Vital Signs: Sunday, April 27, 2025

Time to Pray Dangerous Prayers

“And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”— Psalm 9:10 (NKJV)

What we pray about is important. But not only is it important—it’s also revealing. The content of our prayers tells us more about ourselves and our relationship with God than we might imagine. What we pray for reflects what we believe about God. If most of our prayers are centered on "ourselves" or "what matters to us," then deep down, we are communicating that we believe God exists primarily for us.

Take a moment and do a prayer audit. Think about everything you prayed for recently—not your whole lifetime, just the past seven days. Consider writing it on a notepad or typing a memo on your phone. List everything you petitioned God to do in the last week.

Take a moment and give it some thought. Do you remember? What did you pray about? What did you ask God to do?

Now answer honestly: If God said yes to every prayer you prayed in the last seven days, how would the world be different? If your prayers were the normal, safe ones, then maybe you would have had a good day, arrived safely, or enjoyed a blessed double cheeseburger, fries, and a Diet Coke.

For years, if I had done a prayer audit, the results would have been dismal. If God had answered everything I prayed for in a week, the world wouldn’t have been much different at all. Honestly, some weeks I wouldn’t have prayed for anything. Other weeks, my prayers were all about me—and that doesn’t change much in the grand scheme of things.

My prayers were too safe. I had access to the Creator and Sustainer of the universe—the Great I Am, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing God who can send fire from heaven, shut the mouths of hungry lions, or calm a raging storm. And all I asked him to do was keep me safe and help me have a good day.

For years, I never wanted to be interrupted. But after praying more dangerous prayers, I discovered that God’s gentle promptings would regularly interrupt my self-centered plans and direct me toward His eternal will.

My faith is stronger. My life is richer. My heart is fuller. Think about what could be different if you prayed with more transparency. If you risked more. If you were more open to what God might do in you instead of just hoping He would do something for you. What if you prayed bolder prayers? Dreamed bigger? Recklessly pursued Jesus with daring, self-abandoned faith?

It’s time to change the way you pray. It’s time to abandon safe, comfortable, predictable, easy-to-pray prayers. It’s time to pray with courage, to risk, to open yourself up to a different path to a better destination. It’s time to start praying dangerous prayers.

It’s time to be disturbed. If you truly want to make a difference on earth, you need power from heaven. If you want your life to matter, it’s time to pray big, bold, audacious prayers.

Seek God and dream big. Refuse to fear failure. Venture out. Trust. Dare. Believe. Your life won’t always feel safe. It will require faith. But without faith, it’s impossible to please God.