Praying an impossible prayer can be like jumper cables for the grieving heart.
In the middle of the pandemic, when it felt like the world was dying around us, I started a little prayer list. It started small, but I began listening for prayers, even asking what people’s prayers were, and diligently added them to the list. Some seemed too big to pray for—truly impossible—but we prayed for them anyway.
As we made our daily treks to the river and walked on the banks, I would bring out the list and begin praying. That little list was a testament that life was marching on in the world. It was a deeper connection to the lives of others. It was an image of what God could do in the bleakest of times.
Among the names and requests on the list were extravagant “impossible prayers.” These were the things I almost laughed at when I put them on the list:
People whose lives had been destroyed through addiction
Husbands and wives who had been struggling with infertility for years
Completely broken relationships.
When things started to change in these lives, my response was, “Okay, God. I’m paying attention.”
When we’re in deep grief, we often cry out to the world, saying, “My life has stopped. Please stop with me or at least pause for a moment.”
In response, we get a deafening silence amongst the scurry of our busy world. We are broken, head down, and often hopeless. The mere act of speaking an impossible prayer can take us out of our current circumstances—no matter how dark.
A favorite account of an impossible prayer is St. Therese of Lisieux and her gut-wrenching prayer for the repentance of a convicted murderer, Henri Pranzini. With every step toward death, he refused to confess until he walked toward the scaffold. As he was mere steps from his execution, he asked the accompanying priest for a crucifix and kissed the wounds of Jesus three times.
Step 1: Ask
My dad’s friend once told him a story about a dream he had about heaven. As he toured heaven in his dream, he saw, in the distance, endless rows of storehouses. When he asked what they held, the guide said, “Those are all the answered prayers people never prayed for.”
How many things in my life have I neglected to pray for? How many things have only begun to shift once I begin praying? If we don’t ask, we may miss the answer.
Impossible prayers move us from being the person who takes everything upon themselves to being a person consistently surrendering their life, especially the difficult circumstances.
How does this sound in practice?
“Okay, God. I’ve been thinking about this for far too long. Right now, I’m asking you for something impossible. I’m asking you to _______.”
Step 2: Surrender
We have a tendency to tether our faith to the outcome of impossible prayers. However, surrendering fully needs to be our posture. You almost, dare I say, pray and nearly forget.
Impossible prayers remind us of how God’s economy really works. It is not the transactional economy we experience in business but rather an economy that God has created to bring you to greater faith and walk more closely with Him. God uses everything in His capacity to bring you into a closer relationship—even transforming suffering— if you allow it.
“God, I don’t know how or what you are going to do here, but I trust you in this.”
Step 3: Watch
In recent years, the idea of “God Winks” has become quite popular; these are small or big coincidences that seem to have God’s hand involved. The same theme applies here: Keep your eyes open and see what God is doing right in front of you.
Impossible prayers reorient us when our life feels twisted and mangled. When it’s time, they can turn our eyes, ears, and hearts toward God.
So often I find myself saying: “Holy Cow! Did you see that?” It’s in these moments that I watch, in real time, God’s blessings unfold.
What are the impossible prayers you have not prayed just yet? What has been holding you back until today? How are you going to begin to prioritize these prayers?