Latest / One Voice Many Conversations / Truth Be Told Ep #014 The Consistency in Prayer PT1 With Host Mickey& With Co-host Bethany

Transcript

Truth Be Told Ep #014 The Consistency in Prayer PT1 With Host Mickey& With Co-host Bethany · One Voice Many Conversations

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Truth Be Told.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I am Mickey, your host, and with me today is Bethany.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: She's my co-host, and we are delighted to be here today.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Cannot wait to um continue on with prayer.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: We have been talking about prayer for oh gosh, a few weeks now, and rightfully so because prayer is mentioned throughout the entire Bible.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we just want to continue on talking about prayer until God leads us into a different direction.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so we've already talked about the power of prayer, when to pray, how to pray, why to pray.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're gonna talk about consistency in prayer.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I know Bethany has um got a lot of scripture to bring to the table today, so I'm gonna let her come in and say hello, and we can get right to it.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, Bethany, good to see you.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Great to be here and excited for this episode.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Let's pray before we dive in.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Dear Lord, I thank you so very much for this opportunity to share the truth of your word to help others where they may be at right now.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: And Lord, I pray that you would bless this time.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Speak through me, speak through Mickey, and um just let this be an encouragement to those who are listening in Jesus' name.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure we go.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: I thought I better check my phone, make sure I turned off the volume because I don't want it ringing during our our message today.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: So again, like I was saying before, we we already started talking about prayer.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because prayer is a vital um part of being a Christian.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually, like I've mentioned before, it's um it's it's a lifeline, it's a connection.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: We're making that um automatic um connection with with Christ in our relationship as we talk with him.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know about you, Bethany, but I think I've said this before, but I talk to God all the time, like he's just with me all the time, like in the room, next to me, beside me, over there.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And um I don't know what I would do without that lifeline.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: I I I mean I would just be gone, you know.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: So excuse me.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm excited today to talk about how important consistency in prayer is, because sometimes we don't do it consistently enough.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: We just, we kind of just we we pray sometimes and then we don't pray for a long time and then we pray again.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I'm really glad that we're actually talking about that, because we want to help you guys to be able to build that strength in prayer and learning how to be more consistent in your prayer life because all that does is bring more strength to you because God wants to strengthen us and he does it through the power of prayer.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I can't wait to see what you have.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, um, where would you like us to start out today?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: All right, let's start with 2 Corinthians chapter 12, and 2 Corinthians 12 is Paul.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he's dealing with a situation that he probably maybe never thought saw coming.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um if if you know Paul's background, you know that he at one time was Saul and Saul was a persecutor of the church.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: He did all sorts of evil against the church, and yet God miraculously saved him, and he became Paul, and now God is using him in a mighty way back here in um Bible days of Second Corinthians chapter twelve.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we may not fully understand every person's exact situation, but we can learn from Paul, I believe, how to um respond, how to stay consistent in our prayers and in we notice in verse seven how Paul he tells why why this thorn in the flesh happened to him now.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've heard um possible descriptions of what uh Paul's thorn in the flesh was yet I don't think it's right for us to try to figure out what that born in the flesh was, because it's not necessarily important, what is important is how Paul responded, and we notice in verse eight that Paul prayed at at least three times for this to be removed, and I say at least three times because verse eight does mention that Paul says for this thing I besought the Lord praise and then in verse nine Paul goes on and he says, and he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore, will I rather glory in mine infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me that right there I believe is so powerful that it's showing us that no matter what we go through, the reason we need to stay consistent in prayer is because we do have that lifeline to God.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: God doesn't care how much time we spend with him in prayer or in reading or studying the Bible.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: He God has unlimited time for us.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: So why would we limit either our time with him or his time to speak to us?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so that consistency in prayer, not necessarily being like, well, God, you have this amount of time.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: I need you to work now, or else I'm not believing in you or anything like that.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um again, I do believe that because God has unlimited time for us, we should give him that same to speak to us and to show us what he can do.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um Mickey, what what are your thoughts on that?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I like the part, you know, where it says, For my strength is made perfect in weakness, because if we think about it, um now we could walk around this world and act like we're just tough as tough could be, like we already have strength.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I think we don't call on God because we think we are strong enough.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: But in fact, we're actually very weak.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're weak-minded, we're weak vessels, um, we're easily tempted, we're tested easily.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and God wants to build up that strength.