we'll be giving away free books this
week so make sure to watch to the end
for details
I don't know anyone who doesn't want to
improve their prayer life any Christian
wants to improve their prayer life their
sense of intimacy with God the frequency
of answers to prayer and so forth and
yet in about 24 years of pastoral
ministry as well as many other ministry
experiences through the years it's been
my observation that virtually everyone
struggles in their prayer life in this
way in particular we want to pray if
we're in the world by the Holy Spirit
and yet while that is pressing against
one side of our soul so to speak
colliding with that is our experience
and our experiences but when I pray it's
boring
I want to pray I believe in prayer I try
to pray but when I pray it's boring and
when prayer is boring you don't feel
like praying if you don't feel like
praying you don't pray with any fervency
with any consistency because see I think
the problem in prayer is not that people
pray about the same old things that's
normal our lives tend to consist pretty
much of the same old things your family
your future your finances your bills are
something like that your work or
students schoolwork your church ministry
Christian Concern and the current crisis
in your life so if you put all that
together if you're gonna pray about your
life and these six things are your life
and these six things don't change
dramatically very often well that means
you're going to pray about the same old
things most of the time that's not the
problem the problem is we tend to say
the same old things about the same old
things we can be talking to the most
fascinating person in the universe about
the most important things in our lives
and be bored to death not because we
don't love God not because we don't love
who or what we're praying about I would
contend that it is the method if a
person isn't dwelled by the Holy Spirit
the problem is almost certainly not them
rather it is their method I believe
there's a simple permanent biblical
solution to this almost universal
problem and it is very simply when you
pray pray the Bible
turn the words of Scripture into the
words of your prayers and I think the
best place in the Bible to do this is
the Book of Psalms so what does this
look like well let's say you take the
23rd psalm and you want to pray that a
given morning you read the first line
the Lord is my shepherd and then you
might pray something like lord I thank
you that you are my shepherd you're a
Good Shepherd and you Shepherd and he
shepherded me all of my life but O great
Shepherd would you Shepherd my family
today guide them into the ways of God
and guard them from the ways of the
world lead them not into temptation
deliver them from evil and I pray Lord
you would make my family members your
sheep - may they love you as their
Shepherd as I love you as my shepherd
and when you can't think of anything
else you go to the next line I shall not
want
Lord I think you have never really been
in want I haven't missed many meals all
that I am and all that I have is from
you Lord but I know it pleases you I'll
bring my desires to you so would you
provide those finances that we need for
those bills for that car for school or
maybe you know someone who is in want
and you pray that just go through it
line by line
take a psalm go through it line by line
talk to God about whatever comes to mind
because I think most of the time what
will come to mind is whatever is in that
passage and if something comes to mind
that really isn't in that text well the
Bible tells us where to pray about
everything anyway so everything that
comes to mind is something we ought to
turn her into prayer or not to pray
about anyway
you come to a verse you don't understand
fine skip it go to the next verse maybe
you understand the next verse perfectly
but it just doesn't prompt anything to
pray about fine skip the whole section
there's nothing says you have to pray
over every verse there's nothing says
you have to finish the psalm so whether
you have four hours or four minutes this
works you can do that with the Psalms I
think next after that it's easiest in
the New Testament letters because
there's so much compressed almost every
verse there that can prompt something to
pray about you can even do this on a
narrative but in this case you sort of
back up and get the big picture what's
the big idea often in a narrative
there's one main kind of
punchline there and it may be that's all
you would pray about not so much all the
details leading up to it though any
detail that prompts something to pray
about should be prayed for
but what's having done this I think
anybody can do this and so I would
encourage anyone who's watching this as
soon as this is over to actually try it
just take a psalm just talk to God about
whatever comes to mind and once someone
has tried that they don't need any notes
to remember how to do that again they
don't need to watch this again they will
have it down it's like riding a bicycle
you never forget how and I can highly
recommend this because having done this
almost every day of my life since the
1st of March 1985 I can testify there's
nothing and all my devotional life that
more quickly and consistently Kindles my
consistently cold heart like praying the
Bible when I wake up I almost never feel
like praying anytime I rarely feel like
praying and that's normal but God said
to Jeremiah is not my word like a hammer
and a fire a hammer that breaks heart
hearts a fire that melts cold hearts you
go to prayer your heart is cold well
that's pretty normal but you can take
the fire of God's Word and plunge it
into your cold heart and pretty soon you
begin to feel like pray thanks for
watching you can submit your questions
by email Twitter or in the comments
section below
and don't forget to subscribe to find
out the answer to next week's question
will be giving away three copies of dr.
Whitney's book praying the Bible go to
the link in the description below to
find out how you can enter