Prayer: The Christian's Oxygen
This blog is created from Ps Dan’s message Ready in Prayer from our Are you Ready Series
In our spiritual journey, prayer is not just a Christian duty—it's our very lifeline. Like oxygen, we can't survive without it. Yet too often, we reduce prayer to quick whispers before meals or treat it as an emergency hotline when life goes wrong. While these practices have their place, true prayer as depicted in Scripture is raw, intimate, confessional, bold, and world-shaking.
The early church didn't have big budgets, fancy buildings, or slick programs. What they had was prayer, fueled by the Holy Spirit. It was their engine, their weapon. In Acts 4, when the apostles were arrested, beaten, and told to stop preaching in Jesus' name, they didn't huddle in fear. Instead, they prayed with boldness, and the place was filled with the Holy Spirit and shaken. They went out preaching the gospel with renewed vigor, seeing more people healed. That's the power of prayer we're called to embrace.
Humble Prayer: The Foundation
"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
This famous verse on prayer begins with humility. James 4:6 reminds us that "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." If we come to God full of ourselves, we can't be filled with Him. Every great move of God in history started with humble prayer—people realizing who God is and who they are not.
Even Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, prayed, "Not my will, but yours be done." Before the cross came His surrender. Philippians 2 tells us He humbled Himself, not considering equality with God something to be grasped.
Humble prayer is like walking into a doctor's office admitting you need help. It's saying, "Lord, I can't, but You can." It's trusting that God desires to meet us more than we desire to meet Him. As Martin Luther said, "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, it's laying hold of His willingness."
Confessional and Surrendered Prayer
When Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer, He instructed His disciples to say, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done." This isn't just a nice phrase—it's a radical surrender. It's saying, "My kingdom go, so Your kingdom can come." It's agreeing with God about who He is, who we are, and what we need.
Confession in prayer goes beyond admitting our sins (though that's crucial). It's also confessing that God is Lord and we are not, that His ways are higher than ours, and that we trust Him with our future even when we don't understand.
Prayer aligns us with God's heart and purposes. Without it, we drift towards self, pride, and control. With it, we align ourselves with God's will. As F.B. Meyer said, "The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer." John Wesley added, "Prayer is where the action is." We take ground spiritually in prayer that we could never take physically without it.
Bold Prayer: Shaking Heaven and Earth
In Acts 4:29-31, we see a powerful example of bold prayer. The disciples, having just been threatened, didn't pray for protection. Instead, they prayed for more boldness to speak God's word and for God to stretch out His hand to heal and perform miracles. They leaned forward in faith and expectation, even in the face of danger.
God responded to their bold prayer with bold power—the building shook, and they went out with even greater courage. This teaches us that when we pray timid prayers, we often get timid results. But when we pray bold, God-sized prayers, we invite God to do what only He can do.
The Hebridean Revival of the late 1940s provides a stirring example of bold prayer. Two elderly sisters, Peggy and Christine Smith (84 and 82 years old, respectively), began praying desperately for revival in their land. Night after night, they cried out, "Lord, would you do it again? Would the islands be shaken with your power?" Their persistent, faith-filled prayers sparked a movement that saw pubs emptied, churches filled, and people coming to Christ even as they walked down the street.
What would happen if we, as believers, started praying such bold, consistent, faith-filled prayers for our communities and nations? When God's people pray with boldness, He responds with power that shakes not just buildings, but communities, nations, and generations.
A Call to Action
James 4:2 challenges us: "You do not have because you do not ask God." Let's not settle for small prayers. Let's be people who call upon God and ask, who pray like the early church: "Lord, would you stretch out your hand and do what only you can do? Would you shake us? Fill us? Send us?"
Are we ready to pray not just polite, safe prayers, but intimate, raw, bold prayers that shake our lives, our families, our towns, and even our nations? God isn't looking for polished words—He's looking for surrendered hearts. He promises that when His people pray, He will hear from heaven, forgive, and heal.
As we reflect on the power of prayer, let's challenge ourselves:
1. Are we praying with true humility, recognizing our dependence on God?
2. Are we surrendering our will to God's in our prayers, saying "Your kingdom come, Your will be done"?
3. What bold prayers are we offering up? Are we praying for revival, for spiritual awakening, for salvation in our workplaces and communities?
4. Are we persisting in prayer, even when breakthrough seems distant?
Let's commit to being a people of prayer—humble, surrendered, and bold. Let's not just go through the motions of faith, but take ground for the Kingdom of God. May we be known as those who truly believe God has more for us, who pray audacious prayers and invite audacious answers. For it's not about us—it's all about Jesus and seeing His kingdom come and His will done on earth as it is in heaven.