I have pondered on last Wednesday’s blog post all week. Namely, the part I mentioned about setting goals beyond our own natural abilities. It has caused me to consider if my level of goal setting mirrored my level of prayers. Because as hard as it is to admit, I have gone through seasons where my prayer life only consisted of small prayers. The safe prayers. 

I don’t want to risk failure or miss the mark. Or even more frequently, I don’t want to be disappointed God didn’t answer a prayer as I had wished. So, it is safer to pray for a “good day” or a “productive day” instead of the bold “Lord, disrupt my day with a big assignment from You” kind of prayer.

Twenty-one years ago, when we lived in Oklahoma City, I started feeling God call me to write and speak. I had no idea what that looked like, and frankly, I thought I was being absurd. At the time, Mart Green was our Sunday School teacher. One Sunday after the class, I impulsively asked Mart if I could talk to him about what I thought God was saying to me.

The next day I packed up my six-month-old baby boy and went to Mart’s office for a visit. The timing of my confused rambling in Mart’s office coincided with him being in the midst of obeying a big task God had called him to do. We all knew Mart had been working on the documentary and then the movie, The End of the Spear. I just dumped everything on him that I felt like God was stirring in my heart and included that it all sounded so crazy.

Many people did not know that God had called Mart to make this movie, yet Mart had never actually been to a movie theater to watch a movie. Did that seem absurd? Absolutely. Did he obey God anyway? Absolutely. And as a result, Mart’s prayers and new goals were most definitely beyond his natural abilities.

I wish I could say I scooped up my little guy and walked out of that office with a resolve to pray bigger, obey without hesitation, and make this behavior a lifestyle and not a passing moment of inspiration. It didn’t take long to shrink back to letting fear and uncertainty guide me back to the small, safe prayers. Unfortunately, God and I have been doing that dance for decades now. Less frequently, but it still happens.

I wonder if you also struggle with setting goals, praying prayers, or trusting God only to the limits of your own natural abilities? I’m trusting I am not alone in my plight here. However, I am thankful for my progress in this area. I am even more grateful for God’s patience and mercy as He and I have the same conversation over and over. I swear it must seem like it plays on a loop at times. He says, “Go,” and I ask, “Are you sure you are talking to me?”

When I digress back to the small goals and safe prayers, the problem can always be identified as the same. I measure how likely something is possible based on what I can do in my own power. I am calculating the level of difficulty based on my strength. The Bible tells us that nothing is too difficult for God. Nothing is impossible for Him. In Mark Batterson’s book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, he says, “There is no big or small, easy or difficult, possible or impossible. When it comes to God, there are no degrees of difficulty. There are no odds when it comes to God. All bets are off.” My favorite part of that is “When it comes to God, there are no degrees of difficulty.” I needed to hear that again.

So, what is the solution to keep us exercising this deeper faith, praying bolder prayers, and readily obeying God when it takes us outside our comfort zone? I believe it is to keep our eyes focused on God. I am reminded of the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. It wasn’t until he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the winds and the waves did he start to sink (Matthew 14:25-32). Verse 31 says it all. It reads, “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith, he said, “why did you doubt?”

Oh, man. Why do we doubt? I am sure we all have our reasons. But I know God is superior to any reason we have. Maybe we can ponder on this as we spend time with the Lord each day. Maybe we can dare to pray for an assignment beyond our abilities, outside of our comfort zone. Maybe we can brave the winds and step onto the waters with Jesus.

Thank you for being a part of the UBW community. You matter to God, and you matter to us.