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What You'll Discover in this Episode:
150: Inquire from the Lord
When you think about biblical counseling, what do you think about it? How important is it for us to have a prayerful God-seeking heart? Usually, people think counseling is for people who are deeply troubled emotionally but, we all need a word of counsel. In today’s podcast, we are going to look at God’s way in counseling concerning prayer.
When God is allowed to be who He is in your life and in the life of those you counsel, He is the wonderful counselor. The spirit of the Lord works in prayerful seeking hearts.
Colossians 1:9 and Ephesians 1:17
We’re called in the word to pray at all times, to pray without ceasing, a heart turned toward the Lord day by day, step by step. It’s the way of the Lord. Prayer is to the Christian life like breathing is to the physical life. Not just something to do with an announced time and place - though that’s great! It’s appropriate every step of the day.
The attitude of the heart tuned toward the Lord, ready anytime to break into verbalization of prayer in need or praise or just silent arrows shot to heaven, the throne of God for the issues we face here on earth.
That’s why in Luke 11, when it talks about God giving the Holy Spirit to those who ask him, not only initially, but in any way, in any measure, fullness, guidance, in response to prayer.
These two scriptures (Colossians 1:9 and Ephesians 1:17) on this line that the Spirit of God works in the word of God in prayerful seeking hearts, these are both prayers. These are biblical prayers.
Let’s pray this great prayer in Colossians 1:9 that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Finding prayers in the scripture that express our heart and our situation and praying them to God as though they were just uttered first of all from our heart. This is a great way to proceed with the Lord in seeking counsel or giving counsel.
God is going to hear and answer a prayer like that. And in counsel, it stands on the reality of the Lord being the Wonderful Counselor. It stands on the reality of his word being his counsel and the Holy Spirit guiding us in that counsel.
Conclusion:
God’s way in counseling is
Through his Word.
Second by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Third taking place in prayerful, God-seeking hearts,
And fourth, where we minister to one another the arena of church life
Let us inquire of the LORD, and pray about everything, and trust that He will preserve you wherever you go!
Resources:
I loved what Jeff reminded me regarding all the rich model prayers interspersed throughout the scriptures. There is a vast treasure trove of humble, righteous, godly prayers to illustrate, teach and lead us into the heart of God – especially in the Old Testament.
Furthermore, I appreciated the practicality and simplicity of the nature of prayer. It is NOT some elusive, scripted, formulaic mantra to grandstand our righteousness, or bend the ear of God to see things our way. It is intimate, holy, reverent, yet conversational, perpetual and ongoing in nature. As Jeff has said, Prayer is to our spirit as breathing is to the body.
Pastor Jeff said something in this podcast that reminded me of a quote attributed to Charles Spurgeon. When asked “what is more important: praying or reading the Bible?
I ask, what is more important: breathing in or breathing out?”
Two of the most important things as a Christ follower.
I really enjoyed this Podcast, as it was based on prayer. It’s so important as a believer in Jesus that we pray regularly. I love the idea of praying scripture. I often have a song in my mind that is based on scripture. I will sing out to the Lord during the day or while I’m driving. When I first read pray without ceasing, I wasn’t sure what that meant. But I realize now that we need to constantly be in prayer. When we pray, we need to ask for wisdom. We need wisdom when we speak to others. The Bible says that if we lack wisdom, that we should ask. Also, prayer is a way of getting to know God. We read the Word, then pray for understanding. I’m not sure how people do anything without prayer. If we are not inquiring of the Lord, we will not do what God wants us to do. We need His help.
Amen! I must confess, throughout my walk with Christ I have, on many occasions, SIMPLY failed to ask, seek and knock in prayer Matt.7:7,8.
It has taken me years to understand what going before the Lord with boldness means, now as a parent I understand it better, just like you expressed, with your analogy with your child. I feel like we want our children to come before us in boldness, and at the same time humbly. We don’t want our kids to be afraid to talk to us, because we love them and want to be with them, but we also want to teach wisdom, and we need respect, so we hope they will be humble, and we hope they will enjoy being with us.
God does speak to us through the Holy Spirit as we take time out to pray. I believe prayer is important in communicating with God, gaining discernment and receiving guidance and direction in the way we should go. Col 1:9 is such a great and critical verse as we seek out God’s promise that we can know His will and wisdom.
