prayer is confusing for a lot of people it's challenging for a lot of people i'm going to
give you my personal just very practical steps on prayer just very practical nothing too confusing
and i believe it will help some of your prayer life number one make your prayer priority do it
the first thing in the morning now i understand we have a late night night hours after nine pm that's
when you truly become alert but it's best to do it in the morning the bible says to the priests
bring the wood on the altar in the morning the first thing in the morning the second thing
i would like to mention is that when you come into your prayer close the door of distraction
the bible says when you walk into your secret room it says close the door behind you in second kings
chapter four verse four elijah tells a woman who had a problem he says go into your house you have
a little bit of oil but before the oil starts flowing that's the holy spirit starts flowing
he says make sure you close the door what is the door it's called your phone's notifications
instagram notifications youtube notifications that show up on your phone the door is your
phone the best thing you can do for your prayer life is to leave your phone in the other room
because if you're constantly distracted you won't have intimacy
you have to understand why does god want you to close the door because those of you who are
married you know the intimacy happens behind closed doors god wants to have an intimacy
with you but he cannot have an intimacy with you if your door is wide open all the time
you're praying and texting you're you're spending time with god and you're checking
the comments you're like i'm just praying through the instagram instagram does not need your prayer
come on somebody close the door of distraction number three it's just
a simple practical step step of prayer remember god loves your presence more than you love his
please desperation is not needed he is more passionate and desperate for you than you will
ever be for him in psalm 149 it says that the lord finds pleasure in his people the bible doesn't say
he tolerates his people the bible doesn't say he just barely gets through scripture says pleasure
in zephaniah it says the lord rejoices over you with singing meaning the lord
loves you john 3 16 says god so pitied the world i'm sorry god so tolerated the world
no that's not what it says meaning the motivation for god to send his son it wasn't toleration
it was love this changed my prayer life i would come to prayer and get dry sometimes
there was this particular time as those of you who read single ready to mingle book i mentioned that
in the first chapter i would go to prayer and then i would not feel anything so one time in
fact i got cranky i left prayer i was mad i had a very bad attitude toward my wife and i went
back next morning you know i drive to church to pray just kind of spend time with god and and
i i told i had an honest conversation i said god can i just can we shoot straight today no father
god who's in heaven i'm just gonna go straight to the point um this is not helping me and i
don't think this is helping you i'm like i don't think you get a kick out of me getting sleepless
and then i'm very cranky i was like it would be good for you and for me if i just sleep in
and honestly if we miss each other for about a few weeks and i felt this gentle voice of
the holy spirit say vlad see you come here for my presence i asked you to come here for yours
i have my presence i love your presence he said in fact it's i love your presence so much
i was not willing to have eternity without it
you say that you have proof that you might love my presence whether you fasted for a few days
that's not a sacrifice he says real sacrifice look at my son's heads look at his feet he says i
enjoy your presence i love your company i said so god it's okay if i just come not
because i want to experience your presence so that you can experience mine he says that's the
whole reason of prayer guess what i did i just sat there and i said lord here i am enjoy me
love on me first 20 minutes absolutely felt nothing but i said god you said that you love
me you got me right here since you love me so much you have me all to yourself nobody else is gonna
talk to me nobody else is gonna do anything within about 15-20 minutes like a flood of
tears started to roll my eyes it's the tangible presence and the pleasure that god has with me
don't go to prayer because you need to for your sake go to prayer because god misses you so much
and you will deprive him of pleasure if you don't let him have you he has a desire for you
so that's my third secret of prayer the fourth secret of prayer don't go to prayer to find god
go to prayer to be with him god says to moses come up to the mountain and be there seven days
moe goes up to the mountain and for seven days no wi-fi no internet no computer no phone to
take pictures to tell everybody how i was waiting for god no assistant nobody and the bible does
not say that moses prayed he was just there i don't know what he was doing maybe just laying
he was just there for seven days people are downstairs they need direction the ministry
phone calls emails decisions conferences meetings and moses for seven days is just there
have you ever came to prayer and was just there see but the flesh freaks out two minutes of that
what do you mean you're not doing anything just write this down
so the bible says in quietness and in rest you'll find your strength
just be there the bible says go into your secret place and your father who is in secret that means
the father is already in secret when you're going there he's not lost somewhere you're going there
