Dangerous Prayers - Part 2.
We pray safe prayers.
But when was being a Christian ever supposed to be safe?
Eph 6:12 says we are fighting a War.
War is anything BUT safe. War is scary and dangerous, and you don’t win without taking bold moves. What if our prayers get a little dangerous? A little bit more bold?
In order for us to have a good prayer life—an exciting prayer life (and yes, I believe that prayer can be exciting)—we need to change the way we pray. But to do that we need to really grasp what prayer is.
What is Prayer?
It’s how we connect with God.
It’s how we do relationship with God. That in itself is dangerous, but it's oh so good.
You know that feeling you get in your belly when your standing at the edge of a cliff, looking over the vast area below. That is danger, but it’s also exhilarating.
The Bible says that you can die in the presence of God, purely because a mere human cannot withstand His immense glory. But prayer is our chance to go before the Creator God any time we wish. This is an under-appreciated, gravely serious and yet incredibly intimate privilege.
But you don’t get close to God by tossing up a...
"Please bless this mac and cheese."
Just like you don’t build a relationship with your wife by telling her your order from Cook Out. If I read my lunch receipt to my wife, we gain nothing in our relationship, other than her knowing my eating habits. The best moments in a relationship are when you talk about the things that matter.
We need to be open with God...vulnerable and trusting.
What is a dangerous prayer?
A dangerous prayer bares the soul. It holds nothing back, and even surrenders the things in our life that we hide in the secret, dark places of our heart. Dangerous prayers are, by definition, not safe. They force you to give God control instead of you. Dangerous Prayers come from a sense of need and often desperation, allowing for surrender and confession, and then blessed forgiveness.
Dangerous prayers are open, honest and real. They can be painful, but there's nothing like the sense of relief that comes from being real with God. I think it’s time for us to live dangerously. It’s time to pray prayers that scare us a bit.
1 John 5:14-15
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."
The prayers John speaks of are not for blessing unhealthy food so it miraculously becomes healthy in our bodies. God's will is done on earth through prayer. Jesus, before he went to the Cross, prayed. He needed strength. He didn’t want the pain that was coming. It was challenging. But he wanted to do the will of his Father in Heaven. He prayed so hard the Bible says He sweat blood. Now THAT is a dangerous prayer. "Father, not my will but yours be done " God, you be in control.
I am not saying we need to sweat blood, but we do need to fully, completely, unconditionally surrender. In allowing God to lead in our lives, real change, real love, and real transformation becomes reality.
When people pray dangerous prayers, the world is transformed.
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