Do you have a Strong Prayer Life?

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.

Welcome to the Christian perspective, where we look in God's Word in order to develop a Christian worldview and modern culture. I am so excited about our guest today, Dr. Gary Miller, his wife, Dana. Got to know them a couple of years ago, maybe about three years ago now, and they have just been such a blessing to me and encouragement to me. The Millers are from Texas, and Dr. Gary Miller was a former pastor and has a heart for pastors. He works sometimes with an organization called the American Renewal Project, which is an organization formed by a good friend, David Lane.

And they travel around the country and encourage pastors to preach the whole Word of God and to consider running for public office, because who is better to get involved in their community than somebody who really, pastors are going to step on some toes, you should be involved in your community already, and pastors just make great candidates. But today I want to talk to Gary about prayer, because our listeners, as you're listening to the show every day and you're trying to learn how to develop a biblical worldview, well, you can't develop a biblical worldview if you don't know what the Bible says, and you can't be in tune with God unless you're praying and talking to him on a daily and much more than just a daily continual basis, we need to be in communion with God. And I don't know anybody that knows more about prayer than Dr. Gary Miller, so I'm excited to have you with me today. Gary, welcome to The Christian Perspective. Thank you, Chris. I appreciate the invitation, sir.

It is such an honor. I love you and your sweet wife, Dana, so much, and I'm sure you'll probably share some testimonies. Dana, for those of you that don't know, is a survivor of cancer, but these two people just have a heart for Jesus, unlike anybody that I really know. But, Gary, what I wanted to talk about is every time I see you talk about talk less, pray more, what does that mean? Well, it's rooted in a journey that began with us back in March of 2008 when Dana was diagnosed with breast cancer. We thought we knew something about prayer. I was pastoring for close to 40 years at that point. All I can say is this really took us to our knees.

Sometimes that wasn't in a good way. I collapsed when I heard the words, it's cancer. Dana took it on as her great adventure, and I wish I could say I responded the same way. But it took me a while to kind of get with the program because, Chris, you know, cancer is just, it's all the words, all the protocols, all the doctor's offices, the chemo, and all of that, and not to mention the surgery.

Every time we would talk about this, it seems like the bigger it would get. Finally, one day we were coming back from another doctor's appointment, and I pulled the car off the side of the road and said, I'm already terrified enough. Who's going to pray first, you or me? That was kind of the birth of Talk Less, Pray More, because what, to God, you could talk a crisis to death, but you just keep breathing new life into it. And somewhere on that road back from Dallas to Runaway Bay, Texas, we just started a journey of trying to talk less and pray more. Cancer stuck around for a while, but it looked different when we put it in God's hands. And that's what Talk Less, Pray More means to us. Well, Gary, so many of our listeners and really people around the world are facing tragedies all the time, whether it's cancer or, you know, in our own country and around the world with COVID the last couple of years.

Oh, my goodness, yes. And sometimes people like you said, you know, you didn't know what to say or what to do. You just, your heart breaks at that moment. How can we as Christians make prayer a personal passion and a priority in our lives? Well, you know, I think it begins by understanding that prayer is not about our eloquence.

It's about our dependence. And so many times, particularly men will say to me, I just don't know how to pray. And I just try to encourage God, if you know how to breathe, you know how to pray. This is a matter of just taking the understanding of the breath that you have in your lungs is the next 20 seconds is your walk with God.

Just pour out your heart to him and let him know what's going on there. And it's not like you're giving him information that he doesn't have. But what happens is whatever's on your heart, that burden, that hurt, that fear, whatever it is, and with COVID, you know, it's been fear.

I mean, it's just rampant throughout our country. And it's just a matter of getting something out of your hands and putting it in God's hands. It just takes on a different perspective. But it's never about our eloquence. It's all about our dependence. Well, that's exactly where it begins. I love what you said there. I'm going to make a note of that. It's not about our eloquence. It's about our independence or dependence, I guess, on God. I don't know if you've met my son.

I have an 18-year-old son. Oh, yes. And Christian's been reading through the Bible. And he had that conversation with me of what you just said basically a couple of weeks ago where he said, Dad, you know, sometimes I go to church or other places and people give these long flowing prayers. But they seem to be doing it more for show and trying to be eloquent than communicating to God. And prayer is really just a way for us to talk to God.

It doesn't have to be formal. You don't have to go to seminary to pray. It's just talking to God like you're talking to your best friend. Do you see that? Well, Chris has it spot on.

