Pray Bigger | Why Wild Dreams Die When Wild Prayers Stop

Most people settle for small, cautious prayers that fit inside the limits of their own effort. God, however, dreams far beyond those limits — dreams that require divine power and invite people into partnership with redemptive work on earth. The call is to reclaim a rhythm of audacious prayer: asking for the kingdom of God to come now, refusing to treat prayer like a polite, one-time request, and persisting even when every sign points to “impossible.” Biblical witnesses from Abraham to Joseph to Paul model a faith that keeps praying the same wild promise for decades, trusting that God’s timing and provision will align with his purposes.

Audacious prayer changes imaginations: it reorients ordinary ambitions into heavenly purposes that aim to bless families, cities, and whole nations. It exposes the tendency to swap God-sized dreams for “average” goals—safety, comfort, or simply less pain—and challenges people to declare bigger aspirations for joy, restoration, and flourishing. Practical illustrations—from the long struggle to found CityLink to the reopening of a downtown campus—show how slow, stubborn prayer and communal faithfulness can pull a God-given dream into reality. The invitation is both pastoral and provocative: pray as if God is who he says he is, believe that identity is also true for oneself, and persist until heaven’s reality breaks into earth’s circumstances.

This is not formulaic religiosity; it is a relational, risky devotion that expects God to be active and asks him to align human longing with his kingdom. The most faithful posture is not to reduce requests to safety but to expand them to what would make life feel like heaven on earth — then to return again and again to those petitions until God moves. The promise is that when people pray wide, audacious prayers in faithful dependence, wild dreams begin to show up in time, often in ways and seasons that exceed expectation.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God gives wild, unattainable dreams God-sized dreams differ from achievable goals because they require divine power, not merely more effort. When desires move from “get by” to “transform many lives,” they signal an invitation to partner with God’s redemptive work. Learning to distinguish these dreams is the first step toward praying beyond personal capacity and toward asking for outcomes that glorify God and bless others. [05:01]
• 2. Pray for heaven on earth Jesus teaches praying “your kingdom come” as an invitation to request the present reality of God’s will, not a vague future hope. This posture reorders motives so that personal petitions align with restoring human flourishing and justice. Praying this way trains the heart to imagine and pursue tangible expressions of heaven breaking into neighborhoods, relationships, and systems. [06:41]
• 3. Reject ordinary, timid prayer habits Cultural and religious rules often teach keeping prayers small, polite, and infrequent, which subtly denies God’s character and promises. Refusing that protocol means reclaiming boldness: ask large, ask often, and don’t preemptively caveat God’s response. This is a spiritual discipline that matures trust and enlarges expectation for what God will do. [07:58]
• 4. Keep praying until God responds The faithful pattern in Scripture is persistence—Abraham believed and continued to petition for decades until God fulfilled the promise. Waiting well isn’t passive resignation but active, repeated asking that holds God’s promise before him. Perseverance in prayer tempers impatience and cultivates confidence that God’s timing and methods will bring the dream to fruition. [21:32]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:33] - Pray Wild Prayers vs Timid Prayers
• [02:30] - Taste and See: Prayer as Test
• [03:04] - What Audacity Means
• [05:01] - Dreams vs Goals
• [06:41] - Pray: Your Kingdom Come
• [07:58] - Ordinary Prayer Habits to Break
• [18:11] - Abraham: The Rhythm of Prayer
• [21:32] - Heroes Who Kept Praying
• [23:36] - CityLink: Vision, Delay, Victory
• [32:54] - Personal Story and Invitation
• [39:16] - Time to Pray Audaciously

Bible reading

Matthew 6:9–10 (ESV)
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.”

Genesis 15:1–6 (ESV)
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Observation questions

1. According to the message, what is the specific difference between a "goal" and a "dream"? [05:01]
2. In the passage from Matthew 6, what specific outcome does Jesus instruct his followers to pray for regarding earth and heaven?
3. The sermon lists three "rules" of ordinary, timid prayer that we often follow by accident. What are those habits that keep our prayers small? [07:58]
4. In the Genesis account, Abraham (Abram) had been waiting years for a child. When God repeated the promise, what was Abraham's response in verse 6?

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus teaches us to pray "Your kingdom come... on earth as it is in heaven." This suggests that prayer is not just about going to heaven when we die, but about bringing heaven's reality here now. How does praying for "heaven on earth" change the way we view our current problems or broken situations? [06:41]
2. The sermon contrasts the "Prayer of Jabez" (asking for less pain) with audacious prayer. While God cares about our pain, why is it spiritually dangerous to make "safety" or "comfort" the primary ambition of our prayer lives? [12:08]
3. Abraham is called the father of faith because he "believed the Lord" even when his circumstances (old age, no children) made the promise look impossible. What does this tell us about the relationship between prayer, patience, and ignoring the "red lights" of our circumstances? [21:02]

Application questions

1. A goal is something you can accomplish with a little more effort and elbow grease; a dream is something that is impossible unless God intervenes. [05:01] Be honest with yourself: Are you currently chasing goals or dreams? What is one "wild dream" for your life that you know you cannot achieve on your own?
2. We often stop praying when we see "red lights"—signs that say it is too late, too hard, or impossible. [17:07] Is there a specific prayer request or dream you have given up on because you felt like you hit a red light? What would it look like to "run that red light" and start praying for it again this week?
3. Audacity is defined as a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks. [03:04] If you truly believed God is who He says He is—and that He has wild dreams for you—what is the most audacious thing you would ask Him for right now?
4. Jesus invites us to pray for His Kingdom to come in our specific time and place. [06:41] Think about your workplace, your school, or your family. What would "heaven on earth" look like in that specific environment? How can you begin praying for that reality?
5. Our prayers often reveal what we believe about our identity. You are a son or daughter of the King. [35:06] If you approached prayer not as a beggar hoping for scraps, but as a beloved child with access to the Father's resources, how would the content of your prayers change?