{"id":2743,"date":"2016-02-23T11:25:10","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T16:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=2743"},"modified":"2016-02-23T11:25:10","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T16:25:10","slug":"super-size-your-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html","title":{"rendered":"Super-Size Your Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAsk me and I will give the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession.\u201d<\/i> (Psalm 2:8) <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNothing will be impossible for you\u2026\u201d<\/i> (Matthew 17:21).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

How big is too big? How much is too much? Yesterday I asked; today I\u2019m compelled to consider, is there a limit to what I can ask of God?<\/span><\/p>\n

Evidently; the cap is, \u201cthe ends of the earth as your possession…\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Bold asking tempts me to add a caveat. But I best get over it my shyness; Jesus always pairs prayer with chutzpah. I may not feel comfortable with importunity, but it\u2019s the rules of engagement in his Kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Luke\u2019s Gospel, chapters 11 and 18 Jesus frames up two stories, each affirming audacity in prayer. In one story a man inconveniently wakes his neighbor asking to borrow food. In the second, a shady judge delivers a favorable verdict for a woman who won\u2019t take \u201cno\u201d for an answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus dares us, \u201cGo ahead, try to push Father\u2019s limits; there are no limits! Do you want a restored relationship? He can do that. Do you need a breakthrough in provision? Absolutely! How about a brilliant idea for your business? Fire away! A wider territory? A whole city maybe? If you dare, ask for an entire nation. There are 192 nations, all for the asking. Take a shot. Rest assured: Father will bless you with as much as your faith can envision and your wisdom can steward. Ask, sans caveat, and trust Father to deliver your first best.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m tempted to temper God\u2019s promises. But Jesus vetoes my scruples. There is nothing in his challenge about mustering a right posture or words, or finding the perfect mindset. It\u2019s simply, \u201cask,\u201d without any modifier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Against the urge to down-play, I will, instead \u201csuper-size\u201d my ask to a God-sized impossibility. I\u2019ll double it, trusting, as he promises, that he\u2019ll honor not punish my chutzpah.<\/span><\/p>\n

Response<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPapa God, I wouldn\u2019t dare this if you hadn\u2019t dared me to believe. You\u2019ve put me on this planet to learn to receive and to give your love and your power. Your tactic to develop to this in me is to insist that I approach you with a chutzpah-level of faith. So be it! You have asked for it but insisting \u2013 not asking \u2013 that I ask. Today I take my tiny desires and\u00a0double them up to a level only you can deliver! You asked… I follow.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The the day and beyond<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

And if asking God with chutzpah is humbling, I find it at least as challenging to share that audacity with others. \u201cWho am I to assume such a thing?\u201d I tell myself as I dare to tell \u00a0others. Yet chutzpah is true humility, exposing and then destroying the blasphemous self-deprecation that cloaks my insidious pride. The remedy: Relay your big ask to a friend, and ask them for agreement!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAsk me and I will give the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession.\u201d (Psalm 2:8) \u201cNothing will be impossible for you\u2026\u201d (Matthew 17:21). How big is too big? How much is too much? Yesterday I asked; today I\u2019m compelled to consider, is there a limit to what I can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[354,1621,1615,1364,1620],"class_list":["post-2743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-answered-prayer-2","tag-asking-big","tag-audacious-prayers","tag-chutzpah","tag-jesus-teaching-on-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\nSuper-Size Your Prayer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Super-Size Your Prayer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAsk me and I will give the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession.\u201d (Psalm 2:8) \u201cNothing will be impossible for you\u2026\u201d (Matthew 17:21). 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Yesterday I asked; today I\u2019m compelled to consider, is there a limit to what I can…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prayer, Plain and Simple\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-23T16:25:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark and Jill Herringshaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Super-Size Your Prayer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Super-Size Your Prayer","og_description":"\u201cAsk me and I will give the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession.\u201d (Psalm 2:8) \u201cNothing will be impossible for you\u2026\u201d (Matthew 17:21). 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Yesterday I asked; today I\u2019m compelled to consider, is there a limit to what I can…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html","og_site_name":"Prayer, Plain and Simple","article_published_time":"2016-02-23T16:25:10+00:00","author":"Mark and Jill Herringshaw","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html","name":"Super-Size Your Prayer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-23T16:25:10+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-23T16:25:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#\/schema\/person\/29563cda917dd596f93dba2ff3a7fedf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/super-size-your-prayer.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Super-Size Your Prayer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/","name":"Prayer, Plain and Simple","description":"Prayer, Daily Prayer, Simple Prayers, Quick Prayers, Prayer Requests","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#\/schema\/person\/29563cda917dd596f93dba2ff3a7fedf","name":"Mark and Jill Herringshaw","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/94f\/94fb184ea80985d82e603e3d8dd0056bx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/94f\/94fb184ea80985d82e603e3d8dd0056bx96.jpg","caption":"Mark and Jill Herringshaw"},"description":"Mark and Jill Herringshaw and their four children have been ministering in their local church since 1990. 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