I mean, that's exactly what it is. You know, my target group when we teach on prayer is I'm not trying to transform the next generation of seminary professors about how to parse the Greek word on prayer. You know, I'm reaching out to these cowboys here in Texas and just guys who are facing tough times every day and just encouraging them that this is about having a conversation with God. And one old boy in West Texas when I was preaching, and I could tell, you've preached, you know, you can tell when somebody's not real happy with what you're saying. And he came up to me after the service, and he's a long, tall drink of water.

And I'm basically looking at his belt buckle. And he said, I can't tell you exactly what he said, but he said, you know, you've been kicking me all morning. And I said, well, I didn't come here to hurt you. I came here to help you. And here's what he said. He said, preacher, I have prayed over a cheeseburger more than I have prayed over my kids.

And that's going to change at my house today. And that's my mission on prayer. If I can get across to a guy that if he's ever said a blessing over a cheeseburger, he can talk to God on behalf of his wife and his kids, his country. And God can do great things with the simplest prayers. Gary, you touched on something there. It is so important for us as men and as fathers to pray for our wives and to pray for our children.

And we don't do it. And boy, that really hit home, to pray over a cheeseburger more than you prayed over your kids. It may be the most profound thing I've ever heard on prayer. Yeah.

And said in a simple way where we can understand. I mean, there's a sermon. I might have to steal that. But Gary, that's the truth. Men seem intimidated by prayer much more than women, I think. And I don't really know why. And we don't always have partners. And I think we should have partners. What is your opinion on that?

Should men try to find somebody that's a prayer partner with to kind of help hold us accountable or is it just pray on our own? What do you think about that? Well, it's like the two sides of the same coin. There's not an either or.

It's a both and. It's one of those things where I have to admit I enjoy my time alone with God. And yet it's that time with my wife that really brings strength to our marriage.

And it's not a matter of, you know, me trying to change her. It's me calling out where she can hear me calling out to God on her behalf and in thanking God for her on her behalf. And so I'm I'm real strong on husbands and wives praying together.

And I call that T.W.O. together, because if I'm going to have a prayer partner before I get another man, I really need to make sure I have one with my wife. And I doubt there'd be a lot less affairs and a lot less divorce if men would pray with their wives. Listen, listen, nothing will affair proof or divorce proof a marriage more than a husband and wife praying together.

Well, I'm going to be real transparent with you here. I know, you know, particularly early on when we were first married. And I'm not proud of this, Gary, but it goes in line with what you're saying. Sometimes I would get really angry with Vicki, my wife Vicki, and she'd say, well, let's pray. And Gary, I didn't want to pray. I wanted to be I wanted to be mad and I knew I would refuse. Again, I'm not proud of this. There were times where I would refuse to pray with her because I knew if I prayed, I had to get right with God and I would not be able to stay mad at her any longer. And I wanted to be mad. And I knew if I prayed that I wouldn't be able to stay that way.

Would to God you and I are the only ones that did that. And it's it is just something about men that we just have to be in control and exercise our will. I guess the toughest thing about prayer for men is the prayer of Jesus.

Not my will, but I will be done. I think at the very heart of it, that's what keeps men from praying, yielding our will to someone else's will. Well, it certainly draws us closer to our wives. And and I know I mean, you know, you know, the same just for pastors, but you're a preacher, too. I know when Vicki prays for me, particularly when before I'm about to go preach somewhere or speak somewhere, it really means a lot to me.

And it makes a difference when that other because we're not really complete with unless we're with our spouse and to have her pray for me really makes a big difference for me. And I'm sure it does when Dana prays for you, too. Well, you know, when you I wouldn't put this on you, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't happen to a lot of preachers. It certainly happens to me. I'll be convicted of something before I'm about to step up into the pulpit to preach.

And I'll have to find my wife either by phone, by text or in the very room I'm in. And I said, I've just been reminded of something I said the way I said it. Are we OK? Because I need your forgiveness before I step up into that pulpit. I'm not a whole man until you and I are one.

Yeah, it's just playing hardball with our ego. We're going to have to take a commercial break here, Gary. Folks, we're talking about prayer. We'll come back. I'm going to put Gary on the spot and ask him the most profound statement on prayer he's ever read in the Bible. So stick around.

We'll be right back with more with Gary Miller. This show is brought to you by generous jokes, the coffee company with the Christian perspective. This is the answer that Christians and conservatives have been looking for. A coffee company that gives back to causes you care about.

