In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: How many times have you gotten on your knees troubled to get up triumphantly joyous in God. Well, what happened? You just told him about your problems, heartaches, and fears, and he got in on what you were down on. And what did he do? He refocused your life for that moment, showed you who you are in Christ Jesus and the tremendous future that you have in Christ Jesus, what God can do in you. What did he do? He refreshed you and he replaced your turmoil with a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Guest (Male): Prayer can often be reduced to a frustrating ritual that feels unnecessary. But today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, you'll see that God intends prayer to be a continuing source of fulfillment and encouragement. Discover how your prayer life can take on new meaning as an exciting God-given privilege. Let's listen in to Dr. Stanley's message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Now, I'd like to give you a list of things and I want to suggest you take a pencil and piece of paper if you will because I want to talk about this matter of the place that prayer ought to have in our life and that is that it should be a priority and I simply want to give you some reasons why prayer should be a priority in our life. And I just want to give you this list and we'll move right along through them. And the first one is this, that prayer should be a priority.

That is I mean by that now, time that you take alone between you and God where you and he are talking together in the word, listening to what he's saying to you in the word, sharing your heart with him, allowing God to impress your spirit. Prayer should be a priority first of all because prayer in itself is a recognition of our dependence upon God. When you begin the day, do you begin it with a sense of confidence in yourself or do you begin the day with a sense of dependence upon God that he's going to show you each step of the way.

Secondly, God's power is released through prayer as it is released in no other form or fashion. The power of God is the overflow of spending time with him and I want to tell you you can spend time with somebody else or a whole bunch of Christians. There is no substitute for your being alone with Almighty God by yourself. All right, the third thing I want you to notice, Paul says unceasingly pray here. What is he saying? And that is that through prayer prayer is the resource that is it is the channel of God's resources. It is through prayer our resources come, but it is the channel through which our resources come.

So, if you can think about prayer and resource and channel, that is when you and I get along with God, what happens? Something happens within us. So, you ask the question when he says unceasingly pray, what does he mean when he when we talk about the fact that it is the channel through which God sends his blessing. Well, think about what he said and he said the most important thing so simply. He said now, watch this. He said you ask and it shall be given you. You seek and you shall find. You knock and it shall be opened to you.

Now, that's real simple. What is he saying? He's saying you and I have a channel between us and God and we're to look to him as our resource. We're not to look to others, our boss, employer. We look to him as our resource. Now, whomever God chooses to use through whom these blessings are going to flow, that's his business. That's always his business. But what you and I must do is to come to him in prayer, looking to him as the resource and seeing that prayer is the channel through which God sends his blessing. You see he has arranged his economy so that he is a responder to our petition.

That doesn't mean we only get what we ask for. Most all of us would agree that he blesses us far beyond what we expect and many things we don't even ask for. But we are to ask. We are to beseech him. You know what a big part of our problem is? We don't pray enough to keep our faith at a level where God can operate. Friend, listen, don't chalk off anybody as a possible part of God's work. He can take the most unexpected and unsuspecting situation and turn it into a resource. But ultimately God is the resource and when we see him as that and we begin to pray and seek his face and look to him as the resource, God is going to open a channel of blessing like most of us have never expected.

And I want to tell you he'll do it in your business, your home, your personal life. God's waiting on you. You're not waiting on him. God's waiting on you. All right, next. Not only a resource, but the realization of our goals and dreams. Let's go back to Nehemiah for just a moment. The scripture says in the very beginning of that first chapter as he is contemplating what's happened to his own people and he begins to pray. How does God make his goal become a living reality in answer to his prayer? Now, listen. How many of you had taken the goals, dreams that you've had and you've worked out of them and you've tried and they don't work out and so you've just tossed them aside.

I wonder how many dreams and goals that God had already provided for in your life that you've lost because you didn't take the time to bring them before him. Listen. Let's say that you have seven goals in your life. Write them out. Lay them before God every morning. You say well, suppose my goal isn't right. Here's what God will do. You'll lose interest in it. He will assure you that's not of him. You lose interest that and he will replace it with something else or just eliminate that one. But God will show you the proper goals and once you begin to lay those out before him morning by morning, I, along with many other people I'm sure, I can take a list that I've been working on for years and years and years and watch God one by one amazingly in his own way, in ways that I would never have been able to fathom on the face of this earth.

