Bold Prayer in a Fear-Filled World
Wisdom in the Midst of the Crazy
This is Part 2 of a series. You can read Part 1 here:
Introduction
In a world that seems to grow more unpredictable and anxiety-inducing by the day, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and afraid. We worry about the future, our loved ones, and the challenges we face in our own lives. But as followers of Jesus, we have a powerful weapon in the face of fear: bold, persistent prayer.
I've been thinking a lot about what it means to pray boldly, especially in light of the story of Jamie Winship. Jamie is a man who has spent much of his life in some of the most dangerous parts of the world, sitting down with terrorist leaders and militant groups. His goal? To share the love of Christ with them, even at great personal risk.
In one particularly powerful story, Jamie felt led to reach out to a terrorist leader, offer friendship, and tell him about Jesus. Despite the fact that some of the Jamie’s friends had recently been killed, Jamie knew he needed to offer friendship. So when four armed men pulled up in a car and demanded that Jamie come with them, he was afraid. Some of his friends had been killed when they were taken by some men who put them in a car. His custom was to ask God what he should do, but this time he thought he should let God know what he thought the answer was: "God, I know you want me to run, but I'm just going to check with you first." But he heard God tell him to get in the car.
That car ride led to a dinner invitation with the terrorist leader and 15 of his men, along with their wives. As they sat in groups, divided by gender, Jamie and his wife asked them about their fears and struggles. Then they posed a question: what if there was a God of love who could take away their fears? As they prayed and asked Jesus to reveal Himself, all 30 men and women encountered the power and presence of Jesus. That terrorist leader went on to disband his militant group and become a force for peace and the gospel. It's a powerful example of what can happen when we pray bold prayers and take risks for the sake of love.
Jamie's story challenges me to consider how I'm praying in the face of the fears and conflicts in our world today. Just last night, I had the privilege of leading a man to Christ after midnight at a church meeting. This man was ready for the freedom and new life that only Jesus can bring. Earlier this week, I prayed with someone else for deliverance from demonic oppression, and watched as they were set free by the power of God. These were people who reached out to me, not encounters I sought out. But it was a week in which I did spend more time than I usually do in seeking God’s wisdom.
These experiences remind me that we're in a spiritual battle, and that bold, faith-filled prayer is our greatest weapon. When we bring our fears and struggles to God, He meets us with His wisdom, power, and delivering grace.
The Promise of Wisdom
In the book of James, we find another key to bold prayer: the promise of wisdom from God. James writes, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." (James 1:5).
This is an incredible promise. No matter who you are or what you're facing, God is ready and willing to give you the wisdom you need to navigate life's challenges. He doesn't withhold it or scold us for asking. He gives generously to all.
But there's a condition attached to how we ask. James goes on to say, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (v.6-8).
In other words, we block God's wisdom when we allow ourselves to be tossed around by doubt and divided desires. It's like we have a clogged pipe that prevents the water of God's wisdom from flowing freely into our lives.
The Trouble with Double-Mindedness
This idea of double-mindedness is really important. So often, our struggles with fear, worry, and conflict are really internal battles that spill over into our relationships and circumstances.
James puts it this way: "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." (James 4:1-3)
I see this play out all the time in my own marriage. My wife, Sheila, does many things that I love and appreciate. But if I'm honest, there are also some things she does that I would prefer she did differently. Some of those things bother me more than others, if I'm being really candid.
But here's what I'm learning: the reason some of her habits bother me more than others has less to do with what she's doing and more to do with what's going on inside of me. When I find myself getting irritated or resentful, it's usually because there's some fear or insecurity or unmet desire in my own heart that I haven't dealt with.
In those moments, it's easy to point the finger at Sheila and blame her for my frustration. But bold prayer invites me to get honest about my own heart and bring those deeper fears and desires to God. When I do that, I find that He's able to change me from the inside out. And as He does, I'm able to extend more grace and understanding to my wife, even in the things that bug me.
