Pray First – Dangerous Prayers

"Prayer is how we write history before it happens." - Mark Batterson
How many of us believe in the power of prayer?

Do we actually pray like it?

James 5:16 //  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)  //  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

“The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.” - Mark Batterson
Following Jesus was never meant to be safe.
3 Dangerous Prayers

Acts 4:8-10  //  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
Acts 4:13  //  When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Idiōtai - Ordinary

Acts 4:29  //  Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
1. Lord, make me bold.
Acts 4:30-31  //  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Boldness triggers spiritual opposition
Boldness is often the prerequisite for a miracle

2. Lord, search me.
Psalms 139:23-24  //  Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT)  //  “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

What have I rationalized?

Psalm 51:10  // Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
3. Lord, break my heart.

We cannot fix what we cannot see.

Jeremiah 8:18, 21  //  My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken... 21 I hurt with the hurt of my people. I mourn and am overcome with grief.

It’s better to hurt with a purpose than to exist without one.
ASAP vs ALAIT