Season: 1 Episode: 010
Summary:
There is a weapon in the church that is the most neglected resource the church has today. If we picked up this weapon and used it daily, we would thrive in our walk with God, our marriages, our relationships and overcome in so many areas in life. If you want to know how to thrive in your walk with God and overcome the obstacles you face today, this episode is for you!
Quotables:
“Discipline isn’t doing something when you feel like it. It means doing it when you don’t feel like it knowing it’s good for you.”
“As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.” – Martin Luther
“We aren’t moved my emotion or swayed by circumstance when we are discipled in prayer.”
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Script:
Hello, my friend, and welcome back to another episode of Her Faith Inspires.
Before we get started today, I want to read a review from one of my listeners. Nicole Dickey says, “I’m loving listening to this podcast! With life so busy, the length is perfect and packed full of so much truth. I found myself listening to one episode two days in a row just because it truly spoke to my soul! Thank you for posting these!”
Thank you, Nicole! Nothing warms my heart more than reading these reviews. It’s so nice to know my words are inspiring others. What greater blessing is there?
Ok, Today, we are going to talk about how you can thrive in your walk with God. And what we’re going to talk about today is super obvious, but it’s also the most neglected thing Christians do today.
I can tell you that my relationship with God has changed drastically since I implemented this into my life, and that is the main reason I’m sharing it with you today.
So, without further ado, let me tell you what this one thing that I’m talking about is … prayer!
Ok, so don’t pause or switch to another episode. Seriously! Do you want to see things change in your life? Do you want to see God work in the lives of those around you? If you want transformation in your life, your marriage, your purpose …
I’m telling you right now prayer is where it’s at!
Dr. Martin Lloyd said, “Our ultimate position as Christians is tested by the character of our prayer life.”
Thomas Lye said, “I had rather stand against the cannons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous.”
Prayer is the most neglected weapon in the church today. We talk a whole lot about Ephesians 6 where God says to put on the full armor, but do you know without prayer you are not putting on the armor? Prayer is the glue that holds your spiritual armor together.
The enemy of your soul gets real intimidated when he sees you pray. He knows that is the way God moves on and for His people.
There is so much to say about this topic, and I hope I do it justice today because I’m telling you, it will change your life. And I hope that after today’s episode, you will be inspired to strengthen your prayer life and thrive in the Lord.
Does God Move When We Don’t Pray?
The other day, I was praying for our country and the next election and this verse was just going over and over in my head. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
What does this verse tell us? A couple of things. First, God expects His people to pray. God said, “If My people …” God knows that the unsaved person who doesn’t believe won’t pray. He’s not referring to those people. He’s talking about Christians here.
This also tells us that His people aren’t praying. If they were, God would heal their lands. What is their land? It’s everything from our marriages, our families, our homes, our nation and whatever we possess.
Do you need your land healed? Pray!
James 4:2-3 says, “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
James tells us we want but don’t have because we won’t ask. Everybody wants the blessings of God, but God expects His people to ask in prayer.
He also says that when we ask we are asking for our own pleasure and not according to God’s will. So, when we ask, always ask that God’s will be done.
So, to answer the question: Does God move when we don’t pray? The answer, based on scripture, is no. True and active faith drives us on our knees because faith in prayer moves the hand of God.
The second topic I want to cover is , How Do I Pray?
People are intimidated when they pray out loud. I get it because I still am. But God is not flattered by our lengthy prayers or eloquent words. He wants our hearts. When we pray to God it only has to be sincere.
That’s it. So, just do it.
And when you do it, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Pray according to God’s will and not your own. 1 John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
This tells us a few things. First, we can ask according to our own desires. And two, He won’t hear us (that means answer us) if we pray according to our own desires.
If you don’t know what God’s will is for your life, do what Jesus did in Matthew 6 and pray that His kingdom will come and that His will will be done in you.
I don’t always know His will so I ask God what I desire and end it with, “Lord, let your will be done in my life.”
Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray in the spirit on all occasions and with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Ephesians 6 talks about putting on the armor of God and we hear about that a lot in the church. The sword is the weapon of both defense and offense and it represents the word of God. All of the other parts of the armor mentioned in this chapter are for defending yourself against the enemy.
