A Strong Life ft. Andy Stanley – Dr. Charles Stanley

when

life

throws you a challenge where your strength comes from today I want to share with you how to have a

strong

life

, that perspective and power that carries you through the storms and a foundation of wisdom that will give you direction in life, fertility and peace . then after the message, join me for a conversation, my son Andy, as we address some very practical questions about prayer and talk about how to have an enriching daily conversation with God. Next, in InTouch, a

strong

life, you can have a strong body and a weak life. you can have a strong life you have a weak body well you can have a strong life and a strong body we all know what constitutes a strong body but what constitutes a strong life and that is what I want to talk about in this message as we said we have had three in this series of church and family and now the whole idea of ​​a strong life, what is a strong life, so I want you to turn to a very familiar passage that perfectly describes what we will talk about and it is the seventh chapter Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount and at beginning in verse 24 and how many times have you read this and that's why I want us to look at this in the light of a strong life and so Jesus said in verse 24 therefore everyone Whoever hears these words of mine and acts on them can be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat the house and yet it did not fall because it had not fallen. has not been built and founded on the rock, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, the rains fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that. house and fell and great was his fall when Jesus finished these words the crowds were amazed at his teachings as he taught them as one who has authority and not like the scribes when I look at the scriptures and think of all the verses in the Bible that talk about life and so on, here is a perfect picture of a weak life and a strong life and remember this, each of us are still building our life, whether you are 16 or 76 years old, you are still building your life and what to be on the inside it makes all the difference in the world and I think many people at first can fool you about the lifestyle they seem like, but then when the storms hit them, when reality breaks in, when there are hardships, difficulties, pain, suffering , death, loss, all kinds of difficulties. that is presented to you, people who have built their life on the foundation have a strong life if they built it on the right foundation, people who seemed like they could do the same thing but when those storms come they don't have the same results, so no.

You can look and see and tell how strong a person is or how weak they can be, what happens to them when the storms, the light of life, come and come to us all, all kinds of difficulties, hardships, pain, losses and The Grief comes to all of us and the question is how do we respond in Palestine, for example, that they would have those torrential storms and, as a result, those ravines, if we would call them ravines, would fill with water and before long it would become a torrent. flood and anything that was weak would fall the same is true in our life when difficulties, hardships, pain and things in this apartment come our way, if our life is strong we can bear it if it is not what we want and this It's what drives some people.

For example, to alcohol, drugs, immorality or whatever, they see themselves strong until the storms of life come, then they have to find something that they think satisfies them, strengthens them or helps them. Our breath, there's only one thing that does that and what this whole message is about and what this scripture is about when Jesus speaks here, he's talking about two lives a week, the life and the strong life, yeah Someone had to look at your life and try to find out what the truth about you is. You have a strong life or a weak life, what would they consider if they looked at you?

They may say, well, he has to be, he has to have a strong life, she has to have a strong life, but what would they say when these difficulties, hardships and tests? and tribulations come, how you respond in those days, that is how we judge whether our life is strong or weak, so what I want to do with this message is simply describe a strong life, we know what a weak life is, what it is all about a strong life and how. Does our life become strong? There is no doubt whether you will face trials and storms or not.

They come closer and will reveal who we are and what we are like and what our foundation is built on. And you, as a parent, must think. about this you are building in your children a firm foundation that will allow them to face all the life situations that come or you can neglect that part of your discipline in life for them and they come and lose the foundation, whatever the foundation may be. what they had to begin with and many times parents say: well, I can't understand, I can't, I just can't believe that you're acting like this, it could be that you never built the foundation and they would show them how to deal when a torrent of temptation comes to them.

When the storm of trial recedes into disappointment into pain When there is a loss in your life How do you respond if you don't have a strong life? you do not respond correctly and many times when that storm comes instead of staying strong and getting stronger, what simply happens is that you sink and many times a person runs and ruins their life, so I want us to think about these characteristics and if you are wise you you will be silent These will all be on the screen and I want to encourage you to do this to not only write them down, but also to listen, be strong enough and brave enough if that's what you need to write them down, take them home and put them on. the table next to your bed and tonight, before you go to bed, just read them and ask yourself the question or Lord number one in this area, is this in my life?

Am I strong here? Am I strong here? Whoops, oh, I don't have to ask. you about that Lord, what about this and that? In other words, do a little survey. Some others say. Well, I don't need to do that. No, you don't have to, but you'd be wise to do it, because look at this. You only know how strong you are when you find out what your weaknesses are if you don't know what your weaknesses are the devil will make you stumble sure someone says well I could never be tempted so that would never come my way you have prepared yourself for an attack because Satan He's not going to, he's not going to ignore that boast, so once you listen carefully, I want you to think about when I mention each of these, why does it fit into my life?

So let's get started. the first is simply this and that is a strong life you have put your trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior that is a strong life begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life that is the first, most important thing you can . Don't put it anywhere else except at the bottom, that's the foundation. Have you trusted Jesus? And that's what it means that you can look back on your life and know that at a particular moment you may not be able to name that day of the week or even the month but you know or maybe even the year but you know that at one point certain you remember that you gave your life to Christ and that you know that you are saved, that is the fundamental evidence that you have a strong life secondly and that is what are guided by the Holy Spirit a person has a strong life is guided by the Holy Spirit when Jesus saved you he sent the Holy Spirit into your life to dwell in you why he sent it he sent it for the simple reason that you and I He knew that I could not live properly apart from him that is why he told his disciples before they set out to fulfill the Great Commission, they are not ready, but they are not ready until the Holy Spirit builds them up, enables them, and gives them the power to do so.

Do what I called you to do. The truth is that every strong life is a life that has the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and has it there for God's purpose which is to guide us and lead us. We cannot look around us and read the newspaper. Hear. what I watch television and discover how to make decisions, we discover how to make decisions by coming to God asking Him and the Holy Spirit that lives within every believer will guide you, train you, show you the paths you should follow. make the decisions you have to make in life he will show you what the wisest decisions are a wise person will listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in your life and that is why when the Spirit of God speaks you cannot say oh I was just my feeling oh you know what I'm not going to go God speaks clearly not audibly but he speaks very clearly and many times louder than audibly because he will impress your heart your life your mind your attention to a particular area of ​​life that you are dealing with he is trying to tell you something or a strong life listens to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit thirdly a strong life has this priority in your life and that is spending time alone with prayer in prayer with God spending time alone with God in prayer is that they listen, this It's the connection point you have with God, you look around, you can read this, never, etc., but your connection point with him is the time you spend with him in prayer and people say, well, you know what.

What did I just say. I found myself too busy to pray, no, it's just a lady, listen, it's a misalignment of what is important in your life, the most important thing in your life is your relationship with him, your connection with God Almighty, he is the one with you talk, he is the one with whom you, you, you. Take your needs to a strong person who has a strong prayer life. I have never met a strong person. I didn't really have a strong prayer life. You can get by with a little prayer here and there, but you know what that means.