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to have when we have that consistency with him, that allows God to build that strength in us and perfect that weakness instead of letting that weakness keep, you know, um bringing us down.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I like what Paul does, you know, and I like that he says that he prayed three times.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I will say this you can pray once or you could pray ten times.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it is important that he, you know, that he did mention that he prayed three times, but he also, in those three times of prayer, also realized that he it was necessary for the persecution that he went through.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was necessary, it was something that he necessarily had to go through in order for him to understand that he didn't have the strength, he needed God's strength to get through it.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I think as Christians, it takes us more than one time to get it, you know.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I think about Paul praying three times, it's not because he had to pray three times because God wasn't answering, it was because he wasn't getting it.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: He wasn't himself getting it.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is going on here?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: What is going, why is this happening to me?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Why, what is this?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And he's praying to God about it, and he's asking God about it because he he's not understanding for himself.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that God's withholding it, it's that he's not understanding it or even accepting it.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we don't accept what God gives us in prayer.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so that this is this has a you like you said before, we could preach on this whole subject right here for a whole episode, probably.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: But it's important that we understand that um he actually takes pleasure, says, therefore, I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproach and necessities, in persecution, in distress for Christ's sake.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: So he now knows what it's just a small thorn of a fragment, what it's like to be persecuted for Christ's sake compared to what Christ did on the cross for us.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think in order to change Paul's heart, because he was so evil, he I mean, he was horrible, killing Christians, tearing up churches, you know, just destroying people.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: That was totally against Christianity.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: That thorn was just, you know, when you think about the crown of thorns on Jesus is that that one thorn was what Jesus needed to use to get his attention for him to really understand the persecution that Christ went through for him.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I think, God, I want you to pierce me like that, so I have a clear understanding.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, I don't want to go through everything you went through, but I think sometimes we need to be pierced so that we get the full picture because sometimes we don't get it.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: We don't understand it fully.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And therefore, we, you know, we have to go to God three different times and be like, God, I don't know what I'm doing.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, I don't get it.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what are you doing in my life?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, God works that out for us.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: But again, that's also part of our weakness, and he's gonna strengthen that.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I love I love the scripture.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much in the scripture, but for today, that's that's kind of what I'm getting from it today, because um he he does all of this for um for the sake of Christ.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he understands now that the persecution persecution is a process that's actually necessary for Christ on the cross.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so, like I said, that thorn is just a little tiny reminder of what Christ went through.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I I I love that part of the scripture.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that answers your question.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: So now as we continue on with a few more verses, let's go to um Ephesians chapter three and verse sixteen.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: And all the scriptures that I use in every episode are from the King James version.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um so as not to cause confusion.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um I personally prefer the King James version and so but Ephesians 3 and verse 16.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: This is another chapter that Paul wrote, and so once again, God used Paul greatly to write several books of the Bible, and this verse is no different.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: Verse 16 that he would grant you according to the wishes of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we know this is Paul referring to the Lord because of verse 14 when Paul says for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and verse 16.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hang on, hang on, sorry about that.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, my dogs are barking.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead, I didn't want you to get interrupted.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um so verse 16 is just a continuation um here, and there's so much even within this verse that um probably could be an episode in itself.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it might be in the future.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I just want to highlight when it says to be strengthened by his might by his spirit, to be strengthened by his spirit in the inner man, and so that strength doesn't come from us.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have to manufacture what only God can give, what only comes from the Holy Spirit, because God did not and does not create humanity to be able to do what only He can do, and so when we have those feelings of you know, I should be past this, or you know, I should be able to get through this, and why am I not?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: And Ephesians 3 16 gives us the answer because it's according to God and his the strength of the Holy Spirit, and so let's remember that we're being consistent in prayer.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Mickey, do you have any thoughts on that?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: So in Ephesians, um, when it says according to his riches to be strengthened with might um by his spirit.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: When we think about this, like um we need God to strengthen us for one.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I like that it talks about the inner man because we're what we don't have Jesus in the flesh anymore.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: What do we have?
