What does your prayer life look like when you feel hopeless and powerless? Perhaps your marriage is so broken that you believe it’s irreparable. Perhaps you are suffering depression and can’t beat it. Or maybe you’re facing bankruptcy because of mounting medical bills that exceed your resources. You have tried everything possible to fix what’s damaged in your life, and nothing has changed. There is hope! We serve a God who cares about every detail of our lives. When we feel defeated with no solutions in sight, He invites us to pray boldly before His throne. What does that look like?

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Here is my litmus test for praying boldly. Whatever I ask of God cannot contain any ounce of my flesh to produce the outcome. If I can contribute to the desired result, then it’s not bold enough. The answer to a bold prayer must happen by His intervention alone. It means 100% of my dependence rests on God for the result. Today I want to offer three reasons why we should pray boldly.

1. Praying boldly expresses our faith

When we pray for things that only God can do, we are stating our BELIEF in His power and might. We embrace that nothing is impossible with God (Lk 1:37, Matt 19:26). Daniel was a young Jew and a God-fearing man. King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, captured Daniel and deported him and many other Jews to Babylon. Daniel is our model for praying boldly. King Nebuchadnezzar had a recurring dream that caused many sleepless nights. He turned to the magicians and enchanters to get the interpretation, but there was one minor problem. The king insisted that THEY tell him what the dream was and then interpret it, and if they couldn’t, he would cut them into pieces! The magicians and company became exasperated and said, “There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks!” (Dan 2:10) The king became furious. He expanded his execution order to include all the wise men of Babylon, which included Daniel.

When Daniel learned that he was facing a death sentence, he asked to see the king so he could request some time to interpret the king’s dream. The king granted his request. Daniel returned home and explained the situation to his three godly friends. They expressed their faith with boldness. They asked God to reveal the dream and its interpretation. They believed God would do that for them.

2. Praying boldly builds our faith and and the faith of those around us

Praying boldly allows us to build our faith muscles. It’s like going to the gym and doing “reps.” To build muscles we need to lift weights regularly that put more stress on our muscles to build them over time. The same is true for our prayer life. If we want to strengthen our walk with the Lord, we need to consistently stress our faith muscles with God-sized prayers.

Here’s the rest of Daniel’s story. God revealed to Daniel the dream and the interpretation through a vision during the night! Can you imagine how this would build the faith for him and his friends? Daniel woke up the next day ecstatic! He couldn’t stop praising God for “revealing the deep and hidden things.” He thanked God for making known to them “what we asked of you.” (Dan 2:22-23) Daniel went back to the king and reported everything that God showed him. The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” (Dan 2:47) When God answered the bold prayer presented to Him, He built the faith of three parties: Daniel, his three friends, and King Nebuchadnezzar.

3. Praying boldly pleases God

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” God invites us to approach the throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16).  Throughout the Bible, we read that God desires to show us “great and mighty” things. He wants to answer our bold prayers, but that’s not going to happen if we don’t call upon Him.

I want you to identify the areas of your life that create despair for you and express your faith in God through bold prayers. It might look something like this:

“Lord, my marriage is broken. I am emotionally exhausted and have tried to repair it, but it is hopeless. Lord, I can’t fix it, but YOU can because nothing is impossible for you.”

“Lord, you are the provider of all financial resources. I don’t want to file bankruptcy. I have depleted your resources. I need you to provide what I need to take care of these bills. Lord, I can’t fix this, but YOU can because nothing is impossible for you.”

“Lord, my son is struggling with drug addiction. He has tried to overcome it, but he keeps having relapses. Lord, I can’t fix this, but YOU can because nothing is impossible for you.”

It’s time to invite God into our deepest and darkest places of our lives. We need to bare our souls to Him and plead our case. We need to admit our complete dependence on Him to intervene. His answers may not come to us in overnight express. He will respond in His perfect way and in His perfect time. We need to pray boldly with many “reps.” Stay persistent. When we express our faith in Him, He rises to the occasion with answers that will cause us to drop to our knees and praise Him. It will build our faith. It boils down to pleasing God with a simple bold prayer: “Lord, I can’t fix this, but YOU can because nothing is impossible for you.”

Your thoughts are always invited because they are valuable. Perhaps you have a testimony to share that will encourage others as they begin to pray more boldly. You may click the link “Share Your Comments” below.

Blessings,

Lee Ann