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I’m trying to pray audacious prayers.
Audacious is not a word that gets used every day. It implies a boldness that maybe isn’t always appropriate. Dictionary.com uses such phrases as “recklessly brave” and “recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, law, or the like.”
That’s a lot of reckless.
No one who knows me would describe me as reckless. But wise mentors and hard situations in recent months have challenged me to pray reckless prayers. The truth, though, is that audacious prayers are surprisingly difficult to pray. All kinds of fears and questions surface for me.
What if I don’t see God answer?
Or what if His answer is no?
Is my faith strong enough to survive?
Do I know for certain that this big prayer is actually God’s will?
What’s my part in answering the prayer?
Don’t I need to take some action too?
And it’s not just the praying that’s scary. It’s the surrender required as well.
My Control Freak Personality and I find surrender particularly difficult. I would much rather live in the illusion that I do have control over any situation in my life and that there’s nothing me and the Internet — with a little prayer for wisdom thrown in — cannot solve together.
And if I don’t see Him answer at all, or He doesn’t answer the way I want Him to? I suspect I’ll discover that praying audaciously is less about His answer and more about the state of my heart.
Praying recklessly brave prayers humbles me, reminding me of both my own great need and His great strength. In asking Him for big, impossible things, I expect my dependence on Him to grow, my willingness to take risks for His kingdom to increase and my intimacy with Him to deepen.
Max Lucado says “Boldness in prayer is an uncomfortable thought for many. We think of speaking softly to God, humbling ourselves before God, or having a chat with God… but agonizing before God? Storming Heaven with prayers? Pounding on the door of the Most High? Wrestling with God? Isn’t such prayer irreverent? Presumptuous?”
It would be, had God not invited us to pray as such.
So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive His mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need. — Hebrews 4:16
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. — Proverbs 3:5-6
Our relationship with God is exactly that, a relationship. His invitation is clear and simple:
Come and talk with Me, O my people. — Psalm 27:8 (TLB)
And our response?
Lord, I am coming. — Psalm 27:8 (TLB)
We abide with Him, and He abides with us. He grants wisdom as we need it.
What do you need? What do you want God to do for His glory? What impossible situation have you been afraid to pray for? Let’s be recklessly, reverently bold as we come before our gracious Father in prayer.
Are you audacious in prayer? Do you practice praying first and then acting?