Participants: Eric Garloff
Series Code: WWJ
Program Code: WWJ000011
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00:01 God's blessings come to us in many ways,
00:03 but to be truly blessed of God, one must be found 00:06 walking with Jesus, so please stay tuned to our next exciting 00:10 edition of Walking With Jesus. 00:28 Greetings, I'm Eric Garloff, your host for 00:30 Walking With Jesus. 00:31 In our last three episodes we talked about maturing in Jesus, 00:35 working for the happiness of others, 00:38 and gaining a knowledge of God. 00:39 In this episode we'll be talking about opening your heart to God 00:44 through the privilege of prayer. 00:45 Here's something to think about: We can go about our day thinking 00:50 about God, meditating upon His love and mercy for us, 00:55 contemplating His blessings upon our lives, and seeing His 00:59 hand in nature. 01:00 Yet through all of this we are not experiencing communion 01:04 with Him in the fullest sense of its meaning. 01:06 In order for us to really experience communion with God, 01:09 we must have something to say to Him concerning our 01:12 actual life. 01:13 The book, Steps to Christ, page 64, puts it this way: 01:17 Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. 01:21 Not that it's necessary in order to make known to God what we 01:26 are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. 01:29 Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him. 01:35 When Jesus was upon the earth He taught His disciples 01:38 how to pray. 01:39 He directed them to present their daily needs before God, 01:43 and to cast all of their care upon Him, and the assurance 01:46 He gave them that their petitions should be heard 01:50 is assurance also to us. 01:52 Jesus himself, while he dwelt among men, was often in prayer. 01:57 If Jesus, who is the sinless Son of God, had the need to commune 02:02 with God the Father in prayer, how much more should we 02:05 who are sinful human beings commune with God in prayer? 02:09 We need to commune with God through prayer in order to 02:12 sustain our spiritual lives just as assuredly as we need 02:15 to breathe air to sustain our physical lives. 02:17 Yet we often find ourselves void of this kind of 02:20 communion with God. 02:21 The Bible's counsel for us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 is to: 02:32 And Matthew 26:41 says, Watch and pray that you 02:36 enter not into temptation. 02:37 In fact the Bible has much to say about prayer. 02:40 It also tells us how to approach God in prayer, and what we 02:44 should do in order for God to hear and answer our prayers. 02:47 Now that might be surprising to some of you, but God does 02:51 give us guidelines on prayer. 02:53 Please allow me to share another quote with you, which enlightens 02:57 us on our need of prayer and tells us about the conditions 03:01 for answered prayer. 03:02 It's found in Steps to Christ, page 65-66 which says: 03:39 There are certain conditions upon which we may expect 03:43 God will hear and answer our prayers. 04:13 So you see, my friend, the answers we receive to our 04:16 prayers are in proportion to the need that we feel of God 04:19 in our lives. 04:20 I truly believe the more we learn about God, 04:24 the more we will feel a need to have God in our lives, 04:27 and the more we will be praying to God for forgiveness, 04:30 for victory, for guidance, and for power to live a godly life. 04:34 All too often we turn to God in time of need, 04:37 but we don't hardly give Him a second thought during the 04:39 rest of the day. 04:40 I've often compared our need of God with the steering wheel 04:44 in our car. 04:45 We need to be in communion with God all the time, 04:48 just as we should have our hands on the steering wheel 04:51 at all times while driving, using it to control and guide 04:54 our vehicle in the direction that it should go. 04:57 But many Christians, instead of communicating with God 05:00 on a regular basis throughout the day, only seem to talk 05:03 with Him after something bad has happened, 05:05 as if He were the spare tire in the trunk of the car. 05:09 only there to help out in the bad times, instead of the 05:12 steering wheel guiding them through life, and helping us 05:16 every moment of the day. 05:19 When we pray we should, through faith, expect that God will hear 05:22 and answer our prayer. 05:23 Hebrews 11:6 says: 05:31 And Jesus said to His disciple in Mark 11:24 the following: 05:42 Let me ask you, do you take Him at His word? 05:45 God is faithful, and He will answer your prayer, my friend. 05:49 But when God answers prayer He does not answer it with 05:52 human wisdom, but rather he answers it with divine wisdom. 05:56 What I mean by that is simply this: God sees the end from 06:00 the beginning, and He has our best interest on His heart. 06:04 You can count on that. 06:05 When God answers prayer He basically has three choices, 06:09 and each one is an answer to prayer. 06:12 Choice number one is to say, Yes. 06:15 Choice number two is to say, No. 06:17 The choice number three is to say, The time is not right yet; 06:21 Wait awhile and I'll answer you when it's best for you. 06:25 When we come to God in prayer, however, we need to come to Him 06:29 without regarding iniquity in our hearts. 