Read: James 5:16-18, Joshua 10:6-14
In the business world company leaders and visionaries talk about setting Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) for where they would like to see their company in the future. These goals, while not impossible for the company to achieve, are set in order to challenge and to stretch the company to meet them. As Christians we need to be willing to pray Big Hairy Audacious Prayers. If the corporate CEO can be confident in his company’s ability to meet goals how much more can we be confident in our eternal, all powerful God’s ability to answer our prayers?
We see these kinds of prayers throughout Scripture. Prayers that seem humanly impossible and ridiculous, but are more than possible for our all powerful God. James reminds us of one of these Big Hairy Audacious Prayers in James 5. You can read the story in 1 Kings 17-18. Elijah, responding to a time of great wickedness and idolatry in Israel, prays that God would withhold all rain from the nation for three and a half years. God answers this prayer. For three and a half years there is no rain. After the three and a half years, after the incredibly dramatic showdown with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, Elijah prays that God would grant rain to the nation and almost immediately God sends rain on the Earth.
In Joshua 10 we read about another one of these incredible prayers. Joshua, leading the Israelite army in destroying the armies of the pagan Canaanite nations, prays that God would stop the sun in the sky to allow them more time to destroy their enemies. The crazy thing? God answers Joshua’s prayer. God stops the sun in the sky and delayed its going down for hours, allowing the nation of Israel to completely destroy their enemies. Do you believe that our God is able to do this? Do you have this kind of incredible faith in God’s ability and desire to answer our prayers?
It is easy at this point to make excuses. We are not chosen to lead God’s people to great military victory like Joshua. We have not been chosen to be God’s prophet to a wicked nation in the same way that Elijah has. James’ words in verse 17 leave us no room for this kind of thinking, “Elijah was a man just like us.” James makes a point to remind us that Elijah was only a man. The power of his prayers was not found in him, it was found in God. In the same way Joshua did not cause the sun to stand still, God did.
We serve the same powerful God that Elijah and Joshua served. He is just as able to answer Big Hairy Audacious Prayers now as He was in the past. Are we bold enough to pray such prayers? Do we truly have faith enough in who our God is that we can pray such bold, ambitious prayers? Do you pray Big Hairy Audacious Prayers?
Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Pray for all those who don’t know Jesus in your community. Pray that God would work in their hearts and fill them with a desire for Him. Pray that all the believers in your church and in your community would proclaim the gospel boldly and faithfully and that they would be filled with a passion for the lost. Pray boldly that God would fill your church with those who don’t know Him this week and that many would come to faith in Him as a result.
Discussion Questions For Families and Groups
1. What is your understanding of sin? Does it affect your everyday life? Are there areas it doesn’t affect? Discuss.
Where have you overcome in your battle against sin? If able, why not share with one another some of the victories against sin and encourage one another.
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