Prayer & Purpose | CTN Episode 9

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. Goes into the hearts of the people, doesn't return void, it produces results. Welcome to Prayer and Purpose. I'm your host, Margie Florent. Let me ask you a question. How do you... you pray when you need wisdom and answers to the problems you face in life? How do you pray when you need to make a decision about a life altering event? In this episode, I'm going to talk to you about how to pray for this wisdom that at times we all so desperately need. But first, we're going to take a commercial break. And when I come back, we're going to dive deep into how to pray. for wisdom and understanding.

0:59 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 margieflaurent .org, you will see that this book is available to you. So we've been talking about the power and the purpose of praying in tongues. We've talked to you about that tongues is a supernatural means of communication, that you are speaking the language of heaven, that it's your spirit. that is in communication with God and that he understands you. We talked about how we're praying in line with God's perfect will and order according to his order for your life or the object of your prayer focus. You are also praying to God from. your position in Christ. But we're going to go a little bit deeper today. I want to talk to you about how praying in tongues is a way whereby you pray the wisdom of God. We're going to go ahead and read here at James chapter one, verse five. And it says

2:32 here, and I'm reading out of the Amplified. If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of God. who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly without reproaching or fault finding. And it will be given him only. It must be in faith that he asked with no wavering, no hesitation and no doubting for the one who wavers, hesitates and doubts is like a bill. surge at sea that is blown hither and tither and tossed by the wind for truly let not that man think that he will receive anything from God. And the scripture goes on to say that that man is unstable in all of his ways. So the Bible says, if any of you.

3:23 lack wisdom let him ask of God so we know that we can approach the throne room of grace we know we can go boldly and we can ask the Lord we could say Lord you have made unto me wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption I know that it's your will that you order my steps that all my steps are ordered and established by you but I have a decision to make I don't know exactly what to do so After you've prayed the scriptures, after you've approached the throne of God and quoted the scriptures concerning the thing and the object of your prayer, how do you pray? Well, before we get into that, I want to talk to you about the Greek word Sophia, which is the word that is used here in James chapter one. It says here in the scripture, if any man lacks wisdom or Sophia, let him ask of God. So let's define Sophia. The Greek word Sophia is defined as the ability to judge correctly and to follow the best course of action. Listen, based on knowledge and understanding, wisdom is God's clarity or God revealed clarity. It conveys the Lord's solution.

4:50 for problem solving in other words sophia manifests god's divine influence regarding solving problems or challenges by how by applying god's solutions remember we read the scripture if any man lacks Wisdom or Sophia, let him ask of God. So we're asking God for wisdom. We're asking God to give us solutions to the problems that we are facing. Wisdom, when we ask, is always given by God and reveals what is necessary in that particular situation. What I love about prayer is that when we ask of God, he hears us. And we know that when he hears us, we know that we have the petition we desire of him. So wisdom, when we ask, is always given by God. Ultimately, all true wisdom resides in Christ. who is the personification of perfect wisdom. Remember, we talked about this in our previous broadcast, that we are in Christ. Therefore, we have this wisdom on the inside of us. Remember, the scripture says, he has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification.

6:18 So the wisdom of God is already on the inside of the recreated human spirit. So we have this wisdom on the inside of us. But what we want is we want that wisdom to rise up from our hearts, from our spirits and give us illumination in our minds and understanding as to what. direction in which we are to go. Again, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, what do I do? How do I go? What do I say? What do I need to do in this particular situation? Now, wisdom is the insight. I love this into the true nature of things. Knowledge. is the mental or intellectual insight as to what has been revealed. But wisdom, I'm going to repeat this, is the insight into the true nature of things. So God knows things that you and I don't know. God knows your future better than you know your past. He knows every...

7:26 that is going on in your circumstances so he knows everything but what we want is is we want that god clarity that god wisdom to rise up on the inside of us so that we can with our understanding listen make the right decisions wisdom is the power of right reasoning Concerning our prayer focus and forming right decisions accordingly. Wisdom is the ability to judge correctly and to follow the best course of action based on knowledge and Spiritual understanding. So it's not just natural knowledge. It's also spiritual understanding. Sophia, wisdom, what God knows about the situation. That's why we hear the scripture often that says, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not to your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him. He will direct.

8:33 your path so we can have wisdom in our hearts but what we need is understanding in our minds in other words for our minds to be fruitful okay so wisdom is the art of being successful of forming the correct plan to gain the desired results so we know that the bible says the steps of a good man are ordered and established by the lord We also know that the Bible says a man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. Now stay with me. I'm going to pull all of this together in talking about how to pray this wisdom out.

