How many of you would describe yourself as being bold by nature? Someone who takes risks, is courageous, and exudes confidence to “boldly go where no man has gone before”—the last quote for dramatic effect. Lol, I admire you if you fall into those categories. Me, not so much. I wouldn’t describe myself as timid, but I’m NOT bold by nature. Well, let me qualify that. Regarding my children and grandchildren, I can conjure up the boldness of a momma bear defending her cubs if needed. Yet in areas of new experiences, especially if I were required to go it alone, I would typically pass and not rise to the occasion.
We went to Story Land in New Hampshire when my children were little. My daughter wasn’t old enough to go on rides, but my son was. Since amusement parks have caused me anxiety since I was little, I was happy for the excuse to stay with my daughter while my husband went on the rides with my son. Just standing next to a merry-go-round makes me dizzy.
As we approached the roller coaster (and mind you, this was not a scary-looking giant roller coaster by any stretch of the imagination), I thought I needed to do this for my son. My palms started to sweat, and I was wrestling with myself on whether I needed to prove anything to anybody. It’s funny how, when faced with something challenging, we suddenly can devise every justification in the book to talk ourselves out of it.
After all, nobody was forcing me to do this. It’s no big deal. I don’t need to go on the roller coaster. My son still loves me. He doesn’t even know I’m contemplating going on the roller coaster. Finally, I stopped with the excuses and told my husband and son that I’d like to go on the roller coaster with my son. Then I boldly entered the line. Interestingly, my son was giving me strength, not because he was patting my hand and saying, “it’ll be okay, mommy”, but because I wanted to be strong for him and not show any fear. We sat down, and the bar locked us in. The cars began to move, and off we went! And you know what? I had sooo much fun!! It was sooo wonderful to enjoy that experience with my little boy.
I took a risk (I'm not sure what I thought was going to happen, but I guess injury or an anxiety attack could've ensued). I was courageous in going forward with my plans to conquer my fear of roller coasters, however small the ride was, and I was confident that I wouldn’t regret it, just seeing the smile on my son’s face. And you know what? I didn’t regret it and was so proud of myself for conquering my fear.
We bring many natural bents into our relationship with the Lord. If we lack boldness, we won’t pray to the Lord boldly. Yet Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Jacob's reaction when he found out his estranged brother Esau was heading toward him with 400 men can teach us four steps for praying boldly with confident expectation.
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1. Seek the Lord Immediately with Humility
Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. Genesis 32:9-11
How much time do we waste fretting or plotting when faced with a challenging situation? Instead of trying to solve something we know nothing about, in our strength, we should be seeking the Lord, who knows the beginning from the end and the why behind the circumstance. 1 Peter 5:6-7 tells us, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” When trying to facilitate an answer to prayer, we act like God. Instead, we must humble ourselves and immediately go to the One who is Sovereign and in control of everything. Through our humility, we boldly trust that God knows what’s best for the situation and that He WILL answer it according to HIS will. In our humanness, it DOES take boldness to relinquish control.
Jacob recognized his unworthiness of all the lovingkindness and faithfulness God had already shown him. However, he still prayed boldly from that place of humility, trusting in God’s lovingkindness again and believing His previous promises.
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2. Claim God’s Promises
When Jacob prayed humbly, he was bold in his request because he claimed the promise God had given him: “Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” Genesis 31:3
A promise is basically a verbal gift. Just like a physical gift needs to be claimed and opened to enjoy its benefits, when we read a promise from God through His Word, we need to receive that Word and declare it as our own. Until we claim God’s promise, we won’t live in the benefit of that Word.
God's promises have power. To throttle that power, we need to pray those promises back to Him.
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3. Pray God’s Promises Back to Him
For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’” Genesis 32:12
I have started praying the way Jacob did by saying, “For you said…” It’s not
that God needs reminding or that He could even forget a promise to His child, BUT it’s reinforcing God’s promise to us in our minds. When I pray God’s promises back to Him in this manner, I pray with boldness and am confident that the prayer will be answered as promised. And indeed I have seen such answers!
Isaiah 62:6 says, "You who are His servants and by your prayers put the Lord in remembrance of His promises, keep not silence."
We are not to keep silent about God’s promises. We must continually pray boldly until we see His promises come to fruition.
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4. Wrestle with God In Prayer
“Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why do you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. Genesis 32:24-29
Jacob spent the entire night wrestling with God in prayer over the promises that He had made to him. The term wrestling is key. When you observe wrestlers, they aren’t pushing away from each other but holding onto each other to cause their opponent’s body to yield to the floor. The one who succeeds wins the round. In the same way, we must hold onto the Lord with boldness, not letting go of prayer until we receive the Lord’s answer.
When we seek the Lord immediately with humility, claim God’s promises, pray God’s promises back to Him, and wrestle with God in prayer, our prayer life will go from timidity to boldness and from questioning to confident expectation.
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Originally published Friday, 02 May 2025.
