I wanted to personally thank you for walking with In Touch Ministries this year. Early in my Christian walk, I was shaped by Dr. Stanley’s teaching. I’m sure many of you remember the first time you heard Dr. Stanley when the Holy Spirit spoke directly to a need in your heart. Maybe you were hurting, maybe you were searching, but in that moment, God used His Word to bring hope, peace, or direction.
Today someone else is hearing for the first time, and God is using that moment to speak life, just like He did with you. Dr. Stanley was fond of saying, “The best is yet to come,” and as we look towards the future, we believe that promise still holds true.
God is still speaking, people are still listening, and together we’ll keep sharing His truth quickly, clearly, and irresistibly. We’re humbled to continue Dr. Stanley’s work and blessed to have you with us. Thank you for making In Touch Ministries possible. male announcer: “In Touch,” the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Next on “In Touch,” “The Seven Habits of a Godly Life.
” Dr. Stanley: Well, the title of this message is “The Seven Habits of a Godly Life.” You should get every one of them down. Ask yourself the question, are you a godly person? So first of all, I want to define a couple of things. And first of all, I want to define what a habit is, and a habit is a recurring, often unconscious, pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.
That’s what a habit is, something we do over and over and over again. The second definition is simply this. What is a godly life? So what’s godly? It’s a life no longer seeking satisfaction through a sinful lifestyle but is now surrendered to God and His will for your life. What is a godly life? A life no longer seeking self-satisfaction through a sinful lifestyle, but is now surrendered to God and His will for your life.
In other words, we would call that a sanctified life. Not perfect, doesn’t mean you never sin, but it means that your life is fully surrendered to Him. So I want to give you seven habits that every single believer ought to make as a part of their life.
And the first one is this: the habit, first habit, is a life of prayer. And you’ll recall one of my favorite passages, very simple, in Mark, that first chapter, when the disciples, they never quite got a hold of this. But the scripture says in chapter 1 of Mark, verse 35: “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.
Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, ‘Everybody’s looking for You.'” And so that’s sort of typical about the way people operate sometimes. Jesus is doing the most important thing in life and they don’t quite get that.