9:13 So wisdom, Sophia, emphasizes the understanding of all things. Sophia is used frequently in the New Testament to describe. the ability to discern and conform to God's will. So when we live our life by this wisdom, by the Sophia, we are walking according to and in harmony with God's will. So things work together. Things come into alignment when we are walking in this wisdom. So I want to interject this and I want you to understand the importance of this. When you pray in tongues, you and I are praying God's solutions to problems and God's answers to questions. Therefore, all things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to. His purpose.

10:23 So when you speak in an unknown tongue, we know the Bible says you speak not unto men, but unto God. How be it in the spirit? You and I are speaking mysteries. Now, if you go over into first Corinthians two, seven through 10, it says here in verse seven, that when we speak, we speak. the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which in this case, which none of the worlds of this age had known, for they had known it, they would have never crucified the Lord of glory. So when you pray in tongues, and I pray in tongues, when I don't know what to pray, I don't know how to pray, I don't know exactly what direction to go. I know that when I pray in tongues, I am speaking the wisdom of God in this mystery, in this unknown tongue, in this language that I don't understand with my natural mind. So I just want to encourage you today, my friends. up the gift of God that is in you. You listen. The spirit of God is within you. You don't have a spirit of fear. When you pray in the spirit and you pray in tongues, you're praying out the mystery.

11:49 You're praying out the things you don't understand. And you don't have to be afraid that you're going to make the wrong mistakes when you surrender yourself to him and you surrender your life to him and you say, Lord, not my will your will be done in my life i don't know what to do i don't know what direction to pray or even i don't know how to pray for my lost loved one i don't know how to pray for my son or my daughter when you pray in tongues you are hitting the target you are praying god's solution to that circumstance. So I want to encourage you stir up the gift of God that is in you. Stir up your prayer language.

12:35 And when you do, you are praying out the wisdom of God. OK, so we're just going to take a break here. And when I come back, we're going to continue our teaching. 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. I take the reader from the very basics. Begin where you are. Begin with 15 minutes.

13:25 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. 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.

14:12 Go to my website at margieflaurent .org. Okay, let's continue our teaching. We're going to piggyback on what we just talked about. Praying in tongues is also... in a perfect way for the unknown. In other words, it's the perfect way to pray for the unknown. Lance Wallnau once said, he said, did you know that there is a prayer called, I don't know? He said, prayer is very spiritual. You just go off somewhere quiet and hidden and you walk right up to the heart of God and you say, these emotions I don't know how to handle this situation it covers a lot he said of I don't know but then with whatever dusty little grain of faith you have you say to the Lord but you know I love that so remember my friends the Holy Spirit knows all things past present future Circumstances.

15:34 What's going on in our nation? What's going on in other nations? What's being hidden? What is not revealed? The Holy Spirit knows everything. He is all knowing. So listen. The beauty of God is he knows. Now when you pray in tongues. And I'll prove it to you in the scripture. You are praying from a place of knowing. And then we know. The scripture says. That all things work together for the good. Why? Because we've prayed out the wisdom of God for the object of that prayer focus. Okay? Let's go ahead. I'm going to read. I know I've read this before. I'm going to read it again. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And I'm going to keep saying it. Because I'm concerned that the body of Christ is not praying the way we need to pray. And that is not just the scriptures.

16:31 Yes, the word of God. But also diving in and stirring up their prayer language. And the reason people are not stirring up their prayer language is because they don't understand the power and the purpose of praying in tongues. So we're going to go ahead and we're going to read again Romans 8, 26. Again, I'm going to read from the Amplified.

17:20 It says here, with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance another translation says my spirit by the holy spirit within me prays so it's not the holy spirit just standing outside of you in some cloud somewhere you know interceding no it's your spirit by the holy spirit praying we are the house of prayer we have to yield over to the holy spirit stir up the gift of god is within us yield to him and and let that expression come forth up out of our lips and god answers that prayer i like to put it like this he puts the prayer in your heart to pray we pray it and prayer opens up the door for god to work because man is god's avenue into the earth and the scripture goes on to say and he who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit, what his intent is, because the Spirit intercedes and pleads before God in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will. So when you're praying in tongues, you're praying in harmony with the will of God. You're praying out the mystery. You're praying for the thing you don't know, you don't understand, that you need clarity on. And it says here, and we are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor, that all things work together.

