Latest / The Father's Business Podcast / For the Family-Q&A Episode

Transcript

For the Family-Q&A Episode · The Father's Business Podcast

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: The Father's Business was founded by Sylvia Gunter to encourage people to a deeper relationship with God.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Elizabeth Gunter Powell.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I am Kimberly Roddy.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Father's Business Podcast.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: We are so glad that you've joined us.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to welcome everybody to today's podcast.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: First, I want to start off by saying how grateful I am for the prayers prayed for me and my mom and the rest of our family, and for emails and cards and other things that you have done to encourage us as we have lost my dad and Sylvia's husband on March 1st.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a sweet, hard couple of weeks.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: As y'all know, he had Alzheimer's for many years.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so, in a lot of ways, it it was a time of celebration that the battle is over and he is whole and he is free and he is home with Jesus.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: And now he knows in full what we only know in part.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's a part of me that is jealous that he knows more of Jesus than I do now and excited for a day that I get to be reunited with him and see Jesus again.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: But there's so many little things God did just to keep saying, I'm here, I'm here for you, I'm with you.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: He I planned all of this.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: I knew when John was going to take his last breath.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: And one of them was my dad uh died in his sleep in the night.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: And the next morning, there's a devotional that both mom and I read called Daily Light.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: We've been reading it for years, and it's just collections of scriptures.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the scriptures the next morning that we read as we woke up was Revelation 14, 13, which said, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that was so sweet to wake up to, I mean, I I swear I think God moves those verses around in those devotionals from from time to time because it is so sweet to wake up that morning to that verse.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: My dad was a very duty-bound, responsible man who was always a faithful provider for our family.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so just that phrase that he can rest from his labors.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I am thrilled as much as I miss my dad, as much as I would love to have one more conversation with him.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: I am thrilled that he is no longer bound by anxiety or worry or the weight of needing to be a provider, but that he is totally free and just be a beloved son.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: I ask you to just continue to pray for us, especially Sylvia, as she processes through losing her person.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, since the time that she was 18, dad was her person and they dated all through college and got married and raised a family together and had grandkids and great-grandkids.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's there's a lot there for her to process.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I appreciate you continue to pray for her.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: But today I'm excited that we have collected several questions from you guys.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: We asked you to send in questions, and y'all did a great job with this.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to start off.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'll read the first question, Kimberly, and see if you can give us some insight on this one.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: It says, How do you use the booklet?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I'm cheating by reading the prayers out loud.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Should I memorize these prayers?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's a great question.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the father's business has done a great job of putting together these resources.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: And oftentimes um you can be really grateful for the resources because it puts words on paper, and other times you can feel like you're cheating because it's not your words.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's probably a little bit where the enemy comes in and he wants to discourage you, or even at the very least, cause you to lose focus.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: But I I immediately think of Matthew 6, um, where Jesus said, This is how you should pray, our Father who art in heaven.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: And he gives us the Lord's prayer, and it's a model.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: We often use that as the model prayer, so to speak, that Jesus gave us, and it encompasses many things.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's an opportunity to learn how to pray differently.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: Prayer is conversation, it's a relationship, and in that we don't have to get it right, but but sometimes we don't know what words to use.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we run out of words, sometimes we aren't sure what to say.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: I I often think of um how uh the spirit intercedes for us through our groanings um as well.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so I would say, no, you're not cheating by reading the prayers out loud.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it is a it's a gift to be able to have some of these words.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: I think you could certainly memorize some of the prayers if you wanted to.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: I think as you pray them more, they hopefully become your own words.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: Just because they're someone else's words on paper doesn't mean that they're not from your heart.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's my initial thought.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you want to add anything to that.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, and I know mom's passion and and mine as well as in yours is that you would read this and then turn it into your own language.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: You may not use the same vocabulary my mom uses, but the heart of the prayer becomes yours.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: And we're most excited when we hear people say, Hey, I took the prayer for the children and I wrote out my own prayers based being inspired by what you said.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, and I mean, I think of it just like anything else, like when we sing a worship song, we're singing words that someone else wrote, but that's the feeling from my heart is what's worshiping God.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so we hope that they're just a tool because I mean, a lot of us weren't taught how to pray for our spouse, for our children, pray spiritual warfare prayers.