CTN Prayer & Purpose – Episode One 🎙️

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, doesn't return void, it produces results. Welcome to our broadcast, Prayer and Purpose. I'm your host, Marty Florent. Today, we're going to discuss the necessity of being a man and a woman of prayer it's necessary in the day and the hour that you and i live that we have a vibrant intimate prayer life with our lord and savior jesus christ you see we are living in challenging times and i don't have to tell you that darkness gross darkness is covering the earth that there's a lot of trials tribulations our young people are experiencing a lot of fear a lot of anxiety a lot of torment we are living in challenging times and prayer my friends we're going to learn in this broadcast is our lifeline it's necessary that we be men and women of prayer you know the bible says we have not because we ask not even in the case of things that we have need of in our everyday lives we have to ask of god and as we continue in our study and in

1:31 our teachings we're going to find out exactly why we need to ask we're going to find out exactly why we need to be close to god in the day and in the hour that we live in today so i have a very interesting scripture it's actually one of my favorite scriptures it's a scripture found in luke chapter 11 verse 1 where the disciples came to jesus and they said lord Teach us to pray. Now, I want you to notice they didn't say, Lord, teach us to preach. Lord, teach us to prophesy. Lord, teach us how we can operate in the gifts of the Spirit. Lord, teach us how to cast out devils. Yes, Jesus was doing all of those things.

2:19 But the disciples also noticed that Jesus had a secret life of prayer. how do you know that because the bible says that jesus would withdraw at times into a mountain to be alone at times into a wilderness the bible also says that the more famous he became the more he withdrew and he prayed he never relied on just having a casual relationship with his heavenly father he relied on having an intimate direct communication with His Heavenly Father. And that's how it is for you and I. No matter where we are in our stage of life or in our phase of life, in our season of life, it's very important that we maintain a healthy, intimate relationship with our Father God. So the disciples came to Jesus and they noticed He was successful. They noticed Also that he was a man of prayer. And I love this question that they asked the master. They said, Lord, we've been watching you. And we see how you operate. We see how wise you are. We see that you never grow weary in well -doing. We see that you know people's thoughts. We see that you have an overflow and a presence that you carry with you all the time. So they said, Lord,

3:50 it's your prayer life, isn't it? So they said, Lord, teach. us to pray and that's the purpose of this broadcast to teach the believers how to pray now as we enter into our teaching i just want to highlight this one thing there's all different kinds of prayer so it's going to take months maybe years to get all of this word of god into your heart But I believe that the word of God does not return void. I believe that it's God's will and God's desire for you to connect with him in a deeper and a more intimate way.

4:31 And that's the very thing that you've been longing for. You know, David said in Psalm 63, my God, you are my God. will I seek you. My flesh longs for you in this dry and thirsty land to see your power and your glory. I believe that deep down on the inside of each and every one of you, there is a longing and a desire to know God in a deeper and more intimate way. But one thing I learned from talking with young people, older people, people of all age groups, is that most people They want to have intimacy with God. They want to have a prayer life, but they just don't know how. They just don't know where to begin. Well, that's the purpose of this broadcast, to teach you how to pray. So let's talk about the necessity of being a person of prayer. Number one, prayer is the believer's lifeline. It is the believer's lifeline. It is necessary to be a person of prayer for many reasons, hence the title. And the interesting thing about my title is that when the Spirit of God gave me this title, I felt impressed to look up the word necessity. And necessity defined is something that is required, essential, or indispensable. I like that. dispensable your

6:04 prayer life is in dispensable it is necessary to the believer to stay strong in these challenging times it is something you need or must have either to complete a task or for survival now I like that we need to have a vibrant prayer life because it's necessary for us to survive in the challenging times that we live in now the one part of this definition i didn't like was it said or must either to complete a task we need it to complete a task prayer should not be a task prayer should not be something that we're working at it's part of works right because nothing of works is going to get us where we need to be with god right the task I believe a prayer should be born, I would say it like this, out of a heart of love.

7:04 So it's not a task, meaning works, but prayer should always be born out of a heart of love. Out of a heart of love for God and out of a heart of love for people as we teach you how to even pray the prayer of intercession. Catherine Coleman once said, the greatest power God has given to man is the power of prayer. Think about that. The greatest power God has given to man is the power of prayer. And, my friends, wishing should never be a substitute for prayer. Sometimes we say, oh, I wish this would happen, and I wish that would happen. No, wishing is not a substitute for prayer. You can pray effectively. You can pray accurately. opens up the door for God to work. You can see fruit in your prayer life.

8:01 You can see answers to your prayer. And that's what we're going to go ahead and be teaching you in this broadcast. Okay. We're going to take a short break here and then I'll be back and we'll continue on the subject, the necessity of prayer in the life of the believer. Early in 2025 I had a dream that I'd like to share with you. I dreamed I was a guest speaker in a church. During the preaching I had a vision of a great ship. I saw the ship going straight and it was moving fast and furious ahead on the water. Then I saw the ship suddenly turning to the right. I said to the people, the ship is turning, but we must continue to pray into it.

