Welcome, welcome to The Line of Fire. Michael Brown, so delighted to be with you as we continue in the School of Prayer. And really, this is a lifelong school. As I approach 70 years old, or if you are listening to this in the future, as I am in my 70s by God's grace, I expect to be in the School of Prayer until I see the Lord face to face. This is something where we are all growing. We are all growing closer to the Lord. This is part of our relationship with Him. It is not just a tool.
It is part of our relationship with Him. So by God's grace, we are going to challenge you to go deeper. And as I speak to you, I am speaking to myself with the goal that we can all grow and become more effective in prayer. There is nothing more powerful than prayer because with prayer, we invoke the help of Almighty God. And in one moment of time, God can do more than all human effort combined through all eternity put together.
One moment of time, God can do more than that, so we lean on Him. Today we are going to talk about keys to answered prayer. Keys to answered prayer as we dig into the Word together. Our goal is to infuse you with faith and truth and courage to help you stand strong on the front lines. We have a great Frontline newsletter coming your way this month. If you are not getting our email, our Frontline newsletter, inspirational, informational, impartational, comes out once a month, beautifully produced, free, digital subscription, go to thelineoffire.org and click subscribe.
That is also the place to go if you want to stand with us, if you believe in the work we are doing and want to stand together to help us reach more and more people with this message, you can click donate while you are there. So a few introductory thoughts. Prayer ties in with our relationship with God. It is not something external to that. For example, you can be married and you go to the gym to work out and that is a separate part of your life.
You are married but when you are in the gym you are just working out the same as you did when you were single. But prayer is not something disconnected from our relationship with God. It is an integral part of our relationship with God. So that means that our whole life ties in with our prayer life. For example, if I have a rotten attitude, I am angry with someone, I am upset about something, I am complaining all the time, that is going to cut into my fellowship with God. As that cuts into my fellowship with God that is going to affect my prayer life. Prayer is above all relational.
Our goal should be all of our lives we are growing in prayer. We are deepening our relationship with the Lord. As Nancy and I approach 49 years of marriage, our relationship is deeper than it has ever been.
I don't remember a time in life where I have loved her more than I love her now. Our relationship has deepened because you go through life together. You go through hardship together. You go through joys and sorrows together. You get to understand each other better. You draw closer in difficult times. It is the same with our relationship with God. We want it to keep growing. And many times other things get in the way.
I will raise my hand to that. Other things get in the way and kind of squeeze out quality time with God. And at the end of the day you think, what did I do?
I had time for everything else and what mattered most I didn't have time for. So prayer begins and ends in a relationship with God. I have often quoted these words from John 17 where Jesus is praying to his Father shortly before his betrayal and crucifixion. And he says, now this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus the Messiah whom you have sent. He doesn't say this is the way to eternal life. I saw one modern translation slash paraphrase that says it like that. But that is not what he is saying. He is not saying this is the way to eternal life that they know God the Father and Jesus the Son. He says no, this is eternal life. Life consists in relationships.
We have taught on that before. Life consists in relationships. Those of you that just went through the holidays and you lost a loved one, a close loved one in the last year. The holidays were different, weren't they? Part of you was missing.
While you were having fun you still had that pain because that loved one wasn't there. Our life consists in relationships. Eternal life consists in relationship with God and our prayer lives are directly related to that relationship with God.
A relationship with God is the essence and meaning of life. You must know God in order to commune with him and we can make prayer too much of a science and routine. Here are keys to effective prayer.
Here are ten things you can do to deepen your prayer life. And those are good. Those can be very helpful. I have learned from them as well.
I have taught some of those things. But it is not just some mechanism. It is not just something we do that is separate from relationship with God. Look, you cannot have emotional intimacy with your spouse when you are in the midst of a fight.
You are not going to hug and have one of those beautiful moments of emotional intimacy when you are in the middle of arguing all the time. So in the same way, if our lives are spent doing everything just in the flesh, in the natural, apart from God, not even thinking about him and now it is time to pray. Oh God, how deep are those prayers going to be? Now, there are times when you have messed up, you have hit a wall, you come to your senses and you say, Oh God, help me.
I have wasted my life. Help me. And he is near. He is near to the cries of those who are contrite and broken.
He does not despise that. But if we are to have a quality prayer life, friends, it can only flow out of a relationship with God. Conversely, the deeper our prayer lives, the deeper our communion with God, the deeper our relationship with God. So you must know God and really commune with him.
We can make prayer too much of a science and routine. John 9, 31-33. Look at what the blind man says, formerly blind man, now healed by Yeshua, by Jesus. We know that God does not listen to sinners, meaning people of the world, meaning those who do not want to know God, meaning those who are pursuing their own agenda and satisfying the flesh and the mind. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.
Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind if this man were not from God, he could do nothing. So believers here are not being called sinners. You might say, Yeah, well we sin every day, we fall short every day. But in God's sight, sinners, those are the rebellious, those are the wicked, those are the ungodly. In God's sight, we are called to be saints. We are set apart as holy. So our prayer is part of our relationship with God as his children. He does not listen to the world the way he listens to his own kids.