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For a free transcript, call American Minute at 1-888-USA-WITH. Welcome back to The Christian Perspective. This is Chris Hughes, and my special guest today is my dear friend, Dr. Gary Miller, who is an expert on prayer and like me has a passion for every Christian to get involved in the public arena and take a biblical worldview everywhere we go. Before the commercial break, we were talking about prayer, which is the topic of our conversation today, and we were talking about the importance of men praying, praying for their families and really how to save marriages by praying with your wife.

Because if you keep Jesus at the center of your marriage, you're not going to have affairs, you're not going to be getting divorced if the two of you as husband and wife are in union with Jesus. But I'm fixing to put Gary on the spot here. I asked Gary to think about over the commercial break the most profound statement on prayer that he's ever read in the Bible.

So, Gary, I hope you had a chance to come up with one. What does the Bible say about prayer and what's the most profound statement you've seen in the Bible talking about prayer? I asked my dad that question before he went to heaven. Dad was a great prayer warrior. And I just thought, I'm going to lean on somebody who I trust to have a perspective on prayer.

And here's what he said to me. And I have since taken this to heart. And it's these five simple words, Lord, teach us to pray in Luke 11 one. And if you think of that in terms of five fingers on your hand and you start out with your little finger, Lord, teach us to pray and you put up that thumb, pray. That will give you a perspective on how important prayer is in your life because you can't get a grip on anything without your thumb. And it is with prayer that we get a grip on the weapons of warfare that God has given us for the spiritual warfare that we're engaged in here on earth.

What I remember as an elementary school kid growing up in Dallas, Texas, the church relocated and left the parsonage where it was, which meant I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Elementary school was a fight every day. I mean, it was just meet me out on the blacktop was the challenge. I learned something early on. You never bring a slap to a fist fight. And when you have your thumb wrapped around your fingers, you make a fist. And so when we are fighting against an enemy, an ancient enemy that wishes us nothing but to kill and destroy everything that we hold dear. Prayer gets a grip on the weapons of our warfare and it brings a fist to the fight. And that's why I think Lord teaches to pray may be the most profound statement on prayer I've ever heard.

Boy, that's a great way to think about prayer, Gary, and in a great visual way to see it, because you couldn't win that fistfight without that thumb wrapped around it. And we're not going to be successful in anything in life unless we go to God first in prayer. I was thinking as you were talking, you know, prayer is not just something that we're told to do.

But if you study the life of Jesus in the New Testament over and over and over again, and he was God. But he set the example by going to his father in prayer over and over again throughout the New Testament. And it's because it's important. I think sometimes we want to pray just when we need something.

You know, I need a good grade in college or on a test coming up or I've got a job interview coming up or I need money to pay the bills at the end of the month. But prayer is not sending God to do errands for us. Prayer is intended to get us and to prepare us to be ready for what God is going to do in our lives.

And it's such an important part of everything that we do. You were talking a while ago, Gary, about the story of when God really got your attention with prayer and how Dana was diagnosed with breast cancer. And I don't want to leave that story. Can you tell us did did did she survive and and and what what happened through that process? Well, it was a long journey, as you can imagine. That's what cancer is.

It's not a you know, it's not an appendix operation. And but Dana is cancer free. And this year she met with her oncologist again and remains cancer free. In 2022, we're looking for, again, just a fresh walk with God and a new adventure. And but we we have so much to be grateful for. You know, prayer was what kept our hearts and our minds focused on God.

Come what may. Dana's sister had died of breast cancer. So we knew how this could end.

That was a terrifying thought. And we tried to just use prayer as a way I call it to prepare ourselves for what might happen. And in the midst of all that, God healed her and has given her a fresh life and a new start. We're very grateful to answered prayer.

It just simply can't be overrated. And what a tremendous testimony. I know that you and Dana travel all over the world sharing the testimony of what God has done in your lives and how God has healed.

Dana and and we're just so thankful that God did choose to heal her of that cancer. Well, as we talk more about prayer, is there a passage of scripture that maybe summarizes the purpose of prayer in the Bible? You know, I have come to appreciate Luke Chapter 24. And I would just say the Gospel of Luke, that one small gospel book says more about the prayer life of Jesus than all the other books combined. So Luke had an interesting perspective on prayer. He somehow grasped that this was the key.

And as he wrote these things about prayer, particularly the prayer life of Jesus, it also for me culminates in Luke Chapter 24. And, you know, years ago, I heard my father refer to this passage as the couple on the road to Emmaus. And I said, well, how do you know it's a couple? And he said, there's just too many things about this that make me think it's not just two men, but it's a couple. And I've queued on that over the years.

