I want to propose to you that God wants to include us in his plan to achieve His eternal ends, to see Jesus get His full reward. I want to propose that He wants to do more than what we are capable of on our own & that He wants us to get creative & start asking him for things that are bigger than ourselves! I am talking about continually & persistently asking him for uncomfortable, reckless, dangerous, audacious, obvious signs of grace & love in our prayers. We were made to be used greatly by Him & He wants us to engage!
Luke 18:1-8 The Parable of the Persistent Widow
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray & not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him & saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who are to him day & night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Jesus starts by saying that we ought to always pray & not lose heart. As you know, sometimes when we pray, that prayer isn’t answered right away. But, we ought to not be discouraged by this, rather we should keep on praying persistently. Eventually, even the judge who neither feared God nor respected man gave justice to the widow, not because of what people would think, but because she bothered him. Her persistence gave her what she wanted, & the judge granted her justice. The parable goes on to say how much more will God grant us justice, how much more will he provide for us & he will do it speedily.
Here is another parable in Luke 11:5-10
“And He said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, & I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up & give you him anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the on who knocks it will be opened… How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Not because of his friendship, but because of his impudence, because of his persistence did the man receive what he needed. We need to start asking God with this kind of persistence, not halfhearted prayers that aren’t backed up with faith.
So how do we do it? How do we pray?
Hebrews 4:16 says to boldly approach the throne of God, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy & find grace to help in time of need.”
This boldness & confidence means to have freedom in speaking to our father, to be unreserved in speech, to have fearless confidence, & cheerful courage. Boldness is often uncomfortable, it can be inappropriate at times, & it often defies convention or law. Sometimes this is what we are called to do. We have to be recklessly brave & audacious if we want to see & receive a greater measure.
It is key for us to understand the nature of God as a giving father, with unlimited resources, who delights in us. He is eternal, He is powerful, He is holy, omnipresent, He is sovereign, He is perfect & He is in charge. He is transcendent, He is above & below, before & behind, & He is faithful. We have to know these things about Him, because limited knowledge means limited trust & limited faith. If we don’t have faith & trust, than we won’t be able to boldly approach him with impossible, big prayers!
God has ordained the end, & the means to the end. Praying audaciously isn’t about changing God’s mind, plan, or will. It is about participating, creating, & engaging in His story & being used by Him.
So, ASK & it will be given, SEEK, & you will find, KNOCK, & it will be opened. This isn’t a blank check! We don’t just get to ask for anything assuming that we can change God’s plan. Nor do we sit by and wait for something to happen! Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” He is saying, I know the plan, I know the purpose, so call on me, come and pray to me & I will listen to you. I know the plans, they are good but I am telling you to seek me, come & find me and I will make you a part of my plan. Trusting that the Lord knows the future & has a plan for us doesn’t look passive. This is an active verse, it requires an action. We must call upon the Lord and pray.
How & what we pray will determine what kind of life we live! The potential for our lives is as big as our God is. If we aren’t seeing God doing big things, then we might not be asking big prayers! God is going to meet us at the level of our faith (James 4:2 says, “you have not because you ask not”). After God told Abraham that his wife Sarah would have a son at such an old age, He said, “Is anything to hard for the Lord?” The answer of course is no! There is nothing that is too hard for the Lord! Lets forget what the worlds circumstances say to be true, lets disregard the barriers. Lets pray for things we aren’t capable of doing by ourselves! Lets dream up risky, uncomfortable prayers, the ones that aren’t safe, the ones that might not happen unless the Lord comes through.
If you knew that Heaven & earth will move on your behalf what would you ask for?
Love,
Emily
