Better Together

Gratitude Transforms Your Prayers - Episode 1118

November 19, 2025 | S7 E1118 | 52:34

Praying with THANKSGIVING changes everything. Declaring that God is good and standing on His promises aligns our hearts with Heaven and gives God incentive to bless our lives in miraculous ways! | TBN Prayer Line: 714-731-1000

#Thankfulness #Gratitude #Transformation #Prayer #Faith #Joy #Praise #TrustGod #Anxiety #Surrender #LaurieCrouch #SheilaWalsh #HollyWagner #NonaJones

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Better Together | Gratitude Transforms Your Prayers - Episode 1118 | November 19, 2025

Laurie crouch: "enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into
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His courts with praise."
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Throughout scripture, we're reminded to give god thanks.
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Expressing gratitude when we pray also helps us pause to hear
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His voice.
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Come on, let's talk about it.
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[music]
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Sheila walsh: i feel like i've already received from every
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Single one of you on the power of thanksgiving and how it
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Changes you and how it changes your perspective, but one of the
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Greatest lessons i learned was from billy graham's wife,
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Ruth graham.
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She was just one of the most amazing women in my life.
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I first met her when i was singing at billy graham's
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Crusades in england.
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But when i went through the worst time in my life, ruth
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Was amazing.
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You know, i spent a month in a psychiatric hospital, and i felt
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Like my life was really over at the end of it.
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But she was the first person to call me and she said, "okay,
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Bill's off in the crusade.
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I want you to get on a plane tomorrow morning and come to
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The house."
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And i was like, "honestly, i don't think i can."
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And she said, "no, i'm just saying to you, get on a plane
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And come."
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And so i did.
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And it was--i was only there for, like, maybe three days,
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I think.
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But i learned so much during that three-day period in terms
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Of how to pray with thanksgiving, because she talked
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To me about--i mean, franklin graham is such a great friend of
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This ministry.
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I mean, he loves matt and laurie, but there was a time
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When franklin was really rebellious and wanted nothing to
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Do with his mom and dad's christianity, and ruth told me
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That night.
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She said, "it used to be that when franklin was off and i
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Didn't know where he was, i would get down by my bed and i
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Would weep and i would intercede."
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And she said, "i would use this--" you know, scripture
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We've used all week, philippians 4: "don't worry about anything;
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Instead, pray about everything.
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Tell god what you need."
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She said, "i missed the bit of thanking--
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For thanksgiving."
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And she said it totally transformed her because she
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Said, "i went from weeping and praying every night to suddenly
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Thanking god for the fact that-- 'i don't know where franklin is
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Tonight, but you do, lord.
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I thank you you're gonna bring him back.'"
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And she said she just began to absolutely praise god, and it
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Changed her.
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And it wasn't long after that that franklin came back to the
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Lord and just became this incredible man of god that he
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Is today.
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But there was something about that deposit in me of "you
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Know what?
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When you don't see what you want, when things look like
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They're the worst they've ever been, this is a great place to
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Start practicing who you believe god to be."
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And, i think, even when jesus taught his--when his friends
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Said, you know, "teach us to pray," you know, he said, "our
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Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name."
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It starts with this "you are great."
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But i have discovered the power of thanksgiving and prayer as
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Well before i came to the studio today.
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As i'm walking, i'm thanking god, you know, for everything
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That i'm thanking him for--the fact that i'll be with you
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Girls today.
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I'm thanking him for the people who will be watching this
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Program, but i'm thanking him for who he is because one of the
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Things i've realized is even when circumstances are hard,
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God hasn't changed.
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He's still good, he still loves us, he's still faithful, and
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There's such a freedom and finally get to the place where
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You think, "you know what, lord?
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You've got this.
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I wouldn't have chosen this path.
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However, you've got this."
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And i learned that from ruth, and i'm so grateful.
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In fact, it was after she passed and i went to where she was
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Buried and took a photo there with her gravestone, and it
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Says, "thank you for your patience.
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Construction completed."
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And i thought, you know, that's right.
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It's like, until we see jesus face-to-face, we're a
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Construction zone.
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But one of the greatest gifts that we're given in the midst of
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That is to thank god in our prayers.
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What i discovered is it doesn't change the circumstances, but it
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Changes me and it changes how i see my life.
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Irini fambro: it is so important to add the the element of
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Gratitude to prayer, not because i say so.
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Because the bible teaches us that when paul talks about "do
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Not be anxious about anything, but in everything in--with
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Prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving--" that was the
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Irini version.
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So, you know, you got it.
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Like, but he's saying when you're gonna pray and when
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You're gonna intercede for some things, when you're gonna ask
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For some things, hey, you know what's the best atmosphere to do
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That in?
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It's thanksgiving.
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I mean, and why?
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Because the atmosphere that thanksgiving creates literally
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Says, "god, i know who you are, i know that you sit on the
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Throne, i know that you're great."
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It shows me his track record.
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"i've seen you do these things."
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And even if you're at that point where you're just so frustrated
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You can't even remember the things he's done for you, you
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Can see him in other people's lives.
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You're like, "i don't know anybody."
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Okay, you get to read the bible and see that he's done
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Some things.
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Look at his life.
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It says the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy and
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Literally setting up of an environment where god says, "i
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Can move in that, i could do that."
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So now that's the atmosphere that now i'm gonna bring my
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Request as i'm like, "god, you're so much bigger than
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This--that you've got this handle, that i can trust you,
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That now it increases my faith not because i need to see the
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Situation answered in such a way, but it's because i remember
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Who's the one who's in charge of this situation, that i can lay
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That at your feet."
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It changes your prayers, it changes your requests, and to be
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Honest, some of the things that you thought mattered, once you
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Sit and go through all the things that you're grateful for,
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You're like, "you know what?
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That doesn't even seem to matter anymore, because i've gotten
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Perspective, i've gotten your perspective on this," and i
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Really the--that part of that conversation with the lord, i
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Think it matters how we start.
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Think about it in relationships in your life.
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When you start off, imagine how your conversations with people
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Shift when you start off with gratitude.
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How much more does it shift when we're talking to the lord?
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Laurie: paul even said in in colossians--it says, "continue,
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Continue earnestly in prayer.
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Be vigilant in prayer with thanksgiving."
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So it's almost like your prayer isn't complete without
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Thanksgiving, and then "i will enter his gates."
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So that just opens the door wide that when i pray throughout the
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Day, i'm always thanking the lord for things, but when i get
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On my knees at home, i know that i come before him with
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Thanksgiving first, and i just start thanking god for who he is
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And all the great things that he has done, rejoicing in the lord.
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Rejoy yourself in the lord.
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It was there all the time for you.
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I want you to go back and try and do it again because it's
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There for you--the renewing of your mind that takes on the
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Transforming of your mind.
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We renew our minds and we transform into his image by what
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We think about.
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Nona jones: and i think sometimes when we feel like god
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Is far, i often reflect on--you know, the bible tells us he
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Inhabits the praises of his people, right?
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And so when he feels far, when he feels distant, it's like,
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Okay, how much are you actually thanking and praising him?
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Because he actually takes up residence within our praises.
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And so you said something so beautiful, which is almost like,
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Look, god knows who he is, okay?
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He knows he's amazing.
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He knows he's all the things, right?
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He literally has elders around him just "holy, holy, holy," all
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Of the--he knows he's amazing.
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So the thanksgiving really isn't to affirm who he is, because he
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Knows who he is.
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It is our opportunity to affirm who he is.
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And so we receive the gift of peace.
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We receive all of these promises.
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We receive the gift of his presence.
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It's like thanksgiving is a gift that we're giving ourselves in
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Recognizing his goodness.
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And i have found that when i feel distant from god, it has
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Always been because i've maybe prayed what i need, prayed what
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I wanted, but i wasn't praising him.
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I wasn't taking an inventory of his goodness, and so i felt
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Separated from him because i was not acknowledging who he is and
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How amazing he is.
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And once i started to do that, it's like i can literally feel
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The tangible presence of god in the thanksgiving, in the praise.
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Sheila: and that's the power of worship too.
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We went into nashville to do a "better together."
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And that day, that some things had gone wrong at home, and i
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Was just like, "lord."
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You know when you wake up and you want to be "woo-hoo!"
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And you're just like--
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Holly wagner: and you were not, you were not woo-hoo?
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Sheila: no, that my "whoo!" had left, the "whoo!"
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Was gone.
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So what i have on my phone is-- and this is one of my favorite
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Ones--cece winans.
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Thank you, lord, for putting me on the planet at the same time
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As cece winans.
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Nona: thank god for cece.
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Sheila: yes, but one of her-- i've got both of her albums on
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My phone, but one of them has the song "is he worthy?"
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I'm telling you, so i put it on, and i crank the volume up, and
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It's like, you know, reminding me of everything.
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It's--and by the end of it i'm--i'm literally--i'm
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Standing on the bed in the room, and i'm just like, "yes,
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You are!"
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There's something so powerful about worship, remembering who
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God is, and we live in such a nutty world, but when we choose
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To begin to remember who god is and to lift up his name and to
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Praise him, you know, the darkness cannot overcome
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The light.
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All creation is groaning, but is he worthy?
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Can anyone open the scrolls?
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Yes, he is.
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Sheila: when you have a heart posture of gratitude and praise
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Towards god, it really shifts the atmosphere.
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I mean, have you noticed what it's like if you're complaining
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About something and you're just like, "this is terrible and
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That's terrible," and it just-- it gets darker and darker?
00:10:08.431 --> 00:10:11.667
But what i've discovered is that when you change that posture and
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You begin to thank god and you begin to praise him because he
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Hasn't changed, he's still good, he's still kind, he's still
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Loving, it can actually change the atmosphere in your home.
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You know, i--my husband and i have been--he keeps a gratitude
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Journal by the side of his bed, and it's something we've started
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To do because there's so many things in the world right now
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That are not right, but god is always good, god is always
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Faithful, god is always loving, and somehow concentrating on
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That and praising him--you read it in the psalms.
