Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
James 16:6-8.
Have you ever prayed a bold prayer? Up until a few months ago I hadn’t either. Praying boldly is having the faith to ask God to provide in one way or another, understanding that His answer could be “no,” but it could also be “yes.” God invites us to pray boldly! Check out 1 John 5:14-16, Ephesians 6:18, Jeremiah 29:12, Mark 11:24, Proverbs 15:8, Psalm 102:17, and so, so many more!
(I feel the need to say also, that bold prayers isn’t praying like your 8 years old – “Dear God, if you would just give me a pony, I would, like, totally love you forever.”)
When I first got accepted to go on the World Race, I began praying for financial support – because without it, I can’t go, so it seemed important enough to pray about. My prayers were ANYTHING but bold. They sounded something like this: Dear God, I just wanna pray for financial support, ya know if you want to provide it. No pressure if you dont…I just thought I’d ask. Thanks! There was literally nothing bold about them. I was too scared to be told “no” so I asked very timidly, with little to no faith.
Then one day, in my squad group message, one of the girls challenged us to pray boldly for financial support. She pointed out that fundraising is one of the few ways you can see God directly answer your prayers and provide. She challenged us to pray boldly for specific numbers and watch God provide. I thought that sounded pretty cool, but it seemed way too intimidating for me, so I pushed the idea to the back of my mind.
I continued my wimpy prayers for financial support, because fundraising seemed to have hit it’s peak and I was now on the downward slope and I hadn’t even met my first deadline yet. I had been putting a lot of work into things on my end, with little reward. I sold t-shirts, stickers, jewelry, art, bracelets, but I wasn’t raising very much money. It was so incredibly discouraging and I blamed myself. I wasn’t working hard enough. I wasn’t thinking of creative ways to fundraise. At the same time, this thinking enabled me to take credit for all the money that had already been fundraised. I did all the work. I raised the money. It was kind of a vicious cycle that had me beating myself up, not seeing WHO was providing, and me taking the glory when there was any to be taken.
Then randomly, I get a message from a friend from high school, who I haven’t seen in 4 years, by the way. She asked for my mailing address and a few days later, I got a card with $300!! Like, whatttt???!! She told me that she had put the money away and had began praying for God to tell her where she should send her money. She felt that God told her to send it to me to help with my trip. That to me was so insane. Right when I was at my lowest, with the littlest faith (if I even had any) – God was leading someone else to support and encourage me. She has NO idea how much she encouraged me and challenged me with that $300 and I am so thankful.
That was enough to spark faith the size of a mustard seed in me. I hadn’t done anything to earn it. I didn’t sell her something or work for it. God led her to send the money to me. Then, I began thinking about the challenge to pray for specific numbers in fundraising. So I did it. And boy did I do it. I went all in and prayed for $1,000. I felt guilty asking for it and I didn’t pray with very much boldness, there was definitely some timidness involved. I kept praying the same prayer every night for about 3-4 nights, gaining more and more boldness each night.
Then, within in a matter of 3 days, God provided $1,000 (not counting the $300 I had already been given!). Again, I say – WHHATTTT???!!! Isn’t He good? I couldn’t believe it. Through three different people in three days God had sent me what I prayed for. So of course, now I’m full of faith and bold prayers. God wants us to be bold enough to pray those bold prayers!
If you didn’t think praying for $1,000 was bold enough, I followed it up by asking for $2,000 (I’ve got deadlines to meet, people). Sure enough, over the past two months God has provided $2,000 and I’m doing nothing but putting my faith in His hands. I have literally done nothing but pray for the past three months when it comes to fundraising. I can’t take any of the credit. It was all God! I had to take a step back to see God’s hands at work.
I’ve learned so much these past few months about God and the power of prayer. So this is my challenge for you: Ask God for that thing you’re too scared to ask Him for. Remember – having faith means trusting the one you’re asking to give you the best answer. Sometimes that answer is no, but it could be yes. He’s just waiting for you to ask.
“Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren’t impossible to you, they are insulting to God.”