You are his son, you are his daughter, you are his boy, you are his girl. You are not appealing to some distant deity, some tyrannical king who rules with an iron rod and is just looking for an opportunity to destroy. That was the case we had all been wiped out before we even made it out of the womb.
I mean the whole human race would have been wiped out. No, he delights in showing mercy. He loves to answer the prayers of his people. His disposition towards you is that of a loving father who wants to see what is best for you in this world and the world to come.
It may require going through some things that we don't feel like are the best, that we don't enjoy. In the midst of it, there is satanic attack and the struggles of being in this world, but our father's disposition towards you is a loving disposition. It is a disposition of wanting to bless. I always love to quote from Micah 7 about the Lord.
Who is a God like you? It talks about him showing mercy and overlooking the transgressions of his people. He doesn't hold on to his anger forever. He delights in showing mercy. That is his nature. That is who he is.
So yes, there are times when he rebukes us because he loves us and there are times when he corrects us and disciplines us because he loves us. But his disposition is to bless. His disposition is to do good. He delights in showing mercy. He delights in answering prayer, not for our carnal benefit. Oh God, my Porsche is now a year out of date.
I'd like three new Porsches so I can look better than my rich neighbors. No, that's just carnality. James Jacob 4 says that you ask, you don't receive because you ask a miss just to satisfy it on your own lusts and the flesh.
No, no. When we're in harmony with him. John 15 7, Jesus says if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask what you will that will be done for you because we'll be in harmony with God. So don't separate prayer and your relationship with God.
If you get to know a person in the natural, you spend time with them and learn the kind of things they like and don't like. We should really want to get to know God. Do you know him? What's he like? Tell me about the Lord.
Oh, you're a believer. You know Jesus. What's he like? I've always heard about him. But what's he really like?
What would you say? I have a book coming out. It's a tribute to the Lord for my first 70 years and the grace he's shown me and the miracles I've seen of his providence and lessons learned called Living in the Line of Fire due out in a few months. And I have a whole chapter about Nancy. I just had to talk about kind of a chapter and a half, but one chapter just about her. I just want to tell stories about who she is and the role she's played in my life because I have no life history for the last 50 years without her. And there's no question I wouldn't be a fraction of the man that I am in God or in the natural without her. So I wanted to talk about her. If you ask Nancy what's the key to a happy marriage, she says marry the right person. Yeah, that's our key. It's self-evident, right?
She says really get to know the person that you're going to marry. So God wants us to know him. In fact, Jeremiah 9, he says, don't let the rich man boast in his riches, strong man boast in strength, wise man boast in his wisdom.
No, no, but let him who boasts boast in his sin. He knows and understands me. Leonard Ravenhill used to tell me that he had all these young seminary grads come into his office to meet with him. And he was a little man, but so full of the Spirit and so connected with the Lord. The fear of the Lord would be on him as he would speak to you.
We became very close, but otherwise he could be a very intimidating figure, as small as he was in physical stature. And he'd give the seminarians 30 minutes. A young minister wants to meet with him.
He'd give him 30 minutes. And he'd point that bony little finger at him and say, do you know God? Don't tell me if you know about him. Do you know God? And he said most of them couldn't say they did. It's an invitation to know him, to know him better.
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We so appreciate their partnership on these broadcasts. Alright, Proverbs 15.8, the Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him. It's not a drudgery to God when you come to him in prayer.
He actually enjoys it. The prayer of the upright pleases him. God loves to hear us pray and spend time with him. And remember the verse I often quote from Luke 22. Jesus said to his disciples, I've eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. He called them friends.
He wanted to spend time with his friends. Hebrews 10, 22. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. So we approach him with full assurance because Jesus has cleansed us. He's washed us.
We've all fallen short. We turn to God and repent. Lord, wash me, cleanse me. There's that fresh renewing of that relationship that we have, that fresh deepening of communion as his children. We've got our feet dirty walking in the world, but we're still his children. And we've got our feet cleaned and there's just that renewal.
We come in full assurance. As I take communion, and I've been doing it very regularly in my life for some weeks now, just instituted as a life practice in my own home. And as I take communion, that fresh sense of relationship in the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and the blood of Jesus speaks more loudly than the accuser of their brethren. Oh, it's beautiful.
It's beautiful. So we come not as guilty, but as those who've been washed and cleansed. And God will convict us of sin if we need to repent, but as his children, we should never be plagued with guilt and condemnation. Those are lies from the enemy when you're plagued with guilt and condemnation because God does not see us like that.
If we've repented and been cleansed by the blood, he sees us as clean in his sight. So prayer can be frustrating. I mean, why do I need to pray? Why does God need me to pray? He's God.
Let him do what he wants to do. And I mean, how do I know how I'm supposed to pray? Well, we get in the Word, right? We see what the Bible promises. We see what it tells us about who God is. We know our own needs, and out of relationship with him, we bring them up to him.
You know, let's say you started a business, you felt it was the Lord's will to start a business, and things are not going well. Lord, do we need to make any changes? Show us if there are things we're doing that are not right or people we're working with.