00:10:46.368 --> 00:10:49.338
David sometimes will start with "why am i downcast, o my soul?"
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And that word, "cast," was the name for what would happen to a
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Sheep if it fell over, couldn't right itself.
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They would say, "well, that sheep is cast," and he would
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Say, "why are you downcast, o my soul?"
00:10:59.615 --> 00:11:01.684
He would remind himself who god is, and that changed everything.
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Irini: the realities of the words that we're saying and what
00:11:06.322 --> 00:11:10.025
We're coming in alignment with that ephesians 6 talks about--
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That our battles aren't against flesh and blood, they aren't the
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Circumstances that are in front of you.
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There's something so much deeper that's happening, and it's not
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Just when you acknowledge it and you're aware of it.
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There's a supernatural battle that's coming into existence,
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And my thanksgiving comes-- brings me in alignment, in
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Agreement with an entirely different spirit that's just in
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My atmosphere, and i think we miss the power of when i am
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Aligning with the spirit of anxiety and fear and what i am
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Permissioning that spirit to do and torment in me.
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It's saying, "yes, you're more than welcome because
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I aligned with you.
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I agreed with you.
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Life and death in the power of the tongue."
00:11:52.001 --> 00:11:53.369
So if i choose to--because that's why--you know, i will
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Enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart.
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It continues to keep coming back to the discipline of it.
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"i will, i will because that's who i wanna align with."
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Thanksgiving, it literally-- what i give praise to, what i
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Give attention to is what i'm giving power to.
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So i'm saying, "you have all-- you're welcome to come in," and
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I wanna be careful about what i welcome because the very thing
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That i'm asking god to save me from, i'm aligning with, and i--
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And the lord's like, "oh, oh, okay, so which one do you want?"
00:12:24.466 --> 00:12:28.404
Laurie: that's when david said, "bless the lord, o
00:12:28.404 --> 00:12:30.206
My soul."
00:12:30.206 --> 00:12:31.974
Irini: sometimes you just have to talk to yourself.
00:12:31.974 --> 00:12:33.843
Laurie: "all that is within me, bless his holy name."
00:12:33.843 --> 00:12:36.278
Nona: going back to worship, it's so funny because i'm
00:12:36.278 --> 00:12:38.147
Obviously late, but have you all heard the song "what a god"?
00:12:38.147 --> 00:12:42.384
Holly: sing it, sister.
00:12:42.384 --> 00:12:43.752
Nona: uh, i will not sing it, but the lyrics--i just
00:12:43.752 --> 00:12:47.523
Discovered this song, like, two days ago.
00:12:47.523 --> 00:12:49.525
Laurie: who sang it?
00:12:49.525 --> 00:12:50.893
Nona: it's a worship album by southeastern university called
00:12:50.893 --> 00:12:54.263
"what a god."
00:12:54.263 --> 00:12:55.631
I heard the song as i was driving, and when i tell you, i
00:12:55.631 --> 00:12:57.499
Had to pull over.
00:12:57.499 --> 00:12:59.201
The lyrics say, "who thought i'd find you at the lowest place?
00:12:59.201 --> 00:13:04.306
Who thought you'd feel me in the crowd?
00:13:04.306 --> 00:13:07.209
Who knew you make good of my mistakes?
00:13:07.209 --> 00:13:10.412
You're nothing like i thought you were.
00:13:10.412 --> 00:13:12.147
You're better.
00:13:12.147 --> 00:13:13.482
I thought you'd show up for perfection because what kind of
00:13:13.482 --> 00:13:16.952
God looks for the lost?
00:13:16.952 --> 00:13:18.787
They say it's over for a sinner, although you say, no, it's not."
00:13:18.787 --> 00:13:24.026
And then it goes on to say, "if the highest place i reach is at
00:13:24.026 --> 00:13:26.896
Your feet, then i've done it all.
00:13:26.896 --> 00:13:29.431
If the best thing that i've seen is your glory, then i've seen
00:13:29.431 --> 00:13:33.068
It all.
00:13:33.068 --> 00:13:34.436
Your love has changed my life, forever satisfied.
00:13:34.436 --> 00:13:38.474
God, you are my everything."
00:13:38.474 --> 00:13:41.343
That song, and first of all, i'm telling you, just be careful
00:13:41.343 --> 00:13:44.146
When you put it on, just be careful.
00:13:44.146 --> 00:13:45.514
Having the ability to sing into how you--the gratitude, it's
00:13:45.514 --> 00:13:54.189
Like, "god, you chose me when i was truly worthless.
00:13:54.189 --> 00:14:01.697
Like, there was nothing i could offer you.
00:14:01.697 --> 00:14:04.300
There was nothing i could offer you, and you chose me."
00:14:04.300 --> 00:14:07.870
When i tried--i tried it in my life when i was 9 and 11, didn't
00:14:07.870 --> 00:14:10.673
Know the lord, didn't grow up in church, and i didn't know what
00:14:10.673 --> 00:14:13.943
Was on the other side of death, but i figured whatever it was
00:14:13.943 --> 00:14:16.078
Was better than what i was experiencing and the abuse i was
00:14:16.078 --> 00:14:18.280
Experiencing, and god was with me even in that, and i didn't
00:14:18.280 --> 00:14:22.084
Know who he was, didn't even have the words to call on jesus,
00:14:22.084 --> 00:14:25.254
Didn't know anything about a bible, had never been to church,
00:14:25.254 --> 00:14:28.023
And so when i reflect on where i was and where i am and where the
00:14:28.023 --> 00:14:32.928
Lord has brought me, it's like, "god, if i never achieve another
00:14:32.928 --> 00:14:38.834
Thing, like, you're my everything.
00:14:38.834 --> 00:14:41.837
There's nothing--there's nothing else that i want,
00:14:41.837 --> 00:14:44.273
There's no platform i want to be on, there's no material
00:14:44.273 --> 00:14:47.042
Possession that i desire, there's nothing i want because i
00:14:47.042 --> 00:14:50.112
Have what matters most."
00:14:50.112 --> 00:14:51.714
The time i spend with the lord in the morning, praising him and
00:14:51.714 --> 00:14:56.018
Worshiping him and just praying in the spirit, like, i treasure
00:14:56.018 --> 00:14:59.922
That far more than preaching to thousands.
00:14:59.922 --> 00:15:02.858
I'm just being honest.
00:15:02.858 --> 00:15:04.226
Like, i don't--like, there is nothing i aspire to beyond
00:15:04.226 --> 00:15:08.263
That--to have the lord of the universe dwell with me?
00:15:08.263 --> 00:15:12.801
Like, that is mind-boggling.
00:15:12.801 --> 00:15:14.536
Sheila: it is mind-boggling.
00:15:14.536 --> 00:15:16.638
Holly: i think there was one time when i was praying for my
00:15:16.638 --> 00:15:18.674
Kids because, as a mom, that's probably one of our biggest
00:15:18.674 --> 00:15:21.176
Prayers, right?
00:15:21.176 --> 00:15:22.544
I was praying for them, and i was so--to be honest, i was--
00:15:22.544 --> 00:15:25.180
It's a situation that my daughter was in, and i was
00:15:25.180 --> 00:15:27.349
Very worried.
00:15:27.349 --> 00:15:30.252
I just didn't see a good outcome here.
00:15:30.252 --> 00:15:34.390
She'd made some choices that weren't great, and i just didn't
00:15:34.390 --> 00:15:37.926
Know where this was going to go.
00:15:37.926 --> 00:15:39.628
And so i was crying and praying, and i started saying, "thank
00:15:39.628 --> 00:15:44.500
You, thank you, god, for who she is.
00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:46.935
Thank you, god, that you love her.
00:15:46.935 --> 00:15:48.804
Thank you, god, that you've called her.
00:15:48.804 --> 00:15:50.239
Thank you, god, that you will protect her.
00:15:50.239 --> 00:15:52.508
And i thank you, god, that all the work that you started in her
00:15:52.508 --> 00:15:55.110
From when she was a small child, that you will finish it."
00:15:55.110 --> 00:15:57.980
And i think the more i did that, it actually put faith back in me
00:15:57.980 --> 00:16:02.551
Because he's bigger than this situation.
00:16:02.551 --> 00:16:04.953
He loves her more than even i do.
00:16:04.953 --> 00:16:07.356
And so i just think it put faith in me when i started thanking
00:16:07.356 --> 00:16:09.992
God because it reminded me about who he is.
00:16:09.992 --> 00:16:12.428
He's bigger than the situation.
00:16:12.428 --> 00:16:15.130
So i, again, i just think starting prayers with
00:16:15.130 --> 00:16:18.033
Thanksgiving will shift your focus from the problem to who
00:16:18.033 --> 00:16:21.236
He is.
00:16:21.236 --> 00:16:23.505
Nona: thanksgiving is a season to reflect on god's greatest
00:16:23.505 --> 00:16:26.175
Gifts to us.
00:16:26.175 --> 00:16:27.543
Sheila: and here at "better together," we're thankful for
00:16:27.543 --> 00:16:28.911
Our community.
00:16:28.911 --> 00:16:30.245
Laurie: connect with us on social media to ask a question
00:16:30.245 --> 00:16:32.414
Or maybe even share a prayer request.
00:16:32.414 --> 00:16:36.051
Female announcer: let's keep the conversation going.
00:16:36.051 --> 00:16:38.287
You can find the "better together" podcast on your
00:16:38.287 --> 00:16:40.589
Favorite listening platform.
00:16:40.589 --> 00:16:42.391
Subscribe today.
00:16:42.391 --> 00:16:46.829
Holly: it's like, even back to that whole worship thing, i feel
00:16:49.861 --> 00:16:52.664
Like it's making the point why we need more songs that actually
00:16:52.664 --> 00:16:58.303
Are about him--
00:16:58.303 --> 00:16:59.671
Sheila: and not about us.
