Pray Big

John 14:13

Our son never really asks for high-ticket items, with the exception of PS5 games. There is no way I am paying that amount of money for Madden unless he is getting a guaranteed contract with the NFL!

Besides those games, his asks are usually pretty reasonable. And sometimes, when we're shopping and he picks up the smaller version of something, I'll tell him, "Get the bigger one."

He always looks a little surprised. In his mind, the smaller one was enough. Had I not stepped in, he would have settled for less simply because he didn't realize another option was there.

We often approach God the same way.

We have a need, a desire, or a situation we desperately want Him to change, and we pray, but our prayers are limited by what we think is possible. "God, if You could just fix this little part..."

Meanwhile, we serve the God who sees the whole picture.

Jesus says in John 14:13, "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

Now before somebody starts praying for a mansion, a dream car, and Powerball numbers, let's talk. Jesus was not handing us a blank check. Praying in His name means our prayers line up with who He is and what He is doing. And notice how the verse ends: "that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

The goal of prayer isn't getting bigger things. It's trusting a bigger God.

Ephesians 3:20 says God is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think. But in context, Paul isn't promising bigger and better stuff. He prays that believers would be strengthened by the Spirit, rooted and grounded in love, able to grasp the greatness of Christ's love, and filled with the fullness of God.

That makes the verse even more powerful. Sometimes the "more" God wants to do isn't around us. It's within us.

We may be asking for one specific answer while God is doing a work in us that is greater than the answer we had in mind.

My son thought the smaller one was enough. His dad and I could see something better. And plenty of times I've come to God asking for my version of "enough," only to find His plan looked completely different from mine, and it was far better.

(And yes, sometimes a good parent says no to the game. Our Heavenly Father says no too, and He knows exactly why.)

So pray.

Pray boldly.
Pray specifically.
Pray expectantly.

But most of all, pray surrendered. Not "God, give me something bigger," but "God, give me what You want me to have, because You see what I can't."

We serve a limitless God. So pray big.