BE BOLD
The Normal Prayers of a Normal Person
I’m interested to know what you normally pray about. I’m curious to find out as to whether or not you usually ask for the same kinds of things that I ask for - and I would guess that you do. I oftentimes pray for my family and for the Lord to bless this congregation. I pray specifically for individuals who are hurting physically or members who might be struggling spiritually. I ask that the Lord will give me strength and guidance and wisdom to carry out my responsibilities as a pastor and a father and a husband and every other role he has placed me in. I regularly thank him for the blessings he has given me and I usually ask him to continue to give me those same blessings in the future. In short, I pray the normal, everyday prayers that I would assume almost all of you pray on a daily basis. Nothing too big, nothing too extraordinary, nothing too earth shattering, just the basic requests for the simple necessities of this life.
And I would never want to downplay those good and very God-pleasing prayers that we pray almost every day, but I do wonder why we stop there. I do wonder why we normally only pray for the bare minimum and not for anything more. We might pray that the Lord allows us to be able to pay those bills somehow someway, but we usually don’t pray that the Lord blesses us to such an extent that we are now able to give back to our Lord five times as much as before. We might pray that a loved one is able to recover from an illness or a surgery, but rarely do we pray in that same situation that this person would not only recover but end up stronger and healthier than he/she has ever been in this life. We might pray that the Lord would allow us to make it through a difficult situation, but do we ever pray that instead of just surviving it we actually thrive and grow and mature because of it? I don’t know if we are very bold in prayer. Because sometimes we ask for just enough to scrape by or hang on or fight through. And sometimes we seem a little hesitant to ask for anything more than that.
A Bold Prayer of a Bold Man
The disciple Peter was a man who was anything but hesitant. He was confident, he was brave, he was bold. And you can see that even in his prayers. Listen to what he asked of his Lord one night when they were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee: During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said.
What a bold prayer! What an astounding request! Peter didn’t simply ask that Jesus would calm the wind and the waves. Peter didn’t ask that the Lord might help them safely to the shore. Peter didn’t even ask Jesus to join them in the boat so that they wouldn’t be so scared anymore. Instead Peter actually wanted to come out to him on the water! Peter asked the Son of God, who was in the middle of performing an amazing miracle, to give Peter the ability to do the exact same thing! This was above and beyond the normal prayers of a sinful human being! This was not a timid request! I think that we would all agree that this was a very bold appeal to the Almighty God!
Be Bold in Prayer!
And there’s no reason why we shouldn’t pray like that too! There is no reason why we can’t be just as bold and just as confident in our prayers as Peter was. Because we know who it is we are praying to just like Peter did. We know that we are praying to the one whom Peter saw change water into wine without so much as a blink of an eye. We know we are praying to the one whom Peter saw heal blind people and deaf people, cure those who were demon possessed and raise the dead. We know that we are praying to the one whom Peter just saw feed upwards of 20,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish the night before he had stepped on that boat. Peter knew the kind of God he was approaching in prayer and we have the privilege of approaching that same God. Your God can do anything! Your God has done everything! Be confident when you fold your hands and close your eyes and bow your head. Be fearless in your request! Be bold in prayer!
Walking or Sinking
Of course, Peter wasn’t just bold in prayer, he was bold in believing it too. When Jesus answered his request with a “yes” and told him to come out onto the water to him, Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Peter did not hesitate. He immediately left the relatively safe confines of the boat that he had been protected in all night, stepped out onto the water, and trusted that the Lord would give him the ability to walk right on top of it. What a bold move! Against his better judgment and contrary to the very laws of nature themselves, Peter stepped out onto the chaotic surface of a raging, storming sea and began to walk. Because he knew what his God could do. And he trusted in what his God had said. Peter was just as bold in life as he was in prayer.
Of course, that boldness wavered a bit: When he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Peter’s boldness quickly turned to panic when he lost sight of his Lord. As long as he was looking at his Savior and relying on his Word, Peter was confidently walking on water. But the moment he took his eyes off of his God and began to look at the wind that was whipping through his clothing and the waves that were crashing down all around him, his mind overtook his heart: What was he doing out there! People can’t walk on water! Seasoned fishermen don’t jump out of a boat into the middle of a lake during the height of a storm! It was tough enough on the deck of the ship; now what was he going to do? There was no way he could survive! He was going to die out there! What was he thinking?