00:16:59.671 --> 00:17:01.005
Holly: and not about me, right?
00:17:01.005 --> 00:17:02.373
And not about me.
00:17:02.373 --> 00:17:03.708
I feel like there was an era when there were so many--i call
00:17:03.708 --> 00:17:06.077
Them navel-gazing songs, but they were, like, very intro, and
00:17:06.077 --> 00:17:11.149
I understand recognizing feelings, so i get that, but
00:17:11.149 --> 00:17:15.253
There's no power in that, right?
00:17:15.253 --> 00:17:16.921
So the power comes when the songs are not about my
00:17:16.921 --> 00:17:21.793
Experience about anything.
00:17:21.793 --> 00:17:23.127
It's about "when i throw up my hands, when i praise you again
00:17:23.127 --> 00:17:26.464
And again," right, and what a beautiful name--
00:17:26.464 --> 00:17:29.233
Nona: he inhabits his praise, but that's the key.
00:17:29.233 --> 00:17:32.203
It's like, when we're singing about ourselves, it's almost
00:17:32.203 --> 00:17:35.239
Like we're seated on the throne, right?
00:17:35.239 --> 00:17:37.809
We're seated on the throne of-- because we're the subject, but
00:17:37.809 --> 00:17:40.445
When the throne is his, then he can come have a seat.
00:17:40.445 --> 00:17:44.349
That's why it has to be about him.
00:17:44.349 --> 00:17:45.717
Sheila: it's so fascinating, you talk about the king of the
00:17:45.717 --> 00:17:48.252
Universe, we get--i remember when we did this--when i used
00:17:48.252 --> 00:17:51.489
To work with the bbc in london, we did this royal command
00:17:51.489 --> 00:17:53.891
Performance which--at the albert hall, which is this
00:17:53.891 --> 00:17:56.327
Beautiful, beautiful place--and it just means that someone from
00:17:56.327 --> 00:17:59.063
The royal family will be there, and the hoops i had to go
00:17:59.063 --> 00:18:02.166
Through because i was hosting the event--like, i had to meet
00:18:02.166 --> 00:18:04.736
With all these suits from the palace and learn, you know, how
00:18:04.736 --> 00:18:07.672
To curtsey properly and how to if--you know, whenever you're
00:18:07.672 --> 00:18:12.377
First addressed, you don't say anything unless they talk to
00:18:12.377 --> 00:18:15.246
You, but when they talk to you, you can say--
00:18:15.246 --> 00:18:17.181
Nona: oh, i would fail that immediately.
00:18:17.181 --> 00:18:18.616
"hey, girl, how you doing?
00:18:18.616 --> 00:18:20.218
Hey!"
00:18:20.218 --> 00:18:21.552
Sheila: you'd be in the tower of london, yes.
00:18:21.552 --> 00:18:24.022
It was such a huge deal, and then in the actual event, i
00:18:24.022 --> 00:18:26.457
Forgot it all, which was awful.
00:18:26.457 --> 00:18:29.827
When princess anne was in front of me and i--
00:18:29.827 --> 00:18:33.031
Laurie: "hi."
00:18:33.031 --> 00:18:34.365
Sheila: literally, but, laurie, actually that is what i did it.
00:18:34.365 --> 00:18:36.901
No, i didn't even do it.
00:18:36.901 --> 00:18:38.236
I just said, "hello!"
00:18:38.236 --> 00:18:40.004
And she just said, "hello!"
00:18:40.004 --> 00:18:42.473
She was so sweet.
00:18:42.473 --> 00:18:43.841
She totally overlooked my complete inept behavior, but i
00:18:43.841 --> 00:18:47.111
Think that you and i, every single one of us, we are invited
00:18:47.111 --> 00:18:51.049
Into the very presence of the one who spoke the stars into
00:18:51.049 --> 00:18:55.019
Place and the planets and who-- no matter what they're saying on
00:18:55.019 --> 00:18:58.689
Any of the news channels right now, god is in control, god is
00:18:58.689 --> 00:19:03.261
Good, god is faithful, and we get invited into his presence.
00:19:03.261 --> 00:19:07.999
It just, i mean, it's mind-boggling.
00:19:07.999 --> 00:19:10.201
Nona: and he is with us.
00:19:10.201 --> 00:19:12.270
Like, that's the thing.
00:19:12.270 --> 00:19:13.604
Like, even as we're talking about gratitude and, just, i
00:19:13.604 --> 00:19:16.741
Think about that.
00:19:16.741 --> 00:19:18.076
I'm like, "god is with me."
00:19:18.076 --> 00:19:21.479
He has made us, every single one of us, his dwelling place.
00:19:21.479 --> 00:19:25.917
He is in us, he is around us, he leads us, he protects us, so
00:19:25.917 --> 00:19:30.121
He's in front of us, he's behind us, he's inside of us, he's
00:19:30.121 --> 00:19:32.190
Around--like, he is everywhere, and you raised such a beautiful
00:19:32.190 --> 00:19:36.561
Point, which is we get so caught up on, you know, human power and
00:19:36.561 --> 00:19:41.032
Dignity, and it's like, the god who decided all of this dwells
00:19:41.032 --> 00:19:46.571
With us?
00:19:46.571 --> 00:19:48.372
Laurie: and so, like, the bible says, "enter into his gates
00:19:48.372 --> 00:19:50.641
With thanksgiving."
00:19:50.641 --> 00:19:52.009
So when i come to the lord, the first thing i'm gonna do is
00:19:52.009 --> 00:19:54.512
Start thanking him for who he is.
00:19:54.512 --> 00:19:56.814
"thank you, god, that you're with me today.
00:19:56.814 --> 00:19:58.749
Thank you that you hear my cry.
00:19:58.749 --> 00:20:01.252
I thank you that you know what i need before i ask of you.
00:20:01.252 --> 00:20:05.089
Thank you that you're god almighty, that you're in control
00:20:05.089 --> 00:20:07.625
Of all things.
00:20:07.625 --> 00:20:09.260
Everything that affects my life, you are in control of--that you
00:20:09.260 --> 00:20:13.431
Are for me, that you're not against me."
00:20:13.431 --> 00:20:15.833
When you start praying like that, it opens your heart up for
00:20:15.833 --> 00:20:20.972
God to move in your life, just that making him who he is.
00:20:20.972 --> 00:20:28.446
He's bigger than life.
00:20:28.446 --> 00:20:30.915
He's larger than every kind of love we could possibly imagine.
00:20:30.915 --> 00:20:35.820
God knows you and he cares for you, and if you thank him for
00:20:35.820 --> 00:20:39.290
That, i think you'll see blessings in your life that you
00:20:39.290 --> 00:20:42.994
Never dreamed possible.
00:20:42.994 --> 00:20:44.328
He'll take you places that you never dreamed of because you
00:20:44.328 --> 00:20:48.032
Have a grateful heart, and i think he loves that.
00:20:48.032 --> 00:20:52.770
Holly: a practical note, i think there are people that deal with
00:20:52.770 --> 00:20:56.607
Addictions and stru--with all-- of all kinds, and so i think
00:20:56.607 --> 00:21:00.711
Developing the habit of thanking god--"i thank you, god, that i
00:21:00.711 --> 00:21:05.383
Am free from--thank you, god, for your provision as i get free
00:21:05.383 --> 00:21:09.987
From alcoholism or pornography."
00:21:09.987 --> 00:21:11.689
It's like, "thank you, god."
00:21:11.689 --> 00:21:13.558
So i just think the more that that's normal and common, that's
00:21:13.558 --> 00:21:18.429
Where the power comes in--the more that we can acknowledge him
00:21:18.429 --> 00:21:22.567
In the middle of our stuff, but thanking him.
00:21:22.567 --> 00:21:26.470
"thank you that i am free."
00:21:26.470 --> 00:21:28.172
Laurie: it's all provided already.
00:21:28.172 --> 00:21:29.774
It's not something we're fighting for; it's a gift.
00:21:29.774 --> 00:21:32.910
Holly: we're fighting from victory, not for it, right, from
00:21:32.910 --> 00:21:35.346
That place.
00:21:35.346 --> 00:21:36.714
Nona: can i tell you all--so, quick story--for those, of
00:21:36.714 --> 00:21:38.349
Course, watching, they won't know this.
00:21:38.349 --> 00:21:39.684
So yesterday i was taking clothes out of my
00:21:39.684 --> 00:21:41.852
Washing machine.
00:21:41.852 --> 00:21:43.221
I had just got my nails done because i knew i was going to
00:21:43.221 --> 00:21:45.089
Come here, wanted my nails would be all nice.
00:21:45.089 --> 00:21:46.490
And i was taking clothes out of my washing machine.
00:21:46.490 --> 00:21:47.892
The clear gel, like, popped off my finger, and it was, like,
00:21:47.892 --> 00:21:52.296
Fully intact, so it popped off and i was like, "okay, i'm going
00:21:52.296 --> 00:21:55.366
To grab some super glue.
00:21:55.366 --> 00:21:56.734
I'm going to bring the nail with me and just make sure my nails
00:21:56.734 --> 00:21:59.937
Don't look crazy when i go to film."
00:21:59.937 --> 00:22:02.873
And so, you know, i'm in a rush this morning because i got in
00:22:02.873 --> 00:22:05.343
Super late, you know, last night, and i left my nail and
00:22:05.343 --> 00:22:09.213
The glue.
00:22:09.213 --> 00:22:10.581
I left it on the countertop in the bathroom.
00:22:10.581 --> 00:22:12.717
I didn't realize that until we're pulling onto the lot, and
00:22:12.717 --> 00:22:15.620
I'm like, "my nail looks horrific."
00:22:15.620 --> 00:22:17.822
Like, literally looks like somebody just mowed my nail,
00:22:17.822 --> 00:22:20.057
Looks horrible.
00:22:20.057 --> 00:22:21.425
Holly: it's like you're missing your finger.
