Pray boldly and broadly

Our youth pastor urged us in a sermon last week to pray boldly with faith.

His point was that, too often, we pray as if God can only deal with easy-to-solve problems.  I know he's right.

But Jesus told us in Matthew 19:26 that all things are possible with God - ALL things.

If we pray boldly, we have to be prepared to be discouraged, but not to give up.

I must say I was discouraged a couple of years ago when I prayed for a large number of people to come to a healing prayer service and only a few came.  I felt I was praying for something that God would want - he wants to heal his hurting people.

But the Bible and experience teach us that we need to keep on praying boldly because God acts on his schedule, not ours.  His timing is always the best timing.

A Biblical example is the heartfelt cries of Israelite slaves in Egypt at the time of Moses.  The enslaved people appealed to God for many years before they were delivered in a spectacular way by God under Moses' leadership.

The Israelite prayers were bold - deliverance from an all-powerful oppressor - and they were persistent.  If we are praying for what God wants, we can be sure he will answer positively - at the right time.

A modern example of praying persistently and boldly is the outbreak of revival on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland in 1949.  Five people prayed for revival in Lewis for many years before the Holy Spirit descended upon the people powerfully, creating amazing scenes of people giving their lives to Christ.

Along with praying boldly, we may also pray broadly.  By that I mean we can pray for people and issues that seem impossibly big or far away.

Rees Howells, a prayer warrior who was at the heart of the Welsh revival in the early 1900s, led a group of young students and teachers at a British Bible college in intense and persistent prayer against the Nazi forces in the Second World War.

One of the results of the prayers of Howells, his students and many others was the miracle of Dunkirk when British forces were evacuated successfully from France when they were hemmed in and all seemed lost.

Bryan Chapell, author of Praying Backwards, writes:

"We have the right to speak with the voice of the Son in compelling the armies of the Lord to defeat his enemies, protect his servants, and change hearts in this generation and in the future.  When we do not exercise these rights, we indicate we are too willing to depend on human resources or are unable to see that the greatest battles of this world are spiritual.

"The power we need will be ours only through prayer."

To that I say: "Amen."

Living thankfully

A woman told me yesterday how heartening it was for her to sing "Bless the Lord, O My Soul" repeatedly in a small group the night before.

She felt uplifted and she continued to sing the song yesterday morning.

I found this striking because she is worried about her husband who is gradually declining with a chronic illness.

Her words reminded me that Christians are called to praise the Lord and offer thanks continually, no matter what the circumstances. Too often, I forget this truth and allow myself to plunge into irritation or even gloom.

When I do praise and thank the Lord, I find my outlook on life changes.  I am aware that God is in control of my circumstances and I can relax in him.

Joyce Meyer, author of The Power of Simple Prayer, says that praise, worship and thanksgiving are "the simplest prayers we can pray and they will release great power in our lives".

Meyer notes that there is a great deal of overlap between praise, worship and thanksgiving.  But the common thread is God - putting God at the centre of our attention.

"God responds to . . . respectful, heartfelt corporate worship," Meyer writes.  "He sends his glory - his manifest presence and power - to people who are truly praising and worshiping him.

"And when his glory comes, miracles happen, people are healed, lives are changed, and transformation takes place from the inside out."

I have read stories of healing taking place as people worship and praise God.

Meyer says every time she speaks, she spends time worshiping and praising God - "not because God needs it, but because I need it".  She expresses joy for what God has done for her and what he is going to do.

She adds that "I need to make sure that I have a clear connection with heaven".

She notes that praise is a form of spiritual warfare because it drives away Satan and fear.

Meyer urges us to make praise and thanksgiving a natural part of everyday living - even in the minute it takes to walk from a parking lot into a store.

She offers simple prayers, such as thanking God for what he is doing in her life; for taking care of her family; for ordinary blessings such as electricity; and for working things out for her good.

Praise, thanksgiving and worship draw us closer to God.  And they enable God to work powerfully in our lives.

Chosen to pray

Sometimes God taps you on the shoulder to pray about someone or something.

Wesley Duewel, author of  Mighty Prevailing Prayer, calls this a prayer burden.  It is the Holy Spirit stirring you to pray.

Often, it is not more than a thought.  But occasionally it is more intense.

Duewel says the Spirit "summons you to pray for the need, guides you in your praying, and fills you with holy desire so intense that it becomes not only a deep concern but a consuming spiritual passion to prevail with God and over Satan".

My own experiences of being prompted by the Spirit to pray have not been as dramatic as Duewel describes.

But I have read amazing stories of people who have woken up at night and felt an urgent need to pray. 

Sometimes, they feel a need to pray specifically for a loved one and discover later that a family member was in danger and was delivered at that hour. Other times, they don't know what the need is but they pray anyway and find out later why the Spirit touched them at that moment.


"You may never know clearly the reason for your SOS prayer burden until sometime later," Duewel writes.  "You may never know.  That is not important.

"It is important that you go instantly to prayer.  Of this you can be sure - God does not play games with you."

These prayer burdens are not always emergencies.  Sometimes they develop over time.  At first, you think of these promptings only once in a while.  But gradually you find yourself thinking about these matters all the time.

You may not realize at first that it is the Spirit leading you to pray about that person or situation.  But eventually you know you have been given a prayer assignment.

There are clear examples of prayer burdens in the scriptures.

Nehemiah, an Israelite in exile, hears about the desperate state of ruined Jerusalem from his brother.  He breaks down and weeps.  He fasts and prays for days.

God responds to his prayers and clears the way for Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls.

The prophet Daniel had a similar experience, fasting and praying for his exiled people who were living in Babylon.

The key point is that when the Spirit moves us to pray about something, we should pray.

"A Spirit-given burden is a special mandate from the Lord," Duewel says.

If God is prompting us to pray in a certain way, it means he wants to answer that prayer.

Solomon's prayer

When Solomon started out as a young king of Israel, he prayed a prayer that so pleased God that the Lord gave him much more than he asked for.

That prayer is still a model for us today.

As our pastor said last Sunday, it is a prayer that is humble, unselfish and aimed at benefiting others more than himself.

In 1 Kings 3, God appears to Solomon in a dream and makes an astounding request: "What do you want?  Ask, and I will give it to you!"

Why did God approach the young king in this way?  As the writer of 1 Kings said a few verses before, the Lord already knew that Solomon loved him - at least, at that time.  He knew Solomon's heart.

Solomon responds by saying that "I am like a little child that doesn't know his way around".  Right away he puts aside all kingly pride and admits his vulnerability and dependence on God.

Then, he adds: "Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?"




Solomon did not ask for more money, more pleasures, more foreign conquests, more personal glory.  He asked for wisdom to be a good ruler of his people.

God is so pleased with Solomon's response that he says he will make Solomon the wisest man who ever lived. 


"And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!"

God followed through with his promise as he always does.  Solomon's wisdom became known throughout the known world - and his power and personal glory spread.

His prayer was unselfish.  He wanted to be a wise and understanding ruler, working for the good of his people.

What can we draw from this?

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said that we are to "seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need".

Often, my first thought is for myself and my needs - not for God and others.  God wants to deal with my needs and it is not wrong to ask him.  He wants to hear our requests.

But nothing pleases him so much as to seek what the Lord wants and the good of others.  As Solomon found out, he promises to fulfill our other needs at the same time.

Unfortunately, Solomon was human and allowed himself in later years to be diverted from worshiping God.  But God kept his promises to Solomon.  The king of Israel remained wise and his power and glory was sustained until his death many years later.

May we, who belong to Jesus, follow the example of that early prayer by the young king.