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The Surprising Power of Humble Prayer Revealed · Reborn w/ Antonio Boutros

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the Reborn Podcast.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Tony Bootris, and as always, it is an honor to have you here today.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to the show, this is where we dive deep into the realms of personal and spiritual development, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: We're all about transformation here.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Spiritually, mentally, and in your business and leadership ventures.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Today's topic is one that's deeply personal to me, and I believe it's going to resonate with many of you.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about prayer, specifically how God will give you what you pray for.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: But perhaps not in the way you expect.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to unpack this lens through the lens, uh, through the lenses of humility, discernment, and aligning with God's will.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let me start by saying prayer is powerful.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not some sort of cosmic vending machine where you insert your request and outputs your desire dock.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's about connection, relationship, and transformation.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're serious about praying, you're going to see God move in ways that may surprise you.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: When we talk about prayer, the first thing that comes to mind for many of us is asking what we want or need.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: But here's something I've learned through my journey.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Humility is a foundation of effective prayer.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: We're not talking about false humility where you downplay your strengths or belittle yourself.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: True humility is recognizing who you are in relation to who God is.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's about acknowledging your limitations, your dependence on Him, entrusting His wisdom over your own.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: In my early years of entrepreneurship, I thought I had to control everything.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Every decision, every outcome, it was on me.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: But as I grew in my faith, I realized that humility isn't about stepping back, it's about stepping aside and letting God lead.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: When you pray with humility, you're essentially saying, God, I trust your plan more than my own.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Show me the way, and I will follow.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Humility in prayer doesn't mean you don't ask for what you need.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: It means you ask with a heart that's open to whatever answer God gives.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's a yes, no, or a wait, humility asks you to trust that his timing and his ways are better than anything you could orchestrate.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one thing that I prayed for recently was humility.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: I felt that I was lacking self-awareness.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: I felt that possibly I was lacking humility, and I had a couple mentors and a couple others saying uh that they that they felt I did lack humility.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't feel that way.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I felt more more so for me.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: It felt more maybe I was a you know lacking self-awareness.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and specifically it was in the realm of entrepreneurship.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: And what was then up what what why do you not talk?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: What happened was as an entrepreneur, it's common, it's normal to talk numbers with people.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing X amount of revenue, we're doing this, this, and this, right?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're talking to people who are not entrepreneurs who are working at W-2 and whatever, then you saying these numbers to them, they can come off as bragging, as taking pride in things of this world, egotistical, and so on.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I was doing.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so I prayed to God, I said, God, give me humility, give me meekness.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I define meekness and humility as uh my strength, my my power under his control, under his power.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so not that I'm not strong, but I'm submitting my power, my strength to his will, to him.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And he took me through a season, and I'm currently going through and I think hopefully coming out of a season uh of humility where I've had some slow business stuff, and uh I have my health has been not great, and and yeah, and it's it's been uh it's been an interesting time, but I think I've grown deeper with Christ.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: I've gone through some transformation uh in different realms of life, business, relationships, and so on.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm grateful, and now I'm power now.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm praying for power, peace, and abundance.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so here within the next couple months, uh, I'm hoping to hoping to see that unfold.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll see how that goes.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: But um, now let's talk about discernment.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is the ability to hear God's voice amidst the noise of life.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's about filtering out the distractions and tuning out, or I'm sorry, tuning into what God is saying to you.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Please don't tune that out.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: In business, this might look like making decisions that don't make sense on paper but align perfectly with what you're led to feel led to do.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I am praying for discernment over is a brother and I have discussed a potential business partnership.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: But as an entrepreneur, I know that focus is everything.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that is something I'm praying for discernment over.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is a really, really close brother of mine.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Something I'd love, you know, someone that I'd love to work with.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: But am I in the season um for this?
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Is it God's will?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so on, or things that I'm currently praying over.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that um yeah, and so we'll see where that goes.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Discernment is critical because not every opportunity is from God.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the enemy will throw opportunities your way to distract you or lead you down a path that takes you away from your calling.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is where discernment comes in.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's about knowing when to say yes and more importantly, when to say no.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: For me, I deal with a lot of people in my business, in my day-to-day, there's a lot of moving parts.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some parts that are more frustrating than others.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I can feel like, man, the enemy is just trying to distract me from what is good by making me focus on this one little thing that is frustrating, that is not doing a thing on time, that is deceiving, it's etc.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember a time when I was presented with a business opportunity that seemed too good to be true.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Everything looked perfect on the surface, but something in my spirit wasn't at peace.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: I prayed for clarity, and through that prayer, God gave me the discernment to see what I couldn't see before.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: I ended up walking away um from the deal, and months later I realized how much trouble I avoided by doing.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So this was uh particularly considering a hire that seemed great, uh, but I didn't I ended up uh having a fire, actually.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but this is why it's it's it's so important to pray, not just for what you want, but the wisdom to recognize what's truly from God.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Discernment will help you navigate from the twists and turns in life, making decisions that align with his will and his purpose for you.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Lastly, let's talk about your desires with God's will.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, aligning your desires with God's will.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: This is where the rubber meets the road.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: You can pray for all sorts of things.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Success, relationships, financial blessings.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: But if your desires aren't aligned with God's will, you're gonna find yourself frustrated.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: When I first started praying for my business, my prayers were so very, very self-centered.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted success and I wanted it fast.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: But over time, God began to shift my heart.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: He showed me that my business was not just about making money, but about making a difference.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: When I started praying for his will to be done in my business, doors began to open that I couldn't have imagined.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: I started meeting the right people, finding the right opportunities, and growing in ways that truly mattered.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the kicker.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: When you pray for God's will to be done, you have to be ready for whatever that entails.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: It might mean letting go of something you're holding on to, or stepping into something new and uncomfortable.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: But trust me when I say this.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: God's will for your life is far greater than anything you could plan yourself.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let me say that one more time.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: God's will for your life is far greater than anything that you could plan for yourself.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: So how do you how do you apply these lessons to your life?
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Here are practic three practical takeaways.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: First, when you pray, start with humility.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Acknowledge God's sovereignty and your dependence on him.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Another part of this first peace, this first takeaway.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: The reason we pray in Jesus' name is because if we we are we are uh evil uh sinners.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so God doesn't listen to evil sinners.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Your your request will be will be wiped off at his secretary's desk immediately.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we go in Jesus' name, because we have the grace of Jesus, then we can go to God in prayer.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that's number one.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, ask for discernment in every decision.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Don't rush into anything without seeking God's guidance first.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: And number three, align your desires with God's will.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: This might require some deep soul searching, but it's worth it.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Your heart is aligned with God's purpose, your prayers will be more powerful, and your life will be more fulfilling.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Some simple but not necessarily easy action items here.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, rem remember prayers not just about getting what you want.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So becoming who God wants you to be.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that my brothers, my sisters, my friends, my family, that is the greatest reward of all.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's all for today's episode of the Reborn Podcast.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: I hope these insights have encouraged you to take a deeper look at your prayer life and how you can align it more closely with God's will.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, share it with someone who might need to hear it, and leave a review.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Your support helps us reach more people and spread this message of transformation.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay humble, stay discerning, keep aligning your life with His will.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tony Boutros, and this is the Reborn Podcast.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Take care, and God bless.