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.
So today on encouraging prayer, I'm excited about this title, Seven Reasons to Praise When You Pray. And Sir James? I'm excited about this one as well because, you know, if there's an area in my life where I need to be continually reminded, it's this one. And you know how that is. You know, we know we need to praise God, but sometimes we have to discipline ourselves, and I don't really like that word, but to pray.
Because God blesses it.
So we need to praise Jesus because here's number one. It exalts him. and he is worthy of it. That's a good place to start. I mean, just realizing who he is, loving him, coming to him, and just humbling ourselves before him, lifting him up.
you know, being like a child before him, all of these things, it just makes such a difference.
So that brings us to the second. It helps us keep our focus. when the world around us is crumbling. You know? I mean, when everything is falling apart, as it does.
Praising Jesus. Keeps our feet on the solid rock. Absolutely. And one of the more difficult things to do, but all the better reason to remind ourselves to do it. Yeah.
And, you know, as we're recording this podcast, I'm looking at Robbie and I see him wearing a collar from an accident. And he is a living witness to the truth of this. He's still praising God.
So, number three, it builds our faith in God. You know, praising Him when we pray just helps us realize the one that we're coming to and what He is able to do. My friend Daniel Henderson likes to say before a prayer meeting: He said, if you do anything other than praise God for the first 10 minutes, A trap door is going to open up under your seat. You know how that is. You know, what we tend to do is we make it about ourselves, we focus upon our needs, and we need to come to the God.
Who again is able to do something about them?
So it builds our faith in him. Then number four. It helps us pray with power. Praying Hyde, John Hyde, was a Presbyterian missionary to the Punjab area in India. And He noticed that whenever there was a lack of people coming to Christ.
It was due to a lack of a spirit of praise. in his own heart and life. And So again, this is really tied in with the other one because it builds our faith. But um Praising God helps us be more effective for him. Wow, that's beautiful.
Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Yeah. And this is where, number five, it serves as a witness to others. You know, because If you're in that difficult place, but you're continuing to praise God.
That's maturity of faith. People see that. I mean, look at Stephen, even as he's being stoned. God then meets him, of course, and it becomes this beautiful picture, but Think of how often we treat church.
Well, I got to put my best foot forward. You know? But then think about that person who's going through chemo, and her face is just glowing because she loves Jesus. And she may be wearing a bandana and, you know but she's beautiful. Because again, You know, her heart is lifted up to God.
What a beautiful witness that is to the world. and to the church. Absolutely. I love that one. Yeah, yeah, number so, but just number six.
Uh, here we go, he is near. He is near. Whether we can feel him or not. You know, Psalm 22:3 in the King James Version says, God inhabits God. The praises of his people.
And other versions translate that: that God is enthroned. On praise. And You know, both are true. I mean, the point is that as we praise God, it's Yeah. It's just the beauty of his spirit, first of all, helping us to praise.
But secondly, you know, there's just something about it. Um Hey. you you begin to realize that He really is near, even though you haven't been feeling him. He really is there. And I, you know, I've used the analogy before of kind of being like an antenna that's, or, you know, a radio with a broken antenna.
If you will. That happened to me the other day. I left my radio on when I was going through the car wash, and sure enough, you know. That didn't mean the signals weren't there. They still were.
But I couldn't pull them in as well. And of course we live in a broken world and we are so broken. But the beauty of it is that God can meet us right there. He's still there. And the more we praise Him, I think the better our antenna gets.
So I think that He enthroned, is to enthrone him. It's phenomenally powerful. I mean, that thought just... grabbed me like, my goodness, I mean, absolutely. Then what a great way to enthrone him.
Uh, in this situation, so I love it. Yeah, and that brings us to number seven. Here it is. In heaven, God is surrounded by praise.
So when we praise him now, it brings a little bit of heaven to earth. I mean, God loves it. The devil hates it. We are blessed because of it. We're more powerful.
You know, in our relationship with him when we do.
So, again. Heaven come down, you know. It's we need to do this, and we need to do it more. And I just needed this reminder so. Thanks for letting me talk to myself today.
Oh, I loved it. I love it. And you know, this week I was thinking about. The idea of the fear of the Lord, and as I was studying it, and I was realizing that the beginning of it is very similar to a lightning bolt. And as I was thinking about it, that I didn't really fear the Lord the way that perhaps I ought to or imagine his awesomeness.
A great big thunderbolt shook my house, literally, and it shook it for about 20 seconds. And I said, Okay, I get it, I get it. I was like, Wow, there you go. That's the fear of the Lord. And the idea of heaven coming down, because as I felt that, I mean, heaven was literally coming down.
And I'm like, yeah. And there was a praise response in that as beautiful. Yeah, yeah. Wow.
Well, on that note, let's do it. Father, we do praise you. Jesus, we praise you. Holy Spirit, we praise you. And we pray along with the old hymn, help us to praise.
Lord, thank you, thank you that you are near and that as we praise you, We become more aware of it, and you bless us.
So bless our listeners and help us, Lord. Help us to praise in Jesus' name. Amen. 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.