When Peter trusted in Jesus’ words, he walked. When he forgot about Jesus’ words, he sank. It was as simple as that. And granted, it was an extreme situation. But the Lord’s words stand regardless of what else is happening. Peter certainly knew that; he just lost sight of it in the heat of the moment. We know that too: we know that the Lord’s words stand no matter what else is happening in our lives; but we also lose sight of the reliability of God’s Word when we are right in the thick of things. And so instead of walking confidently forward, we shrink back and sink. Instead of bravely facing the difficulties and problems of this life, we frantically look around for a way out. Instead of boldly trusting that the Lord knows exactly what he is doing, we begin to worry that we can’t do it or we can’t handle it or we can’t survive whatever lies ahead. It’s not as if the Lord has ever let us down before. And it’s not as if we are unaware about the promises of protection and preservation that he has given to us in his Word. We just seem incapable of trusting him when things don’t go according to plan. It’s one of the basic flaws of our sinful human nature. And we’ll never get rid of it completely in this life until we make it to the next.
“Lord, Save me!”
Peter had to deal with this basic flaw right in the middle of a lake. Can you imagine the great apostle Peter desperately splashing around in the water, submerged by the waves, sprayed by the wind, calling out to Jesus, “Lord save me! Save me!” just moments after he had walked on water right in front of the disciples back in the boat? How quickly the scene changed! A confident Peter one second; a sinking disciple one step later. A feeling of joy and excitement that he had never experienced before to complete terror and alarm. But when Peter cried out in fear, “Lord, save me!” that’s exactly what his Lord did. He reached out his hand, pulled Peter up out of the water, and saved him. The Lord was the one who did not hesitate this time. The Lord did not pause. He immediately rescued Peter on the spot. He did scold Peter a little bit, but only to remind him about what Peter already knew: “You of little faith, why did you doubt? You asked me to perform a miracle on your behalf. I told you to come. I gave you the ability to walk on water. I was standing in front of you the entire time. What happened, Peter? Why did you look away? What made you forget my word? What does this wind or these waves have that I don’t have? O you of little faith, why did you doubt my power, my promises, my love? They have always been here for you. They always will be. And here they are again.”
The Lord has to constantly remind his children that his power, his promises, and his love are always here for us. Because we sink and shrink and think about the worst possible scenarios far too often. And so our Lord, through his written words, gently says to us time and time again, “You of little faith, why did you doubt? I have secured your eternal life by what I have done; what possible reason do you have anything to worry about in this life? I have guaranteed your salvation by the pain I went through; what pain on this earth could make you forget that? I have promised to be with you so that you will never have to undergo something that is too much for you or anything else that would harm your faith; and so what wind or wave, trouble or torment could pull you away from me? I am always here for you. My forgiveness is always available. My hands will forever hold you firmly in their grasp. You do not have to cry out to me, “Lord, save me!” because I already have. But if you do find yourself in a situation that prompts you to call on my name, I will reach out my hand and pull you up. I will save you again - every time.”
Be Bold in Life!
Those are the Lord’s promises to you. And the Lord’s promises prompt us to be bold. Bold in our prayers, but bold in life too. We can weather any storm, we can take on any trouble, we can handle any difficulty because the Lord is standing right there. He has solved every one of our spiritual problems long ago, he has promised to solidify our eternity one day soon, and he is standing right by us every step of the way to make sure we get there. Be bold in this life! Be confident of what your Lord can do! And unflinchingly move forward with a courageous stride knowing that whatever comes your way the Lord can lift you high above it.
The Bible is not a book to boost your self-confidence. It is not one long motivational speech to help you reach your potential or simply a set of moral standards that will make your life better if you can just follow them. But the Bible is a book to boost your Christ-confidence. It does motivate us by the works of our Lord. It does promise us a peace of mind in this life based on what our Savior has sacrificed for you. And so you can be bold! Because your happiness in this life doesn’t rely on you. And your comfort in this life doesn’t rely on you. And your victories in this life don’t rely on you. They rely on your Lord who walks on water and calms storms and constantly reaches out, grabs you by the hand and saves you. Your entire life is in your Lord’s hands. Be bold in it. There’s no reason not to be.
Amen.
“The Lord will rescue us from every evil attack and will bring us safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. - 2 Tim. 4:18
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