The Bravest Prayer You Can Pray

The Bravest Prayer You Can Pray

Mark Batterson is the pastor of the National Community Church in Washington DC and author of several books, many dive into focus of prayer. I got to hear him speak yesterday, and he said something that I thought would be interest to you hear in the Prayer Coach community.

“The bravest prayer you can pray is the one you prayed a hundred times which God has never answered.”

This quote stood out to me because of how true it felt. Batterson told about his personal struggle with asthma. Every day of his life he carried around a handheld inhaler that contained medicine he needed to help him breathe in case of an asthma attack. For over forty years there was very few days that went by where he didn’t need this device. His personal brave prayer was for healing.

It’s Easy To Give Up

You can imagine how easy it would be to give up on that prayer. Forty years he had been praying off and on for this, and each time there was no difference in his condition. Insanity is often defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That is what prayer can often feel like.

For many years I had struggled with pornography. Certainly God would want to answer my pray for healing of this addiction. And yet, year after year the struggle continued. My wife has had troubles sleeping through the night. It seems such a simple prayer request to answer (as said by someone that sleeps well). Still, that particular prayer goes unanswered.

Sure, we understand God may have His reasons for delaying the answer to some prayers or not answering others. The point is we are tempted to give up all together. We feel like the repetitive gong, where we are annoying God with a request He obviously doesn’t want to answer.

Hang On To The Goodness of God

At some point we need to let go of our frustration and hang on to the goodness of God. It takes brave prayers to continue believing God wants to answer your request. Have you given up praying about something because it seems that God doesn’t what to answer it? I want to encourage you to hang on – your prayers are not going unnoticed. God always rewards faith (Hebrews 11:6).

I would love to hear from you. What are some prayers that are hard for you to continue to pray? What are some prayers that God finally answered? Please send me both. I would love to come alongside you in prayer. And, it would be great to share your answers to prayers to the other readers to encourage them to continue trusting God in their circumstances.
I look forward to hearing from you.

If you purchase any of Batterson’s books from these links, Amazon will give me about 1% of the sale. Small things like this help me keep the prayer coach site up. Thank you.