0:16

Hey everybody and welcome back to the Campbell Soup podcast.

0:21

We've taken our Christmas break and some time to rest, some time to recover from being sick, and we're back and so excited about getting together with you on this podcast again.

0:31

I love it. I don't know about you, rachel, but like I actually miss it.

0:34

I know we only I mean we're talking to each other, but it feels like family.

0:39

It feels like we're connecting with people that are outside of our church but people inside the church, and so it's good to be back and it's a new year and come on, let's go.

0:50

I'm excited. I'm excited about our topic today.

0:52

I'm excited about what?

0:53

God's doing. I don't know about you guys, but we can just feel the anticipation of what the Holy Spirit is stirring and doing in the church and in God's people all over the world.

1:05

I mean everywhere. All over the world there's this new found.

1:08

I think hunger and anticipation for the Holy Spirit move.

1:13

I yeah, and I know that it's natural because it's a new year, but I even think if we weren't even on the calendar 2024, I just think that, like what you're saying is, everywhere there is this new spiritual hunger, and I think it's because we need it.

1:32

It's because we've tried everything else and it didn't work.

1:36

And so now here we are and we really have this hunger, this desire for more, and I think it's really good and I think that that's the true sense of revival.

1:48

You know, when we just label that revival nights and I've been a part of it and love that and I understand the concept of it but there's something about revival when it's not scheduled, when it's not mandated or drummed up, but it's like this natural thing.

2:08

It's so much better, isn't it?

2:09

Yes, and I totally agree with you, and this does go along with what our subject we're talking about.

2:15

But there is something so special about not putting expectation on how the Holy Spirit is going to do something and how the Holy Spirit is going to fall, but coming with an expectancy of God.

2:27

I don't know exactly what it is you're doing, but I know you're doing massive things in my life and in our midst and I'm here for all of it.

2:37

No, I really love that because it's it is it's a balance of expectation like God you've moved before, but it's also a releasing of yeah, but I know you want to do something new and want you to do something fresh, and so there's this balance of.

2:52

You know, there's some great things that are traditional.

2:55

I'm really glad that we brush our teeth.

2:57

That's a really good tradition. But then there is some monotony that becomes religious when we just kind of do that and the Holy Spirit does want to do something fresh.

3:08

So I really like how you articulated that, babe.

3:10

Yeah, and I don't. You just feel like there's no replacement for the authentic Holy Spirit, the move of the Holy Spirit.

3:19

When God starts moving in a room or within your own heart in a private way, there you don't have to fan anything into flame, you don't have to make it work, you just.

3:28

It's really the part of it is surrender.

3:30

It's a, it's a deep surrender to the Holy Spirit and allowing him to just come and be God and do what he wants to do.

3:35

And it's always so amazing and it's always a surprise and it's fresh.

3:40

Well, and that's the great season we believe we're in at our church.

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We're believing for you, individually or family wise, that that's what you're in, because there are, was the old saints used to say.

3:50

We had to pray it through. Come on the old saints and say we have to persevere through, and there's some absolute truth to that.

3:56

We've had some breakthroughs where we just plowed through, but then there's seasons of like I'm not even plowing, it's just the mercy and grace of God.

4:06

And I'm telling you I like those seasons much better.

4:10

Yeah, but I think that they come when we keep showing up.

4:13

They come when we do persevere.

4:16

They come when we're not feeling it, but we're.

4:18

I will yet praise the Lord.

4:20

I don't know what's going on. I'm walking through a storm.

4:22

You know, it's those moments of travailing that are the art of Jesus showing up.

4:29

The presence of God showing up is after we've done all we can do and we're faithful.

4:33

And I really feel like the church is a whole and you, whoever we're talking to today, you've been faithful, you've been showing up when maybe you didn't have the strength to show up, maybe you weren't feeling God move.

4:46

And I just feel a real prophetic word over 2024 is the dry season is ending, that drought season is ending and there is a fresh oil that is available to us if we surrender to it.

4:59

I love it. Well, let's talk about today.

5:02

We kind of wanted to talk about what our title is is to pray, and I titled it we have to Pray Just to Make it Today, because that was an MC Hammer.

5:11

How do you really want to say that line?

5:13

You've got to pray just to make it today.

5:16

Come on.

