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Your Nightly Prayer: Evening Prayers for Christian... - A Prayer to Reject Fear and Walk in Christ's Light · LifeAudio

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio Thank you for tuning in to Your Nightly Prayer,
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  Speaker 1: a podcast designed to help you rest and connect with
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  Speaker 1: your Father in Heaven as the day ends. God is
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  Speaker 1: ready to meet you in this moment of peace as
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  Speaker 1: you settle into sleep. After this short word from our sponsor,
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  Speaker 1: we'll encounter tonight's devotional, A Prayer to Reject Fear and
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  Speaker 1: walk in Christ's light. Written by Angie Grant and read
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  Speaker 1: by your host, Brooke McLaughlin. Tonight's scripture. For God has
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  Speaker 1: not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love,
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  Speaker 1: and sound judgment. 2 Timothy 1, 7 Something to Ponder
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  Speaker 1: As soon as it's October, signs of the season begin
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  Speaker 1: appearing everywhere. Store aisles fill with costumes and decorations. Front
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  Speaker 1: porches are covered with spiderwebs, skeletons, and things designed to
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  Speaker 1: make us jump. Haunted houses open their doors. Scary movies
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  Speaker 1: fill our screens. And for a few weeks, our culture
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  Speaker 1: seems especially fascinated with things that frighten us. For most people,
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  Speaker 1: it's simply part of the fun of the season. We
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  Speaker 1: know the spiderwebs aren't real. We know the person jumping
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  Speaker 1: out from behind the corner is wearing a costume. We
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  Speaker 1: can turn off the movie, leave the haunted house, or
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  Speaker 1: walk past the decorations. But the fears we carry in
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  Speaker 1: real life aren't always so easy to turn off. Some
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  Speaker 1: fears don't disappear when October ends. Fear of something happening
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  Speaker 1: to someone we love. Fear of receiving bad news. Fear
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  Speaker 1: of losing what matters to us. Fear that something painful
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  Speaker 1: from our past might happen again. Fear of a future
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  Speaker 1: we can't control. Those fears can feel very real. And
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  Speaker 1: if we aren't careful, fear can do more than frighten us.
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  Speaker 1: It can begin controlling us. It can keep us from
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  Speaker 1: moving forward, steal our peace in the present, and hold
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  Speaker 1: our thoughts captive to all the things that might happen.
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  Speaker 1: Yet scripture reminds us that God has not given us
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  Speaker 1: a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and
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  Speaker 1: sound judgment. Being a person of faith doesn't mean we
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  Speaker 1: never experience fear. It means fear doesn't get the final word.
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  Speaker 1: My granddaughter, Marley, is seven years old. She loves Jesus
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  Speaker 1: with the sweet, uncomplicated faith of a little girl. She
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  Speaker 1: knows he loves her. She knows he is with her.
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  Speaker 1: She knows he takes care of her. But Marley is
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  Speaker 1: also learning something most of us spend our entire lives learning.
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  Speaker 1: Knowing Jesus is with us doesn't always mean we won't
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  Speaker 1: feel afraid. One day, Marley was out on a lake
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  Speaker 1: riding a jet ski, with her parents, of course, when
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  Speaker 1: a storm came up. Imagine being seven years old, sitting
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  Speaker 1: on the back of a jet ski, surrounded by what
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  Speaker 1: normally feels like a beautiful, wide-open playground of water, and
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  Speaker 1: suddenly everything changes. The sky grows dark. The wind picks up.
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  Speaker 1: The water that had been sparkling in the sunshine begins
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  Speaker 1: to churn beneath you. Thunder rumbles somewhere in the distance.
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  Speaker 1: You are little. The lake is big, and there isn't
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  Speaker 1: anywhere to hide. For Marley, that moment made an impression
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  Speaker 1: much deeper than that one afternoon on the lake. The
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  Speaker 1: storm ultimately passed. She made it safely to shore. The
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  Speaker 1: clouds moved on. But something about the storm stayed with her. Now,
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  Speaker 1: if the skies begin to darken or the wind starts
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  Speaker 1: blowing harder, Marley notices. If the clouds look even remotely threatening,
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  Speaker 1: fear can rush in before the rain ever does. Is
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  Speaker 1: there going to be a storm? Are we going to
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  Speaker 1: be okay? Is something bad going to happen? Her little
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  Speaker 1: body remembers what it felt like to be scared on
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  Speaker 1: that lake. And suddenly, she isn't simply looking at clouds anymore.