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so so much of how we learn how to pray is by hearing other people pray.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope it's just a way to allow that to be a part of um your spiritual walk.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: Another question that we receive says, I am currently using this book to pray for my family, and it has made a difference in me.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: What other resources are available that can help me on this path?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, wow.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's there's a lot of people who've written a lot of books uh on prayer.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: But if I'm thinking about the works that have been produced by the Father's Business, Prayer Portions is the book that for the family is drawn from.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: So for the family, it has a few original pieces in it, but a lot of it is abbreviated versions of things that are in prayer portions.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot more about praying for family and spiritual warfare and praying for yourself and uh repentance and all of those different types of things in prayer portions.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you want something more like for the family, I would suggest looking at prayer portions and then the follow-up, which was living in his presence, volumes one and two.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: But there's another tool that we have that is called Blessings for Life, um, another book that is blessings that you pray for yourself and for uh other people in your life.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And we have specific ones for children, we have specific ones for husbands and wives and other things.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times um I love the combination of praying against things that we don't want coming towards our family, but then also praying for God to fill our family members with who he is and who they are in him.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so there is blessings for life.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: There's a small booklet called Daily Spirit Blessings that has 61 paragraph um blessings in it.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so sometimes a challenge that we we ask people to take is to take 60 days and pray one paragraph a day for whoever it is that you're praying for.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: I know some families uh where the moms have adult children and they have prayed the first 30 days, and then they've given the booklet to their kids and said, This is what I've been praying for you for 30 days, and I want to encourage you to pray the rest for yourself.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: So there's lots of resources on the Father's Business website where you can find other ways to just basically we're trying to create an environment where the people that we love can have a deeper connection with God.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, what can we do to pray and bless and allow God to come in and do what God needs to do?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: In addition to the Father's Business resources, I can think of two other books on prayer that that I strongly recommend.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: One is um A Praying Life by Paul Miller.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: I think it really helps you think about prayer in a in a different way.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: It also gives some practical tools like Elizabeth's talking about.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: He takes, he talks about taking index cards and other things with prayer journals.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so it may be ways that you can practically take some of the tools given in prayer portions as well and couple those together.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: And then the other resource is enjoying the presence of God by Jan Johnson.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: And um, she does the same thing.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: She talks about some, the importance of prayer, the importance of just enjoying the relationship and the presence with the Lord, as well as just some practical ways to do that.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: So those would be two other resources I am personally familiar with, in addition to um the Father's business resources.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: So Kimberly, our next question is asking, do you have any practical suggestions, not only in prayer, but in relationship if you have a child who is not walking with God?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they're called wayward or prodigal in Christian communities, but what how do you pray for and interact with a child who is not walking with God?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's a big question.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's a commonly asked question.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: I get that question a lot, having been in youth ministry.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: There's not an easy answer.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: One of the first thoughts that comes to mind is as far as your attitude, you want to seek to maintain a connection with your child.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's something that is really important.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: In our podcast with Sandra Stanley, she talked about that.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: Elizabeth, what was the phrase she used?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: She talked about leaving the drawbridge down and not allowing faith to stop you from having a relationship with your child.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, which is hard.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, let's let's just acknowledge first here that if you're listening to this and you are in the situation, your situation is different from another person listening to this.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: So there's there's not a one answer fits all kind of thing.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there are certainly boundaries that need to be put in place in certain situations, and there's certainly counsel that needs to be sought out in certain situations.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we don't want to endorse anything here, but we do want to say that connection is important and you want to maintain your connection with the Lord as well, while they may not necessarily be activating that connection right now or have that connection.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I often say there are seasons of life, and so be on the journey with your child, because they are on a journey and you don't know the end.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I would encourage you to keep praying for them.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, Kimberly, I I like how you're talking about the journey because there there are different, like this is a very big question.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: There is a natural thing that happens as you and I watched in the lives of teenagers, especially those that have grown up in the church.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like they are struggling with do I believe this because my parents have told me this is what we believe, or do I believe this because it's true?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: I remember watching parents kind of freaking out when as their kids got to the teenage and the college years, they weren't following God in the same way they had been raised in.