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: We have the Holy Spirit.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So in order for God to strengthen us, he has to strengthen us in our inner man, which is where our Holy Spirit is.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why it really clarifies that because some people don't understand that part of the scripture when it comes to Holy Spirit, um, where that's at, but the Holy Spirit is you know within us.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: So um we want to be strengthened by his spirit, and I believe when it's talking about that, um, excuse me, he does that through the Holy Spirit to strengthen us because Jesus is no longer, you know, he's he or when Jesus went to the cross, that's the gift that we were given.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: We were given the gift of the Holy Spirit, right?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we have the Holy Spirit within us.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: So when we do the salvation prayer and we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior in our heart, it doesn't say on our shoulder, doesn't say, you know, beside me or behind me or next to me.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: It says in our hearts, you know, which is in our inner man.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I really wanted to emphasize that if we need to be strengthened, we have to be strengthened from the inside out.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we can go to the gym all day long and we can pump some iron and be like Arnold, you know, whatever.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: But that's a different kind of strengthening.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: But this is a strengthening of a spiritual kind.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is a supernatural strength that he's wanting us to have.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: And he's letting us know that it's according to him how much strength he's gonna give us too and how much he's gonna not give us.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: But he also knows the reason why also also thinks that he also think that he says according to is because he knows how weak you are and how strong you are already.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: We sometimes think we know how strong and how weak we are, but he actually knows the measurement.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: We do not.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we can assume, we can be like, oh, I'm this strong, and then you go to pick something up and you're not that strong.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Our spirit's the same way, you know.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so it is according to his riches.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: So he's gonna grant you, it's like giving you a grant.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna grant you um his riches to to give you strength um through the Holy Spirit and um and through his might.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's a lot of power in that because he doesn't want us to be weak, but he also knows how much he also knows how much strength to give us so that we don't get over strengthened.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, because sometimes we can, you know, what when you work out and you overstretch, what happens?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: You get hurt.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: So God knows, like I said, the measurement of strength.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: That we need more than we do.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: And again, within our inner spirit.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot to that scripture there.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, that's a good scripture.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how many people are just, you know, they're they have that grip there inside of them that just maybe gnaws at them, and they're trying to figure out how can I be set free.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: And Ephesians 3.16, I believe, is one of those verses that we can go to and you know cling to in those times.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so now as we continue on looking at a few more verses for this episode, let's go to Isaiah chapter forty.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: And the Old Testament is full of powerful truth that we need for today.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, some people may say, well, the Old Testament is before Jesus was here on earth, and um all of that, so it's really not that important.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um I would encourage you to study it for yourself because there is so much in there that we need for today.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so as we look here at Isaiah 40, verses 28 and 29, verse 28, has thou not known, has thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: That phrase right there is probably for another episode, um, because there's there's a lot to that phrase that might be hard to understand, and so, but that that will be for a future episode, I think.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: But going on to verse 29, he giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: And once again that is referring to God, and so being consistent in prayer when we read verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine, and we see just how that ties into why or being consistent in prayer because God does give increases our strength.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: God does he is our strength and no matter what we go through Mickey, I think about poor grandma and that situation and what you've shared with me even earlier today about ends.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: There's no way you could have done and continue to do all that you're doing in your own strength and you know, still still be sane.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Be in your the right mindset.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so do you have any thoughts on those verses?
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: Actually I do because um the part that's that's standing out to me is um I'm looking at I might at 28.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hast thou we're in chapter 40, right?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: I want to make sure I'm reading the right word.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: 28, okay.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hast thou not known?
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: Is that that's where it starts, right?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I wasn't sure.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, for some reason it looked different up there.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: I love that it says the ends of the earth because when we talk about Genesis, we only talk about the beginning, the creation, how it all started, where it all came from.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that, people seem to lose sight of God somewhere in the Old Testament.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I like that you said this is God saying this.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: This is God giving you the strength.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is God saying, faint not, you know.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he's gonna keep us from being weary, he's gonna give us that strength that we need, that you know, everlasting strength that, you know, and and he increases our strength as we need it.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it's interesting because when we think about the end of the earth, and especially with what I'm going through with my grandma, because I'm seeing her end of life for her, um, it's end of earth for her.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: She's getting ready to go into, you know, waiting for heaven, but um into eternity.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: But when we think about it, you know, God's already spoken even in the Old Testament about the end of the earth.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: But when we go into creation, in in Genesis, it talks about um the Trinity, talks about when he says, Let us make man in our image, that is not a singular conversation.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: He's talking about the three and one.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: Let us make man in our image, who's who's our image?
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's interesting how when we we correlate the New Testament to the Old Testament, which again, this is probably a subject that'll go into another episode, but um it it clearly shows that even though Jesus hasn't come yet, and you know, and they talk about the Holy Spirit, how we we we get Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, um, they're already there though.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: They are already present.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: God has, you know, they're already with God because He is the Trinity.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um that's where we get the everlasting strength, because we have the Trinity, you know, we have the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that because sometimes it's funny because sometimes I refer to God as Jesus and Jesus is God and God is Holy Spirit because they're the Trinity, you know, when we when we reference him.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: But in all of that coming to consistency of prayer, um in building that strength up, we have to have you know strength in ourselves to um stay consistent.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to stay consistent in prayer, then you have to lean on God for that strength.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: So it's that it's a win-win.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's like um when you balance money on a scale, right?
