CTN Episode 23 | A Conversation That Inspires Faith, Purpose & Renewal

0:00 You pray it, and He can answer it. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. God will put the prayer in your heart to pray so that He can answer it. It goes into the hearts of the people. It doesn't return void. It produces results. Welcome to our broadcast, Prayer and Purpose, and I'm your host, Margie Florent. Thank you for joining us today. part three of following hard after god i've been teaching you how to develop the practice of secret prayer and we're going to go ahead i'm going to go ahead just jump right in here um where How do we develop the practice of secret prayer? We said, number one, decide on a time that works best for you where you will not be interrupted. Number two, find a spot in your home that you call your prayer closet. It's any place that you would call your quiet spot, a place that you've devoted. to your time with God. So when you sit down, your mindset is, I am going to seek the Lord. This is my time with Him. This is my time that I'm gonna spend with Him uninterrupted. Number three, we said, begin where you are. What does that mean? It means begin with 15 minutes. Don't set your goal

1:32 and your devotional time to be something that is unattainable to you. Begin with 15 minutes and the Lord will perfect your prayer time, your prayer life. We said begin by stirring yourself up. How do you stir yourself up? You stir yourself up with words you understand. In other words. praying the scripture, taking your need to the word of God. And that's what you pray out. That's what you present before the throne of God. If you're, if you are dealing with, with anxiety, finding the scriptures that talk about, I cast all my cares on you today, Lord. And I thank you that I will stay in perfect peace because my mind is stayed on you. In other words, praying the scriptures. Okay. And then we talked about, you know, praying in tongues or praying in the spirit. And those of you that have been listening to any of my teachings know that I'm a... big proponent of praying in tongues or praying in the holy ghost and when it comes to closet prayer and spending time in the place of prayer and stirring yourself up that is one of these exercises that i participate in i pray in the holy ghost i start walking the floors if i'm not sitting praying in tongues praying in the holy ghost Or I may sing in tongues, singing in the spirit.

3:02 The Bible says they heard the magnified God. And when you sing in tongues, you can sing worship songs unto God. They are songs that are in the spirit, songs that God understands. And it brings joy to his heart. And the beauty of it, too, is that praise stills the avenger. And if you have any kind of warfare coming against your mind, you know, it'll still the avenger. help you to focus in on Jesus we said it's important to have the right music that is another way to stir yourself up when you have the right song you have the right worship music you play it and it causes the anointing to come into your time of prayer and then in our last episode we talked about going deeper and I said some things are better caught then taught so when I talked about going deeper I shared about how we have an inward life and we have an outward life so when we're going deeper what we want to do the Bible says I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me and we talked about shutting off your mind and drawing inward and hooking yourself up to the inside of you. God is not out here. God is not in the sky. God is not in the sense realm or the feeling realm. The Bible

4:34 says you are the temple, the very sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. As God has said, I dwell in them. I walk in them. I will be their God. They will be my people. when you pray and you want to dive deeper, it's a posture in the spirit whereby you're setting your affections on things above and you're using the eyes of your spirit, not these eyes, but it's the eyes of your heart. And you're looking onto Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith. And you're looking at him. And so we want to draw inward. And we said that when you draw inward and you shut your mind off and you hook yourself, up to the inside.

5:18 If your mind starts to wander or your thoughts just start thinking about all the things about your day that need to be done instead of just going out, you know, just getting in condemnation, just shut your mind off and go back and draw back inward and go back into that place of deep prayer and intimacy with him. Now let's go on. So here we are, we're drawing in. We've postured our heart. We've shut off our mind. We're focusing in on the Lord. So where do we go from here? We want to focus our attention on Jesus or the Heavenly Father and then use our spiritual imagination.

6:07 And we'll talk about that. So we want to focus our attention on either Jesus. or the heart of the Father. Now a lot of who we focus on has to do with what you need for that day. Remember, the scripture says, give us this day our daily bread. So whatever you need for that day is what you will focus on. Either the Holy Spirit will lead you as to what to focus on or in your heart. You just know I need the heart of the father today. I just need to sit on my heavenly father's lap. I just need to to just. Just be loved on by my father in heaven. And I need to just rest in his presence, rest in the palm of his hand as his beloved child. Or you may need to spend time with Jesus. So you need to follow your heart.