18:51 And what? And are fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and those who are called according to his purpose. Okay? So we thank God for praying in tongues. We thank God for praying in the Holy Ghost that when we don't know. how to pray for the unknown we can pray in this spirit so well Margie where does that what does that do for me because I still need to make a decision I still need to know what to do here's what I'd like to introduce to you When you've spent that time praying in the spirit when you've spent that time praying in the Holy Ghost Whether it's while you're vacuuming or you're in your car or you're in your prayer closet Wherever when you've spent that time that devotional time praying in the Holy Spirit for that prayer Focus as you go your way as you walk out your daily life What will happen is? The Holy Spirit will rise up within you and I don't know the exact verse but he will cause your thoughts to become agreeable with his thoughts and then your plans will succeed in other words he will give illumination to your mind understanding to your spirit you will begin to live and move and operate in the wisdom of God So I want to encourage you,

20:24 if you haven't, stir up the gift of God. When you don't know how to pray, pray in the Holy Ghost. Well, how long do I pray in the Holy Ghost? Well, the Apostle Paul said, I think my God is speaking tongues more than you all. So sometimes I may pray in tongues for 15 minutes, maybe a half an hour, maybe an hour. Maybe if it's a very big decision, like big, huge, where am I going to live? What am I going to do? What should I do? All of that. may spend two three four days in prayer in tongues spending time in the presence of God devoting myself unto him well what if I don't get an answer right away well don't put pressure on yourself right don't put pressure on yourself if you have to hear from God there's so many times that I've heard people say this they'll be in the shower and God will speak to them it's so interesting because in my life it's this is so interesting A lot of times, if I'm praying for direction, I'll be at the gym, I'll be working out, and while I'm doing that particular exercise, something, he, the Holy Spirit, rises up on the inside, gives illumination to my mind, and I know exactly what to do. It's sometimes at the times you least expect it. I think sometimes when you just rest, and let your soul rest, and you just go your way and you're doing something else and thinking about something else, the Holy Spirit can rise up, okay? Remember, you're a

21:57 triune being. You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. It's your spirit by the Holy Spirit that needs to communicate with your mind exactly what you need to do, okay? We're going to bring this to a close. Speaking in tongues is also a way whereby you can... Pray for what I call spiritual edification. It says in 1 Corinthians 14, 4, he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. That word edify is more like the word charge. So when you speak in tongues, you are edifying, charging yourself up. Those of you, and we all have them now, we all have our cell phones. You know, the battery gets low, so what do we do?

22:48 We stick this phone over by a power source. We plug it in, and as we plug the charger into the power source, the phone gets charged up, and we're able to use that phone for a longer period of time. When you pray in tongues, you are charging yourself up. It's a spiritual charging. It's a spiritual edification. It is not mental edification. It is spiritual edification. And I found for me personally that when I'm tired. When I'm spiritually drained, when I have a lot of circumstances going on that are just attacking me all at once, I just say to myself, you know what? I know what the scripture says. I'm just going to edify myself.

23:34 So I walk the floors and I just pray in tongues. And I just stir up the gift of God. I pray in the Holy Ghost. And after about 5, 10, 15 minutes, I sense. The inside of me rising up and I'm getting stronger on the inside. So praying in tongues is a way whereby you can charge yourself up spiritually speaking. Also, when you pray in tongues, it's a way to worship God in the spirit. It says in Acts 2 .11 that they were all speaking in tongues the wonderful works of God. Jesus said, or the scripture says, that when a person comes to God, he must worship him in spirit and in truth. When you've sung all the songs that we sing in church, you say, Lord, you are worthy. Let's switch into...

24:35 tongues in worship whereby we go beyond the songs that we are singing and beyond the hymns that we are singing and we sing to him in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and we sing and we make melody in our heart to the lord and that's what we call singing in other tongues it says in acts 10 47 they heard them speak with tongues and magnify god 1 Corinthians 14, 15 says, I will sing with the spirit. I will sing with the understanding also. How about we begin to stir up singing in tongues again in our public assemblies?

25:18 I remember when I was coming up in the charismatic movement and we would all just enter into worship. In other tongues. And everybody was harmonizing. And it was so beautiful. And it was like. You could actually hear. Sometimes it felt like you could hear the angels singing. And worshiping God with us. So let's bring that back to our churches. Singing in other tongues. Okay. Kenneth E. Hagin once said. And then we're going to go ahead and close. I have found. That in my own life. That the more I. pray and worship god in tongues the more the manifestation of the gifts of the spirit i have i know we all want to operate in the gifts of the spirit we all want to be used of god in the nine gifts of the spirit let me just say this I have found that to be true in my own life as well. That when I stir up my prayer language, and I stir up the gift of God that's in me, and I pray in the Spirit, and I worship in the Spirit, sing in tongues, pray in tongues, I notice that I'm operating more and more and more in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Okay? So let's just practice what we've learned. Let's practice what we've heard today. And I know it's going to change your life.

26:47 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. 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.

27:38 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 chapter. So if you run a Bible study, you can use this book as a springboard to teach others how to pray for their children. Go to my website at margieflorent .org and pick up your own copy. 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,