Sticking to the Promises and Taking a Risk

I recently read a book called Risk Factor and in it they were talking about the heroes of faith in Hebrew 1 and said this, "Certainly they had assessed the potential downside to their risk venture, but in their analysis, the reward for holding onto their promise outweighed the potential fall-out of failure. They made way for the impossible because they invested in the promise with acts of risk."  I also just finished reading Cindy Jacob's book Power of Persistent Prayer which has a chapter on Praying the Word; looking for promises in God's Word that pertains to what you are praying for and persistently praying it until there is breakthrough.
Our marriage has been a testimony to this process. God gave me Joel 2:25 at a time when I didn't have a lot of hope or faith that our marriage was going to last, but God promised me  He would "restore the years the locust have eaten". I had to take the risk of having my heart hurt time and time again but in the process I discovered that when God restores, He doesn't just take it back to the original, He makes it new and better than what it was before. But God didn't just stop at our marriage, He is continually showing me other things that have been desolated by "locusts" and need restored. Things like the church, or people who have strayed from God, or those caught up in human trafficking. Joel 2:25 applies to them as well and I will continue to stand in the gap until I see breakthrough.
There are many promises in His Word that pertain to many different circumstances, all we have to do is look at our situation, find a promise, pray it in, and start walking by faith or a taking a risk that the promise will come to pass. This last step is the one key that I have learned over the years. We can pray the promises as much as we want  but we also must step out in that promise and claim it as complete.
If it is a promise for someone'e salvation, then start pouring into that person and love them as Jesus would if He were face to face with them. Depending on the person you can even give them nuggets from God's Word. Some non-believers have so much pain the first mention of God shuts them down. In those instances we become His hands and feet and heart to them and just love them where they are. Love is the most useful tool we have to win the lost or those who have never been found.
If you are praying for restoration in a marriage, you have to begin to walk out the marriage you desire even when the other person isn't. Again, it comes down to loving like Jesus. When God has given you a promise that He will restore your marriage, He means it. We must step out in faith and recognize the true enemy and begin to pray for our spouse. A lot of times there is a lot of pain and many walls, we must give the pain to Him and let Him begin to heal and then trust Him to protect your heart as you begin to let the walls down to let your spouse in. He will not forsake you. (on a side note, if you are in a relationship where you are being physically or emotionally abused I am by no means suggesting you stay in a dangerous environment. But it does not mean you have to give up on praying if you leave to be safe. I have seen abusive relationships turn when the abuser comes to Christ and lets the Holy Spirit begin to change him or her)
If you are contending for the Church to wake up and revival to come, then start walking in it. If you feel you are on the verge of revival then let it come, even if it is only to you. Don't stop the Holy Spirit just because those around you don't get it, they will. God hungers for His Kingdom to come, for His will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. If we are the only ones walking that out for a time then so be it. If people think I am crazy because I radically love a God who can do all things, then let them think it. I am crazy; I am crazy in love with Jesus.
I have seen many answers to the promises I pray when I take the risk to love with that kind of crazy, radical love that only comes from God moving in me and through me to touch the lives of those around me. It is worth any "fallout" or "risk" I must take. It is not about my comfort but it's about living out the love of Christ.