Praying Boldly

Dannah Gresh: According to Stephen Kendrick, expressing gratefulness to God is a great way to battle fear and unbelief.

Stephen Kendrick: If you’ll spend time with thanksgiving, you’re looking in the rearview mirror of your life, and you’re seeing nothing but the faithfulness of God in your past. And you begin to say, “Lord, thank You that You carried me here, and thank You that You brought good out of that, and thank You that You worked here, and thank You that You provided here, and thank You for this, and thank You for that.”  

Dannah: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Choosing Gratitude, for Tuesday, October 27, 2020. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Nancy: All this month we’ve been focusing on crying out to God on behalf of our families, our churches, our communities, our nations, the world. We’re about to hear from Stephen Kendrick on how we can make sure our hearts are prepared to cry out to God. We don't want to just talk about praying, we want to actually pray. Let’s start today with hearing from our dear Iranian friend, Sabrina Aslan, as she leads us in prayer.

Sabrina Aslan: Oh Lord, we humble ourselves as we approach Your holy presence, expectantly and with confidence, knowing that You are our only source of hope. We are here to lift up our broken world to Your throne of grace and ask You to pour out Your mercy upon the dark, crumbling world we live in today—a world similar to the time of Cain, a godless world preoccupied by temporal pleasure, outward beauty, and worldly success and achievements.

Lord, our world today, just like Cain's family line, chooses to live life without You, a life of independence from God. But Father, in the midst of such a time that breaks Your heart, You always raise a group of people that bear Your name, a people that call upon Your name, a people who cry out to You, a remnant and a family line to desperately call upon Your name.

Your Word in Genesis 4 says, "A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh," whose name means weak, frail, desperate. And right there out of weakness and desperation, Your Word says, "At that time people people began to call upon the name of the Lord."

Lord, today in almost all continents and countries on the globe, people are experiencing different kinds of disasters. Almost every nation is nationally, economically, socially, and above all spiritually in trouble. The darkness of our world is getting darker. Lord, there are nations that are seriously facing poverty, persecution, and oppression, and even national disasters. On personal levels, there are a lot of people severely coping with fear and anxiety, uncertainty, depression, and many different kinds of pains, hardships, and bondages.

So Lord, just like the time of Enosh in the midst of calamity and weakness and frailty and desperation, You cause people to call upon Your name and be saved. Jesus, revive Your Church and cause Your people to call upon Your name day and night and to live a life of complete dependence on You.

Lord, come and glorify Your name from all nations, raise a godly family line that calls on Your name everywhere, as the apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 1:2. "The church of God though sanctified in Jesus Christ, those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Yes, Lord, raise more and more people who call upon Your name everywhere in this world, that Your name be known among all nations for Your glory. In the precious name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Nancy: Amen! Yesterday we heard part one of this message from a True Woman conference. If you missed it, you can head to the Revive Our Hearts app or ReviveOurHearts.com to listen.

When we left off, film producer Stephen Kendrick was in the middle of a list of ways we can know if we truly have a relationship with God. Here’s Stephen with the conclusion of his message.

Stephen: Evidence #3: Repentance of sin; ongoing repentance of sin. How does a Christian respond to the commands of Christ? Obedience. How does a Christian respond to sin? Repentance. Listen to this verse: Jesus said, “I tell you . . . unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” That’s Luke 13:3 (ESV).

When it comes to sin, true believers will turn away from sin, but false believers will not. First John 3:9: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him” (ESV). He cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Again, it’s a 50,000 foot view.

A lost person may feel guilty in their conscience for some of the things that they do, but when it comes to sin, there’s not a perpetual turning away from it, repenting of it. When I sin, the Holy Spirit is convicting me. I don’t like it in my life.

There are some sins we can repent of quickly. Some kind of hang on, you know, that we’re struggling with throughout our lives. That's part of that sanctification process, but a true Christian is turning away from sin. First John says, “That’s how we know . . .” One of the evidences that you truly know Christ is that ongoing repentance of sin: “I need to get it out of my life!”