And, you know, I'm not going to fist fight with anybody about it. But I tend to look at this passage of scripture, particularly after what Dana and I went through, as a couple who has received the worst news that they could ever possibly receive. And life for them is moving downhill, you know, figuratively and literally. And, of course, this couple has seen the death and the burial of Jesus. And what I love about this, the scripture says in Luke Chapter 24 that they were walking, talking, and discussing the things that they had seen. And, of course, you know, in Luke 24, that means they've seen all these things that have happened to Jesus.

And then it says, and Jesus himself approached. This is what prayer is all about. Prayer is God's idea.

It's not a good idea. It's God's idea. And so any time that we have a desire to pray or an interest to pray, it's because Jesus had showed up and simply interrupted our conversation, interrupted us talking about a problem or a crisis, and encouraging us to talk to him about it. Now, this was not well received by this couple.

The husband, only a husband could be this obtuse. But he said, are you the only one in Jerusalem that hadn't heard about these things? And Jesus says to him, instead of getting offended, Jesus says to him, what things? Now, Chris, all these things that happened to him, so Jesus is not looking for information from this couple.

He already knows exactly what has happened. So for my money, the purpose of prayer is not about us giving Jesus information he doesn't have. It's about allowing Jesus to bring an intervention that we need. And that's what the purpose of prayer is about.

This isn't about us giving him a list of things that he needs to be informed about. This is about coming to the end of our rope and refusing to make more rope. And we simply let go and fall into his hands and let him make sense out of what seems senseless. And that's exactly what happens in Luke chapter 24. And, of course, Jesus, as you mentioned earlier, prayer is about taking, you know, hold of the word of God. He walked them through all of the scriptures, and that means from Genesis all the way through Malachi. This wasn't about Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. All of the scriptures were Old Testament scriptures where he revealed to them all of this was necessary. And this is what I find intriguing because I've got, you know, friends of mine throughout Christianity that, you know, seem to put more dependence on the New Testament than the Old Testament. But Jesus was pretty sure he was in the Old Testament. And that's just something that I fall back on all the time when I look at this Luke chapter 24 passage.

Wow, I have never looked at that passage like that. And you said it was your father who said that it might be a couple. Was that your dad that gave you that? He was a pastor too, right? Dad was a long-time pastor and prayer ministry, and I have since discovered Donald Gray Barnhouse, a grand old man of the Presbyterian fundamentalist movement, believed the same thing. I found a tape of his back in 1947 where he felt like this was a couple. So this is something men of some renown have leaned upon over the years. I never try to force that view on anybody. But after what Dana and I went through, it just seemed to make sense to us that that's exactly what was going on here. Wow. Only a husband and wife would try to talk something to death.

Well, that's true. I'm going to really dig into that passage now. I just opened up my Bible as you were talking about that.

But that's going to give me something to really dig into. And my son and I have these theological conversations every night, and it's usually him asking me deep questions. So I'm going to talk to him about this tonight, and I would encourage our listeners. You know, it's not, like you said, it's not worth getting a fight about or arguing about, but it's just something to think about and a fun way to dig into God's word.

We're about to take another commercial break, but I want to give, restate two things that you said, Gary. One, you said God, excuse me, prayer is not a good idea. It's God's idea. Exactly.

So I'll say that again. Prayer is not a good idea. It's God's idea. And then I asked you the question, the purpose of prayer, and hopefully I get this right. You said the prayer allows Jesus to bring an intervention that we need at the end of our rope so that we will let go and let him make sense out of something that seems senseless. Absolutely.

That is so powerful. Well, folks, if you're listening, I'm talking to Dr. Gary Miller, and we're talking today about prayer. Is prayer a good idea? As you just heard, no, it's not a good idea.

It's a great idea because it's God's idea. And should we be praying as men and women of God? Should we be praying for our families? Should we be praying for our country?

Should we pray with our spouse? What a powerful message that Dr. Gary Miller is bringing to us today. We're going to take a commercial break. We'll come back.

We're going to talk about how long he should pray and some other things. So stick around. We'll be right back with more with Dr. Gary Miller. History was made on today's date. Stay tuned for an American Minute with Bill Federer. Today, February 15th, in the year 1898, the USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, President William McKinley approved the joint resolution of Congress, which stated, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battleship with 266 of its officers and crew while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana.

Therefore resolved by Congress assembled that the people of the island of Cuba are and have a right ought to be free. This has been an American Minute with Bill Federer. For a free transcript, call American Minute at 1-888-USA-WORD. This show is brought to you by Generous Joe's, the coffee company with the Christian perspective. This is the answer that Christians and conservatives have been looking for. A coffee company that gives back to causes you care about.

