Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus Was Never Meant to Be Safe

by Craig Groeschel

Instead of living a meh life, small acts of faith teach us to depend on God. They draw us close to him. They build our trust.

God, I give you my mind. Please guard my thoughts. Help me take captive any thought that is not from you to make it obedient to Christ and all your truth.

Lord, help me guard my heart, as I know it can easily deceive me. Purify my motives in all that I do. May my only goal be to serve and please you.

Use me. My life is completely yours. May your will become my will. Your plan, my plan.

Because of who you are—my God, my King, my Savior, I trust you. Because you are sovereign over the universe, I surrender my will to you, every part of me.

What we pray about is important. But not only is it important, it’s also revealing.

If most of our prayers are for “ourselves” or “what matters to us,” then the content of our prayers communicates that we believe, deep down, that God exists primarily for us.

Answer honestly. If God said yes to every prayer you prayed in the last seven days, how would the world be different?

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes; and to push back the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

Instead of craving a life of comfort, I’ve found joy in serving the needs of others through daily acts of faith.

It’s time to pray with courage, to risk, to open yourself up to a different path to a better destination.

Once you know God so well, you won’t want to wait for him to send you. To use you for his purposes to serve and to love, to minister and to give, to forgive and to heal.

When you pray dangerously, your life simply can’t remain the same.