Evidence #4: The discipline of God your Father. First John 3:1: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath given us, that we should be called children of God” (ESV). Hebrews 12:6 says, “God deals with you as sons, for what son is there whom the Father does not discipline? But, if you are without discipline (of which all have become partakers), then you’re illegitimate children and you’re not sons.”

When my kids invite their friends over, if they do something wrong, I may spank my kids and send their friends home. Now, why I don’t I discipline the other kid? Well, he’s not my kid; he’s not my son.

God says that when it comes to His children, when you get out of line and you’re living in sin, He loves you, and so He begins to discipline you. There’s evidence of that. He says, one of the ways you can know if you’re a believer is, the discipline of the Father shows up in your life when you get out of line.

Evidence #5: Genuine love for other believers. “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. You know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:14).

One of the things the Holy Spirit does when He comes into your heart, Romans 5 says He pours out the agape love of God into your heart. And God begins to give you the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, and peace—and His Spirit gives you a love for other believers . . . even your enemies!

That’s one of the evidences—that agape love that comes from God is an evidence of your salvation. So let me ask you a question: When it comes to other believers, are you always just not wanting to be around them? Is church a burden for you? Or has God given you this love for other believers? Because 1 John says that is one of the evidences of your salvation.

Evidence #6: The presence of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 3:24: “This is how we know that He lives in us; we know it by the Spirit He gave us.” If you’re a true believer, then God’s Spirit will testify with your spirit that you’re a child of God, Romans 8 says.

What does God’s Spirit do? Well, John 16 says He’s going to convict you of sin. He will also, John 14 says, reveal to you the Word of God. So when you’re reading the Word of God, the Holy Spirit is helping you to understand what you’re reading.

And then there’s the fruit of the Spirit—the love and joy and peace that comes from the Holy Spirit is showing up in your life. So is the Holy Spirit evidenced in your heart and in your life? That’s not something you can fake.

Is the Holy Spirit saying, “You know the Lord”? Is the Holy Spirit convicting you of sin? Is the Holy Spirit revealing the Word of God? If you don’t know Christ, then you’re not that convicted when you sin. The Bible’s a mystery to you. It’s hard for you to grasp or read it, because it’s like there’s a veil over your eyes when you’re reading it. And then, the love and joy and peace of Christ are not really flowing in and through your life.

Evidence #7: Trust in Jesus alone for salvation. This is not about the identity in Christ. This is about what you’re trusting for salvation. If your faith is in your church, if your faith is in your goodness, if your faith is in a ritual that you made, you’re the only person really mentioned there—your faith is in you.

The apostle Paul said in Philippians 3, “I had a better spiritual resume than anyone, but when I saw what Jesus could do for me and I saw how His death on the cross could pay for my sin, and I saw that rather than my own righteousness (me trying to earn my way into heaven)—I saw that Christ could give me God’s righteousness and prepare me for heaven.”

The apostle Paul, in Philippians 3, said, “I have let go of trusting in myself, and my faith is totally in Jesus alone for salvation. Now I have a righteousness that comes from God, not from myself. I am found in Him.”

First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Seven things—these are signs of a changed life. They’re litmus tests we can take. All these things are not really normal, and they’re almost impossible to fake long-term. The world, the flesh, and the devil are against us having these things in our lives. They are pushing us in the opposite direction.

But, if you look at your life over the past few months and years from a 50,000 foot view: 

• Do you see genuine love for other believers?
• Do you see repentance from sin?
• Do you see obedience to God?
• Do you see the discipline of the Father?
• Do you see the evidence of the Holy Spirit?
• Do you see a confession, openly, of Christ as God and as Lord—a genuine trust in His death on the cross for salvation?

