Charles Stanley - The Believer's War Room
The title of this message is The Believer's War Room. You said, Well what in the world is that? So I want you to turn if you will to the sixth chapter of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, and I want you to look at a couple of verses here because this is what you and I would really consider a war room if we understood what goes on in this room.
So Jesus is speaking here, beginning in verse five, when He says, "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full". But now watch this next verse, "But you, when you pray, going to your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you". Think about this. Think about all the kind of trials and heartaches and burdens you face in life, what do you do with them? Many people don't know what to do with them and Jesus has given us in this passage of scripture the solution, the answer.
When I think about in my own life, I learned to pray seriously very early. And I finally figured out why. Because I had needs that I knew I could not meet. And secondly, I felt very inadequate in life, in school and everything I did. So, it forced me to begin to pray early in life. When I started out, I prayed in my bedroom; and then after a while I realized there must be a better place and so I found a place in my church, which was a block away, to pray. And then when I went away to college, I had B-seventeen Jeter Hall, a private room and I had a wonderful place to pray. And probably after a few weeks, maybe somewhere thereabouts; probably once a week some student would come to see me and say, Well, could we just talk a few moments?
And so I spent three and a half years of listening and talking to my fellow college mates, and it was a wonderful time. When I went away to seminary, I didn't have a place to pray in my room, it was very noisy. And so I finally found a place to pray in the music building. And so, that helped me through those times. And then I got married and so we had a very small apartment and so I said to my wife, Now I've got to have a place to pray. And we had a small bedroom, a very small kitchen, and a bathroom and a living room and that was it. So, I had one of my mother's afghans that I'd use and so I stretched that over in the corner of that living room and that was my place to pray till we finished seminary. I've always had a place. Sometime it wasn't a different place; sometimes right in the middle of a lot of things. And I've had places to pray in my studies and so forth, at church and In Touch and, always had a place.
There's something about this passage of scripture when he says, "When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Which is His promise. So, He speaks of a place. Now Jesus' place changed because his itinerary changed. And my life's changed over all these years, but I've had a place, I found a place to pray. Because I discovered very early in life I couldn't handle it without it. And He made me inadequate enough and needy enough to depend upon Him, to trust in Him and to make prayer the priority of my life. And I've fought a lot of battles, been through a lot of difficulties, hardships, have lots of needs; but I can tell you this, He's never failed me one time, nor will He fail you.
So Jesus called it a place. And I would say as Jesus said, when He said "close the door," a private place. If it's possible, somewhere in your house, some place that you can set aside as your place to meet God every day. And if you happen to be in a situation where you have roommates, you could just say to your roommate, You know, I just need a place, a little time to be alone with God. So if you work here or you work there, in other words, can we work it out so that I'll have this particular time that you'll know that I'm just being alone talking to God. I'm going to be praying for you, but I'm going to be talking to God about my life and about my future. Anybody who would object to that, makes a great statement, and that is, I really need you to pray for me. That's really what they're saying. And so here's what'll happen. God will make a place. If you want a place to pray, God will make a place for you to pray for the simple reason, there's nothing He wants any more than to develop an intimate, personal relationship with you. And if you'll notice how Jesus said it, "Enter your room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and He will reward you".
So it's a private place. And what I simply want to do is to say to you, This is what a prayer room is about. And I just want to describe a true genuine prayer room, whether it's a place or a room itself. Whatever it takes for you to be alone with Almighty God, think about it in this light. And that is simply this. It's a private place, it's a quiet place; it's a holy place. It's where you and the Father meet. Let me tell you why that's so important. When you have a place, what I discovered after a while, because that's your place to pray, when you get there, you don't have to get ready. After a while, your whole system adjusts to the fact, This is what you do here. This is the only thing you do here. You don't read books here; you don't do any, this is what you do here. You talk to the Father. You may have your Bible there, but primarily, you're talking to Him. So when you get there, you know what you're going to do.
And I remember I was praying one evening and this is why I say it's a holy place, because one of the most important things God's ever said to me lying over there on that spot. And here's what He said. And I was talking to Him about something in school and so forth. He said to me, Whatever you accomplish in life, you'll have to accomplish on your knees. You cannot trust in your education or your abilities and talents and skill, only on your knees. I never forgot it. I could never thank God enough for telling me early in life that whatever I do with you, I will do as you come to Me, commune with Me, kneel before me, worship Me, honor Me, obey Me, on your knees, watch what I do. And I can tell you it's the most important thing God had said to me up until that time. Because the truth is this: whatever He accomplishes in your life that really fits His will and purpose and plan for your life, it's as a result of your relationship to Him.
