Heart First

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 for chosen Truth Network podcasts 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 and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight help you learn to mom and now James you live up our name today on urgent prayers.

You will be encouraged by what we can talk about right James to go ahead and talk about the heart of prayer our hearts. God's heart and how we can learn how to pray more and love it when we do this is so important because so many of us feel like we never learn how to really pray and it will never be spiritual and offered don't have the gift of prayer you know and I'm hoping that if you're someone who feels that way.

By the time were done today.

You'll feel very differently James. We talked before about what some call the gift of prayer and how prayer actually isn't listed among the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible. That's right, Robbie and and that may come as a surprise to some, but it's huge because it points to the simple fact that God longs for all of us to pray and the beautiful thing is your ability to put words together really has nothing to do with that.

Really, that's a burden especially if you feel like you can even pray for two minutes at a time. That's right, you know, I think about this with this week because I been reading a couple of great little books that really go after this the first one was by John Bunyan, the author of the classic Pilgrim's progress like that book he wrote it from the Bedford jail in England.

He writes that when you talk to God. You can open your heart to him like a friend.

He calls prayer, a sincere sensible affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God through Christ is not a great quote that's great way to put it.

Sincerely, pouring out like that your heart yeah yeah it really is and in the second book I read was also from someone who was jailed for a French believer by the name of of the jungle young her and Bunyan went through real personal trials and what they learned there can can really help us so jungle.

Young says that for those who have received Jesus.

There is one thing we need to learn to do in order to pray well and it can be done by anyone and it won't affect our work or or anything else we do.

We can do it anywhere in your little book experiencing God through prayer book should never intended to be published actually. She writes this simple requirement is that you must learn to pray from your heart and not your head, let's talk some about that.

That's an important distinction if you're planning from your head.

You're always thinking about what you gonna say next. But praying from your heart. How is that different praying from the heart has to do with just loving God and going to him with love and if you think about it.

This covers a lot of ground. If you love in your heart for God, you're going to worship him in your going to want to obey him, and you're also going to be at peace in his presence again because you just loving him.

That's also a challenge when we pray it's because were not feeling it was the same goes right right in and that's where Bunyan's emphasis on sincerity and go Young's emphasis on on praying from your heart and not your head really help because the beautiful thing is we can go to God and just tell him that giving the good with the bad, and an understanding that he is so good that we can do that and he will help us loving, more especially when we realize that God's word tells us in Hebrews Jesus goes to the father on our behalf completely understands our weakness. So again, you know, we can just go to him just as we are Such different so praying with a heart really start by running the Jesus that that's right, we usually feel moved to pray.

We were going through difficult time and you know we we know we really need God's help, but if we start with just loving Jesus and making the practice of that will be able to pray more and and stay closer to James. What's a good way to jumpstart and I like to guess clear. Jumpstart your you got to be practical and I think the simplest best step is to make a practice of telling Jesus that we love them and trying to do that more than once in the course of the day jungle. Jan emphasizes praying God's word and that can really help us here.

I love Psalm 18, one for this. It's easy to memorize in so short you can just write it out put it anywhere that you can see it. Psalm 18 one says I love you oh Lord, my strength, and we can learn to just pray that over and over, you know, just savor that and pray it as we go through the day. Some I think this sounds a little sentimental, but you know how would you respond well if you really love someone. Of course it's going to affect your emotions is and besides think the way that Jesus puts it each time he talks about how we should love God. He starts with a heart. In Luke 1027 he says love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, so notice there heart and soul come first.

I really like that and it's so simple, yet it really is also very honest and it will help us love God more because the more we pray like this, the more mindful we are of how our hearts can get tugged in so many directions. Just as we go throughout the day. Rourke clear like you were like we said we were just starting out. It's about the heart and not about words and when we learn to pray our emotions, whatever they may be, and lift them straight to Jesus.

It's like being one step closer to thanks James.

Sometimes the simple approaches really are the best day so let me wrap things up with a prayer right now, Lord, we do love you and we long for you and we don't even know how to say it but Lord you hear our hearts and through the Holy Spirit, ground force, Lord help us to express to you so that you can comfort us is help us come to you and we ask this, Jesus hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website. James bank.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray. This is the Truth Network