How Big Are Your Prayers?

 
What would a transcript of your recent prayers reflect?
 
Are your prayers vague and generic? Or are they specific and bold?
 
Do you play it safe…not asking God for anything too big for fear of disappointment?
 
Or do you ask for things that are impossible for you to accomplish in your own power?
 
For many years, my prayer life was inconsistent and tepid. I might cry out for help in a moment of desperation, but on a day-to-day basis, I had little confidence that my personal needs and desires really mattered to God.
 
Wow, has that changed over the last several years. I finally decided that if I believed God’s Word (which I do), I needed to believe all of it. I started to dream big dreams and pray big prayers.
 
And then I purchased a copy of Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge by Mark Batterson. This little book has helped take my prayer life to a wonderful new level. And I am so grateful.
 
                                       
I just began my ninth 40-day journey though this devotional in 2015. Each day’s reading is the literary equivalent of a filet mignon: not big, (about four pages), without fat, and full of prime meat with it’s pithy and wise words about prayer.

Over the past year, I have continued to pray some very big, God-sized prayers for myself and others. And I’ve seen some absolutely miraculous answers. Dream jobs awarded. Babies conceived and born to infertile couples.  Relationships healed. Freedom found.
 
In my own life, I’ve said “wow, God,” again and again. In 2015, the story of my calling with Leave Nothing Unsaid opened Chapter 1 in a bestselling book, was featured in a Sunday edition of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, and most recently, was highlighted in the December edition of Guideposts Magazine.
 
Has every one of my prayers been answered? Absolutely not. For some, there have been clear answers of “no.” For some, I’m still waiting, and take that as “not yet.”  And for others, the answer has either been “yes,” or “I have something even better.”
 
But every miraculous answer has spurred me on to ask God for more seemingly “impossible” requests. As Batterson says: “The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.”
  
So I am continuing to draw near to God every morning and pray some very big, very bold prayers. And I trust that my “Father Knows Best” in how those prayers are answered. 
 
As 2015 draws to a close, and you begin to think about areas for personal growth in 2016, I hope you’ll invest in a copy of Draw the Circle and take the 40-Day Prayer Challenge.
 
You’ll be glad you did.