male announcer: The following program is sponsored by Friends
of Life Outreach International.
announcer: Coming up.
Randy Robison: I know there's a tendency for us to sometimes
feel like those short prayers aren't stacking up.
I prayed, nothing happened; I prayed, nothing happened;
I prayed, nothing happened.
Jentezen Franklin: And all I would say is yet, yet.
You don't know what God can do when you pile up those prayers
and keep praying.
You need a whole treasury of yet-to-be answered prayers.
announcer: When all you can muster is a short prayer,
it's more than enough.
[music]
Randy: Welcome to "Life Today," I'm Randy Robinson.
Blynda Lane joins me.
Blynda Lane: Hi there.
Randy: How are you doing?
Blynda: It's good, good to see you.
Randy: Did you get your prayers in today?
Blynda: Hoo, I am ready to go.
Randy: Did you spend a lot of time on your prayers
this morning?
Blynda: You know, I made 'em quick and succinct.
Randy: Quick and succinct.
You know, that's actually a very powerful thing.
Today we're gonna talk about prayer and "The Power of Short
Prayers," that's the title of a book, a new book out now by
Pastor Jentezen Franklin, who joins us from Free Chapel in
what, the Atlanta area?
You got campuses all over though, yeah?
Jentezen: We do.
It's wonderful to be back.
It's been a minute and delighted to be back with you guys.
Yeah, we're in the Atlanta area, and we have eight campuses and
been there a while.
Randy: And a global outreach, I do know that, so I want people
to know that.
But let's talk about this idea of prayer, and I have tons of
questions, you know, but I kinda wanna hear from you where this
comes from.
Jentezen: Well, this book is really different.
You know, every book that you write is, it's an aspect of
what's going on in your life, I think, and you need to feel
pretty sure about what you're writing, but this one came as
easy as any book I've ever done, to be honest, because it is a
short book about short prayers.
And I put 15 chapters, and they're only 5 pages each,
because I wanted men to read it, and I wanted people to finish
it, because these are the 15 prayers that over 40 years of
preaching and 38 years of marriage and raising 5 children
and building a ministry, these are the prayers I prayed over
and over and over, prayers over my family, over our marriage,
over our ministry, over our building programs, when we
needed miracles in our lives, these are the prayers.
And I found myself being so moved by these prayers, short
prayers, that I begin to pray them over and over and over
until they became a part of my life, so I feel very passionate
about this.
Blynda: What I love about it is I think in some regard believers
tend to overcomplicate the idea of prayer, because the mountain
that's in front of them is so big they feel like they have to
have really eloquent, big prayers to have that mountain
moved, versus what you're saying here is sometimes the simplest,
most heartfelt prayer is the most effective.
Jentezen: Yeah, the greatest miracles that Jesus did in the
Bible were interruptions.
I mean, you think about he only had three years to do
his ministry.
I know he lived to be 33, and 30 of those years he never preached
a sermon or did anything spiritual other than be the God
in skin, learning, feeling what we feel, but then there came
the interruptions.
He was always going somewhere, every day was important, only
three years to build a worldwide organization that would bring
the the truth of life and eternal life to every human
being that would believe, and yet people would come with a
short prayer, whether it's ten lepers, whether it's a woman
with an issue of blood, or it's even little children, he allowed
to interrupt his powerful purpose for a potential
possibility when they prayed short prayers.
You may feel like you're not important, that you don't know
how to pray good, that you don't know how to pray these eloquent,
you know, theologically-correct prayers, I don't think that's
what God's looking for.
He's looking for your heart, your heart cry, and when you
learn to pray passionate, purposeful prayers, Jesus would
stop, the Bible said.
He would stop.
He was going by blind Bartimaeus, and he stopped
because he cried out with a short prayer.
And you may feel like God's so important, and you're not, but
the truth is he waits for us to pray, and it's not the long
prayers, the short prayers a lot of times that that cause him to
get that desire to send heaven's help.
Randy: Yeah, I think the easy trap that we fall into
personally and certainly in religious systems is we're
looking for the right word and almost as if it's, you know, an
incantation or that if I just say this particular thing, and
it can get real quickly if you're not careful into trying
to manipulate God, which is a bad, bad place to be.
