Tallk with God pt1 - #279

In this episode we continue our look at what it means to F.E.A.R. God. 

For many Christians, prayer has become little more than an emergency phone call. -- When we need a job, need healing, need wisdom, need finances, need direction THEN we pray. God absolutely wants us to bring every one of those needs to Him. In fact, He tells us to. But prayer was never intended to be only a spiritual 911 call. --- Prayer is about relationship!

Transcript

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast! A weekly Bible study designed to help you pursue lasting purity! spiritual integrity! and genuine freedom through Jesus Christ! - I'm Steve Etner and I'm so glad you've joined me today. We're continuing our study on what it really means to fear God. … Over the past several weeks we've been slowly walking through Proverbs chapter two verses one through five. And what we've discovered is that these verses reveal six intentional choices that lead us to understanding the fear of the Lord. In this week's episode we begin a look at choice number five. – So, let's invest a few minutes together discovering what God has to teach us about prayer.

Over the past several weeks, we've been slowly walking our way through Proverbs chapter two, verses one through five. - What we've discovered is that Solomon lays out six intentional choices that lead us to understanding the fear of the Lord. So far we've looked at four of those choices. - We've talked about receiving God's Word! treasuring God's Word! listening to God's Word! and meditating on God's Word! … Each one builds on the one before it. They're not random ideas—they're stepping stones leading us into a deeper relationship with God!!

Today we come to choice number five. After telling us to receive, treasure, listen, and meditate, - in verse three - Solomon says this … "Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding..." Did you catch that? - God wants you to talk to Him. Isn't that amazing when you stop and think about it? THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE—the One who spoke galaxies into existence, the One who knows every star by name, the One who holds your next breath in His hands—invites you to come and talk with Him. Not because He needs information. He already knows everything. Not because He needs your advice. He never has. And certainly not because He has forgotten what you're going through. He invites you to pray because He loves you. He delights in having fellowship with you. He desires a relationship with you. Prayer isn't simply another spiritual discipline to check off your list. It's one of God's greatest invitations.

I wonder...how do you think about prayer? For many Christians, prayer has become little more than an emergency phone call. -- When life falls apart, we pray. - When temptation gets overwhelming, we pray. - When someone gets sick, we pray. - When we need a job, need healing, need wisdom, need finances, need direction—THEN we pray. …Now, don't misunderstand me. - God absolutely wants us to bring every one of those needs to Him. In fact, He tells us to. But prayer was never intended to be only a spiritual 911 call. --- Prayer is about relationship. …Think about your closest friend. - Imagine only calling that person when you needed something. Never just to talk, Never just to spend time together, Never simply because you enjoyed being with them. Eventually that friendship would become pretty one-sided, wouldn't it? …Yet that's often exactly how we treat God. We “rush” into His presence, unload our list of requests, say "Amen," and rush right back out again. - But God wants so much more than that. He wants you! He wants your heart! He wants your affection! He wants your dependence! HE WANTS YOUR WORSHIP!

One of my favorite things about Proverbs two is that Solomon doesn't simply tell us to seek wisdom. He tells us how. He says we're to "call out for insight" and "raise our voice for understanding." -- In other words, we're to ask! We are to seek! We are to cry out and admit that we don't have all the answers. … You know, I think that's one of the clearest evidences that King Me has stepped off the throne of our hearts. King Me doesn't ask for help. King Me says, "I've got this." King Me says, "I'll figure it out." King Me says, "I know what's best." But a heart that fears God says something entirely different. It says, "Father...I NEED YOU." That is when every genuine prayer is an act of surrender. Every genuine prayer is an admission of dependence. Every genuine prayer is another reminder that God is God...and I am not!!

I love what David prayed in Psalm twenty five, verses four and five. …He cried out, "Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me..." David wasn't pretending to have life all figured out. - He wasn't saying, "Lord, watch what I'm about to do!" Instead, he was saying, "Lord, I don't know the way. You do. PLEASE TEACH ME!" -- What a wonderful place to live. …You see, prayer isn't primarily about getting answers. Prayer is about getting God. -- Yes, God answers prayer. Praise the Lord for that! But the greatest gift of prayer isn't that God changes our circumstances, …the greatest gift of prayer is that we spend time with the One who never changes. - Sometimes the answer to your prayer is "yes!" Sometimes it's "no." And sometimes it's "wait." …But every single time you pray, you have the privilege of drawing near to your Heavenly Father.

Hebrews four sixteen tells us that because Jesus Christ is our great High Priest, we can "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need". - Think about that for a minute. …Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, you and I have direct access to Almighty God! The curtain has been torn in two, The barrier has been removed, and the invitation has been extended. You don't need to wonder whether God is willing to hear you. Through Christ, the door is already open. -- So Solomon says, "CALL OUT!" Raise your voice. Ask your Father for wisdom. Ask Him for understanding. Ask Him to help you understand His Word. Ask Him to help you fear Him more deeply. Ask Him to help you love Him more completely. Ask Him to teach you His ways. And then...invest time listening. Because prayer is never meant to be a one-sided conversation.