5:17

I love that. We're almost well. I'm almost 15.

5:20

We're still having fun.

5:20

We're still having fun, and anytime you quote MC Hammer in a podcast, I believe your ratings go up and people click, share and all of that but really want to talk about the power of prayer.

5:32

And, of course, every new year I know as a church, we fast.

5:36

I know so many churches out there, you know, do days of prayer and fasting and we just believe in it.

5:42

Jesus actually gets to a situation where he says, hey, these kinds don't get dealt with unless there's prayer and fasting, and so we really wanted to talk about the word prayer today more than anything, and just getting that in as a part of our spiritual disciplines of 2024.

6:03

So many different things that we can do eat healthy, exercise, get out of debt, you know, date nights all those things are so beneficial and could be great New Year's resolutions, but I don't know if there's anything that will transform us more than spending time with God and in prayer, and so that's a big one for us, and so we just want to kind of hammer it and talk about it for a little bit this morning or this afternoon, or whether you're up at midnight or you're on your treadmill or during traffic, whenever it is.

6:33

While you're listening to this. We just pray that this, just a conversation about prayer, can help.

6:40

Yeah, and you know it's January, everybody's talking about prayer.

6:43

You know, israel, I've been in conferences where the person is up there and they're preaching on prayer and I feel like the biggest loser and I feel like, wow, I like there's almost like I don't want to say it's not the person bringing shame.

6:57

But there can be shame attached when we talk about prayer because none of us are praying enough.

7:03

None of us know if we're doing exactly right.

7:05

Maybe you do, maybe you're listening and you're like, no, I know I am a professional prayer warrior and I know how to do this, but most of us, I think we all need to grow in our prayer and so this you know, israel and I our heart always is this isn't shame driven, but it's an another invitation to a deeper relationship with God, and that comes through prayer.

7:28

And I was talking to you earlier when we were just talking about this podcast, and the thing I wanted to say first is prayer is such a huge part of our walk with God, and so we do need to understand what it is, how it is, when it is.

7:42

We need to, we kind of need to walk through some principles of prayer so that we don't get stuck, because what happens is, if we feel like we're not good at praying, we stop praying, and I remember Jeannie Mayo.

7:53

One time she said if you have a hard time praying, just talk to God about that.

7:58

And how simple and how beautiful is it.

8:00

If you struggle with praying, tell God about it.

8:03

And prayer is an ongoing conversation with God.

8:06

There's all different types of prayers, but prayer is basically an ongoing conversation with our Heavenly Father and it's aligning our heart back to who he is.

8:16

And so I just firstly just want to say all of us are called to pray.

8:20

And prayer is so important. Jesus himself, when he came to earth, prayed.

8:25

He would go away and he would pray.

8:27

And I know in my flesh mind sometimes my question is and I'll throw it over to you on this is why do I need to pray?

8:36

If God is sovereign? Why is it so important for me to pray?

8:41

If God is? If he knows the end from the beginning, he's the author and finisher of our faith.

8:47

If he already has ordained our days, numbered our days, why is me praying affecting anything?

8:55

But I think we have to go look at Jesus and say Jesus taught us how to pray because he realized that when we pray we're aligning with God's will that is already his will but we're aligning our hearts and surrender.

9:10

When we pray, when we bring supplications before the Lord, it's not to move mountains, it's more to go to the mountain mover so that he can begin to work on our behalf.

9:22

Oh, I really love that. Yeah, so many different aspects of prayer.

9:25

But what you were saying, I love that go to the mountain mover instead of just asking him to move mountains.

9:31

And I love this story. We talked about it in one of our prayer nights.

9:35

But I love the story of Abraham when he finds out that his nephew lot is going to be destroyed with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

9:45

And Abraham has this really weird interaction with God.

9:49

And it's weird because he he's it sounds like a negotiation.

9:54

He goes to God and says, well, if there's 50, you won't destroy the whole city if there's 50.

9:59

And God's like well, if I found 50,. And then Abraham goes what about 45, knowing how evil the city is?

10:05

And one of the great ways of looking at that is, every time Abraham is interceding, he comes back with a different ask and it keeps on systematically getting smaller and smaller and it's almost like if you look at that text, you can see the more time we spend with God, the more our what we're asking gets more aligned with what he's about to do.

