Risky Business | Examine Me and Know My Heart
Risky prayers. Can prayer really be risky? Is it supposed to be? Any conversation we have with an Almighty and holy God should never be business as usual. An encounter with God should be life-altering and soul-shaping. Most of the time our prayers are fairly casual and safe. “Help me.” “Bless me.” Protect me.” “Give me…”
Risky prayers have consequences. They stretch me and grow me. They change me and change my life. They align me with God’s purposes and bring the adventure, fullness, and results in my life thatGod intends for me. If you really pray these risky prayers, you and everyone your life touches will be impacted because you personally have taken the risky challenge and opportunity to meet with God.
Message Notes
Prayer is risky business.
Risky prayers have consequences.
Three Kinds of Risky Prayers:
Confessional Prayers allow God to breathe into your life and reveal what is hindering your growth and usefulness.
Transformational Prayers allow God to give us insights that shape and mold us.
Missional Prayers align us with God’s purposes.
David prayed a risky, confessional prayer:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24
Search my heart. Show me what is not right.
Pray it. Listen for God to speak. God will draw near and will show you things that are not right—not to condemn you, but to draw you close.
Uncover my fears.
What I fear the most reveals where I trust God the least.
Expose my sins.
Show me anything that is inconsistent with your truth.
What have others been trying to tell me?
What have I rationalized for some time?
Where am I most defensive?
Lead me in the way of everlasting life.
A life that pleases you, builds others, gives me treasure that will not decay, and no regrets.
Bottom Line
The truth sets me free. My heart protects and deceives me; God tells the truth.
Next Steps:
Find a quiet time to spend with God and pray this prayer. Write down what God says.
“Dear God,
Examine me. I want to see in me what You see in me.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24
I need your grace. Help me find my identity in you.
Amen”
2. Acknowledge and confess the wrong things he shows you.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you immediately when you drift away so you can live a lifestyle of repentance.