I think it's okay to pray about whatever you feel is important. But the best evidence always comes from scripture.
Just a few days ago I was torn about whether I should pray for my hair or not. Like some here, I wondered if it was vain, and even more, I wondered if it was greedy. As I was trying to figure out if it was moral or not, I narrowed it down to the question:
is there anything that you shouldn't pray for? So I asked God to lead me to a scripture to answer my question, and he led me to not only one scripture, but two:
Ephesians 6:18:
Pray in the Spirit at all times,
with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
As well as:
James 4:2-3:
2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
This was my first time really noticing and truly understanding those scriptures and it was what inspired me to change my signature. (True story, and now this thread pops up just a few days later after having years of inactivity.)
From this I knew that you can ask for anything as long as it isn't for the wrong motive. You can tell by the context of that scripture, that "the wrong motive" would be trying to attain something or make something happen for any reason that is
immoral, like asking for money for a gambling addiction, or to be more beautiful so that you could get noticed by a married man. This would include things that are go against God's spiritual laws (the laws set in motion after the New Covenant began, AKA His desires for our behavior.
There's a difference between wanting to love yourself and putting beauty before God, and/or focusing entirely on beauty and neglecting the beauty that comes from within. Doing both in the right balance isn't immoral by any means. There is an idea floating around that praying for your own joys and pursuits is selfish, and I want you to know that that's simply not true. Just because certain things like: the way you look, how much money you have or the material items that you own are often overemphasized in our society
does not mean that giving them any focus or value at all or finding joy in them is evil in itself. Didn't David pray for His son Solomon to have everlasting glory? So then, desiring beauty, glory, or yes, even money for the sake of your rejoicing and pleasure is not evil, selfish or vain; God gave us these things to enjoy. It is valuing and desiring them above God, trying to achieve them using immoral means or for immoral means, or placing all of your perceived worth on them that is immoral.
So then, wanting beautiful or healthy hair is not an immoral motive and because of that I believe that there's nothing wrong with asking for it or praying about it.
Also, another question against this kind of prayer would be, "why would you bother God with something so small? He's too busy for something like that." (I've read some posts in this thread with responses like that.)
This sort of thinking is from the Devil.
Matthew 10: 29-31
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. 30 Even all the hairs of your head are counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
What this scripture is saying is that nothing is too
insignificant for the LORD to take notice of or care about. Not even a bird falling to the ground. The idea that we can somehow "interrupt" God or that He is too busy for certain matters is false. It is not only
unscriptural but downright destructive to believers trying to bond with and trust in Him more.
He IS everywhere at all times, doing many things at once, so then how would He be too busy? And He does not get tired. His power cannot be stretched thin, nor does He only consider certain kinds of prayers over others. Why? Because He pays attention to even the tiniest details, even to the number of hairs on our head. Believing such a thing puts a wall between you and Him, blatantly ignores scripture,
and leans on man-made precepts ("lean not on your own understanding") that completely distort God's being and character as a whole and our relationship with Him as His children. I rebuke that in Jesus name.
So then, pray for whatever concerns you so long as the prayer itself and the reason for it submit to His spiritual law of righteousness - that is what pleases Him. And pray with the conviction that He will hear you and respond. If you believe you WILL receive. If He has ever done something for you, you need not wonder if He will be able to do it again, or even doubt if He is there or if He is listening. Each response is evidence that He lives and that you are not wrong to believe wholeheartedly in Him, in his promises, and in the scripture as obediently as a child. All you have to do is remember and pray and your faith will grow.
If you have never had enough faith to garner a response and it has caused you to doubt, then believe. Believe! I believe, and He has answered. Why would I lie? Why would everyone who believes lie about feeling His presence, especially when God has said not to lie? These are our true experiences. He is the true God, and He will help and love you, but you have to believe first. It's good to start by praying for faith.
I hope that whoever was previously convinced that praying for your hair is "too unimportant or vain" due to leaning on their own understanding or their own imaginary idea of God's character, His interests and what He finds worthy of attention has now had their paths made straight, and that anyone who has read this and is now convinced that all prayer is acceptable to God (so long as it is righteous) will grow in their faith because of it. I'm saying this not because of hair only, but because misunderstanding or misinterpreting why you can or cannot pray about it is a sign of a much larger problem hidden beneath the surface. It also leads to people accidentally strengthening the Devil's ploy and beating down the Church, all while they think that they are in the right and that they have a "sophisticated" and therefore better understanding of God. Meanwhile, trusting in Him for everything and thinking like an innocent child is what the Bible says we are to do. I also hope that anyone convinced by this will use this information to correct the mindset that I adressed in this post in any other believers that they run across who show signs of having the same mode of thinking by speaking up and using these very same scriptures to strengthen and correct that believer in their tracks.
I hope this helps whoever read this. I know that God taught me this, and He did it THROUGH my desire to pray for my hair. Everything can be a lesson.
