How to Pray More

This is Hans Schild from the finishing well podcast on finishing well. We help you make godly choices about Medicare long-term care and your money. Your chosen Truth Network podcast starting in just seconds. Enjoy share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and 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, and encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks authored the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight help you learn to mom and now James succumbed. We talk I mean really do you ever try to praise God and find that you just don't get very far for honest. We've all experienced Adam Metz to talk about today on encouraging prayer, learning how to praise God more in the most practical and down-to-earth ways. James, hoping you can take it from whatever we talk about prayer, especially about great. We run the risk of sounding better than we really are. I was reminded of this when I was reading a correspondent Lewis had with a friend about prayer and a friend let his wife see their letters and she was heckling Lewis start the next letter that he is right. All this about prayer and never word on the practical problem. It's irksome. She seems fit to add anyone might think it was a correspondence between two St. thing to think that you guys sound holier than you actually are and I I thought about some of our broadcast live. We gotta be careful here.

It's likely that it will why you talk about what a challenge it is right well put it this way, we have this treasure in jars of clay were always work in progress and we never want to sound like we got this down because just when we think we do will have to start all over again and are either on ourselves and not on God only irksome this prayer is laid up with it because that's our conversations with ourselves. What's how I sometimes write. Oh, I know I need to pray, but I don't really have time for today just feels like one more thing that's exactly right.

With all have this conversation is not not so much with God. Maybe with ourselves, and they usually end up in a place like I'm a mark time not of Mary and the Lord understands that after all is the practical people who get things done but just think what would when you learn to consistently make time for prayer you fine that you're actually able to get a lot more done. Your work becomes more efficient because God is in it and in you that much more. Most of us understand that but still we struggle to actually do it beside we know we need to pray more wheat. We know God wants us to do it.

So let's talk about how right here right now. We can learn how to pray more and and praising more step-by-step then actually love doing that what make a practice of crying. Thank God. More.

This is important for number reasons. Of course God's word tells us to pray, giving thanks in Philippians 46. We may know that. And if you think about it.

It's a way to let God into everyday life really becomes helpful.

The first thing it does is it affects our attitudes. If were thanking God for something were a lot less likely to see ourselves as the center of the universe and so often that's the problem right and then were also less likely to complain. So we really need to do this and and we will be happier if we do so to have so many things we can thank God for right and what seems like the smallest things like the flour, and chocolate chip cookie are some of the best so you know. Step one, apparently, is to thank God.

More so, what step two. Okay well we can't stay stuck on thanking God just rethinking our lives because that would make it all about us and then when difficult moments come to know that it would be perhaps why have you allowed this to happen so we thank him. The more we realize that he's done so much for us in and we really don't deserve it. It brings us to this point. Why should I be so blessed. Why should God be so good to me. So that's why we need to try to thank him and and then that flows into this thought almost automatically brings us to the next thing we need to do and that is thank him until we can praise him for him. Praise God for God father son and Holy Spirit just for God in himself, and that will help us be more spontaneous about this and actually love to do. It reminds me of what the Bible says about loving the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength in mind, praising him as one of the ways that we really love them. Yet that's exactly right. But I think about what you K Chesterton angels comply because they take themselves lightly. I love that because I think his point is, the more we take our eyes off of ourselves and try to put them on our Savior.

More spirits are listed. Step one is to try to thank you more. Step two is to thank him until we can praise him from the heart. So what step three okay will notice the weight.

Step one starts try to think so. This is something we have to decide to do what Scripture says to love the Lord with all your heart, it's it's a command CS Lewis said two great commandments, Jesus, talk about loving God and loving others boil down to behave as if you love God and man because no one can love just because they're told to so love has to come from the heart. Gotta be freely given, but is we already saw what step to the more we thank God more. The more we will want to praise him and just praise him for him so.

Step three is understand that God loves it when we make the effort that will help you do it more. The most selfless love is is really an act of the will. Jesus showed us that at the cross. So here's the last quote from those letters from CS Lewis.

He writes I have a notion that what seem our worst prayers may really be in God's eyes are best those I mean which are least supported by devotional feeling and content with the greatest disinclination for these.

Perhaps being nearly all will come from a deeper level than just feeling that's a comforting thought things because we can feel guilty sometimes about not feeling more. When we pray, but I see where you're going with this really does. Maybe some of our best moments because were sincerely making effort yet that's exactly right. And and and God has a way of meeting us unexpectedly when we do so, I really believe this get easier with time. And you know we may be trying so hard and looking for him in one place, but he knows that were making the effort as a way of tapping us on the shoulder from behind.

When we try to. The beautiful thing is that even when we don't feel like anything's happening, and no not feeling those moments of incredible work to him selects him up. Try to thank God. More thank him until you can praise him for him and understand that God loves it when we just make the effort, and we feel like nothing is happening, we may be at our very best and look out.

That's just the moment God bless you in a special way so awesome and so practical while listening for the prayer that we can really put this in the practice is, I just personally thankful for the Lord you put this on James's heart that that we would see the many many ways that you poured into us, especially through Jesus our Savior. And that love to help us to praise him to the point that that that we really love him with all her heart with love you with all our heart and soul and strength and that that you can help us push into the places where normally we can hear more from Pastor James by visiting our website. James bank.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina.

May God bless you and encourage you to pray. This is the Truth Network