Big, Bold, Audacious Prayer

Mark 11:22-24

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

  • KJV - whatever you desire 

  • We have been taught that we can only pray for our needs, but Jesus says we can ask for whatever. 

  • Ask - to invite, to request, to petition, to call for

  • Share when a pastor challenged me on praying for Daniel to win.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

  • We don’t know much about Jabez except that the circumstances around his birth were possibly painful, and he prayed a bold, audacious prayer. 

1. Bless Me Indeed

  • Bless - An empowerment to prosper; 

  • Bless me indeed is greater than bless me. 

  • Indeed means to amplify a previous statement; to make greater or stronger

  • When you are blessed, there is no limit to how much you can prosper. 

Proverbs 10:22

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.

2. Enlarge my territory

  • Increase my influence.

  • Increase my vision. 

  • Expand my opportunities.

  • Increase my responsibility 

  • Give me greater capacity to impact others.

  • Take my life beyond the status quo.

  • Free me from paycheck to paycheck living

  • Free me from fear and anxiety

Isaiah 54:1-6 MSG

Clear lots of ground for your tents!  Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep. You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities. Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short.

3. Your hand with me

  • “The hand of the Lord” is God’s power, presence, favor, guidance, and protection at work in the lives of His people.

  • God’s hand is symbolic. God is Spirit, so the phrase doesn’t refer to a physical hand. It represents His divine activity and intervention in your life. 

  • The hand of the Lord will enable you to do what you could never do in your own strength.

  • The hand of the Lord produces visible results.

  • Doors open when God’s hand is on your life

4. Keep me from evil

  • Jabez prayed for protection:

  • From temptation, from distraction, from pride, from sin, from anything that would hinder God’s purpose

  • Matthew 6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.

  • John 17:15 TPT I am not asking that you remove them from the world, but I ask that you guard their hearts from evil

  • When God expands your territory, Satan increases his attacks because he fears the impact your life will make.

5. May not cause pain

  • And use me for Your glory.

  • Remember, His mother named him “He Will Cause Pain” 

  • Jabez’s life contradicted his name

6. God granted him what he requested 

  • This is the most remarkable part. God said yes.

  • The Holy Spirit included this statement to show us that God was pleased with this prayer.

  • This answered prayer tells us that God is willing, ready, and enthusiastic to answer big, bold, audacious prayers.

4 Key Lessons from Jabez

  1. Don’t let your past define your future.
     Jabez was born in pain, but did not live in pain.

  2. Pray bold prayers.
     God is not intimidated by big requests.

  3. Expect God to increase your influence.
     Not for ego, but for Kingdom impact.

  4. Depend on God’s hand.
     Expansion requires divine empowerment.

Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ 

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

The Magnitude of the Request

I’ve heard an illustration about Napoleon that makes a powerful point. While historians don’t appear to have verified the story, legend has it…

Napoleon and his soldiers overcame an island in the Mediterranean Sea. They had fought for many days to take the island and finally succeeded. 

After the capture of the island at the price of many lives, Napoleon and his generals gathered for a celebration. 

As they were sitting around a great table, talking about the victory, they were interrupted by a young officer.

Napoleon looked at him and said, "What do you want?" 

The young man looked at Napoleon and said, "Give me this island!"

The generals began to laugh. 

They could not believe he was forward enough to ask Napoleon for the island that they had fought so hard to win. They thought to themselves, Who does he think he is? Anyone with the audacity to make such a request of Napoleon was certainly putting his own life at risk.

But then Napoleon turned to one of his aides and asked for a pen and paper. He wrote out a deed to the island, signed it, and gave it to the young man, leaving his generals stunned and amazed.

"How could you do it?" one of the generals asked Napoleon. "What made him worthy to receive this great island?"

"I gave him this island," Napoleon replied, "because he honored me by the magnitude of his request."

Psalms‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.

James 4:2

Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

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