Watch God fulfill one goal, one dream after the other. Why? Just bringing it to him. You say well, now wait a minute. That that almost sounds like you don't do anything. You just tell God about it. Now, here's what it does. As you and I talk to God about it and we are in agreement about it, what happens is that God, little by little, gives wisdom and direction to show us what to do, how to do, to whom to speak, what not to say as well as what to say, and what God does. God little by little moves us in a position whereby the accomplishment of our goal becomes a living reality.

But you see it's in conversation with him, listening to him, getting insight from him and direction from him. You see God is in the business of blessing his people. And so many of us are in the business of making it very hard for God to do for us what he wants to do, what he desires to do. Paul said unceasingly we are to pray. How many goals have you laid aside because you've not seen their reality? Did you bring them to God who knows them one by one? Did you ask for his direction, his guidance?

Did you ask him to teach you how to be patient till he worked them out? Did you ask the living God this morning? Did you ask him to show you step by step how to make that a reality or did you say now, Lord, here's my goals. I want you to bless them and you set out to do it your own way. You see and then we wonder why we don't work at it and make it become a living reality and then we want to blame God. Well, God must be missing someone. No, listen. God wants to do it.

He wants to magnify himself within you. Why should God make you a failure? Listen, if you say well, now God blew this thing on me and he's made me fail, let me just say one thing. If God has ever engineered a failure in our life, do you know what he had in mind? A greater success in the future. That's the only reason God ever engineers any failures. He engineers a failure today in order to bring about a greater success tomorrow. Sometimes he just engineers a fall flat on your face and then when you're sprawled out on your back and no place to go and nothing to do and you're asking oh, Lord, what do I do now?

And God says now, here's what you do it my way. And God will provide a greater success if he ever engineers some failure in your life. You see he desires to bless his children, but I want to tell you his key to doing so is keeping us on our knees, seeing him as the resource, seeing him as our God so that we don't get proud and egotistical because you see God wants to bless you to the maximum of your potential. Unceasingly pray, Paul says. All right, let's move on. And that is it must be a priority in life because it is through prayer our fellowship with God is restored.

You recall that 51st Psalm, it's probably as good a passage as to be found anywhere in the Bible where David pours out his heart before Almighty God after his sin with Bathsheba. He pours out his heart. He says created me a clean heart, oh God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Don't cast me away from your presence. Don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I'll teach transgressors thy ways and sinners will be converted. That is, Lord, if you work in my life, then I'll share this with someone else.

Listen. When you and I disobey the Lord God and we get out of fellowship with him, how is fellowship restored if there is no prayer? I want to say again you start the day with God not in order to get his help so you can do your thing until about 11:00 at night and then you come back to medium again and thank him. No, the believer should see that his prayer time in the morning, her prayer time in the morning is what starts a continuing fellowship all day long. Tell me something that strengthens your fellowship with the Lord God Almighty any sweeter than spending time with him.

Just talking to it, listening to him, being quiet, in the word. Here's what God does and I can explain this I'm sure adequately, but I can tell you this by my own experience. When you get along with the Lord God and you just quiet with him, it's almost like you just osmose him on the inside. Now, he's already there. We know he's on the inside. It's like you just sense his presence and and his overwhelming presence as if he were there humanly speaking. Now, we know he's not. It's better than that. He's on the inside.

What in reality takes place is you and I talk to him, the fullness of Jesus just expands and and expresses itself all through our whole being till we are enraptured and captured by the presence of Almighty God himself. Now, friend, there is no experience in all of life. There is no experience in all of life to match the overwhelming, incomparable, indescribable, loving relationship between a man or a woman and the Lord Jesus Christ. That far supersedes anything that the human flesh can become involved in because it reaches a level beyond the flesh into the spirit where your spirit and the spirit of Jesus Christ become one and you're enveloped by him and covered by him and saturated by him and permeated by him and enveloped in him.

