Maybe you are saved, but you really haven’t developed an open, communicating relationship with Jesus quite yet. You might say that you’ve met Him and received Him as your Savior and Lord but maybe you have yet to experience that “friendship” type of relationship. You could be in that position no matter if you prayed the sinner’s prayer two days ago or 20 years ago!
If that is where you are, man, are you in for a surprise! Once you start talking and being honest and real with God, you are going to find out that He is not the way you may have thought He was! God will shock your socks off! The more you read His Word and the more time you spend praising Him, you’ll be astonished at how awesome and creative God is! Man, if I tried to explain just what I know about God, I’d run out of words before I could even begin to get it all out! And that’s just what I know about Him!
His personality and nature is so multi-faceted, even the angels haven’t seen all that He is! They continually fly over the throne shouting words of praise about Him as they see new aspects of His holiness! (Isaiah 6:2-3).
Yet, for as complex and beyond our intellect as He is, it is amazing how simple He is to understand! When He talks to you, it won’t be so beyond you that you can’t understand Him. He’s going to shoot straight with you and be real! You’ll understand Him. He’ll see to that!
All God requires of you is that you live a life that includes His Son, Jesus. He wants you to experience a full life on this earth, and the only way you can do that is first by accepting His Son so that you can come back into right standing with Him and, second, by getting to know who He really is.
If you’re ready to do that, then you’re ready to experience all that God has to offer. You’re ready to experience too much!
Remind Yourself: Prayer Makes Life Easier. Doing It Isn’t Hard!
Most Christians know that reading the Word and spending time with Jesus in prayer can help them. In their hearts they might really want to do it, but somehow they become swept away with the day’s “priorities” and become lazy when it comes to the Lord.
But you know, it really isn’t such a big deal. You don’t have to spend all your time on your knees, although you’ll receive a lot of wisdom and insight doing that! What God really wants is for you to talk to Him. Wake up in the morning and do like I do. Say, “Hello Jesus!” Chat with Him throughout your day and you’ll be able to keep a good relationship with Him.
As you practice chatting and praying with Jesus each day, you’ll find that you suddenly have the urge to find out even more about Him. He’s just that way – sort of infectious, you might say. It seems like the more you talk to Jesus, the more you want to talk with Jesus.
It’s like eating. Let’s say you’re an average-sized person who makes a point of eating regular, wholesome, nutritious meals. Your body warns you when it is hungry by sending hunger pangs. Now, let’s say that one day you decide to ignore your body and not eat. You miss breakfast, you miss lunch. By the time dinner rolls around, your stomach is growling at you like a tiger! But instead of eating, you ignore it again. If you keep on ignoring your body for a couple of days or more, your stomach will become accustomed to deprivation and may send you into a fasting state where the hunger pangs aren’t nearly as frequent. You might not even realize that you are slowly but surely using up all the nutrition you need to stay healthy. If you continue fasting too long your health may decline without your really knowing it at all.
It’s the same way with Jesus. Your spirit needs to have conversation with its Maker. It’s a sort of built-in mechanism. Just as your body needs food to survive, so your spirit needs interaction with your Maker in order to survive.
Go for the Good Stuff!
What if your mind is empty and because of it your will is idle? Where does that leave you? It leaves you without results, that’s where! Without a manifestation of God’s awesome power to do “exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think!” You don’t want that! Nobody wants that!
Nobody who knows what faith in God can do wants to live without His power in their lives. Most people just get carried away with life and neglect what is most important. They are sort of like Martha, worrying about food instead of sitting with her sister at the feet of Jesus where she belonged (Luke 10:38-42).
Next time you find yourself skipping prayer – even if you think you’ve got a great reason – think about Martha. Remember what Jesus told her: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).
You know, everything we do is important. However, it isn’t so important that we forget about ourselves. Talking to God doesn’t take an hour a day! That’s religious! What if you talk to him throughout your day? You have to cook dinner? So pray while you cook! Maybe you wake up late and have to rush to get dressed before flying out the door and hitting the freeway. So what! Does that give you a reason not to talk to God? Give me a break! C’mon! Forget about singing along with your car radio this morning! Instead, sing to Jesus! Or how about this: break out a good teaching tape and fill your mind with the good things! Hey, after all that rushing around, I guarantee you’ll need it. If not, you might find yourself in flesh, blowing the horn and hollering at the next guy who whips out in front of you.
Look, no matter what you do or how busy you are at doing it, prayer ought not to be neglected. God’s Word shouldn’t be neglected. Neither should you neglect yourself. After all, prayer isn’t really hard. It doesn’t take all day. All it takes is honesty, no matter what you’re doing. So, forget about cheating yourself! Go for prayer! It’s the good stuff! Get to know God!
Jesse Duplantis, minister of the Gospel, motivational speaker, television personality, and best-selling author, has been in full-time ministry since 1976 and is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, located in the Greater New Orleans area of south Louisiana in the United States of America. With over four decades of sharing his unique blend of humor and faith around the world, generations of believers have been inspired by his messages and countless numbers have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior through his ministry.
Known for his unflinching, status-quo-breaking messages and humorous take on experiences in the life of the believer, Jesse continues to draw large audiences of believers through social media, television, and meetings held around the world. With speaking engagements booked years in advance, Jesse Duplantis continues to keep an intense traveling schedule, flying throughout the United States and the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With no booking agents pursuing meetings for him and no set fees imposed upon churches for speaking engagements, Jesse chooses his outreach meetings based on the same two criteria he always has: invitations that come in and prayer over each one. This uncommon way of scheduling in today’s world means Jesse’s many followers may find him speaking in some of the largest churches and venues in America and the world, as well as a great many small and growing congregations, too. No church is too big or small for the Holy Spirit, as he says.
Side by side with his wife Cathy Duplantis, the co-founder and chief of staff of Jesse Duplantis Ministries and the senior pastor of Covenant Church in Destrehan, Louisiana, Jesse continues to fulfill his life’s calling by daily taking up the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Through social media, television broadcasts, books, and other ministry products, as well as through many evangelistic meetings, the JDM website, the JDM app, and Voice of the Covenant magazine, Jesse Duplantis continues to see growth in his ministry and expand each year while maintaining his roots. Jesus is the center of his life. The salvation of lost people and the growth of believers is the purpose of his ministry. And for both he and his wife, every day is another day to “Reach People and Change Lives, One Soul at a Time.”