7:03 Follow the desire of your heart. Follow the intuition of your heart. going to focus in on today on jesus or on the heart of the father and when you do what we want to do is we want to look at him and use our spiritual imagination remember the scripture i'll keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me so it's taking your mind and using it for good taking your mind and with the scripture using your spiritual imagination it's so interesting because i don't know if you've ever heard of andrew walmak but i stumbled upon some outstanding teachings that he he he gave and they were all about the imagination and the power of the imagination and i've always taught that you can use your spiritual imagination in the place of prayer and it helps us to stay focused and centered on him and it keeps our prayer time and our prayer life fun and exciting but i never really heard anybody teach it in the depth that he he did so i would just encourage you look for that on the internet he taught several episodes on the power of the imagination So we use our

8:36 spiritual imagination in the place of prayer and we look at him. Hebrews 12, 12, 2 says we must keep our eyes on Jesus who leads us and makes our faith complete. Another scripture, Exodus 33, 11 says, and the Lord spoke to Moses face to face. Just like a friend. Now, my friends, to me, this speaks of eye contact. You're looking unto Jesus. Moses spoke to God face to face as a man speaks to his friend. So it's a posture in prayer, a posture in your heart where you're connecting with the heart of God. And you're looking away from anything that would distract.

9:32 And you're looking at him. And you're using your spiritual imaginations. Now, I'm going to give you some visuals. Okay, here's a visual, and I've used this one. And I want to share it with you. Luke 10, 38. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. And she had a sister called Mary, listen to this, who sat at the Lord's feet. listening to what he said. But Martha, we know that, you know, we know about Martha. She was distracted. The Bible goes on to say that Jesus said, but Mary chose what is better and it will not be taken away from her. So here's a visual. And I've used this visual. I'll just imagine Jesus standing in front of me. And I'll imagine that I'm sitting at his feet and I'm listening to his words. I take the scripture and I make it alive. I take the scripture and I imagine Jesus. I imagine the son of God. I imagine the son of God who went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed of the devil. I imagine him. And here's another.

11:00 visual out of the book of revelations that I want to share with you concerning imagining Jesus now this is the resurrected Lord the Lord the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm going to read that but before we do we talk about the resurrected if you ever want to have a visual of Jesus, read the book, I Believe in Visions by Kenneth E. Hagan. Not only does that book refer and talk about the end times and what's happening in the end times, which I believe we're actually living in today, but he talks about what he said when he looked at Jesus, because he had open visions of Jesus. Now, most of us have never had that imagination, but he said when he looked at Jesus, He says his eyes locked with Jesus's eyes. He says in his eyes were like liquid wells of love.

11:55 They were crystal blue and they were like. like the the like like water and his eyes just it was like you could see through him and it just went forever and ever and ever as he looked into his eyes he said when i looked into the face of jesus i couldn't even look at him he said he he fell on his feet he fell on on the floor you know and the bible talks about that when people saw jesus they fell at his feet as one dead right but it's just imagining what does jesus's eyes look like So here's the resurrected Lord. Revelation chapter 5, here's another visual. Verse 8 says, Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which, by the way, are the prayers of the saints. You don't think your prayers avail much? You don't think God hears you? Well, here it is. When you pray, your prayers go up before the throne room of God.

12:56 and they are as incense. And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll to open its seal, for you were slain, and you have redeemed us to God by your blood. And you've made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign on the earth. And verse 11, And I looked, and I heard, the voice of many angels round about the throne living creatures and the elders and the number of them was 10 ,000 times thousands and thousands saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and every creature which is in heaven and in earth and under the earth and such as is in the sea and all that are in them i heard them saying blessing and honor and glory and power to him who sits on the throne into the lamb forever and ever And the four living creatures said, amen. And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever. And sometimes I've used that as a visual. And I'll imagine myself, Hebrews 4, 16, before the throne room of God, before the throne room of grace. And I'll imagine all. the family of God that the Bible speaks of. And I'll imagine all of us standing

14:27 before the throne and we're worshiping him in spirit and in truth. And we're saying, holy, holy, holy Lord God almighty, heaven and earth are filled with your glory. And I just imagine myself before the throne room of God. Now this keeps us focused. This makes prayer fun. But not only that, this is actually happening before the throne of God right now. When you pray and you enter into your secret time of prayer with him, you are just entering into heaven's worship.

