Pray Bigger

We have studied for weeks about prayer. How has that affected your prayer life? Are you praying more often? Is the quality of your prayers developing?

If you are like me, you don’t struggle with whether prayer works or focusing on the right ideas in prayer. I haven’t taught you anything I didn’t already know. I know that I should pray through tears. I know that I should pray after failure. I know that I should keep praying when God says, “No.” I know to pray for the needs of others and for God’s kingdom. I pray for opportunities and choose to bear some of the burden.

If we are honest, some of those prayers feel costly. They require humility, patience, and surrender. But I know deep down inside that there is more that I can grow in this subject.

Today, I want us to study about a hesitation that might linger inside of us. Not a hesitation rooted in disbelief. But because somewhere deep down, we wonder how far we should go with our prayers. When is it presumptuous or prideful to ask for something big? Who am I to bring something like that before God?

What I want us to see this morning is simple: We can pray big and bold prayers.

Do you know that? If you do, are you praying that way, or do you think too little of yourself to pray big and bold prayers? I want us to see that we can pray big and bold prayers, not because of who we are, but because of who God is and what Christ has done.

Here are three reasons why we can pray Bigger.

1. Pray Big Because God’s Your Father (Luke 11, Matt 18, Rom 8)

The first reason we can pray big and bold prayers to God is the fact that Jesus tells us to call God our “Heavenly Father” in Luke 11. Jesus compares Jesus to an imperfect earthly father to say that we can trust Him to give us good things. This is an important comparison because it reveals to us the willingness of God.

Do we pray small because we are unsure of God’s heart toward us? We don’t want to bother Him. We don’t want to ask too much. We don’t want to be disappointed when He says, “No.” We all have a perception of what an earthly father looks like, but what is a Heavenly Father like?

Compare this statement about God from Luke 11 to a statement about us in Matthew 18.

Matthew 18:1–4 (ESV) — 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Ultimately, I believe we don’t pray big because we aren’t childlike. My younger children don’t have a problem asking for things. They ask all the time. Jenna and I receive hundreds of requests every day from our three children and it wears us out. We say, “No” to 75% of the requests, but they keep on asking. They are relentless and persistent. If we don’t answer, they ask again and again.

Jesus tells us that the greatest in the kingdom are like this. They are humbling themselves like children. The thoughts, “I don’t want to bother Him. I don’t want to ask too much. I don’t want to be disappointed when He says, ‘No,’” are all too mature and proud. They show self-reliance and a resistance to depending on God. That kind of prayer reflects the same self-reliance Jesus constantly confronted, and it’s not what God desires from His children. He wants more.

The idea that God is inviting His children to ask, seek, and knock must change our attitudes. Paul says something similar in Romans 8.

Romans 8:15 (ESV) — 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

The contrast in this text is an older, “I have to do everything myself” mindset, and a childlike, “Dad! I need your help” mindset. My children, especially Phoebe, ask for things because she literally cannot do them. She cannot make her own breakfast or drink. She’s learning how to, and doing really well at it, but she recognizes what she needs and cannot provide herself, so she has to ask for help. But Paul says, we aren’t just children, we are adopted, we are chosen and greatly loved by our Heavenly Father.

We can pray bigger and bolder prayers because God wants to hear them. Asking for more isn’t burdensome or annoying for God. It honors Him. Unlike me and other earthly fathers, God listens carefully to all of our requests at all times. He knows what we need even before we ask. He doesn’t turn away or silence us when we ask for something inappropriate. Don’t assume that boldness is unwelcome.

2. We Can Pray Big Because Jesus Opened The Way (Heb 10)

But God didn’t just invite us to pray. He made a way for us to come near without fear. I’m convinced that the book of Hebrews is written to change the way we pray. The writer of this book wants us to see what Jesus has done for us and draw near with confidence.

Drawing near to God is not a small thing. Those who know who God is, understand how unworthy we are to draw near to a holy God. In the Old Testament, God set up the Tabernacle and Temple as a representation of how God’s people are to steer clear of God. Only the Levites could enter the temple area and handle the holy objects. Only the priests could enter the holy place. Only the High Priest can enter the most holy place. Drawing near to God happened with sacrifice, but even sacrifices could only get you so close.

Jesus, on the other hand, offered a sacrifice for us that makes us holy enough to enter the true holy places by His blood.

Hebrews 10:11–14 (ESV) — 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Hebrews 10:19–22 (ESV) — 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Confidence doesn’t come from personality, spiritual consistency, or having a good week. It comes from understanding the access Jesus gives to God’s people. Through His sacrifice, the curtain was torn in two, signifying we have unprecedented access to God.

The throne we approach is not a throne of judgment, but a throne of grace. We don’t come hoping He won’t kill us. We come knowing He loves us because of what we have in Christ.

That ought to change everything. Our prayers are bold. Not because we believe in ourselves. They are bold because we believe that Jesus really did what scriptures tell us He did. We boldly approach God’s throne, unashamed, because we aren’t trespassing. We were invited there by the Son of God. He paid the price for our access. God is the one who sent Him.

So the real question is why wouldn’t we pray?

3. We Can Pray Big Because God Can Do More Than We Ask or Think (Eph 3)

The final reason I want us to pray big is because of the words of Paul in Ephesians. These are words that need to sit with us for a while until they are absorbed into our brains.

Ephesians 3:14–21 (ESV) — 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

These words are not a promise that God will give us everything we want. They are a promise that God is not limited by what we can envision. It’s a call for God to strengthen us from within to believe that God’s love for us is unlimited and His power toward us is unimaginable.

If you were to go throughout OT history and look at God’s miracles for the first time, they would blow you away. Would you build a big boat in the desert? Who brings a sling to fight a giant? Who would have thought to sing praises to the Lord or bash your pottery with torches inside to scare an enemy into killing itself? God can do things that we could never imagine.

This is why our prayers stink. We pray for what feels realistic, manageable, and reasonable. But God operates outside of what is physically possible. Paul says God’s power goes beyond our imagination. He can create a scenario that we would never plan or design.

Conclusion

So, when we pray, we need to understand that God wants to hear us pray. He wants us to be children who bring our every care before Him constantly.

We need to understand that there is nothing about us that disqualifies us, no barrier between us and God, because of what Jesus has done. He asks us to come right into his throne room.

We must believe that God’s power has no ceiling.

The problem we face is not on God’s end. It’s our own. I know it sounds childish and foolish to say this, but open yourself up to God completely. Talk to him about what is on your heart and in your mind.

Use the understanding we have gone through in the past five weeks to mold prayers that are pleasing to God, but don’t feel like you have to do everything right to be heard. This is not about you. It’s primarily about needing God and wanting Him to help you.

Philippians 4:6 (NET) — 6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God.