From His Heart

Speaker 1

What should your prayer life look like? Let's find out today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve.

Speaker 2

Now, the sad reality is that our prayer lives—your life, my life, our lives together—tend to not be so great. God has said, "I'm going to listen and I will answer." And then we don't pray. God says, "I wonder why they don't pray."

Sermons on prayer can often feel like a reminder of our shortcomings, making us think, "Oh, they're talking about prayer. That's an area where I don't do very well."

Okay, you're not alone. He can heal every scar with real truth, real love, and real hope from His heart.

Speaker 1

God promised that if we call on him in prayer, he will listen to us. Well, how is your prayer life? This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve.

Today he's got an encouraging message that will help us discover four simple but important truths concerning prayer. The message is the sixth message in the seven lesson series, Soldiers of the Cross. This series is our special thank you gift for your support this month of any amount. You can find out more when you go to fromhisheart.org.

Right now, though, open your Bible to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18. We'll look at verses one through eight. So open your heart to hear a message designed to alert you to the power and privilege we have when we pray. The lesson is called the prayer life of a good soldier.

Speaker 2

It's interesting in the passage in Ephesians 6 where the Bible talks about the armor of God, right? When it says, "and take the shield of faith, with which you'll be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." With this in view, with all prayer and perseverance, be on the alert and be praying. See, the prayers are what give power to the armor of God as we pray and as we seek the Lord. And so today we want to talk about the prayer life of a good soldier.

Now, one of the greatest gifts that God has given us is the gift of an open throne room where we can come and we can petition Him. The psalmist says this: "I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my supplications, because he has inclined his ear to me. Therefore I will call upon him as long as I live." The King of the universe says to his children, "I am listening to you. I want to hear from you. Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know."

Now, the sad reality of our lives together is that our prayer lives tend to not be so great. God has said, "I'm gonna listen and I will answer," and then we don't pray. And God says, "I wonder why they don't pray." Sermons on prayer can be one of those things that's like, "Oh, they're talking about prayer. That's an area where I don't do very well." Okay, you're not alone, you know. The disciples saw Jesus do so much as they spent those years with him. They never once asked Jesus, "Teach us how to preach." They never asked, "Jesus, teach us how to counsel." But they did ask him, "Lord, teach us to pray." Because they watched him spend so much time in prayer.

We want to learn today about prayer. The Lord wants to teach us about prayer so that we would be encouraged, not discouraged, and not feel condemned or like, "Oh, I'm such a terrible Christian because I don't pray enough." No, He wants us to be encouraged. He wants us to be motivated. He wants us to be energized and excited about this thing called prayer, that we can talk to the God of the universe and He will listen to us.

So, in Luke chapter 18, Jesus said this. He was talking to his disciples about the coming of the Son of Man. And then on the heels of that, he says this: "Now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart," saying, "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. And there was a widow in that city. And she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent, from my adversary.' And for a while he was unwilling. But afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out.'"

And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said. Now shall not God bring about justice for his elect who cry to him day and night? And will he delay long over them? I tell you that he will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith, faith on the earth?" Such a great parable, such a great passage of Scripture.

I want to share with you four very simple but very important realities concerning prayer.

**Reality number one: Prayer is a challenge.** It's a challenge. He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, not to give up, not to throw in the towel, not to quit, not to say, "This is too hard and I am done with prayer." Prayer is a challenge. It's easy to give up. That's why Jesus told this parable, so that you don't give up. Why would he tell us that? Because it's easy to give up.

You say, "Well, why is that? Why is it so easy to give up?" Well, number one, the answers that we seek are not immediately given. That's one of the big reasons why we can lose heart and we can lose hope and we can give up. We say, "What's the use?" Because when we pray and we ask God to do something in a situation, we ask God to help us, we ask God for specific things, we don't just get them like that. And so we can get frustrated; we can lose heart.

