Scary Stuff

Prayer is scary.

Yep, you heard me right. I'm a pastor and I think prayer is scary.

I want to rethink prayer. Well...maybe "rethink" is the wrong word. I want to understand what it means to pray. I'm not talking about praying before dinner or before an important test...I'm looking deeper than that.

Today, one of the men who spoke at the conference I was at said, "I challenge you to pray for the impossible." Pray for the impossible?

That's stupid.

By definition, impossible means it can never happen.

Lets rethink the impossible.

A child born of a virgin mother...impossible.
A blind man, lame man, and deaf man instantly healed...impossible.
A man beaten, nailed to a cross, and buried in a tomb dead, yet, rises from the dead...impossible.

Maybe God is all about doing the impossible.

Thus, I come full circle...I'm scared to pray for the impossible...what if God actually does something incredible. For the impossible to happen it will mean that I have to give up trying and allow God to do all the work. It will mean that I am stretched, broken, and left with only God to sustain me...and thats a scary thought.

As scared as I am...I might be more excited. What if God does do the impossible?

So, here is my new prayer...

I pray that our youth group will grow to be too big for our building.
I pray that our students will not just show up on Sundays for church but will be the church every day as they interact at school.
I pray that our students will share Christ with every person in their school.
I pray that every week new students will come to Christ.
I pray that 100% of those at oneighty will live sold out lives for Christ.
I pray that all 100 college students who came to the opening night of EPIC will come to know Christ if they do not already.
I pray that lives will be radically changed and eternally altered.

I could continue...but you get the idea. Will you pray for the impossible?