Order your coffee today at ShopGenerousJoes.org and even subscribe to a subscription coffee plan and never forget the coffee you love or the causes you care about. The Conservative Baptist Network is a dynamic movement of Southern Baptist pastors, churches and Christians committed to standing for the sufficiency of God's word. In the face of a culture of compromise, the passion and prayer of the Conservative Baptist Network is that God would help Southern Baptists stay bold for the gospel so that we might see revival in America and the world reached for Christ.

Visit our website today at ConservativeBaptistNetwork.com to learn how you and your church can join and support this exciting movement. Folks, welcome back to the Christian perspective with Chris Hughes. My guest today is Dr. Gary Miller and we are talking about prayer. Gary loves to say talk less and pray more. He shared a wonderful testimony of how God really drew him closer to understanding the importance of prayer when his beautiful wife Dana was diagnosed with cancer and how during that terrible time of crisis, instead of giving up or losing hope, they chose instead to turn, like even on the way home from the doctor's office, they pulled over the side of the road and decided to turn to God for prayer. But through that crisis, God has opened up a great ministry for Gary and Dana Miller to travel around the world and talk about the importance of prayer. Before we took the commercial break, we were talking about the purpose of prayer and God, excuse me, God revealed a verse to Gary, Luke 11 one, where he found that that was probably the most profound verse in the Bible as he studied prayer where Luke 11 one says, Lord, teach us to pray. And then as I was asking about the purpose of prayer, Gary said, and I don't want to repeat these two things again because they were profound to me, says prayer is not a good idea, it's God's idea. And then Gary, when I asked him about the purpose of prayer, said, allows Jesus to bring an intervention that we need at the end of our rope to let go and let him make sense out of something that seems senseless. And maybe some of you are at that point right now in your life where something's going on and you're thinking he's just senseless and God, why would you let this happen?

Why is this terrible thing happening to me? And I would just encourage you instead of turning away from God at that point, that's the time to turn to God and focus on him. And if we turn to him, as Gary said, he can make sense out of something that seems absolutely senseless to us. So Gary, we've talked about the importance of men praying with friends and men praying for their family. We talked about how men really, really need to pray with their wives. So when we're talking about prayer, how long should we pray? Do we need to pray for hours every day or is it something we hop in and out of prayer with God in conversation throughout the day? What do you recommend we should do when it comes to the length of prayer and how we should do it? Well, the Scripture gives you some guidelines.

I mean, Jesus said to his sleepy disciples, what could you not watch with me one hour? And a lot of emphasis has been put on that, that we need to at least be able to pray an hour a day. Well, okay, that's better than not praying at all. And we're also encouraged to pray without ceasing.

Well, what does that mean? And I have reached a point in my, I guess, my journey in prayer. I fall back on Luke 22, verse 42, where here's the purpose of prayer and the end of prayer, yet not my will but yours be done. That was Jesus praying. I think you pray long enough to get to that point that if you're praying and you've not gotten to the point where you can say, not my will but thy will be done, you need to pray a little longer because that's how Jesus prayed. And for you and for me to have a mentor in prayer, we can't have a better mentor than Jesus.

And this is the point. Prayer is not me getting God to do my will. Prayer is about me getting yielded and in line with His will. And the length of my prayer, it could be 10 seconds.

But if it's 10 hours and I still haven't reached the point where I'm not willing to yield to His will, then I'm not praying long enough. That's the perspective I've come to at this stage in my life. It's all about, I put it this way, it's not mine, it's thine. And you've raised children, you know if you've got two kids and one toy, you've got a war going on.

And you will hear two little ones screaming at each other, smine, smine, smine. Many times that's what our prayer life is like. We're like children struggling to get control of the toy rather than letting go of it and letting God give us something better than we've got our greasy hands on. That's what prayer is about. If we prayed long enough to get to not my will but thy will, I believe it's time to say amen. That's where the prayer has changed your heart and the direction of your life.

Gary, do you think there's a better time of day? I find myself when I'm driving, when I'm walking, praying and talking to the Lord, but we also need, I think, an intensified time, a time where we dedicate and are disciplined about praying. I know some people like to pray at night before they go to bed.

That's dangerous for me because I'll think I'm going to do that and I'll lay down and next thing I know at the end of the sentence I wake up and it's the next morning. So morning is probably the better time for me to have that quiet time and devotion. Should people have a quiet time? What does that mean and is there a time of day you think or you recommend is better to do that? Man, this has changed so much for me over the years.

When I was a young dad and you've got kids that are up at the crack of dawn, that just seems to interfere with everything you're trying to get done with a quiet time. This thing has changed for me over the years and I try to give people the latitude of just coming to the Lord when their hearts are prepared to hear from Him. This emphasis of Luke 11, 1, Lord teaches to pray. The emphasis is upon the Lord teaches to pray, not how to pray.

And sometimes we get a little wrapped around the axle. Should I pray in the morning? Should I pray in the afternoon? Should I pray in the evening? And of course my answer to that is usually, well, yes, you should. But it's that prayer is our breath that we are entering into, inhaling, exhaling all day long.

But for my money personally, this is not something I tell everybody they should be in agreement with me about, but I find at this stage in my life at 71 years of age, when I start my prayer time in the morning at 4 o'clock, nobody wants a piece of me but Jesus. I don't have my phone ringing. I'm not getting texts.

I'm not getting emails. This is that uninterrupted time that I enjoy more than any other time of the day, and that has been something that I look forward to. I laugh when you say you fall asleep praying.

Chris, I think that's a great idea. What better way to calm your heart when the enemy is trying to keep you totally absorbed on something, you just start putting things in the Lord's hand and you fall asleep. That's got to be a great rest when prayer has led you to just release everything and fall into the hands of God for the rest that you need. I've stopped criticizing people that fall asleep when they're praying.

I used to say, well done. Well, sometimes I used to tell my wife, yeah, we would have trouble sleeping. I'm like, well, not because it's boring, but if you probably want to fall asleep, either get out your Bible, probably getting out your Bible to read because Satan does not want you reading the Bible.

He's going to let you get real sleepy in a hurry because he doesn't want you to do that. But speaking of Satan, Gary, again, a lot of preachers never preach on prayer or Satan or how to overcome evil. They don't want to talk about bad things or sin in many cases. But do you think that prayer affects the spiritual battles that we're in? Is Satan afraid of prayer?

Does it really matter? Or could he care less if we pray? Well, yes, prayer does matter to him, believe it or not.

I've gotten to where when I read things on prayer, I usually read men who lived a hundred years ago or they finished well, is what I'm trying to say. One of these guys is Samuel Chadwick. He was a Methodist preacher in England. He always asked to be assigned the toughest places, and they would put him in these mill towns in England, and it'd be like pastoring a Texas oilfield town.

I mean, these guys were sinners and were proud of it. And so he knew that if he was going to see lives change, he had to develop a dependency upon God in prayer. And he saw incredible things happen in England at the turn of the century.

And he was referred to as the John Wesley of the early 20th century. And so Samuel Chadwick, who later became a professor and mentor of Leonard Ravenhill, a man who really mentored the folks of the Jesus revolution, he was an Englishman as well, but Samuel Chadwick put it this way, the one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless study, prayerless work, or prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil. He mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray. That gives me a perspective on prayer that I sometimes have forgotten, that one of the reasons that Satan wants to keep us from praying is because it frightens him that we're calling on somebody who can actually come in and do something about what's going on, and he knows that. He's not afraid of you and me. He's not afraid of what we can do, but he's seen what Jesus can do. And it strikes fear in his heart when we call out in the name of our champion and lean into his strength. And when we do that, that strikes fear in the enemy camp and gives fresh courage to us.

And Samuel Chadwick figured that out 100 years ago. That's powerful. Gary, I don't know if you've read any of the books by Frank Peretti.

Oh, my, yes, yes. A lot of his books are fictional, but it really opened my eyes up to the spiritual warfare that goes on in the world around us. And Frank Peretti's books a lot, but when Satan is attacking or these things are happening, the demons actually cower and are terrified when the name of Jesus is invoked and people go to prayer. And as we get ready to take our next break, I just want to challenge our listeners. Folks, if you want to have a Christian perspective, which is what we talk about every day on this radio program, you cannot have a Christian perspective if you're not spending time in prayer as a man and woman of God and calling on God to direct your paths, to lead you, to protect your children and your spouse and your family and friends and loved ones if you're not praying for our nation and if you're not asking God to protect you from the attacks of Satan. And that's where we're gonna go after the commercial break. We've, Gary Miller, our guest today, boy, this has been like going to church for me. I'm so fired up after talking to Gary already. But in our last segment, we're gonna talk about the importance of praying for our leaders and praying for our nation and bringing renewal and revival back to the United States of America. So stick around. We're gonna be right back with more of The Christian Perspective. Connect with Diggs Design on social media. In a world crowded with viewpoints and voices.