You know, most of us want God, when it comes to prayer, to be like a microwave oven. You know, I mean, you put in your prayer request like popcorn in the microwave. You put it in, you put it on for two and a half minutes or whatever it is, and then you just sit there. It's like, "I got two and a half minutes. I can wait for two and a half minutes." And out comes piping hot popcorn in two and a half minutes. We want God to do that in prayer.

So, God, we lift up this prayer to you. "Oh, God, I need you to do this. I need you to do that for me. Oh, God, please, will you do this and that for me?" And then we want to just see the answer. Well, when it comes to prayer, God is not like that. God doesn't have a microwave; He's got a crock pot. He's a slow cooker with prayer. Amen? I mean, we pray about things, and sometimes we pray and pray and pray and pray and pray about things. And we say, "Lord, when are you going to answer?" The answers we seek are not immediately given, and so it's easy to lose heart.

Secondly, the anguish we feel in waiting can cause us to give up. Waiting is hard. It's hard to wait. I was thinking about Joseph in the Old Testament. You know, when Joseph was in Genesis 37, he was 17 years old, and God gives him a dream. He actually gives him two dreams, and in both dreams, they're the same kind of dream that his brothers were going to bow down to him. Well, his brothers were already upset with him because he was daddy's favorite. Remember, he got a coat of many colors at Christmas, and they got a piece of coal. They didn't get anything. And he gets this, and so they don't like him; they're jealous.

Then he has these two dreams where his brothers are going to bow down to him, and they really hate him for that. They ended up selling their brother Joseph into slavery. So Joseph, who has this dream, knew it was not just from something he ate the night before. This was a dream from God that God put in his heart. He didn't understand all the particulars of it, but he knew this was going to come to fruition sometime. But now he's a slave in Egypt, and he thinks, "How is this gonna come to fruition with my slavery in Egypt?"

Then he gets lied about by Potiphar's wife, who tells her husband, "This guy tried to rape me," which was not true. He ends up in prison, and it doesn't look like he's ever getting out of there. But then something happens. One day, Pharaoh gets mad at his butler, and the butler ends up in prison. The butler had a dream, and Joseph, by God's spirit, was able to interpret the dream. Joseph tells this butler, "Hey, when you are restored to your position as butler, remember me to Pharaoh. Because I've done nothing wrong to be in this slimy pit, and remember me."

So, no doubt Joseph was pretty excited. "God is gonna, this is how God is going to bring deliverance for me, with Pharaoh's butler." But it says in Genesis 41, verse 1, "At the end of two full years, Pharaoh had a dream." The butler forgot Joseph. He didn't remember him to Pharaoh. It was two full years later that Pharaoh had a dream. And then the butler told Pharaoh, "Hey, there's a guy in prison that can interpret dreams. I should have told you about him, but I forgot."

Now, you think you're Joseph. You have this dream that God has given you, and it just doesn't seem like it's coming to pass. Joseph was a prisoner; he was a slave in Egypt and a prisoner in Egypt for 13 years before Pharaoh called him up and he was elevated to the number two man in all of Egypt. Thirteen years. That's a long time to wait. It would have been easy for Joseph to throw in the towel on his prayers. It would have been easy for Joseph to throw in the towel on his faith, but he didn't do it.

Hey, the anguish we feel in the waiting room can cause us to give up. But don't give up. David said, "I would have despaired unless I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord." Remember this about prayer and what makes prayer such a challenge: The devil knows that there's power in prayer, so the devil will fight so that you're not on your knees praying. He'll fight to keep you from prayer.

The night Jesus was betrayed, Peter told Jesus, "Lord, everyone may desert you, but I will never desert you. With you, I'm ready to go to prison and to death." And Jesus said, "Are you ready to go with me to prison and to death? This very night, before cock crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me." Oh, no, Lord, that'll never happen. Jesus said, "Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat." And Peter heard these words and kept saying, "No, that's not going to happen."

