And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard (Luke 1:11-13 ESV)
What if God did what we ask Him to do? When we are asking God for obvious, easy things… like finding a parking space, or arriving at a meeting on time, or finding lost keys, it is not that surprising. We ask small, and God gives small… and no one is amazed.
But what if we ask God for something amazing. Zechariah did. He was asking God for a miracle that was even bigger than Zechariah and Elizabeth knew. The impossible baby that Elizabeth would name John was not merely a miracle of birth to an elderly couple. That baby was the fulfillment of Scripture. That baby was part of the Messiah story. That baby was part of the redemption of Israel.
Zechariah asked big… and received bigger. And that reception took first the form of an angel. A shocking, amazing, incomprehensible being come recently from the very face of God. No wonder Zechariah was afraid.
But if Zechariah had asked small, he would not have been amazed with God’s answer. And the angel would not have come. And the angel would not have had to tell Zechariah that there was nothing to fear… because what was happening was God’s answer to Zechariah’s prayer.
If we are scared to ask big… this angel reminds us that asking big actually leads to less fear. If we don’t dare ask God for the IMPORTANT, the NECESSARY, and the IMPOSSIBLE, then we won’t learn, like Zechariah, that Prayer ENDS fear. Prayer FIXES fear. Prayer UNDOES fear.
Fear not, because of prayer.