8:45 It's not a time to stop praying. I could see that the ship was turning and the church was at the helm of the ship, causing the ship to turn. Upon awakening, God gave me an assignment, and the assignment was, and still is, to mobilize prayer. We are praying together on our KIU prayer conference call. I would love it if you could join us. If you'd like more information, go to my website at margieferrant .org, or the number is on the screen. I look forward to praying with you. Now let's go back to the broadcast. So let's continue on the subject of the necessity of prayer in the life of the believer. We left off with this amazing quote from Catherine Coleman. She said, the greatest power given to man is the power of prayer. And we also said that wishing should not be a substitute of prayer. You can have answers to your prayers. You can see God opening up the door for you because of your prayers.

9:48 You can see answers to your prayers on the behalf of your children, your family, your nation. Wishing is never a substitute. There are ways to pray whereby you can get results. The Bible says that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. So we can see fruit. in our prayer life now i've often said this and i don't know if you have i've often said to god i just want more of you god i want more of you one day i was saying that in my devotional time and the spirit of god spoke to me and he said margie you don't need more of me i need more of you well what does that mean it means we have to make room for god we have to have our own discipline in prayer, our own time of prayer. What I like to do is put it in my calendar. Okay, at 830 a .m., I'm making an appointment with God, and I'm going to make sure that nothing distracts me from the presence of God. That's where the discipline comes in. You know, the Bible talks about discipline, but here's a quote that I really like. Prayer goes from sacrifice to joy. From a desire to a discipline and to a delight. Eventually, when you make your appointments with God and you say, I'm going to seek the face of God, what

11:19 happens is it starts out as a discipline or a sacrifice. Then it goes into a desire. Pretty soon you're desiring to be in the presence of God. Pretty soon you can't wait for your devotional time with him. It becomes a desire and that's when it becomes fun. That's when it becomes a delight. You look forward to that time of intimacy in the presence of your heavenly father. And at first you won't see, you know, how prayer is changing you and you won't see how the intimacy is being developed. But over time, as you walk out your Christian life and your Christian, even during the day, you'll see that you have a connection with God that you didn't have before. So we want to talk more about that. So prayer, number one, changes things. The very first thing that prayer changes is you. 2 Corinthians 3 .18 says, But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in the mirror of the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory. to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Like we just said, at first, when you spend time in the presence of God, you don't realize how you're being changed. But when you behold Him, when you look at Him, when you look at the mirror of His Word in devotional time, when you look

12:51 at the face of Jesus as you use your spiritual imagination in the place of prayer, you don't realize it, but you are being changed. You are being transformed. Something is changing. And number one, it's you. The Bible says in Hebrews 11, 12, 1 and 2, that we're to look unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. So in the place of prayer, it's as if we're looking at him. And as we look at him, we're being changed into the same image. From glory to glory. You see, you become what you behold. I'm going to say that again. You become what you behold. Oral Roberts once said, In prayer we learn to change.

13:45 Prayer is one of the most changing experiences we will ever know. I'm going to repeat that. In prayer we learn to change. Prayer is one of the most changing experiences we will ever know. But Margie, I don't feel like I'm changing. Your feelings have nothing to do with what's going on in the realm of the spirit. In the realm of the spirit, something's being exchanged. You are being changed. God is working in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. You are humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God. And in that place of humility, you're saying, Lord, I need you. Lord, I love you. Lord, I want to seek you. And in that. something is going on on the inside of you. Okay? What else does prayer change besides you and me? Number two, prayer changes the world around you. I love that.

14:50 Prayer releases good things into your world. The world in general. 2 Chronicles 7, 12 -16 says, Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said to him, I have heard your prayer. Aren't you glad God hears you when you pray? Well, I don't feel like he hears me. Here we go with feelings again. Prayer has nothing to do with feelings. You may feel God. You may not feel God. No matter what, your prayers open up the door for God to work. Your prayers are changing you. I have heard your prayer. And I have chosen this place as a house of sacrifice. He said, when I shut up heaven and there is no rain or command the locusts to devour the land or send pestilence among my people. He said, this is what's going to happen if my people pray. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn.

15:57 from their wicked ways. He said, I'll hear from heaven. There it is again. God hears you when you pray. I'll hear from heaven. I will forgive their sin. And then he said, I'll heal their land. Then he says, now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive. to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there forever, and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually. So prayer changes you, but prayer also changes the world, or let's say it like this, the world around you. That could be your family, your friends, your community, your school, your college. Prayer changes things. Ian Bounds once said, God shapes the world through prayer.

16:49 The more prayer there is in the world, the better the world will be. Okay, we're going to take another break, and we'll see you in a few minutes. The Lord spoke to me one day. He said, Margie, 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. Encountering God through prayer. Simple strategies to develop a powerful prayer life.

17:29 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? What's His character? What's His nature? And then I take the reader all the way up into... what I call contemplative prayer.

