Hello again! I hope you are all doing well and staying safe from all the natural disasters storming the country. Just know if you are facing a fire, hurricane, or other struggles you are in our prayers. Speaking of which, that’s what I want to talk about today: praying for the impossible.
What are you facing today that seems impossible? What is the burden you carry that you cannot go on with, but cannot leave behind? Are you facing physical struggles, like wildfire and hurricane, or maybe illness? Perhaps you’re struggling financially? Are you lonely or sad? Relationship problems? Family problems? We all have something, what is yours?
I want to establish that thing before we go on because I want you to think about it as we continue. The big one. The one that is too big, too deep, too hard for you to handle. The one that really feels impossible. Because that’s the one that God wants use to show you his power, glory and grace with.
It’s not going to be easy, that’s not the promise. These steps aren’t a guarantee to a quicker, better response from God either. The promise is that God can handle it and that REGARDLESS of the outcome of your impossible situation, God will use it for his ultimate glory. Praise be to him alone. In the process of prayer, we are changed, our faith is shaped and we open our eyes the the work of God. So let’s talk about how to keep on praying when what we’re praying for seems impossible.
#1 Keep Praying! Don’t Stop!
1 Timothy 5:16-18 tells us this: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” In other words, God wants us to pray all the time, with praises, thanksgiving and petitions. Sometimes we don’t get a response right away, but that doesn’t mean God’s saying “no” he might just be saying “wait.” Don’t give up on praying even when it gets hard or feels hopeless.
#2 Admit your Weakness
The way we approach God in prayer makes a difference, if not in God’s response, in our own. We have to remember who we are talking to, what he is capable of, and where we fit into that equation. “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10) When you pray, do you lay it at God’s feet knowing that you are too weak to take this on. Do you even lay it down all the way? God doesn’t make a habit of yanking things from our grasp. Have you admitted your weakness to him? Have you completely surrendered to his will?
#3 Find a Mustard Seed
Faith is a key part of prayer. Why do we pray to God, if it’s not because we have faith in him and his abilities. “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”” (Matt. 17:20) Keep the faith as you continue to pray. Remember who you are talking to and what he is capable of.
#4 Pray with Confidence
Pray with confidence that God not only can move your mountain, but that he WILL. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) Move yourself into deeper faith and trust. Have confidence in the God you know. Pray with expectation that he will respond and that his will is going to be done.
This is my prayer for you as you approach the throne of grace with your impossible petition:
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:16-21)
Share in the comments below, what your tips for keeping the faith in times of waiting are? Or share about a time God answered your impossible prayer!
Like the sweet prayer girl in today’s post? You’re in luck, you can find her in the freebie library and print her for your own use!
