Last week, I had a dream that referenced a lady who I went to church with years ago. It was strange that I had not gone to bed with her in my conscious thought. There wasn’t a Facebook memory reminder or post that triggered thoughts of her. I woke up and prayed because the dream was vivid. After praying, I looked her up on socials to see if there was any clue to something being up with her. There was no evidence. I left it alone until I got this persistent thought to reach out and tell her I had a dream and that I prayed. She called a couple days later and asked what I saw. Best believe that what I saw, was what she was going through. We prayed together with the confidence that truly God sees us and cares. He cares enough to invade the dreams of another so that we can be encouraged.
I wanted to share that story because the buildup to that whole scene is a bible study I facilitate. The study is on practicing the essentials of our faith. The week all of this happened was the same week we were studying prayer. We looked at the “mechanics” of prayer meaning what it is, methods, the effectiveness and the required persistence. Now I don’t know if this happens to you, but often the Holy Spirit will be persistent in reminding me about one thing, from an entire week of study, that He wants me to work on. The one thing for me, was in Luke 18:1. ‘One day Jesus taught the apostles to keep praying and never stop or lose hope. He shared with them this illustration:‘
I got stuck on the “never … lose hope” bit. I pray for sure, but hope is something altogether different. In a sermon that same week I heard “prayer on the other side of disappointment is hard and takes faith”. And that for me is the kicker. My hope level changed after my most poignant unanswered prayer. I find that I place things on the table and in essence say “Hey God, I’d like this but ….” The challenging question is how do we continue to pray with hope after the sting of disappointment? The answer, that I am still trying to grab hold of in my heart, is that I need to hope in the One who I’m praying to, not the thing I am praying for. I want to hope for big things again. The Holy Spirit challenged me this week: “Your prayers are basic, pray bigger.”
I believe He let me in on the dream set up to restore my hope again. Truly, if God could give me a dream that led to an encouraging prayer session with my sister in the faith, then why would I believe He doesn’t hear me or want to answer me?
I want to believe big and pray bold prayers not just with words, but with a heart filled with the expectation. My Heavenly Dad wants to give me good and perfect gifts (James 1: 17). My desire is to get to a place where His “no” does not reduce my hope level and increase my fear of putting my true requests on the table with the expectation that I can have it. Nothing is impossible for the one who believes (Mark 9: 23).
As the world taps into this trending concept of “manifesting”, Christians know the deeper truth. We must align our thoughts, emotions and will with God’s word; declare (speak those things that are not as though they were; Rom 4:17) and believe it will come to pass (for nothing is impossible to the one who believes).
I am challenging myself this week to put my boldest requests on the table. Join me. Let’s walk this one through together.
Write Fully Yours
Lady Kavan
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