It is Christ and Christ Jesus alone. You want nothing other than himself. And you see this is why the prayer is so important. As you and I begin to fellowship with him and our relationship with him becomes what it ought to be, here's what happens. You don't come to him begging for all these things. You come to him in sweet, loving fellowship to express your love and in the process of doing so you bring those things of concern to you and what happens? God just loves you and overflows within your life and one by one what does he do?

He just checks these dreams and desires and goals off in your life as an expression of loving relationship because you've been loving him. The truth of the Christian life is that God wants us to receive from him all he desires to give as an overflow of our fellowship with him. Lose your fellowship, what happens? You've got to ask God in prayer to make show you how to make things right so that your fellowship once again is oneness and not separation. And haven't there been times in your life maybe when things weren't exactly right and you sort of fudged a little bit on God and you tried to keep real busy to keep from praying.

Somebody says well, I don't feel like praying. That's the signal to get busy. When you don't feel like it, that's the signal to get started. And you get down to pray and you think I I'm not feeling anything. Keep hanging in there, brother, because if you'll just keep praying, you'll start feeling something because here's what Satan does. We have to remember this. When you and I begin to pray, Satan comes in. I mean he'll put up a tremendous barrier between you and God if at all possible because the one thing he wants you to do is to stay off your knees and out of the throne room.

He doesn't care what else you do because he knows it's not going to amount to much. Just stay off your knees, stay out of the throne room, and believe Satan's lie. Go by your feelings. If you go by your feelings, many times when you ought to be praying, you won't pray. So, I don't feel like praying. And I discovered a long time ago when I don't feel like it, get with it because I need it. And secondly, I may pray for a while I think, Lord, I've thought about everything in the world but you while I'm down here.

Nothing's going on, but I've discovered a principle. If you just pray a little bit longer, you'll break through. And what that is, it's Satan. It's Satan throwing all these thoughts and all these ideas in your mind. And listen, that's natural because he doesn't want you thinking about God because here's what happens. When you begin to fellowship with the Lord in prayer, here's what takes place. Friend, your countenance changes. Your life changes. And you see you begin to see things you've never seen before about yourself, about others, about the Lord. Your insights in scripture begin to begin to increase.

The depth of your understanding increases. Your capacity to know God increases. And what happens is like God begins to expand. Well, you know that the devil's going to fight that. He's going to fight that with everything he's got. So, what happening? You're down praying and and you're just you you've got your mind on God and here comes some thought you think, where in the world did that come from? I'll tell you where it came from, straight from the devil. Listen, naturally he's going to do everything he can to divide your mind while you're praying. Anything he can do to get your mind off Holy God on to anything but God because there's a transformation experience that takes place when you pray.

And I don't think anybody can humanly explain it except that as you and I beseeching the Lord and fellowshipping with him and loving him and receiving his love, there is a renewing process that goes on within our mind, our spirit, our soul, our will, our emotion. Something is happening on the inside of us. And what's happening is we are becoming more Godlike. That is the Christ who is within us is able to permeate and saturate more and more of our lives and so that God becomes more and more what he is already, but he becomes it to us.

You see I like to think of it this way. You go out in the yard and work all day long, six, seven, eight hours, then you come in you sweat and you're tired and you want to What do you want to do? You want a good shower. That what prayer is. When you and I come to him refreshing in our own spirit, what happens in our lives is this. God refreshes us with himself and there's a sense of energy. There's a strength. And I've been on my face at times when I've been so worn out I think, God, I can't take one more step.

20 minutes later I get up off my knees, never even think about being tired, having God's supernatural energy never even crossed my mind again. There's no human explanation for that except that fellowship with a loving God meets every single need. Whatever immediate need you have, I can guarantee you this, it's always best to pray first, not last, but first. Our fellowship with him is restored. Our fellowship with him is refreshed. When you and I begin to talk to him, not something we do every once in a while, but something that ought to be the priority in our life.

