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Think Bigger


You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:2-3)

          Sunday morning, Pastor Scott challenged us with the idea of listing ten “Big God Prayers” for the coming year. Those prayers are the sort that we can’t answer. They are also the sort of prayers that a lesser god, like the ones we tend to want to serve, can’t handle. They demand an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, true and living God, and they demand trust and obedience from us. They’re the sort of prayer that I am afraid to pray. It’s not that God can’t do more than all I ask, but that my asking will mean that God has to say “No” because anything I ask is the wrong thing, my motives are wrong – I want it to glorify me, not God.
         Looking back at the four passages that have haunted my life, I think I see a few Big God Prayer possibilities.
          Abraham followed God based on the promise of a land, a seed, and a blessing. Those sound like Big God Prayers. I’m not sure how they’ll translate to my life, but they’re a good place to start. A part of that translation is always that God will give Himself. That is often in my prayers: to sense His presence, to hear His voice, to feel the touch of His hand….
         Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but Thine be done, O Lord.” To me, that feels like a huge God prayer. Not so much huge in His power to give something to me, but Huge in comparison to me and my wants. 
         Paul wrote that “my God shall supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus,” and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” These are the two that feel biggest. Yesterday, I used “need” as my word of the day. The etymology ties the word to one meaning “danger.” It’s not a want. Without it, I’m in trouble.
         I need to take care of Dad for as long as he lives in a way that honors God and him. That’s my most immediate need. To do that, I need health, sanity, wisdom, and a good attitude. I may have other needs that I don’t recognize, but God knows, and they are His to provide.
          I also need hope, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and the armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
         What I may not need, but think I do, is to finish my book and have it become a best seller. If I put it more broadly, however, I think it fits the qualifications of needs: to be creative and/or productive and earn a living. Along with that, I need to contribute to society, to have a purpose, to be of value. 
         If I keep it in terms of my haunting passages, that’s only four Big God Prayers. I need to think bigger!

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