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you pray to God, then God gives you the strength, you know, it kind of stays balanced.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I look at it like that, like it's a balancing act.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want more strength, you gotta go to God for prayer in prayer to get it, you know.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: So staying consistent only makes you stronger, is what I'm getting at.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: It just makes you stronger, it doesn't make you weaker to pray.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: So if you feel like you're really weak and prayer's not doing you any good, that is a lie from the enemy and it needs to go back to the pit of hell because that is not the truth.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: Your your prayer brings you strength, not weakness.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say anywhere in scripture that if you pray to Jesus, he's gonna weaken you.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say that.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: He said he's gonna do the opposite, he's gonna strengthen you.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are if you are really struggling with your prayer life and you are not consistent with it, and you're wondering why you feel weak all the time, you need to build up your prayer life and become consistent with it.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: God will strengthen you, he wants to strengthen you, he's not withholding from you.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like Paul, three times, Paul had to go to God and pray because he wasn't believing.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he wasn't believing in the process.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: So he kept going, oh, you know, kind of like when when your kid asks you five times and you've already, you know, given the answer.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's what happens.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we go to God and we're like, oh, but God's like, I've already given you the answer.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we need to trust in that.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: We need to trust in that, and it starts in our prayer life.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: God will build that if we allow Him to.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to trust the process.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope the answers your questions.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent answer, there, and excellent explanation.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you're you are so right.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: When we feel weak and we feel like prayer just doesn't work for me.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: You're so right, Mickey, that is one of Satan's lies.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: He wants us to quit altogether.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: He wants us to be so weak that we don't bother and how many Christians are longing to be set free just from that from feeling like my prayers don't matter.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: To be in like yes, I know they do, because I know that I know that I know when I am consistent in prayer, that's when I feel the strongest.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't want to get off on that today, but stay consistent because I can tell you from years of experience that's where the strength lies.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: I can guarantee you, in my forty-two years of life so far here on earth.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: If I would have not had that chance.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um without that strength, I mean, even myself and people, you know, I've had people tell me how strong they think I am, but they don't know how weak I was, and they don't know why I'm strong, because you know I'm like, my strength isn't mine, it's from God.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I give that glory to God because He deserves the glory.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because I didn't do, I don't do any of this on my own.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: I do all things through Christ that strengthens me.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: All things through Christ that strengthens me, not all things that Mickey did to strengthen me.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and it is important that we lean on that because when we think about um our own struggles and our own our own self-doubt and our own self-worth, um, the enemy wants to keep us you know stuck in the mud.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: He wants to keep us down and he wants to bury us.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't he doesn't want us to be Christians, for one, and for two, he wants us to believe in those lives.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: And as we're getting deeper and deeper and closer and closer to the end, um he's really evident in in pressing the envelope on those lives.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much going on in the world right now.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so we need to be really, if you're consistent in your prayer life, God's gonna help you to take your blinders off and to see what's going on around you.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna give you the discernment you need, he's gonna give you the strength you need, he's gonna give you the wisdom you need, he's going to equip you.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I know we've all heard this that God equips us, he equips us, he calls us and equips us.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like most of the people in the Bible that had their stories, they weren't perfect people, none of them.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they had a look at Paul, especially.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Paul was a horrible person, murdered Christians, you know, destroyed the church, um, just hated God, was out to destroy God, you know, and what what was going on there?
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: And God still changed that man's heart.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: So if we ever think that we cannot um be loved, again, that's another lie from the enemy because we are loved and we are strong.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, there's times when it makes me feel good when people say, gosh, you're so strong with some of the things you're going through.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: But again, I tell them it's because of God, not because of me.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like I would be right there with you.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for God, because there's times I didn't want to be here.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I didn't think I was worth it enough.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think I meant anything to anyone.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think, you know, like God put, I mean, not God, the enemy puts those thoughts in your head and he wants you to take yourself out.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because then he doesn't have to take us out.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: If we do it on our own, he doesn't have to do it, and then he gets the glory for it.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: So if you think about that, that's another whammy because we don't need the enemy getting the glory for us even taking ourselves out.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: But yet he's the one who provokes it.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to lean on God.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: We need to press in and lean on God and remember it starts with prayer.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: It really does.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: Go get prayed over.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: Ask people to pray for you.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: Get consistent with it.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you're not sure how to pray, ask someone to help you pray.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know when to pray, go back to our episodes.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: We have taught you how to pray, when to pray, why to pray.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: The power behind all of that prayer, we we have shared that scripture.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we have taken the biblical principles and shared them so that we can learn how to be consistent in prayer because we want to annihilate the enemy.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to welcome him, we don't want to allow him to continue to have an effect on our mindset.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and Paul had to have a mindset change, he had to have a reality check before he came to.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why he had the thorn.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, literally, he had to be pierced like Jesus Christ with a thorn in order to understand what it was all about.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes God takes us to that extreme because we just don't get it the first hundred times, you know, or we just are just like so oblivious sometimes.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but he doesn't give up on us and he doesn't quit.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say I'm gonna quit.