*But do we really use the armor of God according to its fullest potential? I can help you find the answer to that question.
*As I said at the beginning of this episode, prayer is the glue that holds the armor together. Without prayer, how we can say we are putting on the full armor of god when it works effectively only as we are in relationship and communication with the Lord?
*So pray in the Spirit … with the Spirit of God making intercession on your behalf.
*There are many, many verses on prayer in the Bible and prayer is actually mentioned more than 130 times. Jesus tells us to pray always, pray without ceasing, and pray in every circumstance and give everything to God in prayer.
*God wants to fellowship with you. And prayer is the lifeline to your walk with Him and the secret to knowing Him and reviving the things in your life that need to be healed and restored.
*Don’t worry about how you sound or what others think of you. God doesn’t care about that.
*Just pray in your own words and with a true heart.
*And here’s one last tip on how to pray: don’t only pray when you feel like it or when something is going wrong in your life. Remember that we fight battles in prayer we don’t even know are happening. The enemy is constantly on the prowl seeking whom he may devour.
*Do you know what that means? It means he’s looking for the weak. The ones caught unaware because they’re not praying.
Prayer is a spiritual discipline
Martin Luther once said, “As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.”
*But that’s easier said than done.
*I’ve learned that discipline doesn’t mean doing something when you feel like it. It means doing it even when you don’t feel like it, knowing it’s good for you.
*I do this with the gym, eating healthy and any other discipline in my life.
*We have spiritual disciplines just like we have physical disciplines. Why? Because everything in the physical parallels the spiritual.
*I love, love, love, 1 Corinthians 9:27. Paul said, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
*Paul is saying that he prays and does what he supposed to do even when he doesn’t want to do it. His fleshly desires to skip prayer and spiritual disciplines does not rule his decisions.
*How do we cultivate this? We do it day by day and we ask the Lord to help us develop the spiritual stamina to make sure we pray and seek His face.
*We aren’t moved by emotion, or swayed by circumstance when we are disciplined in prayer. And just like it gets easier to workout and eat healthy as we do it, it’s the same with spiritual disciplines.
*This is hard. I totally understand but it is worth it. God moves as we pray.
And that brings me to my last point: How is prayer powerful?
Let’s take a look at some verses and find out what the common denominator is for each one after we read them.
Psalm 107:28-30 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it
In all of these verses, God says ASK. That’s it. Ask and God moves. Ask and God answers.
And then there are examples after examples of people in the Bible who prayed and God answered in powerful ways:
Daniel in the lions den. Daniel refused to stop praying and God, although not keeping him from the den, kept him safe in it.
Shad, Meshach and Abednego. Although God didn’t keep them from the furnace, God kept them while they were in it.
You see, we live in a world that’s harsh and the spiritual warfare is real. God won’t take us out of it, but He will keep us in it. But, the key is to ask. To pray and trust Him with every part of your life.
I want to leave you with a final quote today. My hope is that you understand the power of prayer. Don’t overcomplicate it. Just talk to the creator of the universe and the only one who has the power to answer.
Your life and the life of those you pray for depend on it.
Arthur Hopkins said, “Our prayer and God’s mercy are like two buckets in a well; while one ascends, the other descends.”
Here are some tips for how to pray:
- there’s only one right way to pray: from the heart. It doesn’t depend on length or eloquence of speech. Just pray from the heart and you will move mountains.
2) Be honest with God. Tell Him how you feel, what you desire and if what you need. Tell Him your struggles. I’m always honest with God and I also tell Him when I don’t feel like praying.
3) Use a prayer journal if you need to. I go back and forth depending on my focus. If I’m not focused, I grab my prayer journal and write in it. I have several over the years and it’s nice to go back and read them and see the prayers God answered in my life.
Remember: Prayer is a two-way street. When your prayers go up, God goes into action. Believe that and pray today, tomorrow and every day. Don’t stop! And I’ll pray for you to develop the spiritual discipline that will change your life.
That’s it for today’s episode. I’ll be back next week with a whole new topic and if you have any questions you’d like me to answer or make into a podcast episode, shoot me an email at hello@shandafulbright.com.
I’ll catch you on the next one, my friend!
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