Encouraging Prayer - STOP Praying?

Hello this is Matt slick from the match look like podcast right defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundation of the truth of God's word. Your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing The Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network encouraging prayer, God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling product and many other books on prayer provides weekly physical insight help you learn to love and now one of those moments when you sent God was telling you stop praying about this.

Well, I'm guessing that the map and every day. Most of us have the opposite problem with knowing that we need to pray more, but there are some times when you need to stop praying about one thing and move on to praying about something else and James love this topic. You know there's an interesting interchange in Deuteronomy 3 it hard to watch God's people are about to cross into the promised land.

And here's Moses here who is led them all of this way, but he's already been told that he cannot go in, but that is any quick asking in verse 26 Moses tells us about what happened. He gives us God's response to after he keeps asking and any rights that is enough. Lord said, do not speak to me anymore about this matter and then God give him direction as to how he can see the promised land from the mountaintop and in any given further instruction about how to help the people after he is gone but those words you know do not speak to me anymore about this matter.

They do that we can generalize from this one passage and say it's always a principal for the first for the Christian faith really know you can't really but you are a persistent prayer there.

There may well be times that you sent God is challenging you to move in a new direction with your prayers and and that usually comes when you're asking for something and then you sense God saying that the message one time I was praying for some help for a single mom and I were at a company that he promised to help me when it came time to actually help them Friday for Christmas that they didn't come through and I really got frustrated at my was much telling God.

This isn't how this was supposed to go. You know you need to do something about this and he pretty much just said Robbie one out.

This lady said that once you help her, and by that he meant do that when you have the courage to actually call a body shop, which is what she really needed and he knew I had not had that courage thus far and interestingly that prayer led to a completely sense of direction and that ladies car got fixed on Christmas Eve that year. I'll never ever ever forget it. Like God is what happens when you have other plans exactly this also raises an important question. How can you know when to stop asking God for something and when you need to continue to persevere and after all Scripture is full of those instances of people who First persevering in prayer against all the odds until God finally really did give them what they asked for right right and not only that Jesus tells us to keep on asking and keep on seeking and keep on knocking, but in the garden of gift family. He said not what I want, but what you want or or or look at Paul who said pray continually. Still, Paul got to a place with his thorn in the flesh and drinking 12 where yes three times were to be taken away, and each time God says no. So you realize after that third time it's rarely ever easy, even though we may be grateful later that he did sometimes. At the time.

It's hard to understand, especially if you're asking for something good that exactly right. But here's where this is going to notice a similarity between Paul and Moses his interchanges with God.

In both instances, God communicated with them. He told Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, and he kept leaving Moses as well.

I mean in the way that you could you could tell was very intimate as he was charging him with helping the people. This shows that this is a very personal thing and the way we will know God's leading in this is to stay close in and keep our relationship personal and tender with him next time that what you're asking for kid in the way the relationship exactly and and that's not always easy, either unit is as you were saying but if we keep our relationship tender. We will be able to discern when and where God is leading in a particular direction and and that's where I think a great prayer is Lord help me to want what you want and that's really what Jesus prayed in Gethsemane as we prayed that way, God will change our hearts, and you know, just as we continue to give them to him. The matter what you say that there are things that you know you can always keep praying about all absolutely especially to pray for front child or or someone you love to become a believer. Never give up, but but let God show you those other places where maybe your energies are so well spent. That's one of the reasons why this is so important, so, so we can emphasize what matters most to change, not the person it comes at this from the angle of the Lord knows what I want. I'm asking for, so I could ask if I don't do that a lot in Scripture what what you see there more than anything else is is persevering like we were saying, but I don't think you ever see a person saying prayed about this enough unless God made it clear to them that one instances is Paul where it's very clear. God took the initiative and not Paul so sometimes we may feel that way if something minor and that's okay. But in the big stuff man. I think we have to keep asking my sense that while returning this over a bit. How about the person says the instances you talk about Moses and Paul there pretty tall order something I'm not there yet, so I'm not sure I can really use this concept of knowing when not to pray about something in my own life. What would you say to them if I can say that I have a long way well during think about this.

Both Paul and Moses had beautiful relationships with God and that shows us something. I think that when we were in a relationship with him more than anything else that's going to have an effect on what were asking for. And I think the Holy Spirit will work in us and help us and sometimes that means correction along the way about the things that were asking for so you know, we may not feel like were there yet but this really is the direction God is moving such an important more about living first kingdom and loving him really more than anything, yet it is and he will lead us in this and help us go the distance. As we pray, I'm so thankful for that. Let me wrap things up with a prayer that we can keep moving in that direction closer and closer to him. Jesus, thank you for my friend in these wonderful challenges in prayer as we can move into a relationship with you to where we we actually sense you're directing us change direction or stop going the wrong way. Pray that you would close by us as we move closer and asked Jesus to hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website James Banks.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.

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