Last week was a big eye-opener and taught me a lot about prayer. Not with what I pray, or when in the day, or where, or even for how long, but how I should be praying. The first thing I picked up, during staff meetings at my church internship, was that they prayed big prayers, HUGE prayers. It’s something I’ve never done and I was afraid to pray big prayers. And it made me double check myself; Do I believe in the power of God enough to boldly ask Him for a miracle… and to believe that miracle when it’s standing right in front of me?
Naturally, this question followed another. When was the last time I asked God for a miracle? A real miracle. An I-don’t-see-how-this-could-happen-but-I-believe-anyway kind of miracle. When was the last time I prayed boldly, undoubting and fearlessly?
Praying With A Safety Net
I’ve realised that I often pray safe prayers. They make me feel comfortable. I like safe praying. They allow me to hold on to control with one hand while attempting to surrender control with the other. Laying everything before the cross scared me. I feared the unknown and feared not being in control (spoiler alert: I’m actually not). I diluted my prayers and compromised my surrender. I think I have a tendency to forget the direction that God has called me to walk it and I get wrapped up in my own life and own needs, forgetting to ask for things that are consistent with His heart.
God has not called me to build my Kingdom, He has called me to build His!
Throughout the Bible, we see many faithful prayer warriors and the powerful ways God answered them. We take Joshua. He prayed in, Joshua 10:12-14, that God would cause the sun to stand still so Israel could be victorious in battle… and, guess what, the sun stood still. We take Daniel, in Daniel 6:10-23, who faithfully prayed three times a day, even though it was illegal to do it and was therefore thrown into the lion’s den to be punished… God shut the lion’s mouths. We take Hezekiah, resisting the king of Assyria’s threats and praying for deliverance. God went on to destroy the entire camp of the Assyrian army in 2 Chronicle 32:20-23. Every time the people prayed fearlessly, God answered fearlessly. In each of these situations, I would have been more likely to give up on impossible situations at times. But that what makes praying big prayers powerful, that God is able to do the impossible.
Big Prayer Praying
I once thought that if I prayed fearlessly, I had to somehow take a little bit of credit for my results. But after that staff prayer meeting, I now realise the complete opposite – the bolder we pray, the more reliant we are upon God and the more we realise we are not in control – and never could be. Yesterday I prayed a big prayer for possibly one of the first times, over Coventry and over St Marks. The prayer I prayed wasn’t a quick comment on a social media post, not a half-hearted, doubting request but a faith-filled, whole-hearted, expectant prayer, excited to see what will come of it. And it is going to come true because I serve a big God.
I would encourage you to pray MASSIVE prayers. Speak words that speak power.
Thanks
"Don't Fear, Only Believe" 