00:22:21.425 --> 00:22:22.827
Nona: pretty much, so i come into the makeup area, and i
00:22:22.827 --> 00:22:26.497
Think, "man, it would be so great if somebody just happened
00:22:26.497 --> 00:22:28.733
To have a french tip nail, like press-on nail?"
00:22:28.733 --> 00:22:32.003
I was like, "that's the most random, ridiculous ask i could
00:22:32.003 --> 00:22:35.406
Ever make."
00:22:35.406 --> 00:22:36.741
So i wasn't going to say anything.
00:22:36.741 --> 00:22:38.109
But i was like, "you know what, why not ask?"
00:22:38.109 --> 00:22:40.011
So i ask and a makeup artist literally just pulls out a bag
00:22:40.011 --> 00:22:44.515
With french tip press-ons.
00:22:44.515 --> 00:22:46.517
And so i have this on--and, yes, thank you, amber.
00:22:46.517 --> 00:22:49.487
And the reason why i mention this is because one of the
00:22:49.487 --> 00:22:51.889
Things the lord spoke to me even in that is that provision is
00:22:51.889 --> 00:22:56.093
Always there.
00:22:56.093 --> 00:22:58.095
What we tend not to do is ask for it, because we discount.
00:22:58.095 --> 00:23:01.832
"well, there's no way this could happen.
00:23:01.832 --> 00:23:03.401
There's no way this would be available.
00:23:03.401 --> 00:23:04.769
There's no point in even asking, because god won't do it.
00:23:04.769 --> 00:23:06.637
There's no point in even bringing it before god."
00:23:06.637 --> 00:23:08.072
Like, that's silly.
00:23:08.072 --> 00:23:09.440
And god is like, "try me."
00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:11.475
The only thing that went wrong in my case is i just--i didn't
00:23:11.475 --> 00:23:14.612
Ask for a square tip.
00:23:14.612 --> 00:23:16.180
I bet if i would have asked for that, it would have been--
00:23:16.180 --> 00:23:18.115
You know?
00:23:18.115 --> 00:23:20.618
Irini: but the asking--he does, and the reality that the asking
00:23:20.618 --> 00:23:24.922
Makes you vulnerable, so that's what's--i think that's what you
00:23:24.922 --> 00:23:28.359
Wrestle out is in the bringing gratitude into the environment
00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:33.197
Of prayer says, "god, i've seen you do this, and i--" and it's--
00:23:33.197 --> 00:23:37.868
Let's be honest: it can be really hard when you're looking
00:23:37.868 --> 00:23:40.304
At something that isn't fulfilled, that isn't finished,
00:23:40.304 --> 00:23:42.973
That isn't good yet, and you're going, "okay, i remember you
00:23:42.973 --> 00:23:45.876
Showed up here," or "maybe i don't have it."
00:23:45.876 --> 00:23:47.978
"you showed up for holly, you showed up for laurie, you showed
00:23:47.978 --> 00:23:50.014
Up for sheila, you showed up for nona.
00:23:50.014 --> 00:23:51.582
God why aren't--okay, no, no, i thank you," and i'm trying to
00:23:51.582 --> 00:23:54.819
Sit through that, and he's like, "that's right, this is a safe
00:23:54.819 --> 00:23:57.288
Place for it."
00:23:57.288 --> 00:23:58.656
Go ahead, keep going, keep going, because it's not like he
00:23:58.656 --> 00:24:01.225
Didn't know, and he's like, "ask me, ask me for what you need
00:24:01.225 --> 00:24:06.097
Because i wanna bring it to you," and you're vulnerable
00:24:06.097 --> 00:24:09.166
Because you don't--you may not wanna be disappointed.
00:24:09.166 --> 00:24:13.704
It may not turn out that you know that, you know it may not
00:24:13.704 --> 00:24:16.607
Come the way you want, you know--and you're having to lay
00:24:16.607 --> 00:24:19.410
All that down, and even if not, that's how you get into habakkuk
00:24:19.410 --> 00:24:23.748
At the end.
00:24:23.748 --> 00:24:25.116
"if there's no figs, if there isn't fruit that i see, if in my
00:24:25.116 --> 00:24:28.018
Lifetime i don't see it, that you are still, and that you
00:24:28.018 --> 00:24:32.022
Welcomed me into a conversation."
00:24:32.022 --> 00:24:34.658
Gratitude isn't that--you know, it isn't even just the things
00:24:34.658 --> 00:24:37.728
That i have to do before the dignitary of who god is.
00:24:37.728 --> 00:24:41.065
"i get to give it to you"--that you're welcoming into a
00:24:41.065 --> 00:24:44.635
Conversation that you're not afraid of where "i don't have
00:24:44.635 --> 00:24:47.304
It, where i'm not there yet, you know, where i'm
00:24:47.304 --> 00:24:50.541
Doubting something."
00:24:50.541 --> 00:24:51.876
I just that reality--that he's not afraid of that--it makes
00:24:51.876 --> 00:24:56.847
You lean in.
00:24:56.847 --> 00:24:58.682
Holly: you know, when we pray, it's actually a
00:24:58.682 --> 00:25:03.554
Two-way conversation.
00:25:03.554 --> 00:25:05.589
You know, prayer is, like, is our communication with our
00:25:05.589 --> 00:25:09.960
Father, and just like in any conversations, there's speaking
00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:13.063
And there's listening.
00:25:13.063 --> 00:25:14.565
And i think in the early, you know, years of me learning to
00:25:14.565 --> 00:25:18.803
Pray, i did all the talking, probably in the early years of
00:25:18.803 --> 00:25:20.838
My marriage too, but anyway in the early years of, you know,
00:25:20.838 --> 00:25:24.141
Praying, i did all the talking, and now i think i'm getting
00:25:24.141 --> 00:25:28.045
Better at listening and being quiet.
00:25:28.045 --> 00:25:30.648
And so in the time with god, i think i spend more time thanking
00:25:30.648 --> 00:25:35.486
Him, thanking him for situations, like situations with
00:25:35.486 --> 00:25:39.490
My son or with my daughter, things that i don't fully see
00:25:39.490 --> 00:25:42.293
Resolved yet or challenges that they're facing, and i just will
00:25:42.293 --> 00:25:45.796
Say things like, "thank you god.
00:25:45.796 --> 00:25:47.665
Thank you, god, that you have them in the palm of your hand.
00:25:47.665 --> 00:25:50.868
Thank you, god, that your plans for them are good and excellent.
00:25:50.868 --> 00:25:54.638
I thank you that you'll finish the work that you've started
00:25:54.638 --> 00:25:56.707
In them."
00:25:56.707 --> 00:25:58.075
So for me, you know, praying with thanksgiving, which is how
00:25:58.075 --> 00:26:02.012
We're supposed to pray, right, it unlocks--i just feel like it
00:26:02.012 --> 00:26:05.883
Unlocks a lot of my own soul, and i just think it's the way
00:26:05.883 --> 00:26:08.919
To pray.
00:26:08.919 --> 00:26:10.354
Laurie: when we get grateful, our trust in god--that "god,
00:26:10.354 --> 00:26:16.460
This is how i would love for you to answer this prayer, but i
00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:20.931
Want your will because your will is so much greater than mine is,
00:26:20.931 --> 00:26:25.469
And i can fully trust in your will because that's gonna
00:26:25.469 --> 00:26:31.308
Be good."
00:26:31.308 --> 00:26:32.643
All things work together for good.
00:26:32.643 --> 00:26:34.011
Irini: and aren't you glad for the ones--some the ones that he
00:26:34.011 --> 00:26:36.113
Didn't answer?
00:26:36.113 --> 00:26:37.448
Laurie: oh my gosh, yeah, if he would have answered my little
00:26:37.448 --> 00:26:39.216
Piddly prayers at times--
00:26:39.216 --> 00:26:41.519
Irini: the guy i was dating in high school, the friend i was
00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:43.854
Clinging to, the way that i wanted something to happen,
00:26:43.854 --> 00:26:46.423
The--all the places he said, "oh, you don't want this.
00:26:46.423 --> 00:26:50.227
I got you, i got you, i got you.
00:26:50.227 --> 00:26:52.229
This is not your good."
00:26:52.229 --> 00:26:53.564
Nona: and sometimes i think-- you might have said it or i
00:26:53.564 --> 00:26:55.533
Can't remember it now because it's such a good conversation,
00:26:55.533 --> 00:26:57.134
But sometimes god doesn't answer the way that we want, but even
00:26:57.134 --> 00:27:00.638
In not answering the way that we want, he's still
00:27:00.638 --> 00:27:02.873
Answering something.
00:27:02.873 --> 00:27:04.308
My very first pregnancy--this is before my oldest son, who was
00:27:04.308 --> 00:27:07.344
Born premature--i was diagnosed with infertility, was told i'd
00:27:07.344 --> 00:27:09.980
Never get pregnant.
00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:11.348
I think it was maybe a week before i was supposed to start
00:27:11.348 --> 00:27:13.083
Some medicinal therapy, found out i was pregnant, and my
00:27:13.083 --> 00:27:16.353
Husband and i were so excited.
00:27:16.353 --> 00:27:17.855
You know, "oh my gosh, this is amazing."
00:27:17.855 --> 00:27:19.890
We go to the doctor, they, you know, do the ultrasound, and
00:27:19.890 --> 00:27:22.493
They see two heartbeats.
00:27:22.493 --> 00:27:24.628
And we're like, "what?"
00:27:24.628 --> 00:27:26.597
Because neither of us has twins running in our family.
00:27:26.597 --> 00:27:28.399
We're just like, "oh my gosh, this is amazing."