10:32

And so it just kept on going, going, going, going.

10:35

And so there is this Jesus is praying and some of the prayers that he's like saying, you know, the night of his death, he's not my will, but your will.

10:46

Why is he doing that? And so prayer is a conversation, but it's also, like you said, an alignment.

10:52

And it is like man. We have a God, a lot of our own will, our own nature inside of us, and we are praying that through, like God, help me this.

11:05

And then, as we keep on praying and we're doing it, then we're kind of like, yeah, well, god, maybe it's not a career that I want, maybe it's that I want your will, and it just shifts and it starts changing.

11:16

And that's the importance of prayer and really coming away not with a genie wish list of do these things, but more of a blank list what are you wanting to do?

11:30

And it's almost that you know. And I don't think there's anything wrong with going to with God with a list, but usually when we go to God with a list, we should come back with a list from him also.

11:40

Yeah, that's so good. I love you know.

11:43

I'm really grateful for the gift that we had as young people.

11:48

Both of our parents were word of faith preachers and teachers and they were in that circle of faith and you know as much as we go without expectation.

11:58

There's also this element of Faith and and knowing.

12:03

I think we have to know our identity as Christians when it comes to prayer, because if we don't know our identity to God, you know Jesus when he taught us how to Praise at our father, who are in heaven, and we've got to understand that we're sons and daughters, and when we're sons and daughters, we ask God differently, we come to him differently and we also trust him differently.

12:24

And I just think that there's an element of prayer that we also have to Never forget that God really has given us authority.

12:30

He says what you bind in heaven will be bound on earth, what you loose on earth will be bound, loosed, in heaven.

12:36

And we have to recognize the S sons and daughters, we do have the authority to speak to things and then be changed, and so it's this fine balance of what you're talking about where it's the surrender of.

12:47

I'm not coming to you, god, with my list of Things I need you to do, but.

12:51

But when we come to God as Sons and daughters and we want that intimate relationship with him and we desire his heart were surrendered, then we begin to walk in the authority, to begin to declare those things and see them change on earth.

13:05

Yeah, and there's definitely some a pretty big History lessons in the Bible that talk about the power of prayer, where it was heading one way but because of the prayers, things shifted and and so you know there is an enemy.

13:22

There are some things. There's just even the book of Daniel when Daniel's praying and it was like he was praying for 21 days and it didn't look like anything was changing and then an angel said no, I, there's been an attack, there has been something trying to keep me from getting to you, and and so we know the power of prayer and and, like you said, it's, there's the, it is, it's just a, it's a.

13:45

That's the great thing about God is we could talk up this podcast about prayer and then tomorrow we could do another podcast about prayer because the, the complexities, the mysteries, the Unknown about God, you know the Enoch walking with God and then he wasn't.

14:04

You know also all of that. That. What's? What was that walking?

14:07

What was that prayer life like? What was that communication?

14:10

And so hopefully, I like what you said from the very beginning we're not wanting to shame, drive you to prayer because I've been in those conferences or you're like, oh my gosh, this guy prays 17 hours, only sleeps three, and you know, and you're like oh, I just prayed for 15 minutes and prayed everything I knew, and you feel shame.

14:30

No, no, no, that's not what this is. This is actually a Real, a invitation, a come on.

14:38

Yeah, this can be life-changing for you and I.

14:41

So maybe, rach, with that, is there some practical things that you would like here?

14:47

We are wanting people to Experience that in a deeper way.

14:51

Yeah, or maybe for the first time, are there some practical things that you would say that maybe you do or you would has helped you with that?

15:00

Yeah, one of the things that I think is the best way to grow in your own prayer life is to pray the word of God.

15:05

It's just, you don't have to always come up with your own words.

15:09

Sometimes the most powerful prayers I prayed are praying and speaking the word of God with boldness, and you know Israel.

15:17

You were talking about a bunch of different verses that you like to pray.

15:20

I know that when you were, when we were dating, you would almost knew all of Psalm 119 by heart and that's a lot.

15:26

That's like the longest Psalms there is. Isn't there, yeah.

15:29

Yeah, I don't know if I knew it by heart, because I don't even know.

15:32

The other day Somebody asked me for your telephone number and I had to look it up.