15:07 Okay? And then you can imagine the Father. Like I said, sometimes you just need the Father. But here's the thing. And I talk again, I'm going to talk about this. I talk about the heart of the father in this book extensively, because when we talk about the father, sometimes people are afraid of the father. They're afraid of what he might say. They're afraid of what he might do. They're afraid he might abuse him. They're afraid that they're not good enough. Well, God is not like a man. He is, the Bible says, the perfect father. So when you imagine the father, if you have issues. or father issues with the heavenly father because if you had natural father issues you probably have heavenly father issues well you can be healed of that because when you read what the father is like jesus said he that has seen me has seen the father you look at the life and ministry of jesus and he was a he he went about doing good every good and every perfect gift comes from the father. So sometimes I just imagine my heavenly father and I, as a child of God, sometimes I just need him as my father.

16:22 And this may sound a little strange, but sometimes I just imagine him. according to the scripture, in the palm of his hand. And he's holding me or he's molding me or he's shaping me. He's protecting me. He's with me. Or I imagine myself sitting on his lap in the throne room and him looking at me and talking to me without fear. So those are some visuals. And I hope that helped you. We're going to go ahead and take a break here. And when I get back. Let's see if we're going to be able to finish this teaching. The Lord spoke to me one day. He said, Marty, many of my people desire to be intimate with me. They desire to spend time with me. They desire to have a vibrant prayer life, but they just don't know where to begin. They just don't know how to start. So I wrote this book with that in mind.

17:23 Encountering God through prayer. Simple strategies to develop a powerful prayer life. I take the reader from the very basics. Begin where you are. Begin with 15 minutes. Find a quiet place in your house. Go into a closet if you have to. Shut the door. Just begin where you are. And I teach the reader about the heart of the Father. Because if you don't know who God is, you're not going to understand His character and His nature, and you'll be afraid of Him. So I go into the heart of the Father. Who is the Father?

18:05 What's His character? What's His nature? And then I take the reader all the way up into... what I call contemplative prayer. So if you would like a wonderful resource on how to begin your prayer life, I encourage you to get this book, Encountering God Through Prayer. My book Contend, Stewarding the Hearts and Destinies of Our Children Through Prayer, is one of my most favorite projects thus far. In this book, I teach the reader how to pray effectively for their children, their grandchildren. and the rising generations that are in the earth today. Make no mistake about it. There is war over the hearts and the destinies of our children. And this book will equip you as to how to pray effectively for those young people. In this book, I teach you about the power and the purpose of praying in tongues. I show you what a prayer alert looks like. There are sample prayers. Not only that, there are outlines at the end of each Okay, let's go on. I have

19:36 totally and completely enjoyed these episodes of teaching you the practice of secret prayer. So we talked about using visuals and I would encourage you to do that as well. Now, when you're in the place of prayer, this is a good one. Practice silence. I know prayer is communication. You know, we're always the one talking, but it's very important, my friends, to practice silence. And inwardly, go back inward again. We're talking about that again. The inward life. Reflect on Him. Psalms 46 .10 says, Be still and know that I am God. Psalms 4 .3 says, Meditate within your heart on your bed and be what? Be still. Psalms 62 .5 says, My soul waits silently for God alone for my expectation is from him. So in the place of prayer, there's times you just go inward and you practice silence and quietness and you're still before him and you're reflecting on him.

