Mobilize — Daily BOB prayer
Burden. Open doors. Boldness.
One short prayer, prayed every morning. It is the habit underneath the GO Lifestyle: make reaching people a habit, starting with what you ask God for before the day begins.
The prayer
Pray this today.
These are the words the movement prays around the world every morning. Say them slowly, then say the names of your five people.
“God, give me a burden for people who don't know You. Open my eyes to the people around me and create opportunities to share. And give me boldness to step out and speak when the moment comes. Use me today.”
Why it is only three lines
A prayer you can remember is a prayer you will actually pray. Three words carry it: burden, open doors, boldness. Long enough to mean something, short enough to survive a Tuesday.
It asks for what you cannot generate yourself. Not more effort, but a changed heart, a prepared moment, and the nerve to use it.
What BOB stands for
Three requests, in the order they happen.
- B
Burden for the lost
You cannot manufacture caring about people. It has to be given to you. So the first thing the prayer asks for is a heart that is genuinely moved by the people who do not know God, including the ones you have stopped noticing.
- O
Open doors
Not a door you force. A door God opens, in a conversation you were already having. Asking for it in the morning is what makes you alert to it in the afternoon.
- B
Boldness to share
The moment usually comes and goes in a few seconds. Boldness is what carries you through those seconds, and it is asked for rather than mustered.
When you feel fear
Praying it does not remove the nerves. It just stops them deciding.
Fear is completely normal, and it does not disqualify you. Do not wait for it to disappear. Take a step of obedience anyway, and as you do you will begin to recognise that God is already preparing people and moments ahead of you.
The prayer is honest about that. It does not ask for confidence, it asks for boldness, which is a different thing: moving while the nerves are still there. GO Day is not about being outgoing, it is about being available, and this is the prayer of an available person.
You are also not the one doing the convincing. The Holy Spirit is already at work in people's lives. Your part is to take the step and trust God with the rest.
Make it a rhythm
Three ways people keep praying it past week two.
Pray it first, before the day fills up
Ninety seconds at the start of the day, before email and before the school run. Later never arrives.
Pray it over your five names
Say the prayer, then say the five names out loud. General prayers produce general attention. Named prayers make you notice one specific person at 3pm.
Pray it again on the way in
Before a meeting, a shift or a queue you are about to stand in. It takes fifteen seconds and it changes what you are watching for.
Next step
Give the praying something to feed on.
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