Best Practices or Bold Prayers?

I was at a conference recently when a speaker asked the question, "Are you working from best practices or bold prayers?"

Seemed like a good question on the surface...it got some "amens".

After thinking about this idea for a few weeks however, I started to get a little frustrated by it. In my thought process I kept pitting the best practice against the bold prayer and every time I would come up short. I don't think it needs to be that way.

In other words, I came to the conclusion that the question would be better phrased this way, "are you working from bold prayers and then best practices?" I believe that we need to ask God for the boldest thing we can reasonably ask for, and then work VERY hard to achieve those ends using the BEST practices we can.

So you ask God to bring back your kid (sister, friend, parent, spouse, etc...) who has wandered away from the faith (bold prayer) and then you get to work living a life worthy of the calling you have received humbly bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:1-2).

The greatness that God has called us to as the body of Christ requires both bold prayers AND best practices.

If you aim at the "best case scenario" and miss you've still hit something in proximity to the "best case scenario"...still not bad!