Prayer. We believe in it, sometimes doubt that God is hearing us, wonder if we are good enough to bring our requests to Him or how bold we can be. And, we wonder why it seems that God answers some requests and doesn’t seem to answer others. We love prayer, are confused by prayer, frustrated by prayer and know we need prayer. To all of that Jesus gives one word of advice. He tells us to storm heaven's gates. 

In Luke 11, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray with The Lord’s Prayer. It is a bold prayer with bold requests. But then Jesus goes on to expand His teaching on prayer: Then he said to them, Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.”

Then the one inside answers, “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.” I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:5-13)

Jesus is inviting us to be bold in our requests! He is inviting us to make BIG requests. He is affirming that when we pray God hears and when life comes undone doors open. He is making the point that, just as we would not be stingy with responding to the requests of our own children, He would never be stingy with us, His children.

If Jesus invites bold faith, if He invites BIG requests, we ought to take Him up on His offer. What is it that you need today? Be bold, pray BIG, and wait for a loving Father to answer! During my long illnesses I was the recipient of the prayers of many and God chose to heal me when humanly there was no possibility that I would survive. 

For thirty days I hovered between life and death in the ICU and the private prayer blog that was set up was accessed from 75 countries and all fifty states. It’s not that I have that many friends. God simply raised up an army of people to pray. Several years later I met a woman and I asked her about her spiritual journey. She said, you have a lot to do with it. I was confused as I had never met her. She said, I was following the blog about your situation and I was amazed that God chose to heal and that so many specific prayers were answered. I never knew that God actually cared enough to hear prayer or chose to intervene in people’s lives. She said, “that impacted me profoundly.” 

Here is why I think so many people were profoundly impacted by the story of my illness. We often pray, not believing that God would actually do something BIG, or that we could make truly bold requests. That God can and does the miraculous in our day. But He did, and they saw it, and it changed their understanding of prayer, faith, and God’s ability to do BIG things. If Jesus invites bold faith, if He invites BIG requests, we ought to take Him up on His offer. What is it that you need today? Be bold, pray BIG, and wait for a loving Father to answer!

It can be hard to be bold in our prayer if we are not used to doing this. There is another hard part of prayer: We are to pray boldly and pray BIG, but we are also to pray for God’s will to be done (see Matthew 6:10). That is hard, because while God always answers the prayer of faith His perfect answer is not always our perfect answer! God chose to heal me, twice, in His sovereignty. He does not always do that. That does not mitigate bold and BIG prayer. It requires that we understand that God’s perfect will is sometimes unseen by us. Even Jesus, on the eve of His arrest and death, prayed, “’Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:42-44)

Let that sink in for a long moment. Jesus was in agony over what was before Him. He pled with His Father to remove the cup of suffering from Him, but even as He prayed boldly and with a BIG request, in the same breath He said, “yet not my will, but yours be done.” Did God show up? Yes, an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. Did God remove the path of suffering from Him? No!

Ultimately, life is not about us but about God. Ultimately, God’s eternal purposes are far greater than we can ever comprehend this side of heaven. If Jesus was bound by His Father’s will and willing to submit to that will, why would we, His followers and children, be exempt? 

Bold prayer, prayer that storms the gates of heaven is unapologetic in its requests and BIG in its scope. But it is not bold without praying for God’s ultimate will to be done. That is the boldest prayer because that prayer invites God to do what is ultimately best from His perspective, not ours. It is like the prayer of Jesus in the garden—a prayer of deep submission to His perfect will and an invitation for Him to use our lives for His deepest and greatest purposes. That is BOLD prayer. And BOLD faith. 

Father. Teach me to pray big and bold prayers along with the courage to pray for and be submitted to your will. Amen.

The Question for today: What bold and big prayer should I be praying for today?