Over time, something wonderful begins to happen in your prayer life. Prayer starts changing the way you see everything around you. - Instead of carrying every burden by yourself, you instinctively take it to God first.  - Instead of immediately trying to figure everything out on your own, you begin looking for His wisdom before your own. - Little by little, trusting Him becomes more natural than trusting yourself. …And isn't that what we really want? --- One of the beautiful blessings of talking regularly with your Heavenly Father, is that your roots begin growing deeper. - Your faith becomes stronger. - Your confidence in God increases. - His presence becomes more real—not because He was ever absent, but because you're becoming more aware of Him throughout your day.

Eventually, prayer stops feeling like something you're SUPPOSED to do and starts becoming something you genuinely WANT to do. You don't just have a prayer time anymore. You have a prayer lifestyle. Instead of talking to God for a few minutes and then going about your day without Him, you begin talking with Him all day long. You thank Him. You ask Him for wisdom. You confess your failures. You seek His direction. You praise Him. You simply enjoy being with Him. Prayer becomes less of an appointment...and more of a relationship.

Now let me ask you a question. …Have you ever stopped to think about how GOD views your prayer life? -- I'm not asking how often you pray. I'm not asking whether you use the right words. I'm not asking whether your prayers sound polished or impressive. God isn't grading your prayers like an English teacher grading an essay. He's not impressed with elegant vocabulary. He's not looking for perfect grammar. He's not waiting for you to discover some secret formula that finally gets His attention. He's looking at something much deeper. …He's looking at your heart. That's always been God's focus. - 

When you come to Him in prayer, are you coming honestly? Are you coming humbly? Are you coming because you know you desperately need Him? …Or are you simply going through another religious routine? - You see, prayer always reveals something about the person who's praying. It reveals where your confidence really is. It reveals what you love. It reveals what you're trusting. It reveals who's actually sitting on the throne of your heart.

That's why I've said for years that one of the clearest evidences that King Me has stepped off the throne, is a genuine prayer life. Every sincere prayer says, "Father...I need YOU." - King Me hates saying those words. King Me wants independence. King Me wants control. King Me wants life on his own terms. - But a heart that fears God gladly says, "Lord, I don't have this figured out. Please teach me." -- Now don't misunderstand me. God absolutely invites us to bring our needs before Him. He tells us to. He wants us to bring Him our fears, our struggles, our disappointments, our questions, our temptations, our hopes, and our dreams. Nothing is too small. Nothing is too insignificant. Nothing catches Him by surprise. - But here's the question. WHAT'S DRIVING THOSE REQUESTS? …Are we coming to God because we genuinely want Him...or simply because we want something from Him? There's a big difference. …It's one thing to approach God hoping He'll help accomplish my plans. It's something altogether different to come before Him and say, "Father, shape my plans until they become Yours."

That's what prayer is designed to do. Prayer isn't simply about asking God to fix our problems. It's about allowing God to reshape our hearts. -- When we come before Him with humility and surrender, our prayers begin changing. …Our requests become less like demands and more like declarations of trust. …Instead of saying, "Lord, this is what I expect You to do..." we begin saying, "Father, this is what's on my heart. But more than anything else, I trust You. You know what's best, even when I don't." - That's a completely different way of praying.

And something beautiful happens. - Our focus slowly shifts from wanting results...to wanting relationship. From wanting answers...to wanting God. That's exactly what James addresses in chapter four, verse three. … Listen to what he says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." -- Now I'll be honest...that's one of those verses that makes me a little uncomfortable, because James isn't questioning whether we're praying or not. He's questioning WHY we're praying. …He's asking us to examine our motives. Are we praying primarily for comfort? For convenience? For success? For recognition? - Or are we praying because we genuinely want God to be glorified in our lives? THAT'S an important question.

And here's the encouraging part. James isn't trying to discourage us from praying. He's inviting us to let prayer become the place where God reshapes our desires. … Have you ever noticed that? - Sometimes we begin praying for one thing...and after investing time with God, we discover we actually need something completely different. Our circumstances may not have changed...but we have. - That's one of the greatest miracles of prayer. Sometimes nothing around us changes. The temptation is still there. The diagnosis hasn't changed. The difficult relationship still exists. The financial pressure remains. But somehow...after investing time with our Heavenly Father...we walk away different. - There's more peace. More confidence. More hope. More trust. …Why? Because prayer isn't primarily about changing our circumstances … IT'S ABOUT ALLOWING GOD TO CHANGE US.

Now that raises a really important question. If prayer is all about relationship...If prayer is about surrender...If prayer is about bringing our hearts into alignment with God's will...How can we know that God is actually listening? - John answers that question beautifully in First John chapter five, verse fourteen when he says, - "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."