How do we get past, you know, the right prayer to say the, I
don't know, the effective prayer?
Because we do want them to be effective.
Jentezen: When I think of what you're asking, it just feels
like that to me, you go to Matthew 6 where the disciples
said teach us to pray, and before he gave them the greatest
short prayer, 68 words.
Think of that it, it should be volumes.
I mean, if the master is going to teach people how to pray,
that's an important moment.
And he says if you do this, if you pray this little outline
right here, you'll cover your whole life, 68 words.
But before he said that, a lot of people miss this, he said--
he gave them the negative side, do not pray like the Pharisees
and the hypocrites who think, he went on to say these words.
This is what caught my attention for the book.
Who say, who think that by many words, many words, it actually
says that.
Jesus said those words, they think that by their many words
they will get their prayers answered.
I don't want many words, I want to hear your heart, I want you
to talk to me, and there's something about a short prayer
that has an urgency.
You know, when you see a child running out in front of a car, a
mother can just, Jesus, help my baby, and there's such passion
and force it's almost like you can have water coming out of a
hose, but if you put your thumb on the end of that, it's that
compressed and it's urgent and it's faith-filled and it's using
the name of Jesus.
And I really believe that that is where all prayers begin is
out of your own heart and experience and you don't have to
pray long.
And I'm not against long prayer, but you'll never pray long
prayers until you begin to pray short prayers a lot all day, and
if you would do that, this is where I am.
I love--the one thing that I've been consistent in more than
anything else is prayer.
I love prayer.
I can't wait to get to my prayer place, and I love to walk and
pray in the woods.
But I pray all day.
I think even before I came out here, under my breath I said a
short prayer, Lord, help me, quicken me.
You know the people that'll be watching, and I just wanna
encourage people that the prayers that I put in this book
are prayers that I prayed over my children every day, and Satan
came for every one of them in one way or another.
But when you pray and you stack up those prayers, and you
keep praying.
I read something the other day, and there's a chapter in there
where I talk about the treasury of snow and how that he compares
snow in the Bible, and I don't have time to break it all down,
but it is in the book of how snow is compared to prayer.
It's interesting that snow has six points like the Star of
David, a perfect Star of David if you look at it, a
snowflake under--
And they catch each other, and one snowflake, one tiny
snowflake's not gonna make a difference on a highway, but if
you get enough of them gathered together, they can drive a Mack
truck off the road.
And you may feel like the little prayers that you're praying over
your babies when they're going to school or the little prayers
you're praying, short prayers for the healing of somebody
that's going through chemo or somebody on your heart that's
addicted and bound, you're not wasting your time praying those
short prayers.
Just call their name and use the name of Jesus and begin to pray
short prayers over them, and that accumulates.
And that same text talks about the treasury of snow is for the
day of battle and the time of trouble.
This is Job chapter 38, so God stores up like a mountain peak.
And then it goes on to say, and when the sun melts the mountain
peak, the river begins to flow to the dry, fruitless areas of
the valley.
And many people feel like, well, I've been praying, I've been
praying, I've been praying for my child, and nothing's
happening, but know that the best time to store up snow is
when it's cold, when it's winter time, and when the season
changes, if there's no snow, there'll be no flow of that
life-giving river.
But if you store it up, and I prayed some of these prayers
literally for decades over my family and over the ministry,
and I've seen God turn it from snow to a flow that brought life
and life more abundantly.
Blynda: There's like an amount of perseverance that you have to
have in your walk with the Lord to pray prayers when you don't
necessarily see anything changing at the moment but
knowing that every prayer is being accounted for.
But going back to the idea of these shorter prayers and the
way for me when I think about it almost brings like a little bit
of freedom to think about it, because life is heavy.
There's a lot as a mom that I carry and now a grandma,
you know?
And for me to be able to think, okay, I'm partnering with God
even more on a daily basis because I can get used to these
short prayers.
What is your encouragement to the person watching today of,
okay, I haven't seen the answered prayer, but I also kind
of have always just compartmentalized prayer life
into this, I go to my prayer closet, it's really long, I
don't understand this day-to-day, minute-by-minute
prayer life.
How has that changed your life?
