On my shelf sits a cute card which reads, "Pray really big! Believe even bigger!" I liked it at first, but then I wondered, should I believe bigger than I pray? It would not seem so from the verse that accompanied it, Matthew 21:22 -- "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Prayer and belief go hand in hand, for prayer is, in essence, an expression of our belief in God's goodness. Without belief, however small, prayer is no more than words. But without prayer, belief is only theoretical. James 4:2 says not, "You do not have because you do not believe," but, "You do not have because you do not ask." Belief that goes beyond what we are willing to pray is not true faith, but wishful thinking. God does not grant our wishes, He answers our prayers. If we truly believe He can do a thing, why should we not dare to ask?
My tendency is to pray too small, and believe even smaller. Such prayers are not worthy of God's power, for God's ability will always be bigger than my belief. The greatest thing I could possibly ask is a small matter to Him, and to ask less is actually saying that I don't believe He will give me what I really desire. Either I doubt the ability of the Almighty, or I am not convinced that my request is in His will. Whatever the case, small prayers are evidence of small belief, and they give little room for faith to grow. Better to stake all on the greatness of God and ask beyond belief: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24)!
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