What does it mean to connect with God in power and prayer? We hear from pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church and Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministry.
First, Lysa admits her past tendency to say yes to too many things and overcrowd her schedule.
“When I set my life to the rhythm of rush, I don’t like who I am… I build buffer time and have little gaps to really be able to pay attention to what God might have for me. It’s creating those little pockets of time to do for one what I wish I could do for all. It’s really establishing the patten in life to pay attention to God.”
Lysa shares some takeaways for us:
“Saying no is a necessary protection for my ‘best yes.'”
“Don’t mistake the command to love with the desire to please.”
Pastor Tim Keller knows what it means to say yes to God. He shares how years ago, his wife challenged him to pray on a daily basis after they both wrestled with health issues.
“The penny dropped for both of us – I don’t think we’ve missed [an opportunity] since. Because I’m praying more with my wife, it’s actually been easier to pray for ourselves. It’s made us more disciplined in our prayer time with God. This is just like eating – you have to make time to eat or you fall over.” Tim made four practical changes to his prayer life which he shares with Susie.
• He took several months to summarize the psalms in order to pray through them.
• He added time of meditation as a “transitional time” between his Bible reading and prayer time.
• He committed to praying both in the morning and in the evening. Tim points out that praying only in the morning causes us to lose our “God consciousness” as the day progresses. Praying morning and evening frames the day and reminds us of God’s constant presence.
• He began to pray with greater expectations. “Prayer shouldn’t just be a duty – it ought to break through and give you a sense of God’s reality.”
Tim shares a simple petition he brings to God. “Lord, I would really love to feel Your love. And I know You can do that.”
For a deeper exploration of the practice of prayer, Tim’s book is .
Key Scriptures: Philippians 1:9-10; Matthew 5:37; Psalm 44
Featured Songs: Christmas Time is Here by Steven Curtis Chapman; Joy to the World; The First Noel (Holy is the Lord) by Hillsong
Highlight : The bittersweet nature of praying more
This program has been pre-recorded.