00:27:28.399 --> 00:27:30.935
That day, we're so excited that we raced to a car dealership,
00:27:30.935 --> 00:27:35.439
Trade in my car and get a bigger car--yes, because i'm like,
00:27:35.439 --> 00:27:38.943
"we're about to have two babies," and, like, all these
00:27:38.943 --> 00:27:40.945
Things, go back a month later, no heartbeats, and i was so, so,
00:27:40.945 --> 00:27:48.152
So, so devastated, and the lord spoke to me in that, and he
00:27:48.152 --> 00:27:52.022
Said, "nona, even what you lost is proof of my power because
00:27:52.022 --> 00:27:57.261
They said you couldn't get pregnant at all."
00:27:57.261 --> 00:27:59.997
He said, "you have to trust me."
00:27:59.997 --> 00:28:02.299
He said, "i am faithful.
00:28:02.299 --> 00:28:04.301
So even in this, i am showing you something," and we have to
00:28:04.301 --> 00:28:08.472
Have eyes to see what god is doing so that, even in that, i
00:28:08.472 --> 00:28:13.177
Was able to see, wow, god controls the situation.
00:28:13.177 --> 00:28:16.680
They spoke infertility over me, and i would have loved to have
00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:20.250
My babies.
00:28:20.250 --> 00:28:21.585
But god also proved that he controls the situation, and i
00:28:21.585 --> 00:28:25.189
Feel like there may be some people watching this who have
00:28:25.189 --> 00:28:27.358
Had things spoken over you that seem impossible, and maybe
00:28:27.358 --> 00:28:30.427
You've also gone through loss and you've gone through
00:28:30.427 --> 00:28:32.596
Situations where god didn't answer the prayer the way you
00:28:32.596 --> 00:28:34.999
Wanted him to answer it, but if you will trust god and ask him
00:28:34.999 --> 00:28:38.302
To open your eyes to what he is doing, he can prove that he's
00:28:38.302 --> 00:28:42.072
Still faithful even in it because he's just that good.
00:28:42.072 --> 00:28:45.776
Sheila: one of the questions that might be hard to answer is,
00:28:45.776 --> 00:28:48.545
Does god always answer our prayers?
00:28:48.545 --> 00:28:51.715
My first response is, yes, he does, but not always in a way
00:28:51.715 --> 00:28:54.718
That makes sense to us.
00:28:54.718 --> 00:28:56.320
You know, sometimes god knows what's best.
00:28:56.320 --> 00:28:59.189
He knows what's ahead for us, and sometimes he'll say no, or
00:28:59.189 --> 00:29:03.193
Sometimes he'll say, "wait for a season," and sometimes he will
00:29:03.193 --> 00:29:06.230
Say yes, but i want you to know every single prayer you pray,
00:29:06.230 --> 00:29:11.435
God hears your prayer, and he answers, but it might be in his
00:29:11.435 --> 00:29:14.938
Time and in his way.
00:29:14.938 --> 00:29:16.440
But when you know how much he loves you, that his timing and
00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:19.476
His way is perfect.
00:29:19.476 --> 00:29:21.912
Sheila: i learned such an important lesson from this
00:29:21.912 --> 00:29:23.981
Darling man in our church in scotland when i was growing up.
00:29:23.981 --> 00:29:26.417
His name was angus, and he was from up in the highlands.
00:29:26.417 --> 00:29:28.952
And i used to love our tuesday night prayer meeting, and it was
00:29:28.952 --> 00:29:32.222
A small church.
00:29:32.222 --> 00:29:33.557
It was probably just 20 of us, but i loved it.
00:29:33.557 --> 00:29:35.292
And every single tuesday, angus would pray for his wife.
00:29:35.292 --> 00:29:38.696
You know, he had become a christian after they got
00:29:38.696 --> 00:29:40.431
Married, and she was a lovely woman, but she just wasn't
00:29:40.431 --> 00:29:42.900
Really interested in jesus, and every single prayer meeting, he
00:29:42.900 --> 00:29:46.737
Would pray for her, and then he would thank god for
00:29:46.737 --> 00:29:49.406
Her salvation.
00:29:49.406 --> 00:29:50.741
And i can remember saying to my mom, "why is angus--i mean,
00:29:50.741 --> 00:29:53.243
She's not giving her life to the lord.
00:29:53.243 --> 00:29:54.578
Why is angus thanking god?"
00:29:54.578 --> 00:29:55.946
And i decided one night to ask him.
00:29:55.946 --> 00:29:58.082
We were somewhere and i said to him, "angus, can i ask you
00:29:58.082 --> 00:30:00.184
A question?"
00:30:00.184 --> 00:30:01.552
I said, "do you ever wonder why god hasn't answered
00:30:01.552 --> 00:30:04.288
Your prayer?"
00:30:04.288 --> 00:30:05.622
And he was quiet for a minute and he said, "he's never failed
00:30:05.622 --> 00:30:09.493
Me yet, lass.
00:30:09.493 --> 00:30:10.828
I don't think he'll start now."
00:30:10.828 --> 00:30:13.130
I go up, i go off to seminary, i come home.
00:30:13.130 --> 00:30:15.966
Angus has passed, so i'm at his funeral service, and it was at
00:30:15.966 --> 00:30:19.970
Angus's memorial that she gave her life to jesus.
00:30:19.970 --> 00:30:23.507
It just showed to me a lifetime is not too long to pray.
00:30:23.507 --> 00:30:26.510
He showed me that we pray and we thank god.
00:30:26.510 --> 00:30:29.246
And we leave the results up to him.
00:30:29.246 --> 00:30:31.315
He wouldn't know until two years later when she came trotting
00:30:31.315 --> 00:30:33.584
Through the golden gate as well.
00:30:33.584 --> 00:30:37.654
Nona: "i knew you would show up!"
00:30:37.654 --> 00:30:39.356
Sheila: but, yes, and i'm sure that's exactly what he said.
00:30:39.356 --> 00:30:41.658
"i knew you would show up."
00:30:41.658 --> 00:30:43.026
Because it's just--it's taken our eyes off our circumstances
00:30:43.026 --> 00:30:46.897
And our own ability and inability in saying that "you
00:30:46.897 --> 00:30:49.700
Are god and you are good, and there's nothing you can't do."
00:30:49.700 --> 00:30:53.637
Holly: yeah, because when our eyes are on ourselves and our
00:30:53.637 --> 00:30:56.673
Circumstances, that's when we're anxious.
00:30:56.673 --> 00:30:59.676
I looked at this--i don't know--for or something.
00:30:59.676 --> 00:31:02.146
And in the last 3200 years, so the last 3200 years, there have
00:31:02.146 --> 00:31:08.285
Been only 300 years of peace around the world.
00:31:08.285 --> 00:31:12.156
Currently there are 59 armed conflicts happening around the
00:31:12.156 --> 00:31:16.360
World, which is why jesus came, right, into our squabbling
00:31:16.360 --> 00:31:20.264
War-torn--but the thing is, if right now god went...
00:31:20.264 --> 00:31:23.634
And stopped all of it, stopped all of the conflicts, stopped
00:31:23.634 --> 00:31:27.638
The wars.
00:31:27.638 --> 00:31:29.706
In ten minutes, let's start again because the issue is peace
00:31:29.706 --> 00:31:33.377
In our own heart.
00:31:33.377 --> 00:31:34.745
The peace is in our heart, right?
00:31:34.745 --> 00:31:36.413
And so we know that that peace comes with gratitude.
00:31:36.413 --> 00:31:41.151
Like, if you want this peace, right, the peace that not only
00:31:41.151 --> 00:31:43.220
Guards your heart, but guards our family and--then it's
00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:46.590
Talking to god and it's grateful.
00:31:46.590 --> 00:31:48.058
And so i feel like that, sometimes when we are so
00:31:48.058 --> 00:31:51.428
Anxious, if we really push in there, we've forgotten to be
00:31:51.428 --> 00:31:54.832
Grateful, right, and one of the keys in shifting that is to pray
00:31:54.832 --> 00:32:00.470
With thanksgiving--that your prayers start with "thank you,
00:32:00.470 --> 00:32:04.374
Thank you.
00:32:04.374 --> 00:32:05.909
Your kingdom come," right?
00:32:05.909 --> 00:32:08.111
"your will be done.
00:32:08.111 --> 00:32:09.446
Thank you, god, that it is your kingdom that rules and reigns in
00:32:09.446 --> 00:32:12.583
My heart and in my family.
00:32:12.583 --> 00:32:14.818
Thank you, god."
00:32:14.818 --> 00:32:16.386
Irini: it just comes back to what paul's talking about in
00:32:16.386 --> 00:32:19.089
That bringing it with thanksgiving.
00:32:19.089 --> 00:32:21.225
He never--what i love about it is he even starts with "don't be
00:32:21.225 --> 00:32:24.761
Anxious," which is like saying, "hey, you're probably gonna have
00:32:24.761 --> 00:32:27.264
Some opportunities for being anxious," but he also was
00:32:27.264 --> 00:32:31.401
Saying, "when you're bringing this prayer and that
00:32:31.401 --> 00:32:33.604
Supplication," it's--those requests, what you're--what we
00:32:33.604 --> 00:32:37.674
Really--you know, sometimes it's why we start our prayer.
00:32:37.674 --> 00:32:40.677
He's saying, "put it in thanksgiving because then you'll
00:32:40.677 --> 00:32:43.280
Make the relationship the priority and not the request."
00:32:43.280 --> 00:32:47.017
And let's be honest: sometimes we're praying because we need to
00:32:47.017 --> 00:32:51.321
Get some answers and we need, and and sometimes it's
00:32:51.321 --> 00:32:54.491
Transactional, and god's saying, "hey, shift it.
00:32:54.491 --> 00:32:57.194
Remember, prayer's about you and me."
00:32:57.194 --> 00:32:59.630
It's about getting closer to him and learning about the one who
00:32:59.630 --> 00:33:04.301
Loves us the most, and then we get to say, "hey, i need some
00:33:04.301 --> 00:33:08.171
Help with something."
00:33:08.171 --> 00:33:09.740
Those are your prayers.