Doesn't a strong life make you strong have a communication with God you know how to talk to him you know how to listen to him you know how to bring him your needs and pains and joys and peace and everything else and that is an absolutely primary part of your life, in fact, if you think in teaching your children in life, if you don't teach them early in life by example first and by praying with your children, you listen, look at this, you have deceived them, you have denied them, listen. Have you hurt them in more ways than you will ever imagine?

They will grow up thinking that they have to solve everything. They have to depend on you for everything. You should not. You are believing in your heart that God Almighty is his. God, they know what prayer is, they know who God is, and they are taught to spend time in prayer with God every day. There is none of us who are too busy to pray now, if you tell God that you are too busy to pray, this is what you can do? He can just lay you down with something that puts you in the hospital for about two weeks on your back and then all you have to do is pray and for a while we will bring things to ourselves.

Well, Lord, I would. I would only do it if I had time he would give you time the truth is that you have time and the time you have is the time that he has given you it is a matter of you choosing how you spend your time listen you can't in it's not spending you can't invest your time in no way that stronger makes you stronger than praying and talking to him like one day listen it is not just the habit it is a habit it is a daily discipline in your life he is first above all very important for a strong life, So of course a strong life is based on the teachings of God's word and listening to them and applying them, listening to it is one thing, but applying it is another, so when you come on Sunday morning take notes, for example.

What do you do with them? It's an app and I think about how many people go to church week after week and month after years and years and years, never carry a Bible, never take a note, can tell you anything the pastor said and years and years and years later they can't tell you nothing why because they heard it but didn't apply it, we have to apply it, think about all the sounds you hear on any given day, whether it's radio traffic, television and people talking. whatever the sound of the word of God and the sound of the voice of God is the most important sound and you and I cannot do anything more important than feeding on the Word of God, that is, for example, what you show .

For me, a strong life and I'll tell you, if you keep talking to them a little bit, they will bring up some scriptures that God has put in their hearts and all of us who have gone through difficulties and trials, we have scriptures, scriptures. that God put in our hearts that gets us through tough times if you don't read the Bible you don't have one you'll say well there's a verse in the Bible somewhere that says something like this you know what I don't work and someone will once and for all tell why. you keep holding that bible up high because that's what it's about this isn't about my opinion it's about the holy God who created us and has a will and a purpose and plan for our lives who will be there when we die who will call judgment on us everything this is about him and his relationship with us in our place in life that's why we hold the Bible and that's why we hold it because I would like to see everyone bringing the Bible to church.

You go to church to be instructed in the Word of God, not just to go to church to sell your conscience,but that's exactly what some people do. Constantly listen to a person who has a strong life. constantly obey God as a habit and try and try to leave all the consequences to him, sometimes we don't that's why I said try if you have a habit of obeying God in your life for example think of this as a follower of Jesus Christ disobeying God should be and should be an exception in your life obeying him should be the norm for your life why because that is what we are and the strong life is a life that is built on obedience to the truth of the word of God then, of course, one of the areas of a strong life is that we see the Lord Jesus Christ as the strength of our life.

Now think about this for a moment. Paul said: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. he's in jail beaten, chained, locked up, whatever and you know what his foundation was so solid that no matter what they did, they never discouraged him, they never made him quit, they did everything they could to stop him from trying to murder him and everything else. What they did, why. because he was strong he was strong in the Word of God he was strong in his relationship with God he was strong in his obedience to God and he knew in his heart that the strength of his life was not in his body but in his relationship with Jesus Christ, that is where our strength lies in the relationship and all these other things are part of that relationship, so ask yourself how strong your life is, how much you have life, for example, do you wake up in the morning and say, well, I am?

Is this going to happen the other one how often do you get up to say father I want to thank you that you are my strength today and if you have a job that is very difficult do you ever say to him sir I need I need your strength there to do this I don't even know what I am like how am I going to be able to do what I'm supposed to do you are my strength so what you have done is you have invited the Lord God into your life, so to speak, through His Holy Spirit to empower you, strengthen you and encourage you, and It doesn't allow you to give up, because with you you can achieve anything that God has put before you to achieve, so of course you have to do it. live a disciplined life a disciplined life is part of a strong life because if a person is disciplined he is not disciplined in just one area if you live a disciplined life you are careful with what you eat you are careful with exercise you are careful with how you spend your time you have be careful how you spend your money and we talk we're talking about that in a second in other words you, if you live a disciplined life, you have control of your life, I don't mean control in the bad sense, I mean, for example, you have goals and direction for your life, if you live a disciplined life, there are some things that you don't do and if you decide to live a godly life, that is a decision that you have made in your life. life and you were here week after week after week and you said you sang this song.

I renounce my role, if you have done that and Jesus Christ is a Lord, teacher of life, you are building strength and I believe that if you come. to church week after week you take notes you apply them to your heart you are building strength God is building strength in your life building truth in your life and building a sense of discipline listen a disciplined life does not say "oh, just no" I don't think I'm not going to work today. Our disciplined life is the same. Does not say. I am going to read the Bible and pray today.

I'm just going to take it. I'm going to do what I want to do today. A disciplined life is. It is not something that happens from time to time, it is a daily restriction in our life, it is a restriction that God gives us for our own good and that is what we try to teach our children, we teach them to live a disciplined life so that don't do it. You don't have to discipline yourself, you want them to do certain things, you get up at a certain time, you wear the clothes that look best, etc., so ask yourself: would you consider your life a disciplined life?

You are in control or you just sort of come, you just go with the wind, whatever comes your way a disciplined life is a strong life and it is necessary, so of course I think in the direction of Allah, what is the direction Where are you headed? What are you trying to achieve in life? I think about how many people get up and say well I have to go to work this morning I work 8 hours and thank God I leave at 4 or 5 or how many people say and I have already had them to tell me maybe buying something and someone else says, you I'll say how are you, always nice little conversation, well, I'm fine, thank God, it's Friday, thank God, it's Friday, let me ask you a question, do you live to work 8 hours? one day to get paid, so at the end of the week you can get paid.

Oh, next week you'll get paid. Are you living your life to live to be 62 or 65 so you can finally retire and, like you said, do what I want? what to do I don't do anything you tell yourself about I'm not going to do anything your body responds because God never built any of us to reach an age where we do nothing, he intends for us to be useful, the Bible says. It is fruitful in all times every day of our life every day of your life is a gift from God it is not to be wasted and say well I am not going to do anything today you can talk you can walk you can handle things you can help many things you know what I can do even On the last day of our life you and I should serve Him in some way, even if it is just by talking to someone else and some of us too, but suppose we are between them in the hospital in bed and me.

You don't have five days to live You can talk to a lot of nurses in five days You can talk to a lot of other people in the hospital They die and get sick and whatever, but you're not in the hospital where you're fine At what point in your life Do you have the right to tell God? This no longer has a job. You will enjoy life if you have a strong life. Guess what you will find. The more time you have. Listen. The more you want to serve. God and the stronger you will become very important, we see a life from God's point of view, from his point of view, not ours, so what happens to these storms of life because of a strong person?

