Do you pray BIG prayers?

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Jesus in Pray
Jesus in Pray (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Only prayers that are consistent with God's character and focus on advancing God's kingdom can truly be called "big."

The Bible provides many examples of big prayers. In response to big prayers, God delivered His people from the dreaded Assyrians (2 Kings 19:14–37). The restoration of the people of God from the Babylonian captivity was an answer to big prayers (see Jer. 29:10–14; 50:4–5; Dan. 9; Ezra 8:21; Neh. 1:4–11; 4:4–5; 9:1–38). Samson, in his weakness, received strength to pull down Dagon's temple through big prayer (Judg. 16:28–30). In answer to big prayers, God gave the greatest outpouring of the Spirit on the church in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:14).

Jesus prayed big prayers. Some would say that our Lord's High Priestly Prayer in John 17 was His biggest prayer. In this prayer, He asked that His people would be kept from the evil one (v. 15), that they might become one (v. 21), and that they might be with Him and behold His glory (v. 24). As the hour drew near when He would die, Jesus prayed that the work of redemption would be accomplished, even at the cost of His life (Matt. 26:39, 42). Now at the right hand of the Father, He lives forever to pray big prayers of intercession, pleading the power of His sacrifice to counter the accusations of the adversary against His people (Heb. 7:25).God is the high priority in the model prayer given by our Lord. The best Greek manuscripts omit the closing sentence: " 'For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen' " (Matt. 6:13). There is abundant evidence, however, that these words were used almost universally in the worship of the early church. Some believe congregations recited these words in unison after each petition. If they did, then focus on the kingdom of God is underscored. 
What is kingdom-focused prayer? It is not mere instinctive prayer, but it is Spirit-enabled. It is not man-centered, but God-centered. It is not self-serving or sentimental, but Scriptural—in both principle and content. It is not timid, but bold! It is not passive resignation, but proactive cooperation. It is both solo and concerted. In summary, kingdom-focused prayer is the Spirit-enabled cry of God's adopted children seeking their Father's glory by persistently asking Him for the nations, their promised inheritance.
God indicates there is nothing too hard for Him (see Jer. 32:27), and so He challenges us to pray big prayers: " 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know' " (Jer. 33:3).
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