Will Davis Jr. - Faith Set Free: Pray for Yourself with Reckless Abandon

Father, make me a person of prayer. Fervent, boiling, deep soul prayer. If what Will Davis says is your desire, then read this bookit just might change your life forever. Maybe for the first time you will understand that the love waiting for you is like no othera love that is fulfilling, a result of doing intercessory prayer for yourself.

Nancy Turner, host, This Is the Day!
Moody Radio, Chicago

I cant imagine a more applicable, ready-to-use guide for exploding your relationship with God than this impacting book. For personal or small group study, it is the best! I have had the privilege of knowing and watching Will do life in marriage, with his kids, and leading Christs church for twentyplus years. He is the real deal, and his tools in this book are the reason.

Jeff Young, minister of spiritual development,
Prestonwood Baptist Church

Once again Will Davis leads us on an adventure of spiritual discovery by creatively explaining and illustrating prayers place in throwing open the doors to the Christians faith. Through his own experience of victories and failures, Will delivers a pinpoint book on pinpoint prayerpraying specifically for ourselves. Reaching beyond mere theory, Will gives us practical steps and even creative tools to put into practice on the spot so we can begin immediately to experience a more vibrant faith. Faith Set Free is biblical, on point, and to the point; its easily read and readily applicable.

Dale Brown, PhD, senior pastor,
West Congregational Church

Will Davis has a passion for prayer. Faith Set Free is a beautiful and powerful reminder to practice pinpoint prayer not only for others but also for ourselves.

Teal L. Rapp, missionary and church planter,
Christian Associates International

Will Davis lives the fresh, vibrant, and generous life that he so eloquently expresses in Faith Set Free. His life and book demonstrate the kind of praying and obedient attitudes that bring the freedom and joy of a surrendered life in Jesus.

Cecil Campbell, director,
Nicaraguan Resource Network

Blessed with the heart and wisdom of a pastor, evangelist, and counselor, Will Davis possesses a relentless passion to reach the deepest, most tender, and most vulnerable places of the human heart. Biblical truths convince the reader to pray audaciously to God for personal guidance and blessing. Wills compelling and inspiring directives in Faith Set Free are comprehensive as he encourages us and then teaches us how to pray expansive prayers for personal disciplines and needs, without harboring a sense of guilt or selfishness.

Stephen T. Carrell, associate pastor of worship and
music, First Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas

faith set
FREE

Pray for Yourself with Reckless Abandon

WILL DAVIS JR.

2009 by Will Davis Jr.

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Davis, Will, 1962
Faith set free : pray for yourself with reckless abandon / Will Davis Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8007-3247-9 (pbk.)
1. PrayerChristianity. I. Title.
BV210.3.D37 2009
248.32dc22

2008049961

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture marked NLT is taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

To my mother, Ann B. Davis

Contents

Acknowledgments

3 Finding Buried Treasure: Mining Gods Word for Pinpoint Promises

11 I Must Become Less: Prayers for the Gift of Irrelevance

15 Worship

Thanks to...

Susiefor being a world-class wife

Will III, Emily, and Sarafor your patience and grace for all the times I was glued to a computer screen

Steve Carrellfor not being at homecoming

Julie Apra, Liz Benigno, Terri Crow, Dana Diven, Ron Duncan, Erika Dunham, Ed Frazier, Tonya Parrott, Lorri Payne, Sandra Roche, Dana Roraback, Mike Schatzman, Gary Sinclair, Steve Tyndall, Lynn Walker, and Julie Washingtonfor helpful comments and insights into personal praying

The Kampen 242 groupfor being generous

Julie Aprafor being a spiritual warrior

Derek and Bonnie Buchertfor not quitting when you could have

Gary Sinclairfor being a great friend and for modeling good Bible study methods

The ACF overseers and boardfor encouraging and allowing me to write

The ACF executive team and stafffor being my friends and colaborers

Andrea and Curt Smithfor tireless love, support, and friendship

Vicki Crumptonfor continued excellent coaching, support, and friendship

Suzie Cross Burdenfor your passionate belief in the Pray Big concept

The amazing Revell teamCheryl Van Andel, Twila Bennett, Deonne Beron, Debbie Deacon, Claudia Marsh, Brooke Nolen, Jessica Miles, Karen Steelefor gorgeous covers, excellent editing, first-class promotions, world-class service, and overall outstanding service and support. You are a joy to work with.

Part 1
Learning to Pray
for Yourself

W elcome to Faith Set Free. In the following pages, you will learn how to develop a robust faith through personal prayer. Youll discover how to pray big, hairy, audacious prayers for very specific areas of your life. You will also be reminded of some extremely helpful spiritual disciplines that will boost your own personal prayer habits.

In this first part, lets talk about pinpoint praying and why you need to pray specific prayers for yourself.

1
Tired of Just Hanging Around?

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Mark 1:35

I ts amazing how quickly your prayer life kicks in when youre suspended eighty feet above a rocky riverbank by a thin rope. Actually, suspended and stuck. With all that time to gaze at the rocks below, prayer is bound to happen.

When I was a college student, I fell in love with the sport of rappelling. You know, rappellingyou tie a rope onto something really high, run it through a harness on your waist, and then proceed to walk, run, or skip down the face of a sheer drop-off. I actually kept ropes and a harness in my car just in case I saw a ledge, a building, a cliff, a bridge, or a mountain face that was just begging to be walked down.

The hills near my college campus provided a great spot for serious rappelling. The Brazos River flowed about 120 feet below an overhanging cliff. Several large trees and even part of an old wall provided many secure places to which I could tie my rope. After the first few steps down the face of the cliff, the wall dropped away and formed a huge overhang about thirty feet deep. In order to touch the wall, you actually had to swing in big arcs like a giant pendulum. You could get a good forty-or fifty-foot swing going on that overhang. Let me tell you, hanging a hundred feet over the riverbank and acting like a pendulum is quite a wild ride.