Not Finished Yet - I Am a Work In Progress - Be Patient With Me

I don’t know about you, but reading the Bible I found many bold, sometimes almost crazy prayers. Here is Joshua for example – who in his right mind would have the guts and the boldness to ask God to hold the sun still until they defeat their enemies?

On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon. So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and did not set as on a normal day - Joshua 10:12-13

I was reading and wondering how many of us, called the children of God had ever asked God for any kind of crazy, totally unthinkable things?

How often we have these, I call them “just prayers", like:”God could you just provide enough for paying this month’s bill?” “God, could you just please forgive my sins”, “God just help me pass the class”, “God just …. Fill in the blank”. The reason we pray “just” prayers is because we think less of God then what he is capable. (Actually what is what he is no capable?) Do we really believe that He is the creator of the universe, the one who said – Let it be – and suddenly there it was: the stars in the sky, the sun, the moon, the oceans, the rivers, the mountain, it was all he said – Let it be – Do we believe that our God is a Mighty God, he is the Lord of Heavens Armies???

I often speculate how we’ll react in Heaven when we’ll find out that we missed so much, just because we never had the boldness to ask amazing things.

If you thing about God as a small God, a God who is just enough to go by – you will pray accordingly.

If you believe that God is for you, and he is more than able to grant your heart’s desires – you will pray accordingly.

Do you really believe that you are a child of the only true God? Not one of these little so called gods. But, the God who loves you so much that he gave his son, so that if you believe in Jesus Christ, you will be called a son/daughter of God!

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus – Galatians 3:26

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ – Ephesians 1:5 

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins – Ephesians 1:7

Do you get it? Do you understand how much God loves you? That he made a way – not just any kind of way, but the only way – he sacrificed his only son, Jesus Christ – to ransom you because he loves you. If someone loves you this much, don’t you think that he wants your best?

Why is it then than millions of so called Christians never come boldly in the presence of God and asked him for the impossible?

Think about this for a moment: When God parted the red sea – it wasn’t Moses’ boldness, but Gods initiative. God told him to stretch out his rod above the read see. When Joshua crossed the Jordan River, again it wasn’t Joshua’s initiative, God told him to step in the Jordan and as soon as they touched the river the water departed. This time on the other hand, Joshua asked the unthinkable.

When you need help, you always go to the person whom you think is capable of helping, don’t you? You rarely ask someone for help if you are not sure that they are able to deliver and help. Here come the question then: Who is God to you?

God wants us to trust him enough to ask him the impossible. God is the God of more than enough.

Now all glory to God, who is ABLE, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more then we might ask or think - Ephesians 3:20

It’s not us doing mighty thinks, is God’s mighty power within us. But please understand God chose to use us, and to partner with us to do those impossibly seeming things. God was fighting for Israel that day when Joshua prayed, it was His victory, but I wonder…what IF, Joshua would have never prayed that prayer? The story would have fold differently. God will accomplish his plans, with or without our cooperation, yet God chose to use his children to accomplish the unbelievable in this word.

The Bible says that

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.- Hebrews 4:16

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, … let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.- Hebrews 10:19,22

Through Jesus Christ and his sacrifice we have direct access to God. When we ask God to forgive our sins, he does … he makes us clean, makes us whole and holy and we can go boldly in God’s presence and we can ask him boldly, because he is our Father and it gives him pleasure to bless us.

As parent you can relate to that, it feels great to give your kids their heart’s desires; you want to bless them, because you love them. If you ever gave your kids something they would never have the guts to ask, you know that overwhelming joy you as a parent have to just love on your kids. That’s same with God.

And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land. –Jeremiah 32:40-41.

For long years I had a hard time to ask God anything big. I had these “Just” prayers. “God if you could just please forgive me” – God replied – Well Piri I did. Months later I would pray the same prayer and God would say … I forgave you first time you asked. It’s hard to accept and get drunk in God’s mercy and grace. It’s hard to accept that undeserved love, but until we don’t accept God’s forgiveness we’ll never be bold enough to pray bold prayers.

If God is just a small God for you, if you don’t believe he is able and capable, you will never come boldly to him. It’s not about you, it’s not about your worthiness – it’s all because of Jesus Christ. But when you really get that, when you accept your role as a child of the one true God, the creator of the universe, the Lord of heaven’s armies … you will learn to ask the boldest prayers ever.

God gave me this amazing picture to understand how should I relate to him as my Father (after having a hard time as a child with my own father), but not any kind of Father, a loving yet powerful, absolutely capable Father.

Obama’s daughters have access to the word most powerful man, in ways no other people ever will have. When those two little kids before they go to bed sit in their dad’s lap, they know that they can ask for anything: their dad is powerful, has connections, people around him look for each move to meet his orders, he is one of the most powerful people in the word, the president of the United States … yet, for those two little girls - he is their daddy. Do you think those girls ask him things what you and I would never dear to ask? It’s all about the relationship is between them. The girls call Obama dad … others call him President. Who do you call God?  Who is the most powerful, all mighty God to you?

God wants that intimate relationship with us. We are his beloved children. Yet, he wants us to understand that he is powerful, he is able to do more then we can think or ask. Before we ever ask anything he knows our needs and wants, yet he waits for us to come boldly to him. He is not abusive or controlling; he wants us to trust him enough, to know him well enough to come boldly, without fear of rejection and ask.

Questions: When was the last time you ask God some unthinkable things – for others, or even for yourself? Do you have the tendency to pray “just” prayers?