Listen, a strong person can weather storms and learn from them. Now most people, when a big storm comes into their life, difficulty, difficulty, pain, whatever it is, they want to ask why have you allowed this to happen, why God, if you love me, why do you love for this to happen, why have you taken my love, one was mine. sick child or I lost my job, why didn't I lose my money? Oh, you know what? Why have you done all this to me? Well, remember what we said about those two houses. They both look alike, you can't tell.

What is the strong without the storm the storms in our life God allows them to come through your animation coming through someone else no matter what they come to do what to build divine strength within us he allows them to build strength Why was Paul such a wonderful servant of God? Why didn't God say what? Paul, you are so faithful, loyal and devoted to me right now, these epistles, you shouldn't be in jail, you shouldn't be judged, shouldn't everyone. these things that happen to him and he was persecuted almost murdered why why why did God not allow that in his life I will tell you why there would not be there would be no Romans or Corinthians or Ephesians in Galatians and Colossians and all these books he wrote in prison was difficult, difficult and painful, learned amazing lessons why does God send this into our life or allow them to happen he never, never said it would be an easy life, some people's life seems to be easier than others at my age I can tell you this no I would change a pain an anguish a trial a tribulation a pain disappointment tears I would not change any of that but what God has taught me under any conditions and the God of God allows these things in their lives we can see them as enemies and they can be our enemy or maybe someone who breaks our hearts, whatever it is, but what is God doing?

He is allowing them why to build inner strength in your life. Storms are coming and the question is can you? handle them are you ready for them? If you don't have the right foundation if you don't have a strong life you don't respond to it right away and you find yourself giving up and giving up or being tempted to go to something else, whether it's some drug or some form of immorality or something to drink or whatever. I mean, use something to take away the pain, listen, God's purpose is not to remove the paint, but to get the strength inside to build you to be a godly person so that you can achieve the purpose of your life you so I don't know What is his purpose?

He is more than willing to show you. He is more than willing to show you. Someone says well, I am 60 years old. What is his purpose in my life? Well, let me tell you two things. You're asking a little late, but he still has a purpose for your life and he will take you anywhere. At least some of this will get you where you are. willing to give yourself to him and from that moment he will use you and work in your life to achieve his purpose for your life and fulfill his will. A strong life is what God wants and without the storms that will not pass. be in this life strong and you can look back over the years, that people who have been great saints of God and a lot has been written about him, they went through turbulence, it was hardly brokenness, whatever, they were a good example like hospital rooms, for example, he. he only lived until he was 40, about 22 years old, many of you don't know who he is, a little devotional book called how many of you know what is my eldest for his tallest now that Thailand herself says a lot, he died at a young age, but look what that little book has meant.

I've read it for years and years and I wrote it in college and it's not about how long you live, it's about what you do with your life, so what does his wife do? She took all of that and put it together. to fix it and put it, she is the one who put the book together and those two people that most people know had used that God has used that book to transform some of the people's lives and mr. God God has a purpose for your life, you need to discover what it is and give him your life and ask him to strengthen your life so that the years you have left are not wasted.

God means listen, God does. you must be fruitful all your life strong and you can be and strong faith, of course, is one of the characteristics of a strong life and what builds faith in difficult times, difficult times, so a strong life has been tested and tried and you come, someone said that They were born as we say with a silver spoon in their mouth They have always had everything they wanted and everything turned out the way they want You know what I want to change the trials and tribulations and heartaches for that kind of life for anything in the world because you know what you have missed, you have missed it, so the next time you complain about something and remember that this is a lesson, God has a lesson in every trial, pain, burden, loss, so than us, he has a lesson, wise men. and women seek to know what their lesson is, people who don't care about their base and don't care, just go on and complain and moan and complain, take some drugs, etc., it makes them get over it and they miss out on wonderful opportunities. in life then of course a present a strong life has courage they have courage you have to have courage to go through something difficult that is not Egyptian remember what God said to Joshua he said be strong and have good courage do not be afraid or be a dad made for the Lord your God is with you because I am putting you in charge of 2 million of these Hebrews and you remember that they rebelled against you and they rebelled against him, we are going to stone you to death and they have been a problem for Moses all his life you will be in charge what kind of test was that but you know you read the book of Joshua God blesses him throughout the book the whole book is blessing him he made an arrow, closed one eye after defeating the people at Jericho and listened to someone else instead of God and they were annihilated, but from then on he listened to God and you can see how God worked in his life. he was a man of courage, listen to Courage and something that someone can give you courage is something that grows and your life, but trust in God and see him work and respond to your request, then I believe that a person with a star has a strong life, It's optimistic, I mean.

You are looking for the best, why not? when I tell people look your best, do your best, be your best, that's an optimistic view, but it's also a godly view, if you represent Jesus, you look better. , you represent him, you should do your best, you represent him, you must be the best you can, why don't you listen, we represent him, he is the living God, we are his messengers, each one of us is a Messenger of God on this earth and a person with a strong life will be optimistic. and not depressed, show me someone who always complains about something and this is what will happen.

Things are getting difficult. Oh God, I don't know what to do. I'm afraid of what will happen to him. The government has done this and your government is going to do that just look at God and forget about the government. I mean, God is the one who manages his life and no one else, so you have to be optimistic and then here is something else that builds a strong life. Develop friendships. Listen. Develop friendships with people who will enrich you. In your life there is something amazing about good friends, good friendsof character who have a strong life, some people in your life that you enjoy being with, who listen to you, just being with you and just being with them enriches you, you say, well, what do you mean by the interview?

It doesn't mean money, but they laugh, they love each other, children, they eat each other and they help each other. The words that everyone's business is amazing, then of course expressing love and concern for other people, if you can't express love and concern for other people. You are not strong if you cannot love, you are not strong love is one of the basics listen what do you hear when when Paul describes the fruit of the Holy Spirit where does love joy peace love begin to love someone else you are giving yourself to someone else you can give them things you can In other words, you can give them to yourself, but above all, to love someone is to make yourself available to them, to tear them down, to encourage them.

A person who truly loves is a person who makes a difference to the people around them. Ask yourself this question. Do people who know you think of you as a person who loves or a person who complains all the time? How many of you love being around a complainer? None of us people who just complain about everything doesn't mean that's what's wrong? They find something. They complain about pious people. Strong people find something good. Something good. It's not something to complain about all the time. Loving is very important. Then, of course, a person who has a strong life, loves it, listens, loves, lives and serves God. of your spiritual gifts now a spiritual gift is a gift of service or a gift of giving a gift of exhortation are all those seven major gifts in the book of Romans so in the first service I said I asked how many of you know which one it is Their spiritual gift is and some of them did it, some didn't, it will just give you joy to know what your gift is because once you start operating your gift, many things that are paying you, but they won't pay you anymore. like you just said, oh, that's how it is, and once a person learns the spiritual gift of it, they become strong.

You work from a completely different resource. A spiritual gift is a gift from God that enables you in a particular area of ​​your life. life to do exceptionally well and when you try to do something that you don't have a gift for, it's difficult, but I'm simply saying that when you have that gift there is a sense of inner strength, we all have one or more that inner strength does something inside and you will be able to do better whatever you do so, of course, forgive quickly a strong person who forgives quickly you want to put obstacles in your way you hold a grudge you don't forgive and say well, what does that have to do with a strong life?

