Praying Big Prayers – January 17th, 2021.

New Beginning Church is in the midst of its 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Today is Day 8. We don’t fast in order to look pious or righteous. We pray and fast in order to humble ourselves before God; to express repentance; to grieve difficult providences; and to seek God’s favour.

Today, January 17, 2021, Pastor Eric spoke on the importance of praying God-sized prayers. He also introduced us to three biblical figures who did just that.

Read 2 Kings 20:1-6

Hezekiah fell seriously ill, and the prophet Isaiah came to tell him that he would die. When the king heard Isaiah’s words, “Set your affairs in order and prepare to die. The Lord says you won’t recover”, he turned his face towards the wall. In other words, he turned away from those who were standing at his bedside, and may have distracted him, to pray with more concentration and earnestness – and fervently implored the Lord that he might live. It was natural to Hezekiah, in every kind of affliction and distress, to take his trouble directly to the Lord. Hezekiah is conscious that he has honestly strived to serve God, and to do his will – that, whatever may have been his shortcomings, his heart has been right with God…and he wept bitterly. His prayer was accepted, and God sent the prophet back to tell him that he would recover and that his life would be prolonged for 15 years.  Imagine for a moment if you were in Hezekiah’s position and you were told that you are going to die, what would be going through your mind? How do you react when facing impossible situations?

Read 1 Kings 17:17-23

A second example is the story of the prophet Elijah who was sent to minister to a poor and destitute widow and her son in Zarephath, a town outside of Israel. The widow was ready to eat her last meal with her son and then die of starvation.

The widow’s son fell ill. There was no breath in him. It looked as if the boy had been saved from starvation only to die of a severe illness. Further there was no word from the Lord. Immediately, the mother suspected that the prophet had ordered her son’s death because of some sin she had committed. Elijah took the boy up to his room, stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to God. The boy was brought back to life and was taken down to his mother in good health. This convinced the woman that Elijah was a man of God.

Read 2 Samuel 12

A third example is the story of David and Bathsheba. Bathsheba’s husband Uriah, was off to war and she was lonely. Being desired by David meant more to her than her commitment to her husband. This was in direct disobedience to the will of God. The inevitable happened, and Bathsheba sent word to David that she was pregnant. This was a serious matter for it would have meant death by stoning. David’s plan was to bring Bathsheba’s husband home from the battle for a few days, but Uriah chose to sleep in the barracks with the king’s servants. Therefore, David wrote Bathsheba’s husband’s death warrant, and ordered Joab to put Uriah in the most dangerous part of the battle. In short, David committed adultery and had Bathsheba’s husband murdered. Shortly thereafter, Bathsheba became David’s wife, but what David had done was an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. Even though David repented before God, there were still consequences for his actions. David was told that his child would die, then the boy became very ill. David immediately prayed and fasted for his son. He knew that God said the child would die, but he had hoped that he might find grace in the Lord’s sight. David refused to eat while the boy was ill. Seven days later his son died. When David’s servants told him about the boy’s death, David cleaned himself up, stopped mourning and began to eat again. We are talking about God great things but this is a reminder that God is sovereign.

Why does the Lord choose not to answer everyone’s prayers? It comes down to our asking. We need to pray God-sized prayers! When we pray only insignificant prayers, we insult God’s character. We are asking an Almighty God trivial things when he wants to do so much more.

Remember:

God is generous.

Read Matthew 7:9-11

Jesus has made an amazing and expansive promise to His children: Those who ask will receive. Those who seek will find. And for those who knock, the door will be opened. This is not a blind, mindless guarantee that God will give anyone anything they ask for in prayer. The context of asking, seeking, and knocking is Christ, Himself.

God is able.

Read Ephesians 3:19

God, who He is and what He does, will do, and has done is immeasurable. We only see and know a slice of the whole pie in the sky. He is not afraid of our prayers. When we pray, He hears us.

God is waiting.

God is waiting for us to pray boldly to Him. God is eager and willing to answer His children’s prayers, but it’s up to us to ask. He wants us to pray big prayers. Although prayers for a new job or to improve someone’s health have their place, they’re generally insignificant compared to what we could be praying for. There are weightier matters to attend to. If we pray insignificant prayers, we are missing out on something big!

God has made a way for us to pray God-sized prayers. He also showers us with His grace and mercy and helps us in our time of need.

Are you praying big prayers? God is waiting.

Watch the sermon here.