Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, November eighteenth. Most Christians know that prayer is important, but how many truly make it a priority? Stay with us for some practical lessons on deepening your relationship with God by putting prayer first. If ever there has been a time when God's people need to be praying people, this is a time. But oftentimes people go through years of their life. They sort of casually talk to God, but they don't get into real, true praying time with God alone.
Where does it fit in your life? So, when I think about that, I think about what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, Ask and it shall be given to you.
Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it'll be opened unto you. For everyone that asks receives, he that seeks finds, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Then He makes this wonderful statement. He says, for example, if your son comes to you as a father and asks you for bread, would you give him a snake or something like that? And then He says, if you being a father know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him?
But the reason you don't have oftentimes is because you don't ask Him. And you see, praying isn't just thinking about God. Praying isn't, well, Lord, help me today.
No. God wants your attention because praying is not just talking, praying is also listening. What does God have to say as a result of what you're thinking? So, just talking about God and just every once in a while saying, Lord, just help me, Jesus.
And only praying to Him when you find yourself in trouble, that's not really communing with Him. He wants fellowship. He wants time alone.
Would you not agree that He deserves undisturbed time along with you? He's the source of every breath, every single gift. He's the source of every good thing that comes your way. God desires time with you.
Because these are the times when God gives us clear direction. He answers our prayer. Our faith grows.
We make requests and God answers our requests. Prayer is an essential part of the life of every single believer, but prayer must be also joined by faith. If there's no faith, then nothing's going to happen. And you see, you can't separate prayer from faith. This is why Jesus spoke so much of it. Prayer and faith go together.
In fact, when I think about it, I think about having a beautiful automobile, high-powered engine under the hood, beautiful interior decorations and so forth, your favorite color. And I mean, this is some kind of an automobile and it doesn't have any wheels. That's what prayer is without faith.
That car can't go anywhere. And prayer without faith is not going to take you anywhere. And James said, for example, you have not because you ask not.
And that's the way it is for many people. They're not asking God. They're trying to figure things out themselves and they think they're smart enough to do without God.
And not only do they not ask Him, they're not trusting Him. And some people who talk to God don't trust Him. In other words, do you have faith to believe? Do you believe in your heart that what you ask God to do for you, God is committed to doing? Not just ask any old thing, but ask anything that's compatible with the teachings of Jesus, the life of Jesus, and a godly life. That is, a person can ask God for things that absolutely are totally out of the will of God for their life. And so, when the Bible talks about what we ask for, things that fit the life of Jesus and things that fit your life as a follower of Jesus. They're things people pray for in their Christian life that have nothing to do with what God's plan for their life is.
And oftentimes, a person will say, well, I've been praying to God to give me a new car. I've been praying for a new house and I've been praying for this. Well, what you been asking for? Why are you asking it? Are you believing Him for it? How big a house you want?
One bigger than you need? In other words, when you and I are praying, here's what God does. He sifts. He sifts our prayer.
You can start anywhere you want to start, but God, because He loves you, knows what's best. Because He wants the best for you, is going to choose the best. He may give you what you ask, but it may not be when you ask for it.
It may not be the size or the shape or whatever it might be. God is going to answer our prayer according to the wisdom of God, according to the love of God, according to His care for us. But answer our prayer.
He loves to do it because it's who He is. He's the God of love and goodness and mercy. And the reason we don't have is because of what James said, because we ask not. Many people do not feel they're worthy of asking for God to do something for them. When you trusted Him as your personal Savior, you had instantaneous access to the throne of God to ask that your needs might be met in the desires of your heart. He says He delights to give us the desires of our heart. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. If you're not delighted with Him, you're not happy with Him, you don't want to spend any time with Him, you're not interested in Him with only what you need or what you desire, then you cannot expect God to give you what you want.
He doesn't promise to do it. And so, prayer is a vital part of our everyday existence. And with that prayer also is faith. Because it's one thing just to talk around to God.
