Looking for that perfect Christmas gift for the family? Why not a chicken? Stick a bow on top, put the chicken under the tree, and who knows, you may even have a couple eggs to fry up for breakfast Christmas morning.
Give the gift that keeps on clucking. A chicken. Okay, maybe it's not the perfect gift for your family, but it is the perfect gift for a poor family in Asia. A chicken can break the cycle of poverty for a poor family. Yes, a chicken.
A chicken's eggs provide food and nourishment for a family, and they can sell those eggs at the market for income. When you donate a chicken or any other animal through Gospel for Asia, 100% of what you give goes to the field. And the best gift of all, when Gospel for Asia gives a poor family an animal, it opens the door to the love of Jesus. So give the perfect gift for a family in Asia this Christmas. Give them a chicken.
Call 866-WINASIA. Or to see chickens and other animals to donate, go to CritterCampaign.org. This is Stu Epperson from the Truth Talk Podcast, connecting current events, pop culture, and theology. And we're so grateful for you that you've chosen the Truth Podcast Network. It's about to start in just a few seconds.
Enjoy it, and please share it around with all your friends. Thanks for listening, and thanks for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Dr. James Banks, author of the bestselling 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, when you think of prayer, what do you think of? Do you ever feel like you'd like to pray more, but there's only so far you can go with it?
And that makes you feel, well, sort of guilty. Prayer, real prayer, can seem like such a challenging thing, but God never intended to be that way. I mean, let's talk about that today, James. You found a fantastic quote about this last week, and it's really got me thinking, so let's talk about it. Well, Robbie, one of the books I've been reading lately is the classic Prayer Conversing with God by Rosalind Rinker, who was a missionary to China.
As a matter of fact, about in 2005 or 2006, Christianity Today called this one of the most influential Christian books in the past 50 years. And she writes, prayer is the expression of the human heart in conversation with God. The more natural the prayer, the more real he becomes.
It has all been simplified for me to this extent. Prayer is a dialogue between two persons who love each other. Isn't that a great quote? I love it because it goes straight to the heart of what it means to have a relationship with Jesus.
Yeah, it really, really does. I mean, prayer is how our relationship really with Jesus starts, and it's also, for me, how it stays healthy. Well, that reminds me of something Martin Luther said. To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
We know this because we can feel it. I mean, if we've gone without a heart to heart with God for some time, and we're sincerely trying to walk with him, it's like a dull ache inside. If you haven't prayed. So, Robbie, I want to go back to what you said when you started, that God never intended prayer to be this challenging thing. We've often talked about how prayer is all about relationship, and I want to go deeper into that because if we can really get that, really take it to heart, we'll find ourselves closer to God than ever before. Oh, good. I mean, really, let's go there and start with a thought from that quote again. Prayer is a dialogue between two persons who love each other. I love that.
Yeah, me too. I think it really helps to see prayer that way. God is, after all, one and also three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three in one. And usually we may find that the easiest way to talk to God is just to talk to Jesus, because he knows what it's like to be fully human, and he can identify with us, and he's our way to the Father. But we can also talk directly to the Father or to the Holy Spirit, and learning that, you know, to talk to each one, can really help our prayer lives. But the point is, it makes such a difference to know that we can talk to the Lord and learn how to listen to him and even converse with him. We're meant to have loving conversations with God.
His word even shows us that he longs for that. Yeah, it makes me think of a story of a man who was really near death when his pastor visited him, and the man said he had trouble praying. So the pastor told him to imagine that the Lord was sitting in a chair by his bedside and just to talk to him. A few days later, the man did pass away, and his daughter was talking to the pastor when he went in that morning and found him.
She said his hand was resting on that chair right by his bed. Yeah, I love that illustration, because that's the kind of tenderness God wants us to have with him. I mean, think about going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, you know, where God misses Adam and Eve's presence.
You know, it's why are you hiding? And this helps illustrate something practical, this thought about the Lord sitting in the chair. This morning when I was praying, I sat in one chair and I pulled another chair in front of me and talked to Jesus as if he were sitting in it. It became so real in the moment, I sat there thinking, well, which is the better chair, you know, which chair should Jesus sit in?
But there's nothing wrong with using our imaginations that way, because it's actually more than just imagination. Jesus promised that he would be with us always, and the more we can understand that as part of everyday life, the more we'll walk with him through it. But this is about more than just, are you with me, Jesus?
We, of course, need to start the day in conversation with him, both in prayer and in his word, so that we're taking the time to enter into the reality of his presence. Jocelyn Rinker points out that when you have a conversation with someone, you take turns. Otherwise, it's a monologue, and it can't be all about us.
It's got to be about him as well. Yeah, and taking turns is about more than listening, right? It can take time for us to learn how to listen to God, how to hear his voice. It also can mean just being quiet, just making room.
Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it, making room. Jesus said, I know my sheep, and my sheep know me. And we can make room for him by just humbling ourselves and giving ourselves to him and worshipping him. And we don't always need words to do that. Sometimes words can get in the way.
We just need to love him and let our hearts go to him. Man, do I know that one, I guess, quite honestly. I mean, really. When I'm in prayer, it seems like if I don't get to the place where I got nothing, I don't really hear from him. It really works for me really well to get to that point where, Jesus, I don't know what's going on.
Can you tell me, you know? You know, we've often talked about how sincere prayer is, just being with Jesus. And I think that really works here as well. It's all about that. The point to all of this is to help with understanding that Jesus really is Immanuel, God with us. Through his Spirit, he is right here, right now. And we need to accustom ourselves to living in his presence, because as we do, we'll find him to be more real than we ever knew. William Temple said, when I pray, coincidences happen.
I love that because, of course, it's ironic. He means it's more than just a coincidence. God is at work, and we can see that more and more as we stay close to him. It's not just about seeing things that happen in our world. You know, it's just about, again, being with him. Yeah, so much of this really does come down to love, right? Just as you were saying. It does, Robbie.
I mean, that's the very thing you were pointing to as well. We can let our hearts just be with him and love him and rest in him. Prayer is like that place where heaven touches earth, and we can live there more and more. He wants us to live there. He said we'd have trouble, but the real thing is, are we with him in that, or are we trying to go it alone?
Right, it makes all the difference, right? Prayer is a dialogue between people who love each other, so what do you say we go to the Lord in prayer right now and ask for his help to live in that place with him more and more? So, Jesus, especially in this season, my heart just longs for you. So, many things going on.
You are certainly the reason for this season. Lord, help me get to that place where what I need is you and to hear from you and have that conversation. Lord, help us all wet our appetite for that and help us enjoy it even more this weekend. In Jesus' name I pray. 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.
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