This is the Truth Network. Encouraging Prayer. God offers an open invitation for His people to talk with Him at any time about anything.
The Truth Network Podcast is brought to you by Zola Levitt Ministries. That's so ironic because Jesus came so that our souls could be filled. But then we start replacing, you know, all that He is, knowing Him, living in love with Him, with all kinds of distractions.
And the real question should be, how can I go to Him more? He said that whoever came to Him and ate would be filled, and He was talking about the food we need for our souls. And the beautiful thing is, He is the antidote to all that buying and wanting and searching for stuff.
Oh, He really is. He said, whoever comes to me and drinks will never thirst again. So, when it comes to feeding our souls with Him, where would you say we start? Well, at this time of year, you know, I think it starts with stopping. Yesterday morning, my wife and I woke up early and we had this conversation. It's Black Friday. Where do you want to go? And it kind of ended up that, oh, I don't know that we really need to go anywhere. I mean, we're just going to do impulse buys if we go.
So, we stayed home and we were happy, realizing that, you know, we have everything we need and we don't need to go looking for a bunch of stuff beyond that. Yeah, so you look at the desire to buy stuff and you just tell yourself, stop? I think that's a good place to start because once you do, you realize, wait a minute, why do I want things so badly when I've got Jesus?
And it somehow helps just to rest in Him, you know, to be a little more thankful. There's a great passage in Isaiah 55 where God is calling out to His people and He says, why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and eat what is good and you will delight in the richest affair.
And, of course, that's what He is, the richest affair. Oh, that's a great reminder. Yeah, and He goes on from there to say that if we seek Him and call on Him, we'll find Him because, again, He is what we want to fill ourselves up with. That's what David was talking about, right, in Psalms 23 when he said the Lord leads him beside still waters and makes him lay down in green pastures. Yeah, you see it all over God's Word, this whole concept, like when Jesus told the disciples that He had food that they didn't know about.
So I think a great prayer is fill me with yourself, Lord, fill me with your spirit and your love and the life you long to give me. Yeah, that makes me think about what Jesus said about how we do not live by bread alone but by every word from God. So, of course, another way that we feed our souls is by going to His Word, just taking it in.
Yeah, that's right, but the goal in doing that is always to be closer to Him. You know, all of Scripture should just lead us to Him, otherwise it's just an intellectual exercise that doesn't feed us either. So before we read, we need to ask God to help us draw closer to Him and take Him in. And I think to do that well we have to, again, stop or slow down and learn to rest in Him and just savor and enjoy Him. And I know I don't do that enough, you know, I think part of me almost feels like it's too simple, but that's what He's calling us to.
I mean, isn't that what it means to come to Him like a child? I think about my own salvation experience was that I'd picked up this series by Norman Vincent Peale on the power of positive thinking, and it said if you want to have that, you've got to get up an hour early every morning and read the Bible. But first, it said, and it was clear, you've got to pray or you'll never understand it.
It was just that simple. Well, you know, I'd spent all this money on this set, and even though that seemed like a completely ludicrous idea to me, and to pray for something I didn't even believe to begin with seemed more ludicrous. However, I did it. I just said, Lord, if you're there, you know, show me what this really means, and oh my goodness, did He ever. I mean, it was the answered prayer of eternity for me. Well, and what so much of this is about is just simple faith in Him and taking that step. And of course, you know, at first it may feel like, you know, it's this sort of blind faith, you know, it's this step that, well, I got nothing. But then we have to realize we're stepping toward something, you know, toward someone because He is all of that. I mean, you know, it's what He wants to give us.
The best gift of all is Himself. Oh, He really is. And, you know, sometimes I struggle in the morning and I'm trying to find Him. Like, I know you're there.
I'm just not feeling it. Lord, help me to feel it, help me to feel it. What I've found just really recently, James, is that when I'm really, really just struggling, I'll just go to His Word.
And it won't be but moments, usually, before something strikes me. What does that mean? What is He talking about there? And the next thing I know, I'm right into a conversation with Him. And it's become so real because, you know, His Word is like, you know, there it is.
Right? And that's why we have to go to His Word anticipating, meeting Him, knowing that, you know, it's more than just words and that His Spirit will feed us there. You know, it's the beautiful thing that nothing satisfies like He does. You know, no one does. I mean, the love that He has for us, that there's just waiting there, if we will turn to Him.
It's like He's holding His hands out and saying, you know, if only, if only. I have all this for you. Just come to me. And if we do, we will be blessed. Oh my, I just can't even imagine my life without it. And I, again, you're the one of the ones that really honed it down.
You know, I knew that I had been doing that, but to simply ask God as you enter into that time, show me God, show me yourself in this. You know, I don't need any of this stuff. I need you, right?
This is just the deal. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Well, would you wrap up with a prayer, Ravi, that we could all just do that more? Oh, Jesus, thank you that it's so simple. Thank you, thank you, thank you that we could just find you when we go looking and we know where to look. And so, Lord, help us to turn there, help us to find you there, help us to spend more time in prayer and more time praising you. I just thank you so much for what you've given us, especially this time. In Jesus' name I pray. 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.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-11-30 12:16:30 / 2024-11-30 12:19:54 / 3