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: The enemy does that.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: God doesn't.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm thankful.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful that you know he is our shepherd.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: He literally chases after the lost sheep.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: We're the lost sheep.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're the ones that, you know, go clear to the clear to the river and fall in, and he's got to pull us out because you know, we don't even know how to swim, you know.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: So we just but we have to be careful for you know the wolves in sheep's clothing too.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: We have to be mindful, and we're gonna get that clarity from prayer.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to stay consistent.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you're looking for clarity on something in your life, get consistent in your prayer life and that and watch God change and work in and through your life.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: I guarantee it's gonna change you.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: So all right, we just have a couple more verses to look at, but now let's look at Isaiah 43 and verse 2.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: And that verse says, When thou passest through the water, I will be with thee, and to the flood through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_01: When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_01: And that it's just telling us that things will come up.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: Things will happen.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't say if we asked for the fire or if we walked through the water, or no, it says when God is still there in those times.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: He is still there.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_01: Even right now, especially if you're going through something that you don't understand, you don't you're trying to figure out what's going on.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a Christian, the Holy Spirit is within you right now.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_01: That means you can go to him right now.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to wait, you don't have to go anywhere.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: Just right where you're at.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that's one thing about consistency in prayer is that location does not matter.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean no matter where you're at in the world, you know, Mickey and I are in the US.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: You may be in Europe or Australia or somewhere in the Middle East or somewhere.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_01: Consistency in prayer knows no limit.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: No boundary.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer itself, no limit, no boundary to it.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: That to me is a great encouragement.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: No matter where I'm at geographically.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_01: Nowhere to where I'm at as far as, you know if I would be going through something which I'm not currently, but during those times when maybe you find yourself in the hospital or wherever.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: God is still right there.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: And the consistency.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_01: You can be you can be consistent in prayer in the hospital.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: I truly believe that's one of the best places because people need the Lord.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: God's not willing that any should perish.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: But that all should come to repentance.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: Mickey, do you have any thoughts on that?
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I wanted to, you you brought up the boundaries, and I like that because it is in um Psalms 103, and it says, as far as the East is from the West, he hath um so far he hath removed our transgressions from us.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that's not a scripture that we're looking at today, but when you think about it, it really means from east to west, like from all around the world.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: There are no boundaries, there are no, there are no restraints.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: The only time God is restraint, restrained is when we restrain him.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't restrain us.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_00: But we like to try to put God in a box and we like to put on, you know, tie it up and put the whatever.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: We would we are the one who put the restraints on God.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: So in order to get that power, that that power out of the prayer that we need, we need to re remember that it doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter what you're doing, when you're doing it, you know, it could be in a in a tragic situation, or it could just be as simple, as simple as just, you know, Lord, let me have a good day.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_00: It could really be a simple prayer.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't even have to be, you know, when there's travesty.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um sometimes we wait till there's travesty before we even talk to God, and that's really sad, if you ask me.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: We should be talking to God all the time.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: But He doesn't have any limits on us.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: We are the one that puts puts the restrictions on God.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really sad that we do that.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: And we need to recognize that as a thing, because that's why we're not consistent with God is because we haven't a rest we have a restraint against the power of prayer.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: We have a restraint against the consistency of prayer.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_00: And if we are not being mindful of that, we will keep restraining it.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the enemy is going to intervene, he's going to be allowed to come and intervene in those times because those restraints, the enemy wants us to hold on to.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: God wants us to surrender all of it, let go of all of it.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want us hanging on to any of it.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so we need to really keep that in mind when we're talking about that um that boundary.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that's a little off topic from the the scripture.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: I apologize for that.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: But uh he no, and he does.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_00: He gives us, you know, he gives us the strength, you know.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: And when he's talking about walking through the fires or walking through the water and walking through the fires, I love it because you know when um the the three of them were in the fire, Meshach, Bindigo, and what's the other guy's name?
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: I always mess up his name.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: Shadrach.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: Shadrach.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: Should be the easiest one.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I know, I know who these guys are, but they're in the fire, but guess what?
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_00: They're not alone.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is right there with them.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_00: They're not even burning.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that literally is a an actual visual description of what God does with us when he takes us through the fire.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: Or he takes us out of the river through the river, you know, and that's where the beauty for ashes comes in.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like there's so much that God wants to do in our lives, and he's gonna go with us if we allow him.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: We have to take off the restraints, we have to get unrestrained from what we're doing, and I think a lot of times we are not consistent because we are restraining it, not because of what God's doing.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that helps.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it does, yes, it's so very true.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um God has so many blessings and so much He wants to give us, and He's not the one restraining us.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_01: He never restrains us.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's Satan, the enemy who restrains us, or I should say, attempts to restrain us, because our choices are what?
