Commit Publicly to Your Prayer

How many times have many of us decided not to pray publicly about something for fear of failing and looking bad in front of others? Let’s be honest! That kind of omission, born of a defensive attitude and a lack of faith, reflects a subtle expectation of defeat that robs our prayers of power.

When we let others know that we are praying about a specific matter, we make a spiritual commitment that adds power and weight to our prayers. Voicing our requests publicly is a prophetic act, a declaration of faith that unleashes God’s power and invigorates our prayer.

Obviously, this does not apply when the Spirit himself directs us to keep certain intimate requests private, to be shared with those around us only later, or perhaps never. But in general, expressing our requests and spiritual decisions openly is a declaration of war against the principalities that seek to oppress us, and a strong declaration of trust in God’s faithfulness.

I tell my congregation, “Commit yourselves! Bind yourselves to your spiritual goals. Declare them. Share them with two or three people who believe and will remember what you have declared.”

There is a time to cultivate God’s visions in silence, stillness, and privacy. But the time also comes to announce the vision, to declare it, and to prophesy it (Hab 2:2). In that way, you become committed and bound to your declaration of faith, and it becomes harder to back down and abandon the battlefield prematurely when things get hard and difficult.

God honors the faith of those who believe him enough to share with others what they are asking of him. Declare your visions and your requests to those around you. That public declaration will become a prophetic word that unleashes divine support for your request and brings the answer you need.