I will tell you what happens to a person who has an unforgiving spirit, it will ultimately affect you, it will affect your physical body if you have an unforgiving spirit, you hold grudges, you have a feeling of hate those attitudes attitudes that affect the person because you see any anything that affects your emotions that affects your body because you cannot separate spiritual and physical emotions, but everything goes together and it is not just the spiritual, it is something spiritual. act that way but it becomes physical, what you think and how you feel makes all the difference in the world and a strong person is careful with how they relate to people, so you would be quick to forgive, let me ask you a question.

What benefit is there? What benefit is there in a person's life when they hold a grudge? They don't forgive. They generate hatred in their life. And I'm Austin. They just keep it there. What advantage to you is that no one else? What disadvantage is there? For you, many spoil your relationship with God, you say you want to tell me if my relationship with someone else is not correct, my relationship with the gods is not correct, exactly correct and yes, what happens when you keep those attitudes in you and that alone hinder your relationship with God? the Lord hinders every aspect of your walk with him and it is going to affect your body people who have that attitude after a while you know who had programs first here you started watching them you can tell there he has already been working on the inside but that is where he shows first that God intends for us to be godly and walk before him in a holy way, he created us that way and you know, it doesn't make any difference if a million people tell you it's not right, just let them say it.

The truth is that that is what the Word of God teaches if you are thinking about our God who is holy, loving and forgiving and you say well, do I ever have that problem. I can remember the time in my life when I dealt with it once and for all and I knew how to deal with it something had happened to me that hurt me and then I was just saying well Lord you know those things you tell him he doesn't listen and then It's like the Lord said to me remember the cross I thought yes how many times have I forgiven you if I have had something against you no what right do you have to have something against someone when I have forgiven you for everything you have done and I have ?

I even forgave you in advance of everything you will ever do, that healed me, it should heal everyone, if you have those kind of feelings towards anyone else, just look at the cross, his outstretched arms and his shed blood took care of all our sins . of our mistakes, all our headaches and all our burdens, the strong life is very, very forgiving, quick to forgive and then of course there is inner peace that another person is throwing away, that will have been a part of why your relationship with God is right, your relationship with others is right. difficulties difficulties pain comes into your life what happens despite all that there is peace and I can remember this you know some things that you can remember and that you will never forget I can remember when I heard the worst news I could ever hear a worse pastor and I received the phone call and when I finished I hung up the phone I had this overwhelming feeling of incredible peace and I remember saying God, you have taken care of me through all these other storms, you will carry me through this one because because God is faithful, he will keep his word no matter what. let's do and it's all these things that strengthen our lives so that when the torrential storms come, we don't falter, we don't give up, we don't give up and then of course the wise use of money, and that's if you have a strong life. and if you think about it for a moment, money drives most people and look at what, in other words, happens in America. is what is happening in the stock market what is happening here what is happening to this corporation what is happening to money how much money do people have well it is a really simple way and that is that we save something, we give something, we spend a little and by giving we tithe his income and we trust God to do exactly what he says and I can tell you I have been a Christian for 68 years.

I have received more than a tithe in sixty-eight years. I have been blessed again and again and again and again. again and he couldn't even tell you why, but I can tell you this, this is what happens when you obey God, you can't even tell why he blesses you, you can't predict what God will come, even though you distrust him and see what happens. In a strong life you don't talk about money if someone says but I only have enough to make ends meet, well, I've been there too and you know what my goals were, why, because God will not fall short, he will do it. exactly what it says given that she will be given to you what a good measure squeezed, shaken and overflowing that is what it says now what we deserve but what decides to give us a strong life knows how to handle money and a weak life is often not like that .

A person can know how to handle money and still have a weak life, but if a person has a strong life, he can know how to handle his money and then, of course, listen to this belonging to belonging. to a church that teaches the Bible now I wouldn't tell anyone else where to go to church, but I can say this, if you're going to live a Christian life, you need to know what a Christian life is all about if you're going to live a godly life. and follow the Lord Jesus Christ you need to be taught we listen to God teaching me continually I study all week I'm not looking for sermons I'm looking for and asking God to speak to my heart teach me something new work in my life if you go to a church and sit there twenty or thirty minutes or an hour and no one opens the Bible, you are in the wrong church, you may not like it, but let me ask you a question, why go spend an hour in a church and the Word of God is ignored, That's what the church is about.

Church is about worshiping Him. I had them under who I am worshiping from the Word of God. It is very important that you belong to a church where they teach the Word of God so that you can grow. in your life and you can be strong and you can be, you can be fruitful for the kingdom of God. I won't tell you what to do with your church. I'm just asking you why you would spend an hour in the church where the gospel is preached. They do not preach and the same qualities and characteristics of Almighty God and they never talked about those of Jesus, they ignored what it is all about.

I wouldn't go to a church like that. I wouldn't go to church. They did not teach the Word of God. because this is a time to worship him and what helps me to worship him is knowing the truth about him, where do I learn? I learned that by reading myself and I also learned from those who preceded me and who also teach me. The truths you have learned are very important: you are going to be a strong person, you have a source from which you continually draw strength, so of course a strong person works to build a strong family, if you have a strong life, you want your children be strong.

You want them to know early in life what the Christian life is all about and you want them to live the kind of life they had before them, they don't have to ask what a Christian life is like they do and say my dad or my mom is a wonderful Christian building is strong, then we had a whole sermon on this, I won't repeat it, and then a spirit of service, a person has a strength within you that comes from God, that makes you want to serve others, you want to help others. Others, you want to help others. doing something for someone else if everything goes well for you is not very fruitful it is when you are not able to give yourself to other people then a strong life is giving life not just money a strong life is giving ourselves there is someone else let me ask you this, How many of us have been helped in our lives by other people?

Each of us, we have all been helped by someone else and God wants us to do the same for other people, so of course we are the target. -oriented, meaning you have goals in life, someone once told me, how can you trust God and still have goals? Well, Jesus had goals, he says I must go through Samaria and he knew that his ultimate goal was the cross. and so God has goals for all of us, you know, it is if there is a purpose for you to live his goals and that purpose is the things that he wants you to achieve and many times a person will not do it, they will not set a goal in their life. . because you think that's too high God would never do that to me so you come down here don't listen it's God weak no God is great he's powerful he's on a mission we should set godly goals godly guilds for our life make it seem like it's something we can No I do, but God will help you achieve it if you are willing to walk the path of obedience and faith and an optimistic spirit trusting in him and in everything you do, then of course, have confidence, have confidence and this does not It means to be. conceited does not mean being proud, selfish means hearing that you have a self-confidence that is based on your relationship with God that whatever he has called you to do you can do wherever he calls you to go, you can go well, I believe. . about how many missionaries have gone to many in the world gave their lives preaching and teaching the gospel trusting that God had sent them and therefore they could weather the storms, whatever they were, each of us has a degree of confidence because when You walk towards the money but the key is on your card to start it You are sure it will start Your engines will start You will get to work You drive down a highway Most people around you are doing at least 80 or 85 You have a sense of confidence No I'm sure it's based on the confidence that you're going to get to work we have confidence in many things listen many times we have less confidence in the holy God than in the things we can't do anything about why you wouldn't be a confident person for why wouldn't you be sure that God is your heavenly Father Jesus as your Savior the Holy Spirit is your motivator and he is your energizer and why shouldn't we be confident as a strong person is and then I would mention two last things, first of all one of them is to be fruitful if you are a strong person you are going to be fruitful your life will be fruitful someone will see you and think you know what that kind of person is I want to be that is what I want in my life and we have all met people like that and I can remember to the two pastors, the first one I met, I had never heard him preach like he preached and I was in Texas, when I heard him and I remember sitting there thinking about God, I knew that someone could preach like that at night.