00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:11.074
Those are the requests that you get to make, but it's so
00:33:11.074 --> 00:33:14.144
Beautiful when it comes from that place because gratitude
00:33:14.144 --> 00:33:16.813
Just reminds you of the relationship and that it's not
00:33:16.813 --> 00:33:19.783
About just the request and what i can get from his hand, but
00:33:19.783 --> 00:33:23.420
It's about him and about he and i together.
00:33:23.420 --> 00:33:28.458
Paul tells us 4:8--philippians 4:8.
00:33:28.458 --> 00:33:31.628
Nona: "finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
00:33:31.628 --> 00:33:34.798
Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
00:33:34.798 --> 00:33:37.100
Whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is
00:33:37.100 --> 00:33:41.071
Excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things."
00:33:41.071 --> 00:33:45.075
I love the fact that he just said "whatever."
00:33:45.075 --> 00:33:47.444
So he wasn't saying, "if there's some amazing thing that has
00:33:47.444 --> 00:33:50.480
Happened," he's like, "if there's a little something."
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:54.184
There's--if you could just thank god because you have
00:33:54.184 --> 00:33:57.921
Shoes, you got a pulse, maybe you have food in your belly,
00:33:57.921 --> 00:34:02.492
Maybe you just open your eyes and you can see, maybe you're
00:34:02.492 --> 00:34:04.928
Hungry, but you can see--like, if there's anything, find it,
00:34:04.928 --> 00:34:09.199
Find it, and be thankful for that.
00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:11.501
And, man, that is a discipline.
00:34:11.501 --> 00:34:13.804
Irini: it is because to ask that question, "is it true?"
00:34:13.804 --> 00:34:17.641
Like, i just, at the first one, you can get--you can sit in it
00:34:17.641 --> 00:34:21.411
Because just think right now in our culture, you know?
00:34:21.411 --> 00:34:25.182
I'm seeing something--a spirit of comparison of something that
00:34:25.182 --> 00:34:27.851
I'm watching, i'm scrolling through--you know, i mean, is
00:34:27.851 --> 00:34:30.454
It true?
00:34:30.454 --> 00:34:31.822
Yeah, after the 16th take, it might have been true, or but--
00:34:31.822 --> 00:34:34.958
Or whatever the lie the enemy says about you, "you're not
00:34:34.958 --> 00:34:37.861
Enough, you're too much," i mean, it's like, you can't
00:34:37.861 --> 00:34:40.497
Figure out the extreme of it.
00:34:40.497 --> 00:34:41.965
It's like, "god, is this true?
00:34:41.965 --> 00:34:43.900
Is this true?
00:34:43.900 --> 00:34:45.235
Is this what you think about me?
00:34:45.235 --> 00:34:46.603
Because if you're not thinking about me, if it's not a thought
00:34:46.603 --> 00:34:48.672
You have, then it shouldn't be a thought i have, but i can't get
00:34:48.672 --> 00:34:51.675
To that until i start first acknowledging who you are and
00:34:51.675 --> 00:34:56.179
Being grateful about that because i--" i believe it shifts
00:34:56.179 --> 00:34:58.882
That perspective for us before we get to the other stuff.
00:34:58.882 --> 00:35:02.652
When we start with the other stuff, that's what we keep our
00:35:02.652 --> 00:35:05.989
Mind on and i get stuck on.
00:35:05.989 --> 00:35:08.492
So he's like, "no, no, no, i'm saying," like we've been talking
00:35:08.492 --> 00:35:11.995
About, "is that thanksgiving is for me."
00:35:11.995 --> 00:35:14.131
And so then i'm like, "okay, let me remind myself who i'm
00:35:14.131 --> 00:35:17.000
Talking to.
00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:18.335
I'm talking to the god that did x, y--" i mean, you can start
00:35:18.335 --> 00:35:22.305
Naming these things, and he's like, "yeah, and then go ahead."
00:35:22.305 --> 00:35:25.742
Now when you come with your requests, you're like, "oh, this
00:35:25.742 --> 00:35:28.912
Is who i'm speaking to."
00:35:28.912 --> 00:35:30.280
Nona: well, on the point of truth, i want to harp on this
00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:32.282
For a moment because i think--i spent six years working at the
00:35:32.282 --> 00:35:35.452
Company formerly known as facebook, now known as meta, and
00:35:35.452 --> 00:35:38.355
So many people, too many people, are deriving their sense of
00:35:38.355 --> 00:35:42.726
Truth from what they see on social media.
00:35:42.726 --> 00:35:45.228
I need you to hear me, from having worked on the inside:
00:35:45.228 --> 00:35:49.800
About 90% of what you see, it's not true for various reasons.
00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:56.106
One, people primarily just share the highlight reel, right?
00:35:56.106 --> 00:35:59.509
They share the day they got the new car, they share the day they
00:35:59.509 --> 00:36:01.678
Got engaged, they share the day they bought the new house.
00:36:01.678 --> 00:36:04.881
They don't share when the car got repossessed.
00:36:04.881 --> 00:36:06.583
They don't share when the divorce happened.
00:36:06.583 --> 00:36:09.119
A lot of times you find out-- you didn't even realize
00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:10.620
They got divorced, right?
00:36:10.620 --> 00:36:11.955
You're like, "well, how is so-and-so?"
00:36:11.955 --> 00:36:13.290
"oh, yeah, that's over." "what?"
00:36:13.290 --> 00:36:14.825
"you posted the day that the ring got on your finger, but i
00:36:14.825 --> 00:36:17.060
Didn't know that happened."
00:36:17.060 --> 00:36:18.395
When the house gets--when you get evicted, and so a lot of
00:36:18.395 --> 00:36:21.231
Times we're comparing our reality to other
00:36:21.231 --> 00:36:22.766
People's fiction.
00:36:22.766 --> 00:36:24.101
So that's one part.
00:36:24.101 --> 00:36:25.469
The other part is there are so many bot accounts.
00:36:25.469 --> 00:36:29.639
Literally, like, there are farms in other countries and in the us
00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:34.244
Where there are robots sharing comments that are not true, and
00:36:34.244 --> 00:36:38.115
So it'll seem like all of these people are saying this, all of
00:36:38.115 --> 00:36:42.152
These people, and you'll see posts and you'll think, "wow,
00:36:42.152 --> 00:36:44.554
Look at this," and it's ai, it's doctored, and so that's why
00:36:44.554 --> 00:36:47.858
We've got to try the spirit by the spirit.
00:36:47.858 --> 00:36:50.961
As someone who worked in that industry for a long time, i
00:36:50.961 --> 00:36:53.697
Spend very little time on social media just because i know how
00:36:53.697 --> 00:36:57.467
Not true it is.
00:36:57.467 --> 00:36:59.035
And i have found that when i do spend time, i typically will
00:36:59.035 --> 00:37:01.972
Leave anxious or angry.
00:37:01.972 --> 00:37:04.541
No, whatever is true--sometimes that means shutting off the apps
00:37:04.541 --> 00:37:09.179
And getting in the presence of god.
00:37:09.179 --> 00:37:11.348
Sheila: i don't know what you were like growing up, what kind
00:37:11.348 --> 00:37:13.717
Of picture you had of yourself as a young person.
00:37:13.717 --> 00:37:17.387
Mine was very broken.
00:37:17.387 --> 00:37:20.323
I saw myself as someone who was too broken to be loved, and a
00:37:20.323 --> 00:37:24.261
Lot of that was just because of the trauma of my childhood and
00:37:24.261 --> 00:37:27.197
The brain injury of my father, and but what i've discovered is
00:37:27.197 --> 00:37:30.700
The more that i study god's word, it's like trying to
00:37:30.700 --> 00:37:36.039
Re-wallpaper your mind.
00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:37.541
I don't know if you've ever tried to scrape wallpaper off.
00:37:37.541 --> 00:37:39.643
It is so hard to come off.
00:37:39.643 --> 00:37:42.312
And maybe that's the way you are with your thoughts.
00:37:42.312 --> 00:37:44.881
Maybe you see yourself in a certain way and--but i want to
00:37:44.881 --> 00:37:47.584
Encourage you to scrape that wallpaper off your mind and
00:37:47.584 --> 00:37:51.288
Replace it with the truth of god's word.
00:37:51.288 --> 00:37:53.924
God's word isn't just a book.
00:37:53.924 --> 00:37:55.292
I mean, it is alive, and you can replace the lies you believed
00:37:55.292 --> 00:37:58.795
With the truth of who god says you are.
00:37:58.795 --> 00:38:01.965
I know without a shadow of a doubt now.
00:38:01.965 --> 00:38:04.801
Somebody asked me once, and it was actually during my stay in a
00:38:04.801 --> 00:38:07.804
Mental hospital, "who are you?"
00:38:07.804 --> 00:38:09.773
And i said, "sheila walsh," and they said, "no, who are you?
00:38:09.773 --> 00:38:13.076
That's just your name."
00:38:13.076 --> 00:38:14.678
And by the end of my time there, i was able to say, "i'm sheila
00:38:14.678 --> 00:38:18.048
Walsh, daughter of the king of kings.
00:38:18.048 --> 00:38:20.050
That's who i am."
00:38:20.050 --> 00:38:22.786
Announcer: be the first to know all the latest "better
00:38:22.786 --> 00:38:25.055
Together" updates.
00:38:25.055 --> 00:38:26.656
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00:38:26.656 --> 00:38:30.760
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00:38:30.760 --> 00:38:33.830
Laurie: i love paul.
00:38:37.034 --> 00:38:39.203
He, you know, he's the one that says, "be anxious for nothing,
00:38:39.203 --> 00:38:43.007
Pray without ceasing, and giving thanks," and then what do we see
00:38:43.007 --> 00:38:47.511
Him in?
00:38:47.511 --> 00:38:49.247
In the prison at midnight, he's praying and he's singing hymns,
00:38:49.247 --> 00:38:53.951
Giving thanks because he knows "this is for my peace, for
00:38:53.951 --> 00:38:59.490
My anxiety."
