This is the Truth Network. Encouraging prayer. God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything. On encouraging prayer, Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling Prayers for Prodigals and many other books on prayer, provides weekly biblical insight to help you learn to love to pray.
And now, here's James.
Well today on Encouraging Prayer we're going to talk about the difference God makes in our hearts. When we pray. James? Yeah, Robbie, have you ever noticed how when you pray better, you love better? This is something I absolutely love about what God does when we pray.
He has this way of. of softening our hearts and uh you know sometimes I mean forg you ever prayed for someone where you've had a grudge against them and maybe you're praying, Lord, change them, you know and oh yeah, I do. I remember that for me. Yeah, well, all too well. And and then something inside of you changes, right?
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And sometimes it's just a Simple nudge from the spirit. That says, Really? You want to pray that?
Yeah, no, exactly. And this is the principle that we have to understand: that God has placed Prayer and love in the same equation. in such a way that The more we pray, the more The more we love. As we pray, He puts people and He puts situations on our hearts. He helps us to see things with new eyes.
You know, He transforms not just our thinking, but our souls as we're encountering other people. And this is a profound truth of the church that I think in many ways we've we've really missed today. Paul Miller writes about this in his book, The Praying Church, about how churches that pray. together Loved. better.
And I think that's such a key insight, don't you? Oh, I I think it absolutely is critical. Um That the idea of praying together and having Prayer meetings that actually people, you know, are. Truly involved in that idea of joining hearts in prayer to God. It's amazing stuff.
You know, that's a whole lot different from the prayer meeting as a gossip session, isn't it? Oh, yes. It's that we're just going to bring this person to Jesus. You know, it's that Jesus saw their faith and healed him, the paralytic that was lowered down through the roof. You know, it's that matter of.
of just being able to to come to him and love someone. by bringing them to him. And the more we do that, the more he He works among us in love. It is a beautiful thing. And if you doubt that, I encourage you to just.
Try it. Because I know this has been our experience at Peace Church now for over 20 years, that we decided early on we The the measure of the health of the church was going to be uh are praying. together. And we have found that this matters because when you know that Jesus is in the room, and He's promised to be in the room when you're praying together. Then You just can't carry on with your stuff in the same way.
And I know we've talked about that a lot, but it fascinates me because. Again, we've been so blessed in this. And there's just So much more. I think that where we're churches can Can go there. And and be blessed as well.
Oh, it's absolutely beautiful when you when you see it in action and you know, when you haven't experienced it, it it's it's It seems kind of like what? But you know, when you think about it, that you know your actual whole Experience with God is through prayer. I mean, hopefully, even as you read the Bible, that's an experience with God, but it's done in communion with God and it's done in prayer from my standpoint. Or if you're sitting in church, hopefully, as you're listening to the sermon, you're connecting that to the person who's actually trying to get to the message, which is God. And in all those, that's one thing.
But also when you really join hearts with your family Like when you really pray together as a family, like man, when you're desperate, when things are really in trouble and you go, man, let's just pray together. You know, what a sweet time that is and the same kind of relief that we have as we pray as an individual, we can have as a family.
Well, scripture talks about weeping with those who weep, mourning with those who mourn, and You know, taking up some someone else's care. uh just lamenting for them. or taking up someone's plea, you know, just storming heaven's gates with them. Uh there's there's a closeness in that, that that God has ordained that that God works through. And there's real power.
in that. And I think it's that same principle we've talked about before, where, you know, it's kind of like a parent wanting all of their kids home for the holidays. You know what When you're talking to one, that's great. You love that one so much. But when you have them all together, and I'm, you know, I come from a big family, so I know how much this meant to my parents.
It's like, oh, you know. We've got all the chicks in the nest. Oh, it's exactly the feeling. You can imagine how God feels. when he sees all his kids in one accord, you know, on the same issue.
You know, it's a powerful thing, but it's a powerful thing because he, like you said, he's in the room with you and he's in the midst of it. And and you when you sense that In a group. Um it's it's it's something to sense.
Well, and that analogy of chicks in the nest, you know, it's really from Jesus in terms of saying. Jerusalem, how I long to gather you under my wings, you know, and that sense of God drawing us all close together. uh under his wings What a beautiful picture that is. Yeah, in the last verses of the Old Testament in Malachi, It says the Son of righteousness will appear. With healing in his wings.
In other words, he's dying to do it. But you've got to gather, you know, it's part of the deal. Yeah. Perhaps. Probably a good time to gather.
Blessed do it. Probably a good time to pray. Yeah, Father, bless us. Just help us to love more like you love. Help us to pray and to get our love from you because you are love.
And we just pray, Father, that as we pray, and your love would so increase in us that others would see you too. In Jesus' name. Come there. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina.
May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.
