This is the Truth Network. Encouraging prayer. God offers an open invitation for His people to talk with Him at any time about anything. On encouraging prayer, Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling Prayers for Prodigals and many other books on prayer, provides weekly biblical insight to help you learn to love to pray.
And now, here's James.
So today on encouraging prayer.
Well, this episode, I when I went to make the file, it's it's called "You Can Pray," but I I typed it in as "You Can Pay," and so. That's so far from what it is, but man, I feel that way sometimes, James. I know. Isn't that right?
Sometimes when it comes to praying, we're like, "Oh, now I've got to pray." No, it's like it's like you're paying something, or I haven't been praying much. I need to pray more, and. You know, I get that. I understand that. But I think God wants us to move beyond that because that's the very reason He made us.
And and when we can come into that place of, you know, I really can do this. I get to do this. Prayer is something we get to do, not something we have to do. Then, oh, that's a whole different thing, isn't it? Oh, I can just tell you that I can't imagine this morning.
I can't without a without my my time and prayer. I literally, it would suck the life right out of me. Yeah. Oh, I know. I mean, think of that.
You know, I think of the the old hymn that says, "Oh, what peace we often forfeit! Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." And it's not just about you know casting our cares on Him. It's about Loving him back—it's about being loved, and and this is where First John three comes to mind. And you know, you think about first of all who John was. He he is of all of the apostles the closest one to Jesus.
You know, he's the one who's leaning on Jesus at the Last Supper. Who gets to do that? You know, and and so he writes, "Behold." That's the King James, but NIV says, "See what what love the Father, what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God." And I think that's the thing that we have to realize that we were made for this. You know that that that God created us for this very purpose to be in this relationship with Him, where we can just. Love him, be loved by him, be lavished by his love, and you know this isn't any kind of a a self indulgent thing either.
This this is a challenging thing. I know that when we talk about being lavished by God's love, people can well, you know, don't don't be too self focused, and yeah, okay, I I get that and I appreciate that, but but the truth is that if you're really meeting with God. Then he's going to deal with your stuff too, isn't he? Oh, he he he certainly is as that. But you know, I think that's part of the reason I kind of like.
Well, I'm not so sure. I want to talk to him right now because this isn't. You know, I'm not. I'm indulging myself rather than you know seeing what he has. I agree.
Yeah, and that's how the devil keeps us from prayer. You know, it's it's that that sinfulness of of our hearts, and then we can intellectualize it so much. You know, sometimes you hear people referring to God as being in this cloud of unknowing, which is actually a great book by Meister Eckhart, and it's it's it's a book that's really about not God being inaccessible, but God being accessible. Through love, and that's just what he wants. He just wants our hearts.
He just wants us to come to him in this simple way. And interesting thing is that phrase, "a cloud of unknowing," comes out of Lamentations three, where Jeremiah is looking at the sack of Jerusalem. You know, in five eighty seven BC by the the Babylonians. That's when it was was. When the wall was first breached and they came through, and you know, lamenting all of that, Jeremiah writes about God that you've surrounded yourself with a cloud so that our prayers cannot get through.
And I know we feel that way sometimes, but the truth of it, if you read that whole chapter three in context, Jeremiah is talking about the sins of his people. And and that sin has caused, caused it so that that that they're not in relationship with God where they can't pray, and that's really that that cloud of of unknowing that that is around God. And as Christians, what we need to realize is that Jesus has broken through that cloud. You know, Scripture speaks of of His glory shining on us, and and when we realize that. Man, it's a whole different story, and and you know we we can dance.
I mean, I'm I'm thinking about you and what you told me earlier about this. Go ahead and tell listeners. This morning is my birthday. I was it's the day before Halloween when this will air, and you know I got up early, just excited to pray. Is is Lord, I just wanted my highlights of my day always be highlight actually, and I just like to let God lead in prayer when I approach Him first thing.
And I was like, "Where do you want to go today?" And He said, "Let's dance." And when when you dance with Jesus, you can feel that love, and when you feel that love. It's that much easier to admit where you're struggling. Yeah, yeah. It's that that childlike, heartfelt. Lord, I'm just going to come to you with all that I am, with with everything that I'm I'm wrestling with, and oh, I need you.
I I need you. And and here's the beautiful thing. What I like to think about is riding a bike. You know, once you've got it, you've got it. You know, and and you never lose it.
And I had a dad who was really encouraging when I was learning to ride my bike. And he he gave me a bike that was really too big for me to start with, you know. But he was there with me, helping me learn it. And I think that's how God is with us when we pray. You know, we've got to realize, man, that that's our heavenly Father's all about that.
He gave us this bike of prayer. He wants us to ride it. You know, and and we're we're meant for this.
So James. Along those ideas of trying to help us all with prayer, you got a big announcement. Yeah, my book "Peace Through Prayer" is currently on sale at our Daily Bread Ministries for five dollars a copy, which is an incredible, incredible discount on that book. And so we're trying to get the word out because a lot of people say that's that's my best book.
Well, there you go. Peace through prayer for only five dollars. It's all, yeah. Lord Daily Bread Ministries. Thank you, thank you for this illustration of this bike.
And Lord, help us to get on to this. We know that you are going to help us do it. Lord, help us to come to to you to ask you to help us to it. You love us so much. Help our hearts to receive that.
That. We wouldn't miss out on that opportunity to share your love in prayer. I pray that you would encourage us all to, you know, step into that boldly to the throne, even today. Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.