Jentezen: I think it's the invite that God looks for,
you know?
He said, "Acknowledge me."
This is your part.
This is your part of the deal.
"Acknowledge me in all of your ways," not part of them, not
some of them, and we used to have a saying, you know, why
worry when you can pray?
I believe this generation says why pray when you can worry?
And you have to decide, are you gonna be a worrier or a warrior?
Are you gonna be somebody who's gonna pray about it, or are you
gonna worry about it?
And when you acknowledge him in all of your ways, then God's
part kicks into that deal, and, "I will direct your path."
You do your part, "Acknowledge me," Lord, I'm so worried about
my husband, he lost his job, or I'm so worried about my baby,
that teenager is getting around the wrong people.
I've learned to pray short prayers about that, say their
name, say something that moves you about them.
If you've got a child that-- or a loved one that is--or
somebody on your heart today while you're watching this
program, and you worry all the time about them, the Lord
invites you today to transform that worry into prayer and cast
all your cares upon him.
He loves them more than you do, and when you pray, you're
opening the door to God's supernatural deliverance, and
it's--and again, the greatest miracles in the Bible.
Elijah prayed a 64-word prayer, and the fire fell and the whole
nation of Israel was broken loose from the spirit of Ahab
and Jezebel, a 64-word prayer.
Paul in Acts 16 prayed a 14-word prayer, and a woman who was
bound with the occult and demon-possessed was completely
set free.
You don't know what God can do when you pile up those prayers
and keep praying.
When the breakthrough comes, it comes in ways that you couldn't
see it.
Randy: Yeah, yeah, I think I have my personal favorite short
prayer, and it was really something spoken to Jesus, but
it ties into our culture, which in a lot of ways outside the
church they like to mock the idea of prayer, thoughts
and prayers.
I mean, you see it in social media just raked over the coals,
like it's completely ineffective, it's worthless,
what are you doing?
You're wasting your time, and I know there's a tendency for us
to sometimes feel like those short prayers aren't stacking
up, that they're not doing--it didn't--
I prayed, nothing happened; I prayed, nothing happened;
I prayed, nothing happened.
Jentezen: And all I would say is yet, yet.
You need a whole treasury of yet-to-be answered prayers,
always building them up, always building them up.
Randy: And so what you're saying is so right, because we see it
in scripture, but we also see it in the testimonies of people
like yourself, but it seems like anybody who's been through life
and been through the trials, been through the tough seasons,
you go, prayer comes up at the top of the list every time, and
so you'd think we would learn, which leads to my favorite short
prayer, and I don't even know if this is in the book, but it's
like, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
And I think that the practicing of it ties into that, because
you have to--we do believe in prayer, but yet we seem to have
this little bit of unbelief, because we don't we don't stack
them up, we don't put the yet.
Jentezen: That was a prayer, and it's in the book, that a father
prayed over his son that was demon-possessed, and he said--
it's the most honest prayer in the Bible.
Randy: I love it.
Jentezen: I love it, too, and I think that's why God was quick
to release freedom to his son is because, Lord, I believe, but
help my unbelief.
That's just honest, I pray that a lot.
Blynda: As the complexity of who we are.
Jentezen: I find myself going to pray for somebody who's in for--
you know, in an intensive care unit, and the doctors have said
it's over, and I know God is sovereign.
We all understand all of that, and yet he invites us to pray.
And that's a beautiful prayer to pray when you--and really
you're saying, Lord, your will be done.
I believe, but help my unbelief.
And I think, too, you know, I can't help but think of the
nine-word prayer of the thief on the cross.
He'd never been to church.
You may say, well, I know God won't hear my prayers, I don't
deserve it, I've not done anything to earn it.
This guy lived his whole life, he's dying on the cross beside
Jesus, Jesus is dying for the world and the lost, and he stops
everything, he hits the brakes when he hears one guy who's
never been to church, never done it, never forgiven anybody,
never done it.
All he did was steal, steal, steal, and he said remember me.
"Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
And when he prayed that short prayer, Jesus said, "Hold it.
I'm gonna hit the brakes on the whole kingdom of God right here.
I've got to make sure this man is with me in paradise today."
He heard that prayer, and he'll hear your prayer today.