18:13 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. Go to my website at margieflaurent .org. Prayer is necessary also because prayer produces intimacy. Prayer produces intimacy with the one you pray to. the one you pray for, and the one you pray with. Let's address first the one you pray to. Of course, we're referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father. Here's an example. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3 .10, this is the amplified version, For my determined purpose is that I may know Him. that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of this person more strongly and more clearly. I love that. He said, my purpose, my determined purpose, the Amplified said, is that I may know him. It's not ministry. It's not writing two thirds of the New Testament.

19:36 He had one purpose toward the end of his life. And his purpose was, and he spoke it, is that I may know him. And I love the way this verse says it in the Amplified, that I may become more deeply and intimately acquainted with him. So prayer produces intimacy with the one you pray to. According to Webster's Dictionary, intimacy is defined as associated in close personal relations involving warm friendship or a personally close or familiar association, close, personal connection or familiar experience. So when you pray, you become familiar or more familiar with the Lord Jesus Christ, his person. Yes, we can get to know him through the word of God. Yes, we can study the scriptures and find out the heart of Jesus and how he talked and how he operated.

20:55 But there is also a place in prayer. where you can come to know him on a more personal and a deeper level. You become familiar with him. You become familiar with his voice. You become familiar with his presence. Okay. So this kind of prayer produces this kind of intimacy. And I like how it says here in the definition, it involves a warm friendship. or a personally close or familiar association, private or closely personal. I want to know Jesus like that, don't you? I like what I heard Kenneth E. Hagin say one time, and this really hit me hard, and it stuck with me for the last 45 years. He said, Jesus is more real to me. Then my wife laying next to me in the bed. And I said to myself, he really knows God.

22:02 He really knows Jesus. He had such intimacy with Jesus that all the natural world was just not distracting him from the connection that he had with Jesus Christ. was nothing of the outward. It was something on the inside of him. And I believe this kind of intimacy, my friends, will anchor us in these challenging times in the everyday life that you and I have to live in this world. So prayer produces intimacy with the one you pray to. I want to show you Moses. Moses had friendship with God. Let's look over at Exodus 33, verse 11. It says here, So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to a friend.

22:56 There's that word friend again. I'm going to repeat this. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. now in the scripture goes on to talk about joshua he didn't depart from the tabernacle that was a very wise young man he stayed in the presence of god because he was being um he was being trained okay but here we see moses he had a face -to -face relationship with god as a man would speak to a friend and i said to god you know what if moses can have that why not you and i under the New Testament. We are under better covenant based upon better promises. We are one with the Lord.

23:41 We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We have it better than Adam and Eve. We don't have to go to some mountain to pray. We are the house of prayer. We can pray to him anytime. Adam and Eve used to have to wait for God to come down and fellowship with them, but we don't have to wait. We can go to God anytime, any place. We can have intimacy and friendship with God. Again, if Moses had it, I want that. If Kenneth E. Hagin had that, I want that. Because my friends, God is no respecter of persons. It just takes a discipline. Like we said earlier, prayer goes from sacrifice to joy, from a desire to a discipline and to a delight. Let's see. Was Moses always that close to God? Let's look back into Exodus 3. It says here in Exodus 3, verse 6, Moreover, he said, God appeared to Moses and the whole burning bush experience. So Moses, you know, is in this, in the presence of God. And God says, you know, don't draw near to this place. Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground. Moreover, he said, God said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now, look here. This is Moses's very first encounter with

25:12 God. What did Moses do? What was his response? It says right here. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God. Now, what changed between Exodus 3 to Exodus 33? I believe that Moses watched God and he saw that God was true to his word. He saw that God was faithful. He saw the heart of God, that God loved his people and it transformed him. It changed him. And instead of having fear in the presence of God, he had confidence. in the presence of god that's why it's very important to balance your your prayer life with the word of god and with scriptures because the word of god and the scripture will reveal the true character of god and who he really is so that you don't have to be afraid of god okay so moses had intimacy with god and we're going to close with this deuteronomy 34 says that verse 10 but since then there had not arisen a prophet like moses whom the lord knew face to face in and then it goes on to say in all the signs and the wonders and the mighty power that manifested through him but i like verse 10 this is moses's legacy moses knew god face

26:47 to face as a man would speak to his friends Prayer produces intimacy, number one, with the one you pray to. Okay? Thank you for joining our broadcast. I look forward to seeing you the next time as we continue in this teaching, What Prayer Produces. Thank you for joining me during this broadcast. Before we go, I would like to say a prayer for you. And I'm going to take that prayer from the book of Ephesians, a Holy Spirit inspired prayer. Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and your love for all the saints. do not cease to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers and here's the prayer I'm going to pray for you that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of your understanding being enlightened so father I just come before you in Jesus name and I thank you father that you have given us this word and season unto you, your people. So therefore, Father, I pray that you would open up the eyes of their understanding, that the entrance of your word would bring light and enlightenment, that this word concerning prayer and purpose would go deep down on the inside of them and bear fruit. In Jesus' name.

28:22 Amen. God bless you. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's podcast. It has been such a joy sharing this time with you.