20:55 It's the type of prayer I call. contemplative prayer and contemplative prayer is a meditative kind of prayer characterized by quiet thoughts it's not moving your mouth it's going inward and reflecting on him and thinking on him and standing in awe of him and you're postured and you're right there with Him. You are one with him. You're intimate with him. Nobody can take that from you. It's a place in prayer that you've gone deeper than you've ever gone before. So it's practicing silence. You are thinking, I love you, Lord. You're not saying it. You're thinking it. I honor you. You are so good. Or there is an internal song of worship. Inside of you, you are worshiping him. And you don't want to disturb that silence. You want to just stay there because it's such a peaceful place and a deep place. And it's the place in prayer, you know, where the disciples said in Luke 12, 33, did not RR. hearts burn within us when he talked with us on the road and he opened the scriptures to us. It's a place of quiet and reflection and reflection and contemplative prayer whereby

22:27 you're quiet and you're so close to him experientially where your heart just begins to burn. And what I love about that when you've entered into that and it takes practice. to get there you may not get there the first day but what I like about that is you take his presence that connection with you when you go about your daily walk go about doing your daily errands it's in you and nothing can take that time that you had with him okay and lastly it's it's a time to just wait and listen prayer communication right so listen for the voice of God listen for a scripture listen to a word that's where your journal comes in you get your journal out and you start writing down what you sense he's saying you write down some of the thoughts that you're thinking you write down if you hear maybe a half of the scripture you hear a part of his scripture. And then later on you go and you look it up in the concordance.

23:41 It's listening to him. It's communion with him. It's an exchange of thoughts and emotions. Okay. Now here's the thing. What happens if I pray and Margie, I don't hear anything. Well, that's okay. Sometimes I go weeks and I don't really hear anything. So I go to the scripture. If you want a word from God, you go to the word of God and you can hear him speak anytime, any place. But I love it when he does have that, what we would call rhema word, right? That rhema word that where God is speaking directly to you, but you in essence have the logos, which is the word of God. But you can go just as much by what he doesn't say. as much as by what he does say so if you don't hear any things per se it's okay you've connected with him but i want to encourage you to take time to listen to him okay now you may say well how frequently should i practice this secret closet prayer well the bible says give us this day our daily bread i would encourage you to practice it daily practice the presence of god daily if you can't practice closet secret prayer Then walk with him in continual prayer and communion unto him. Boy, I really enjoyed teaching this. I really enjoyed sharing this

25:11 message with you. I have been so excited about getting this out and getting this into your hearts so that you too can have intimacy with God. If Moses knew God face to face as a man speaks to a friend, I've often said to God, why can't we have that kind of? walk with you when we are under a better covenant based upon better promises okay so we're going to end where we started with the psalm of david psalm 63. this is going to be our prayer oh god you are our god early I will seek you. Our soul thirsts for you. Our flesh longs for you in the dry and thirsty land where there is no water. My father, my friends are looking for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory. Father, we know that your loving kindness is better than life. And today our lips praise you. Our heart rejoices in you.

26:12 So father, we thank you that today we remember you. And we meditate upon you. You have been our help. So therefore father. We say even as David says. Our soul. Follows you closely. Follows close behind you. And your right hand. Upholds us. So. God bless you. Take this scripture into your next time of prayer. Psalm 63. Use it as a matter of fact if you want. for several days or a week or a month. Just continue in your pursuit of God because he said, I'm with you always and I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you.

26:59 There are several prayers spoken of in the word of God. The prayer of intercession is just one of those prayers spoken of in Ephesians 6 .18. And this particular book, Marked for Intercession, teaches the reader how to pray for your family, how to pray for your friends, how to stand in the gap for a nation, how to pray for leadership, and it goes on and on and on. I would encourage you to get this book. and dive in deep so that you can be that man, you could be that woman that would stand in the gap and put up the hedge and be the love of God expressed in the earth. You can go to my website at margieflorent .org and not only will you find my book, but I also have a workbook that goes with the subject of marked for intercession. This is my book, Decision Time. Everyone should read this book, especially those of you who are at a crossroads in your life. You don't know what to do. You don't know how God is leading you. This is the book where you reach a place where you say, Lord, not my will, your will be done in my life. I also include in this book. how to hear the voice of God, which is important when you're making decisions. If you go to my website at margieflorant .org, you will see that this book is available to you.

28:25 Thank you so much for tuning in to today's podcast. It has been such a joy sharing this time with you. For more inspiration and resources on today's topic, please visit our website at margieflorant .org.