I don't care who you are, you don't have to earn it.
If you'll call out to God, even a prayer of honesty like you
were saying, God, if you're real, God, if you're real,
Jesus, if you're the savior, I need you to help my family.
We're broken, we need help.
We can't--my son is being held with drugs or whatever.
Begin to invite God into that and watch him move.
Blynda: Back to the thief on the cross, in the book, I love you
wrote something I have never thought about before.
You said that we talk about remember me, remember me, and
that you compare that to what dismember means, to dismember
something means to tear it apart, to separate it, so when
he was saying remember me, he was actually being, he was
asking will you put me back together?
Will you restore me?
I'd never heard it like that before.
It's so beautiful.
Jentezen: And it was the cry of Adam who was separated from God
in the Garden of Adam and--you know, in the Garden of Eden,
Adam and Eve were separated after they sinned.
So they were dismembered from the body.
A flaming--an angel with a flaming sword said you can't
come here anymore, but here Jesus is saying, "I'm gonna
remember, and you'll be the first one.
You'll be the Adam of the new covenant, and I'm gonna remember
my lost family to the kingdom of God."
Blynda: That's beautiful.
Randy: That's so beautiful, so good.
There's some of you out there right now, you're thinking
about prayer.
You may have already said a short prayer.
It's okay to pray with others, and we have people right now
that are standing by that would love to pray with you, and it
may be a very short prayer.
Again, it's not the length, it's not the words, it's the heart,
and so if you wanna call that number, we'd love to say a
little prayer with you, remember you in our prayers.
And then those of you that have helped us for so many years with
people in dire situations, many of you have prayed, and I wanna
say please continue.
Let's stack up those prayers, because as we deal with these
situations in other countries that are very difficult, we
pray, and we know that God is moving, and yet we also see that
not yet aspect to a lot of things, and that's why we invite
you into action.
I'm going to show you an opportunity.
It is an opportunity for prayer, so we ask for that.
It is also an opportunity for action, and if you feel like
you're to take action, we ask you to join us in this outreach.
And by the way, if you want Pastor Jentezen Franklin's book
"The Power of Short Prayers," we'd love to send it to you when
you support this outreach, so watch this, pray about it, and
if God puts it on your heart, take action.
This is a great opportunity.
We need to hear from you.
[music]
John Yeatts: I'm John Yeatts, director of World Missions for
Life Outreach International.
An estimated 200,000 children are born each year with a
condition called club foot that can affect one or both feet.
If left untreated, it's a debilitating disease for
a child.
I'd like you to meet a young man named Evance born with clubfoot.
Evance: I faced some challenges when it was time for me to go
to school.
Sometimes I'd miss school because of the pain that I
was encountering.
When I forced myself to go to school, some of my friends
welcomed me, while others refrained from me.
Agogo: Looking back at Evance's life, comparing to how he is
today, I am very happy.
I had to encourage him to persevere and be strong in
whatever he might face.
Looking at how he is now, I am so proud of him for passing
through the hardships, and I am very appreciative.
Evance: I really want to thank your hospital for their help.
They have really helped me so much.
John: What an amazing smile on Evance's face.
That smile is a direct result of God-given surgeons who are
dedicating their lives to supporting children with
debilitating diseases just like Evance.
Without this medical mission outreach, he would suffer the
rest of his life.
John: Right now there are so many more children desperately
waiting for corrective surgery.
When you support Life's medical missions, you'll be helping to
provide those surgeries that turn suffering into healing and
healing into hope for a brighter future.
Randy: Man, it's almost hard to believe when you see something
like that.
Blynda: I know, the feet turned almost the opposite direction,
and imagine the pain that that even creates, and to know that
we have partnered with someone that actually can change their
life forever.
Randy: Well, and it's happened, and this is not something where
we're wishing we could do, we hope we could do, this is
something that we're doing with our partners there at CURE.
And I think that's a key point for me.
It requires a partnership.
Blynda: It does.
Randy: We can't do it without them, they can't do it without
us, they can't do more without the renovation that we want to
do, but we can't do it without the support of viewers just
like you.
You have made this possible in the past.
Many of you watching right now have made things like
this possible.
We're coming to you again, because we want to do more
because the joy, the joy on the faces of those children.
