I was talking on the phone with my adult son, who lives in California (I live in Ohio). He was describing a difficult decision he was facing, and as we discussed it I found myself saying, “Why don’t you pray your values regarding this decision?”
“Do what?” he asked.
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“Pray your values.” I had never quite thought of it in those terms before but found the idea taking shape even as I spoke the words out loud. “You know, we usually pray things like ‘Help me get this job’ or ‘Make the pain go away.’ And those are totally fine ways to pray. But maybe in this area it might help a little more if you pray your values.”
“Like what?”
“I’m not sure, but maybe a prayer like, ‘God, you know how important my marriage and family are to me; bring about a solution that strengthens those relationships.’ Or, ‘Father, I’m not sure which direction you want me to go in this decision, but I’d like nothing better than to be a man of integrity through it all.’”
“Okay,” my son said. “I see what you’re saying. That means I need to define my values in order to pray them.”
“Yeah, that would make sense, wouldn’t it?”
Praying your values will require you to identify and articulate what matters most to you in a given situation, rather than impulsively telling God what you want Him to do. For example, you may pray for your friend to be healed . . . but you may more highly value an awakening of faith in her.
Or you may really want your supervisor at work to get off your back . . . but if you stop to think through your values, you may end up praying for a more constructive and peaceful work environment altogether.
Praying your values doesn’t have to take a long time but it does require at least a moment or two of reflection: What are truly my values? What do I value most in this situation? And are my values Godly values?
Sometimes praying your values will lead you somewhere you didn’t expect to go . . . but it can often be the means God uses to reveal and fulfill the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).