Because if these things are in you, then I’ve got really good news for you. You know Jesus, and He knows you! (applause) But, if you look at these things and you say, “I don’t see the evidence of the Holy Spirit; I don’t have a genuine love for other believers. I am not repenting of sin; there is no obedience in my heart. There is no trust, fully, in Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for salvation. Then I’ve got good news for you, too . . . really good news. The Lord is offering you something far better than what you’re trusting. He is inviting you to turn from your sin and to call upon Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and trust Him alone for salvation!

The Bible says whosever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Scripture says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you can be saved.

And right where you’re sitting right now, you can say, “Lord, I’m no longer trusting my religion, my ability, my church, my rituals. I’m trusting in Christ.” And right where you are, you can believe in Jesus—and He will change you from the inside out. And after that moment, you will see these fruits showing up in your life in the days to come.

With that in mind, I want to talk about getting our hearts ready for praying. In Nehemiah, chapter 1:1–3:

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, "The survivors who are left from the captivity . . .” [So, you find that the walls of Jerusalem are broken down, they’re burned with fire.]

So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before . . . God . . . [I’m blown away by Nehemiah’s response—the tenderness of his heart in this moment. And so he begins to pray.] 

And I said: "I pray, Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, You keeps Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night [he’s not giving up; he’s laying hold of the Lord], for the children of Israel Your servants, and [I] confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house [and he makes it personal] and I have sinned.

"We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. [So, he confesses.] Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying [now, he’s quoting Deuteronomy 28 right here], ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; [now he shifts to Deuteronomy 30] but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’

[So, Nehemiah lays hold of the Word of God. Then he says] “Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." For I was the king’s cupbearer (vv. 1–11 NKJV).

Now, the king, Artaxerxes, is the same king who had turned Ezra down and shut down the rebuilding of the wall. A few years later, Nehemiah is approaching that same king—in brokenness. He’s praying strategically.

And, as you know the rest of the book, that king not only gives him permission to leave, but gives him all the resources to go back, and he rebuilds the wall. They restore Jerusalem, revival breaks out, and God restores a nation through one man who was willing to humble himself before God, and pray, and obey the Lord.

As we talk about prayer . . . you know, the movie War Room talks about prayer. But one thing that consistently you will see in Scripture is that prayer is always bookended by two things: repentance before we pray (because we’re not ready to pray effectively if we don’t repent first). Then, when we do pray, we pray in faith, we claim the Word of God, we base it upon the character of God. Then, when we are done praying, we obey whatever the Lord tells us to do. Repentance, pray, obey.

I did a study one time of the New Testament, and I was like, “What does the Bible say about what makes our prayers more effective, or what hinders our prayers from being effective?” One thing is, whether or not you know Christ.

But a second one was, even as a believer, there are a few things that will hinder you from being able to pray effectively. Let me share with you a few of those:

• One of them is, sin that you refuse to repent of. David said, “If I cherish sin in my heart, God will not hear my prayers.” So, let me ask you—is there anything in your life that you refuse to repent of and give over to the Lord—because that is hindering your prayers from being effective.

• Secondly, bitterness in your heart. Jesus repeatedly says, when He talks about forgiveness, “If you don’t forgive others, God will not forgive you.” And in Mark 11:25, He said this: “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, go ahead and forgive them, right now! And then, pray in faith, believing that God will answer your prayers." So, Jesus pointed out, “Don’t wait for them to repent; go ahead and forgive them.”

You know, we live in a world of sinners—and we are sinners. We are going to have people sin against us our whole lives. If there’s anyone who has sinned against you and hurt you—and we’ve all experienced that—and you have chosen not to forgive them . . . if tonight when we pray, you still have not forgiven them, you may want to just sit in the back and watch everyone else pray, because it will hinder your prayers from being effective before God.

The Bible says—and Jesus said it—if you have anything against anyone, go ahead and forgive them. Why do you forgive them? Because God is their judge! Why do you forgive them? Because it gives place to the devil [if you don’t]. Scripture says in Ephesian 4. Our unforgiveness gives the devil permission into our minds, and he begins to accuse other people in our minds, and we get angry.

