How To Lose Weight When We Pray

Nakita Kolov, the Russian nightmare.

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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, we're going to talk about how to lose weight when we pray. Well, sort of. I mean, this isn't about physical weight. Oh, I knew it. I knew there had to be a catch to this. There always is, especially with weight loss products.

But we're not selling those. We're talking about losing another kind of weight. A weight that can drag you down all of your life and then some. We're going to talk about the weight that we carry when it comes to praying. Weight that also keeps us from prayer. Hmm, what do you mean by that? Well, we're going to look at several things. But just for example, if you ever found yourself in that place where you've sinned and you're sorry for it and you're disappointed in yourself and you feel like, how can I pray after I've done what I've done?

How could God possibly want to talk to me? We're going to talk about weight like that and how to lose it. Ah, I get it now. That's heavy, man. I think that's a weight we all carry at times. Yeah, yeah. And that's just one of those areas. Oh, well, let's get started with the one you mentioned.

Sounds good. So we've all felt, you know, when we've sinned and messed up, like we've let God and perhaps others down. And the weight of guilt is a heavy thing to bear.

But that's just it. Jesus wants to remove that weight from us. It's the very reason he came. And we know that, we accept that, you know, mentally, but emotionally in that moment it's more difficult because we're shamed and we feel like, you know, he wouldn't want to have anything to do with us. That's exactly what our adversary the devil would have us think. He wants to keep us as far away from God as possible, thinking we're not good enough to pray. And, you know, he does this so that we won't pray and won't find the forgiveness God wants so much to give us. Wow, that's true. And so the weight that we need to lose is the thought that God doesn't love us or want to have anything to do with us or even talk to us because we messed up. Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. And again, you see the devil's strategy there. He just wants us to keep our eyes on ourselves because as long as we're doing that, we're not going to pray much. And this is where I think we need to take Paul's works to heart in Philippians 3 about forgetting what is behind and pressing forward to what lies ahead.

What's done is done. And we need to ask God's forgiveness for it, but once we have, we can admit, yeah, I've sinned and I don't want to go back there, but I also don't want that to hold me back from the goodness of God. So that's where I'm going. I'm not going to keep thinking about myself. I'm not going to I'm not going to go back to that sin. I'm going to go on to Him and, you know, get as far away from that as possible. So I'm going to pray. Yeah, so helpful. So let's talk about some other areas of weight.

What have you got? Well, we're talking about spot reducing here, I guess. You know, one other is I'm no good at praying. I don't pray as much as I should. Yeah, we've all felt that way.

And it's the very same strategy, right? To keep our eyes on ourselves. But the truth is, if we're thinking that way, we will never pray, will we?

Yeah, that's just it. And this is related to thoughts like, I don't know what to say, or I don't have the spiritual gift of prayer, or I'm not like that person over there who prays all the time. We shouldn't let any of that keep us from God, because God isn't concerned about how we sound when we pray.

He just wants us to be with Him. And we've already talked about how prayer is not one of the spiritual gifts mentioned in Scripture on other podcasts. And again, there's a reason for that.

And the reason is, God wants us all to pray. So you're saying, forget about all that and just do it. Basically say, so what? And keep on praying.

Yeah, exactly. And that brings us to another area that can weigh on us. How about, well, I've prayed about it and prayed about it, and nothing seems to change.

Oh yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, I think we deal with it a lot. I mean, especially if you're praying for a prodigal who's been making wrong choices for years, or you just find yourself discouraged because it seems like God isn't listening when you've been asking for a long time. Right. Well, we've all been there.

Yeah. And this is where it's really helpful for us to remember God's Word. There are so many times in Scripture where you see people praying and praying, and nothing seems to happen.

And then suddenly, there's a breakthrough. And just think about Samuel's mother, Hannah, who prayed for years for a baby. Or the woman who came to Jesus with a possessed daughter, and at first it seems like he's pushing back against her. I think that's why when Jesus taught him prayer, he said, ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. And what he was actually saying in the original language was, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.

You know, that's the meaning of those words, to keep on going and don't give up. Yeah. That makes me think of another way, which is, I didn't pray when I told someone I would, so I blew it.

I like that one. Yeah. Because, I mean, let's say that someone is having surgery at three o'clock, and you told them that you would pray for them, but five o'clock rolls around and you haven't prayed. Even there, I used to wonder if it isn't okay if we still pray. I mean, even if it was just a one-hour surgery, you know, because God, think about this, God exists outside of time, and who is to say that that prayer offered after the fact won't be effective for the surgery that happened before?

Again, what matters most is that we come to him because he's able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Of course, we want to pray beforehand, but don't let anything stop you. Okay. Well, here's one more, and it's kind of related. I don't have much faith that God will do anything. Well, first of all, I don't think I convinced you on that last one.

Okay. So, again, that's another good one. I think the best thing we can do when we're facing that is just to be honest with Jesus about it, just like you would be in that instance with the surgery, you know? But then also remember that our faith isn't in the circumstances or in the amount of faith that we have when we ask.

Our faith is in him, and he makes all the difference. No, I love that. And actually, you completely convinced me, and I thought it was a brilliant insight, because so many things he has, you know, come back and healed from the past because he can go there, right? So I love that. And so, you know, I feel a lot lighter already, James.

I mean, this has been a great weight loss program today. You know, it seems like a good time for you to wrap things up with a prayer. Yes, Lord, help us in this.

Help us in this, just to come to you, just to love you, because you love us first, and you love for us to be with you. Bless us. Help us in this today, and thank you in advance that you will be Jesus. 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. This is the Truth Network.