I was speaking with a very good friend of mine a few weeks ago over a beer and some hot wings and he mentioned to me that he recently heard this message about praying big. As the conversation progressed I asked him, "Do you have a particular sin in your life that you have tried to beat and overcome, only to be pulled back down by it time and time again?"
His reply was, "yes".
I said, "Can I ask you another question?"
"Sure"
"Do you think it is possible to be 100% free of that sin by the end of 2010?"
He laughed and said, "No"
I said, "Can I ask you another question?"
"Sure"
"Do you think God is capable of anything?"
"Absolutely!", he said.
The point being that as Christians, we can't believe both. We can't believe that on one hand, God is the Alpha and the Omega, creator of Heaven and Earth, the great "I AM", and on the other hand think that there is now way God is big enough to remove some sin in our lives.
We can't believe what Paul said in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, and at the same time believe that our problem is too large for God to rid us of.
I went home later that night and as I sat on the couch, I posed the same questions to myself.
Would it be possible for God to flush pride completely out of my system by the end of 2010? You see, you can fool people anytime you want to, but when it's just you and God, there is no fooling. Knowing that I can't fool God, I had to honestly answer that question with a "no".
I was basically saying, "God I know you're big, but you have no idea how hard it would be to flush pride out of me…..it can't be done".
It bothered me all night long.
I woke the next day and listened to a message by Andy Stanley called "Pray Big". The essence of the message was that most of the time as Christians we pray about little things that regardless of weather or not we prayed about them, would most likely work themselves out anyhow. In other words, pray big. Why not pray for things that there is no way you can do on your own. That way, if God so chooses to come through in that way, you will know that it had to be God and he will get the glory for it.
I was reading in Isaiah this morning in chapter 7. God was using Isaiah to speak to King Ahaz and He said, "Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm". God also said something to the effect of "test me with something as big as the Heavens".
After letting everything soak in I decided to start praying freakin' BIG. So right now I am praying that by the end of 2010 that God rids me 100% of pride.
You might be reading this and thinking something like this: "That sounds good Tom but you have no idea how bad this particular sin is in my life…there is no way I can be rid of it….it will always be there".
I would then say to you: Then you don't know my God!!!!
James 4:2 ……you do not have because you don't ask God.
So what are you gonna pray for freakin' big this year?
