In the last month, I have found myself praying bold prayers. Specific prayers. Prayers where you know whether they get answered or not. Praying bold prayers like that is hard.

Praying Bold Prayers – Photo Credit: Public Domain via Pixabay

It is easy to quickly blurt out a specific prayer when you are alone and you are not sure you really mean it. But then, that is hardly prayer, and it is not bold at all. When you actually take a minute and consider what you wish to ask of God, and then humbly bring your request to God it takes a lot more boldness to be specific.

Scriptures are peppered with that kind of bold praying though. Just today I was reading through the book of Daniel. He prays a lot of bold prayers.

Daniel is praying bold prayers

It must take a whole ‘nother kind of boldness to pray specific prayers when your life depends on it. When King Nebuchadnezzar has dreams and none of his wisemen, magicians, sorcerers and enchanters can interpret them, he orders that they all be killed.

When the executioner gets to Daniel, he asks for a few days and says that he will interpret the dreams. He gets a few days, and so he goes to his house to pray. Can you imagine how bold that kind of praying would be? I would’ve been tempted to just sneek out the back door and run. Change my name, my clothes, and go hide. But no, Daniel really believes God can interpret the dream and so he asks God to.

Trusting God big time

Same thing with his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When they refuse to bow before the idol as the king commands, they tell him right there that they feel no need to defend themselves, that their God is able to deliver them from him. Man, that is one big time, bold faith. And guess what, God does deliver them. They get thrown into a fire so hot it kills the guys that throw them in. But praying bold prayers brings God’s angel into the fire with them, and they don’t even smell of fire when they come out.

Later, Daniel himself finds himself at odds with his leadership peers and they figure the only way to get to Daniel is by tricking the king into decreeing Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den. And God again comes through for him. Listen to this: “And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” I love that. Such a powerful way to put it. Kind of like saying: “Of course he wasn’t hurt. He trusted God.”

Praying bold prayers takes relationship

Every one of these stories makes me wonder why I have such a hard time believing that God desires to come through for me. These stories make it sound like it is a given that God is good and that He looks out for those that trust Him. That kind of trust and faith in God can only come from actually knowing God as Father.

That is a relationship, not a religion or a set of beliefs. That is the kind of trust a healthy relationship between a father and his daughter brings out. We believe in that kind of a good father amongst us human beings, yet we have a hard time believing in that kind of a good father when it comes to our Heavenly Father. Even after we say we believe that God is good, and that He Himself is Love.

Wow, I certainly still need to know God better to trust Him like that. Do you trust God as your Father? Or do you have an easier time trusting your earthly father even though he is not perfect? I believe that when we get to know our Father who is in heaven in a relational way, our faith grows. It says in the Bible that faith works by love. I can see how it would.