What does your prayer life sound like? Is it full of generic requests or do you honestly talk with God? Pastor Adam Stadtmiller encourages us to pray for big, audacious things – like an elephant.
“While most believers pray, few in my experience spend time trying to increase the territory of their prayer lives. The time they do spend is often focused on their failures and limitations rather than re-imagining their possibilities.”
How do we re-imagine our possibilities?
The key to reaching new heights in our prayer lives is to not allow the devil to discourage us from praying bigger than we currently are.
“Many people believe that their prayer life has confines around it. I believe that the Scripture says a prayer is eternal, it’s limitless.”
When our prayers are heard by God they don’t just disappear after a short time, they are always there before God and it is our job to patiently wait for His response.
As Christians, we should put our prayer life under a microscope and look for ways we can improve.
“Many people pray thematically, ‘God bless my husband, bless my wife, help my kids to do well in school and not sin.’“
According to Adam’s book , Christians need to begin to pray strategically and specifically.
“I have found that there is a real power when we go before God and we say, ‘God, this is exactly what I want to pray for.’”
It’s easy to pray strategically and specifically for a spouse or close friend, but it is also important to pray this way for other situations and circumstances that may not directly impact us. Specific prayers are spiritual warfare regardless of the request.
“I think the enemy’s plan is to get you not to pray, because once a prayer has been prayed, he has no influence over it. He has no power over prayer and that’s why his greatest goal is to get you not to pray.”
Being able to communicate with God through prayer is one of the greatest and most under-utilized gifts that Christians have. How can we start? One practical thing Christians can do is to pray a prayer and commit to asking more than once. God loves hearing from us!
“I just don’t want to have to stand before the Lord and say I asked for too little because I was ashamed.”
Maybe it’s time to take a step back and reflect on your prayer life. Today, ask God to help you pray specifically and strategically and ask Him to help you understand the power and importance of prayer.
Key Scriptures: John 15:7; Revelation 5:8; Romans 8:26
Featured Songs: Let Us Pray by Steven Curtis Chapman; The Table by Chris Tomlin; The Maker by Chris August
Audacious Prayer
