Bold Prayers

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Spanish Translation is available

Recently, I was invited to be on a podcast to discuss my book, and it went really well. But something interesting happened the next morning. The woman who does the podcast has a Facebook group where she has a 3 a.m. prayer call. I watched the replay where she started off the call discussing the interview we had, and she said, "God is raising a generation who is BOLD," and when she said that, talking about me, it made me cry. I never saw myself as bold. But I was flattered and honored for her to use such a word. In my eyes, I didn't see it as bold. See, for me, it's an answered prayer to a desperate plea of my heart and because I have a mom who prays for me.

So today that is what I want to talk about. I want to talk about bold prayers.

When the disciple's walked and studied with Jesus they didn't ask him

"Teach us how to preach"

"Or teach us how to do deliverance"

No, they asked Jesus, "Lord Teach us to pray"

It must have been an awesome event to watch Jesus pray, so much so that they asked Him to teach them.

The bible says he withdrew often and regularly, to what.... Pray

Mark 11:24 states, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Its three steps

Pray
Believe
Receive But this is not what we see.

What we see today is that people start off correctly with step one, which is they pray, but then they wait to receive it, which is step three, then they will believe step two. That is not faith; that is confirmation.The steps God gave us are to Pray, Believe, then Receive. That is faith, and the Bible tells us it's impossible to please God without faith.

We all want our prayers answered, right? So we have to get these steps right.

Answered prayers are important.

It reveals that the relationship is real.
God is glorified through Answered prayer
Answered prayer motivates even more prayer
Answered prayer invigorates boldness

So I wanted to find some examples in the bible of people who prayed boldly and I found alot!

Hannah

Hannah's story in 1 Samuel reveals her heartbreak over infertility. At the temple, she prayed silently, leading Eli to mistakenly think she was drunk. Desperate for a son, she vowed to return him to God if granted one.

This was a bold prayer and promise. After her prayer was answered, she kept her vow and entrusted Samuel to Eli, despite his poor parenting record. Today, we might say she left her son at the church. Hannah's faith was in God, not Eli, as she placed her joy and heart in God's hands, knowing she would have to part with Samuel. She prayed, believed and received.

Daniel

During Babylon's dominance, Daniel was taken from Israel to Babylon. His wisdom earned him a prominent political role. After Persia conquered Babylon, Daniel continued to serve, but his favor with the king sparked jealousy among the Persian princes. They convinced the king to issue a decree forbidding prayer to any god except himself for thirty days, with disobedience punishable by being thrown into the lions' den. Despite this, Daniel prayed three times a day, leading to his arrest and subsequent punishment. However, God protected him by shutting the lions' mouths. He prayed, believed and received.

The Overcrowded House

This narrative is found in Mark 2:1-12. It tells the story of friends who believed Jesus could heal their paralyzed companion. When they arrived at the house, they were met with a crowd blocking their way to Jesus. Instead of turning back, they took their paralyzed friend to the roof, made an opening in a stranger's roof, and lowered him down to Jesus' feet. That was a daring act. It's not every day you break into someone's home. They prayed, and believed so much they broke the law, and received more than they had hoped for.

Because Jesus responds with a bold answer and not only heals the man but also forgives him of his sins when he didn't even repent.They prayed, believed and received.

Women who was bleeding

12 years she bled, and when she found out that Jesus was near, you have to remember that the law prohibited this woman from mixing in public places. She was unclean, and everyone she touched made others unclean. Yet she moved through all these people just so she could touch the hem of his garment. What kind of faith is so bold that it is willing to defile even the Son of God to get an answer? She prayed, believed, and received.

Everyone wants the miracle, but few are ready to do what it takes to get it.
Some people want a baby but they don't want to let people see them cry before the Lord.
Some people want to see God's hand close the mouth of the Lion but they dont want to get in trouble with the law.
Some people want to see their loves ones healed but few will do what it takes to get them to Jesus.
Everyone wants to see the red sea part but few want to the Egyptian army chasing them down.

But when you are desperate for the baby, desperate to keep your relationship with God, desperate for forgiveness, desperate for healing, you do whatever it takes. Is your prayer life fervently and desperately believing in a miracle or have you given up and wonder why your life lacks, "hearing from God"

Your probably thinking, I dont want to be desperate for anything. I would prefer accepting my reality as is and hiding right here in the church where others hear from God. God knows my heart, if he wants He will answer. Listen you have an answered prayer already! God already sent his son to restore the relationship, the ball is in your court.

But let's address this why are you scared?

Because you're scared of what "man" would think or do? So I asked God, what do I say?

Do you remember when David was serving Saul in the palace? Saul was telling his son and his guards to kill David. But David fled to a place called Naioth at Ramah, where Samuel was. This place was a school for prophets. It was like running to church.