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: And some of them just need some time to figure out okay, is this my faith or my parents' faith?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them have seen through some of the hypocrisy in the church.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I'm just let's just be honest, you know, God's church is not perfect because it's got people in it.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so there may have been some wounding, there may have been some things that happened in your child's life, and they are having a hard time separating what they saw at church versus who Jesus is.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that that is something that I find myself having conversations with a few college kids right now is don't let the way you felt you were treated by that church when you were in high school say that you don't want a relationship with God.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Let's separate that and go, okay, this is Jesus is a person.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: And while he did create the church and the church is very important, don't let the reflection of the church define who Jesus is for you.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a that's a very hard place to be.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's there's parents that are on that part of the journey.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: And for y'all, I'd be like, it's okay.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Keep praying for them, keep asking for God to uh break through the walls that they're building in their heart against him.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Ask God to bring people into their lives that are not you, that will speak truth to them.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Continue to be that safe place where they can come and they may say some things that you don't agree with, but be that safe place where when they're ready to ask questions, they want to ask them of you.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have other people who we've got adult children who have said, you know what?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: I am totally walking away from the faith of my childhood.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that is a very hard grief, especially when your adult children are having children and they're not raising their children in the faith that you raised your child in.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so there this is a very, very big question to give a generalized answer to it.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: I would say one of the main things that I've encouraged others to pray and that I have prayed for those that I have seen that maybe you're kind of drifting away from where God is, is going back to the story of the prodigal son.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it says in there that he went off to the far land and he, you know, spent all of his money and he did all these things and he and he ends up feeding pigs, and he's like, the pigs are eating better than I am.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: And there's this one little phrase in there that says, and when he came to himself, he returned to his father's house.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so I often pray for people that are in those situations.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Father, would you just allow them to come back to themselves, to who you designed them to be, to who you, when you said, Let there be this person, this is what you had in mind.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then would you draw them back to your heart?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, just as we were just talking about the drawbridge, I think that the image of the father in that prodigal is very important because when that son came home, he didn't list off all the things he had done wrong.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: He just ran and embraced his child and welcomed him back.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so that is hard to do.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I we have friends and family that we know that have been on this road for a very long time and they've prayed everything they know how to pray, and they've even made up some stuff to pray, they feel like, and they're not seeing their child on the journey they want them on.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so I ache for their parent heart that wants so much more.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: But prayer for our kids, for our spouses is about making space for God to move.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so, how can you just pray for anything the enemy's trying to put towards your child to be pushed back so they have the ability to hear and see who God really is?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: Part of what this question is asking for also is practical pieces to that.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: And this may seem small and simple, and it may not totally answer that question, but but I'm thinking of Ephesians 3, uh, toward the end of that chapter, verses 20 and 21.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: One practical way to cling to focusing on the work that God is doing and asking him to do that work rather than focusing on what your child is doing or not doing is to cling to this verse and maybe set an alarm for 320 every day and and pray that prayer, pray that scripture and ask God to do immeasurably more than you can ever ask or imagine.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it's not magic, we know this.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it is not about looking for God to show up in ways that you think he should, but it is about recentering your heart in alignment with his and and pleading for your child.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and pleading for God to show up.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: And this verse 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, and looking for that generational impact.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and and maybe what you're praying may not be seen in the life of your child in your lifetime.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe it won't be seen in the life of your child, but it will be in the life of your grandchildren.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: You you don't know, and that is hard, and that's where you need counsel and friends and loved ones loving you through that.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: But um, and and you may see it, you may see it.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: We just don't know.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: But what we do know is that God is at work and it is a journey.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think the the attitude piece there is rather than, Elizabeth, you were just kind of saying this, rather than focusing on there's nothing wrong with focusing your prayer towards your child and and what they're going through, but but focusing that prayer toward your child reconnecting with the Lord or connecting with the Lord and turning toward a relationship with Him.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the other thing I think about is something that Sylvia said.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: I I think I would say, hang in there, baby.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's not always gonna be like this.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Our next question uh that that we're looking at here is how can this prayer book help with couples, marital or family counseling?
