Impossible Circumstances Call for Prayer and the Impossible Dream of Optimism

I'm currently facing my own impossible dream circumstance, and I've been praying non-stop for God to grant me the wisdom and tools in order to make the impossible possible....all to the glory of God! I thought this would be a great re-post as it was something I was re-reading, myself! -Jackie Monroe

By Dr. Russ

Do you believe in making the impossible possible?  If you don’t, then stop counting yourself among the optimists of the world. 

Who would have believed that four years ago Amanda Knox, who had just been convicted of murdering her roommate in Italy, would be acquitted of the charges yesterday.  We think of America as a place for justice and we know how hard such a judicial reversal would be here, and I know I believe it must be even harder in a country like Italy.

If you look around you, I believe that everyday you will find something positive about which can be said: “I never thought that could happen or be possible.” A football team comes from behind scoring six touchdowns in the last quarter, or a good friend of yours finally lands a dream job.  A handicapped kid makes a difference in someone’s life.

How do we make the impossible come true? It starts with prayer.  In his book, Sun Stand Still, Steve Furtick asks us to embrace “audacious faith” and pray for the impossible.  According to Furtick, God wants us to pray for the impossible, because when He answers a request for the impossible He is glorified and He looks good; believers become stronger in their belief and non-believers come into the fold.  But, even Furtick says that no matter how much we believe, there will come a time when our faith will be challenged.

When I was 15 and my mother was dying of Cancer, she came to me and told me the story of how she had had her faith challenged, even lost faith for much of her life.  She told me that when she was 12 and her mother was dying of Cancer, she was told by the adults around her to pray and her mother would live.  Well her mother didn’t live. My mother wanted me to know how much that shook her belief in God for much of her adult life.  She did not want me to lose faith upon her death.

As Furtick says, sometimes you pray your best, most honest heartfelt prayers – there is no answer, the answer is NO, despite pure motives and good alignment with your best estimate of God’s purpose for your life – the breakthrough does not come.  The Cancer spreads, you are still unemployed, marital problems worsen, the crisis is unresolved.

What is the role of crisis in our lives?

Every prayer for the impossible is born of some crisis, some problem that seems insurmountable.  According to Furtick:

• Theologically speaking . . . most of the major opportunities recorded in the Bible were born in crisis . . . the greatest opportunities in out lives come out of crisis too.  

• God does not take away our adversity – he develops our faith and demonstrates his strength by working though our adversity. 

That’s right. He wants to teach and help us learn how and that we can overcome the adversity, no matter how intimidating.

So what do we do when a prayer is not answered the way we think it should be:

1. We realize that God is giving us an even greater crisis and hence greater opportunity to serve and reveal His glory.  So keep on praying and trying.
2. We need to keep on praying for the impossible even if it takes 40 years or 40 generations of prayer passed on from one generation to the next. 
3. Realize that the greater the crisis – the greater the revelation when it is resolved.
4. It took 100 plus years of audacious faith and prayer after the Civil War before Martin Luther King Junior led his successful march for freedom to the edge of the Promised Land in the 1960’s and another 40 before America elected an African American President.
5. None of the audacious prayers prayed in the 145 years between 1863 and 2008 – between emancipation proclamation and Obama’s election – were in vain or for naught. All politics aside – I’m talking about achieving the goal of freedom and equality for all.

If you aren't praying for the impossible, you need to start NOW!  Just making the prayer will improve your positive viewpoint.  Then, get started on helping God make the prayer come true.  Remember God took the Israelites to the Promised Land, but they had to follow Joshua into battle after battle to win it.  MLK took his followers to the edge of the Promised Land only after they endured beatings, jailings, dog bites, and fire hosings. 

{Key reference: Sun Stand Still, by Steven Furtick}