Knock Knock Prayer

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This is the Truth Network encouraging prayer, God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything urgent prayer. Dr. James Banks selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly for insight help you learn to love and now start today's within knock knock so all right know you probably go ahead and start my get started because it is not you tell my ponchos the main one he wants to tell the joke. So it's your joke actually just makes the point that prayer is more like that so prayer is like starting a knock knock joke. Well alright so I'll bite was okay. We like to prayer our idea, but it is really prayer God's idea, and realizing that makes all the difference. I think I see where you're going with this God invented prayer God really wants us to come to him to drop, that's right. Having just gone through Good Friday and Easter. We been reminded of just how much he loves us and wants a relationship with its he would go to the lengths of the cross to the empty tomb. He must want Pretty deeply yeah and understanding that really helps us to pray because the truth is we think that prayer is all up to us. We often think that way that it's really our own effort that matters. And that's not to say we should pray harder that our efforts God wants us to go after him.

He wants us to pray passionately will will go there in a moment, but the thing that we need to do more is understand what prayer is like from God's perspective with the British poet John Mayfield wrote God warms his hand at man's heart when he prays I love that you know I think about Isaiah 65 God describes himself as holding out his hands all day long, to an obstinate people, so can you see his love for us. There in that same chapter. Actually the first right before he says I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.

I was found by those who did not seek me to a nation that did not call my name. So the point is God is always been the one who initiates the relationship I so appreciate this chance because you're right, we often make prayer prayer harder than has to be thinking that we have to do things just right before we can talk with and wondering why he isn't more apparent that sometimes but when we think that way.

Our emphasis really just on ourselves. That's right. And I am exactly like that sometimes even wondering why God would draw you know when we actually have.

He was right there with me. Of course we have to examine our hearts and make sure were not cherishing soon were grieving God spirit and there are also times when the circumstances of our lives make it so that it's difficult to sense God's presence, but not knocking again. We need to realize that God initiated our relationship and because he did. He really wants it. He really wants us so he waits for us to pray and he loves it when we do God isn't going to save us turn his back on us. Think about how much you enjoy time with your daughter. Now that she's away at college whenever she comes home that you cherish those moments with her just because you love her, absolutely.

So understanding that our time in prayer really means something to God can help us love him even more and and can help us pray because it's not standing there with his arms crossed is not dissatisfied. He sees fully loving us through Jesus. He sees holding out his hand just as he said was so much of Scripture really Jesus said that he and the father would make their home with us and he told the parable of the prodigal, where the father runs to the sun right versus in all of Scripture.

Luke 1520 says that when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for them, he ran to his son and threw his arms around him and kissed him. I love that that phrase a long way off. Bernie had had a quote about that whole moment that I love and any really applied it to prayer. He said this is the nature of the encounter.

Not that I'm stumbling toward the father but that the father is running towards me.

We realize how God has initiated our relationship.

It's such a beautiful thing. We touched on this last week I talked about what Jesus said Mike on Gethsemane. Did you watch and pray with me for one hour. It really was not about the amount of time it was more about the Jesus wanted them to be with them in spirit. Just think about how much God is done for us to reach out to us and save us and bring us to himself. We go there and take to heart what God's word tells us about this when we know how loved we are. It helps us to praise him and thank him helps us stay away from sin because we don't want to sin against someone that loves us so much. We want to love them and return. It also helps us pray with passion because when we realize he loved so much. Were going to want to go into those places where we don't miss anything good that he has for us.

You know, usually we make it so focused on ourselves by think like all prayer so hard and not very good at prayer and honestly think God intended it to be that way.

That's where emphasis usually is on things like I don't spend enough time prayer. I'm not very good at it and all that. Yeah. So here's another way to think about it. We've all seen those movie scenes where man and the woman are deeply in love. They see each other. The distance maybe in an open field and then the music began to gaze on each other and they run the camera spins around and zooms in them till there's this grand embrace. You know we've all seen the boat. Just imagine instead in that moment. Instead of looking at each other. One of the lovers is just looking at his own shoe as he runs.

That trip might even miss the other. When you know exactly the point is that God is the lover of our souls. He loved us first. We love because he first loved us. So let's run their run to him, keep our eyes on him and as we do, we will know his embrace. So all my goodness, God, thank you for this reminder this amazing go back to the person embrace pray. We all 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 to pray. This is the Truth Network