When they went to the Garden of Gethsemane, what was Jesus doing? He was praying. He said to Peter, James, and John, "Remain here with me. Watch and pray. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." And Peter knew that. The devil is coming after me. Jesus said, "I was gonna betray him. I need to be praying." But he was sleeping, and the devil was fighting him. We know how that turned out. He wasn't praying when he should have been praying, and he failed miserably.

Hey, prayer is a challenge.

**Second reality: Prayer is essential.** It's a challenge, but it is essential. Jesus said men ought always to pray and not to faint, not to lose heart at all times. They ought to pray. Robert Murray M'Cheyne, the Scottish preacher of the 1800s, said, "What a man is on his knees before God, that he is, and nothing more." Prayer is essential to our Christian lives.

Hey, prayer is the means by which we talk to God. That's what prayer is. You can get all the theological definitions that you want. Prayer is just talking to God. That's the mechanism, the vehicle, the means by which we talk to our Father, who is God in the universe, over it all. And see, both prayer and Bible study are so critical. Acts, chapter 6, verse 4, the disciples told the church, "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word." Prayer is how we talk to God. The word is how God speaks to us.

Now, does God ever speak outside of His word through circumstances and people? Sure, He does. But primarily, God speaks through His Word, and He's never going to say anything that is not consistent with His Word. I've been listening to the testimony of Darlene Dibler. I heard it on Focus on the Family years and years ago, but I found a video testimony of Darlene Deibler Rose. I was watching that, and she shares, very fully, it's over two hours long, about her life. She was a missionary in Indonesia during World War II, and she experienced terrible atrocities from the Japanese and was put in a prisoner of war camp and accused of being a spy for America.

She just shares her story, and the thing I love about Darlene and the thing that comes out as she shares her testimony is that the Lord was so real to her. Every time anything happened to her, she was just talking it over with the Lord. She was praying, and she was praying without ceasing. That doesn't mean that every second of every day she was in prayer. It means that prayer was like breathing for her. She was just, all the time, when something would happen, she would bring it before the Lord and say, "Lord, this happened, and Lord, that happened. And Lord, how am I going to handle this?"

When she got word that her husband Russell had died, she said, "I thought my Lord had left me." And she said, "Oh, Lord, Russell is dead." And He said, "My child, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you." He would always speak back to her, and He spoke back to her Scripture, Scripture verses that she had read, Scripture verses that she had hidden in her heart. She would share with God what was going on, and God would share so sweetly with her, and it was always in the form of Scripture.

Hey, prayer is the means by which we talk to God. It is so important. That's why we ought to pray at all times. Pray in the good times, pray in the bad times. We tend to not pray in the good times because everything is going well. We don't think we need God, but we do pray in the bad times. People don't like bad times. Why does God bring so many bad times? Because it gets us to pray, gets us to look up, gets us to call upon His name. But in good times, in bad times, in all times, we ought to pray. It is essential to our walk with God.

And prayerlessness, when you think about it, is a sin of pride, a sin of bitterness perhaps, and a sin of self-deception. Why don't we pray? I mean, the Scripture says, "You have not because you ask not." You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives to spend it on your pleasures. Why don't we pray? Well, we kind of, with our prayerlessness, say to God, "God, I got this. I got this handled. I know how to do this. I know how to run my business. I know how to play this sport. I know how to preach this sermon. I know how to sing this song. God, I got this."

That's pride. Jesus said, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." Nothing that matters, nothing that lasts. But we have pride. We perhaps have bitterness. Why don't we pray? Well, maybe we prayed for something, and it didn't happen the way we prayed. We prayed for a loved one to get better, and that loved one died. We have a hole in our hearts, and we get mad at God. We're bitter at God because God didn't come through the way we wanted Him to come through.

