A Fresh Perspective on Prayer

5 Days

Come What May

Day 5

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On the final day of our study, Louie Giglio reminds us of a powerful story in the book of Acts, where when confronted with violence, schemes, and plots, the Apostles Peter and John prayed a powerful prayer, not asking God to change the situation, but asking for God to use them powerfully amidst the situation.

Summary

Just like in Acts 4:29, when we face a difficult situation, instead of telling God what to do, we can remember we are His children, He is God, and trust Him. We, too, can ask God to "consider the threats, enable your servants."

Just look at what happens after Peter and John pray this prayer, a prayer not to change the circumstances but to empower them to do God’s will.

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.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Acts 4:31-35

Peter and John’s prayer in the middle of persecution, a prayer of surrender and empowerment, was a plea for God to accomplish His will, not their own, and He did. Herod and Pontius Pilate had conspired against them, but what they meant for evil, God used for good. The word of God was flung far and wide, and generosity sprung up.

So, today, in your circumstances, amidst all that may be happening, are you praying as a loved child? Are you pausing to remember who you are praying to? And are you willing to not just pray for the answer but to pray for God to use you as a part of the answer?

Are you praying for God to change the situation, or are you praying for Him to change you?

This is the mindset that He is calling you to internalize. Write this down, and keep it somewhere you can see it often:

I want to be constantly aware that my Father is the Sovereign King, and He looks after me, but He’s also ruling everything. I don’t give Him directives. I ask Him to direct me, and more than asking for answers, I ask to be the answer so that earth can see heaven in me.

There may be days when it doesn’t look like God is looking after you, but remember that all of us walk by faith and not by sight, and despite what we can see with our eyes, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that even a trying situation will result in the best outcome.

And so we will pray for God: To moveTo healTo deliverTo bring salvation To bring peaceTo bring lightTo break chainsTo open doorsTo break strongholdsTo release kingdom truth in power and love

But MORE than to ask for answers, we will ask to BE the answer. We’ll move from asking God to do something to asking God what He wants us to do so that on Earth, the people around us will see Heaven in us.

What's Next?

Write this down, and keep it somewhere you can see it often: “I want to be constantly aware that my Father is the Sovereign King, and He looks after me, but He’s also ruling everything. I don’t give Him directives. I ask Him to direct me, and more than asking for answers, I ask to be the answer so that earth can see heaven in me.”

Have you been asking God to change a situation in your life? If so, is there a shift in perspective that you can embrace and instead ask God to empower you to be the change?
Have your thoughts on prayer changed at all? Have you strengthened your relationship with your Father and deepened your faith?

Scripture References

9. “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,10. your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

3.And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4.Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5.Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard 6.and said: “Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7.Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8.They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9.‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’10.“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11.See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 12.Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

23.On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24.When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25.You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “ ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?26.The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.4:26 That is, Messiah or Christ’4:26 Psalm 2:1,227.Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28.They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29.Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

11.I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12.His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13.He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14.The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15.Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”19:15 Psalm 2:9 He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16.On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.

41.He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42.“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

29.Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Louie Giglio

Louie Giglio is the Visionary Architect and Director of the Passion Movement, comprised of Passion Conferences, Passion City Church, Passion Publishing and sixstepsrecords, and the founder of Passion Institute.