Unhurried Time With Jesus!

Hey this is Mike Swick from if not for God podcast our show stories of hopelessness turned and I hope your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just 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 when you love to have some unhurried time with Jesus and what would you give to have some moments like that about forwarding to talk about today on encouraging prayer.

I love the way you put the just now Robbie unhurried time with Jesus because that's such a good description of what prayer is like at its best. I think that sometimes we talk about prayer. We run the risk of sounding holier than we really are, but if prayer is meant to be anything it's meant to be real and down to earth like that.

I seem to recall Jesus telling stories who prayed without just exactly the right position and adjusted man will form yeah what comes to mind. There is in of the Pharisee and no Lord I thank you that are not like other men in question.

The sinner who prayed, have mercy on me, who went away justified Jesus but that's exactly right.

And Jesus talked about the Scotty more than one so let's go back to this whole idea of unhurried time with Jesus because it's so important and just putting it that way makes you want to go there. Doesn't it just be with him.

So it really does what you think we lose sight of that so much amine we become so purposeful in our prayers that Baalbek can be a good thing. Whatever happened to just hang out.

I like it. Hanging out with them better than practicing the presence of God, not not that there's anything wrong with practicing the presence of God but I think we can use terms for prayer which sounds so theological that they miss the practical point of spending time with Jesus and knowing him in our approaches.

If you will can come lead into that so that it comes almost this road manufactured kind of thing. I get that I really do.

So let's go there spending unhurried time with Jesus. What comes to mind when you think about that. First, it isn't anything irreverent it's natural and it can happen any time anywhere most important thing is that we just let our hearts be moved to him in love, and let his own love into our lives in the moment, so it's like you're saying earlier it's it's playing without an agenda, maybe even letting him take a simple it's yeah yeah that should happen as well.

And if you think about it when we sit down to have devotions, you know usually have an intentional list of things that were about read Scripture praise God confess our sins, pray for others.

Those are all necessary and vital things. Please don't get me wrong there using analogy we've we've used before. A little like dancing and counting your steps. God wants us to do all of those things but they are simply indicators of what it means to have a relationship with them. And if that relationship. We want to go after more than anything else.

Think about Abraham you know who was called a friend of God. So again think of being with Jesus being with God being with the father being with the Holy Spirit. No matter what you doing without that agenda. What I found is, as we learn to do this dislike is love just comes flowing in it. Such a joyful thing, such as a good place to be your tell me before we went on the air that God reminded you of this. Not too long ago yeah yeah and I know you and I were talking about, you know how this is is so important in your own prayer life that you know you you it just is is something that that has made such a difference. So we were having a prayer vigil at peace church and I had the midnight slot and I was a bit of a challenge because I'm one of those obnoxious warning persons, you know, but just not that early number of us who participated in reverential came away with the very same thing that was we didn't realize how much we needed it. It was so rich. It was so good just to be with him. You know wasn't that we had been praying that we hadn't been attending prayer meetings, but there was something about that extended time that helped us realize that was just good to be with God sort it did take a commitment of your time to do yeah and and I think that that's an important thing to realize the missing instead of having a list of things to do that we can check off to say we been with God it's good to just give him time again just to be with him and you'll find that as you do that it it has a way of of flowing over into the whole day, you know into our everyday lives because not only do you not want that and you just eat you want to cling to him you want to stay close to him talking about. This makes me think of Jacob at Bethel when he said the Lord was in this place and I didn't know. I think it's a great way to put it because even though we we may intentionally try to be with God. He so often has a way of surprising us and sometimes more often than I'd like to admit.

I don't realize it when it's happening. So what sent me well there been times where Jesus was very clearly right there with me, but I didn't know until I got up and walked out of the room and realized three minutes later was actually happening, you know, kind of like what they say about dinosaurs you you hit one on the tail of it only realized this a few minutes later that you did. I'm afraid that's how my brain works sometimes it takes time to catch up.

God is actually doing in my spirit that I don't realize that sometimes until a little later I actually that exact same experience like oh my goodness, Jesus totally took me some place on that and I thought it was me driving but actually taking away a long time ago. You know I did a lot of us have so again it really makes a difference, not only when we set time aside instead of just having a list or approach, but also when we think of his promise that he is with us always try to live into that because as we do. I really believe that his love becomes more and more real to us. James, as we wrap up the segment list both of us pray that will learn how to do this more and listeners to pray along with us in this. Yeah, let's do it. Restart father thank you that you long to be with us and Lord. We long to be with you but we also have to confess that we don't long for it enough we could love you more and we ask for your help to do just that. Just be with you just hang out with you. Help us in this Jesus I pray that you would guide me in setting aside that time to put it on my calendar, so to speak, to say this is time where I just want to hang out and see where you want to go in the things that you may want to talk about or discussed whether that takes us into the Bible or wherever you want to take us Lord, help me to set that part of my daily time, I would be counting the steps, but seeing where you leave me.

I look for to hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website. James bank.org or by visiting peace church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you.

Pray this is the Truth Network