06:31 If we cherish sin and cling to it, how can we expect God 06:34 to hear and answer our prayer? 06:36 But when we come to Him and confess our sins, 06:38 and make all known wrongs right with Him, then we can be assured 06:43 that God will hear our prayer, and work on behalf to give us 06:47 the answer of most value to our spiritual lives. 06:51 But when we have confessed all known sin in our lives, 06:54 and if our prayers still don't seem to be answered, 06:57 we are to grab hold of His promises and be patient. 07:01 He will answer in the manner and time which is best for us 07:05 because He loves us with an everlasting love. 07:08 Adding to this, Steps to Christ, page 68 says: 08:06 Yes, we need public prayer, corporate prayer, and private, 08:11 or secret prayer. 08:12 If you want to see God moving in your life, you'll incorporate 08:15 all of these forms of prayer into every day. 08:21 I'd like to encourage you to follow everything that you're 08:25 learning here. 08:26 If you do it will make a huge difference in the quality 08:29 of your spiritual life. 08:30 I'd like to encourage you to attend the mid-week prayer 08:34 meeting at your local church. 08:36 And if there isn't one going on at your church, then I challenge 08:39 you to get one started. 08:41 If for some reason, you can't hold it within the church 08:45 itself, then find a home in which you can meet and begin 08:49 praying with as many people as you can find to join you. 08:52 I'd also like to suggest that you use the Bible, and the book 08:58 Steps to Christ, as your devotional readings during your 09:01 prayer meeting. 09:02 Together these will draw your thoughts heavenward, 09:05 and will prepare your heart and mind to receive 09:08 the blessings of the Holy Spirit as you commune 09:11 with God in prayer. 09:12 When you study the Bible, and come to God in prayer, 09:16 try to do it in a place that is quiet and free 09:20 from distractions. 09:21 Sitting in your own living room with the TV on, 09:24 or the radio playing, is not a good place to be, for they will 09:28 surely draw your mind away from God, and make it nearly 09:32 impossible to receive the blessing that God 09:34 would want you to have. 09:36 In today's day and age it would also be good to turn off your 09:40 cell phone during your prayer and study time, 09:42 for distractions will come if you leave the doors 09:46 open for them. 09:47 And this is exactly what the enemy of our souls 09:50 will try to do. 09:51 He will do everything that he can to distract you and draw 09:55 your mind away from God. 09:57 Now I'm talking about your private time of study 10:01 and prayer here, not your communion with God on a 10:05 moment by moment basis throughout the day, 10:07 for there is no time or place that you can not offer up 10:11 a prayer or commune with God. 10:13 He is waiting to hear from you twenty-four hours a day, 10:16 seven days a week, and He delights in listening 10:19 to the longing of our hearts. 10:23 Reading once more from the book, Steps to Christ, page 69, 70 10:26 we find this: 10:59 Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small 11:02 for Him to notice. 11:04 There is no chapter in our experience too dark 11:06 for Him to read. 11:07 There is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. 11:45 When our hearts are in communion with God throughout the day, 11:49 we will be filled to over flowing with His spirit, 11:52 and this will manifest itself in our conversations, 11:54 and our interactions with those that we meet and greet 11:57 as the day progresses. 11:58 All too often, however, we find ourselves talking to our friends 12:03 about the weather, about the TV show we saw last night, 12:06 about the new car we just bought, or some other 12:09 non-spiritual issue. 12:10 Now don't get me wrong, we can use these types of conversations 12:15 for God's purpose, but that will only happen if we're looking 12:19 for ways of sharing Jesus with others. 12:21 After all, the main object in mingling with others is to share 12:25 Jesus with them. 12:26 Let me give you a quick example. 12:29 I know a pastor who has an antique car. 12:32 He takes his car to car shows on Sundays. 12:35 This gives him an opportunity to meet new people, 12:37 and in doing so he shares his faith with fellow 12:41 car enthusiasts. 12:42 He could easily talk about his car without mentioning Jesus, 12:45 but it's his goal, and his desire to draw others to God. 12:49 And this is what I'd like to leave with you today: 12:52 As you find yourself in prayer with God on a daily basis, 12:55 and throughout the day, ask Him to bring people into your life 12:59 giving you an opportunity to share Jesus with them, 13:02 and He will do it. 13:04 This will prove to be a great blessing to you, 13:07 and as you do this your walk with Jesus will grow, 13:11 and you will mature in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. 13:14 May God's rich blessings be upon you and your loved ones. 13:21 Your faith grows when up walk with Jesus. 13:25 His love, mercy, and compassion guides us through life. 13:29 If you ever had doubts about the Bible, or God's great love 13:34 for you, then watch our next program, 13:37 Putting Your Doubts Away. |
Revised 2014-12-17