When Darlene got news that she lost Russell, she didn't want that. Her husband Russell, no. But she said, "All right, Lord, I trust you. Your ways are right concerning everything. I don't understand, but I trust you." There are many people in church bitter at God, mad at God, angry at God. They don't see God as good. The devil has done a number on them, and they see that God is not good and that God is working against them. Nothing could be further from the truth or self-deception. Many people are self-deceived because we think, "Hey, I got this covered. I can do this. God, I don't need you."

Oh, when the bottom drops out, then we pray. Why? Because then we need God. What we need to understand is, as the song says, "I need thee every hour." I would say, "I need thee every second of every minute of every hour." We desperately need God.

When Daniel in Daniel Chapter 5 was called in before King Belshazzar, who saw the handwriting on the wall, you know, it scared him to death. The three words, the words "meanie, mene, tekel, upharsin," he didn't know what they meant, and nobody could interpret. They called Daniel. Daniel's an old man at this time, and this is the night before Babylon falls to the Medo-Persians. Belshazzar, the king, was toasting his gods with the goblets that they had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. He was putting it in God's face. And God says, "That's it." He saw the handwriting on the wall.

Well, they call for Daniel. Daniel interprets the handwriting. He says to Belshazzar, "You knew the story of what happened to your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, but you didn't acknowledge that." Here were his words in Daniel 5:23: "But the God in whose hand are your life, breath, and your ways you have not glorified." So what does "meany, mene, tekel, you farsan" mean? In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Hasta la vista, baby." That's what it means. It means you're done. You don't pass go. You don't collect $200. This is it for you, pal. Loose translation of "Mene Mene Teko Eupharson," but that's what happened. And God had had enough.

Why? Because he didn't need God. You know, it says in Romans Chapter 1, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. For that which is known about God is evident within them. God made it evident to them. For ever since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His divine power and nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse." Man is without excuse before God.

And it says this: "Even though the people knew God, knew about Him, knew Him in their head, even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give Him thanks. But they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools." Anybody who doesn't acknowledge God is a fool. They might have a bunch of degrees by their name or her name, but you're a fool because God has made it very evident that He is God.

But see, we get self-deceived, and we think we don't need God when the truth is we need God every second of every hour of every day. So prayer is a challenge, and prayer is essential. That's how we talk to God.

And then thirdly, **prayer is powerful when it is God-directed and persistent.**

Speaker 1

Well, we're going to pause right there for today as we're out of time, but next time after a brief review, Pastor Jeff's going to get into great detail about the power of God directed and persistent prayer in this message called the Prayer Life of a Good Soldier. Christians are called to be good soldiers in the Lord's army, no doubt, and it starts with prayer. But there are many more qualities as well. What does it take to be an effective good soldier for Christ? You'll find out in Pastor Jeff's seven message series, Soldiers of the Cross, and we're airing it this month.

He shares a lot about being an influence for the Lord that includes three essential truths that we must understand in order to fight the good fight of faith and to finish the race that the Lord has given us. This timely series is our gift of thanks to you for your support this month of any amount, and you can get it on CDs, DVDs, a USB flash drive, or digital download—your choice. And when you make that gift, we'll also send you the companion booklet, the Lord's Army, both the series and the booklet for your gift today of any amount to continue to help From His Heart reach the world for Christ.

To get your copies, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org. God bless you for standing with us to share this timely encouragement each day on this station and on over 850 around the world, as well as on TV in 182 countries and always online. It takes a special calling and provision from God to make that happen, and He has been so faithful. Thank you for joining us in that effort.

Well, time is up for today. Thank you for being here and for listening and for praying for From His Heart. This year there is turmoil all around the world, and the world needs the good news that we offer. Together, we are helping open minds and hearts to receive the good news. We hope you'll be here tomorrow for part two of the lesson, the Prayer Life of a Good Soldier. That's on Tuesday when we'll again open up God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope. From His Heart.

Speaker 2

There is tremendous truth. There is hope that you always dream of. He can heal every scars of his heart.

Speaker 1

From his heart is the Listener Supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more@fromisheart.org.