If you have bitterness in your life, that is one of the key reasons why your spirit is a desert right now, why worship is not a joy, why you’re not getting anything out of the Word of God, why your prayer life feels like it’s just bouncing off the ceiling.

Bitterness dries up your spiritual life—so if you want to pray effectively, the Bible communicates: know Christ; forgive, if you have anything against anyone; and then, any hidden sin that’s in your life, “Lord, I want to get it right with You.”

But, secondly, Scriptures communicate that if you are right with the Lord—no unconfessed sin, no bitterness in your life—then you can begin to pray strategically, effectively. And I want to give you four things, real quick, on how to pray:

Pray offensively. It’s when you’re asking for all the good stuff. When you pray, don’t hold back. Ask for the moon. When we’re praying for the movies, we’re praying over the cinematography and the lighting and the story: “Lord, give us characters that are funny, and give us touching scenes, and give us truths that will change lives, and, Lord, take the movies to the ends of the earth!”

When we’re praying for our kids: “Lord, raise up our children to be mighty warriors for you. Surround them with godly friends, and keep them away from the wrong friends. Lord, would You give them good books and good teachers and good mentors—and good spouses, one day?”

And we just ask and ask and ask and keep on asking! God is not intimidated by any request! He can do more than we can ask or imagine—and I can imagine a lot!

Did you know, God wants you to ask daring, bold, good prayers? So, when you’re praying for your family and your pastor and your church and the election and yourself and whatever—go ahead and ask. Some people are like, “Well, I don’t know if it’s God’s will or not . . .” He can figure that out!

You hit the ball in His court, and let Him answer the way He wants to. Many times, the Lord may say, “Yes, but I’m going to answer that in a week or a month or a year.” You just keep on praying and hit it in His court. “Lord, nevertheless, not my will but Yours be done. But I don’t want it to be because I didn’t ask!”

James 4 says you don’t have because you don’t ask. I think God is in heaven—and Scripture communicates this—and He’s got so many good things. He doesn’t want to withhold any good thing from you, and He says, “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon! Ask me! Ask me!”

Now, what if Jesus showed up in a dream tonight—to you personally—and He said, “Here’s a pad of paper; here’s a pen. Everything you ask me for, I’m going to say ‘yes’ to.” Would you pray any differently than you do right now? Because how much you pray really reveals how much you’re trusting God in your circumstances.

If you knew that He was going to say “yes,” would you just say, “Ah—just bless me, Lord—no prayer requests”? Kind of like we say in Sunday school or small group . . . “Nothin’, I’m good!” (laughter)

Or, would you be flippin’ it out like I would, saying: “Here’s how I’m going to pray for my church and my pastor. Here’s how I’m going to pray for my community. Here’s how I’m going to pray for my marriage. Here’s how I’m going to pray for my children.” I’m just flippin’ pages, and I’m just gonna go until I wear that out, and say, “You got any more notepads I can fill up?”

That’s how God wants you to pray! Don’t let it be because you didn’t ask. Ask for good things. You have a good, good God! He can handle any request. If He looks through it and says, “Well, that’s a selfish request.” Okay, He can handle that.

So when we’re praying tonight, if you know Jesus, you can pray in His Name, which means, you’re not praying based upon your identity—you’re praying based on His identity. You’re not praying based upon your authority—you’re praying based on His authority. You’re not praying based upon what you have done or your righteousness—you’re praying based upon what He has done and His righteousness. If your heart is right with the Lord and you’ve confessed your sins and you’ve forgiven other people, then get busy praying and ask for the moon.

Get specific and don’t hold back, and leave that with the Lord—and let those prayers be in His hands. You will see in Scripture, sometimes God answers a prayer immediately. Sometimes, He’ll answer a prayer the next day, the next week. Sometimes, His perfect timing is to wait for years. He’s got that all figured out.