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_01: Restrain us.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_01: Satan contempt all he wants to, but if we don't give in to him, then we aren't restrained.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's when we give in to Satan.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so as we now come to the final verse, we're gonna look at in this episode.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_01: Joshua one verse nine.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: Joshua one nine.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_01: And verse one gives proof of that.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'll read verse one before I read verse nine.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_01: So Joshua one, verse one now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses minister, saying, and then going down to verse nine.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: Again, this verse is included in what the Lord told Joshua.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_01: Have not I commanded thee.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_01: Be strong and have a good courage.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_01: Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_01: For the Lord thy God is with thee.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: Whithersoever thou goest.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_01: That verse alone probably deserves its own series.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh meat in that uh we need the first part of first nine.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_01: Are we listening?
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_01: What are you saying?
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_01: One of those things that he claims, I believe, is consistency in prayer.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_01: The verse goes on to talk about being strong.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_01: Not in ourselves, but in God to be strong in the Lord and the power of his mind.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then the end of the verse talking about whether soever thou goest again that that's taking the boundaries off.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's no boundaries set in that, and that to me that is one of the most powerful things.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_01: Hold on.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_01: There are no boundaries.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_01: As we've said here.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_01: God doesn't place boundaries.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_01: Satan is the one who attempts to place boundaries.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 54:57
  SPEAKER_01: We are able to choose if we give in to those or not.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: And remember James four seven.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_01: Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have to give in to Satan.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, Satan is quite subtle.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_01: Even in Christian's hearts.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we need to be mindful.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_01: It is important to stay consistent in prayer.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_01: And as we wrap up this episode, and then as we continue on in the next episode.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_01: Mickey, do you have any final thoughts for this episode?
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like, you know, where it says, Haven't have not I commanded thee be strong and have good courage.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you ask yourself this, he's telling you, he's commanding you to be strong and full of courage, but where do you get that strength and where do you get that courage?
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_00: You get that strength and you get that courage from God, and you get it through consistency and prayer.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it says, Do not be afraid, neither be be thou dismayed.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you're working on fear, a fear factor in your life, again, consistency and prayer will break that fear, and you won't be dismayed any longer.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_00: So there's there's so much to that because as long as we're in consistent prayer, we can go anywhere and we will be strong and we'll be courageous and we can handle whatever comes our way.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but if we go at it alone in our weakness, as we talked about earlier, it says we are weak.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_00: If we go at that alone, we're gonna have some, we're gonna have some major obstacles that we're gonna face.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they're gonna be really, really hard to face if we do it without God.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so when he commands you to be strong and be courageous, it's kind of like he's commanding you to stay consistent in prayer.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's a commandment.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_00: You need to stay consistent because that's where you're gonna get your strength from me from.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like a you know, a commandment in prayer.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and if you look at it like that, it's an act of obedience.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_00: We need to be obedience.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_00: If we're not being consistent in prayer, we are not being obedient.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right, you know, and our lifeline to God, our conversation with God, it's personal, it's ours.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_00: But what's sad about that is it shouldn't even have to be commanded, it should be desired.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_00: It should be a desire, it shouldn't be like, oh, I'm doing this out of obligation, or I'm doing it because I have to be obedient.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to get in trouble.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's not God's not doing that.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_00: I want to make sure I'm clear on this when I say he's commanding it.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he's commanded because he wants you to desire to be stronger and to be courageous for yourself.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_00: He wants you to desire not to be afraid, not to be dismayed.
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_00: Where you go, he wants you not to have that hardship that we talked about earlier.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I believe that was Isaiah 40, right?
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that hardship um in the struggle through the fire, through the through the water.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_00: And we need to keep in our mind that consistency, and I know you you've probably heard this before.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_00: And if you haven't heard, I'm just gonna tell you anyway.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_00: Consistency is key.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_00: Have you heard that before?
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's a key factor, it's an element, it's it's a principle, it's it's important.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's value in it.
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you want to go further in your life, then further your prayer life.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I I really highly suggest that you do that because if you're if you're going at it alone, you're gonna be coming up against some brick walls, you're gonna be coming up against a lot of things that you you don't want to face by yourself.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_00: You will be alone in it if you're not consistent in prayer and asking God to be with you and giving you that strength and giving you that courage, taking away that fear, help you not be dismayed all the time.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it says, for the Lord thy God is with you wherever you go.
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't have to like, oh, let me run back home and have my conversation with God.
• 59:55
  unknown: Right.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let me do it right here, right now.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes we get busy and I'm guilty.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_00: We get busy, we forget, and we don't stay consistent, but he's still right there with you.
• 1:00:04
  SPEAKER_00: At any moment, anytime, right now, you can stop and pray to him.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wait to go back home to your to your little prayer closet or to wherever you do.
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_00: And those are great.
• 1:00:15
  SPEAKER_00: There are there are scriptures that talk about the prayer closet, so that's okay, but there are times that you can call on God at any time, no matter where you are, no matter when, no matter what it is.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_00: And the more you do that, the more strength he's gonna give you, the more courageous you're gonna become, the less fear you're gonna have.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so this scripture is like like the others, they're long.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that there's a lot of scriptures where we could spend whole episodes on.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_00: But as we're talking about prayer, these are really good scriptures to bring to the table because that consistency is it's vital.
