Talking to Jesus

Why not the one she can have a couple of chicken maybe it's not the get for your family but it is the perfect gift for poor family ninja chicken can break the cycle of poverty for poor family yes chicken chickens and provide nourishment for family and they can sell mosaics at the market for income when you donate a chicken or any other rental Gospel for Asia. 1% of what you give goes to the field and get the ball went Gospel for Asia can support a family of Jesus family ninja this Christmas, give them a six explanation or see chickens and other animals campaigned on Stu Epperson from the truth. Talk podcast connecting current events, pop culture, and theology, and were so grateful for you. You've chosen The Truth Podcast Network it's about to start just a few seconds. Enjoy it and please share around all your friends. Thanks for listening and thanks 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 anytime about anything urgent prayer. Dr. James Banks authored the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly insight help you learn to mom and now when you think of what you feel like to pray more, but there's only so far you can go with it that makes you feel Wells Fargo guilty prayer or real prayer can seem like such a challenging thing but I've never intended to be that way to me. Let's talk about that today. James you found a fantastic quote about this last week and it really got me thinking.

So let's talk about Robbie. One of the books have been reading lately the classic prayer conversing with God by Roslyn Rinker with a missionary to China is matter-of-fact about 2005. Six. Christianity today called this one of the most influential Christian books in the past 50 years and she writes prayer is the expression of the human heart in conversation with God more natural to prayer the more real he becomes.

It is all been simplified for me. To this extent.

Prayer is a dialogue between two persons who love each other a great quote I love it because it goes straight to the heart of what it means to have a relationship with Jesus really really does prayer is how our relationship with Jesus starts and it's also for me how it stays healthy. What remind me something Martin Luther said to be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without brief, which we know this because we can feel it coming.

If we gone without a heart to heart with God for some time and work sincerely trying to walk with him it it's like a dull ache inside of you haven't prayed so Robbie, I want to go back to what you said when you started, but God never intended prayer to be this challenging thing.

We often talk about how prayer is all about relationship and I want to go deeper into that because if we can really get that really take it to heart will find ourselves closer to God before me. Really, let's go there start with a thought from that quote again. Prayer is a dialogue between two persons who love each other. I love that you hit you. I get really helps to see prayer. That way God is after all one and also three father son and Holy Spirit.

Three in one and usually we may find that the easiest way to talk to God is just to talk to Jesus because he knows what it's like to be fully human and he can identify with us and he's our way to the father but we can also talk directly to the father over to the Holy Spirit and learning that you know to talk to each one can can really help our prayer lives. But the point is it. It makes such a difference to know that we can talk to the Lord and learn how to listen to him and even converse with him were meant to have loving conversations with God's word even shows us that he longs for that makes me think the story of a man who was really near death when his pastor visited him and the man said he had trouble praying.

So the pastor told him to imagine that the Lord was sitting in a chair by his bedside just to talk to him a few days later, the man did pass away, and his daughter was talking the pastor when he went in that morning and found him, she said.

His hand was resting on that chair right by his bed. Yeah I love that illustration because that's the kind of tenderness.

God wants us to have with them. I can think about going all the way back to the Garden of Eden. You know where God Mrs. Adam and Eve's presence. You know, is why are you hiding this helps illustrate something practical that this thought about the Lord sitting in the chair this this morning when I was praying I sat in one chair and I pulled another chair in front of me and and talk to Jesus is as if you were sitting in. It became so real in the moment. I sat there thinking well which is the better chair you know which church is wrong with using our imaginations that way because it's actually more than just imagination.

Jesus promised that he would be with us always in the more we can understand that as part of everyday life. More will walk with him through it but this is about more than just are you with me, Jesus week.

Of course need to start the day in conversation with him both in prayer and in his Word, so that were taking the time to enter into the reality of his presence. Roslyn Rinker points out that when you have a conversation with someone you take turns.

Otherwise it's a monologue and it can't be all about us. It's it's got to be about him as well and taking turns is about more than listing can take time for us to learn how to listen to God how to hear his voice. It also can mean just being quiet just making around yeah I think that's a good way to put it making room Jesus that I know my sheep and my sheep know me and we can make room for them by just humbling ourselves in an given ourselves to him and worshiping him we don't always need words to do that sometimes words can get in the way we we just need to love him, and let our hearts go to him mandala know that is quite honestly I mean really, when I'm in prayer. It seems like if I don't get to the place where I got nothing.

I don't really hear from a man really works for me really well to get to that point where Jesus, I don't know what you tell me you know and we've often talked about how sincere prayer is just being with Jesus, and I think that really works here as well.

It's all about that point to all of this is to help with understanding that Jesus really is Emmanuel, God with us through his Spirit. He is right here right now and we need to accustom ourselves to living in his presence because as we do will find them to be more real than we ever knew. William Temple said when I pray coincidences happen because of course ironic. With more than just coincidence. God is at work in and we can see that more and more as we stay close to is not just about seeing things that happen in our world and how it's it's just about again being with him. So much of this really does come around to love. I just as you are saying it does, Robbie, and that's the very thing you were going to as well. We can we can let our hearts. Just be with him and love him and rest in him.

Prayer is is like that place where heaven touches earth and we can live there more and more he wants us to live there.

He sent me to have trouble the real thing is are we with him in that were we trying to go it alone makes all the difference) or is a dialogue between people who love each other so when you say we go to the Lord in prayer right now and ask yourself to live in that place with him more and more so Jesus, especially in this season. My heart just longs for you, so many things going on. You certainly the reason for the season to help me get that place for what I need is you and to hear from you and have that conversation solved when her appetite and help us enjoy it even more this week Jesus name I 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 to pray. This is the Truth Network