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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. Well, today on Encouraging Prayer, we're going to talk about how to get away when you just can't get away. I don't know about you, but I could really use that.
Yeah, me too. It's been said that if the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy, Robbie. And you know, I've been too busy lately. And if you think about it, so many of us are.
It's even become this sort of sideways compliment these days. If you're going to ask someone to do something, you know, sometimes you might start with saying, well, I know how busy you are, but. Oh, that's so true. And if you think about it, there's all kinds of books, you know, that are out right now about margins and creating boundaries and downsizing and simplifying life. But, you know, even those books can become, you know, one more thing to add to your busy schedule.
Yeah. Or just think about how tied we are to our cell phones and what that can mean for our work schedules. I mean, talk about boundaries. You know, it used to be that there were work hours and off hours, but with cell phones, you can text at any time and people know that their bosses could call at any time.
And it's hard to talk to someone else about boundaries when they don't have any, you know, and they expect you not to have any either. So that's where getting away when you can't get away really is important. Yeah. So you're mentioning that makes me think of FaceTime, right? Which, you know, we do on our cell phones all the time. It used to be that to have FaceTime with someone, you have to go to them, right?
Talk to them face to face. And don't get me wrong. I love the fact that I can talk with families and friends and see them, you know, wherever they are, but when it's just electronic, it's just not the same, man. Yeah.
That's so true, Robbie. You know, we miss so much and we can't let that ever be kind of a substitute for just being with people. So let's talk about learning how to take a step away, even when we're in the middle of it, you know, to just throw up our hands for a moment and let peace start flowing in. That sounds good, doesn't it? Oh, yeah. I think you're talking about literally throwing up your hands, aren't you?
That's right. I'm talking about prayer because when we pray, God can give us peace anytime, anywhere. And that's not overselling it because it's something he does, not something we do. It makes me think of Jesus' words, peace I leave with you and peace I give you. And some of our listeners may know that you've written a new book about that, that some have called really the best book yet, Peace Through Prayer. And one of the things you talk about in that book is how important it is for us to understand that real prayer is more about relationship really than words.
Yeah. And so that, you know, you don't have to make that one more book. I think that's a good synopsis, you know, to look at that relationship, because it really is about drawing near to God with our hearts. And one of the ways we can do that is by resting in him. That's how we get away when we can't get away.
Remember Jesus' words, come to me, you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. You know, he's not just talking about freedom from legalistic religion. He's referring to the spiritual reality that he gives us when we really turn to him and just give him everything, even if only for a moment. And we've talked about that recently. We can do that at any moment.
The important thing is that we learn how to. Darrell Bock Yeah. Right now I'm thinking about the busy mom who has two kids, and one's a toddler, and she has to watch him all the time, and he'll get into something or hurt himself. Well, let's talk about how someone like that can find peace in the middle of their day.
Dr. Gerry Breshears Yeah. I think that's a great example. A great thing about toddlers is they take naps, you know, or at least they're supposed to, but what do you do when they don't?
I mean, let's up the ante even more. What I think is so helpful in a situation like that, on a day like that, you know, is to have your Bible open, an actual physical Bible, not an app on your phone, because phones are so distracting, you know, you pick it up for one thing and go after another. But have your Bible open, where you can see it somewhere in the house, in a prominent place, like in the kitchen, open it to a verse that helps you draw near to God. It can be anything, a promise, a psalm, the words of Jesus, you know, that we've just talked about.
But here's one, let's just take Psalm 63 as an example, just the first four verses. It begins, Oh God, you are my God, I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you, my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I've seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.
Your unfailing love is better than life itself. How I praise you, I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. So that's from the New Living Translation, but just take those words and turn them into a prayer, just let your heart run with it. You know, you don't even have to use any words of your own, just read it and pray it while you're reading it. Darrell Bock Oh, I love that, because it really only takes a moment.
David Shepherd Yeah, that's right. And when you're keeping your Bible open like that somewhere, you can keep coming back to it, so you can keep doing it. And of course, you know, memorizing is awesome as well, and you'll find that you're starting to memorize it as you keep coming back to it. But the first thing we do is pray, you know, pray the scripture. And the second thing we do is just lay it all down, you know, whatever it is, we're carrying in the moment, just give it to him. And if something else comes to mind, well, you're, you know, giving everything else to him, and you can't let that go, just write that down. So you can go to it later, you know, but give that to God as well.
Again, everything. And then comes the next part, which is fun. Pray something like, Jesus, you are my vacation. And, and think about what it would be like to be on the perfect vacation, you know, when you don't have anything to worry about, and ask him to lift you like that, and Robbie, he'll do it, he really will do it. Part of casting our cares on him, as Peter talks about is, is that the goal of, of doing that is to be carefree in our hearts. And I think that can happen even for just a moment. And even just a moment.
It's amazing how much pressure that lets off. But, you know, we can do that in the middle of the same kind of responsibilities. And, you know, the same people who need our attention. But we can go to our God who's so much stronger. James, we're out of time. So will you wrap this up with a prayer?
Yeah, let's do it. Oh, Father, we praise you. Jesus, we cast our cares on you, and we thank you that we can because that's who you are.
You are our vacation. You are the one that sets us free. So, Holy Spirit, lift us in that love. We pray today and help us to just stay there more and more carefree with you. 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. This is the Truth Network.