It's something to talk to Him personally and believe that He will do what He says. And the verses of Scripture about prayer in the Bible ought to anchor us. That is, here's what you said, Lord. So, I want you to turn to this eleventh chapter of Mark and look at a passage for which there's some question that people all the times bring up. And in this eleventh chapter of Mark, Jesus, for example, has cursed this fig tree and the next day they came by and Peter was all excited.
He said, Look, this fig tree has withered from the roots up. And Jesus, listen, Jesus simply said in the twenty-second verse, Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. You say, Oh, now I've often wondered about that mountain business.
We're coming to that. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them and they'll be granted to you. Now, that says exactly what the original language says. Watch this, verse twenty-four. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe, you're asking believing and because you have believed Him, believe that you have already received Him. That is, faith says, Thank You God, I know it's done. Will that be true about everything you ask Him for? No, but there are some things you now ask Him for that is the will of God for our life. And we trust Him, we can thank Him that it's as good as done. That's what He's saying.
Believe that you have received them and they'll be granted to you. So, when I think about the emphasis Jesus placed on prayer in our life and the fact that He was up. Listen, He didn't get up once a week every morning, but He was out early every morning before He faced the day, before He even faced His disciples. Dad, I'd say you'd be wise for you to be up early in the morning talking to God before the rest of your family gets up.
Or your wife, the mother, she gets up before the rest of the family gets up and spends a little time at least talking to the Father. Look, here's what that's doing. That's setting the course for the day. That's the direction for the day, the compass for the day. You're telling God what you feel like you need for the day and you're asking Him to give you direction, wisdom and guidance and care for your children and all the rest, your husband and your wife, whatever it might be. That's what Jesus was doing.
And He was talking to the Father about His disciples, talking to the Father about the Father's will for His life, but He was up early every morning before anybody else was out there. He had a place, so I'd ask you another question. Do you have a place in your house where you go to pray? A place? In every house I've ever been, I've had a place. Now, usually it's my study now, so I'm fortunate to that point that I have a place. But I've had a place every place, for the simple reason I know that that place is like my altar. That's where God and I meet in a very special way. It can be on the floor or whatever it might be, but my mom gave me a knitted or crocheted or whatever you call it, a pretty good-sized piece. And I just started using that as my prayer rug.
And then I've got things that are a little bit thicker than that. And, but I've always had something to lay down. And because when I walk into the place I pray, there's something about that place and that spot.
And everybody needs a place. Jesus had a place, and that place was meaningful to Him. And more than likely, there was a place at your house.
And there was a time in my house when the only place I could go, our house was very, very small at that point, was in the bathroom. That's where I prayed. I just shut the door and I prayed out loud.
I guess that's the Pentecostal in me. But I prayed out loud. My mother hid in that direction. She could hear me.
She knew exactly I was talking to God. And then I found a place when I wanted to pray a little bit longer and be undisturbed up in my church. I went down to the basement and there was a room back there through about two or three doors. And I could go back in there and close the door and pray out loud and nobody hear me.
You know what? You can find the place if you want to. There is a place, but there needs to be a place where you and God talk and you're undisturbed. Because you're talking about your life. You're talking about your future. You're talking about your children, your wife, your family.
You're talking about your income or your work, whatever it is. You and God. And you say, well, we pray together. Well, I'm all for praying together, but God wants you alone with Him. Jesus was alone. He didn't pray with His disciples all the time. They had to find Him. They had to hunt for Him, especially when they were traveling.
Here's what He did. He found Him a place to pray out before, I believe, before He went to bed the first night. He had a place He could get away to talk to the Father. So, I ask you, do you have a place?
Do you have a time? Do you believe that God answers your prayer? Do you ask Him about things that are concerning you? And when you ask Him, do you get up from your knees or whatever you choose to do? Do you pray in faith believing that what you have asked of God He's going to do? You say, well, now, I don't know that I always deserved that.
It has nothing to do with it. Listen, you and I will never deserve the grace of God. That's what it's all about. Grace. It's not what we deserve. But He, listen, God doesn't turn a deaf ear to one of His praying children. All of us know somebody who needs to be prayed for, amen? And all of us need to be prayed for. I don't know of anybody who's so independent.
