Welcome to the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, August 21st.

If you find your prayer time frustrating, today's podcast is just right for you.

Let's begin a series of messages designed to bring life, depth, and joy to the time you spend alone with God.

The time of the message today, unveiling the hidden, and this is the first in a series of sermons on prayer,

how to talk with God. And if you'll notice I didn't say how to talk to him, but how to talk with God.

In the scripture, Jeremiah chapter 33, verses 1 through 3, and if you'll turn there and let's read together.

Jeremiah chapter 33, the first three verses.

More over, the word of the Lord came into Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, say.

Thus saith the Lord, the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it to establish it, the Lord is his name.

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

There are three things in this one verse I want you to get, so I hope you'll get up and some paper out, and listen to what he says.

Verse 3, call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

So the first thing he does here is he enjoins us to prayer by saying, call unto me.

Now, Jeremiah is in prison. I don't know the better place for fellow to catch up on his prayer life than being in prison.

And some of you have never been behind bars, but God's put you in circumstances in situations where I believe that God wanted to teach you something,

or say something specific to you, or maybe teach you how to talk to him, and the only prayer you knew how to pray is while you were rattling the bars, you were saying,

God, get me out of here. When that may not be the prayer, God wanted you to pray after all.

You see, we are so prone to want everything to go our way, not to have any suffering, not to have any difficulty in the heartache,

when we come along and stump our big toe, or fall into some difficulty, the first prayer is, God, where are you getting me out of here so I can love you more and serve you more and pray better.

Nothing could be further from the truth than that. He said to Jeremiah in prison, listen, he didn't say, Jeremiah, I'm going to get you out of there.

He doesn't even mention that, and nor does Jeremiah even mention God getting him out.

He comes to Jeremiah, he says, Jeremiah, call unto me, I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou know it's not.

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