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: What role do you see for prayer in connection with counseling or therapy?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Kimberly, you're the expert, so I'm gonna defer to you on this, but I I don't see how you do counseling without prayer because uh prayer is so much about when I pray, I'm not only asking God to change the heart of that other person, but 99% of the time what it's doing is changing my own heart and softening my own heart.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: But I I really do, Kimberly, this is your your wheelhouse.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: You deal with mediation and and helping couples work through conflict all the time.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I would love to hear your thoughts.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm also thinking about the podcast episode we did with Janelle Raiden.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: You can go back and check out that episode.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: I think she has some good things to say about this.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm by no means an expert on this because even me, as the third party in the room, oftentimes I am the one showing up to the session saying, Lord, direct us, guide us, and then at the end saying, Jesus, this is your couple, this is your family, um, have your way.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so prayer has I have to start with prayer and I end with prayer.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I I agree.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know how you you can go through any type of counseling situation um without prayer.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um prayer is why we're doing this whole podcast.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so I would say, how does this book help?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Use it.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: Pick it up and use it.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's how it can help.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: I have I have seen that firsthand.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: I have seen this book impact families and couples because they chose to use it.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: So so pick it up, pray it.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: Don't worry about it being um someone else's words, don't worry about getting the words right.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: Just start praying it and allow the Lord to shift your heart through it.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know what reason every couple is, you know, has for being in counseling or therapy, but this book covers many aspects um that can come up in counseling.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: It you've got the warfare prayers, you've got the prayers on how to um focus your heart on the Lord and on prayer.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: It it that refocuses, that's working on you and your attitudes.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: It directs you to love.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: What how how are you checking your heart and gauging you to know where you are loving and following the Lord?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: It allows you opportunities to bless your family, it gives you prayers to pray for your wife or your husband.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: It helps you work through what is separating you, what's dividing you.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think this book has a lot of helps that it offers a family or a couple who is in counseling.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: Prayer has got to play an important part.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if you're if you're a believer and you're trying to strive and work hard to fix your marriage, to fix your family, to fix your children, you're you're no different than the rest of the world who doesn't have Jesus.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: You're just striving, you're just trying to check off things.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe you'll get some great self-help tools out there that'll cause some behavior modification change.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: But I I think the what's underneath it for me and the couples I work with is let's let's talk about some heart change, let's talk about some life change, let's talk about transformation.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I really think that that happens when you go deeper.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: And prayer is one of the deepest things that you can do.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's an intimate language with an intimate connected to an intimate relationship.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Marriage, you know, the union of man and woman was created by God.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: It is it is a gift.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: The family is a gift, and so we have an enemy that wants to do anything he can to destroy it.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so prayer is also so important because it's not just me and my husband in this relationship.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: There are forces working on his heart, there are forces working on my heart, and If we can be weaponized against each other to attack each other, then we're just helping the enemy do his job of diminishing who we are, of helping us to not remember who we are in Christ and who God is for us.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so, um, yeah, I don't see how people make it through life without prayer.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's hard enough when you know Jesus.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, it's I can't imagine how more difficult it can be without him because there's not that sense of hope and a firm foundation.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think prayer is critically important whether we find ourselves in counseling or it's just a random Tuesday.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: We everyone uh needs to be praying for their family and for their spouse.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, Kimberly, we had another question.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: If one spouse is praying for the other and for the marriage, but the other spouse is not, are the prayers less powerful?
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: And and how can the spouse praying stick it out or endure?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, because it's easy if you're if you feel like you're the only spouse praying for your relationship, which is probably true in a lot of different cases, uh, you just want to give up, I'm sure.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm sure you don't want to continue praying and um you don't want to endure or stick it out.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: So um I I I would first off say the prayers are not less powerful.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: No, um, for sure.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I'm sure they can feel that way.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and this is where we have to get our feelings back into alignment with truth.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: Our prayers are powerful because they require faith and the Lord works.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's it's all about the Lord working and and and and him doing things and us growing into in our alignment with him um and his spirit.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say to the spouse who is praying, keep praying.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um have others praying with you.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, find some some different tools that'll help you endure and stick it out.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but don't don't give up.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: Just like uh Sylvia said with with um parenting children, hang on, hang on.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I I I know it's tough.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: I can imagine how I can't imagine how tough it is, but definitely your prayers are not less powerful.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: Elizabeth, what do you think about that?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I think about um the parable in Luke 18 where Jesus is trying to encourage people to pray and keep on praying.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: And he talks about the widow that keeps going and knocking on the unrighteous judge's door per and and demanding justice.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: And finally the judge says, Um, I'm going to grant you your request because I just want you to go away.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so there, I think there are times in our lives where we do have to just become that persistent widow who is, God, I'm gonna come and I'm gonna keep on coming, asking for you to move and trusting that you are, and that those those are two very different places, but at the same time, he's wanting us to plead the promises and and bring our request to him, and he's also asking us to trust and rest in his love.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you can do both, but I I get it.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: It does, you know, when you've prayed for something for a very long time and from your eyes you don't see a whole lot of action happening, it does get discouraging.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what is God doing in your own heart by you continuing to be persistent in prayer, right?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: And allowing him to work in your own life, and part of that is you being faithful to pray.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Our last question that we have for today is doesn't this book really just say pray more?
