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. Oh, where we're going today on encouraging prayer could change your life. or the life of someone you care about. James? Where do you want to start?
Well, let's start in the Garden of Gethsemane, Robbie. Remember what it was that Jesus asked the disciples there? Oh, yeah, he was suffering because he knew what was coming, really. He knew that Judas had betrayed him. and that his crucifixion and his torture were just rounded the corner and He just wanted them to pray with him, but they kept falling asleep.
But what he asked them was, Could you not watch and pray with me for one hour? Yeah, that's right. And and think about that. You know, it not only shows us Jesus hurting heart in those moments, but it also shows us the comfort. of praying with someone who is going through sorrow.
Because that's what he really wanted. And that's what I want us to talk about today: a kind of prayer that is found in Scripture. called a prayer of lament. And how we can practice it, not only individually, but especially with others. And this is a powerful thing.
No, it really, really is. Yeah. You know, there are examples. For example, Psalm 13. Is a great prayer of a lament.
It begins, How long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
So a. Prayer of lament is simply going to God with your circumstances and laying them out before Him. And of course, it's when you're in trouble, when things are not going well. And another example of this is, of course, some And that's an amazing psalm because if you read it, especially at this time of year, you'll find that when Jesus says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He's actually praying part of Psalm 22.
from the cross. But you've got to look at how that prayer ends because, man, it's amazing. Yeah, you know, it's fascinating, as you mentioned, Psalm 13. God had me memorize that one about two years ago. And, you know, the line that always gets to me in that particular psalm is.
How long will I seek counsel in my own soul, having sorrows in my heart daily? And there is the opposite of prayer, right there, right? It's like I'm looking to myself for answers. rather than go to you with them. Yeah.
Yeah. Wow, that's yeah, that's really good. And so Yeah. We've got to do this, and the scripture tells us to cast our cares upon the Lord because He cares for us, and that's all part of this. But I especially want to look at.
How can we do this with others? And I don't know if you remember that old illustration from years ago about the little girl, her mama sends her on an errand. And um It takes her a while to get back. And her mom says, Well, it took you so long. And she says, Well, I ran into Sally.
Sally was crying because her doll was broken. And her mom says, Well, did you? Did you sit down and and help her fix her doll? And She says, No, I I sat down to help her cry. Yeah, exactly.
That's beautiful, isn't it? And I love that because that's what we can do with others as well. And when we pray like this, with the compassion of the Holy Spirit at work within us. Yeah, it's such a beautiful thing, and it's something that the church is called to. which, by the way, is another reason why praying together matters so much.
I've been reading a book about this recently by Mark Vrokup called Dark Clouds Deep Mercy. And I just want to read a little from that to you. And he says, beyond your own prayers, Keep this in mind the next time you're walking alongside a hurting friend. You might think that praying with someone in pain is a small and insignificant thing, but it's not. you'll likely be able to ask God for help with a different level of faith.
Than your hurting friend can muster. And man, have I found that to be true in praying for prodigals. I've been on the receiving end of that and been able to do that for others. And he goes on: the boldness of your request and the confidence in your approach to the throne of grace can be a great help. You can pray with a firm belief that creates a stronger faith.
in others. And then he goes on. I've seen this happen in our church as we've put lament into practice. During one of our monthly prayer gatherings, that focus was prodigal children. We invited hurting parents to cry out to the Lord for their wayward kids.
The service was full. I was blown away by the response. This was a uniquely painful issue. And during our prayer time, I invited parents of prodigals to kneel at the front of the sanctuary. They came down in droves.
The tears started immediately as they gathered around the platform. I invited them to call out one at a time the name of their wayward son or daughter. It was remarkable how much sorrow you can hear in just a name. uttered by a broken parent. The level of grief was overwhelming.
What happened next was beautiful. I invited friends of those who were kneeling to gather around them and to pray boldly for the return of these children. I knew most of the parents would be weary with unanswered prayers. Many would struggle to believe God would answer. With hands laid on the shoulders of weeping parents, brothers, and sisters in Christ, lifted up their confident.
Board. Prayers. They ask the Lord to hear them, to change the hearts of sons and daughters, and to bring them home. As a chorus of these groans filled the room, I could see the nodding of parents' heads. all around the sanctuary platform.
The weariness of grieving parents was eclipted by the boldness of those who had entered their lament. Yeah. I love that because you know, as you know, one of the things we do. Uh every you know, every other week we have a prodigal prayer meeting. And it's such a powerful thing.
To weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn, just as Scripture tells us to. Wow. Yeah, really. You know, I almost was like, sign me up. We need to do that very thing.
As I know, of several members of my own congregation that really struggle with that, and I prayed with them individually, but to bring a whole service together on that. That's an awesome idea. In fact Since we're almost out of time, it'd probably be a good idea to pray that way. Yeah, and let me just finish by saying we can do this, and God will bless it.
So, Father, please, please help us to just have your heart, a heart of compassion. Help us, Jesus, to be able to. Wait with you for one hour as you wait with others in prayer. Give us your heart, your love. In your name.
Amen. Amen. Wow. 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.
