It’s October, and everywhere we look scary images lurk in stores and around our neighborhoods. Ghosts, skeletons and spiders—oh my! If the variety and quantity of Halloween items on the market is any indicator, there’s something about fear that draws people in. My 6-year-old readily admits she loves movies with “really scary parts.” Fortunately, her idea of “really scary” still consists of a Curious George Halloween episode and Sofia the First mysteriously losing her royal necklace.
If only fear were limited to fictitious story lines and plastic skeletons, but in our grown-up, messed up world, we face real fears every day. Because real life doesn’t get boxed up and set on a seasonal shelf after Oct. 31, how do we learn to overcome fear and live as 2 Timothy 1:7 says? “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” We start by praying scary prayers.
Many times I have been guilty of praying scared, but not praying scary. In those moments, my fears seems bigger than life: when my children’s health is in question, when tornado sirens are sounding, when I read troubling news updates. Turning scared prayers into scary ones means having faith that God is who he says he is and does what he promises to do. It’s about believing we are gifted with “power, love and self-discipline,” and where those three traits reside, fear is not welcome.
Author Lisa Bevere says, “Pray prayers that scare you. The impossible is possible with God…echo His Word rather than your limits.” Praying scary prayers means doing what Ephesians 3:12 says, going boldly and confidently before God in prayer. Praying scary prayers means speaking the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) and meaning every word of it. Praying scary prayers means asking for the impossible and believing it could happen. Praying scary prayers means surrendering control and letting go of our idea of “better” in exchange for God’s best for us.
Starting this month, let’s be brave enough to pray scary prayers. Parents, start praying scary prayers on behalf of your children’s future. The fears in this world only lessen in the face of a greater faith. It’s time we make our fears serve as reminders of the hope we have shining from within us—like a jack-o’-lantern on a dark night.
Jena Meyerpeter writes from Lenexa, where she confiscates every Almond Joy from her daughters’ Halloween candy.