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's vital for our lives.
• 1:00:55
  SPEAKER_00: And when we're inconsistent, think of it like this: when you when you're eating healthy and you're consistent with your your food regimen and you're taking care of yourself consistently, you are healthy and you feel good.
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_00: When you're inconsistent with your diet, your food, and your exercise, how do you feel?
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_00: Feel feel feel as great?
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_00: No, we don't feel as good because we're not consistent with it.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_00: We go on these fad diets and we start them for 30 days and then we drop them at the you know, oh, I did my 30 days, it's over.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_00: God doesn't want that.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_00: That is not consistency.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want a 30-day here, you can pray to me for 30 days and then then I'm out the door.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a daily and it's a continual thing, and it needs to be done, you know, um, every single day.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it needs to be done very consistently, consistently, excuse me, because he doesn't want us to fail.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want us to be weak, it doesn't want us to fall.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_00: And even if we do, he's still gonna be there.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he you know, sometimes we go through stuff, and God will allow us to go through stuff, just like the thorn.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like God will do that, allow us to go through that because sometimes we just don't get it.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_00: We don't see the importance of it, but it's so important that we do it.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_00: Even Paul said how important it was, and he he had he had to pray three times before he got it, you know, like before he was getting it.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so we need to be mindful of that.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that we need to get on our prayer life and we need to be consistent with it and not just praying for yourself.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I've learned is if you're praying just for yourself and not for other people, you're praying selfish prayers probably.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_00: I want, I need, I want, I need, I want, I need.
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_00: We need to be mindful and praying for for everyone, like our family.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_00: But we're supposed to, you know, it says in the Bible that we're supposed to pray for our president, whether you voted for him or not, or whether you like him or not.
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't ask you to if you any of those questions.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_00: When it says to honor your mother and your father, I remember growing up, my grandmother taught me this Bible lesson, bless her heart, because me and my mom weren't getting along.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was a 14-year-old teenage brat and I thought I knew everything.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_00: And me and my mom weren't getting along.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I went to my grandma and I said, I'm very frustrated with my mom and I'm not happy.
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, It doesn't matter.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_00: She said, You're she's your mom, you have to honor her.
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible says so.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, But I don't want to honor her.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, You have to.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_00: And she goes, but you know what the Bible doesn't say is that you have to like it, just says you have to do it.
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_00: And and that that was such a big opener from for my mind.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, and you also are commanded to love her.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_00: I said, that's even harder, you know.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_00: And she he's like, and the Bible says you have to do it, you know, and I'm like, okay, it's you know, it's the word of God.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that helped me love my mom through some really challenging times that she gave, you know, she told me that scripture.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how God is in our life.
• 1:03:42
  SPEAKER_00: We need to know that whether we like it or not, whatever it is that we're praying for, we need to pray for it anyway.
• 1:03:49
  SPEAKER_00: We need to pray for the things that we don't like.
• 1:03:51
  SPEAKER_00: God can change our hearts.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes we just have ugly perspectives on things, and it's sometimes it is us.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's not always the other person or the opposite side, or the left or the right, or the up or the down.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_00: This whole left-right thing drives me nuts, actually, because I think it's ridiculous.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's always going to be someone on your left and your right.
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is it always gonna be the uh someone that's on the opposite side of what you think, you know, in your political stance?
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_00: When you walk down the street, you don't know.
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't know.
• 1:04:21
  SPEAKER_00: They're people, they're human beings.
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so praying consistently for people, you know, and your loved ones, your family members.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how many, how many people do you know that's that's atheists, that's going to hell, doesn't believe in God?
• 1:04:34
  SPEAKER_00: Are you praying for them?
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_00: So our prayers matter.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_00: And the more consistent, the more consistent we are, the better off we're gonna be, the more strength he's gonna give us, the more courageous he's gonna give us.
• 1:04:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that courage that he's talking about isn't just the valor, it's courage to go, you know what?
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you about Jesus Christ.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna give you the courage to speak the gospel.
• 1:04:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's also something he told us to do.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where we also need to be built up in our strength and our and in our courage is to do that.
• 1:05:05
  SPEAKER_00: So this has been a really great, great message today.
• 1:05:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've loved every single scripture.
• 1:05:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, we can, I mean, we could go on and on for hours on this topic.
• 1:05:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I mean, it's a never-ending thing, so it's probably something we can always talk about anyway.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_00: But for our listeners today that are out there, if if you're struggling in your prayer life, I really want you to consider this challenge.
• 1:05:29
  SPEAKER_00: I challenge you.
