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Why do prayers need to be dangerous?
In the Bible we see that God’s people prayers were honest, desperate, fiery, gusty, real.
As I studied the Bible more, I admired the diversity of prayers spoken by God’s people.
But here I was praying for the Father to bless my hamburger and fries, or bless my day, or for protection, and thanksgiving.
Don’t misunderstand, these prayers are alright, they are just lukewarm at best.
What we have to be careful about is letting prayer become repetitive.
Every morning (thank you for another day), every night (protect me while I sleep).
We tend to stumble into ruts and pray the same things over and over.
We get bored with our prayers.
And if we get bored praying, then I wonder if we’re really praying.
Praying from the heart is personal and unmistakable.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with praying from a book or someone else’s prayer.
In fact, reading prayers can be a good starting point in learning to pray your own.
You don’t have to look far for the best prayer book ever written.
The Psalms of David.
David questioned, complained, petitioned God from the depths of his soul.
The dangerous prayers of the Bible can be the fuel for your dangerous prayers today.
Allow the words of the followers of God who have gone before you to inspire you, and to help you find words of your own.
slide 2
Psalm 13:1–2
How long, LORD?
Will you forget me forever?How long will you hide your face from me?2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?How long will my enemy triumph over me?
The biggest mistake I’ve made in my prayer life, the reason my prayers were so lame, is because I prayed to safely.
I wasn’t on fire and I wasn’t cold.
My prayers were tepid.
Lukewarm prayers don’t draw us nearer to God or help us reveal his love to this world.
slide 3
Prayers are Inherently Dangerous
Jesus, the Son of God, prayed a vulnerable and dangerous prayer of submission.
slide 4
Luke 22:42
42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Jesus never asks us to do something He wouldn’t do himself.
He calls us to a life of faith, not a life of comfort.
The Son of God challenges us to risk loving others more than ourselves.
He calls us to deny our daily desires for something eternal.
He tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him.
Let us dig deeper still into these ideas through three powerful prayers drawn from Scripture.
These prayers are short, simple, straightforward, but not safe.
Let’s stretch our faith, expand our hearts, and open our lives to God.
I realized the closer I got to Jesus, the more I’d have to face my shortcomings.
Are you ready for more?
Are you sick of playing it safe?
Are you ready to pray daring, faith-filled, God honoring, life changing, world-transforming prayers?
It’s time to stop praying safe.
It’s time to start talking, really talking—and listening—to God.
It is time for dangerous prayers.
slide 5
Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Instead of simply asking God to do something for you, ask God to reveal something in you.
Psalm 139 is an open and honest prayer before God about how nothing is hidden from him.
Open your heart to God.
Pray it as your own.
slide 6
Psalm 139:23–24
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.24
See if there is any offensive way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting.
Dangerous prayer.
David was being actively pursued by king Saul.
Saul had declared that David was not obeying his God.
Be forewarned, this prayer has the potential to convict you.
To correct you.
To redirect your life.
To change the way you see yourself.
To change the way others see you.
If you have the courage to pray this prayer, then you’ll also need the courage to live with what God shows you in reply.
So don’t pray it if you don’t mean it.
Maybe you’re thinking this is no big deal.
Why should you ask God to search your heart when He already knows all that’s inside you.
You know what’s in there.
So why ask something so obvious?
This is where it gets problematic.
On the surface, it seems we should know our own hearts.
Right?
I know my motives.
I know what’s most important.
I know why I do what I do.
You might also tell yourself; I’ve got a good heart.
I’m trying to not hurt people.
I want to do what’s right.
My heart is good.
I’m praying, aren’t I?
God’s Word actually exposes the exact opposite.
Around 650 BC during the reign of King Josiah, God raised up a young prophet to take God’s Word to Israel and the nations, Jeremiah.
slide 7
Jeremiah 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.Who can understand it?
It’s easy to pretend we are good at heart, but the Bible teaches us that our heart deceives us and is to a great extent wicked.
At its core, our heart is all about self—not Christ.
It’s about what is temporary—not eternal.
It’s about what is easy—not what’s right.
It’s preoccupied with what we want—not what God wants.
Our original nature at birth is sinful.
(You never have to teach a 2-year-old to be selfish, right?)
Our ways are not God’s ways.
That’s why we need Christ.
Not just to forgive us, but transform us.
To redirect us.
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