But don’t let delays discourage you from praying. Don’t let yesterday’s seemingly unanswered prayers stop you from praying in faith today. If you’re struggling with praying and trusting God in faith, if you’re like, “When I’m praying, I have a hard time really believing that God will answer . . .” then Philippians 4 says you need to spend some time in thanksgiving before you do the supplication.

Because here’s what happens: if you’ll spend time with thanksgiving, you’re looking in the rearview mirror of your life, and you’re seeing nothing but the faithfulness of God in your past. And you begin to say, “Lord, thank You that You carried me here, and thank You that You brought good out of that, and thank You that You worked here, and thank You that You provided here, and thank You for this, and thank You for that.” Spend some time thanking the Lord.

It will give you that running head start to then look at the future with the requests that you have. Pray in faith, believing that God can do the same thing in the days ahead! 

So, with that in mind, let’s pray together right now. Let’s ask the Lord to prepare our hearts, in unity—like Nehemiah—to have tender hearts before the Lord, to repent of any sin, to pray in faith. And lastly, when we leave this place, we need to obey whatever God tells us to do!

Because you might be who God uses to answer the requests that you’re praying. You might be the Nehemiah; you might be the Esther who is told, “Pray for three days, and then you approach the king.” You might be the one.

So, we need to repent, we pray in faith asking the Lord for whatever’s on our hearts. Jesus says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in You, ask for your heart’s desire, and it will be done for you.” Not just for what you need. 

John 15:7 says, “If you get right with the Lord, ask for your heart’s desire.” That blows my mind, that He would even say that! And then, when we leave, we’re going to obey what God tells us to do.

This world would never be the same, if women—just in this room and who are watching over the Internet—would get right with the Lord, pray in faith, and then obey what God tells them to do. Let’s ask Him for it right now!

Father, in Jesus’ name, Lord, we pray that You would reveal to each person whether they know You, truly, or not. Secondly, Lord, I pray that You would search us, oh God, and know our hearts. We don’t want there to be anything that displeases You, that grieves Your Spirit, that hinders us from praying effectively to a holy God. Lord, search our hearts and then grant us repentance.

Forgive us, Lord! Forgive our nation, Lord, for our wickedness. Lord, I pray that You—by Your Holy Spirit—would inspire each of us to pray in faith tonight . . . in unity . . . tens of thousands of women all around the world, praying at the same time by faith—approaching a willing, loving heavenly Father.

And then, Lord, I pray that You would reveal how You want us to obey You, and that You would give us the grace and the strength by Your Holy Spirit—when we go home—every day, to walk in faith and obey. And we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, the strong Son of God—Amen!

Nancy: Amen! That’s Stephen Kendrick, from a recent True Woman conference. You can watch the video of that message at ReviveOurHearts.com. Maybe you feel like you need more resources to help you grow in your prayer life. If you look for today’s program on our website, you’ll also see a section called “Related Resources.” There are some helpful tools to help you grow in your life of prayer.

Dannah: One way might be to get a copy of your  newest devotional book. The title is Born a Child and Yet a King. So it’s a Christmas-related devotional. Does it seem too early to talk about Christmas? Sometimes I feel like I’m still stuck in March! On the other hand, sometimes March feels like an eternity ago. Well, time marches on, and before you know it, December will be here.

So I wanted to give you enough time to contact us, and get the book in your hands so that you’ll have it in time for December 1. This month the Advent devotional is our thank-you gift to you for your donation of any size. Your gifts are so helpful to us here at Revive Our Hearts, and we want to thank you so much for your generosity. Would you contact us today at ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1–800–569–5959. Ask about the Christmas devotional when you get in touch.

I want you to know how much your gift means to me and to Nancy and to the entire team here at Revive Our Hearts.

Have you seen the funny memes in social media about 2020? Like if this year were an animal, it would look like a bizarre, wild, unrecognizable monster? Maybe a good way to describe these days is with the word “turbulent.” Well, tomorrow Nancy will show us how to thrive in turbulent times. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts

All Scripture is paraphrased unless otherwise noted.

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