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<<First Name>>
Last week I had one of those moments in which I was completely undone. I had been listening to a message from one of my favorite preachers when the Spirit of God came upon me so heavy all I could do was sit and weep. As I listened to the word God had for me, I was convicted by my lack of boldness in prayer. We worship a truly amazing God - a God who has parted seas, walked on water, and fed the masses - yet so often our prayers are so simple, so safe. What would happen if we started praying bold prayers? What would happen if we started praying God’s word, and started claiming the promises God has for us? Maybe then we would discover that the God who parted the sea and walked on water is still active in the world today.
I love the stories of the disciples’ failures. They did not get it right all of the time. In Matthew chapter 17, we come to one of those moments where the disciples come before Jesus in humility to ask, “Jesus, what did we do wrong?” A man had brought his son before them to be healed, but the disciples could not heal the boy. When they were alone, they asked Jesus, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” And He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” But the problem is, we don’t always have the kind of faith that can move mountains.
Do you ever find yourself reasoning away your faith? When someone asks for healing we add qualifiers to our prayer, things like, “God if it is your will….” instead of claiming the Lord as our healer, and the one who has carefully crafted our bodies. Or maybe when things are tight financially we may ask God for some grace and mercy but we forget that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. In fact, while I was an intern with CROSSROADS I once asked God in prayer to send us one of his cows because things were tight financially. That week we received a random check for $10,000.
We all long for the kind of faith that can move mountains. I don’t know the mountains you may be facing today, but I want to encourage you to be bold in your prayers, remembering the God who is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20).
So I invite you to join me in praying some bold prayers this week:
- For your family and friends closest to you, that they might experience God’s blessing and favor.
- For our community - that God might raise up His church and bring revival upon this community, that God might call men & women to raise up and help build up the local churches in our area that we might be a light for the Gospel to bring hope to those in need.
- For our church - that God might use our church to help those who are at a crossroads in their own lives, that they may come to know God’s love and grow in their faith, that God would raise up workers to help carry out His mission, and that we would continue to see God’s provision as we grow in our stewardship.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Gordon
Action Steps this week:
- Try praying some bold prayers this week. Prayers that will stretch your faith and help you discover the God who parted the sea, walked on water, and fed the masses.
- Pray the Psalms - Take today's date, and either turn to that Psalm or any Psalm 30, 60, 90, 120, higher than today's date. For instance, today you could pray either Psalm 11, 41, 71, 101, or 131. On the months with 31 days, pick a section of Psalm 119.
- For Reflection: What mountains do you face? Are your prayers bold enough to move them? Where have you encountered the God who parted the sea, walked on water and fed the masses lately? What would that look like in your own life?
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