If you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father.  John 15:7-8 NLT

     I’ve been reading a book called, “Your Powerful Prayers” by Susie Larson. In the chapter “Dare to Ask,” she says that often when hard things happen, we are stopped by emotions such as fear and doubt, or we charge ahead without asking God for help and guidance.

     We want to be powerful in prayer and be used by God, but sometimes we feel like our prayers don’t matter. It’s not that God doesn’t hear or care; sometimes He makes us wait because He’s making us ready. Sometimes our prayers don’t get answered because we get in God’s way. We aren’t praying, we’re planning. We’re not submitting to God, we’re strategizing how to get things done!

     As I was reading this chapter, there was a paragraph that struck a chord so deep in me that I have been reading it daily for three weeks. Yep, just that one paragraph. Here it is:

     “Today open up your hands and ask the Lord to invade your life, to settle your heart, to inspire your dreams, and to carry your burdens. Ask Him to multiply your offering, to open closed doors, to move in the hearts and minds of your loved ones, to foil the plans of the wicked, to establish the plans of the righteous, and to make a way where there’s been no way. Thank Him for all He’s already done in your life. And don’t forget to listen for what He has to say to you now. He wants to impart fresh wisdom, He has a fresh perspective, and He wants to infuse fresh strength in you for the journey.”

     I have thought this through phrase by phrase and prayed through these words line by line. Maybe you will do the same. There are riches from God that are ours for the taking, but we don’t stop to consider how to ask or what to pray. I hope that now you will.

*Write out five or six “impossible” prayers that you long to see God fulfill. Don’t lose hope.

Precious Jesus, I invite You to have Your way in my life, in my story, in my hurts, hopes and dreams. I give You full access to my soul. Please guide and provide and show me what to say and what to pray. I want to pray boldly and expectantly. I want a heart that honors You. In Your name I pray, Amen.


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