In the beginning of the podcast “Inquire From The Lord”
Pastor/Professor Jeff talks about how we are to on alert, to discern the ways of the world in the counseling arena. If our hearts as counselors are not tuned into the Lords, then we are acting in self/pride and what happens when we do that? Pride comes before the fall. I say this, because it is very important to remain steadfast in God, HIS truth and Word. Walking and living by the power of The Holy Spirit.
I spoke with a woman yesterday whom told me she was meeting with a “Christian Counselor “ that she was referred to by her church. This. Counselor gave no scripture, handed out piles of books and notes to her, she said her counselor began to make her feel inadequate as a mom, a wife and even a daughter of an father whom abandoned her when she was younger. There was so much more that she shared with me, but basically she told me that there was not times of prayer or anything pertaining to The Word of God. She didn’t feel right. My friend told me, she stopped going to that counselor and went directly to The Lord about her stresses. She began to see The Lord heal areas and show her things she needed to see. Again, like Pastor /Professor Jeff said before “ We can Boldly approach the Throne of Grace. We as believers have direct access”
Her previous counselor may have loved the Lord but may not have Inquired from the Lord. This is a direct result when we are not walking and seeking HIS direction.
Serena, I agree with you. I can’t believe a “Christian counselor” wouldn’t refer to the Bible or pray with someone. Prayer is so important. The result of someone not walking with the Lord, but trying to help someone, can be a mess. Thank you for sharing this with the group.
It is so wonderful knowing that we have a Father that we can call on at anytime, and that He desires us to so consistently. Sometimes I find in my own life that I am quick to pray to the Lord, but I don’t always take the time to be silent before Him and let Him speak. Sometimes it has to do with where my heart is, and I want my way and I am afraid that the Lord is going to ask me to do the opposite. I always need to keep in mind that the Lord wants the very best for my life, and that I can trust anything He says to me, and I need to take time to listen to Him and not just let it be a one-sided conversation.
I am right there with you. I know that we can call on the Lord any time, yet it seems at time I do not call on the Lord as often as I should. There always seems to be room for improvement.
What a privilege prayer is and a ready access for us as counsellors. Like David we have to consistently live a life of inquiring from God because we simply cannot use our own methods or past experiences with every counseling situation. We need a fresh word, a fresh decision, a fresh direction from the Holy Spirit every time. No matter how seasoned a Counsellor we may be we have to rely on the wisdom from the Holy Spirit to guide us. Everyday we want to have God guiding us and prayer gives us that opportunity to receive heavenly direction and counsel. I see how David had identical situations but God give him different instructions after he prayed. We truly need to always be led by the Holy Spirit through prayer.
So true that not every situation will be handled the same, and that we need to be in prayer to seek God’s will in every situation. It reminds me of the miracles Jesus performed on blind men. One time He chose to spit on His eyes, and another man he brought sight to by putting clay on his eyes. I love that the Lord works differently in each individual’s life.
Yes, not every situation will be handled in the same. Many times situations seem the same to me and I initially come to them with confidence (oh, I’ve done this before, I know what to do). But then God will reveal something in prayer, by his Spirit that is not what I expected or may not even make sense until I talk to the person. God is good and interested in every part of our lives and ministry, he gives guidance before we think we need it, when we need it, and sometime it feels like just barely in time, but He is always there waiting for us to ask and humbly listen. Oh, how glorious is his counsel.
Jocelyn, I absolutely love how you used the word Fresh. This is so spot on, HE makes all things new, HE gives us a direction that can only be by him, we tend to get stuck in our own “staleness” at times and try to give counsel or advice based upon our own past experiences, but if it is not what The Lord wants to speak to that person, than it is not fresh from HIM. We always need HIS guiding, and leading. Thank you for reminding me tonight, that HIS Word cleanses, HIS direction is always good.
Yes the prayerful seeking heart is one that demonstrates dependency! Amen. I’ve been looking at psalm 23 with someone and the recurring theme is one of dependency. Moment by moment dependency as the sheep trusts the all sufficient provision and protection of the Good Shepherd.
What a wonderful picture – God dependent counsellors who become the humble instruments of God.
Ann-Louise,
Like Pastor/Professor Jeff stated “ We can Boldly approach the throne of Grace”
We as counselors can ask HIM for anything! We have direct access.
