Where Do You Go When You Got Nothing

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network.

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 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. Oh, welcome to Encouraging Prayer. And so, James, where are we going today?

I got nothing, Robbie. Uh-oh, I was afraid of that. So, I think that's a perfect place to begin. Like, where do you go when you got nothing? That's where we're going today, and I think that's actually a good place for us to be, because, you know, life is like that. Sometimes things are going along so well, and all of a sudden, you just feel like your creative well runs dry, or you feel like, you know, you have no strength left to get through the day. And how do you pray at a time like that? That's where we want to encourage people today, because this matters so much, and there's so much here that we can benefit from.

So, let's go. Yeah, so, you know, I can't say that I don't just, you know, resemble that remark. Like, I can't think of many days I don't end up there, right?

Yeah, I mean, honestly, if you think about it, it's actually a good place to be. I love what Augustine said, that God gives where he finds empty hands. And when you and I realize, Lord, I need you, oh, I need you every, not just hour, but moment, I need you, that's really where God wants us, because it's that place of dependence. So I've heard it said that man's extremities are God's opportunities, and when we get to the end of ourselves, then that's where we get to find that he's waiting for us. He wants us to meet him, and to move forward, and to have that what's next papa kind of expression, as Eugene Peterson put it, in our prayers.

Always looking for him to be that which we ultimately need. Right. If Adam had only said that in the garden, you know, God, for this particular situation, I got nothing. You know, what a different world it may have been, but, you know, the Bible's loaded with this situation, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah. You think, for example, about Jehoshaphat and his prayer, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you, you know, when they're surrounded by this huge army. And, you know, you think about Elijah, and there's Elijah in 1 Kings 18, he's had this showdown with the prophets of Baal, and he wins, you know, I mean, it's just a rout. And then you get into the next chapter of 1 Kings 19, Jezebel has threatened his life, and he's on the run, you know, and basically he tells God, I've got nothing. The interesting thing is the way the author of 1 Kings talks about it, just, you know, what the Lord says to him, what are you doing here, Elijah?

And, you know, Elijah goes on to say, well, you know, I'm the only one left, and now they're trying to kill me too, and basically God responds to him, no you're not, you know, I've got 7,000 who still have not bowed the knee to Baal. And the reminder there is not that God corrects Elijah so much, but rather that God reassures him, you're not alone, you know, you are not alone, keep going. And God strengthens him, and helps him, and he picks up from there. But, you know, sometimes I think just humanly speaking, we have to acknowledge, we get to these places where, man, we're tired, and we, you know, we don't know what to do next, but God meets us there, and God encourages us if we come to him with our vulnerabilities.

And, you know, that's one of the key things here. Look at the way Elijah prayed. You know, he was completely honest about the way he was feeling, and because he was, you know, he finds there's this encouraging and strengthening response from God.

Darrell Bock Yeah, one of the really, really cool things in Scripture from my point of view is God is the ultimate punster, even, you know, where he talks about comfort and repentance are the same word in Hebrew, you know, it's a double entendre. But in one sense, how else are you going to get it if you don't repent? In other words, if you don't turn to God in your situation, then there is no comfort.

David Weber Right. And one of the things that we have to repent of so often is relying on our own strength. Because, you know, I just think that's part of how we live today. Look at how often, you know, even the ways we do church today, there's so much focus upon doing, and not enough focus on being in God's presence in prayer. And, you know, you think of how you have leadership meetings, and those leadership meetings often start with a prayer, and then they'll end with a prayer, but there's not a lot of prayer in between. And, you know, the whole notion of seeking God's face means that we need, you know, he's the captain of the ship, and he knows where we're going. So whether it's church, or whether it's life, you know, we've got to come back to that place. And sometimes I think God brings us into these situations where, again, we feel like we've got nothing, so that we'll realize, yeah, we really don't come from him.

Darrell Bock Oh! That's so good, because, yeah, it's like, exactly, you've got nothing. David Weber The beautiful thing about that, too, when it comes to prayer is, it's okay, you know, I mean, it's okay to tell God that.

I mean, God knows what we look like naked, you know. Darrell Bock That's exactly right, it's exactly right. And it's almost like, I like that idea, it's almost like a check engine light flashing on your dash saying, you got nothing, you got nothing, okay, time to open the hood. Take a look and see what God thinks of your situation. I love it, I love it, I hate we're out of time, but I'm thinking it would be a great time for you to pray. David Weber Let's go, Father, we just thank you that even when we feel like we've got nothing when we pray, that it's not about the words we use, it's not about us and our ability to make things happen, it's about you. And oh, we need you, Lord. And we praise you that you call us to come to you.

And sometimes you do that through means that kind of knock our feet out from under us. And we just affirm you are good. And you are the best thing in our lives. And we look forward to you in Jesus' name. Amen. Darrell Bock 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.