Audacious & Totally Free
How much freedom do we feel when we pray?
FREEDOM. YES, FREEDOM.
Freedom to boldly approach the throne of God, to boldly ask God, AND to approach Him
Over and
Over and
Over and
Over and
Over…
Shamelessly Audacious & Totally Free.
So, today, as we approach the day we celebrate our nation’s freedom, we ask ourselves these questions—-
Do we approach God with boldness that is insistent—to the point of being without shame in our request?
Do we boldly take risks, trusting God above everything—to the point of appearing so brash that we seem foolhardy to the world watching?
Truly, How much freedom do we take when we bow and pray?
Come with me, into one of my life-stories.
Hang upside down with me. See me strapped to an inversion table, not holding onto the bars, but trusting the locking foot-bar to hold my body in place. I raise my two hands above my head, allowing gravity to force the table to turn me upside down, so that (NOW) my raised hands (once stretched toward the ceiling) are NOW descended below me toward the floor.
That’s the position you will find me in almost every day as I strap my feet in the locking mechanism and lean back onto the table, as I raise my hands above my head.
“Did you even read the instructions?” my husband asked. “It clearly says to wear shoes that tie up tight on your feet,” he voiced as he looked at me hanging upside down one evening after dinner. Clearly, he was focusing on my slip-on Sketchers as he spoke aloud his concern.
“No. I did NOT read the instructions,” I replied, “but these shoes are snug on my feet. They won’t come off.”
“You say that,” my husband replied, “until they do and you break your neck.”
INSTRUCTIONS.
Why are they written?
Why do they accompany every purchase we make that requires “some assembly,” those that require we follow a certain procedure for usage?
How much freedom do we feel when we pray? Do we spend time daily studying God’s Word, His Instructions? Do we find ourselves raising our hands above our head, praising God for WHO HE IS, Approaching God with Shameless Boldness, and Knowing Beyond Any Doubt that God Will Answer our Every Prayer We Ask Within His Will?
Are we Shamelessly Bold—in our Prayer?
Are We Shamelessly Audacious—in our Prayer?
Are We?
Are we in the Bible, reading, studying, digging out God’s Truth, Ready, and Prepared? Of late, I have fallen in love with my reading of the apostle Peter—Brash—Bold—Neck-Break Running—Prideful & Sinful—Yet, Obediently Trusting—Water-Walking—Fisher-of-Men—&—100% Audacious—-PETER.
Back in 2017 and again in 2020, God led me to a mountain and allowed me to see Him in a way that changed my life. I find myself often pausing to thank God for these mountain-top experiences. Both times, God spoke to me through His Word as He led me to read the passage in Matthew, one that spoke of the day Peter, James, and John saw ONLY JESUS.
Today, when I was reading the Bible, God led me to the same words, but today, these words were recorded within a new passage—Peter’s second letter to the saints scattered throughout the known 1st Century world.
- Do we trust God with our everything?
- Do We?
- Do we trust God with…
- Our Calendar?
- Our Bank Account?
- Our Marriage?
- Our Children?
- Our Future Sons & Daughters-in-law?
- Our Careers?
- Our Future Grandchildren?
- Our Health?
- Our Death?
- OUR ETERNITY?
- OUR EVERYTHING?
- Truly, How much freedom do we take when we bow and pray?
“Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
(Matthew 17: 1-2)
And He was transfigured before them, and His face [Jesus’ face] shone like the sun, and His garments [Jesus’ garments] became as white as light….”
Then Peter did something so bold, so brash, so “Peter-like,” so audacious—Peter talked to Jesus.
Now, let’s get a mental image of the scene. Peter and his former fishing partners are with Jesus (up on top of a mountain), led there by Jesus Himself, six days after Jesus taught all of His disciples about the cost involved in following Him as disciples. Peter, James, and John have ascended a mountain and have just witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus Christ (a miraculous changing of Jesus’ face and garments of clothing).
If I had been there that day, those events may have kept me silent, but not Peter. He boldly spoke to Jesus.
- What holds us back in our daily talking with Jesus?
- What causes us to remain mute, forever silent, unspeaking, totally quiet, and not fully trusting God?
- How much freedom do we take when we boldly approach the throne of God in prayer?
- What gives us a brash audacity to approach God with our requests, to speak aloud what we truly trust God to do, fully knowing that God will answer our prayers (those requests asked within His will)?
- Who gives us a boldness to pray, even though we may die before our prayers are answered? We are assured that our prayers are not forgotten, but answered even after we reside within God’s forever eternity?
- Let us boldly strap in our feet; Let us boldly not worry what others may think; Let us be bold and Let us be brash and Let us be audacious in our prayers.
- Let us boldly raise our hands (Raised in Hallelujah) to our LORD Jesus Christ, and Let us do as the apostles did (on the mountaintop), when they had ascended so high that a bright cloud overshadowed them.
In That Moment…..while Peter was still speaking, they heard “a voice out of the cloud [saying,] “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”
(Matthew 17: 5 & 2 Peter 1: 17)
“When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.
(Matthew 17: 6-8)
And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”
And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.”
May we be thankful.
May we be humble.
May we be bold in our requests.
May we be brash in our walk with God.
May we be Audacious.
“For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
(2 Peter 1:16)
May we never wish to walk away from our God; & May we never willingly unstrap our feet.
May we bravely lift our hands for all the world to see, fully trusting God to hold us tight, even though our lives might be totally turned upside down.
May we be totally willing to be stretched, to be molded, and to be daily renewed by God’s Word as He holds us.
A dear friend, Julena, wrote the following words as she allowed God to speak to her from today’s devotion—
“Do you need a touch from God – to know He holds you in His Care? He sees & knows the weight of the world and all the burdens that you bare.
He longs for you to reach up to Him for He knows what’s best for you. He sees your future, and He knows what you need to do.
So boldly go to Him with your cares & seek His guidance clearly; Remembering that He made you, wants the best for you & loves you dearly.”
AND SO, TODAY, AS WE PREPARE TO CELEBRATE….MAY….WE WALK FREE….& MAY….WE BE AUDACIOUS….& MAY….WE LIVE TOTALLY FREE….Because Our Savior & Redeemer….JESUS….LIVES IN US.