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343 | Throwback - Praying Brings Results · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
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  well in John chapter four.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen in your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Living her life for Christ. She's a happy girl.
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  Music.
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  She's a happy girl.
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  Righteous people in the Bible prayed. God came on the scene in answer to their prayers.
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  The only thing special about these people was that they were righteous.
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  The reward for their righteousness was that when they prayed, it brought action.
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  And it brought the presence of God. Join us in this program,
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  Praying Brings Results, as Kim Miller of Women at the Well Ministries takes
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  us through Acts 4.31, which says,
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  I am so grateful that praying brings results.
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  Welcome to this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as we talk about the power of prayer.
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  The Bible says that we have to have faith to believe him and that we have to
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  believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
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  And without faith, it's impossible to please him.
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  It is our faith that allows us to come to God and pour out our heart,
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  realizing that he hears us.
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  Realizing that he wants what's best for us and understanding that he has the answer.
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  And here's the ticket. Being willing to hear what he says and be so convinced of who God is
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  and allowing him to have such a place in your life that no matter what he says,
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  you will accept it and you will follow.
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  Now that is a powerful prayer life.
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  The Bible says that if we do not regard iniquity in our hearts, that he will hear us.
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  And so the only prayer that is going to hear from a sinner is the prayer of repentance.
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  And he's heard every prayer of repentance and every Every person who has ever
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  repented and called upon the name of the Lord and truly asked him to be saved has been saved.
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  Because the scripture says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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  The Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,
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  that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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  That's a prayer that is powerful. powerful
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  that's a prayer that changes your life and
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  that's a prayer that sets you on a course for a
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  life of prayer because every believer
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  should be waking up in the morning and talking to the lord before their feet
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  ever hit the floor i believe that wholeheartedly because the devil's waiting
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  for you to get up it's been said that you might consider trying to be the kind
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  of christian that the devil fears when you're awake.
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  That he trembles because he knows that your life is going to be so powerful
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  for the Lord that he and all of his minions are going to have to be all over you all day long.
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  But greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
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  James tells us that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
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  When we are fervent in our prayer, and sometimes that means persistent,
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  But it always means that we mean business.
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  We're not just fooling around. We're not just throwing these words out.
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  We're not just saying, okay, well, it can't hurt.
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  But we are coming to the Lord in full assurance that he hears us.
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  In full belief that he is the supreme authority over our life.
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  In absolute understanding that he knows exactly what lies before us.
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  And that he has a plan to prosper us and to give us a hope and an expected end.
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  To be in full surrender of his authority.
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  When we come to him in prayer and we ask, we shall receive.
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  If we seek, we shall find. And if we knock, it'll be opened unto us.
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  That's a promise out of Matthew chapter 7 and verse 7.
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  When we pray, there is power. You know, prayer changes things, and prayer changes me.
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  I may come to prayer, praying for a situation that I have.
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  Maybe someone's hurt my feelings or they've done something I feel is wrong.
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  And I am praying in that situation, and I feel the Lord change how I feel about that person.
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  I feel the Lord work on me and begin to bring to my mind the times that he's forgiven me.
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  I can see the times in
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  scripture and I can see the words in scripture in
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  first John one nine that says if we confess our sins he's faithful
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  and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and
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  how many times day after day after day after day week after week after week
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  month after month after month year after year after year decades have I been
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  forgiven when I would ask.
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  That's the kind of love that he deals with me with.
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  And he doesn't just throw the clay away. No, he just molds it.
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  Puts a little more pressure here, a little more pressure there,
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  until I get the form he wants me to be.
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  And he's not done working on me. And when I make a mistake, he's not going to just give up on me.
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  He's persistent. He's faithful.
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  And he's loving and gracious. and his mercy endureth forever.
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  But prayer is what allows me to know who God is.
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  Can you imagine if you could just somehow articulate and personify,
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  the greatness of God and then realize that he's not only right there with you,
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  but he lives inside of you in the form of the Holy Spirit and that he teaches.
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  You and he guides you and he comforts you.
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  When Lazarus was in the tomb, Jesus wept.
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  See, life with Christ is greater than any eye has ever seen and ear have ever heard.
