Key Life Network

Guest (Male): I don’t tell my teenager what to do, he won’t do it.

Steve Brown: Let's talk about it on Key Life.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Key Life. I'm Matthew, executive producer for the program, and our host is author and seminary professor Steve Brown. The church has suffered under “do more, try harder” religion for too long, and Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. We're looking at the different tools in having a meaningful prayer life. And the final tool I said was obedience. And I tried to make sure that you understood that when I said obedience, it has to do with your heart and not what you do. I've told you this a thousand times. I struggled with being good. But you never met a man in your life who wants to please God more than I do.

The reason God uses certain people is because they have that heart. You know who David is described as in the Bible? A man after God's own heart. And you say, no, he isn't. He was an adulterer. He was disobedient. He did really bad things. But he was a man after God's own heart.

And it was his heart for obedience, not necessarily his obedience, that opened up the heavens for a meaningful prayer life. And that's true with you too.

Tell God to let you know what his plan is for you.

And then pray, oh God, the ocean is so big and so rough and so dark and so scary and my boat is so little. Have mercy on me and give me what I need to have to do what you tell me to do.

That's powerful stuff. And that opens up a prayer life that will blow you away.

Now, assuming that you have understood and appropriated the prayer tools that I just gave you, how do you pray?

Just specifically. Now this is going to be simplistic and I know that, but we all need to be reminded on occasion.

What do you say? How do you go about really praying? Jesus answered these questions in the Sermon on the Mount.

The disciples said, Jesus, would you would you kind of give us a hint on how to pray because we don't know how to do this. And he said, when you pray, pray this way, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

In this prayer, Jesus was not just giving a formal prayer to be prayed in worship services or when you're scared. He was giving you the things that need to be covered in your prayer life.

And sometimes, when you don't have time to pray, that short prayer covers it all. How do I know? Because Jesus gave it to us. Because Jesus said this is what you ought to pray. These are the things that ought to concern you. This is the way to come to your Father in heaven.

Our Father, who art in. What does that mean? That means that that your Father in heaven is like my father on earth.

My father was not a good person. He came to Christ just three months before he died. A doctor came to him and said, Mr. Brown, I don't think you're going to live more than three months.

And the next thing we're going to do is we're going to pray. And after we have prayed, I'm going to tell you something more important than what I just told you.

And then he told my father about Jesus and how Jesus accepted sinners, and my father came to Christ in answer to my prayers for years. But let me tell you something about my father. I've told you the bad stuff about him. The good stuff is his love.

When I when I read that verse where Jesus said, "If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father in heaven?" And I thought, wow. If my Father in heaven loves me as just 1/10 as much as my father on earth, then I've got it made in the shade.

And so, when I start my prayer, assuming I'm not just going to pray the Lord's prayer and let it go at that, when I say, "Our Father," all kinds of things come to mind. His generosity and his faithfulness and his forgiveness and his grace and his mercy and his gentleness and his correction and his provision and his wisdom. It all comes when I say, "Our Father." And then, "who art in heaven."

That means that God is the sovereign creator, ruler, and sustainer of everything, everything, every molecule, every item of your life. And I say before that God of the universe, your God. And wow.

We'll talk more about it tomorrow, but for now, that's enough. He's your Father. And he's God. You think about that. Amen.

Guest (Male): What a great reminder about how we approach God. Thank you, Steve. We'll continue this exploration tomorrow, so be sure to join us for that.

So, if you listen to this program, you probably know what happens every Friday. Yeah, Friday Q&A with Steve and Pete. It's been an institution for, I don't know, nearly a quarter of a century. But check this out. We'd like to send you a CD for free called "The Tenacity in Prayer." This is a conversation between Steve and Pete based on Steve's book called "Approaching God." Take a listen to part of that message, then I'll be back to tell you about a special free offer.

Steve Brown: The most important conversations you have today are with God.

Tomorrow, and the next day. This week, you're going to be talking with your boss, with your coworkers, with your spouse, with your kids. I'd like to have those transcripts as well as to what you say with your kids.

You're going to have, you're going to talk with a future boss, you're going to talk with an investor, you're going to talk with a client. But the most important conversations you will have this week, the most crucial, are with God.

And so we're talking about prayer and that's been the big idea of it, and here's why. Here's why. Let me prove to you why those conversations with God are the most important.

Because, number one, you need power in your life. And number two, God is the only one with the power in your life to actually help you.

Oh yeah, he's also the only one that will listen to you in toto, in complete. Who would ever sit down and listen to everything I had to say?

You barely get through a morning on Sunday. Who would ever listen to all of the drivel that I bring? All the stuff. God will, because he's my father, because of Jesus.

But I've learned to pray because Jesus did it. He commanded it and I've seen so many answered to prayer.

Guest (Male): Now let's get an expert. Steve Brown is here. He's going to help me talk about prayer. And it's privileged, Steve, to have you here to talk about prayer.

Approaching God is Steve's book. You can't get it in our bookstore today because it's already sold out, but we'll get some others, or you could get it at Key Life.

But you start out in the introduction and you say this, "I have a theory: unbelievers don't pray because they're afraid that God might be there. Believers don't pray because they're afraid that he might not be." Explain that.

Steve Brown: You know, if you're not, if you're not a believer, we're glad you're here, but it's hard, I feel sorry for you. I mean, you got to be careful the movies you go to and the people that are friends. You can't just read any book. You got to be careful about the books you read because they'll start you thinking. And funerals have got to be terrible. I mean, you can't get away from the corpse, man. That makes you think. But one thing that you have to, because you want to be autonomous, and I get that. I would do too sometimes.

And if you get if you pray and God shows, you're in trouble. I mean, all of a sudden, it comes to an end. And so, you're afraid to pray because God might show.

And the rest of us who are religious, we're afraid to pray because we're afraid he may not. And you think you've got it bad. Pete and I, we make our living. I mean, what if we find out there's no God?

And so we it's it's easier for us to do religious stuff. And if we can just stay busy doing religious stuff and hope there's a God, then then we can get by. But if we find out there isn't one, there's the meaninglessness and the emptiness and the homelessness and the loss of a job.

Guest (Male): Yeah.

Steve Brown: So religious people don't pray because they're afraid God might not show. Well, Pete and I have checked, okay?

Guest (Male): He's there.

Steve Brown: Yeah, he's really there. You know, your first point was illustrated when we went to London and there was that that pagan lady who the missionaries prayed for, I think I told you guys about this. They prayed for her and she said, I don't I don't believe in God. She wanted a baby and they prayed for her and she got pregnant with twins. So that fits the same thing. Now she doesn't know what to do with that.

But you're absolutely right. I mean, you're, you know, for us, we're as pastors and religious types, we're we're we're good, we're good with activity and busyness, especially as evangelicals, as Bible believers, teaching the Bible, preaching the Bible, doing the religious stuff is easier than prayer.

Guest (Male): Hey, if you ever find yourself reluctant to pray, afraid to pray, maybe you just don't know what to say, then get your copy of the CD right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also drop an email to steve@keylife.org to ask for that CD, or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing address. Just ask for the CD called "The Tenacity in Prayer."

And finally, if you're able, would you partner in the work of Key Life by giving? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope, or simply pick up your phone and text KEYLIFE to 28950 and then follow the instructions. And remember that no matter how you give, big or small, one-time or ongoing, every gift matters and every gift helps. Thanks. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and 4C in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.