The Rizzcast Podcast

Never a Wasted Prayer

March 02, 2020 Justin Rizzo Season 1 Episode 2
The Rizzcast Podcast
Never a Wasted Prayer
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Show Notes Transcript

It was January 2005. I was 19 years old and had just arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina for a worship conference. At that conference, I met a woman named Susan and had a five-minute conversation with her that would end up changing my life.

•••

He delivered me because He delighted in me. (Psalm 18:19) 

Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. (Hebrews 1:9) 

Your love is better than wine (Song of Solomon 1:2) 

I am dark, but lovely (Song of Solomon 1:5)

You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13) 



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It was January, 2005 I was 19 years old and had just arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina for a worship conference. At that conference I met a woman named Susan and I'd have a five minute conversation with her that would end up changing my life. Now a little bit of background on Susan, I had seen Susan on many occasions and I'd heard about her that she was this fiery woman of prayer and I'd seen her many times at the house of prayer here in Kansas city- when I was leading worship on the platform or when I was just in the room- I would see her in this one section of the prayer room. So often just sitting there with her eyes closed, not moving around and not doing the classic, you know, kind of head bobbing down as you're falling asleep thing and your head pops back up. She would just be steady and her eyes would be closed and I kind of see her mouth moving a little bit. So she was whispering prayers and so I had seen her for months and wondered, you know, how is she doing that? How was she not falling asleep? How is she not being distracted? I was 19 years old at the time, sincerely trying to have this life of prayer and would just get distracted so easily. I'd sit down for a time of prayer and then remember, oh, I have to go do this, I have to go do that. Or I'd see a friend and be like, oh, I'm going to go, you know, talk to that person or whatever it is. And I was so distracted. Yet I watched Susan so many times not be distracted, not fall asleep, and seemingly be in this glory realm with Jesus. So I'm having this conversation with her and I thought to myself, I'm just going to ask her. And so I asked her about her prayer life. I shared how I'd been dealing with pain and even shame over not really having much of a prayer life and how distracted I was that I would eventually just give up on that time of prayer. Now, Susan's response was quick, unassuming, and very matter of fact. She said,"Justin, there is never a waste of time of prayer. Even if you're distracted, even if you don't feel anything in that moment, I guarantee you that three things are happening. 1) Things in the heavens are shifting. 2) You are being changed. 3) God's heart is being deeply moved." She said,"There are times when even I will sit there and maybe not feel the tangible presence of God in that moment, but so many times later in the day when I'm with my kids, when I'm with my spouse, when I'm usually gonna respond wrongly or when I would typically be annoyed or angry and I'll feel the gentle presence of the Holy spirit and he'll remind me and say, this is because we were together this morning." My prayer life changed that day. There's so much that we could talk about with the three points that she gave that the things in heaven are shifting, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in heavenly places- that when you sit down to pray, even your weakest prayer, things are shifting. Her second point that you personally are being changed. Even the example that she gave that in the moment, she may not feel it, but later on she'll see the fruit of the spirit being manifest in her life and her third point, God's heart is being deeply moved. That third point is a big one. I feel like it's a big one for a lot of people that we're not just coming before God in a time of prayer because it's our religious duty or because we're Christians or we believe in the power of prayer or because we want to shift angels and demons and see the heavenly atmosphere change, but at the core of a life of prayer is a desire to have a deep relationship with Jesus. Sometimes a lack of confidence that God is pleased with us or that he'll even hear our prayers will determine whether or not we pray. And if I've already counted myself out of the game because of whatever reason it might be why would I ever show up to pray That day and that conversation began a journey for me, one of growing in confidence of my prayer life, but growing in confidence that Jesus was actually delighting in me and was pleased. And you know what happened? I was still distracted a lot. My mind would wander. But over the days and weeks I began to find myself being more focused for longer periods of time as my confidence that God was being moved simply by me coming before him. So did my connection to him. As I began to believe that even my weakest, most uninspired prayers actually mattered, my ability and desire to persist in prayer increased. So where are you at today? Where are you at with your prayer life of consistently coming before him? I want to tell you, no matter where you might be, that your love for him is real. Your love may feel so weak. It might feel distracted just like I felt when I was 19 years old. Trying to have a life of prayer. Your love is real before his eyes and he loves even your weakest attempt to spend time with him. The times when you are most distracted, God sees the intention of your heart and is moved by it. Do you feel bold and confident to come before him today? If not, I encourage you to begin talking to the Lord about that. Ask him to show you those truth that he showed, Susan that she shared with me now 16 years ago, that every prayer that you pray is shifting things in the heavens. It's changing your heart and is deeply moving the heart of God. Several of my favorite Bible verses on these topics(these will be listed in the show notes.). Psalm18:19 says that he delivered me because he delighted in me. Hebrews 1:9 speaking of Jesus says, God has anointed him with the oil of gladness more than your companions. Jesus walked in the anointing of gladness more than any other person in history. Gladness is at the center of his personality. Though many often think of him as being sad or disconnected or mad at us when they relate to him. Song of Solomon 1:2 says that your love is better than wine. And a few verses later it says"I am dark..." and paraphrasing... I am dark in my heart, but I'm lovely to God because of Jesus." And finally in Jeremiah 29:13 it says, you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart. Thanks so much for listening to the Rizzcast podcast. I always want to hear from you. You can hit me up at podcast@justinrizzo.com. Also a big thanks to Judah Earl for this original music for the podcast and also to Michael Dinsmore for the art design.