I listened to him, he completely transformed me,gave all kinds of confidence and security and I wanted to be fruitful in my the other man's life this first time I heard it I thought here is the second man, he really touched me. I have seen the Spirit of God working in him. I thought Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you. I heard the second man he motivated. I want to do my best no matter where in the Word of God I am faithful to the Word of God, so if you think about it, you will bear good fruit or bad fruit, and you know what happens if someone says right who determines? that no one but us are the ones who determine that and that is why a strong life bears fruit in listening, character, behavior and conversation, they have to be strong, the last thing I would say is simply this and that is this type of life of the what we're talking about will impact the lives of others you will have an influence on other people a strong life always impacts other people so I encourage you to listen to it or do it sitting here to take this list and you will say, well, this all applies to me , well, I feed it, without a doubt, an element above all those that apply to me.

I want, I want each of those things in my life when, for example, one remembers something ah when I want when I want to go when I went to achieve certain things I write them I put them next to my bed I put them in my study now while I review them and about me about them because I don't I don't want to lose them if you just put this, put this on your bow, so I'm going to keep this very close in my Bible, no, no, no, no, no, I just take it off the paper and, without However, in your heart, in your life, if you are serious if you keep it somewhere nearby where you can continue reading it and really thank God for what is missing in my life and Lord Shoji, well, first of all, no You are being obedient to me, first of all, you are not wasting your time. in words of prayer, if you want, if you want a strong life and if I ask you how many of you want a weak life, no one will want a weak life and I will only share with you the things that make a life strong. and I pray that God will root them in your heart and in your daily activities of your life.

Amen, father, we thank you this morning that you are so good to us, so kind and kind, and even in our best efforts, father, we falter, you always choose. we above keep us moving and the girl is like you said you predestined us to be conformed to your image. I pray that you sink these truths into every life and that every person is wise enough to look at themselves in the light of What is a strong life and make the decision to give it your best in the name of Jesus? Amen Jesus Christ is the foundation of a strong life, live for God and you will find peace and blessings.

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Stanley the spirit brought to life a new edition of one of his classic books this biblical perspective on the work of the Holy Spirit can deepen your intimacy with God principles of light to live by dr. Charles Stanley's exploration of the thirty fundamental truths that continue to guide his light and ministry. Order a box set on CD or DVD at InTouch Arg. Well, Dad, you just finished this fantastic three-part series called Strong and you talked about I'm. strong churches, strong families and then becoming strong personally, so what I want us to do, I thought it would be fun, is take the theme of that great series and ask how personal prayer or our interface interacts with those three themes and before.

We jumped into the details, although I thought we should talk about prayer in general now as a pastor and I don't know if you hear this, I bet you do, what I hear the most from people about prayer is Andy. Just no. I don't think prayer works, it just doesn't work and then people tell a story about something they prayed for and it didn't work. Before we get into the details, why do you think people think prayer doesn't work and what do you think? I guess in general the purpose of prayer is, to begin with, well, the purpose of prayer that most people don't even think about and that is the purpose of prayer: God wants us to develop an intimate personal relationship with Him.

He said he predestined it. us to be conformed to the likeness of his son and his son and he had this incredible relationship and that's what the artist is going for and the reason it doesn't work number one, a lot of those people who say they're praying don't. even the saved, secondly, people who are saved have sin in their lives and thirdly, many people are simply praying for selfish things, they are not praying for all people, they are not asking for God's will to be done. God, it's all about me and me. God and I are not interested in that, yes, I think that's true, in fact, when I listen to people, even Christians, if I'm in a small group and we have prayer requests, you know, the requests of prayer are usually quite self-centered or if we are not self-centered, in some way they are related to being self-centered because it is praying for my son or my daughter or my aunt, somehow that gets to me and then God doesn't do exactly what we want God to do. do and we.

They think something's wrong with God, like they know an errand boy or Santa Claus, yeah, and when I get in trouble, Lord, this is where I am, I need help, I need this, I mean not even that it's about prayer, so if I had to sum it up, you know, if someone would say it, tell me, what should I pray for? Just give me a good reason to pray, if I don't see the results I'm getting, why should I continue praying? Because it is the will. of God that you pray and Paul expressed it this way he said praying without ceasing is the development of a relationship and then if a person never prays he has no relationship with God and if you are praying only for selfish reasons that is not the relationship that he wants intimacy with us and I think until a person realizes that their prayer life will be empty now when you say prayer life, I'm thinking that many listeners and viewers prayer life who have never heard know what prayer is and what it is life.

They've never heard of the prayer life and when I was a kid, one of my first memories of us talking about this was when we lived in Miami and you built a cinder block shed in our backyard for tools and a lawnmower, but then you took part in that you put up a dividing wall and you had your study out there and mom would send me there to get you for dinner when dinner was ready and I would run out and come in the door and you would be stretched out on your I faced praying and no I could hear what you were saying, but I could hear you were saying something in my entire life.

I remember wherever we lived, you always had a place to pray and I think that is associated with your prayer life, so talk about why. you had a place and then answer this question do you think everyone should have a place or was it something you just did because of your personality? Well, you know, I grew up with my mom teaching me to pray, not necessarily and Then when I got my first paper route, I prayed out loud through the entire paper route every morning or just yes, I allowed it because there was no one in the streets at five o'clock at 5:30 in the morning, so I didn't do it.

I care what they heard me or not and I did it because I felt the need and I grew up in a situation that you know I needed God. At first I didn't do very well in school and that's how I grew up. I was overcome with a feeling of need for him and the wonderful thing about this is that he taught me to start my days every day talking to him and I still do, and so when I look back on those moments and then I think of the time that has passed since then in every studio I have ever had I have always had a place to pray a prayer room and it became a way of life for me to start the day with the Lord and when I didn't, for example at home a place in my studio I had a place to pray and one of the reasons I think you need a place is that I discovered this as a result of doing it and that's when I got to the place where I was going to pray, it's like I didn't have to prepare wow the words I had been there so many times for the same reason of talking to the Lord when I arrived I didn't have to say well you forget about this and that is how I was ready and the second thing and people will think that this is nonsense, but it doesn't matter what they think at the time. regard.

