How To Lean

Hi, I'm Matthew. My co-hosts, Brianna, Michael, Paul, and I have found life beyond Mormonism to be brighter than we were told it would be. Join us for discussions about our journeys from Mormon to Jesus. I'm Brianna from the Outer Brightness Podcast. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast 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 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. So we were discussing this beforehand, James, and you want to talk about hugging today?

Well, no, not exactly, Robbie. But I want to start with an illustration about hugging from Steve Brown. He writes this, One time when I was a pastor, a young leader in the youth ministry came into my study. I was reading a book and looked up. Sarah said, I went to a Bible study last night, and I learned some really good stuff. I learned that you can't hug a stiff kid. I said to her, that's a good illustration.

I'll use it some time. And I went back to my reading, hoping she would leave. She just stood there. Finally, I asked, What is it, Sarah? She said, I learned something else last night. I went to babysit after the Bible study for a two year old.

He played in the mud all day and was the dirtiest kid I've ever seen. I walked into his room and he lifted up his arms to be hugged. I found that it's easier to hug a dirty kid than it is to hug a stiff kid. I love that illustration because it tells me something about a God loves us. Oh, it most certainly does. I mean, sometimes we really can be stiff kids when it comes to Jesus.

Can't we? Yeah, you know, that's what I was thinking this morning as I was in my study. I believe the Lord really did speak to me just a verse out of his word, but it actually took me several minutes to realize it. I had a lot of things weighing on my heart and mind.

Pastoring a church in a pandemic can be a challenging thing. And while I'm sitting there dwelling on this, some words came to mind. Jesus' words, Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid. And like I said before, sometimes when God speaks to me, I'm kind of like the proverbial dinosaur, you know, that gets hit on the tail and only realizes it five minutes later. So I'm sitting there and suddenly I realize, yeah, that was not a random thought.

I love it when that happens, right? And I love those words that Jesus said right before those, right? Peace. I leave with you my peace. I give you. I do not give as the world gives.

Exactly. And then he says, Do not let your heart be troubled. Do not be afraid.

And that's really what I want to talk about today. Not hugging so much as leaning, leaning into that peace. Because as soon as I realized those words were from God, it helped me so much. I was able to rest in him in my spirit. And after the week it had been, I really needed to do that. And I realized, you know, I just need to lean on him more.

I don't want to be a stiff kid. If God wants to hug me, I'm going to let him I'm going to lean into him. And I know that may sound a little touchy feely for some, but the point is that Jesus promised us his peace and we either avail ourselves of that or we don't. And often we don't. We choose to handle things in our own strength and go through the day at a distance from God.

Not that we mean to be at a distance, but we get so focused on our efforts to handle things as if it's all up to us. Does that make sense? It makes me think of that old hymn, right? Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. So let's talk about that.

And how do we lean more? I mean, this is where the prayer part comes in, right? Yes, this is where it helps me to think of that muddy kid. His babysitter couldn't refuse to hug him, even though he was a mess. So this starts by seeing ourselves the same way, realizing that no matter how much of a mess we may be, God really does love us like that. And he wants to pull us closer. And that's the very reason Jesus went to the cross for us.

He loved us first. And if we come to him confessing our sins and turning from them to him, that's when we lean into him by admitting how much we need him and realizing that his love for us is perfect. So it becomes this heart matter, knowing that we can come to him. But even though we may know that conceptually, again, it has to become this heart matter. We have to learn to practice it moment by moment. And that's where prayer comes in.

So let's talk about that. I mean, how do we pray and lean at the same time? Well, think about some of the things we say when we lean in to give someone a hug.

We might say, Oh, I love you so much, or it's so good to see you. There's affection there, right? And we need to learn to be affectionate with our Abba Father. Jesus certainly was. And think also about how others were with Jesus. All right, and like the woman who washed his feet with her hair and kissed him, or John when he can you imagine leaning on him all the way through the Last Supper?

Yeah, I love that. And you know, Jesus never turned away from that kind of affection. And if we're to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, as the Bible indicates, we need to learn that our Savior isn't emotionally distant from us. We really can lean into him in our spirits and declare our dependence on him. So again, right? Don't be a stiff kid.

Exactly. Tell him you love him. Tell him it's so good to have him in your life. Call out his name. You know, call on the name of Jesus. Just pray his name.

Several times throughout the day, the more the better. Express your heart to him. I believe that's such a key part of the way Jesus prayed. That's why Jesus called the Father Abba, this tender, familiar, affectionate term. He really modeled this kind of prayer for us.

Right. And you know, James, I really believe God blesses us when we do that. He gives us more of himself.

Yeah, Robbie, I so agree. I mean, think of what Jesus said about the woman who anointed his feet with perfume, that wherever the good news about him was shared, that her story would be remembered. And it's like he's saying, see that devotion?

See this affection? Mark that. It's a good thing. Don't hold back.

Wow. I'm so glad we've had this talk today because it really is how we sense his peace. The more we do this, right, the more we will. And James, why don't you wrap things up with a prayer asking God to help us lean more safe and secure from all alarms, as the song goes.

Yeah, let's do that. Father, we praise you that we can come to you. Lord Jesus, we lean on you today and we just affirm how much we need you. Holy Spirit, we love you and we ask you to help us.

Just learn how to love you more and express that love for you because we can never love you too much. We pray in Jesus name. 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.