Pray To Love, and Love To Pray

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Podcast network. This is good Truth Network encouraging prayer, God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything on encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight help you learn to love and now James my life were we going to, especially with Valentine's Day so work on today's episode, pray to love and love to pray. So once you letter focusing on what that's all about. Okay well all about love will spend a lot of money at this time of year point gift cards and flowers and thinking about all that makes me ask how often do I really tell God not just I'm singing the praise song you know and I'm caught up in the moment, but another times as well just going through the day. How often do I tell God I love it makes me think of Psalm 18 right. It starts out with. I love you Lord, my strength, yeah, yeah, that's one of my favorite you know just just telling God we love them.

Obviously it's got to be with more than just words. Jesus said if you love me you will you'll do what I command. But tellingly loving matters, and so we gotta follow him and that's one of the ways we do it, but let's say that were sincerely trying to follow him will once it looked like that you know it's not just a matter of do this don't do that. It's a matter of the heart, so where we really want to go today is what you do from the heart to tell God that you love them so sad a question for listeners or for me is really for all of us. For me, one of the ways that I do this by writing I love to write.

I feel God's love in my spirit when I do things. You know he made me to do and I think that you know what I'm writing on focusing I started writing grade when my teachers so I love playing with words in the sheet you know got me into it, but you could be using any gift given you so just about today's title because I think there's something important in the first part says pray to love and I think it really matters, because if you're not feeling just struggling loving God, I mean, can we tell them that yeah you again this is one of those things where if it were honest with him about it he will meet us in that place and it does it. It brings us to the second part love to pray more. We feel his love in our hearts that the more will want to pray, but think about what Jesus said to the woman at the well.

He said you know the time is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth.

And I think part of worshiping improvement is giving God all of it, saying like you were saying. I'm not feeling it, and because all love comes from God. Then he meets us in that place pours loving to us and you know this is what his word tells us that we love because he first loved us so and helps me to do is just rest and that love, you know, in a simple childlike way.

Just tell him I love him and then try to keep doing that several times a day.

I like writing it on my calendar. I love you. Jesus is a reminder going back there.

This is about being sentimental, but it should include all of that shouldn't mean the symptoms. I think especially you know my folk tend to be the frozen chosen, with the Holy Spirit works in our life is working all of us, our minds, our emotions and just going to and from the heart.

It helps me to stay close to him helps me to do the right thing as well because I'm reminded them that if I love him.

I will write it just helps in so many ways so many times thrives like temptation. I find it's not necessarily just don't do that keeps me from sending its thinking that while Jesus is right here and I don't want to hurt him or hurt his heart because I love him yeah yeah so helpful because it when we go there in the moment when were tempted you know and and really the temptation is strong and that happened to me just this past week and you know you want to give in and Lord I love you and this is really difficult right now. Help me, help me not to go down this road calling on him in the middle of the mess, whatever it may be expressing love for him makes all the difference.

It helps you just stand strong and it may be just a moment or two in the net.

Temptation passes and you look back and it's like wow how could even go there, you know, again, this is where telling God we love him matters because our lives are made up are meant to be caught up in this love forever is you know I we expect our relationships with our kids our wives to you know happened in two or three minutes that they ought to know. We love him.

I mainly just told but man I mean real relationships take a lot of of you know, just connecting and and and and staying there because interestingly as I spend time doing just what you just being mindful of how much I love God.

It actually meant is like that helps me make me feel like I love God more right yeah no that's exactly right. Because again I think his spirit is good to meet us right in that place and and this is why we need to do this and all of eternity is going to be spent in adoration of Jesus and then of course will see in this is he is and will be so caught up in that wonder that that's no problem spending all of eternity. I think now he sees turning our hearts and our minds in that direction. As we come to him and will just bless us as we do so Robbie could you wrap this up today with a prayer that that we would just go there more and more Jesus in this season, Valentines, and the thought of a section Lord help us to be mindful to come to that place from we can spend time in our affection for you to think of that growing our relationship as that's the connection. Lord help us when we struggle to hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website. James bank.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina.

May God bless you and encourage you to pray. This is the Truth Network