They have it all together that they don't need God. Every single one of us do. There are people who leave to go to work in the morning and never come home. There are things that happen that are tragic to us. It's somebody's time to go home to the Father. We all need to pray. The Father needs private time with His children. Not because of what we say to Him, but because of what He needs to say to us.
All of us need direction and counsel every day of our life. We need to hear from the Father. So, when I think about that and I think about what He says in this passage, twenty-third verse. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it'll be granted him. What he was saying is, listen, this is how powerful God is. God is able to move heaven and earth to answer your prayers. And that is exactly what He's able to do.
He's able to do it. And He's simply saying here, have faith in God. There's nothing too difficult for God.
I have a couple of statements. One of them simply says this, the greatest possible difficulties can be removed when a person has faith. And that's really what Jesus was saying about moving this mountain and casting it into the sea. The greatest possible difficulties can be removed when we have faith in God to work in our behalf. That is, nothing is impossible with God.
So, He wasn't talking about dirt and sea. He's talking about the gigantic things that we face in life. God can handle any and every single one of them, no matter what they are. And I could probably say there are many of you who could give a testimony of things that God has done in your life you never expected Him to do. Brought you through situations and circumstances that you've probably given up all hope.
Looking at mountains in your life, you'd think there's no way I'll get through this. He's brought you through it time after time after time. Did you take time to thank Him? Did you, after He got you through that mess, did you just go your merry way? Or did you spend more time than ever before talking with Him and listening to Him and just loving God? And when I think about, we've been saved by the grace of God.
We're in the kingdom. Our name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life, but He wants fellowship with us. He loved us enough to die for us. And the reason we don't have to worry about whether He answers our prayer or not is because if He died for us, He can certainly take care of any need that you and I have.
And we should spend all eternity praising Him and thanking Him for all the things He's done. So, now look at this passage and people get hung up on the mountain business. He's simply saying, no task in harmony with God's will is impossible to be performed by those who believe and not doubt.
It's the second statement I want you to get. No task in harmony with God's will, not just anything, is impossible to be performed by those who believe and not doubt. Whatever God commands you to do, remember this, He promises the power, the wisdom, the knowledge, the understanding to help you get through that no matter what.
This is the kind of God He is. What does He say? Ask and it shall be given. You seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you.
It'll work. Watch what I do because as the Father watches for His Son, takes care of Him, I'm watching over you. The Father is exactly what He says is.
He's our Heavenly Father, looking after us, providing for us, supporting us, protecting us, caring for us, giving us direction. And I think, for example, when I hear college students say, when I ask them, well, what are you going to do? I don't know. I say, wait a minute. You don't know what you're going to do and you're a senior?
No, not really. Are you really asking God to show you that you're willing to do whatever He says? They're looking for something else. So, you have to ask yourself the question, am I willing to do the will of the Father? Do I really want to know what He wants me to do? Because God is not going to withhold from you information that you need. He's not going to withhold from you the knowledge of His will and purpose for your life. That doesn't mean He's going to tell you the full story of your life. He doesn't do that. But He'll give you the next step. Now, watch this. Are you listening?
Say, amen. God has already planned the best for your life. The best. Doesn't make any difference who you are. Listen, He's not a God who plans second best for anybody. It's the best for you.
It may not be the same as the best for somebody else, but He's got your interest at heart. And He gave us an example of Himself praying, being alone with the Father, teaching His disciples to pray. Now, if you walked out of here today and somebody said, Well, what did you get out of that ceremony?
Oh, I don't know. I just, something about prayer. I don't want you to get but two things. Give Him time and give Him a place where you and God can meet every day and watch what happens in your life. And Father, how grateful we are for Your Word that anchors us in the storms, that reminds us in the peaceful times, You, of what our life is all about. And we pray that every person who hears this message would begin to realize it's not going to happen apart from the Word. And that You are so willing to meet every need of our life. We love You and we praise You and we bless Your Holy Name for all that You are to us in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to Putting Prayer First. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