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  We can't even imagine what lies in store for those who love him.
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  And he wants us to have a close personal relationship with him.
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  He tells us in Hebrews chapter 4 to come boldly to the throne of God and that
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  he was tempted like as we are yet was that sin. So he gets it.
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  When you come alongside him and you talk to him about the pain of losing someone
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  you love, no one can comfort you like he can.
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  For God saw his son die for a
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  people that rejected him for a people who had been created in his image but
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  blew it yet he died for you anyway and he died for me anyway God knows what
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  it's like to see someone die he loves Jesus knows what it's like to feel all
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  alone when he was on the cross.
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  No one was there with him Jesus knows what it's like to be betrayed by someone
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  that he trusted someone that he loved, someone that he had taken care of,
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  someone that he had a personal relationship with. He loved Judas.
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  He loved Peter, who denied him three times before the cock crew.
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  He understands what it's like to work. He was a carpenter's son.
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  He didn't have a home to call his own. He knows what it's like for people to
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  shun him, to scorn him, to ridicule him.
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  Him there's nothing you're going to face that's going
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  to surprise him because he's all-knowing and his
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  grace is sufficient to get you
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  through it you see sometimes when we pray we
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  think that God will take something away from us but sometimes that's not his
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  plan sometimes that's not what's best for us sometimes that's not what's best
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  for the people around us sometimes he lets us go through something so that we
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  could be a blessing for someone else but he never leaves us he never forsakes
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  us. He always supplies our need.
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  Sometimes he doesn't remove us from it, but he takes us through it.
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  And one day when you're on the mountain and you've seen the valley you've come
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  through, you're going to understand it from his point of view.
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  But it takes a surrendering heart that realizes that really all things work
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  together for the good to them that love the Lord, to them that are called according to his purpose.
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  It takes a love of Christ that really realizes that he wants what's best for
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  you and that he has a plan and it's to prosper you,
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  to give you a hope that every good thing comes from him
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  and that he doesn't withhold things from him from those
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  that love him and then he will give you the desires
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  of your heart if you'll just delight yourself in him but you've
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  got to have a personal working relationship with jesus and i don't mean you're
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  working for your salvation i mean it's one that's dynamic i mean it's one that's
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  passionate i mean it's one where you have effort and energy that you're placed
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  in the work of the lord and in being with him and in talking with him i want to submit to you.
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  You don't have any personal relationship with anybody on this earth that you
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  go days without talking to.
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  You don't have any personal relationship on this earth with anybody that you
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  don't know anything about.
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  You do everything you can to get to know the intimate details,
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  the intricacies of people's life who are important to you.
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  Christ wants that relationship with you. He said there is a friend that sticketh
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  closer than a brother, and that friend is Jesus Christ.
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  He said he is the mother to the motherless. He's the father to the fatherless.
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  He is family to someone who doesn't have family. He is the family of God.
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  He is the head of it. And we get to be in that family through the blood of Jesus
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  Christ because he loves us. And we must pray.
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  It is the greatest resource you'll ever have.
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  Your money will never do for you what prayer will do. In fact,
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  prayer can multiply your money.
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  You'll never get your intelligence to give you the return on investment that
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  a few moments in prayer, earnest prayer with Christ will do for you.
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  In a life that's lived in a state of prayer, the Bible says that we're to pray
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  without ceasing. That doesn't mean we go around with our eyes closed walking around.
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  That means that our hearts are always consulting with the Lord to get him to
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  tell us what it is we need to do and to get his ideas about what it is we're
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  supposed to do, that we can follow them, not that we just,
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  contemplate them, but that we allow him to have full reign in our lives.
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  The love of God constrains us, but the prayer to God lifts us up and gives us
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  all that we'll ever need.
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  There is power in prayer. I hope you're using it.
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  Music.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
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  You can find our app by searching for a woman at the well ministries in your
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  app store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm. If you visit our website,
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  you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits, a daily devotion written by Kim and
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  delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  Woman at the Well Ministries is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
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  And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
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  To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
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  Thank you to the gospel group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song,
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  Happy Girl. We greatly appreciate your prayers We are praying daily for our
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  listeners Remember that God loves you.
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  Music.