This week I had the honor of speaking at BTW High School’s See You at the Pole prayer meeting. The national theme is “Broken” and it is a great reminder that we should have a broken and submissive spirit before the Lord in prayer. It is not until we humble ourselves in Christ that our prayers begin to have any real impact.
In Ephesians 3, we see the Apostle Paul bringing a prayer request to God and he prays BIG. On behalf of the people to whom Paul is writing he asks for inner strength and power through the Holy Spirit (v.16), that Christ would dwell in their hearts (v.17a), that they would be rooted and grounded in love (v.17b), that they would comprehend the immense depth of Christ’s love (vv.18-19a), that they would experience all the fullness of God (v.19b), that God’s glory would permeate their lives (v.21a), and that they would be an influence for Christ to all generations that follow (v.21b). These are God-sized prayers.
We can pray for good health, great riches, or immense success but why bother with such small and temporary desires? It is painfully obvious that health fails, money is easily lost, and success is fleeting. We need to shoot for bigger ideas. Let us pray that God would fill every single person we know with His Spirit. Let us pray that our relationship to Christ would affect the world for generations to come. Let us pray for things that endure the test of time. Paul did.
But wait. There is something to consider. Look what Paul did before He prayed such big prayers: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father” (v.14). Paul humbled himself before the Lord. He followed the example of Christ who was in constant submission to the Father. This is the kind of brokenness we need if we want our prayers answered.
So, let us pray the huge, God-sized prayers. Let us ask that God would use us as members of Eastern Hills to impact the entire world and generations to follow for His glory, but before we do let us be broken before the Lord. Eastern Hills, let’s pray those big prayers, but first, let’s humble ourselves before our big God.
Josh