I dare you to pray this prayer.

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

This is risky business. This is an open invitation for God to do His business in your heart. This is a prayer of ultimate surrender.

I dare you to pray this prayer. I dare you to turn King David’s cry into your own and welcome God to search you, to expose anything in you that is offensive to Him, to rid you of it all, and to lead you down His path even though it might not be the one you’ve chosen for yourself. Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? It sounds daring! But that’s what faith is. It is choosing to take God at His Word, choosing to believe that He is who He says He is and that there’s nothing impossible for Him to accomplish in and through you as long as you’re surrendered. Faith is believing that His way is better than your own. Faith is inviting Him to change the blueprints that you’ve drawn up as He sees fit.

I dare you to pray this prayer. I’ve prayed it. I’ve asked others to pray it. I’ve witnessed firsthand the miraculous ways of God as He answers this very prayer and changes the lives of those who are willing and daring enough to utter these words. Will you take the risk? Will you join me in audacious faith? Are you willing to give up your perceived comforts to usher in the blessings that God desires to pour out in return for your faithfulness? Your comforts cannot compare to His lavish blessings.

I dare you to pray this prayer.

Father God,

Search my heart. Take a good, long, hard look inside my innermost places, and illuminate any part of me that is not in right standing with you. Reveal to me the sin that festers within me, the offensive evils in me that demand my own way over yours. Expose it for what it is. Rid me of every last bit, and cleanse me. Show me the way that I should go, and take my hand as we walk that road together. I trust you, Jesus. I believe that you have good plans prepared for me, and I know that my sin separates me from you and all that you desire to do in and through my life. So, I invite you in. Have free reign in me. Where I lack faith, increase it. Where my sin has hardened my heart, soften it. Where I have wandered away from your green pastures of safety, blessing, and provision, lead me back. Search my heart, God. Test me. Know me. Show me. Lead me.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen