We're asking God to do on earth what I want done. That's not prayer. Dr. Tony Evans says prayer ought to be less about what we're saying. more about what we're hearing.
Prayer is finding out what he's up to so that you can do that on earth. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Relationship experts tell us that we ought to do more listening than talking.
Well today, Dr. Evans explains why that idea is even more true of our prayer lives. Let's join him as he explains. Satan does not want you to know your spiritual authority because then you just might exercise it. He doesn't mind you coming to church.
He doesn't mind you. Reading your Bible or saying prayers or enjoying Christian music as long as you don't understand. that that's authority you're supposed to use. and not simply information you're supposed to capture. God has given mankind legal authority to execute his will in history.
Let them rule. We will create man in our own image, and they will act. on our behalf in the visible realm. as we act in the invisible realm. Therefore, God created us like him.
so that we could communicate with him. In order to exercise his will in history. This thing is so powerful and so potent. That the Bible talks about men being able to change God's mind when they prayed. God said, I'm going to do one thing.
They prayed. God reversed his decision.
So when we talk about this thing called prayer, this thing that is often boring, this thing that we often don't know what to say after three sentences, this thing that where we say the same thing every day the same way, It's not some minor thing. God says that this access actually reaches up and pulls down to earth. God's purposes. Or, as the Lord's Prayer says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. Let me pull it down.
He says, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The same thing being sent down is the same thing you're pulling down, and now you can see it. But God must have the go-between. Connecting the two realms. As one author put it, prayer, if I were to define it, is giving earthly permission for heavenly interference.
It is earth giving heaven. Permission to intervene because God will only work when He can work. Through somebody. And so that's why the Bible says you have not because you ask not. Or you ask, and I'm not connected with the request.
You ask amiss. Prayer releases God to do what God has intended to do. It is calling forth in history what God has determined from eternity. John John is uh Yeah. It's kind of like the favorite disciple, and it's probably the closest of the disciples.
Jesus is telling his disciples he's leaving. He wants them to know he's got to go about his father's business. He's getting ready to die, rise from the dead, and ascend into heaven.
So he leaves them some information, but in chapter 14. Philip is having a discussion with Jesus. And Jesus Tells them in verse seven, If you've known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you will know him and have seen him. Philip.
Then raises the question, Lord. Show us the Father, and it is enough for us. I know we've been hanging with you. We've been rolling with you for three years now. You're getting ready to leave.
Before you take off out of here, let us see the Father. Jesus then says to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.
Now watch this. Philip Is already saved. Philip is already on his way to heaven. Philip is already a Christian, to use our vernacular today. Yet Jesus says, Have I been with you this long that you still don't know me?
Point. It's possible to be a Christian and not know him. It's possible to be on your way to heaven and not recognize him on earth. Jesus has shown up around us many times, and we didn't recognize him. We didn't recognize his voice and he was talking.
We didn't recognize him sending somebody our way that that was from him, but we didn't connect him to it.
So we just thought it was somebody coming our way. Jesus has let us hear certain things, and we didn't. It is possible, like Philip, to be saved and not know him. He doesn't mean know him as Savior. He means know him intimately.
Not be close to him because Philip is already saved. Philip has been walking with him for a number of years. That leads Jesus into this discussion about intimacy. Jesus says in verse 10, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, the Father's in me? We're one.
The words that I say to you, I speak not on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me, there's our word, abiding in me, does his works. He says, What I tell you, I only tell you because God told me to tell you. Right. I don't talk to talk. I talk because he told me to tell you something.
And I do. what I do. because he is doing it through me.
Now let me tell you why this is big. Because Jesus Christ Never waste the time. In other words, he would spend hours with God so that he would only have to spend a few minutes with people. Yeah.
So that when he went to heal folk, he went to heal the people that God told him. That's who I'm hailing today.
So he went right to, you know what we do? We spend hours. Yes. With people. Because we've only spent a few minutes with God.
So we are hit and miss. In our decisions, hit and miss in our direction, because we don't know which one to do, because we haven't. heard what's happening up there.
So we're not sure what to do down here. He says, I only do what I see the Father doing, he said in chapter five. It is our intimate relationship. He's going to do greater things. Hi, Jesus, but you know, you're the Son of God.
You know, I'm just an ordinary human being.
Okay, ordinary humans. Happy. I have this intimate relationship with the Father that's produced the words I've said and the works I've done. And I'm getting ready to leave. But don't worry about it.
Because what I I have with him, you can have with him through me. Believe in me, and you will be able to do works yourself. And even greater works. How, Jesus? Verse 13.
Whatever you ask in my name, That I Bye. Will do so the father may be glorified in the son. What we do is we go to prayer. and tell God what we want him to do. Do this for me, do that for me, pay my bills, give me a new car, give me a new house, bless my family.
You know, we're general stuff, you know, save the world, you know, just stuff. Just just vague stuff. Stuff that has no specificity to it. And we certainly don't want to know what he's up to today. And so we're asking God.
To do on earth what I want done. That's not prayer. Yeah.
Pray is finding out what he's up to.
so that you can do that on earth. And what he's up to. Always comes to pass because he's up to it. He says If you believe. You will experience if my word abides in you and you abide in me.
He talks about. Two-fold abiding. Remember the Greek word mino means to hang out, loiter, or stay. Not a visit, it's a hanging out. He says, if you abide in me.
That is, we have an intimate relationship, and my word abides in you, then you can ask whatever you want. Because what you're asking for was my intention to give you anyway. Because we're on the same page. See, if you're asking God for something he doesn't want to give you. Or I doesn't want to give you right now that you're going to be frustrated and believe that God's not hearing your prayer.
It's not that God's not hearing your prayer, it's that you're not seeing what he's up to.
So you're not praying in light of his will. You're simply praying in light of your will.
Now, that doesn't mean you can't take your desires to God. The God says to bring your desires to him, but he wants you and him to be so close that you have the same desires.
So, what you're praying for is what he plans to give you anyway. And one of the ways you know you're getting close to God is more and more prayers are being answered. Yeah.
Because more and more prayers are being specific. You're not praying generally. and vaguely. Lord, bless all the people I know. What kind of prayer is that?
But that's how most people pray because they don't know what to ask for. But how can we go about hearing God to understand what He would like us to pray for? Dr. Evans will explain when he continues our message in just a moment. First, though, we've been learning today about the incredible authority God gives us through prayer.
And that's just one lesson from Tony's inspiring compilation on the power of prayer. This seven-part journey through the scriptures will help you understand how prayer can move mountains, transform your circumstances, and keep you anchored when life feels overwhelming. And we'd love to put this powerful resource in your hands. When you make a donation to help support the alternative, we'll send you the complete Power of Prayer series, along with Tony's brand new devotional, Anchored by Prayer. It's designed to help you learn how to pray boldly and consistently, even when life throws distractions and doubts your way.
This special resource package will only be available for a limited time, so don't wait. Visit us today at tonyevans.org or call our resource team at 1-800-800-3222. That's tonyevans.org. Or by phone at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. All right, now let's get back into our message with Dr.
Evans. Jesus would regularly say to his disciples this phrase. He said, watch this. Yeah.
Can you not tarry for one hour? That's convicting, isn't it? Can you not tarry for one hour? And the answer in this room would probably no. One, I don't know what to say.
I don't know what. No, no, no, no.
Okay, let's talk about that. Communication last time I checked. was a two-way street. If you're just talking and there's no interaction, then that'd be kind of hard to hang out for an hour like that. He says, if you abide in me.
And my word abides in you. Abiding, you hang out. Then you can ask. And then you will see what I can do.
Now, I know your question. I can hear your question now. I know what. I'm telling him. But how do I know what he's telling me?
So that becomes a question. Because if I can discover how I know what he's telling me.
Well now we can hang out for an hour. Because we got a two-way conversation. That is the misnomer of prayer. The misnomer of prayer is I am talking to God. Period.
That's half a prayer. God speaks to you. And to me. First of all, Through his word.
So, the first question about any issue in your life is: what does God say about it in the word? But you say, but the word may just give me something general. It may not give me something specific.
Well, first of all, The word is a lot more specific than you realize. Because he may be talking to Abraham. But he may be speaking to you. See it may be talking to Moses. You may be reading something about Moses.
But it's the job of the Holy Spirit to lift it off of the page and write it on your heart. He will bring, here it is, thoughts. To your mind.
So, the way God tells you what he's up to is by bringing thoughts to your mind. Yeah.
Validating it usually with something from the word. that may have nothing to do initially with what you were first thinking about, but he brings a thought to your mind that you know wasn't your thought. That was not your fault. But he brings it to your mind. He may allow a person to bring it to you.
He may allow circumstances popping up in your mind, but he brings it to your mind so that. His thought becomes your thought. And you say, I don't know about what to do with this problem. God, this is the problem. I want to find out if anybody in the Bible had a problem like this or what you say about problems like this.
And we'll tell you how to do that. But I want to find out.
So I begin to read and I begin to meditate, abiding. I begin to think on those passages. And all of a sudden, God, the Holy Spirit, begins to move and bing. A thought comes. That wasn't your fault.
Now here's the good news. Jesus says, when that happens, and you ask in my name, Because I'm your legal representative in heaven. I'm your attorney. I'm your lawyer. My job is to represent you if you're representing me.
So if you're representing me and ask in my name. because we got this relationship. I can authorize the transaction. I give you legal right to do business in heaven. You know, when you want to get to somebody and you don't know to somebody, You will call somebody who does.
And you'll say, Look, can you get me in touch with so-and-so? They won't return my call, but you're close to them, so they'll return yours. You may not see the father. You may not know what the father looks like, but you know somebody who does. Because he's in perfect, intimate relationship with the Father.
So if you come to the Father, that's what you mean by the end of the prayer. In Jesus' name we pray. You mean what you should mean is as authorized by him. He is my access point. He's my authorization.
to do business in the spiritual realm. He says, then you ask. But what are you asking for? You're asking for What came over your mind? But if you're abiding, what came over your mind, validated by something he gives you in the word, was his thought to your thinking.
Now, don't believe me. Don't believe me. Just get up an hour earlier. That's part of the problem right there. Yeah.
But suppose you knew that spending an extra hour. will save you days, months, weeks, and years. Suppose you knew that that extra time musing and hovering over the word of God and bringing your burdens, your problems, your needs, God, how do you want us to solve this financial problem in our family? God, how do you want us to solve this health problem in our family? Who do you want us to go to to deal with this situation?
How do you want us to approach this? How do you want us to do and allow God the Spirit to take the chaos like he did in Genesis 1 and bring order to it? Yeah.
The earth was without form and void, darkness was over the face of the deep. And then it says, And the Holy Spirit began to move, and all of a sudden, the land got separated from the water, the darkness turned to light, life began to burst out. Why? Because when the word of God connected with the spirit of God, order came out of chaos. He says this thing is based on our covenant relationship, chapter 16, verse 23.
In that day, you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly, I say unto you: if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. Verse 26: In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I will request of the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I have come forth from the Father. If you take me seriously, The Father takes you seriously. You skip me?
You skip the father. And then he closes in chapter 14. He repeats it in verse 14 of chapter 14. If you ask, This is real broad, isn't it? Anything.
That's connected to my name. In other words, I can sign off on it. I will do it. I will do it. And then he says this.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Look look watch this now. If you love me, You will keep my commandments. I said that too fast.
Here? You love me. You will keep my commandments. Let me tell you what it doesn't say. It doesn't say Keep my commandments so that you can love me.
First John says, Jesus says through the same writer. My commandments are not burdensome. In other words, they aren't that hard. They don't weigh you down. But a lot of us in here are weighed down by the Christian life.
I'm a Christian. I'm happy in Jesus. You know, it seems so burdensome. You know why it's burdensome? Because Jesus is saying you got it backwards.
You don't obey me.
So you can love me. You love me? And then you will obey me. Usually, a happy wife doesn't mind cooking for her husband. Usually a happy wife.
Doesn't matter. serving her husband when she has to do it because That's your job because you the wife. She may still do it. But you won't like the attitude. in which it is being done.
Why? Because she's doing a commandment without the love. And when she has to do the role. Cause she's supposed to do the wrong. When there is no abiding in the relationship, it might get done.
but the atmosphere in which it gets done won't be a happy one. If things are hot in the atmosphere. She liable to ask you, what else can I do for you today? Because there is a relational motivation. to the action that is taken.
Jesus says, if you abide in me, Let's develop this intimate relationship. And you can't abide if you're not hanging out. If we're never talking, if we're never communicating, if all I get is a three-sentence thing while you rush out to go to work, a 30-second prayer because you're supposed to say grace. If that's all I get from you, then don't be surprised when you pray that you don't get an answer because you don't even know what I'm thinking because you didn't have enough time to do what most women say to listen. You ain't have enough time to hear how I was feeling about it.
You didn't have enough time to interact with me. All you want to do is just come in and eat and leave. There's no abiding.
So I was not able to tell you what I was thinking.
So you didn't even know how to talk to me when you prayed. Because I've never had access to your mind, the unspoken word, before it comes out of your mouth.
So you see, prayer is a little deeper than.
Now I lay me down to sleep. Pray the Lord my soul will keep them. If I die before I wake. Pray the Lord my soul will take. Yeah.
Prayers, me talking to him, finding out what he thinks about the matter. and then distributing it. in my day. And then watching greater works. More authority.
You ruling your world. instead of your world ruling you. Jesus Christ has made himself available. If you want to now rule, your world through print. Dr.
Tony Evans with advice on turning prayer into a powerful, productive, two-way conversation with God.
Now, if you'd like to receive the full-length version of today's message, including material we didn't have time to present on the air, copies are available to you. Just visit tonyevans.org and search for the title Ruling Through Prayer. Better yet, you can get it as a part of Tony's current seven-message series called The Power of Prayer. As I mentioned earlier, it's available for a limited time, along with Tony's brand new devotional book, Anchored by Prayer. They're our gifts to you when you help keep this teaching ministry on the air with your generous support.
Learn how to pray with confidence and experience God's power like never before. Visit tonyevans.org to make your donation and request, or call us anytime at 1-800-800-3222. Again, that's tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222. God answers prayers, all prayers. But tomorrow Dr.
Evans will talk specifically about the ones God answers with a yes. as he talks about connecting our prayers with God's purposes. I hope you'll be with us.