Whether it's something to do with their legs and now they can
walk again or like the cleft palate or cleft lip and now they
can smile for the first time, it's such a beautiful thing that
I love doing this, I count it a privilege.
Blynda: And I think it's important to note if you are
watching, and if you can do something, the hospital that can
do these surgeries is at capacity, and it needs to
expand, and I think another important thing, too, Randy, is
for them to understand these surgeries do not cost these
families anything.
And so the generous gifts that we give help pay for the
surgeries, help pay for the expansion, like the work is
really, really powerful.
Randy: Oh, it is, and it's not just a work of a medical
work, it is.
Obviously, you can see that.
It is a spiritual work.
We pray with people that come in to this hospital.
This facility in Zimbabwe that we're talking about right now,
it's a $600,000 renovation and expansion, because as Blynda
said, we are at capacity, but there is a long line of children
that need help.
And again, the doctors are there, and they're faithful
Christian men and women, doctors and nurses from all over.
They just need us to say, yeah, we'll let you do more.
And here's how you let them do more.
You come alongside us right now as we expand the operating rooms
and the recovery areas, continue as Blynda said, at no cost to
offer these life-changing surgeries to these children
in need.
We have different giving levels that we're asking, $126 is a
suggested level, $1,026 for those of you who can do that,
but it's really--let's just reach that goal.
Some of you could put us towards that goal quickly.
Others of you, it may seem like a long way, but that's the
beauty of partnership.
When we all do our part, that's how amazing things happen.
I think about that little boy that said, "I just have a few
fish, a few loaves, but Lord, I give them to you," and thousands
of people were fed that day.
Will you come alongside us right now?
Will you partner in this outreach of love and of mercy
and grace?
Go to the phone or go online, make the best gift you can.
Let's make this hospital renovation a reality.
announcer: Many children in Africa are born with severe
deformities or suffer life-altering injuries,
conditions like club feet, windswept legs, and untreated
fractures force them to live in pain because help is out
of reach.
But you can offer healing today.
Our mission partner in Zimbabwe runs a children's hospital now
at capacity and in urgent need of renovation and expansion.
With a $600,000 goal and only a short period of time to raise
the necessary funds, your best gift today helps children
receive the surgical care they need at no cost to the families.
Together we can heal precious lives and reveal the love
of Jesus.
With a gift of any amount, we'll send you the "Global Impact of
Life" Journal, featuring inspiring photos from
Life's outreaches.
This beautiful journal is a reminder that your prayers and
partnership are making a global difference.
With your gift of $126 or more, you may request "A Life of
Compassion" coffee table book, capturing Life Outreach's heart
for the world.
Each page pairs timeless Bible verses with vivid mission field
photography, making God's Word visible in action.
Finally, please consider a gift of $1,026 to help with the
expansion of operating rooms so children are no longer turned
away and request Life's beautiful bronze sculpture, The
Good Shepherd.
Please call, write, or make your gift online today.
Randy: Hey, let's get this done.
We really need you.
Please go to the phone or go online, give the best gift
you can.
And when you do today, we really would like to bless you with
this fabulous book, "The Power of Short Prayers."
Blynda, I think this is gonna bless people.
Blynda: I mean, it's awesome.
I've read almost all of it, and it is so good.
Pastor Jentezen, thank you for being here.
We are excited to talk more about it.
Would you join us for another show so we can dive in more?
Jentezen: I'd love to, let's do it.
I've enjoyed being here, and I just wanna say how much I
appreciate what this ministry has done in the world.
I've seen it firsthand, and you're changing lives feeding
the hungry, caring for the orphan and the widows, and
that's a pure and undefiled religion.
Randy: Yeah, well, thank you, we appreciate that, and we
appreciate all you, we can't do without you.
Come back for more next time with Jentezen Franklin.
We'll see you again on "Life Today."
[music]
Chad Prather: Whether it was the bottom of a bottle of alcohol or
the bottom of a bag of drugs, wherever I could try to
find that reality was where I was looking.
announcer: Chad Prather, next week.
announcer: "Life Today" is made possible by the supporters of
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The ministry features specific outreaches as examples of the
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Gifts are considered to be without restriction as to use
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