I experienced this firsthand when I left the Beachy Amish church as a teenager. Some of the people who were most upset with me were my peers in the youth group. But interestingly, many of them ended up leaving the church themselves just a few years later. I believe their anger towards me was really a reflection of their own internal conflicts and doubts about their faith.
That's why bold prayer has to start with examining our own hearts. We have to be willing to bring our messy, conflicted desires to God and ask Him to sort them out. We have to learn to pray, "Not my will, but Yours be done."
Recognizing the Clogged Pipes
I like to think of this process as "recognizing the clogged pipes." Just like a plumbing system gets clogged up with gunk over time, our prayer lives can get clogged up with fears, doubts, and selfish desires. And when that happens, it becomes hard to hear God's voice and receive His wisdom.
So how do we clean out the pipes? It starts with confession - being honest with God (and sometimes others) about the junk that's blocking the flow. Confession in this case isn’t focused on saying sorry, it’s focused on a hard-core commitment to the truth. It means being clear about how it feels to carry these things in our bodies, and what messages or beliefs undergird them. Are they truth or are they lies we’ve been taught to believe?
The second step is repentance, which is the act of letting God carry the junk, to let him carry this stuff and make it his problem to resolve. In this case, repentance is how the pipes get cleaned out. We can continue these step until in that moment our minds become clear and we no longer are carrying those weights.
This isn't a one-time fix. Just like you have to regularly clean out physical pipes, we have to continually bring our hearts before God for a spiritual "roto-rooter." It's a daily choice to release our grip on our fears and desires, and to trust God to shape us from the inside out.
The Grief Cycle of Letting Go
I've been thinking a lot lately about the difference between two kinds of grief that we experience in life. There's the grief that comes with loss, the pain we feel in the moment when we realize that someone or something we love is gone. It's the ache of sitting down at the end of the day and realizing that your spouse, who you've shared dinner with for decades, is no longer there beside you.
But there's another kind of grief that I think is just as painful, and that's anticipatory grief. It’s not just the dinner that night, it’s about the future dinners which are in front of us. It's the dread and fear we feel when we think about the losses we might experience in the future. It's not just about the present moment; it's about all the moments to come that will be marked by that absence.
I think about this sometimes with my dog. I know that my dog is probably going to die before I do, and there's a kind of grief I would feel when I sit on the couch and he’s not there. It's not the same as the grief I'll feel thinking about what comes after that. The anticipatory grief is often what locks us in, because it closes our eyes to the ways God will provide companionship in the future. Anticipatory grief prevents us from seeing the other aspects of life that may be meeting our needs and have the potential to bring joy.
A lot of the anxiety and fear we experience in life is really a form of anticipatory grief. We get stuck in "what if" scenarios, playing out all the ways that things could go wrong in the future. We worry about losing our jobs, our health, our relationships. And that worry can steal the joy and peace from our present moment.
But here's the good news: God wants to carry that anticipatory grief for us. He invites us to bring our fears about the future to Him, to entrust them to His care. And when we do that, He's able to lift that burden of worry from our shoulders and give us a new perspective.
It doesn't mean that we won't ever experience loss or pain. But it means that we don't have to live under the weight of anticipatory grief. We can enjoy the gifts and relationships we have in the present, knowing that our future is secure in God's hands. And we can trust that even when we do experience loss, God will meet us in that place with His comfort and strength.
Praying in the Presence of Our Enemies
As we learn to pray this way, something powerful starts to happen: we find the courage to love our enemies. Just like Jamie Winship sitting down to dinner with terrorist leaders, we learn to see people through God's eyes, even when they frighten or offend us.
I used to read Psalm 23, where David writes, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies," and assume it meant that God was rewarding me while my enemies watched in envy. But I've come to see it differently. I believe God is inviting us to sit down at the table with our enemies, to share a meal and look for His image in them.
This doesn't mean we ignore injustice or compromise our convictions. But it does mean extending the radical love and forgiveness of Christ, even to those who have hurt us. Bold prayer gives us the courage and compassion to see our enemies as God sees them - as beloved people in need of His grace, just like us.