to be with him not to search him now the bible does say to seek the lord the scripture does tell
us to pursue him to yearn after him but it does not mean that god is somewhere on a different
continent and you're trying to book the right flight trying to say the right prayers so you
can finally get him when it says to seek the lord it's kind of like this when i have my wife and i
pursue my wife it does not mean that she's running away from me so when the husband says i am in the
pursuit of my wife it does not mean she committed a crime and you're trying to pull her over
are you with me it simply means that i am close to her physically i'm trying to be close to her
emotionally and i intentionally think of her that is the pursuit and seeking so when the
bible says to see god it does not mean you showed up to the prayer room and he's not
there it means he is there but you're emotionally want to get closer to him
with your affections you want to come near him are you understanding what i'm saying
another little little nugget of prayer and i believe this is going to liberate some people
when you miss a day don't feel guilty feel hungry train your mind not to feel guilty for missing a
day or two why because god wants relationship not a religion and that means after a few days
if you didn't spend time in prayer you shouldn't come back to prayer and say god i'm sorry
that's religion you should come back and say god i miss you that's relationship
if i went to travel somewhat the beginning of this week for three days i went to seattle
to i was at the conference and i didn't see my wife i didn't fly in and say babe i'm so sorry
i just feel so bad no we embraced each other and i say i miss you so much this will change
your dynamic and your appetite for prayer it will be some gruesome tiring discipline
harsh cross to carry god truly delights in you he finds it offensive
that you find that time with him as some kind of a beating to your flesh
as some kind of a gruesome discipline some kind of exercise running a marathon it offends him
because he truly loves you and the last little secret of prayer if you commit a sin
it's another reason why you should not miss your prayer never use sin as an excuse
to stop your time with the lord first of all god saw what you did in hd
full 4k all the pixels he saw everything
slo-mo so if you think that he didn't see it he did
and he has a he has a record to show it to you later if you want to see
secondly i want to let you know if you commit sin god does not cancel his appointment with you
that day in fact when adam committed sin the whole heaven watched and hush
oh you did it ah you did it how could you god would come in the cool of the day this
would be a good moment to say um angels let's cancel that appointment i'm not showing up why
you saw what he did you know what god showed up to that time in fact he was shocked that adam didn't
what was god's question how could you no god knew what he did he says why didn't you show up
i feel i feel guilty god let's talk about it isaiah 1 it says let's reason together and
if your sins are this bad he says you don't think i can cleanse you
what do you think you can use a dirty rag to clean a dirty window you don't think i know
that do you think i did not let a prostitute woman who touched men in all the wrong and
appropriate places touched my feet i didn't slap her hands and say get your hands off of me i let
unclean things touch me because that is the only way they will be clean why didn't you show up
god but i i look to pornography i cannot look at your face and god says where are you i showed up
i knew what you did but i showed up talk about it tell me what happened
where are you adam not why did you do it how could you do it again what did i not give you
that you committed that sin again where are you the most liberating thing you can experience
is if you will outrun the devil to god when you commit sin don't hide from god hide in him
many of you you struggle with your prayer life because you keep committing some particular sins
and you feel like it disqualifies you somehow god will cancel the appointment you will show
up there looking weird i'm going to tell you one thing not showing up makes you weird show up
show up explain everything tell god everything be like prodigal son tell him the whole sob story and
i'm gonna tell you one thing you won't finish it before the father will embrace you for the
spirit will cleanse you before the blood will purify you and before god will restore you and
give you a brand new desire and a brand new passion for holiness a brand new desire to
walk in godliness and to walk in the glory of god if you want to keep the fire burning
you got to put the word of prayer and some of you you've been disappointed because of your humanity
and so you stop developing a life of prayer i encourage you today if you can get one thing
out of this message today if there is one thing that i could leave it's not that you love me or
my messages that you will fall in love with jesus a little bit more my desire is to be a salt of the
world that makes people thirsty for god not the sugar of the world that makes people hungry for me
that you love jesus i'm not saying to love prayer i don't want you to love prayer i want you to know
the spirit of god loves you and he wants you to show up because
you deprive him of pleasure give him the pleasure of your presence
give him the joy of your company give him you he's not wanting anything else just you he loved the
world not the saints not the christians the messed up sinful world do you think he doesn't love you
you're not the world you're the bride you're the children you're the adopted you're the sanctified
you're the justified you're the redeemed he is your name in his head he loves you