It’s a concept that has fundamentally changed the way I pray over the past several years.

I used to pray, “Lord, please give me opportunities to share You with people.” Then I remembered that Ephesians 2:10 says that, “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

And as I read in the Bible about God’s desire that the Gospel be made known, I realized that the issue cannot be that I need to remind God about the importance of the Gospel! The issue must be a lack of awareness on my part. And so now I pray, “Father, please keep me in tune with Your Spirit, 'constantly being led by Your Spirit, that I might recognize and do those good works which You have prepared for me.”

When we pray this way, we affirm the truths of the Bible and build our own faith by reminding ourselves that God is already and always at work.

And most importantly, our prayers become about asking God to align us with His will, rather than praying as though we are asking God to align with our will.

God is already at work in the hearts of those who don’t know Him.

He is already at work on your marriage.

He is already at work in your kids.

When we pray, let’s thank Him for those truths. Let’s remind ourselves of those truths. And let’s ask the Lord to bring us into alignment with what He is already doing.