Hey, this is Mike Zwick from If Not For God Podcast, our show.
Stories of hopelessness turned into hope. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it.
Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast thing. On Encouraging Prayer, Dr. James Banks, author of the bestselling Prayers for Prodigals coming week before Good Friday.
I guess it's only two weeks away. It's time we think about that moment of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Think of how passionately he prayed and how he told his disciples to watch and pray with him twice, and he comes back and checks on them twice, and they're asleep. So you really see a contrast between Jesus' passion in prayer and what the disciples are doing.
Yes, you do, you know, and I've been thinking about that because it's convicting. And that's why I wanted to talk about it because when I look at what the Bible teaches us about prayer, and especially about the way Jesus prayed, I see how much we need to give ourselves to this and pray with passion. Yeah, when you and I were talking about this earlier, you said it's not about emotion, it's about devotion.
Explain what you mean by that. Well, you know, emotion is absolutely vital when we pray, but it's not the real heart measure of our prayers, if you will. We can get ourselves all worked up emotionally and still have our hearts far from God, you know, insisting on my will be done, for example. But if we're devoted, we're going to be consistent in our praying and in our relationship with God.
It's going to be more thy will be done. And so if we're devoted like that, emotion will certainly come because when the Spirit moves in your heart, you find yourself moved in your emotions as well. But again, devotion is the starting point. And you surely see that in Jesus' prayer life.
Yeah, you do. You see this consistency in prayer. Jesus often withdraws to pray alone. He prays all night sometimes. He prays with others.
He teaches on prayer again and again, on persisting in it. And Hebrews 5-7 tells us how he prayed. It says he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears. So there's Jesus, you know, praying with emotion again.
And that word for petitions there in the Greek is actually related to the word for olive branch, which is kind of cool. So, you know, when you see Jesus, so often he's praying for us. And what he's doing is he's holding out an olive branch for us, you know, when he prays. Wow, that's beautiful, because he is the way we find peace with God.
Yes. And, you know, when we go to him in prayer, he gives us his peace, and unlike any other place. Well, James, you made a discovery this past week that really encouraged you to pray more. Would you share with us?
Absolutely. I spent a year during my doctoral studies focused on the great British preacher Charles Spurgeon and his particular take on prayer, because, man, he was passionate about it. I especially studied his emphasis on united prayer. But I was reading a quote from another author, a Puritan who lived two centuries before Spurgeon, and I thought, you know, the more I read of this book from this guy, I thought, wait a minute, this sounds familiar. And sure enough, I researched it more, and I discovered he was one of Spurgeon's favorite teachers on prayer, and his name was Thomas Brooks.
And he has all these amazing quotes on cold prayers versus warm prayers. Okay, James, you set up the football with that. Now kick it. Okay.
Well, just listen to this. Here's some of the quotes. Cold prayers are like arrows without wings. They pierce not, they cut not, they fly not up to heaven. Such prayers have no heavenly fire in them. Fervent prayers fly as high as heaven, and will certainly bring down blessings. Cold prayers speak of a denial. Such prayers never win upon the heart of God that do not first warm our own hearts. Lazy prayers never procure noble answers. You know, as I read that, it makes me think of the answers to prayer that we don't see, because we don't push hard enough.
Boy, do I see what you mean. I mean, you know, it makes me think of how we could be tempted to make prayer this cozy thing. I mean, you get a cup of coffee, you settle down in a comfortable chair, you put on a little praise music. You know, if you ever felt like that, that can be a little too comfortable. You know, I like to pray that way sometimes, and I get convicted sometimes. I mean, not always, but I mean, it's an interesting observation, and it raises a really important distinction.
You know, we don't want to be legalistic. There's nothing wrong with praying like that, as long as what we're really doing is giving ourselves to God when we pray. And we've got to ask ourselves, you know, am I being hard on myself when I'm praying? You know, if you're really praying, there are going to be times where you get out of that chair, you get on your knees, you turn off the music, and you just cry out to God. You know, however we pray, we need to pray with passion, because it's how Jesus prayed. And to do that, sometimes we need to get rid of the distractions, even though it hurts. You know, it makes me think of that old person who says, it hurts to get down on my knees but I'm going to do it anyhow, because God deserves it. If we're going to pray with passion, sometimes it's going to cost us something. Thank you for this topic today, James, especially in this season.
It's challenging and helpful. And so, could you close us that way? Well, I would. I will. I better pray with passion, right?
Yeah. Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you that because of Jesus, we can come boldly before the throne of grace. Thank you that you have given us these amazing promises. Thank you for this privilege, Father.
Forgive us for those times where we just make it this comfortable thing. Help us, Lord, to rise up, to call on you, to cry out to you, to pray more like our Savior. We praise you, Lord, that as we do, we will see you move in ways we never have before, because you are faithful. Thank you, Lord, for showing us how to pray. 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.
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