“And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea.’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”- Matthew 21:21-22. Pray scary prayers but do so knowing God will often do exactly that. Answers to our prayers often come wrapped in ways that we do not expect. When we pray scary prayers, we are often met with opportunity. If we pray for patience, are we all of a sudden patient people or perhaps will you be handed an opportunity where you can exercise patience? Sometimes these scary prayers bring hardships. I have found that when I pray to the Lord for growth that I am met with… opportunity. I call these scary prayers because I know that when I ask for these things that God WILL answer me in some way, it just may not be my way. But if you are searching, God will provide. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” – Matthew 7:7. A lot of trust has to be given to the Lord during these prayers. Trust that he has your best interests at heart. Maybe you’re going to go through some things that you weren’t expecting.
Do not be fearful of praying scary prayers. The very best growth is brought on in these moments. Pray with confidence that God is listening and that he cares for what you have to ask for/say to him. The bible tells us in 1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” Many people would call this “be careful what you wish for”, but I would call it, “be expectant for what you pray for.” Prayer is an amazing gift that we can use in so many different ways, growth being just one of them. Let God grow you, even if it's scary, don’t deny yourself the opportunity to pray scary prayers.