Emily George
Prayer is undeniably an important part of our walk with God. It is through prayer that we can praise God for His goodness, relay the desires of our heart, and simply communicate our needs to our Heavenly Father. However, we can often overlook the power that prayer has in our day to day life.
How many times have you heard of a need in the life of another and had the automatic response of, "I will be praying for you."? Or before enjoying your meal said a quick "thank you" prayer to God?
But what if we looked at prayer as something a bit more? Prayer allows us to speak to God about anything and everything! But what if that means He wants to hear more than just the obvious requests and praises? Philippians 4:6 says, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." He wants us to be in prayer about all things; including that bag of chips you plan to eat.
But what if our prayers looked more like what David prays in Psalm 139? At the end of this chapter in verse 23 he says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." Now that can be a bit scarier than our normal daily prayers. To pray this prayer opens up for God to show us the parts of ourselves that we aren't too proud of or that we are trying to forget are a part of us.
Another example of a "dangerous prayer" can be found in Luke 22 when Jesus is praying in the garden when He knew He was about to be arrested: "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." To pray like Jesus did in this moment would mean letting go of our idea of how we think, or hope, God would answer our prayers and submitting to His will regardless of how it aligns with our wishes.
Speaking from experience, I have found myself praying in ways similar to this, only to find God answering my prayers in ways that certainly wouldn't have been my first choice. The good news though, is that is why He is God and I am not. He sees the big picture when we cannot (Psalm 147:5) and knows what is ultimately for our good, even when it doesn't seem good in the moment. Praying for God's will over our own may be scary, but it opens up for much greater things to be done in our life by relying on faith to be our sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). As Lysa TerKeurst puts it, "I know I must walk through God's process before I see His fulfilled promise."
It is with that in mind that I encourage you to take a look at your prayers and pray boldly to the God who already holds your tomorrow.