There are a lot of people who look famous and are wealthy and this, that and the other, but have no relationship with the Father. The most important relationship you will ever have is with God the Father. And how do you develop that relationship? He said, "When you pray, go to your inner room," or wherever it is, "close your door," if possible, "pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who is in secret will reward you". It doesn't make any difference who you are. When you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you develop a relationship. But then when you begin to put prayer in its proper place, that's first in your life, God will do things in your life and for you you'll never figure out and you'll never do and never accomplish unless you put that where it belongs. It was first in Jesus' life. That's why the scripture says, A great while before day, He was doing what? He was up and away in the wilderness praying.
And so, this is where our battles are fought. Our battles are fought on our knees. Because what happens? When you go through difficulty and hardship in your life and conflict with other people and so forth, when you in your place of prayer bring that to your Heavenly Father, listen to what happens. You know what happens? Here's what happens. You engage your Heavenly Father in this warfare you're having with, whoever it might be and whatever the situation, circumstances, and maybe even your husband or your wife or your kids, your parents. When you kneel before Him and ask for His guidance, and His help, and His strength. And how many times have I had to come to Him when I desperately needed Him? He was all I had and no other place to go.
Listen carefully. There are going to be some times when nobody knows the answer to your plea but Almighty God. Nobody will be able to comfort, strengthen you, help you, encourage you like Almighty God. And when you develop that relationship with Him and that place, listen, if the place and the quietness and the seclusion, and the holiness of that place were not important, Jesus would never have put that in the Sermon on the Mount. But He said that because He knew it was so important, because He practiced it Himself. That's where you fight temptation. That's where you fight trials, on your face before Almighty God.
Now I know and I'll say it once in a while, You do not have to kneel to be holy before God. But, I'll put it this way. You at least must be in the mode of worship. You can sit down; if you can sit down; but for me, I've been kneeling since I was a kid and that's just the reason I say, Kneeling before Him, honoring Him and worshipping Him. And to me, to get on my needs before Him was straight out, flat out on my face before God, says what my heart says. And that is, Holy God, I come to you in need and I'm crying out to you to give me help and strength in whatever I may be praying for.
And think about this. That's where you should get your instructions for every day. And so, what happens in the war room, is, we get ready for the day. We ask for directions and guidance. Lord, make us sensitive to the people around us. Let us hear what they say, what they don't say. Let us read their facial expressions. What are they trying to say to us? Lord, help me to do my best today. If somebody gives me instructions, let me get them down. If I'm given an order on my job and I don't like it; Lord, You help me to like it anyway. Lord, I want You to guide me through this day. God will never ignore that request. He says, Go into that inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father. And so what does He do? We dress for the battle, we get our instructions for the day, and also, remember this, this is a guide Book.
Tell me one thing in your life that's not in here that you have to face. Every single circumstance of life there is an answer for it in the Book. This is a book of instructions. This is God's battle plan for us. You cannot live a godly life with a closed book. You can't win the battle if you don't know the battle plan. If you're not listening to the General, you're making your own decisions, you're going to lose the battle. And so, He said, Go into your inner room and close the door. And what He was saying was this: I want you to Myself to begin this day. And there's not a person in here who can tell me any reason that you can't do that. And if you say, Well, I just get distracted when I pray. Get in your closet, close the door. Put some clothes, something under so there's no light. Tell God you just want to think about Him. You want Him to speak to your heart, because you can't think of anything more important than hearing from the Living God. And He's willing to speak to you.
You say, Well, I never heard God speak. You probably weren't listening. God is willing to speak to anyone who's trusted Him as their personal Savior. God is willing to listen to any sinner crying out to salvation. If you want Him to be a part of your life, yield your life to Him. Surrender yourself to Him, asking for the forgiveness of your sin. Trusting in His death at Calvary to pay your sin debt in full and become a child of God your life with Him will begin. And so when I think about what's involved and opening the Word of God and asking Him to speak to my heart, that's where you and I deal with our sins. Lord, I need you to encourage me. Or, God, You have convicted me of something that I had not seen before, had not dealt with before, and Lord, I'm confessing my sins before You. Whenever you and I come to Him with an open heart, and we should always say to Him, Now Lord, if You have something to say to me that I've missed, I want to hear it. If there's anything in my heart that should not be there, then the first thing I want to do is I want You to show me what that is so I can confess it and ask You to forgive me so I want to start off clean, God. I just want to start off clean so I can hear what You have to say.
You can't, listen, God is not going to do much talking to you as long as you're living in sin. He speaks to those who are willing to hear Him. Let me ask you a question. How do you feel, maybe, when you and your wife or husband had a little bout and you want to get it straightened out and he won't listen. What does that do to you as a wife? Or she won't listen. Or your son won't listen? Or your parents won't listen? There's something about opening our heart to God. Let me tell you. He will speak to you clearly. You know why? Because He loves you. God doesn't try to keep secrets. And this is why He said, Go into your inner room. Close your door. That is, it's just you and Him. And you'll find a place if you really want to find a place. So, that's where we deal with sin in our life. That's where we develop an intimate relationship with Him.