There are times when I pray, I want to cover my head and the times when I would pray, I want to be in a dark room I don't want distractions and I think there's something about having a place where you and God meet and that place is very precious and very special is where you open your heart is where you claim your promises is where you deal with trials, heartaches and burdens and your life that you can't even share with anyone else becomes like an altar Li is like a place of sacrifice you and the Father meet and They share their heart and I pray out loud most of the time and someone says well you don't have to pray all that no I don't but I do it because what I discovered I don't get distracted if I'm praying out loud if I'm just sitting you're mumbling mm -hmm then I started thinking about something else but if I am talking to the Lord and I am speaking out loud and unloading my heart to him and believing that he is listening to me and so many times I had discovered this and having that place if I had arrived by the afternoon after a pretty hard day or even if it wasn't such a hard day and I had lain on my stomach, that's how I pray and people said you don't have to kneel, no. you don't, but to me our reverence God is a holy God and I feel like that's what I need to do personally, but I lied and sometimes I would go to sleep many times while you were praying, yeah, that's right, I bet.

No one listening today had that happen to them before, so I was going to sleep and this is the interesting thing. When I wake up, I am very alert and it is as if God allows me to go to sleep to scale my spirit and just get out of me all the things that I have been thinking about and the things that may have worried me so that that quiet time is a time when God just cleanses me and makes it possible for me to focus on him, so you've always had a place, I've always had a place, so tell us about your places and the reason I ask you is because when I speak, this is one of the best things you taught.

I because I've always had a place and I've always had a place to pray because I grew up seeing that and for me and respond to this is this sounds like if this is what you're talking about when I was in college I would go to Georgia State. I would arrive early and found a hallway. It was a staircase that was an emergency staircase if the elevators or escalators were not working. I arrived early and sat on the same step. The same floor inside the same door every morning before school at Georgia State University on the days I had class and that was my place in school and the only thing I did there because it was the only time I went to that hallway.

I would sit there and, to your point, it's like I was immediately ready to start my social life. So at home I had a different place, but I tell people all the time that it doesn't have to be a prayer room, it doesn't have to be. a prayer closet could be a chair and the only time you sit in that chair in a guest room is when you're going to have your devotional life, that's what you're talking about you absolutely know and when I was growing up too We had a house very small and I found the place in the church that is two blocks down, in the basement, back there to go through three doors and get to the distillation room, but in the afternoon, after delivering the newspapers, I went in. there and simply pour my heart out to the Lord and ask for direction for my life.

I can pray as hard as I want and no one does and I wouldn't prank anyone else but somehow when I pray out loud I don't get distracted and my mind doesn't get distracted but that place is very valuable and I think the whole world needs a place. I really need it and I have pastor friends and when I talk about these things they ask me about my devotional life and they always answer me. It seems like I'm surprised that I have a place and I just assume that not everyone has a place, but that's because I grew up that was just an assumption, so I don't think it's a personality thing.

I really think people need a place. place and I think we need to pray out loud, not because God can't hear our prayers, but you're absolutely right, people say, well, my mind wanders when I pray and I always say exactly what you inferred, I say it's because I don't You don't pray out loud, you have thinking prayers, so all you need is for a new thought to arise, but if you pray out loud and there's no one around, no one will interrupt you. You know there are a lot of interruptionsmental if you do. Praying out loud is a focus point.

You know, the second thing about praying out loud. Sometimes I have been praying and I will. I will talk a lot about something in particular and when I hear myself say it I think oh yeah. Lord, do you ever write things down while you're praying? Absolutely, that's why I keep a notepad. I know we're getting a little off topic, but that's what I do too and that's kind of interesting, so why would you stop doing it? praying to write something because I don't want to forget his words if God said it I don't want to forget it and many times and I discovered this too if I'm studying and I'm tired I get into the prayer room I fall asleep deeply and without wanting to but I do it when I wake up I'm so Really I'm so renewed it's like God is clear that everything now he can speak yes and I discovered that first of all I thought, well, I'm not very spiritual I'm going to sleep I'm supposed to be praying no, it's God's time to quiet down our spirit so that you can really hear what he has to say and I think that encourages a lot of people because I think everyone who has been a Christian for a long time gets frustrated by how easily they get distracted and how often they they fall asleep when you're praying, but you're saying that God can use that if we don't wake up and then we get busy again and we miss that opportunity to wake up to listen to them and listen to them carefully, and this all assumes that you've set aside time for this. and this is not prayer while driving this is not I have five minutes this is throughout your life and I guess the paper route helped you establish that you have set aside time and for you it's usually the mornings and you know III I started in the mornings because at that time in my life I was thirteen years old and it was that all these streets and everything and where I live and I was afraid so I got up and before I got out of bed I started praying and you know this is a habit that I have had for these years before I get out of bed I ask God to give me wisdom for the day and direction and make me sensitive to his presence and I want to be obedient to your Lord today, whatever it may be or get out before I get out of bed. the bed because I love the line and the quiet and the darkness and someone says why would you cover your head?

You would cover my head because I don't want anything. distractions and then if I don't see anything, I hear nothing, it's just God, me and I love that, and there's a lot of Old Testament imagery, there's a lot of reverence for isolation, there's a lot of Jewish tradition around that same idea, even things that are not in the Old Testament, where that was part of the separation, it almost represented the private Tabernacle entering the Holy of Holies, this is my silence, that is my holy polish, that's fine, so let's change the subject a little bit of the series that you made it strong, it's fantastic, it took these three topics, church family and personal life, so let's talk a little bit about praying for the church now.

I guess most Christians never pray for their church, they may pray for their pastor, but in terms of just praying. for your local church and I think you and I would agree that if there is an institutional organization anywhere in the world that needs prayer, not because things are bad but because you know that the church is really the epicenter of church activity God on earth. I know Jesus said I'm going to build my church, that's the only thing he said he was going to build and he's been building it for 2000 years, so if you could say to every Christian in our country, I want you to pray for your local church and this is what I want you to pray, what would you like you to pray when thinking about strong local churches?

I would pray first for my church to have a vision of its purpose of reaching people for Christ and second to meet their needs. I would pray for unity of spirit in what we do, we do it together, we go in one direction in three. I would pray for the spirit of obedience to permeate that church and I would pray for an awareness of dependence on the holy spirit. to accomplish all the work that yacht presents in the church, then in a sense, anyone who heard that message could actually take those points and each one of them could be what they pray for their local church, although I chose three or four.

I don't think I remember exactly. I think that was point number nine where you talked about unity and I want to read this passage from John 17 and let you comment on this because in John 17, as you know and most of your audience knows, this was The Priestly Prayer of Jesus and It's so fascinating because he prays for his disciples and then he prays for those who will believe based on his testimony, which is us, so in essence he is praying for us in the future and for the future Church and I just think this. It's such an interesting comment Jesus is John 17:20 Jesus says my prayer is not just for them talking about the current disciples of him.