00:38:59.490 --> 00:39:00.958
Holly: it wasn't, like, a big plan.
00:39:00.958 --> 00:39:02.493
He probably went, "i know what's gonna happen.
00:39:02.493 --> 00:39:04.795
Let's sing because i know step three is gonna be--" it wasn't
00:39:04.795 --> 00:39:08.933
Even that; it was just genuine.
00:39:08.933 --> 00:39:11.168
[crosstalk]
00:39:11.168 --> 00:39:13.704
Laurie: that's why, in every state i find myself, i
00:39:13.704 --> 00:39:16.607
Am content.
00:39:16.607 --> 00:39:19.644
Sheila: there's something about exchanging that
00:39:19.644 --> 00:39:22.146
For thanksgiving.
00:39:22.146 --> 00:39:23.848
The lesson i learned with my mom, and then--but i see it
00:39:23.848 --> 00:39:26.651
Passed on to my son.
00:39:26.651 --> 00:39:28.052
He had this one whole year where all he wanted was oakley
00:39:28.052 --> 00:39:30.755
Sunglasses, and they're expensive.
00:39:30.755 --> 00:39:32.890
He wanted these oakley sunglasses, and he was like,
00:39:32.890 --> 00:39:35.359
"mom, i believe they'll help my vision for the future."
00:39:35.359 --> 00:39:38.729
[crosstalk]
00:39:38.729 --> 00:39:42.933
Sheila: so barry and i talked about it.
00:39:42.933 --> 00:39:45.102
We decided we would get them for him for christmas.
00:39:45.102 --> 00:39:46.470
So we got--a month later, i took him to africa on a trip
00:39:46.470 --> 00:39:50.675
That i was doing.
00:39:50.675 --> 00:39:52.043
And we're working with a lot of boys who are his age, setting up
00:39:52.043 --> 00:39:54.278
Feeding programs in a village, and we're on the flight back
00:39:54.278 --> 00:39:58.015
Home, and he's got his case, but it's empty, and i'm like, "babe,
00:39:58.015 --> 00:40:03.621
Where are your oakleys?"
00:40:03.621 --> 00:40:04.955
He said, "oh, i gave them to jim."
00:40:04.955 --> 00:40:06.457
And it was like this man who had been--who lives there with
00:40:06.457 --> 00:40:09.160
These boys, who works on the ground with them.
00:40:09.160 --> 00:40:11.929
He said, "that man's out in the sun every day, mom.
00:40:11.929 --> 00:40:14.532
He's out in the sun every day.
00:40:14.532 --> 00:40:15.866
And he--i noticed him having to kind of shelter his eyes."
00:40:15.866 --> 00:40:18.736
And i thought, you know, i loved that because it was suddenly
00:40:18.736 --> 00:40:22.239
This perspective of "i want this, i want this," and it's
00:40:22.239 --> 00:40:25.443
Like suddenly "you know what?
00:40:25.443 --> 00:40:27.311
My vision will be fine without these, but it actually would
00:40:27.311 --> 00:40:30.314
Make a difference in somebody else's life."
00:40:30.314 --> 00:40:32.650
I'm just thinking of, like, next week, when everybody gets
00:40:32.650 --> 00:40:35.252
Together for thanksgiving in america, how awesome it would be
00:40:35.252 --> 00:40:39.690
To really transform that into not just one more day where we
00:40:39.690 --> 00:40:43.661
Eat too much and spend too much money but really a place of
00:40:43.661 --> 00:40:48.532
Remembering whose we are.
00:40:48.532 --> 00:40:50.201
Because when we remember whose we are--because i think that's
00:40:50.201 --> 00:40:53.738
Why when we went into the bankruptcy court and had to let
00:40:53.738 --> 00:40:56.107
Go of everything, i wasn't afraid because i'd seen my mom
00:40:56.107 --> 00:40:59.744
Have to let go of everything, and she was fine.
00:40:59.744 --> 00:41:02.780
Laurie: what freedom in that.
00:41:02.780 --> 00:41:04.148
Sheila: yeah, absolutely, just like god's with us, god's got
00:41:04.148 --> 00:41:07.351
Us, don't worry about it, and so that's in me at this stage in my
00:41:07.351 --> 00:41:12.523
Life because of jesus.
00:41:12.523 --> 00:41:14.158
He changes everything.
00:41:14.158 --> 00:41:16.427
Nona: you know, gratitude requires remembrance because you
00:41:16.427 --> 00:41:21.499
Can't be grateful for something you have forgotten, right?
00:41:21.499 --> 00:41:24.201
So it requires remembrance.
00:41:24.201 --> 00:41:25.936
And i think that a grateful heart strengthens our
00:41:25.936 --> 00:41:28.406
Relationship with god because it causes us to remember how good
00:41:28.406 --> 00:41:32.042
He has been.
00:41:32.042 --> 00:41:34.178
Even in difficult seasons, the lord has worked all things
00:41:34.178 --> 00:41:37.748
Together for our good.
00:41:37.748 --> 00:41:39.083
Even when it doesn't feel good, he's worked all things together
00:41:39.083 --> 00:41:41.652
For our good.
00:41:41.652 --> 00:41:43.020
And so i think it's by taking inventory of his past
00:41:43.020 --> 00:41:45.556
Faithfulness that we can place our faith in who he has been and
00:41:45.556 --> 00:41:50.628
Who he will be because he never changes.
00:41:50.628 --> 00:41:54.031
Nona: that's so powerful because something the lord called me to
00:41:54.031 --> 00:41:56.867
Do recently--only way i can describe it is, just, full
00:41:56.867 --> 00:42:00.438
Surrender, and i don't have time to tell the whole story, but
00:42:00.438 --> 00:42:03.107
Over the last year, it's like the lord has really been
00:42:03.107 --> 00:42:06.544
Teaching me about faith, like to a point where i thought i had
00:42:06.544 --> 00:42:10.781
Faith, but the lord started to strip some things away from me
00:42:10.781 --> 00:42:15.586
That caused me to have to understand faith in a whole new
00:42:15.586 --> 00:42:19.223
Way, and the lord even told me.
00:42:19.223 --> 00:42:20.558
Because i went before him and i was angry and i was like, "why
00:42:20.558 --> 00:42:23.260
Is it so hard?
00:42:23.260 --> 00:42:24.628
You told me to make this decision, and all this stuff
00:42:24.628 --> 00:42:26.397
Seems to be falling apart."
00:42:26.397 --> 00:42:27.731
And the lord said, "no, no, what you've been calling faith in me
00:42:27.731 --> 00:42:31.202
Has actually been faith in you.
00:42:31.202 --> 00:42:33.170
It's been faith in your resources, faith in
00:42:33.170 --> 00:42:34.939
Your connections.
00:42:34.939 --> 00:42:36.307
It's been faith," and he was like--"your abilities."
00:42:36.307 --> 00:42:38.909
He was like, "you've been calling it faith in me, but it
00:42:38.909 --> 00:42:41.979
Was actually just you making stuff happen."
00:42:41.979 --> 00:42:44.215
And so he said, "so what i'm going to do is i'm going to show
00:42:44.215 --> 00:42:46.217
You, number one, that i'm in control."
00:42:46.217 --> 00:42:48.419
He said, "and i'm going to need you to get to a place that there
00:42:48.419 --> 00:42:51.956
Is nothing that you have, there's nothing that you have
00:42:51.956 --> 00:42:54.425
Access to that is going to replace your faith in me," and
00:42:54.425 --> 00:42:58.362
So he got me to a place where i went before him one day, and i
00:42:58.362 --> 00:43:01.532
Was walking through my house.
00:43:01.532 --> 00:43:02.867
I love my home.
00:43:02.867 --> 00:43:04.201
It's like, my dream home.
00:43:04.201 --> 00:43:05.569
I love my home.
00:43:05.569 --> 00:43:06.904
And i said, "father, if you require my home, you can have
00:43:06.904 --> 00:43:10.040
It," and everything.
00:43:10.040 --> 00:43:13.344
Like, i even talked about my husband, my children,
00:43:13.344 --> 00:43:16.313
My reputation.
00:43:16.313 --> 00:43:17.681
Like, i went down the line.
00:43:17.681 --> 00:43:19.083
I was like, "god, i don't want that, and i can't even--i
00:43:19.083 --> 00:43:22.386
Promise you i'll probably be angry."
00:43:22.386 --> 00:43:24.321
I said, "i'll be really upset."
00:43:24.321 --> 00:43:27.191
I said, "but i will trust you in all things.
00:43:27.191 --> 00:43:32.162
I will trust you in all things," and i was at a service maybe a
00:43:32.162 --> 00:43:36.901
Month later.
00:43:36.901 --> 00:43:38.235
I was getting ready to preach, and this woman was up on stage,
00:43:38.235 --> 00:43:39.970
And she was prosthetic, and she looked at me, and she said, "the
00:43:39.970 --> 00:43:43.007
Lord just told me to tell you that 'you are my daughter, and i
00:43:43.007 --> 00:43:48.312
Can trust you.'"
00:43:48.312 --> 00:43:50.814
And that broke me down.
00:43:50.814 --> 00:43:53.250
Because up until that point, i know now that if the lord would
00:43:53.250 --> 00:43:57.087
Have done for me things that i had been praying for him to do,
00:43:57.087 --> 00:44:01.292
I would have ended up either disappointing him somehow, or my
00:44:01.292 --> 00:44:04.929
Pride would have caused me to take ownership of what was his.
00:44:04.929 --> 00:44:11.402
And so i'm in that season where it's like, "god, it's
00:44:11.402 --> 00:44:14.305
All yours."
00:44:14.305 --> 00:44:15.673
Laurie: i think god disconnecting us from the
00:44:15.673 --> 00:44:18.242
Material world, "i'm gonna take you and disconnect you from
00:44:18.242 --> 00:44:24.248
That," and that's surrender to god.
