Affections for God

DG Conference for Pastors:  Francis Chan on Prayer as a Way of Walking in Love, A Personal Journey

In the third session of the Conference for Pastors (live-streamed at desiringgod.org/live), we heard from Francis Chan. He shared testimony after testimony of God's amazing love revealed through answered prayer.


Chan said, "In my life, prayer has even rivaled the Scriptures in raising my affections for God. God has showered his love on me in amazing ways through answered prayer." Here are some take-aways from Chan's message:

• In Scripture we see that one main thing that differentiates a Christian from the rest of the world is that God answers a Christian's prayers. We see this in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40). God listens to us. God is a God who hears us and cares even about the little things.
• God is so faithful to answer prayer, we should seriously wonder, "Why do I do anything other than pray?"
• Try to put yourself in the shoes of an unbeliever who is seeking and comes into your church service. What is that person looking for? What does he want to see from the stage? Does he want to see a polished speech? Does he want to see a brainiac who knows more than him? Does he want to see a comedian who makes him laugh? Doesn't that person want to walk in and see that you are connected with God? They want to be able to say, "I don't understand it, but that guy knows God and I want that, too!" When they hear you teaching, is that what they see? Are they jealous for what you have? Are you connected to God in prayer?
• There is a sense that when we are abiding in Jesus, he just wants to dump fruit on us (John 15:1-5)! If you want to bear fruit, abide in Jesus. Commune with your God.
• So many pastors struggle to draw near to the person of God because they are so focused on the work of God. It takes faith to draw near to God in prayer.
• What is the one thing you keep asking of the Lord (Psalm 27:4)? If there was a transcript of your prayers over the last few weeks, what would it show is the main thing you are asking for? Would it be God himself? Is the chief desire expressed in your prayers to dwell with God and gaze at his beauty?
• Is God the stronghold of your life (Psalm 27:1)? Are you leaning on him in prayerful dependence? Or are you leaning on your a strong church staff, or a weekend off, or getting away for a conference?
• Is there anything better than knowing that God hears us, loves us and cares about us? If we feel that God's love and care for us is the greatest thing in our lives, we will pray out of that.
• We shouldn't assume that people are doing fine. We shouldn't assume that people are praying.

The notes and downloadable audio from the session are now available. The video will be up shortly.