Releasing Disappointment With God
A couple minutes to freedom to pray boldly
Jesus gives us a generous invitation: go ahead and pray audacious prayers (see Luke 11).
But some of us have prayed for something that really mattered to us and nothing happened.
Disappointment with God can keep you from praying audacious prayers ever again.
So let’s clear out those disappointments in order to free you to obey Jesus.
Take a few minutes today to reflect on the questions below.
Are there any painful prayer disappointments that would keep you from being audacious in prayer? Take a moment to be quiet and see what surfaces. Write those disappointments down.
For some of us, that list is a major blockage in our ability to trust in the goodness of God and pray boldly.
So let’s allow the Lord to speak into your disappointments and then release them at his feet.
Lift one of your hands up to about chest level, palm up. Pray something like:
“Lord, in this hand, I bring to you this disappointment: [Read or just say one of the things from the list above]. If you have anything that you’d like to say to me about that disappointment, speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
Remain silent for a few seconds and see if the Lord might speak into your disappointment.
If the Lord gives you a word or image, respond to it as seems appropriate to you.
Whether you get a word or not, the next step is to flip that palm face down, slowly lower it, and pray something like:“I lay the weight and the pain of that disappointment at your feet. I release it for you to carry, redeem, or merely to hold onto until you come and make all things new. I want to be free from carrying this in order to fully trust in you and pray boldly.”
Repeat that exercise with all the things on your list.
Write down here anything that the Lord says to you or anything that describes what that experience was like.
This is just one exercise in this month’s always free Greenhouse Retreat. Click here for The Safe Place for Audacious Prayers.
Greenhouse Retreats: helping you create conditions ideal for fruitfulness.
Happy flourishing y’all,
Alex