00:44:24.248 --> 00:44:27.818
Because everything belongs to the lord.
00:44:27.818 --> 00:44:30.621
There's nothing lost, there's nothing stolen.
00:44:30.621 --> 00:44:33.557
It all belongs to god.
00:44:33.557 --> 00:44:36.193
This is where every good gift-- everything that i need is
00:44:36.193 --> 00:44:39.964
From god.
00:44:39.964 --> 00:44:41.332
And that disconnect, i totally understand because there have
00:44:41.332 --> 00:44:45.202
Been times in my life where i thought, "this is a huge step
00:44:45.202 --> 00:44:48.372
Of faith."
00:44:48.372 --> 00:44:49.740
And then it went down the toilet, and you just think,
00:44:49.740 --> 00:44:54.111
"man, i don't even know what faith is," and it rocked
00:44:54.111 --> 00:44:56.547
My world.
00:44:56.547 --> 00:44:57.881
This was years ago, and it shook me to the core, and i just
00:44:57.881 --> 00:45:01.552
Thought, "man, i've been raised in this, and if that wasn't
00:45:01.552 --> 00:45:06.323
What--that step that we took and gave everything to wasn't
00:45:06.323 --> 00:45:11.028
Faith, i'm jacked up, and i need to think differently about what
00:45:11.028 --> 00:45:19.403
Faith is and how god does his thing because right now--" i was
00:45:19.403 --> 00:45:26.243
A mess.
00:45:26.243 --> 00:45:27.578
During that time in my life, god said, "it's never anything that
00:45:27.578 --> 00:45:30.481
You do for me, nothing that you do for me.
00:45:30.481 --> 00:45:34.551
It's what i do on the inside of you."
00:45:34.551 --> 00:45:37.221
And that changed the way i thought about stuff.
00:45:37.221 --> 00:45:40.391
All i'm required to do is walk in obedience, step out in faith,
00:45:40.391 --> 00:45:45.796
Leave the consequences to the lord because it all belongs to
00:45:45.796 --> 00:45:49.166
Him anyway.
00:45:49.166 --> 00:45:50.501
So what am i striving for?
00:45:50.501 --> 00:45:52.770
Holly: one of the things about gratitude is you realize that
00:45:52.770 --> 00:45:56.407
You're not the provider.
00:45:56.407 --> 00:45:57.775
So for me, like, when i'm thanking god, i'm realizing he's
00:45:57.775 --> 00:46:00.044
The provider, i'm not, and so it keeps it all in perspective, so
00:46:00.044 --> 00:46:05.349
It's a humble posture, like "thank you, god, that you--for
00:46:05.349 --> 00:46:08.318
Your provision in this situation and circumstance."
00:46:08.318 --> 00:46:10.721
So it's nothing i can do; only he can do it.
00:46:10.721 --> 00:46:13.424
And so i think it just reminds, for me, you know, many times, it
00:46:13.424 --> 00:46:17.795
Reminds me that he is god and i'm not.
00:46:17.795 --> 00:46:21.298
Irini: i think when he's a part of many options, he's no option
00:46:21.298 --> 00:46:25.836
Because that's not the same.
00:46:25.836 --> 00:46:27.271
How can he be a part of what he create--an option lined up with
00:46:27.271 --> 00:46:30.641
What he created.
00:46:30.641 --> 00:46:32.776
He's like--then he's no option, and so we start putting him up
00:46:32.776 --> 00:46:36.447
Against, like, "oh, am i gonna choose god?
00:46:36.447 --> 00:46:38.916
Am i gonna choose man?
00:46:38.916 --> 00:46:40.284
Am i gonna choose my job, my title?"
00:46:40.284 --> 00:46:42.453
And the lord's like, "oh, no, no, that's not the line i'm in.
00:46:42.453 --> 00:46:46.457
Then i'm not an option."
00:46:46.457 --> 00:46:47.791
Nona: it's either all or nothing.
00:46:47.791 --> 00:46:49.159
Irini: yeah, i am not with this category, and so we're--right,
00:46:49.159 --> 00:46:52.763
Right, it's like the same thing, when we pit--like the--it's
00:46:52.763 --> 00:46:55.933
Almost like god and the enemy are like equals and rival to
00:46:55.933 --> 00:46:59.036
Each other.
00:46:59.036 --> 00:47:00.404
They're not even in the same-- like, it's not even in the same.
00:47:00.404 --> 00:47:04.575
It's like, we're not wondering if he'll win the battle, and i'm
00:47:04.575 --> 00:47:07.244
Not wondering if he's any--it's just, god's like, "hey, if
00:47:07.244 --> 00:47:09.880
That's the choice--" and he will let us make our choice, and
00:47:09.880 --> 00:47:14.118
That's why i think the continual one, it can't just be in the
00:47:14.118 --> 00:47:18.288
Big moments.
00:47:18.288 --> 00:47:19.690
It's the discipline, the daily.
00:47:19.690 --> 00:47:22.626
You just take a moment and say thank you.
00:47:22.626 --> 00:47:25.729
Sheila: living with an absolute attitude of gratitude,
00:47:25.729 --> 00:47:29.099
Remembering who we are, because i just--if there was anyone
00:47:29.099 --> 00:47:32.269
That's ever existed in all of human history who could say,
00:47:32.269 --> 00:47:35.038
"that's not my job.
00:47:35.038 --> 00:47:36.907
It was jesus."
00:47:36.907 --> 00:47:38.475
So let me just read this christological hymn that paul
00:47:38.475 --> 00:47:40.844
Included in his letter to the philippians.
00:47:40.844 --> 00:47:43.380
Oh, i just love this.
00:47:43.380 --> 00:47:45.082
"you must have the same attitude that christ jesus had.
00:47:45.082 --> 00:47:48.185
Though he was god, he did not think of the quality with god is
00:47:48.185 --> 00:47:51.355
Something to cling to.
00:47:51.355 --> 00:47:53.090
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges.
00:47:53.090 --> 00:47:55.459
He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a
00:47:55.459 --> 00:47:58.662
Human being.
00:47:58.662 --> 00:48:00.030
When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience
00:48:00.030 --> 00:48:03.066
To god and died a criminal's death on a cross.
00:48:03.066 --> 00:48:06.236
Therefore, god elevated him to the place of highest honor and
00:48:06.236 --> 00:48:11.041
Gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of
00:48:11.041 --> 00:48:14.578
Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under
00:48:14.578 --> 00:48:19.316
The earth, and every tongue confess that jesus christ is
00:48:19.316 --> 00:48:23.487
Lord to the glory of god the father."
00:48:23.487 --> 00:48:27.457
Father, we worship at your feet.
00:48:27.457 --> 00:48:30.527
We are not worthy to come into your presence, but you welcome
00:48:30.527 --> 00:48:33.363
Us, not as servants but as friends.
00:48:33.363 --> 00:48:36.266
And, lord, i just wanna--i wanna thank you for refocusing
00:48:36.266 --> 00:48:40.070
Our attention this week into being grateful for who you are--
00:48:40.070 --> 00:48:45.709
That we win, lord, because of you.
00:48:45.709 --> 00:48:48.011
We've read your story and you won.
00:48:48.011 --> 00:48:50.447
You said, "it is finished," and because of that, we can live in
00:48:50.447 --> 00:48:54.785
Freedom and in liberty.
00:48:54.785 --> 00:48:56.386
So we pray right now for all our friends who are watching in, who
00:48:56.386 --> 00:48:59.489
Are listening in, who might be in difficult circumstances.
00:48:59.489 --> 00:49:02.960
Lord, in your name, would you help them right now to get down
00:49:02.960 --> 00:49:06.997
On their knees and to lift their hands and worship and to say,
00:49:06.997 --> 00:49:10.567
"you are worthy, you are good, you are faithful, you are god,
00:49:10.567 --> 00:49:14.838
And we trust you."
00:49:14.838 --> 00:49:16.640
And we ask this in the powerful name of jesus, amen.
00:49:16.640 --> 00:49:23.647
Announcer: connect with us on social media and let us know how
00:49:23.647 --> 00:49:26.049
Our team can pray for you.
00:49:26.049 --> 00:49:29.686
Nona: i think we get so concerned about praying the
00:49:29.686 --> 00:49:33.590
Right way.
00:49:33.590 --> 00:49:34.958
Like, "okay, should i start with, you know, what i want?
00:49:34.958 --> 00:49:39.796
Should i maybe start with repentance?"
00:49:39.796 --> 00:49:42.733
Should i even start with gratitude?
00:49:42.733 --> 00:49:45.068
I would tell you: just start.
00:49:45.068 --> 00:49:47.871
Prayer is simply a conversation, and it's a conversation that you
00:49:47.871 --> 00:49:51.208
Get to have with your heavenly father, and so you ask yourself
00:49:51.208 --> 00:49:55.345
If you, you know, are a parent or maybe you aspire to be a
00:49:55.345 --> 00:49:58.081
Parent or maybe you have godchildren or nieces or nephews
00:49:58.081 --> 00:50:00.784
What type of conversation do you want to have with them?
00:50:00.784 --> 00:50:04.421
It's one where they feel safe to just come to you, to just have a
00:50:04.421 --> 00:50:09.259
Conversation, to tell you what's on their heart.
00:50:09.259 --> 00:50:10.994
God is not expecting perfection.
00:50:10.994 --> 00:50:13.463
He just wants intimacy with you.
00:50:13.463 --> 00:50:15.666
He wants to know you, and he wants to know that you trust
00:50:15.666 --> 00:50:18.635
Him, so don't feel like you have to have the perfect framework
00:50:18.635 --> 00:50:21.371
To pray.
00:50:21.371 --> 00:50:22.739
Just pray and know that it is thanksgiving that reminds you of
00:50:22.739 --> 00:50:27.244
God's past faithfulness that will serve your future.
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Gratitude Transforms Your Prayers - Episode 1118

November 19, 2025 | S7 E1118 | 52:34

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