus 9:7, 8

My friends and I debated about the order of our prayers, specifically, whether we should pray for others or ourselves, first. When we list different prayer practices and models, sometimes petition comes before intercession and sometimes after—or in easier terms: sometimes “asking” prayers for ourselves comes before asking prayers for others.

Ultimately, it probably doesn’t matter which prayer you pray first, as long as we keep praying. I want to make a case for praying for yourself, first, then praying for others. In the above passage out of Leviticus, before Aaron sacrificed offerings to make atonement for the people’s sin, God called him to make a sacrifice for himself. He ceremonially cleaned himself before he pursued bringing others to God.

We are called to lives of integrity. Initially, and every moment of every day, we trust Christ for our righteousness. His death and resurrection get us into the family of God; Christ’s sacrifice is what earns our salvation and our righteousness. But that doesn’t mean we are left with no actions to take.

There is a difference between actions of earning and actions of effort.[1] The differences are all about motivation. Our salvation is by grace through faith, we do nothing to earn it, AND afterward we partner with God in our spiritual growth. This does take effort. We continually partner with God to stay “clean.” This goes along with what Jesus told his disciples when he went to wash their feet. “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean….” John 13:10. We’ve been made clean by the blood of the Lamb, AND we need to wash off the spiritual grime of this world frequently.

We wash off the spiritual grime of this world with prayer and confession and fasting. We partner with God to continually work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Over and over Scripture commands us to put forth effort to throw off sin and refocus on Jesus, so that we would be even more useful for God’s holy work.

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Timothy 2:20-21

Prayerwork, Part 1: To practice praying for ourselves let us use a couple of the Apostle Paul’s prayers. Read the two prayers of Paul listed below. Underline at least four parts of Paul’s prayers for the Church that you want to pray for yourself. Then rewrite what you underlined into your own prayer.

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” Colossians 1:9-12

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1:17-19

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Prayerwork, Part 2: First, use the Scripture you just rewrote into your own words as a prayer for yourself. Pray the words to God, imagining Him washing the spiritual grime off your hands and feet as you pray, making your ready for use in His Kingdom. When we start putting together the different pieces of the prayers we learn into a complete prayer model, you’ll be able to use the prayers you wrote for the “pray for yourself” or “asking” section. Write the prayer you prayed for yourself in the blanks below.

Finally, continue to pray throughout the day and at your set times of prayer. Continue to read a Psalm or two a day. Hopefully, turning your attention to God in prayer and seeking His help is becoming more and more a part of your day.

Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:8

[1] Dallas Willard. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship. (New York City: HarperCollins, 2006), 29.