I also pray for those who will believe in me through their message and then in the next verse it tells us what they pray for and sometimes when I preach this passage I tell people, okay, now we are about to find out what Jesus prayed for us. , what do you think it was and I let people guess what they think he's going to pray, he could pray. anything for us and prayed exactly what you just mentioned so that all of them may be one father just as you and they are you and I and I in you that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have He told me that The reason people will take the church seriously is the unity that they see in the church and that's why I think it's very important that we all pray for the churches so that there is unity, not necessarily around the style or the way in which that Do things that, but outsiders would look at us, so when you think about praying for unity in the church again, give us one that you know, if you forget everything else, I tell you that you are going to pray for your local church.

Well, should we pray about that? I would pray that the Spirit of God would speak to the hearts of the people in the church, that we would have a unified mind in our hearts about who we are, where we are going, what we are trying to accomplish, and that total dependence on the Lord Himself. and I think one of the reasons Jesus said that is because if there is no unity, what is our message to the world, yeah, we don't have a message if there is this unity and you think about churches that are divided and the pastor is thrown out. or he leaves or whatever and there is this unity that is heartache there is disappointment there are accusations like anger all kinds of things and I mean, Jesus, of course, foresaw all of that and when he prayed that prayer, he was indicating how extremely important It is the spirit of unity for effectiveness. of the body of Christ and isn't it interesting?

I mean, 2,000 years ago there wasn't even a church yet and he knew that the number one thing the church would struggle with was unity. I mean, it's really great because we know the churches. It's rarely divided over theology, that would be kind of a breath of fresh air, right, it was divided over disunity between people over some of the silliest things we've ever had and look at the apostle Paul, he wrote all those letters, but there was conflict wherever he went. the disunity is the Pharisees Sadducees, you know, those who love the law and I mean, it was total confusion.

In fact, I think at times I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be the pastor of the Corinthian church, there was nothing but conflict, disorder, sin, disobedience and I think Paul had an incredible sense of commitment because disunity was one of the biggest. problems that he faced, you know, and that's precisely what Jesus prayed for, okay? The second thing you talked about in the strong series was family and in the message you said. A strong family is one in which family members have great love and devotion for each other. A strong family is one in which the members of that family have great love and devotion for each other.

So with that in mind, how should we pray for our families and I think just family in general, how would you do it? How would you do so well? I can tell you how I prayed for my family and you are part of that. I prayed number one that the spirit of obedience would be transferred from my life to your life in that his life and in his life I prayed that you would discover God's will for your life I prayed that you would walk obediently before him I prayed that you would do your best what you could or what God called you to do and people often asked me well, did you pray to go to the ministry?

I said no, I never suggested it, I just said that my wish for you is that you be obedient to God, whatever that requires of you, and I pray for the family. so I also think that we have to pray for his protection and a sense of discernment to know what is right and what is wrong and what is good and what is better and what is the will of the Father and that his business of unity within the family that en It's not always like this, but I think it's a vital part of what we pray for the family and praying for us to have a testimony as a family.

Yes, I have a testimony and I think that is very important today because you look at most families today. We are all separated, we have no concept of a true sense of love and devotion towards each other when we had our first child and Andrew was in a car seat. I remember we were driving to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and I told Sandra. I told. and I'm not really a great goal setter, you are an amazing goal setter and you helped me with that, but that's just not a strength for me, but I said I feel like we need to have a family goal or two and then we would pray for this goal if we can establish what the North Star is for our family, what is the place where we want to be one day and this was over 20 years ago and we came up with this idea and it goes straight to With this idea of ​​unity, we decided that the finish line or the bullseye on the goal for us as a family would be that when our children were old enough to not have to be with us, they would want to be with us when they had the choice to be where they wanted to be and go where they wanted to go that when they could there would be a wish no oh it's Christmas we have to go it's Thanksgiving we have to go but they would lean they would want to be with us and set that as a goal and praying for that and praying with them for that here we are 20 years later and recently we were the five of us together and we were walking and finishing dinner and I just whispered to Sandra I said it worked I said look at our kids, you know, they're 21 19 and around 21 19 17, you know there's a stage where they can get in their cars, go to college and enjoy being together and I really think it was establishing that from the beginning. but then, to your point, you not only define what a strong family is but you pray to that end because, as you know, when you pray to an end, that shapes your behavior and that's why I feel like we're at a stage where We are reaping the benefits of really praying in that same direction, well, you remember when we were growing up, many times when we had a problem, we had a table this size and we all understood that we had a right place, we would all gather around the table and pray. to find out if it was buying a car or a house or whatever about moving to the right and I remember that I think one of the important things is to involve children in important decisions and when I was thinking about leaving Bartow and coming to First Baptist Atlanta I decided one of the things that What I was worried about is how do you respond to the fact that we lived in Bartow and you know two blocks away we understood that it was a big lake where we could fish and do all these things, so I said let's go for a ride on bike, which we did quite often and I remember the question I asked, I said Andy, what would you think if I told you I was thinking about leaving Bartow and moving to a big city, Atlanta, Georgia?

I thought never forget what you said, said, quoted well and accurately every time God has spoken before. and we have obeyed him, he has always blessed us, why hurry? I said that's exactly what you said and then I said thank you Jesus fifth grade yeah I said thank you Jesus that's how long you know I would say I was young you thought I was flesh and blood didn't he reveal to you that you're only in fifth grade , you know this well, but you grew up believing in God and trusting in him and believing that prayer mattered and I think we prayed about everything and we went back and connected some of these. points and you mentioned this because this is later in my notes, we had a, you know, we talked about having a place of prayer individually, but we had a place of prayer as a family, some people call it a family altar, you were great as a group. pastor about not spiritualizing things too much and I've tried to do that with my kids because as a pastor people expect you to have a family altar.

I really don't even know what that is, but we had a place where you said, let's pray and We all knew we were going to go right to that round coffee table and we were going to kneel and pray, so as a father, Sander and I did the same thing. Ours is a little less formal, we call it staring. prayer and it's because we always met on the stairs we said, let's pray, let's go to the stairs, we could kneel if when we kneeled or sat down and since the children were older and you know, we could all go up to the stairs, so over time we called It's ladder prayer andWe still called it that the other night, Allie, Sandra and I went and said let's pray and we all just headed upstairs so having a place even as a family can make a significant difference and you are evidence of the fact that it is fruitful and that it works well time will tell at this point my forgetfulness has been good let's move on to the third category we talked about praying for the church and the beautiful first family and in the third part of the series you talked about having a strong life, so , when you think about it, you had a lot of useful content, but when you think about whether I'm going to pray for a strong life, what is central, why you specifically pray, what is somehow unique, well, my personal conviction is. to pray to God, I want to be an obedient servant, so make me sensitive to what you are saying, correct anything in my heart of my life that may cause me disobedience in any way, so I believe that obedience is Ishi and if you think Al respect, you don't hit, people talk about obedience, no, and when I talk about being obedient to God, I'm sure a lot of people think, what does that mean?

It means you do what He says to do and it means you have found. in the word exactly what he says and I believe that effective prayer cannot be separated from reading the Word of God because you can get ahead in all kinds of situations and circumstances without the Word of God and this is fine. That is why I call the Bible the guide, this guides me in every decision in life. You can't think of anything, so you read God's Word, this is what he says, and then you talk to him about it. Well, God, what did you mean?

