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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. Thanks, Robbie.
I needed that. And I'm not just saying it, you know. What you just did is something so important that we could overlook it, but we really don't want to. And what that is, is just spontaneous prayer, whereas my friend and fellow author on prayer, Paul Miller, calls it on-the-spot prayer. So, Robbie, here's a question. Can you think of a moment in your life when on-the-spot prayer really made a difference?
I have a feeling you can. No. It's hard to decide which one, but I was thinking about, not terribly long ago, I was doing my radio show, The Christian Car Guy.
No, it was actually Kingdom Pursuits. And this lady called in, and I sensed, I guess by the Spirit, that she was hurting. And so, even though she was kind of laughing and talking about my jokes, I said, there's something on your mind, there's something troubling you. And she went on to describe that she had cancer, and actually stage IV cancer, and they weren't giving her much time. And so, I just said, well, let's pray. And I just began to pray. And she went on to explain after I prayed that they really didn't give her 30 days. Well, in about a month, she called back to the show, and she said that she'd been healed, and doing quite well. And she credited that prayer, that moment. I'll never forget it as long as I live. Somebody prayed for me that I would be healed for cancer, and God did it. And again, I just had the opportunity to be the vessel of all the people that were probably praying as a result of that broadcast that day. Oh, man, that gives me chills. I mean, that is just so good. You know? Wow.
Wow. Yeah, I wrote a lot about spontaneous prayer in my book, The Lost Art of Praying Together, which, by the way, you can receive, here's a shameless plug, but you can get an electronic copy of The Lost Art of Praying Together for free if you go to my website, jamesbanks.org, and sign up to be on our email list. And we won't spam you, I promise. But in the book, I tell about my friend John, who's talking with a church member after worship, and John is this bold believer, and she's telling us about a need in her life for prayer, and I'm saying, well, I'll pray for you, meaning kind of, I'll do that later. Yeah, but you know how that is, right?
Sometimes we forget. Yeah, exactly. So I think that's what John's thinking about when he says, so let's do that right now. And it becomes this little prayer meeting right there. And it's so good, because if you think about it, that's one of the ways that Jesus prayed. I mean, he encountered needs then and there, asked the Father for help, and it's all part of his showing, I think, just as he said, that he could do nothing apart from the Father. Oh, that's a great point.
I love seeing this happen. I mean, it's amazing the casual conversations where if you're listening, God may be leading you to pray right then. Yeah, and we don't want to miss that, because it's really a way of letting him into the moment, and the key thing is when we do it, we need to be as natural as possible. You know, think about Jesus' words about the Pharisees doing their prayers so that they could be seen by others. You know, he's not saying, I think this is a mistake people sometimes make, he's not saying don't pray. He's not saying, you know, don't pray in front of other people.
He's saying don't make a show of it. So just use a normal tone of voice, talk to him the way you talk to him when you're praying on your own, but by all means, do it, you know? Yeah, I think any time someone mentions a need or if you're out to eat and you're about to thank God for your meal, you can ask your server if there's anything you can pray for them about, but you're so right. I mean, pray casually.
That's a good way to put it. I mean, those are the best prayers, and they can still be filled with faith and reverent. I mean, it's amazing how people respond to this sometimes and remember it, and also how God can use it to open spiritual conversations later, because you can ask someone, you know, when you see them again, how's it going with, you know, that thing that you prayed about? Oh, and you know, I don't think I ever had someone say, no, this, or you can't do that.
Yeah, no, me either. People are actually surprisingly open to this. And, you know, occasionally you may have someone say something like, no, I don't have anything to pray about, but that's not yet. Yeah, actually that brings up another good reminder. Don't expect them to pray. I mean, don't have an awkward silence. Just pray for them and whatever is on their hearts. Yeah, man, that is such a good point. And, you know, this isn't about making someone pray, you know, it's just about praying for them and loving them with our prayers and, you know, just being out in community. And I love it when Christians are meeting together, and you see this, you know, for example, you're in a meeting and interrupting that meeting and saying, let's pray about this right now. I mean, that can really help you think things through and let God into that moment.
I love walking into a church where I see people praying together on the spot because that's an indication that their relationship is real. And I like the analogy Paul Miller used about this in his book of praying church. He compares cell phone use to being in constant prayer.
Just listen to this. He says, maybe the best analogy is our cell phones. Many of us are in constant cell phone use. Phone checking has become a primary rhythm of our lives. It's so ubiquitous, people are seldom offended when you glance down at your phone in a meeting.
Everyone does it. That's exactly what constant prayer is like. And I think that's a fair point. Oh, wow. I mean, that's so good. It helps us to stay close to God as well so that our hearts can keep coming back to him.
Yeah, exactly. So, Father, we just ask again that you help us in this, that you just help us to walk with you in the moment and let you into the moment and love others with our prayers because we're sensitive to your spirit. Bless us in this, we pray. And by the way, I'm not going to say amen because this isn't over.
We've got a minute or so left. That's just an example of spontaneous prayer. Well, I just feel like, oh, Lord, thank you for this reminder about our cell phones and I just want to pray that you would help me, help all of us to check on you, check with you more than we check on our phones. That would be a real improvement and a reminder of how desperately we need you. Lord, you've come through for us. Lord, help us to set you always before us that our hearts would be glad and our glories would rejoice and our flesh would rest and secure hope. And you would make known to us the path of life in your presence as fullness of joy at your right hand, our pleasures forevermore. Amen. Amen. I guess now we are about at the end, aren't we? 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.
