What does it really mean to pray boldly?

Bold prayer isn’t necessarily loud prayer. It isn’t trying to force God’s hand, and it certainly doesn’t mean that every request will immediately be answered exactly the way we want. Biblical boldness is something deeper: it is the courage to come into God’s presence, the faith to ask, and the persistence to keep praying when the answer doesn’t seem to come.

In this episode of the Bold as a Lion Prayer Podcast, Tom Henry and Pastor Danny Pankey explore the power of bold, persistent prayer.

Through the story of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus on behalf of her daughter, we see a woman who refused to allow obstacles, silence, culture, or discouragement to stop her. She kept coming. She kept asking. She kept believing. And Jesus ultimately commended her great faith and answered her request.

The conversation also turns to Jesus’ teaching in Luke 18 about the persistent widow—a woman who simply refused to quit seeking justice. Her persistence becomes a picture of one of the great principles of prayer: we ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Pastor Danny also shares the deeply personal story of his grandmother, a woman who lived with physical struggles but maintained sheets of names and prayer needs tucked inside her Bible as a daily prayer list. Some requests remained there for years. Once someone made her prayer list, she kept praying for them - and Pastor Danny explains how his own ministry today is part of the continuing fruit of those persistent prayers.

But persistence is only part of bold prayer.

Through Jesus Christ, believers have been given something extraordinary: access to God.

Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly before the throne of grace. We don't have to wonder whether we're permitted to approach Him. Jesus has opened the way. God isn't merely the distant Creator - we have been invited to know Him as Father.

Prayer, therefore, isn't simply about getting answers. Prayer is about relationship.

You don't have to be a pastor, theologian, prayer expert, or "special" Christian to talk with God. You don't have to be perfect before you come. You have been invited into His presence.

So what have you stopped praying about? Your children? Your family? A marriage? Someone who needs salvation? A situation that hasn't changed? A burden you've carried for years?

Maybe it's time to put it back on the prayer list.

Keep asking.
Keep seeking.
Keep knocking.
Keep coming boldly before the throne of grace.

There may be seasons for many things in life, but there is never a season to give up.

“The wicked flee when no man pursues: but the righteous are bold as a lion,” Proverbs 28:1

Connect With Us

We would love to hear from you, pray with you, and hear what God is doing in your life.

Pastor Danny Pankey
Email: revdpankey@sbcglobal.net

Tom Henry
Email: tom@sharpeningmen.org

Listen, share this episode with someone who needs encouragement to keep praying, and join us as we continue learning what it means to become bold as a lion in prayer.

Be bold. Be persistent. And keep praying.

What does it really mean to pray boldly? And what happens when prayer becomes more than a routine and begins to look like a genuine conversation and partnership with God?

In this special bonus episode of the Bold as a Lion Prayer Podcast, Pastor Danny Pankey sits down with Cassie Dunn and Lorrie Merritt for an honest and encouraging conversation about bold prayer, creative prayer, persistence, friendship, and learning to seek the heart of God.

Cassie shares part of her personal journey through a breast cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy, and the powerful role prayer has played throughout that season. Rather than searching for the perfect prayer formula, she describes learning to approach God from a place of victory, trusting Him even when circumstances and emotions tell a different story.

The conversation also explores what it means to pray with “shameless audacity”—asking God for things that seem impossible, continuing to pray when the answer doesn't come immediately, and refusing to give up simply because circumstances haven't changed yet.

Lorrie shares the importance of standing on God's Word, remaining consistent in His promises, and being willing to ask a different question in prayer: instead of only asking God to address what's on our hearts, what if we stopped and asked, “God, what's on Your heart today?”

You'll also hear practical ideas for breaking out of routine and praying creatively - changing locations, walking while praying, singing prayers, praying Scripture, and finding ways to refocus your attention completely on God.

And throughout the conversation is an important reminder: we were never meant to walk the life of prayer alone. God places people around us who can pray with us, encourage us, strengthen us, and sometimes remind us of what we believe when we're struggling to remember it ourselves.

The episode concludes with Cassie, Lorrie, and Pastor Danny praying specifically for everyone who will hear this conversation - that you would know God's presence, pursue His heart, and discover both the simplicity and power of talking with your Father.

If your prayer life has become routine, if you're waiting on an answer that hasn't come yet, or if you simply want to go deeper in prayer, this episode will encourage you to keep asking, keep believing, keep seeking God's heart, and keep praying boldly.

“The wicked flee when no man pursues: but the righteous are bold as a lion,” Proverbs 28:1

Pastor Danny – revdpankey@sbcglobal.net

Tom – tom@sharpeningmen.org

Four Bold Words: “Your Will Be Done”

What happens when you pray boldly, believe completely—and the answer still isn’t what you prayed for?

In this deeply personal episode of the Bold as a Lion Prayer Podcast, Tom Henry and Pastor Danny Pankey talk about four of the boldest words a believer can ever pray: “Your will be done.”

Bold prayer isn’t about forcing God to give us the answer we want. Prayer is about coming into the presence of our Father, trusting Him completely, and allowing Him to change us - even when we don’t understand what He is doing.

Pastor Danny shares the powerful lesson he learned from a friend who endured the loss of two wives to cancer, yet came away with a deeper trust in God. Tom also shares how careless words about faith affected his family after the death of his four-year-old brother from leukemia. Together, they confront the harmful idea that every unanswered prayer, sickness, loss, or tragedy must somehow mean someone “didn’t have enough faith.”

Then the conversation becomes even more personal as Pastor Danny shares his family’s experience of praying through his daughter and son-in-law’s miscarriage - and how God met them in their grief. He shares portions of the prayer journal he kept for that unborn grandchild and the remarkable story that continued afterward.

Sometimes God moves the mountain. Sometimes He takes us through it. Either way, He does not leave us.

This episode is for anyone who has ever prayed for healing that didn’t come, experienced a devastating loss, wondered why God allowed something to happen, or struggled to reconcile bold faith with painful circumstances.

You can believe God for the impossible while still surrendering everything to Him.

Your will be done.

And whatever you are facing today: don’t quit. When life gets hard, run to God - not away from Him.

Listen, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who may be walking through a difficult season and needs to hear that unanswered prayer does not mean God has abandoned them.

Connect with us:
Tom Henry at tom@sharpeningmen.org

Pastor Danny Pankey at revdpankey@sbcglobal.net