15:36

You used to use to okay, no, but Psalms 119 is a Is a little, is one of the longest chapters in the Bible and it is a Hebrew alphabet and so that was actually a chapter that people could memorize because it was almost like a is for this, b is for this, but it was the Hebrew Alphabet and so you would kind of go through it and that is an amazing, amazing chapter to just take sections of, or the whole chapter, whatever, depending on much time you have.

16:09

But you just read the verse and then you kind of you can just pray that over your own life.

16:15

And I think, like what you're saying is, you know, I think we can be intimidated by certain people and there are just some people that Just know, like the way they articulate their prayers and they sound so powerful.

16:30

When Bishop jakes just the, the authority and the Vocabulary and the way he articulates it, you could just be like I'll never pray again because this guy nailed it, but that we shouldn't be that way because it really it has nothing to do with that, and so just be encouraged.

16:52

If you don't know what to say or you feel like I never know, then pray the word of God.

16:56

I think that that's such a good one, yeah and you know you.

17:00

Your example was Bishop jakes and my example is my grandma.

17:03

And my grandma was, you know, in everyone else's eyes she was a no, she was not really, she wasn't well known.

17:10

But do you know what? She prayed over our family, and that was her calling was to make lists and pray over our family.

17:18

And when my grandma would talk about Jesus, you knew she knew him in a special way.

17:24

And that's what prayer does is when we personally pray.

17:27

God's not looking for eloquence, he's not looking for knowledge, he's not looking for our knowledge.

17:33

And you know he says let the little children come to me.

17:36

And sometimes the most powerful prayer that you can pray is Jesus help.

17:41

Yeah, that's it, it's two words Jesus help.

17:44

Maybe you have nothing else to say, and you know our friend Martha Muniz.

17:47

He wrote a song Say the Name of Jesus. When you don't know what else to say, when you can't find the words to pray, say the name of Jesus.

17:55

And how powerful is that? That we make prayer something that God never intended, when really prayer is communion and it's the proximity to him, it's the open heart, surrendered life, it's the small and simple words of God.

18:13

You're in control. I trust you.

18:15

You know that's what prayer is and of course we want our prayer to go, grow and of course we want to be people who pray with authority.

18:23

But sometimes I think we miss the God part of it, where it's really him and not us.

18:28

Absolutely, and we don't have to, and I don't even think we have to reinvent the wheel either of trying to do that.

18:35

That's why, when Jesus, he taught his disciples, and so which means if he had to teach them how to pray, means we probably have to learn how to pray, or we can get better at it, and so we can grow in it, and I think that that's really good is to grow in it.

18:52

You know, you and I have now been married 26 years, going on 27.

18:58

27 the.

18:59

September 27, on September 27 of this year, we've grown in our relationship and so maybe when we were dating, you know, maybe there were the deepness of what we talk about today and three kids, and all this stuff has grown and the closeness and the finishing each other's thoughts, you know, and all those things that happens when you spend time with the person, you spend time with God and you really do that.

19:27

So that's good. I think that's so practical is just pray the word of God Again, psalms 119, or the Lord's Prayer.

19:35

Look that up and pray that line upon line can be so powerful, you know and just take a second pray, each one of those lines, and then make it you're, you're repeating what Jesus said, and then now make it yours, our Father, which art in heaven, you know, say it and then just like thank you, god, that you're my father, thank you that you are in control, you know, and then you can just do each line and then that can add some things, any other practical things?

20:03

Okay. So second one for me is praying in the spirit.

20:06

The Bible talks about how the Holy Spirit will teach us how to pray, and that's what intercession really is is intercession is allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in what we're supposed to be praying, and I just can't, I can't underestimate that.

20:22

You know the power of praying in our prayer language and waiting on the Holy Spirit.

20:26

And what happens for me when I pray in my prayer language is I just begin to.

20:31

You know, I'm praying under the Lord and I'm just waiting on the Holy Spirit.

20:35

And the next thing I know something will pop in my head and I know, okay, that's the thing I need to be praying for now.

20:40

Maybe it's one of our kids, someone in our church, or maybe it's a word of wisdom that the Holy Spirit gives me and begins to tell me that I need to do something or call someone or invest in something.

20:53

All of those things happen when the Holy Spirit, when we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray.

20:59

And so, for me, a very practical thing that has grown my prayer life more than anything else is praying in the spirit.