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It could save your life. Savedbythescan.org is brought to you by the American Lung Association's Lung Force Initiative and the Ad Council. The United States of America has a strong Christian heritage, but most Americans don't know the truly important role that God in the Bible played in the founding of this great nation. This June, join nationally syndicated radio host and founder of the Citizens for America Foundation, Dr. Chris Hughes, for four amazing days in our nation's capital. With Chris, you'll embark on a journey of discovering the hidden secrets of Washington, D.C. and rediscover much of America's forgotten Christian heritage.

Your tour will include an up-close and personal look at the nation's establishment and how it's evolved over the centuries. Learn about the government and the men who helped forge this new kind of republic, one that acknowledged the creator from its very inception. Know the truth about the creation of the United States of America, about the faith of the founding fathers and how Christian principles were used to establish this form of government. Visit citizensforamericafoundation.com today and secure your spot to join Chris Hughes in Washington, D.C. this June. Welcome back to The Christian Perspective with Chris Hughes. My guest today is Dr. Gary Miller, and boy, I wanna tell you what, if you have not been listening, you need to go back and listen to this as a podcast when it's re-aired on the podcast, The Truth Podcast Network. Our guest today is Dr. Gary Miller who's talking about the importance of prayer, the purpose of prayer, what the Bible has to say about prayer, and this has just been such a blessing to me. But now we're gonna look into our country now. We have so much going on in our country and Gary and his wife Dana, as I mentioned at the beginning of the show, are intimately involved with an organization called the American Renewal Project where they travel all across the nation and encourage pastors to preach the entire word of God and encourage pastors and Christians to engage in the public arena, engage in the area of public policy, which is what I challenge you to do every single day on this radio program, and they encourage pastors to even run for office.

Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever talked to your pastor about running for office? He'd be great. He's a good public speaker. He's known in his community. He should be up to date on the issues.

He's well-educated. Your pastor should think about and pray about running for public office, and Gary is somebody who travels the country encouraging pastors to do that. But when it comes to prayer, Gary, should we pray for our leaders and how should we pray for them?

Well, I think the answer, of course, is yes based upon what the word of God says. First Timothy chapter two is something that I lean on quite a bit for this. It begins in verse one. First of all, then, I urge that in treaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men. There's that word all for kings and all who are in authority. That means a high position so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

And the reason we do this is it's good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, Chris, I've heard that scripture for years, and here's what my confession is. I've prayed at those who are in authority. I've not prayed for those in authority. And I was really taken to school by this by the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, and I'm not sure if you were in the room. That day when he referred to this passage of scripture, and he said, you know, I don't hate anybody.

I love people. And there were 300 pastors in that room from 20 different denominations. And he said, I pray every day that I might look out my window someday in heaven and see Joe Biden walking up the steps to my house so that we might have sweet fellowship together. Well, you could hear a pin drop in this place.

And I'm on the platform looking to the faces of men that the look on their face had to be the look on my face, like, where's this going? And without missing a beat, he said, I pray every day for Chuck Schumer to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and that we might spend eternity in heaven together. And he started going down the line of people that he's praised for. And then by the time he got to Nancy Pelosi, we were having church, because the conviction that came upon those people and on me as well is, I prayed at Nancy Pelosi, but I'm not prayed for Nancy Pelosi.

And that's a huge difference. And there's something about this passage of scripture that brings us to the end of ourselves and puts these people in the hands of God for him to do something that only he can do. And for us to refuse to do that, it just makes no sense whatsoever, because the promise is there. This is what God wants us to do. And if we're looking for a life of tranquility and quietness and all godliness and dignity, and we're refusing to do what God says is the way to get there, what in the world are we thinking? So I've come to the conclusion that this passage of scripture may be the most important passage of scripture when it comes to seeing a turnaround in the lives of the people who are in positions of authority in our country.

Now, I've also come to the conclusion that praying for all those who are in authority doesn't mean in a free society that has a constitutional republic, we're not obligated to keep them in authority. We can actually remove them. But hating them is not an option. Amen.

You know, talking about them, you know, with scurrilous language is not an option. Praying for them is the direction. And voting them out is the correction. I mean, we're going to have to play ball the way God made the rules. And praying for all those in authority is where we begin to see a turnaround, number one, in our own hearts, where who's kidding who? Where most spiritual awakenings need to begin in me, not others. And praying for all those in authority is how we turn a country around, one heart at a time. And so I believe that the direction here is spiritual, but it also has a political consequence to those who refuse to bring themselves under God's authority. He put them in that position of responsibility. Scripture tells us that. But the issue is, are they being responsive to His authority? If they're not, we vote them out. Yeah, and it's so important as Christians, Gary.