We need to make changes. Show us, and then meet us, and meet our needs so we can glorify you. It doesn't glorify God. If you do something, you're working hard, and you go bankrupt, that's not like, well, praise the Lord! It doesn't glorify the Lord if you plant a church and everything fails and no one hears the gospel, and three years later you're suffering from depression.
That's not like, oh, praise the Lord! However, in the midst of the difficulties, sometimes it's just knowing God is with you. That we don't always have it easy in this world, but sometimes if you just know God is with you in the midst of the trial, in the midst of the difficulty, you know, I'll come out better on the other side.
I'll come out better on the other side, and whatever the end result, be it a thriving church, be it a prosperous business, whatever the end result, if I'm walking with the Lord, he will be glorified. And as I spend time with him, I'll feel more and more clearly how I should pray. Many times I go into a situation not knowing how I should pray. Like, what's the right way to pray? When I pray for Israel in the Middle East, what's the right way to pray? And so many situations, you know, an election, what's the right way to pray? I don't pray for a specific candidate, I say pray for God's will. But as you spend more time with him, then his burden becomes your burden, his heart becomes your heart, and you're now praying more in harmony with the will of God, and it's a beautiful thing.
Alright, let me give you another principle, another principle. Thankfulness. Thankfulness is very important if you want to see your prayers answered. So, building a deeper relationship with God, and then thankfulness. Philippians 4, 6, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.
Then verse 7, of course, in the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Messiah Jesus. So, when I'm anxious, it means I'm not really trusting God. But how do you stop being anxious? I won't be anxious, I won't be anxious. For me, again, it just comes with time in his presence.
It comes with taking on his word, meditating on his word, spending time with him, praying in the Spirit, sharing my heart with him, and then giving thanks. Even when you feel anxious, you can thank God for things he's done in the past. Even when you feel anxious, or worried, or down, you can still decide, I am going to thank God. Lord, I just want to thank you. Three years ago, the doctor said there was no hope, you healed me. I want to thank you, even though right now your body's in pain, you thank him. Lord, I thank you that even though everything looks dark, I know that you are light.
I know, Jesus, that you are the light of the world, and that your light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can't overcome it. You praise God for what he's done in your life in the past, you praise him for who he is, you praise him for the promises, even when you don't feel like it. You say, but doesn't that make me hypocritical?
No, no. In other words, in other words, if a doctor performs surgery on me 20 years ago, and no one said it would work, and he was genius, and it worked, even if I'm in the hospital with another condition, I can say, hey, doc, when you operated on me 20 years ago, you really saved my life. So, it's not being hypocritical, and you also know this is the way to stir your own spirit. This is the way to get you out of that situation, which seems like you're stuck in a box and you can't get out, and to just start to praise God, Lord, you're good. Give thanks to the Lord, for he's good, and his mercies endure forever. Sometimes you just walk around the house, Lord, I praise you because you're good, and your mercies endure forever. I praise you because you raised Jesus from the dead. I praise you because you saved me 30 years ago. Whatever it is, Lord, I thank you that you delivered me from a foolish decision. Or if there's nothing that you can think of in your own life to thank him for, just thank him for who he is and say, Lord, right now my mind is saying the opposite. My mind is saying you're either not there or you're not good, or there's something wrong with me. That's what my mind is saying, and circumstances tell me that you're either not there or you're not good, or there's something wrong with me, but by faith, I'm going to thank you anyway. It is a choice. You make a choice to thank him no matter how you feel. Just like I can make a choice to complain, I can make a choice to gossip, I can make a choice to be nasty. You say, but you can't make a choice to be undepressed.
If it's real depression, you can't just pull yourself out of it, but you can still make a choice. No matter what I feel, no matter how down I am, no matter how deep the pit, I am going to choose now to say, God, I believe you're good, or I want to believe you're good. Whatever it is, lift your heart and mind up, and what's amazing is when the praise begins to flow, many times the breakthrough begins to come. It says in Psalm 22 about the Lord, you're saved to you, Lord Israel.
He inhabits, he dwells in, he sits enthroned on the praises of Israel. Sometimes as you just make that conscious decision, I'm going to thank you, I'm going to praise you, faith starts to rise. Faith starts to rise, hope starts to rise, and it's the key to answered prayer. If you are facing bankruptcy for the tenth time, but nine times previously God miraculously delivered you, and each time you came out better on the other side with more money to give to God's work and more money for your family, and now you're facing bankruptcy the tenth time, Lord, you came through nine times, you're going to come through again, and everything that the people out to hurt me meant for evil, you're going to turn for good, you begin to praise him and thank him based on his past faithfulness, based on his nature.
These are keys that will really help you get your prayers answered. Hey, remember, tell a friend about the Courage in the Line of Fire podcast. Together we're going to grow into the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the word and prayer and your own walk with God through this broadcast, then stand with us so that we can reach many, many more and bless many, many more. Together, friends, we're making a difference. So go to thelineoffire.org, thelineoffire.org, and click donate.