Praying and seeking 🙂
Often in my ministry I am called to pray for people in a variety of circumstances. Some of those requests are planned and others are spur of the moments. These requests are during counseling, hospital visits, walk-ins at the church office, etc. It happens on more occasions then I would like to admit but my attitude while I am praying is not where I or God would like it to be. We need everyday to check our heart attitude. This was a great reminder like Ilene wrote in her comment that we can enter the Throne Room of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Jeff emphasized in his podcast we not only can enter but we can enter boldly knowing our prayers will be heard. This podcast drove home to me the need to check my heart attitude before I pray and to not take this privilege for granted. David’s immediate response was prayer and that needs to be mine also.
I think you are right Donald I too need to be reminded that in prayer I need to come with a heart attitude of absolute reverence. We are on Holy ground.
Donald, that is a great point you make regarding checking our heart attitude! I relate with you when you say that on occasion, your heart is not where God or you would like it to be. That comment convicts me to check my heart as well, and when it is not where it should be, repent, give it to the Lord, and be thankful He forgives and desires to meet us where we are, but not leave us there.
Prayer is such a wonderful gift that God has given us. Knowing that I am able to enter the Throne Room of God through faith in His Son, my Savior Jesus Christ absolutely astonishes and overwhelms me! Not only did God send His Only Begotten Son to die for me, He gave me the Holy Spirit to help, comfort, and guide me…and as if that was not enough, He asks me to come to Him, and ask anything according to His will, and He hears me. The Creator desires a relationship with me, with you! We are able to talk to Him about anything, anytime, and have the confidence that He hears us, and will answer us!
It saddens me that there are christians who don’t have a consistent prayer life. Who better to talk to than the One who knows everything about us, and cares most for us?
So, I pray now that our Lord will fill each of us with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that we may walk worthy of Him, and fully please Him, that we will be fruitful in every good work, and increase in the knowledge of God. I pray that He will strengthen us with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy. Thank you God, in Jesus name, amen!
Really like this prayer from Colossians too.This is surely a prayer we know God will answer because it is taken directly from His Word. We surely do need every aspect of this prayer become reality in our lives as counsellors. Let’s pray it for Pastor Jeff too.
Ilene, I enjoyed reading your comments. Especially the part where you said, “Who better to talk to than the One who knows everything about us, and cares most for us?” Amen to that! Thank you for sharing your heart.
Prayer is everything when it comes to counseling. There have been so many times when I’ve counseled people as a Pastor, that the situation at hand seemed impossible to correct or address. But after much prayer, God would give me exactly what they needed in that moment. A lot of these situations were at times beyond me or my abilities but God would come through with the leading of His Holy Spirit through prayer.
It is awesome when we can immediately experience and witness the power of prayer.
I can count on the fact that everyone needs to know the mind of Christ more in every circumstance. Whether times are good or bad, drawing nearer to Him only brings improvement. I do need to be cautious in giving overly specific advise, even when it seems obvious what to do. Let the individual draw near to God and have the solution revealed to them by Him.
Many times in my counseling like you I want to give specific advise especially when the solution seems to be so evident. My past career in law enforcement sometimes drives me more that I would like. Sanctification and discipleship in counseling come through a closer relationship with Him. Thanks for the reminder Dean.
That struck me too Donald. Because if we point people to a relationship with the Lord he becomes the all sufficient “advice”.
The point of caution is really important Dean because we can start trusting our wisdom and experience instead of depending on the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the situation may look so obvious to us what to do but it is crucial that we not be hasty but inquire from the Lord and seek His counsel. Glad that we can talk to God anytime.
You are not the only one that needs to be cautious in giving overly specific advice. It is easy to think that we have seen these things happen before and that we can tell someone how to fix their situation, but rather we need to pray for them and lead them to do the same.
Prayer is detrimental to our lives. There is not a single aspect of our life that is too small nor too great to bring to God in prayer.
It is so encouraging hearing the the story and testimony of David inquiring of God whether to pursue the Philistines; his persistence and refusal to move forward unless it was truly God’s will. Hearing that story when I was younger, I imagined God hearing David consistently asking (what seemed to me) the same question, and Him just looking back down and saying “I told you yes already, didn’t I??” But that is not God’s attitude, nor is it what He says here. He is blessed by David’s dwelling and submitting in his will.
This is what we are called to. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing.” In all we encounter, we are to humbly approach the thrown of God and inquire of His will.
I actually heard a pastor early on in my walk with God say that asking God in prayer more than once for the same thing was an insult to God. I can see how wrong that pastor was but how many people have been led away from a wonderful prayer life by people who don’t understand what prayer is all about. Tim I couldn’t agree more we need to humbly but boldly approach the throne of God and ask for knowledge of His will.