I absolutely love that verse!! Notice what John doesn't say. He doesn't say, "This is the hope we have." …He doesn't say, "Maybe God will hear us." He says, "THIS IS THE CONFIDENCE WE HAVE!" God invites us to come to Him with confidence. - Think about that. You don't have to wonder if you're interrupting Him. You don't have to worry about whether your prayers are polished enough. You don't have to find just the right words before He'll listen. You don't have to clean yourself up before you come into His presence. You simply come. …You come honestly. You come humbly. You come as His child. Why? Because He hears you.

I don't know about you, but I find that incredibly comforting. There are days when I don't even know what to pray! There are times when my prayers are little more than, "Lord...I need You." Sometimes they're just tears. Sometimes they're silence. Sometimes they're questions. Sometimes they're cries for help. …But our Heavenly Father hears EVERY one of them! Nothing you're carrying today is too small for Him. Nothing is too complicated. Nothing catches Him off guard. He invites you to bring everything to Him. Your fears. Your failures. Your temptations. Your disappointments. Your unanswered questions. Your hopes. Your dreams. -- Everything.

But John also gives us an important qualifier. He says we can have this confidence WHEN WE ASK ACCORDING TO GOD'S WILL. Now, at first glance, that might sound restrictive. Almost like God is saying, "I'll only listen if you ask for the right things." But that's not what John is teaching. - He's pointing us toward something much better. He's reminding us that prayer isn't about convincing God to bless my plans, - It's about allowing God to shape my heart until I begin wanting His plans. There's a huge difference!

Instead of praying, "Lord, here's what I want. Please make it happen..." our prayers slowly become, "Father, here's what's on my heart...but more than anything else, I want Your will. Help me want what You want." Do you see the difference? - One prayer is trying to get God to follow me. The other is asking God to help me follow Him. … That's the heart of biblical prayer. And here's the wonderful thing…When our hearts begin aligning with God's will, prayer becomes incredibly freeing. We no longer feel the pressure of having to control every outcome. We no longer assume that every unanswered prayer means God isn't listening. Instead, we can ask boldly - trust completely...and rest confidently - knowing that our Heavenly Father always hears us and always responds in the way that is ultimately best.

That doesn't mean He always gives us what we ask for. But every answer flows from the heart of a Father who loves His children perfectly. - And that's why prayer is never wasted. Every prayer draws us closer to the heart of God. Every prayer deepens our trust. Every prayer reminds us that we were never meant to carry life by ourselves. -- Prayer changes us, because God meets us there!

And that's exactly where we're going to pick up next week. Because if we're going to understand what it means to fear the Lord, it's not enough just to talk to God. We also need to learn what to ask for when we come into His presence. …And that's where Solomon is about to take us next in Proverbs chapter two. So I hope you'll join me next week as we continue looking at Choice Number Five: Talk to the God of the Word.

As we wrap up today's episode, I'd like to remind you of a resource that I think could really encourage you if you're serious about growing in your walk with Christ. - It's my book, Living Free -- Victory through Surrender, available now on Amazon. - - - You see, real freedom isn't found in simply knowing what God says, - Real freedom comes from listening to Him... trusting Him... and surrendering to His leadership in the everyday moments of life. -- It's one thing to read God's Word. It's another thing entirely to let His truth reshape your desires, redirect your choices, and transform the way you live. That's exactly what this book is all about.

Together we'll walk through the ongoing battle of the heart. We'll look at worship, temptation, surrender, and what it really means to follow Jesus from the inside out. - You'll discover why so many of us stay stuck in the same struggles, and more importantly, how God invites us to experience genuine, lasting freedom. …Perhaps the most important lesson you'll discover is this -- lasting victory over sin doesn't come from trying harder. It comes from surrendering more completely to the One who knows you best and loves you most.

So, if today's study has challenged you to move beyond simply hearing God's Word and toward truly listening to it, meditating on it, and living it out as you daily talk with God, … I think LIVING FREE -- VICTORY THROUGH SURRENDER will be a valuable companion on that journey. I'd encourage you to head over to Amazon today, search for Living Free - Victory through Surrender, or simply search my name, Steve Etner, and pick up your copy.

Before we go, could I ask you a personal favor? … If this series on the fear of God has encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you grow in your relationship with Christ, I'd really love to hear from you. -- What has God been teaching you? How has He been using these episodes in your life? - Would you take just a minute and send me an email? You can reach me at steve at the purity coach .com.  Again, that's steve…at…the…purity…coach… .com. - It would be a genuine privilege to hear your story. I'd also count it an honor to pray for you.

And if you haven't already subscribed to the Point of Purity Podcast, I'd encourage you to do that today. That way you won't miss next week's episode as we continue our study of what it really means to fear God.  - Next week we'll finish looking at Choice Number Five -- Talk to the God of the Word, and I think it's going to be one of the most practical episodes in this entire series. -- Until then, this is Steve Etner reminding you that if you're going to glorify God in your everyday living... He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking!