But let me at least elaborate a bit. We have this sign prominently displayed in our kitchen. And you can't tell from this photo, but in the background the rain is literally pouring down like a wall of water and the wind is blowing and gusting as tropical storm Michael blasts its way through our state. So this seems mighty appropriate to talk about another lesson in a storm.
We got this sign when our daughter, Janie, was in a coma in the ICU, and desperation drove us to pray big, bold prayers as never before. We knew we had nowhere else to turn and apart from God’s intervention, there was no hope. But in the middle of all that, we learned that hard as it is, there’s no better place to be than having to completely surrender and totally depend upon the Lord, moment by moment.
And funny thing. That sign’s been prominently displayed in our kitchen now for over 6 years…yet a few weeks back, our dear brother-in-law asked, “I’ve never noticed that sign before. Is that new?” Frankly, I hadn’t paid any attention to the sign for a good long time either. It sat there proclaiming the most important thing any of us can ever do...but we'd all pretty much grown immune to its presence.
But all that changed, when we learned that my sweet sister-in-law, his wonderful wife, has cancer. Isn't it something how it often takes a storm to wake us up out of our lethargy? Shame on me for growing complacent and for often praying small, namby pamby prayers. Not anymore.
Needless to say, we’re all praying constantly, but being in this hard place has reminded us all anew that we need to be praying big, for we have a big God who can do big things. While we may not know the outcome to our storms, we know our big God is able to heal completely. We know He can do the miraculous and the impossible. We know He can...but we also know that whatever the Lord ultimately does, we can trust Him completely. Because He knows all things, He makes no mistakes, and all His plans and ways are for our ultimate good and His glory.
Our job isn’t to dictate or determine the outcome. Nope, our job is simply to pray big, believe boldly, and then rest in our Heavenly Father, knowing we can leave all the results up to the One who loves us infinitely. As R.A. Torrey once declared, “Pray for great things; expect great things; work for great things, but above all—pray!”
Let me ask a couple of questions that I’ve been asking myself recently: first, if you’re struggling with some kind of adversity right now, are you praising God…or is your praise dependent upon favorable circumstances? Will you choose, this week, this day, by an act of the will, to spend time praising your Sovereign Lord, because He’s forever worthy of your praise. And praising God unleashes incredible power.
And secondly, are you praying big, bold prayers? Our friend Tom, who now leads Young Life here in Raleigh, asks it this way: “If God answered all the prayers you prayed today, would you notice? Would the world notice?” If the answer’s no, then that means you’re not praying big, audacious, this can-only-be-God prayers! Why are earth not?
Seriously, if you’re a believer, then you have the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwelling inside you. You have the Spirit’s dynamite power working in and through you. You have the sovereign Creator and Ruler of the universe loving you, listening to you, and leading you. So praise extravagantly! And pray BIG and boldly!
All I know is that in the storms of life, when there's so much we can't control and don't know, there's nothing more powerful, nothing more freeing, and nothing more comforting than Praying Big to a Big God!
He's got this...He's got this storm...and He's got you in the palm of His nail-scarred, all powerful, all loving hands. Let's pray big and trust Him to do big things!
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20)
To God be the glory.
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