You're right. We need, and I've been guilty of praying at them and not for them as well, but we need to pray. I pray for the salvation of the president and many of the other leaders that you talked about. I mean, can you imagine, Gary, imagine if Barack Obama became a born-again follower of Jesus Christ and was sold out for Jesus, how that would turn the world upside down where people almost worship the man. But what if he got on fire for Jesus?

What if Joe Biden, you know, what if Donald Trump got on fire for Jesus? We need to be praying for these people, for their hearts and minds to be saved in both parties. And, you know, that's something that really breaks my heart with a lot of Christians, Gary, in this movement now, the Let's Go Brandon movement, you know, that's across the country. You know, it's all funny and cute, but really when you think about it, and particularly Christians, I'm challenging you as Christians not to say that because you are speaking a curse over Joe Biden, really, when you do that.

It's a very vulgar, I mean, they're using clean words to say something that really means something very vulgar. How about if we spent the time saying Let's Go Brandon to just drop to our knees and pray for Joe Biden every time that thought comes to our mind that his heart and soul will be changed, that he will not support the brutal murder of unborn babies anymore, that he won't support the critical race theory and the transgender movements across the country, but that he'll come to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. You mentioned our Lieutenant Governor, I live in North Carolina, which Gary knows, and he's done a lot of work in our state. And I tell you that he's talking about a great man of God, Mark Keith Robinson, is probably the strongest elected official as far as what he says publicly for Jesus Christ. And I've been in this business and you have too, Gary, for many, many years, you know, for decades, I've been in the political arena and I've been around plenty of Christian men and women who served in public office, who ran for public office, but I have never seen anyone take as bold a stand for Jesus.

And what the Bible says is I have in Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson in North Carolina. And so, you know, not only do we need to pray for people that we don't support, but people like Lieutenant Governor Robinson and others who are Christians, that they will take a bold stand and say, you know, I don't care if I get reelected, I'm gonna say what God's word says, no matter who writes a bad article about me or whether or not I lose a vote. It makes me think of another man, Mark Walker, who is a former congressman in North Carolina, he's running for Senate, I think he may be switching races soon, when he was in Congress, he tells a story of how he got invited to the White House one day and God opened up the door with some question, I don't remember what the question was that President Trump asked, but it opened the door for Mark to share a clear gospel presentation with the President of the United States. So, you know, we need to be praying not only for the ones that we don't like, but we need to pray for the ones we do like too. They're in the corridors of power around the world, they're meeting with world leaders, you know, Mike Pompeo, another strong Christian, he was Secretary of State, boy, I love that man of God, I'd love to see Mike Pompeo be President of the United States one day.

He has a heart for Jesus and he was meeting with world leaders, you know, all over the world and we need to be praying for them, you know, you and I may not ever have the opportunity to sit in the presence of a king or a prime minister or president of a country, but these guys are and we need to pray that God will open the doors for them to present a clear gospel presentation at that time and that they will take that opportunity and follow up when they do. Well, Gary, you know, do you think we're gonna have a spiritual awakening and if we are, what role does prayer play and we've only got a couple of minutes in bringing about a spiritual awakening in the United States today? Well, I believe prayer plays a role in spiritual awakening in this way. When we finally realize that this is not something we can make happen, it's something that God brings to us and when we look at something that's impossible and we refuse to pray about it just because of our own fear and our own lack of faith, then we miss out on what I like to call the hymn possible and when we pray for spiritual awakening, we're taking our eyes off of the impossible and we're inviting him to do the hymn possible and that's what I believe the role of prayer is in spiritual awakening. Well, I sure pray that we will have a spiritual awakening and that's gonna start with our listeners getting on their knees before God and understanding if you're gonna have a biblical worldview, if you're gonna enter whatever it is, school, work, the public arena from a Christian perspective, not only do you need to be reading God's word every day, but you need to be in prayer.

You need to understand that satanic and demonic warfare is real, spiritual warfare is real and the only way to overcome this is by seeking Jesus Christ and getting our knees in prayer. Gary Miller, thank you so much for being on The Christian Perspective today. I'm praying for you and Dana as you travel the world and teach people to talk less and pray more. Thank you so much for being with us. God bless you. Folks, thank you for joining me today.

I'm Chris Hughes. This is The Christian Perspective. Please subscribe and like our podcast and please share it with your friends on social media. Now let's go change the culture for Jesus.

Thank you for listening. The Christian Perspective with Chris Hughes. Learn more about impacting the culture for Jesus. Visit christianperspective.us. This is the Truth Network.