Affection in Prayer

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Enjoy it shirt 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, author of the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly physical insight help you learn to mom and now the Father's Day is tomorrow, and today I'm encouraging prayer were going to take a special look and what it means to call God father and the difference that makes.

In our prayers. Whether you had a good example for a father or not God wants to draw into the kind of relationship where we really are at home with him as our father.

Jesus made this clearly said in John 1423 that if we love him and keep his teaching that he and the father will love us and make their home with us and invite out he meant right here right now and and it's important for us to understand what that's like this. Theologically you know as that happens to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. But what does this look like and feel like on a daily basis so and we really do because there's nothing like being a child of God and this is more than a feeling. It really goes deeper than that. Then the James why when we look at what it really means to pray. It helps to understand this whole relational aspect at the heart of it.

It is about relationship and sometimes we have trouble seeing our way through to that because you know we can just get so involved to go through the day talking with God about requests or answers, or we can get tripped up on the wine answer we so desperately wanted something good didn't come.

And then we can start to reason maybe God is farther away than we think he is ABC been there at all. It's natural for us to go there but when we look at something like, and we talked about this as well.

The number of times Jesus was first to God his father over hundred times more than the entire Old Testament then you see that he's calling us to something with very very special and we realize this, that God loves us tenderly like it.

It's absolutely revolutionary for the way we pray because a God who loves us like this isn't just that he doesn't want to keep us at arms length, even though the circumstances we encounter this world can often cause us to think that way. Let's talk about working this out my practical ways as we go through the day understand that God really wants a relationship with us, helps us want to pray because you don't understand it helps us understand that we wanted again.

Think of the closeness Jesus demonstrated when he prayed all the father. It's an expression of affection and I think a lot starts right there. I wonder if we don't bring the concept of affection into our relationship with God enough.

I know this is an area where God is working on me and it's so tender it can sound sentimental, but we really need to talk about it because if you think about affection. It is affection is such an important part of our lives. I think that's one reason people have so turn to pants when the family has become so fractured because they offer us this unconditional love, and yet when you talk about unconditional love. Where does that come from it comes from God. So do we tell God that we love or are we expressive when we pray, whether with our words or emotions or aura bodies in whatever way we may be wired this morning as I was praying I ran out of words and I was down on my knees by the sofa my head on the sofa as a way of just putting my hand on you if you will just loving him physically being affectionate because my heart was hungry for him. Beyond the power of words to express and again I know that this sounds a little funny to people and I don't say this also try to sound holier than I am or anything like that.

It's just because really I realize how desperately I need them. How how easily I mess up if I'm not close.

So the question is one of those ways. Where are those places where we can set our hearts free to just loving it certainly seems in parallels the way I feel towards my own kids right like I heard from him in a few weeks which seems to happen as they get older, more and more than well and we can finally connect in some way other than text.

By the way, I really prefer a phone call at least I would love a face-to-face, but when that happens, just to hear what's going on in their life. And since their delight in the relationship you think about it. Maturing in God is the very opposite of maturing as a human being, because as our kids mature, they become more independent. But as we mature in our relationship with Jesus and with the father with the spirit really were becoming more dependent minutes that I really want to hear from you kind of thing.

Lord, I write I need you I need you every hour I need you buddy born every hour and I was this morning as I was doing the same thing I was praying and trying to understand and I began to read in first Samuel were Hannah Eli thought she was drunk and she's just moving right but her heart was desperate. Desperate for that relationship in the sense of being poor in spirit that would lead you to that place where she was and then I saw something I've never seen before that in the book of acts right they thought the disciples were drunk as Eli thought that Hannah was drunk yeah yeah and what it can now because again there's that effusive demonstration of of whatever it may be again, affection, passionate love and if were not going there that something is wrong. A lot of listeners are like me that when the morning we can get there to some extent man. You know, in the 16 Psalm David said somehow or another. The Lord always before him.

That is something I'm working on a mad man. That's the goal. And that really is the challenge that we face so you know, again talking about dependence, why don't you close us out with a prayer that we will go there that we will grow there if you will, into this increasing dependence on as father we love you and weekly praying that you would show us you know just how to pray more, where we feel you and in and throughout the day so that we feel connected and that your right hand. We will be shaken. Pray that through this Father's Day, we would think and process what it is, how wonderful it is that we have a father in heaven that were chosen before the world began to be your sons and daughters and I pray you help us to feel it is 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.

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