For this reason, and it is not having a Bible study, it is looking for guidance to think carefully now, what if we deal with the situation? The circumstances in my goal for all of you were so early in life that you could never remember when I or I began praying together. I can remember when you're not, you didn't even have a clue who I was. I got a massage in your bed at night. I prayed that the Lord would bless you and give you guidance and to God that law that you show. ended very early in life your will for his life I pray that before you did not understand what the will of God was about and I prayed it when you did not know what it was about and I have always prayed that God would show you his will and that you would walk in it and I say the same thing about Becky and I think if parents would focus on that one thing, Lord, show them your will and give them the wisdom and the courage to be obedient. takes care of everything, yes, and again it becomes directional, the children here, their parents pray for them and there are many things that you learn just by listening to your parents pray for you in your message and this took me by surprise and and At first I thought which I don't know, but then I thought no, this is a big deal.

You talked about maintaining an optimistic perspective and I thought in terms of having a strong life that is really powerful clinically and it's been shown that optimists just do better in life. live longer how is there a connection between your prayer life and your absolute optimism and this is the reason why I am talking to the almighty God who has all the power to do all things secondly I am talking to a God who I am absolutely unconditionally speaking to a God who wants the best for me. I am talking to a God who has promised in his word to allow me to achieve anything and everything he set out to achieve and so I believe that if a person's prayer life is affected, they will be optimistic, they will be excited and I wake up every morning. excited.

I do it and even when I am facing some trial or some particular burden, I can end up thanking God, you heard me, I know. You're going to work on this just like I did this morning praying to someone very special in my life and praying for the Spirit of God to give them wisdom and direction and then you know it's a powerful thing and I think one of the main things about prayer that the Lord taught me that in fact I was in seminary the first year the second year and my place to pray was in the corner of the room I had no living room and a very small kitchen a bedroom the bathroom that was like in Nocona I will never forget this is and I was praying for school and the future and so on, it's like the Lord told me very clearly and I don't know why I was praying at that particular point, but it's like he was telling me: you have to remember this, it's not you, it's me, it is me in you and secondly, he told me very clearly, everything you achieve in life you will achieve on your knees, not with your education, not with your intelligence, not on your gifts, on your knees, so that was the sign from God to me, you operate on your knees with devotion to him no matter what, and when I think of all the battles I fought in these 80 years, it worked.

I mean, I'm an optimist because I've seen God help me get through so many things that other people would have said no to, give up and walk away or whatever. I don't know how you can pray actively if you are not praying with faith, that is, faith. in God that he will do what he says, he will be what he said he will be and he will allow you no matter what I am and I heard a clinical psychologist who was not giving a spiritual talk, it was just an informational talk on behavior. and they did extensive studies on educated people and not so educated people, super bright people, not so bright people who were in a certain type of sales and they were trying to figure out what the common denominator was or the people who did well and who who didn't do it and then they looked at all kinds of different categories and determined that at the end of the day it was the belief that the person who believed they could do it and the person who somewhere along the way stopped believing they could do it.

And when I heard that I thought it's so amazing that it's the central teaching of Jesus, especially in the book of John, he comes back again and again to the importance of believing and not simply believing in the promises of God, although that is extraordinarily important. . It's not fundamental to us as Christians, but just the human characteristic of belief and then when I saw that in your message, I thought that's a big part of who you are and what you've done. You have always believed that God would do what God has done. You promised, but you've always believed that anything is possible, it's just that you grew up telling me that you can do anything you set your mind to, it's possible and you're an optimist and I guess despite the way you were raised.

You had every reason to be pessimistic, but I think it's powerful and I was very happy that in the message, even though it seemed like you knew there was no verse for optimism, you know it's absolutely true and there's certainly a spiritual component to it. Well, if you think about it, look at the god you serve and if you walk obediently before him and listen to him, how can you lose? Yeah, and I remember when they were voting for me at the First Baptist Church of Atlanta and stuff. The big business meeting we had is here, they keep me away from me and I'm sitting on the wing and no one knows I'm there and in the process I had my Bible open and I was looking at this verse and he says no weapon formed against You will prosper and I'm sitting reading that and I hear all these people saying all the things they want to say, it's all over, they voted for me to be the pastor and I think there's something very important about praying with the scriptures because everything I had that night was a pastor's scripture, no weapon formed against you shall prosper, so I said I keep reading it and I heard all this and I keep reading that and I was thinking this morning I was talking to someone who is going through a very difficult time and they gave me a passage of Scripture and confidence of what they were going to do and then I gave this back to them because they said: I want to be sure I say the right thing it is very important and because I am strategic it was I gave him this verse I put my words in your mouth and they have covered you with the shadow of my hand wow that's Isaiah what I was there 51 16 and 551c read it read it one more time ok, I put my words in your mouth and I have covered you with a shadow of my hand imagine that and I will tell you what I didn't mean one time when President Reagan was president and a group of us were meeting with him and, of course, you have to get your picture and everything so you know we can't give him anything, but he was getting ready to go to Russia the next week.

I wrote that on a very small piece of paper, shook his hand and said sir. President, God told me to give him this and he took it, yes, and I found out that later he told one of the people who works with them that the most important thing that had happened in that meeting was a note that someone gave him . Actually yes, I thought it was very interesting and I had never heard that story before. Yes, well, I don't tell it because I don't want anyone to think well. Do you know President Reagan well? I think we should probably give him everything.

To his credit is all his success until the day you gave him that note that could have been the defining moment in his presidency, well, what happened to tear it down, the Berlin Wall? No, well, you think about walking away and he thinks, "Oh, cool, you know?" I mean, people are always trying to give the prize. I mean, people are always trying to give us things. Imagine the president being right and he stands in a quiet corner and is about to hand it to someone else or throw it away and watch him put it in his pocket. and as you know, presidents don't really carry anything there, it's almost too dignified like the King, carrying something is almost work, so to think he had that in his pocket and maybe it was the only thing he carried that day or the days coming, that was a pretty bold move because I put my words in your mouth and covered you with a shadow of my hand, meaning he would tell you what to say and I would cover it there.

Wow, okay, we're finishing up and We've talked about prayer, the purpose of prayer, that most people need a place and we need to pray out loud and we talked about praying to this grid to pray for your church, pray for unity, John 17, pray for it, pray for your family and pray. for you personally, to build on a solid foundation, anything else you want to add to all that or a different topic or in short to your audience before we finish, yes, I would just say this: your life will be determined by your life of prayer what you achieved or what you failed to achieve your prayer life based on the truth of the word of God will determine your success from your failure your relationship with God Almighty in others and whether you achieve in life what you set out to achieve and above Everything will determine the degree of intimacy you have with your heavenly Father.

Very very important. Well, that was fantastic. I can't think of a better way to conclude. Thank you for having this conversation. I think everyone loves to appear a little deeper. coming into your personal life makes it more personal for all of us, so thank you and I love doing it with you and I love you, thank you.