All About Love

Encouraging prayer God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything urgent prayer. Dr. James Banks fall through the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight help you learn to love and valve.

One of the things that so on about podcasting brought that were always trying to find ways to help people pray to encourage them and say you can do this in today's talk is especially about yeah it is that you know if you think about it. So often we can feel guilty when it comes to praying Robbie because we can we measure ourselves against verses like first Thessalonians-pray continually, and we think I'll never get there, but it's so important to understand that we can't build our prayer lives on on legalism or do usually don't soar or message either. If it's got to come from the heart and the beautiful thing about this is when we go to God and say help me do this. Help me be real. In this he will help us every time.

And that's where were going today right you want to talk about the best possible approach to prayer a reminder of how to go about it in such a way that we will never go wrong and we can sum it up in four little words right. It's all about love. That's right it's right. When Jesus was asked with the greatest commandment was. He said love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and it it really helps if you think about prayer. That way, instead of thinking. All I have to pray now I like to think I'm going to love God. Now that really helps me with my prayers helps me praise and worship him like a prayer is as loving God. First, it helps you to realize this is something I have to do.

This is something I get to do helps me to pray with my emotions a little more as well and just love him and it really makes sense because prayer really is about the relationship more than anything else. And if you're building that relationship on love. It really becomes a joy and not some kind of burden, you know, I find the same thing to be true in my life. I remember what was praying so earnestly I thought. And Jesus actually showed up and he asked me what I wanted and I remember being terrified at the time and I just glibly said I wasn't praying in love right this minute James, I just said oh I just want to serve the Lord, and he kinda jokingly said, oh, do you any showed me some things and then all of a sudden he started to actually show me his glory, and know how to explain that other method is not an all of a sudden something in my heart that I do not even know was there that clearly was an emotional response was screaming like you're gonna see if this is the greatest thing of all time. You are fixing to see.

I even woke my wife up to sleep and that they're excited I was and never forget it and it was like a mark that he put on my prayer like to say Robbie.

Robbie you want this more than you know this all happened in your spirit. It was like with your actual life you have gotten it so important for us to talk about this because this could feel a little awkward for some people, you know I am. I'm kind of a frozen chosen guy. I am in my background.

It took me a while that said, and it is so much depends on on your understanding of who God is and it also depends on what's going on in in in our lives.

You see, God is harsh and unaccepting or standing at a distance praying like this so much more difficult and at times like that when I'm going there in my mind.

I find it helps to remember that Jesus prayed with the standard term Abba father and he said he came to show us the father so that's the kind of relationship he wants to model for us when we pray, but there's also something else that could stop us here as well.

And in that is if you holding on to sin in your heart and life. You know I I find it really doesn't work to say I'm going to love God. Now, as I pray, if I'm cherishing us in because of the truth is you like. Jesus said to you about moment and do you really kind of what I'm actually doing isn't putting that in front of him and I'm loving it more than letting him make sense. James one of the things I preach about and appreciate about seeing prayer this way is that it really freezes something, we don't have to set guidelines. It's more like a child with a with a parent and you can express yourself more freely. Whether it's praising him or singing or just holding up your arms. One other thing I died at about this whole concept of praying and loving and that is it not only works for the way that we go to God. It also really helps us when we pray for others.

I've heard you use that term before loving others. When our prayers stop� Praying for someone is one of the best ways we can love them because it will really praying from the heart were bringing God strengthen his power to help them change into their lives and what could matter more than so again it's not just a matter. Well, I've got a pray for that person.

Right now it's it's following Jesus advice to both love God and love your neighbor and asking God to help you do that exactly and wants to help us do this you know, just this past week is really down as I was praying for someone I love someone close to me who struggling right now and praying for this person for years and there was an incident recently that that really brought me to my knees again and God is so good he had these friends call me all the way from Louisiana that I hadn't talked to him in about six months and they didn't know what was going on at the time, but let me tell you these people are prayers and God had them call as soon as I filled the menu should root them.

Pray there was so much love for that person.

And for me and it was so much faith you I just I just felt loved and didn't stop there. They asked me they could put that person on several prayer chains and then let me tell you that that's really what we are to do is churches is the body of Christ to love others with our prayer that makes me think of second Clinton's one that talks about comforting others with the comfort that we see from God. I think our listeners will really appreciate this today.

James so much comes down to love and that makes such an amazing difference when we pray, if we just go to God with heart of love and ask him to help us in this I've got a believe it really pleases him. So James, how about wrapping things up today with a prayer that we could do this love God more. Love others more as we pray, absolutely, let's do it.

Lord, please help us help us we we want to love you more. We want to love others more and hearts to help us be as loving as we thought in Jesus name on 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