Four years ago, when Princess was 12 years old, she had an amazing year of opportunities being opened up for her to speak to people she wouldn’t normally be able to speak to. She was awarded the Shire Young Citizen of the Year, and she has had the opportunity to speak at least a dozen times, with an exposure to over several thousand people at these events. She also had afternoon tea with the, then, Prime Minister, Mr Tony Abbott and gave him a prophetic picture and prophetic word.

This started during a family devotional time at the beginning of the year where we were asking God some questions and listening to Him speak to us. Princess felt that God was going to open up opportunities for her to speak to people from all over the world. (Mind you, Princess didn’t enjoy speaking and it is amazing to see her speaking in front of people now when 10 years ago she refused to go on stage in the end of year dance concert because she didn’t want people looking at her.) Since Princess had heard this from God, we then prayed into it and asked God to open up those opportunities and we started declaring this. She spoke at all the shire citizenship ceremonies where people were becoming citizens from countries all over the world, numerous secondary schools, given a ‘TED’ like talk to several hundred senior high school students just after a YWAM International Statesman speaker at the YWAM GoFest.

What has this got to do with Praying BIG? This was something that started with Princess hearing from God and we then started praying into it. I would never have thought to pray for her to speak and share her story to so many people and have huge opportunities of speaking in front of some of the world’s influential people. What are the possibilities if we asked God what big prayer should we be praying and declaring for our children?

Another big prayer came about that same year that I would never have thought to pray but it has had huge consequences. In a passing conversation, a friend said that her son had fallen off his bike and needed emergency surgery. This friend is an amazing prayer warrior and has gifts in healing and prophesy. I said that I gathered she had prayed off the ‘spirit of shock and trauma’ off her son’s body and also prayed off the negative effects of anaesthesia. She asked what I meant. I explained that we can be affected by the spirit of shock and trauma when we have an accident or something traumatic occurs to our body. Picture ourselves made up of three parts – physical body, soul and spirit. When a car hits our body, it not only injures the physical body, but also injures our soul and our spirit. Once the physical body has been healed, the spirit and soul still need to be healed from that incident. This is as easy as forgiving anyone for the cause of the accident, maybe even ourselves, and then asking God to lift off the spirit of shock and trauma.

Whilst under anaesthetic, our physical body and soul are not in charge of our body. The anaesthetist is. Thus, anything negative that the anaesthetist is into has an opportunity to come through him/her on to ourselves. When both my children have had tonsils out etc, I have simply prayed this off and asked God to cleanse anything from them during that time when they were under anaesthesia and someone else was in charge of their body.

My friend then shared how her husband is an anaesthetist and how perhaps it could work in the opposite way. If her husband intentionally prayed for folk to encounter God and imparted Godly stuff into them whilst he had then under anaesthesia, then imagine what could happen. We both became very excited about the possibilities.

This friend then shared how years ago, her husband, a friend and her had met weekly as a group of three health professionals to pray that God would bring them influential clients, not for the money but for the opportunity to speak into their lives. One of the group was a dentist and this person used the time to ask God what to say to the person who was receiving a dental filling or having teeth out and she would give them godly advice about important decisions they were facing. My friend also shared how one of the group now lives overseas and is now invited into the King’s palace regularly and asked for advice. I am sure this is the result from all the prayer times when they faithfully gathered weekly over a number of years.

When I stop to reflect on this, my mind just marvels at what could be. What could happen if we prayed BIG prayers for our children, for ourselves, for our work environment? What prayers do you need to start praying this week?

Our church is in a season of  seeing God answer prayers in miraculous ways. Hearing how God is working in other people’s lives has encouraged me in these last few weeks to pray BIG prayers for my family and friends. It has lighted a fire within me as I have prayed and seen God answer in amazing ways, some huge miraculous ways.

This week I spent a morning dreaming with God about huge prayers I would love to see God answer in my family. I started a new journal, listing all these things I am praying for. For me to raise world changers, I need God to intervene in our lives in big ways. It starts with our prayers.

I encourage you to take a few moments, either by yourself or with your family, put on some quiet worship music and just ask God to show or tell you what BIG prayers you could start praying for yourself and your family. Ask God to literally ‘blow you out of the water’ with these prayers that He fills your mind with. Ask your kids what they would like you to pray for them. Then go ahead, write them down and declare them out aloud.