Then let me just give you one last one. There are many many others. You recall in Philippians chapter 4 what Paul said. He said don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. That is to pray. And what does he say will happen? And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding surpasses it all will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. It is through prayer we receive God's peace. That is by experience. Now, we have it in Christ, but it is experienced in prayer.

How many times have you gotten on your knees troubled to get up triumphantly joyous in God. Well, what happened? You just told him about your problems, heartaches, and fears, and he got in on what you were down on. And what did he do? He refocused your life for that moment, showed you who you are in Christ Jesus and the tremendous future that you have in Christ Jesus, what God can do in you. What did he do? He refreshed you and he replaced your turmoil with a peace that surpasses all understanding. Prayer was a priority in Jesus' life.

The Bible says he got up early in the morning, a great while before day, and went out and talked to the father. He said, comparable to what Paul said here, he said not pray without ceasing, but he says men ought always to pray and faint not. Don't lose heart, just pray. He taught it. He practiced it. The same thing is true of Paul. He said pray without ceasing. He gave us that verse there in Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 and 7. Two of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible are found in Colossians 1 and Ephesians 1.

The New Testament church had a priority on prayer. That's what they did first. And I'm simply saying to you, my friend, when prayer, that simple exercise available to every single person on the face of this earth, but only applicable to believers except for the prayer of confession and repentance for salvation. Every single believer has the privilege of meeting Almighty God every single morning even before you open your eyes. You can start your day with him. Let me ask you a simple question. According to how you lived this past week, would you say that this powerful privilege, which is the key to everything really in the Christian's life, would you say that had a priority in your life or just a meager place?

Let me ask you this. On the basis of what we have just shared from the word, do you need to make a decision about your prayer life? Make a simple suggestion. You decide today the time and the place. And you make a commitment to God today. The beginning whether it's today or tomorrow morning. You're going to meet him every morning before you meet the world. And I will tell you something that has to change your life.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. As a believer, you have the privilege of meeting with God at any time. He's waiting to hear from you. Begin to set a specific time each day to meet the Lord in prayer and then guard that time alone with him carefully. You can hear this message again by clicking today on radio at intouch.org. And look around for more resources to encourage your faith in Jesus. And order a copy of Dr. Stanley's message, Making Prayer a Priority, visit our online store. Again, log on to intouch.org.

And to call or text us, the number is simply 1-800-INTUCH. Try to us address your letter to IN TOUCH, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357. Or call or text us at 1-800-INTUCH. There is no substitute for time alone with God. A reminder of that is coming up in today's moment with Charles Stanley.

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Dr. Charles Stanley: We to have strong convictions based on the word of God. He's working out things that you and I would never know about in our future.

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Guest (Male): Life changes quickly, but through it all God remains the same. He's faithful, present, and his promises still hold. Knowing the God who never changes is a new 365-day devotional based on the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley. Each daily reading points you back to the unchanging truth of scripture, helping you stay grounded in God's character no matter what life brings. Buy your copy today at intouch.org/store. You're listening to In Touch. You need God's power, God's direction, make yourself available through prayer. Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: No amount of listening to sermons and going to church, you can go to church seven days a week and listen to a sermon every day, do everything you want to. There is no substitute under God's heaven for spending time on your face before him in his word, listening, praying, talking to him, listening to him, meditating upon his word, bringing it back to him, asking him for his direction and wisdom, laying out your schedule for the day, laying out the projects you've got in mind, all the problems, the heartaches, the burns. Lay them out and give them to him one by one.

It is absolutely amazing how God will empower you to deal with those successfully and not to go through the day worried and fretting and straining over what may happen. That's the power of God. And he has made that available to all who are willing to take the time. But now listen, it's the overflow. The power of God is the overflow of spending time with him. And I want to tell you you can spend time with somebody else or a whole bunch of Christians. There is no substitute for your being alone with Almighty God by yourself.

Guest (Male): You can learn more about prayer through Jesus Christ at intouch.org. How are you challenged to live for God by what you heard today? We'd love to hear about it. Coming up on In Touch, one of the clearest instructions to believers is to go and make disciples. Learn about that when we return on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia and remains on the station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.