Now some of you are probably thinking, Well, I don't think that's necessary. That's the Devil's lie. Don't believe it. Let me tell you why. If it were not necessary, it wouldn't be in the Word of God by the person of Jesus Christ. He knows. And you and I know we need a place, a time. And one of the best times to start is early in the morning. But for some people, that may not be the most convenient thing. Then you make it your time, your place, and your time, where you get alone with God uninterrupted. And did you know without even knowing this, my kids have told me this. And I remember I had a study out different from the house in the back yard when I was pastor in Miami. And that's where I prayed. I asked them to build me a little place away from my house, 'cause I didn't have a place. So it was just a cinder block building. Wasn't a very large at all. And I just had a, in fact I had a door for the desk. So I didn't want anything in there to distract me. Had a door as a desk and one chair, I paid fifteen dollars for it. And I had a little mat on that concrete floor.
Andy said to me, You didn't know I was there, but I slipped in there and I was right beside you praying and I heard everything you said. And my daughter came to me at different times and she would say something similar to that. You know what? If I never taught my kids another lesson, I taught it without even trying. That you spend time talking to your Father. And as a parent, you need to demonstrate it. You need to show them, not just tell them, how important prayer is. And I'm not telling you that for any other reason except to say, I discovered that later on. They didn't even tell me at first. Of course, they did tell me the times, we had a round coffee table we all prayed around when we prayed together as a family.
And they are quick to remind me that one time everybody had prayed and then they kept waiting for me to pray, waiting for me to pray, and I went to sleep while they prayed. And they all got up to walk out and about the time they got to the door, I started praying. They came back and knelt down around the table. But you know what? That's okay. That's all right. That table was a place we all prayed. But then I taught them to find a place for them to pray; because it's the most important activity of your life. There's nothing more important in your life than building an intimate relationship with the Heavenly Father and claiming His promises. And in the prayer room, that's where you lay your burdens down. And what does He say? He daily lifts our burdens.
This place to pray is an awesome place to confess our sins; where He lifts our burdens; where we weep over our trials and our heartaches. Yes, it's a place to cry before Almighty God. And He understands what we're crying about. It's where broken hearts are mended, in the prayer room. It's where sin's forgiven but also where we forgive others. It's a holy place, a mighty place, a powerful place. It's a place that becomes the most precious spot in your household, because that's where you and the Father meet and discuss every area of your life. Where you bring your needs; where you bring your hurts; where you bring your tears; where you bring your sorrows; where your burdens are lifted and where you're strengthened.
So where's your place? You can walk through life and ignore a personal, intimate relationship with Christ. Maybe you're very talented and gifted. Maybe you're very wealthy and you say, Well, I don't need all that. Oh, yes you do. And the more prideful you are, the further you're going to fall when God's hand comes upon you to teach you a lesson that you need Him desperately. Do you have a place? Even as you've listened, have you thought about a place? Are you willing to make a place that can be your place, to become a holy place, a private place where you carry on the most important activity of your life, and that's communing and fellowshipping with the Lord Jesus Christ. Most important thing you do.
You say, Well, I'm so busy I don't have time. Yes, you do. Do you believe God loves you enough to speak to you? Maybe you don't believe that. But you get in a place and start praying and you'll find out quickly God will speak to your heart. Your needs will be met. You'll find joy in your heart and a sense of security and comfort. God meeting your needs in an awesome way. Does it mean you'll never be needy? No, He allows us to be needy sometime because it drives us into a deeper relationship with Him.
If you're one of those persons who's never trusted Jesus as your Savior, I trust that today you'll settle that issue, asking Him to forgive you of your sins, and acknowledging that Jesus went to the cross in order to pay your sin debt in full by shedding His blood. And the moment you're willing to confess that sin, repent of it and tell the Lord Jesus Christ you're receiving Him as your personal Savior, your life with Him will begin. And my prayer to you is that you'd be wise enough to do what Jesus said. Go into your inner room, close your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. That is a promise of God. And if you're wise, you'll make a place.
Father, how grateful we are that You made it simple. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will sink this message deep in the heart of every person who hears it. And some who have never trusted You as their Savior, help them to understand the first prayer You listen to from them is a prayer of confession and repentance and surrender of their life to You as their Lord and Savior, and then you all can carry on a conversation. You know who's listening to this message, who's going through great trial, heartache, difficulty, pain, suffering; a sense of futility, not knowing which way to turn. Oh Father, remind them that they've heard the answer today, and now it's a matter of making a choice. Making the wisest choice they could make of finding a place and begin to build that intimate relationship and to begin listening to You and hearing You speak is my prayer, in Jesus' name, amen.