Praying Through Our Fears
Of course, learning to pray boldly doesn't mean we'll never experience fear. We live in a broken world, and there are real dangers and uncertainties we have to face. From wars and rumors of wars to personal crises and loss, there are plenty of reasons to feel afraid.
The question is, what do we do with that fear? Do we let it paralyze us, or do we bring it to God and ask for His wisdom and strength?
I love how Jamie Winship models this. In the midst of a genuinely life-threatening situation, he prayed, "God, I know you want me to run, but I'm just going to check with you first." Then he listened, got in the car with the terrorist leader, and watched God work in a powerful way.
That's bold prayer. It's bringing our fears to God and asking for His wisdom in the moment. It's choosing to trust His leading, even when everything in us wants to run the other way.
This isn't a guarantee that we'll always be safe. Following Jesus involves risk, and sometimes obedience comes at a high cost. But bold prayer anchors us in the unshakeable promises of God. It reminds us that our ultimate security is in Him, not in our circumstances.
The Role of Fasting
One of the ways we can deepen our prayer lives and break free from stubborn fears is through fasting. When we fast, we're deliberately setting aside our physical desires and appetites in order to focus more fully on God.
Fasting is a way of humbling ourselves before God and acknowledging our dependence on Him. It's a physical reminder that we don't live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
Now, it's important to approach fasting carefully and wisely, especially if you have health concerns. It's not about punishing your body or earning God's favor through suffering. But when practiced with the right heart and motivations, fasting can be a powerful tool for spiritual breakthrough.
In my own life, I've found that times of prayer and fasting help me get perspective on my fears and see them in light of God's bigger purposes. Fasting helps clear out address the clutter and noise of my appetites so I can hear God's voice more clearly. And as I do, I find a renewed sense of faith and courage to face whatever challenges come my way.
Joining the Great Adventure
Ultimately, bold prayer is an invitation to join God's great adventure. It's saying "yes" to a life of faith, risk, and radical obedience. It's trusting that God's wisdom is better than our own, and that He's able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine.
I don't want to sugar-coat it - living this way isn't easy. There will be challenges, setbacks, and seasons of doubt. Bold prayer doesn't guarantee a trouble-free life. But it does guarantee that we'll never walk alone. We have the promise of God's presence and power with us every step of the way.
So if you're facing fear or uncertainty today, you can take your fears to God and ask for His wisdom. Confess any double-mindedness or divided desires. Look for ways to love your enemies and see them through God's eyes.
And as you pray, remember that you're joining a long line of men and women who have followed God's call with courage and faith. From Abraham to Esther, from the apostle Paul to you and me, God has always used ordinary people who were willing to pray boldly and obey Him fully.
Who knows how He might use your prayers to change the world? Who knows what adventures He has in store for you as you learn to trust Him more? The only way to find out is to take that first step of bold faith.
Conclusion
We live in a world that is desperate for the hope and wisdom of God. The challenges we face, both personally and globally, can feel overwhelming at times. From wars and rumors of wars, to personal struggles and broken relationships, there's no shortage of reasons to feel afraid.
But we serve a God who is greater than any fear, any challenge, any darkness. When we learn to pray with bold faith, we tap into His infinite wisdom and power. We find the courage to love our enemies, to face our fears, and to follow Jesus wherever He leads. We become agents of transformation in a world that needs His light.
While full of challenge, these things are simple: Commit ourselves to a lifestyle of bold prayer. Be honest about our fears and divided desires, and bring them daily to the foot of the cross. Be quick to listen for God's voice and obey His leading, even when it takes us out of our comfort zones.
As we do, I believe we'll see God work in ways we can't even imagine. We'll experience the joy and freedom of living fully surrendered to Him. And we'll point others to the One who is able to do far more abundantly than all we could ask or think.
This is a great adventure of faith? These are bold prayers and dream God-sized dreams? Who doesn’t want clean pipes to our soul and to be filled with God’s wisdom and power?
It’s amazing to think that God wants to continue to do miracles through us today. When we pray boldly, love fearlessly, and follow Jesus wholeheartedly, no matter what fears we face, the best is yet to come.