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: Or like, you know, if you had prayed more or had more Jesus, then your family or your marriage or your kids wouldn't be in this mess.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I can hear how you would think that.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh no, I think this book is more saying just pray.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think a lot of us wait until our life is in crisis and then turn to God and say, God, can you help me?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: versus just that faithful obedience to be planting seeds of prayer for ourselves and for our family.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: But no, there is no if you pray this much, God will always answer you formula.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we mentioned this on another podcast, you know, even people take the the proverb that says if you train up a child in the way they should go, when they get old, they won't depart from it.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: And they think that's a promise.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not, it's a proverb, it's a principle that in general, when you invest things into a child, when they grow older, they don't depart from them, but it's not a promise that they're not going to.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so if any parent out there or any spouses out there is thinking, well, I just didn't pray the right thing or I didn't pray enough, so I want to take that guilt off of you because it is not just your responsibility to pray.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: We get to partner with God in prayer, but it's not like, well, I'm sorry, your child is going to walk away from Jesus because you didn't pray long enough for your child.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because here's the great thing: if you are a spouse that feels like I'm praying and they're not, or you're a parent who feels like no one is praying for me while I'm praying for everyone else, you have two amazing intercessors who are praying for you 24-7.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that Jesus is our advocate who is at the throne of God, pleading our case before God in heaven.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it also, Kimberly's already mentioned it where it talks about the Holy Spirit intercedes our groans.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: And there there are times when life is just hard and you can't even squeak out Jesus' help, and all you've got is a groan.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: And the Holy Spirit is interceding on your behalf in in words that in words and longings and groans that we can't even really get out.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so no one is alone.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: And all of us have two of the, I mean, who better to pray for me than Jesus and the Holy Spirit?
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and I often just go to God and say, God, I want to get in tune with what Jesus and the Holy Spirit are already praying about my child or my husband or the situation or me.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so a lot of prayer is about getting our hearts in tune with where God is.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so we asked my mom this a question a couple of months ago, and she gave a very profound answer that we want to share with you.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: The question we asked her is what do you do when you feel like you've prayed everything, you know how to pray, and you're just not seeing any results?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: You've prayed the prayers and you're not seeing the things change.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, how you said it just then is based on a misconception about prayer that we pray to get things, uh we change things, and that's not what prayer is.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Prayer is a relationship with God.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have prayed in any way, your relationship with God is enhanced because you're talking with him.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Ah, and on the other part of that is you're listening to him.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: We forget that prayer is a two-way conversation between two people who love each other, and you would not to your significant other, you wouldn't talk to them all the time and expect that you have an relationship because you don't.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: Relationship is two-way street, and so you have to talk some and you have to listen some.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: And of those two dynamics, the one that's most important is the listening.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: How have you done that in your walk with God?
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if I have a particularly thorny problem, I get myself a blank sheet of paper, turn it sideways so I'm not tempted to outline and paragraph and everything.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be pretty, and I write down in the middle of the page, whatever the question is.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: What am I supposed to do about that?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Or disillusionment, for example.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: I did that one time.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: What about discouragement?
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then you listen for that inner nudge of what God is saying to you, and you start writing down in it.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: You maybe one uh answer goes off in the right direction, another one goes off in the upper direction, another one goes off down the pot down the page.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: My first time I did this, I had no, absolutely no experience in it because I'd never done it before.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: It took up the whole blotter on my desk.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: It was pink.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: I remember to display the sheet, the sheet of paper on it was pink, and I still have that.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: I folded it up and I've kept it hidden away.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: How do you feel after you've done that?
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I always feel liberated, I feel assured, always relieved, enlightened.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: These are all positive outcomes of listening to God with the middle of the page um exercise.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: A whole lot better outcome than listing our description of what's going on down here.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: Listing our grievances, you know, our whatever.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we want to thank everyone for uh listening today and for submitting your questions.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: We certainly don't have all the answers, but we hope that this um gives you some guidance and some hope and encouragement.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: We also hope that maybe it gives you some more questions.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you have more questions, it's never too late to submit them to us.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: So send them to us.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: Elizabeth, remind us where they can send them.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: They can send them to.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they can email us at info at thefathersbusiness.com.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: You can go to our website, which is thefathersbusiness.com, and click the contact link and send us an email through that.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Or you can find us on Instagram and on Facebook at the Fathers Biz, and you can submit your questions on those sites as well.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: So feel free to submit more questions.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: Always appreciate you listening and sharing this with others.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: And um, we hope this has been an encouragement and food for thought today.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: So have a great day.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank you for listening to the Father's Business Podcast.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: Check us out at thefathersbusiness.com or follow us at the Father's Biz on Instagram and Facebook.