When Saul sent the first set of guards to go get David, they got to to Naioth to find Samuel and the prophets prophesying, then the spirit of the Lord fell upon them and they began to prophesy. So Saul sent another group and when they got there it happened again, so he sent another group and that group also encountered the spirit of the Lord and began to prophesy. So Saul took it upon himself to go to Naioth at Ramah and when he got there, he too encountered the spirit of the Lord. But something interesting happened to Saul, the scripture tells us 1 Samuel 19:24He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

In a time when your clothes identified who you were and distinguished your status, Saul wore kingly robes. But before God, he had to take them all off, stripping away his status and making him a mere man. He was nothing and no one to fear when the Spirit of God came upon him.

What you fear, and what intimidates you will be stripped away before God.

There is nothing to fear. God has the final say, and you have to believe that.

To much of the church is hiding in the church due to fear, when we are called to live boldly in relationship with the God who has victory over it all.

Victory over the barren,
Victory over the Lions Den
Victory over the circumstances and the sins
Victory over the diagnosis

Jesus is the answered prayer that should motivate us to pray more and invigorate Boldness!

My question to you is, do you believe that God is going to answer your prayer?

Or are you an unbelieving believer.

Is that it, are you an unbelieving believer, have you confessed this?

The scripture tells us in 1 John 1:9:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness".

Now, I would like to clarify that there are times that God does not answer our prayer. When?

1). When we do not confess our sins. When we are not right with God. The scripture tells us in

1 John 1:9:"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Psalms 66:18: "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened."

2). When our prayers do not align with Him. (1 John 5:14-15).14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. Simply put, sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers because we are praying for the wrong things.

3). When we asked with the wrong motivation. James 4:3 says “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions”. In other words, sometimes God doesn’t grant us our request because we ask with the wrong motives. Even if the thing we’re asking for may be good—in its own right—God doesn’t want to honor a heart asking from the wrong motivation.

If you are right with God, if you believe that your prayer align with God and your motivation is correct, then let be bold and courages in our prayer life. Lets trust God. He is more compassionate and more powerful that we can comprehend.

I am going to conclude with a true story.

As you know I wrote a book. This was not an easy book to write, this is 25 years in the making. I was standing up there in the media booth when I heard His voice, I scrambled for paper and I wrote each chapter name and scripture associated with each chapter down. Last year I decided to release chapter one online for everyone to read. I did alot of research and they told me this would cause excitement so when you release the book people would want to buy the book right away. And my goal was to get this book in the right hands, so I had to stir up social media talk about it. What they did not brace me for was how someone from my past would call me to say that my dad had touched her. I thought at the time I handled it gracefully, I even apologized to her as my father's seed, his daughter. Cause he's gone, she is never going to get the apology she deserves and I wanted to give her that. I was so proud of myself till I realized that she's older than me and when I did the math it occured to me that it happened to her before it happened to me. And in our alone time, me and my family had to grieve all over again. This broke us. Then the whisper came while I was grieving, "Had she said something your life would have been different" And in reality I probably would not have been born had she said something so it was irrelevant but in my pain and grief I became angry.

That was the open door the enemy needed. I was tormented day and night and then began to question every male figure in my life. The things that passed through my mind made me sick of the men in my life that were good men. By the forth day in my heart I wanted to seperate Joey and he did nothing to me. His presence disgusted me because my imagination that the enemy was having a field day with brought forth disgust with the man God ordained to lead my family and home. It was in the shower that I cried out loud to God for help and I heard him say, "Tell Joey" and I was like. Nooooooo. I cant do that, he will think I am crazy. This is all amunition that he could use against me and while I cried I didn't audibly hear it, I felt it. "I'm not asking you to trust Joey, I am asking you to trust me that gave you Joey"

So I got out of the bathroom, walked straight to Joey and confessed all the ugliness that was happening in my mind and heart. I thought for sure he would be disgusted and offended that I would even think that way. Instead he asked, How can I help? And I said, Pray for me. He said ok, but he did not pray. He went on that day to study "how to pray" . By the time I saw him he had the table filled with books and I didn't want to talk to him, I just went to bed. But while I slept, Joey took everything that he learned and laid hands on me and prayed. He prayed boldly believing, and he said I looked like I was struggling in my sleep. He said he prayed for 30 minutes while I struggled in my sleep. Then he ended the prayers, "God confirm to me it's done".

Meanwhile I am dreaming that I am injured in bed laying right next to some random jokester and Joey walks in and tells him to get out. This random man looks at me as if he is looking for some affirmation to stay and I respond, "Joey is my husband and he told you to get out" and he left. That morning I woke up feeling amazing but not understanding my dream, but when i told Joey he knew exactly what it meant. I was delivered from a tormenting spirit because my husband prayed a bold prayer. He prayed, believed then received.

I want you to remember this when you see someone who has NO ONE PRAYING FOR THEM.

But it took the act of confession to show Joey he needed to step in. I'm not talking to the world, I am talking to the church.

What is keeping you from praying Bold prayers?
Is there something you need to confess?
Are we a church who prays, waits to receive, then believes?
Or are we praying and believing receiving church.

If you struggle with believing what the word of God says, He is still faithful. We can change the way we pray.

If you have been praying and lost hope in the prayer being answered and you are on the verge of giving up this message is to encourage you, DON'T GIVE UP HOPE.

Hope this message encourages you to be Bold in your prayers