For the first 17 years that my husband, Joe, and I lived in our current home in Eastern Pennsylvania, he had to travel out-of-state to make a decent wage. Some jobs had him commuting up to 150 miles a day, so I prayed for years that the Lord would provide him with a good-paying job closer to home. One day, I felt impressed to “stretch” my faith and my prayers, and I began to pray, “Lord, do superabundantly above all we ask or imagine in Joe’s job situation now.” Suddenly, God opened a door for my husband to acquire a desirable position at a local company – not just any company, but the one that offered the highest paying jobs in our region of Pennsylvania. To top it off, Joe’s new employer gave him an even higher starting salary than he had asked for.

I confess to being guilty of praying “just” or “only” prayers in the past. “Lord, if You will ‘just’ do this, I’ll be happy.” Or, “Lord, if You will ‘only’ do this, I won’t ask You for another thing.” It finally dawned on me one day that prayers like these do absolutely nothing for my faith. They don’t challenge me, and they don’t encourage my spiritual growth, or my intimacy with God. And they rarely result in spectacular answers from heaven. Scripture says that God is able to do “superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams].” (Ephesians 3:20 AMP) While God is “able” to exceed our highest expectations in our lives and circumstances, He requires our cooperation in the process. These kinds of blessings are not automatic. If they were, we would see more of God’s children walking in superabundant blessings. In order to do our part, we have to “ask.” In other words, we have to pray. Too often, we hear believers say things like, “The Lord knows what I want. I don’t need to ask Him for that.” Yes, it’s true that He knows everything before we tell Him about it, but asking demonstrates our humble dependence upon Him, and our belief that He hears us when we pray. Look through the Gospels and notice how many times Jesus instructs us to “ask.” And don’t miss the fact that He always attaches blessings to the act of asking.

Another thing we must do to receive superabundant blessings from God is to “think,” or “imagine,” as some translations say. Take a moment and think about a need or desire you have right now. Begin to imagine what you would like to see happening in this matter. Don’t just think about an ordinary outcome, but imagine the biggest and best result you possibly can. Then ask the Lord to exceed your highest expectations. Do you want God to do something new and wonderful in your job situation, or in your finances? Is there a relationship that you want Him to bless you with, or to improve? Do you want the Lord to enable you to excel as a student, employee, or minister of the Gospel? Do you want Him to bless you with more creativity and skill? How about Him enabling you to finally overcome that sin that has been plaguing you for so long? Don’t wait until you feel deserving to pray “superabundant” prayers. If you do, you will never pray them. Instead, go ahead and pray them in faith, trusting that the Lord will show you whatever it is you need to do to partner with Him to bring His highest blessings and purposes to pass in your life.

Notice how the Scripture uses the word “dare”. The Lord is issuing us a challenge today. Will we dare to ask and believe Him for greater things than ever before?