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  Speaker 1: In her mind, she is remembering... That storm. Isn't that
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  Speaker 1: what fear does? Sometimes we aren't afraid of what's happening
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  Speaker 1: right now. We're afraid that what happened before might happen again.
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  Speaker 1: A dark cloud today reminds us of yesterday's storm. And
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  Speaker 1: although we're standing somewhere completely different, surrounded by people who
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  Speaker 1: love us, perfectly safe in this moment, fear whispers, what if?
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  Speaker 1: So when the clouds begin to gather and fear rises
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  Speaker 1: in Marley, we remind her of something mightier than the storm. Marley,
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  Speaker 1: who is with you? Jesus. Who takes care of you? Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Who can you trust even when you're scared? Jesus. We
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  Speaker 1: aren't teaching her that because she loves Jesus, storms will
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  Speaker 1: never come. We aren't promising her that nothing frightening will
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  Speaker 1: ever happen. We're teaching her something much more important. When
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  Speaker 1: storms come, she will never face them alone. Jesus is
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  Speaker 1: just as present when the sky is dark as he
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  Speaker 1: is when the sun is shining. He's there when the
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  Speaker 1: water is calm. He's there when the waves rise. He's
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  Speaker 1: there when our hearts feel brave. And he's still there
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  Speaker 1: when our hands are shaking. At seven years old, Marley
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  Speaker 1: is learning to take the thoughts that say something bad
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  Speaker 1: is going to happen and replace them with what she
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  Speaker 1: knows to be true. She knows Jesus is with her.
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  Speaker 1: She knows Jesus loves her. She knows Jesus protects her.
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  Speaker 1: And she can trust him when she's afraid. And maybe
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  Speaker 1: that's what growing in faith looks like for all of us.
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  Speaker 1: Not reaching a place where we never feel fear again,
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  Speaker 1: but learning where to run when fear comes. Because faith
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  Speaker 1: isn't pretending the clouds aren't dark. Faith looks at the
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  Speaker 1: dark clouds and remembers who is still lord over the storm.
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  Speaker 1: Some of us are more like seven-year-old Marley than we'd
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  Speaker 1: like to admit. We've lived through a storm before. And now,
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  Speaker 1: whenever the clouds begin gathering, something inside of us panics.
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  Speaker 1: A doctor's appointment feels like the beginning of another diagnosis.
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  Speaker 1: A difficult conversation feels like the beginning of another rejection.
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  Speaker 1: A financial setback appears like we're headed back into a
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  Speaker 1: season we barely survived. A change in someone's behavior makes
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  Speaker 1: us afraid we're going to lose them. We see clouds,
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  Speaker 1: and our minds immediately create storms. But perhaps in those moments,
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  Speaker 1: we need the same reminder we give Marley. Questions like,
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  Speaker 1: who is with you? Who has carried you before? And
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  Speaker 1: who will still be with you when you're afraid? The
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  Speaker 1: goal isn't to convince ourselves that we will never be
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  Speaker 1: afraid or that bad things will never happen. Our goal
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  Speaker 1: is to be so convinced that he is with us.
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  Speaker 1: Marley is still learning this. So am I. Maybe you
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  Speaker 1: are too. And every time the clouds begin to gather,
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  Speaker 1: we get another opportunity to utter softly what is true. Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: I feel afraid, but I know you are here, and
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  Speaker 1: I choose to trust you. Your Nightly Prayer Jesus, you
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  Speaker 1: have not given me a spirit of fear, but one
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  Speaker 1: of power, love, and a sound mind. When the storms
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  Speaker 1: of life come, replace my fear with your greatness and might.
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  Speaker 1: May I commit those things that at times consume my
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  Speaker 1: mind with the peace of God, that I may rest
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  Speaker 1: in you. I know you're with me. May you continue
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  Speaker 1: to remind me that you are ever-present in every season.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name. Amen. Three things to meditate upon. Number one,
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  Speaker 1: what fears have I allowed to take over my thought life? Two,
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  Speaker 1: take a moment and reflect on how God has carried
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  Speaker 1: me before. And number three, how can I best live
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  Speaker 1: out 2 Timothy 1.7? Reflect on tonight's prayer and share
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  Speaker 1: how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer
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  Speaker 1: discussion on the Crosswalk Forum. Thank you for listening to
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  Speaker 1: Your Nightly Prayer, a production of the Life Audio Network.
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  Speaker 1: If you found comfort and inspiration in tonight's prayer, be
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  Speaker 1: sure to follow and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever
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  Speaker 1: a moment of peace and reflection to end your day.