• 1:05:30
  SPEAKER_00: Just pray over the next week and see God work.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_00: Just give them a chance.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_00: Give it a chance.
• 1:05:37
  SPEAKER_00: Some people don't believe in prayer, they do not believe that it's important.
• 1:05:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny because I meet people that go to church and they read the Bible and they're on the worship team, and I'll, but they never pray.
• 1:05:48
  SPEAKER_00: You never see them praying, you know.
• 1:05:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, I wonder what their prayer like.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe maybe they pray privately at home or whatever, you know.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_00: And um we need to be bold about even praying.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it took me a lot of time to step out of my shelter.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_00: When somebody asked me to pray for them, it was hard for me.
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, uh, I don't know what to say for you, you know, I don't know what to say.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_00: But God, the Holy Spirit, does give it to you.
• 1:06:11
  SPEAKER_00: He will give it to you if someone asks you.
• 1:06:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I encourage you today to spend some time praying this week, not just today, but throughout the week, and just see what God does.
• 1:06:21
  SPEAKER_00: See what he does.
• 1:06:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't believe it, just try it and trust.
• 1:06:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're like, I'm not sure if I trust, just try it.
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_00: And God will change in your life.
• 1:06:32
  SPEAKER_00: He's changed my life dramatically.
• 1:06:33
  SPEAKER_00: I know he's changed a lot of people's life.
• 1:06:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like Bethany said, she wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the power of God and putting her faith in that prayer and that salvation.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I encourage you today to reach out and get to know who Jesus is.
• 1:06:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus loves you guys so much.
• 1:06:51
  SPEAKER_00: He loves us unconditionally.
• 1:06:52
  SPEAKER_00: There are no limits to what Jesus does for us.
• 1:06:56
  SPEAKER_00: We are the one with the restraining orders.
• 1:06:59
  SPEAKER_00: We need to get rid of the restraining orders and allow us to let Jesus love us the way he wants to love us.
• 1:07:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're the one that keep that, we're we're the ones with the pushback, not Jesus.
• 1:07:11
  SPEAKER_00: He he literally went to the cross.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_00: If we were, if I was the last person on this earth, Jesus would still go to the cross for me.
• 1:07:19
  SPEAKER_00: So think about that.
• 1:07:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's for all of you.
• 1:07:22
  SPEAKER_00: He would do that for every one of you.
• 1:07:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that is so important to know that.
• 1:07:26
  SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, I'm gonna, Bethany, I'm gonna let you wrap it up.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, thank you all for listening.
• 1:07:37
  SPEAKER_01: And um just as Mickey said, take this week and just start.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um I can tell you from personal experience since I've started being more consistent in praying before I get up and praying before I go to sleep every day.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_01: It has revolutionized how life is.
• 1:09:31
  SPEAKER_01: To me, it tells me that Satan is transformed into an angel of light.
• 1:09:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm forgetting the reference right now, forgive me for that, but Satan knows how to use our dreams against us.
• 1:09:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so even with that, you know, if you're struggling right now to not, you know, be able to either get to sleep quickly or stay asleep throughout the night, or you know, you're tossing and turning and wondering why your mind won't shut off.
• 1:10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Have you prayed?
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Just those two things again.
• 1:10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, God does those automatically, but how quickly do our minds forget that?
• 1:10:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then the same thing in the morning before getting up.
• 1:10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so I I would encourage you with that this week, just start.
• 1:11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And if you've started, continue and don't allow the enemy to deceive you, to defeat you.
• 1:11:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so thank you all for listening to this episode, and we will be back next time with part two as we talk about consistency and prayer.
• 1:11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll be we will have this was just part one, so we'll be back with part two.
• 1:11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if you need prayer for anything, you can go to crushingstrongholds.com.
• 1:12:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's a place on the website where you can ask actually ask for prayer if there's something that you have a need for, as well as um you can reach out for a clarity call or if you you you need help with something, there's lots of information in there where you can reach out, or you can um just even message wherever you're seeing this podcast and leave us a message.
• 1:12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, make sure you like, share, and follow so we can get the word of God out.
• 1:12:23
  SPEAKER_00: We want to get the truth out there.
• 1:12:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's what truth be told is all about.
• 1:12:26
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's taking the word of God and sharing it so that we can just share it across the nation because that's what we're supposed to do.
• 1:12:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're supposed to um be spreading the gospel, which is the good news, by the way.
• 1:12:36
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel is called the good news.
• 1:12:38
  SPEAKER_00: We want to do that.
• 1:12:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, thank you, Bethany, for uh an amazing lesson.
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, everyone, for that that listened today, and um we hope that you have a great and blessing.
• 1:12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to watch part two because that's coming up next.
• 1:12:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll talk to you all later.
• 1:12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Take care and God bless.