Praying with boldness doesn’t come naturally. Too much of our ‘natural’ praying comes from utter weakness, from being broken down by life, from being at wit’s end and not knowing what else to do but beg. But these aren’t usually bold prayers.

Desperate prayers have their place, but as a steady diet they produce spiritual anemia. Instead of building faith, they weaken it. The self-pitying prayers of perpetual victimhood cripple a prayer life, hiding the essential ingredient in answered prayer… “according to your faith will it be done to you.” 

Here’s a hint to the secret of boldly praying in faith – covenant.

Think about Abraham’s bold prayer as he challenges God: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Far be it from you!” (Genesis 18:23-25 NIV).

That astonishing prayer stood on bedrock, on his blood covenant with God. Notice this: In Genesis chapter twelve, Jehovah had chosen Abram. In chapter fifteen God confirmed the covenant with a blood sacrifice (literally “cut a covenant”) and in chapter seventeen He changed Abram’s name to Abraham (“father of many nations”), requiring circumcision as a sign of this blood-contract between Jehovah and His human partner.

That’s why, concerning the upcoming judgment of Sodom, God said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” Then He answers His own question – “Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation… For I have chosen him.”

Notice how Jehovah respects blood covenant. Because He has chosen Abraham and entered into this solemn covenant with him, He gives the patriarch a voice in the coming exercise of Divine Justice. Because of covenant, God considers a man’s advice and input as He decides to act on the earth.

Although Abraham didn’t have a Bible, every time he heard his new name, or disrobed, or saw the stars, or watched an animal sacrifice, he saw proof of his blood covenant with the Almighty. And that made his prayers bold. He didn’t pray like a hireling, like an orphan. He prayed the way a son talks to his father, like one who had authorization to speak intimately with Jehovah.

So, if you’d like to pray boldly and change the course of history, explore your covenant rights. Read about blood covenants*. Do a Bible word search on the word, covenant. Since “Jesus has become the guarantee of a better (blood) covenant”, we can “draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance (boldness)of faith.” (Hebrews 7:22 & 10:22)

                *See The Blood Covenant by E.W. Kenyon.