Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. James 1:6-8 MSG
God invites us to pray in such a way that it scares what is scared within us! In the last few years, God has stretched John and me and all the staff of Messenger International. We have had no choice but to join hearts and hands, and to pray prayers that astounded our ears and caused our hearts to leap as they left our mouths.
One such scenario was when John shared with our lead team that he really sensed God challenging us to give away 250,000 books in the course of one calendar year.
I’m pretty sure I threw up in my mouth! The most we’d given away before was 70,000 books in one year. Two hundred and fifty thousand seemed too big a leap to make. So I offered a second thought.
“How about we start by giving away 100,000?”
It was not my best moment.
John responded very quickly before my doubt could fill the room.
“Lisa, my faith is attached to 250,000 books.”
Well, there we had it. We all stood and prayed a prayer that sounded impossibly outlandish at the time. In all honesty though, if you are not praying the type of prayers that scare you, your prayers are certainly not frightening our enemy. But apparently our bold request was just what heaven was waiting to hear. Within days a plan began to unfold, and the resources to undertake the project were revealed. Churches, friends, and even a rock star partnered with us in the endeavor to see the messages we steward travel free of charge to various nations. Books were translated into Arabic, Farsi, Armenian, Urdu, Chinese, Vietnamese, Khmer, Bulgarian, Indonesian, and many more languages. Books in languages I don’t even know how to spell found their way into the hands of isolated leaders and brothers and sisters.
What is the battle you are currently facing? I encourage you to construct a scary prayer. As you step out in faith, stand your ground. Once you strike, don’t draw back; see it through to the end!
