Latest / Divine515 Podcast / How Prayer Breaks the Cycle of Worry and Overthinking | Stronger Together

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How Prayer Breaks the Cycle of Worry and Overthinking | Stronger Together · Divine515 Podcast

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  - Have you ever felt like you're carrying a
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  - weight that never seems to get lighter?
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  - Maybe you're doing your best to hold everything
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  - together,
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  - but deep inside you're weary, discouraged, or wondering
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  - where to find the strength to keep going.
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  - If you've been feeling overwhelmed by life's pressures,
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  - struggling to find peace, or longing for a
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  - deeper connection with God during a difficult season,
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  - I want to personally invite you to join
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  - me for a special online webinar.
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  - When life feels heavy, finding peace, hope, and
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  - strength through prayer.
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  - On Sunday, August 16 at 5PM Pacific Standard
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  - Time, we'll come together to discover how prayer
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  - can become more than a response to life's
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  - challenges.
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  - It can become a lifestyle that anchors your
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  - heart, brings your hope, and gives you the
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  - strength to face each day with confidence.
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  - During this encouraging webinar, you'll discover how to
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  - find peace even when your circumstances
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  - haven't changed,
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  - Overcome common obstacles that keep you from a
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  - consistent prayer life.
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  - It's spirits how prayer renews your perspective and
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  - strengthens your faith.
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  - As the founder of Divine five one five
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  - and the author of Kneeling at the Throne,
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  - my passion is helping believers move beyond simply
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  - believing in the power of prayer to living
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  - a life shaped by it.
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  - My prayer is that you'll leave this webinar
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  - encouraged, equipped, and reminded
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  - that you never have to walk through life's
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  - hardest seasons alone.
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  - This isn't just another webinar about prayer.
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  - It's an opportunity to build
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  - a lifestyle
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  - of prayer that will strengthen you long after
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  - the webinar ends.
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  - Seats are limited, and registration will close once
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  - all seats are filled.
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  - So reserve your seat today by searching
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  - when life feels heavy, finding peace, hope, and
• 1:52
  - strength through prayer on Eventbrite.
• 1:55
  - Again, that's Sunday, August 16 at 5PM Pacific
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  - Standard Time. I would love for you to
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  - join us as we discover that no burden
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  - is too heavy when we place it in
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  - the hands of the one who is always
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  - faithful. I'll see you there.
• 2:23
  - Welcome to the divine five one five podcast.
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  - Here is this week's devotional.
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  - Hello and welcome
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  - to divine five one five,
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  - or as I'd like to say, divine prayer.
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  - I'm your host, Valerie Rocha, and I'd like
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  - to welcome you.
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  - Today, we are continuing
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  - our
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  - August series of Finding Strength Through Prayer and
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  - Community,
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  - and we're gonna
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  - start today's episode by addressing how prayer breaks
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  - the cycle
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  - of worrying and overthinking.
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  - A scripture text that I'm gonna be coming
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  - from today is Philippians four six through seven.
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  - And it says, do not be anxious about
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  - anything.
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  - And the peace of God will guard your
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  - hearts and your minds in Christ. Jesus.
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  - Now there's a saying
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  - we probably don't hear it too much anymore,
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  - but the saying goes something like this.
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  - The mind is a terrible thing to waste.
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  - I mean, have you ever noticed how quickly
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  - one
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  - worried thought becomes 10?
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  - I mean, we replay conversations.
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  - We imagine the worst case scenarios.
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  - We rehearse tomorrow's problems before they even arrive
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  - and magnify them where they're absolutely overwhelming.
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  - And yet
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  - we tell ourselves that overthinking
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  - feels productive
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  - when an actuality,
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  - it rarely
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  - produces anything
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  - positive
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  - or gives us peace.
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  - If you will. It's kind of like being
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  - a dribble on a wheel. You're going in
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  - a circle, but you're not really going anywhere.
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  - And yet just like
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  - every other situation, every other problem,
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  - God always
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  - provides a solution.
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  - And,
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  - yes, the solution requires some work on our
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  - part,
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  - which usually involves faith.
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  - Prayer
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  - is the solution that interrupts the cycle.
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  - If we took a moment
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  - instead of worrying
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  - to
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  - dictate our thinking,
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  - capture those thoughts, like the scripture tells us,
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  - we would be able to allow prayer
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  - to be invited in
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  - and welcome God's presence
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  - into
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  - the situation
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  - and
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  - allow God to change our perspective.
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  - Prayer is so
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  - powerful
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  - because it shifts our focus from what we
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  - cannot control, which is a lot of everything
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  - in, in, in a lot of situations because
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  - it requires faith,
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  - but
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  - it shifts
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  - our, our focus to the one who controls
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  - all things.
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  - I often say you don't get to choose
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  - what comes to you, but you can choose
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  - how you deal with it.
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  - And
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  - because of it, every anxious thought
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  - becomes another invitation to pray.
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  - Now, remember we talked about in the early
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  - series
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  - that prayer doesn't always
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  - come out being our first response.
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  - It should never be a,
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  - issue of crises. Right.
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  - And yet
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  - because
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  - life can come and overwhelm us and give
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  - us distractions,
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  - it can be absolutely
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  - numbing and overwhelming at times.
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  - But the good thing to remember
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  - is that the more consistently
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  - we replace worry with prayer,
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  - the more naturally peace begins to guard our
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  - hearts.
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  - And again,
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  - it comes from
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  - being intentional and spending time with God,
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  - putting down whatever that thing is on the
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  - throne
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  - and not
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  - picking it back up regardless of how tempting
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  - it is. Because remember,
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  - if you could have solved the problem,
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  - you wouldn't need to worry.
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  - So give it to God
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  - and let
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  - him
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  - work it out.
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  - That being said,
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  - let's pray.
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  - Heavenly father,
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  - when our thoughts begin to spiral,
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  - remind us to return to you instead of
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  - trying to solve everything on our own
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  - father, help us to allow you into the
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  - situation.
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  - And remembering
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  - that we can be the answer to our
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  - prayer
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  - either through faith
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  - or just
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  - waiting patiently
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  - to hear what you have to say about
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  - the situation.
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  - Replace every worry with wisdom and anxiety, with
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  - peace.
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  - Help us to trust that you are already
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  - working in the situations
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  - and we cannot
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  - yet understand it.
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  - And that's why it's called faith
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  - in Jesus name. Amen.
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  - Before we go today,
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  - remember this,
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  - You were never created
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  - to walk through
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  - life alone.
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  - God strengthens us through his presence,
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  - his word, and the encouragement of his people.
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  - If today's devotional encouraged you,
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  - follow the divine five one five podcast
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  - so we can continue growing together each week.
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  - And until next time,
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  - keep meeting God at the throne.
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  - Remember,
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  - prayer isn't something we do.
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  - It's how we walk with God every day.