Are You Really Praying?
Submitted by Steve Clark
July 3, 2025
Genesis 32:9-12 ...And thou saidst…
There was once a man who was very faithful in his prayer life. Every morning, he would kneel beside his bed and say, “Lord, please bless me, bless my family, and God please bless this day.” Before every meal, he would pray, “God, please bless this food,” and every night, he would ask God to bless his night. He had an idea one day of every time he prayed, he would stick a walnut in a jar. Over the years, glass jars, full of walnuts were everywhere in his house.
There were thousands of walnuts! The man was very pleased with himself. He thought, “Just look at all those jars and all those prayers I’ve prayed!” One night, Jesus appeared to him in a dream. He grabbed jar, pulled out a walnut and broke it open and there was nothing in the shell! It was empty, dry—just dust. Jesus then looked at him and said, “This is what your prayers are like. They are empty and they are dry. Even though you have prayed thousands of them, they are meaningless.”
Here's the question: Are you guilty of having empty prayers? Here’s a fact, if you think small, you will receive small. But, if you pray big, you are going to have to pray some radical prayers! We need some people who will pray like this!
So, how do you define a radical prayer? For starters, they go straight to the root of the issue. They refuse to stay on the edge of life’s biggest issues—and here’s the important part— radical prayers enable God to change the world “though you!”
Jacob had not seen his brother Esau for a very long time. He had not left on good terms. In fact, Esau wanted to kill him! Now, years had gone by and God tells Jacob to go back home. Terrified of his brother, Jacob started praying! He needed the status quo to change!
Many times, we wait too long to start really praying meaningful prayers, like Jacob did. In verses 9-12, Jacob got on his knees, and he held God to His promises.
Radical prayers call us to speak out in spiritual defiance of the world, as it is now. Like Paul and Silas in that smelly prison, circumstances didn’t dictate to pray or not! They challenged the status quo through prayer.
Today, many churches and ministries are in decline and other “religions” are on the increase. Pray some radical prayers and let God work through us to influence others!
Consider – You will never find time. You must make it.
