How to Pray to GOD's Fullest Potential

 

How to pray to GOD's fullest potential.  This may seem like an odd 'how-to".  Isn't God's potential always full?  Doesn't this statement imply that He may not operate at His full potential at times?  Do I truly understand what God's fullest potential is?  Have I actually experienced it?

As you can see the more questions we ask ourselves in response to this how-to statement, the more we recognize that there is indeed something to seeking God's fullest potential and praying to that end...

Bible Stories About Potential

We can learn much from the Apostle Peter's life when it comes to potential.  A man who started out as a fisherman by trade.  Peter was bold, out-spoken and quick-tempered.  Character traits that could be perceived as negative, but God knew the potential He had built into Peter.  Potential which developed into a man set apart by God to be one of the 12 disciples.  The Apostle Peter became a prominent Pastor in the first century church and one of the most influential Christian leaders of that time!   

Peter certainly suffered growing pains to reach his potential.  Yet along with the character traits mentioned above, Peter was also insightful and teachable, two traits that lend themselves to potential realized.  Potential that came sometimes with great failure as we see in the story of Peter boldly proclaiming that he wanted to walk on water, yet ended up sinking when he put his focus onto the waves, away from Jesus.  Not to mention his greatest failure - when the rooster crowed and Peter denied Jesus three times.

Yet through these experiences, Peter grew in grace, humility, understanding, discernment and boldness.  Culminating in the biggest growth in potential for a man who once denied Jesus out of fear of death, but died a violent death for the name of Jesus - COURAGE.  Peter reached his potential for courage and preached the Gospel without fear.

Like Peter, there is God-given potential in the children of God.  But how do we apprehend fully God's potential in us?

What is God-Given Potential?

Every Believer in Christ has been created with the potential to bring God glory.  But what exactly is God-given potential?

Our God-given potential comes in the form of the "new man" that we became when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.   The old man died and the new man came to life.  We are seen by God through the image of Jesus Christ and as such, we have the potential to walk in the character traits of Jesus.  But there's the rub.  Do we take advantage of this God-given potential?

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

At the day of our conversion, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit who resides within us.  The Holy Spirit nudges us and whispers in our ear "this is the way, walk in it". The Holy Spirit is there to bring out our fullest potential - a potential for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,  faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  But do we live in the reality of that potential?

It is then that we must pray to GOD's fullest potential - to pray HIS character traits and ask the Lord to renew our minds so that the mind of Christ acts in and through us.  God's fullest potential showcased outwardly in the Believer is that of a renewed mind in Christ Jesus.  Let us pray to that potential and experience a renewed mind that expresses the fruit of the spirit.  

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

John 15:16

God's Potential In Us

Each child of God has a unique potential that is built into them.  As we saw in the stories of the Apostle Peter above, sometimes those potentials are disguised in weaknesses and struggles.  We know that God is in the business of redemption, and He certainly redeems His especial potential for every Believer, even the ones that come with growing pains.

If you are one who is prone to worry and anxiety, God has built into you the potential for full confidence in Him and the peace that surpasses all understanding.  To experience GOD's fullest potential to that end, we must pray Scripture back to Him, reminding ourselves of His past faithfulness and clinging to His Word which speaks in one way or the other to every circumstance that might bring worry or anxiety.   Our Ever-Present Helper will answer and lead us into our fullest potential by giving us His fullest potential.  We just need to pray God's Truths over our lives.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

John 14:27

If you are one who is timid about sharing your faith, God has built into you the potential for boldness, in His name, to share the Gospel.  Pray to the Holy Spirit who will remind you of God's life-saving Truths and then share with those He has brought to you for such a time as this.  You will be amazed at the answer to this prayer as you find yourself speaking the Truth from GOD's fullest potential.

do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, 

for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

Matthew 10:19

When God places a call upon our lives, He desires for us to step out in faith and fulfill that potential in HIS strength thereby bringing glory to Him.  We must pray His promises and believe that He is a promise-keeping God who will guide us, strengthen us and give us all wisdom as we step out in HIS fullest potential to do the works that He prepared for us to do before the worlds began.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, 

according to the power at work within us

Ephesians 3:20

God is ALWAYS operating at His fullest potential.  As Believers, we must not waste God's full potential, but pray to GOD's fullest potential which is the only way we will reach OUR fullest potential in Him.  When we daily seek after God's fullest, we will be operating in our God-given full potential - a potential that brings with it a renewed mind in Christ Jesus, evidence of walking in the fruit of the Spirit, confidence in God, the peace of Christ, boldness for Christ and the Holy Spirit's power, a power that is at work within us.

For similar posts, please click on the following:

Four Powerful Attitudes in Prayer that Yield Results

God's Call: The Lord's Presence

God's Call: The Lord Equips

God's Call: The Lord Sets Us Up For Success

Are You Timid About Sharing Your Faith? 5 Confidence Boosting Motivators for the Timid Evangelist

Living Life IN God's Faithfulness

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