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INTRODUCTION

Not about creating new kingdoms but walking in gods new abundant kingdom circles of influence

Let ask you this right off the bat. Think about your own prayers for a second. Do they ever feel small, as if you are asking for just enough to get by, maybe being held back by your own fears or what you think is realistic and within your own grasp?

If that’s you, then you are not alone; many Christians struggle with the same problem.

Most Christians are praying prayers of desperation, of fear, lack and want because they still don’t understand that prayer is function of covenant and covenant is regulated by agreement.

Prayer is one of the greatest privileges of the believer, yet it is often diminished by small thinking and vague requests based on arbitrary limits. Many pray as though God were limited by human economies, earthly systems, or our private insecurities. But Scripture consistently reminds us that the God who formed the heavens and the earth is not restrained by the boundaries of our imagination. To pray with power is to pray in proportion to God’s majesty, not in proportion to our fears. Consider these verses:

• “Yes, they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel.” –Psalm 78:41
• “Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!” –Jeremiah 32:17
• “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?” –Jeremiah 32:27
• “Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” –Isaiah 53:1

This extended study will explore the theology of prayer at a deeper level, drawing from Scripture, rabbinic commentary (Rashi), and Christian theological voices such as Matthew Henry. We will consider the tension between presumption and faith, the danger of limited and vague petitions, and the call to ask boldly, specifically, and in alignment with God’s will.

DEFINING FAITH AND PRAYER

Hebrews 11:1 offers the classic definition of faith:

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Here, the Greek word for “substance” (hypostasis) suggests an underlying reality or foundation. Faith is not wishful thinking but the concrete assurance of things not yet visible. Prayer, then, is the act of aligning our words with that unseen reality.

Prayer is not merely communication with God but participation in His eternal purposes.

The Hebrew tradition echoes this. The word for prayer, hitpalel (הִתְפַּלֵּל), literally means “to judge oneself.” In prayer, one stands before God in self-examination and alignment, not simply offering requests but reordering one’s desires to match His will. As Rashi often reminds his readers, the text of the Torah presses us to see beyond surface-level meaning into divine intention.

God has obligated Himself to do everything He has agreed to do for us. Prayer then is aligning our thoughts, words, and prayers with His revealed will for us which is far beyond anything we could have hoped for or imagined.

Thus, prayer is defined as a demand on our Covenant Partner (God) based on the agreed covenant we entered into with Him.

Payer is therefore agreeing that God does for us what he said He would.

THE DANGER OF LIMITING GOD

James 4:2–3 warns us: “You do not have because you do not ask.” The danger is twofold. First, we fail to ask at all, shrinking our prayers to silence or to vague, half-formed desires. Second, we may ask wrongly, that is, not according to His will.

Matthew Henry, in his commentary, insists that the chief end of prayer is to “set our desires before God, and to delight ourselves in Him.” Yet Henry does not dismiss the breadth of asking; rather, he insists that because God is glorified in the answering of prayer, believers should ask freely, even boldly. Prayer is standing in agreement with God’s revealed will in the Scriptures, and this is how we glorify Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).

“THE WEALTH OF THE WICKED” AND THE VISION OF FAITH

Proverbs 13:22 states: “The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.” This raises the question: what constitutes that wealth? In our modern imagination, the ungodly accumulate multi-national residences, complex tax and legal structures, multiple passports, jets, yachts, and circles of influence. If earthly kingdoms can secure such abundance, shall the kingdom of God be less? The challenge is not in God’s ability to provide but in our courage to imagine beyond our limited worldview and experience.

Here, again, Rashi helps us by interpreting biblical wealth not merely as material abundance but as part of God’s providential order. God disposes of the world’s resources as He wills, and His justice ensures that what has been amassed in wickedness will ultimately serve the righteous. Faith, then, must have the audacity to pray in line with this promise, without shrinking the scope of God’s generosity to fit our own limitations.

THE PRINCIPLE OF SPECIFICITY

A recurring principle in Scripture is that clear, precise petitions bring clear, precise answers. Jesus taught this explicitly in John 16:24: “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Vague hopes result in vague prayers, and vague prayers result in vague answers, “You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2-3).

Faith dares to be specific, because specificity reveals trust in God’s generosity and goodness.

Mark 11:24 reinforces this:

“Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Here belief is not a casual optimism but an active receiving in the present tense. Prayer is thus a participatory act of creation: we call forth what God has already declared as His will. Once again Philippians 4:6 comes to our aid:

God is only obligated to do what He agreed to do for us according to the New Covenant. Covenant is a structured relationship framework so that covenant partners know what they can expect from their partner and what is also expected from them.

SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATION FOR BOLD PRAYER

• Hebrews 11:1 – Faith as substance and evidence.
• James 4:2–3 – You do not have because you do not ask; asking vaguely leads to vague answers.
• Mark 11:24 – Whatever you ask in prayer, believe you have received it.
• John 14:13–14 – Asking in Christ’s name glorifies the Father.
• John 16:24 – Until now you have asked nothing; ask, that your joy may be full.
• Matthew 7:7–8 – Ask, seek, knock; the promise of access.
• Philippians 4:6 – Present every request with thanksgiving based on divine will.
• 1 John 5:14–15 – If we ask according to His will, He hears us.

DEVOTIONAL APPLICATION

The call to pray without limit is not an invitation to self-indulgence but a summons to faith-filled alignment with God’s purposes. To pray boldly is to refuse the poverty of imagination that confines God to our limited world. 3 John 1:2 links poverty in life and health to poverty of soul, represented by our thinking (cf. Romans 12:2). To pray specifically is to trust Him enough to name our hopes clearly.

TO PRAY PERSISTENTLY IS TO PRAY WITH THANKSGIVING

To pray persistently is to believe that God’s will is both generous and good. Persistence in prayer is not begging as though God were reluctant, but continuing in faith because we know that He is faithful. True persistence is an act of worship: it demonstrates confidence in His promises, even when circumstances have not yet changed.

This persistence is most powerfully expressed through thanksgiving. Philippians 4:6 instructs us:

“In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Thanksgiving is the language of faith, the acknowledgement that God has heard, God has answered, and God is at work while we rest in faith that the thing has been concluded—even before the visible manifestation arrives.

To thank Him in advance is to stand as though the answer were already in hand, because in the eternal reality of His will, it is.

Matthew Henry comments that thanksgiving is not merely an add-on to prayer, but its very soul. Gratitude secures the heart in peace, because it affirms that God’s goodness has already gone ahead of us. Rashi, reflecting on Israel’s repeated forgetfulness in the wilderness, reminds us that unbelief is often expressed through complaint, while faith is expressed through gratitude.

Persistent prayer, then, is not repetition born of doubt, but constancy born of trust, clothed in thanksgiving.

SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATION FOR BOLD PRAYER

Philippians 4:6 – In everything by prayer (your request and supplication (legal basis), with thanksgiving (expression of faith).

1 John 5:14 – And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will (as revealed in Scripture, the promises of God), he hears us.

Hebrews 11:1 – Faith as substance and evidence.

James 4:2–3 – You do not have because you do not ask.

Mark 11:24 – Whatever you ask in prayer, believe you have received it.

John 14:13–14 – Asking in Christ’s name (His righteousness) glorifies the Father.

John 16:24 – Until now you have asked nothing; ask, that your joy may be full.

Matthew 7:7–8 – Ask, seek, knock and receive; the promise of access.

PRAYER

Lord Almighty, forgive me for the times I have limited your generosity to me by praying too small, bound by my own fears and limited imagination. Stretch my faith to see as You see. Teach me to ask clearly, boldly, and faithfully, that my life may testify to Your boundless generosity. Let my prayers be based on your revealed sovereign will for us and not on my arbitrary imagination. Anchor my desires in Your word, and let every answer magnify Your glory through my agreement with You. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. In what ways might I have unconsciously limited God through small or vague prayers?
2. How do I define “the wealth of the wicked” in my own cultural and economic context?
3. What practical step can I take to make my prayers more specific and faith-filled?
4. How can I ensure my petitions are aligned with God’s will rather than self-centred desires?
5. What would it look like for me to pray without limits this week, trusting in God’s greatness rather than my fears?

MEDITATION VERSE(S)

“Do not be anxious [worry, fret] about anything, but in everything by prayer [your request] and supplication [Scriptural basis] with thanksgiving [demonstration of faith] let your requests be made known to God.” –Philippians 4:6

• Yes, they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel.” –Psalm 78:41
• “Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!” –Jeremiah 32:17
• “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?” –Jeremiah 32:27
• “Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” –Isaiah 53:1