21:07

Yeah, I, we can't talk about that.

21:09

More than anything Paul says I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you.

21:13

Always like, I pray in, I pray in the spirit more than any of you and is almost, you know, putting a marker to us that we can do more of that and there's some power when that happens.

21:27

Yeah, and breakthrough. And you know like sometimes when you feel oppressed or depressed or you're fighting some battles, I think that if you begin to pray in the spirit, that's like the Holy Spirit interrupts maybe what you're walking through, that you can't interrupt your own thought process.

21:43

So it's really powerful.

21:44

Yeah, and you don't know what to pray, and that just you know.

21:48

So many times I may not know what's going on.

21:51

You may just start praying in the spirit for one of your family members or for a situation you can't control.

21:57

I just I don't know how to fix right now the Middle East.

22:02

I don't, I can't fix it and so I don't even necessarily even know what to articulate sometimes.

22:08

But I can definitely pray in the spirit and feel like I'm praying the perfect will of God in that situation and do it.

22:15

A practical thing for me would be sometimes writing a prayer list, and what it is is what are you worried about?

22:24

What are you stressed about?

22:27

And you know we just having some things that you have.

22:30

Maybe it's the yellow notes on your phone and you're just some things that you've been thinking about, you're worried about, and just actually writing those and then Taking a moment hey God, I'm just I'm bringing these things before you because there's something about Giving them to God and it's like, okay, god of hat, and then deleting it like one thing at a time.

22:52

Okay, I have been really worried about.

22:54

So maybe we're really worried about Silas.

22:57

It's our 14 year old son and it's written on the yellow notes Okay, god, I thank you that you've got him and you're going to guard his heart and you are protecting him.

23:07

You've got future and I'm giving you to him.

23:10

And then, man, just delete that note.

23:13

Okay, I've given it to God, he's gonna do the rest.

23:16

And then maybe the next thing is it could be a financial situation, could be you know your job situation, but give it to God.

23:24

Nothing wrong with writing it down, having it, but then, in a way, symbolically giving it to God.

23:31

I've heard of people writing prayer journals and then ripping out the page or burning Don't burn down your house, doing it like I might try, but just systematically going through some of those things that maybe you're carrying, and Part of it is actually giving those to God and saying I know you are like you said earlier.

23:50

You are sovereign, you are in control.

23:53

I'm still working this out and I'm actually working out Releasing it and giving it to you.

23:59

I love that anything more practical for you.

24:02

I guess the only last thing I would just say is I think that it's really good to be around people who pray, and so if you want to be, grow in your prayer life, find people who have a prayer life.

24:14

Find those people and ask them to carry the burden with you.

24:17

You know, I think a really big element about being a person who's planted in the church is trusting others on the journey.

24:26

Yeah.

24:26

And so there's people that I'll call and say hey, can you just pray for this with me?

24:30

There's something I'm carrying and then you know, they'll begin to pray and it infuses faith into me.

24:35

And so if you want to learn how to pray more, find people who pray and run that race with them and Don't carry that burden alone.

24:43

I love it. Last thing for me is find a place and a time and try to be consistent with it.

24:50

Now the Bible talks about, you know, praying at all times.

24:53

Pray without cc, and so we do.

24:55

We want that we can communicate to God at any time.

24:58

But there is something special about having a time in a place and it's just like anything we want to get good at.

25:05

If we want to get good with our finances, having a budget, if we want to be good in our Health, then sometimes it's a diet, this, these specific things that we're going to eat or not eat.

25:17

We're gonna work out all these different things career, maybe getting this education or getting this diploma, getting this Certification and the same thing with prayers.

25:26

Having a time in a place can really help.

25:29

So, letify, that is no. Every morning or every night, you know, before I go to bed or you know what, in my commute, I'm gonna turn off talk radio, I'm gonna turn off the Campbell soup podcast.

25:42

No, don't do that. Yes, do that if it means spending time with God, but just having some of those moments that are just like, yeah, I'm gonna do some of these things, I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna petition, I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna listen.

25:55

You know all these things that are so important with prayer and you'll begin to grow in it and it will be like any of those other things.

26:02

Will your look back? If it's a budget, whoa, where did the savings come from?

26:07

Or where did this debt reduction come from?

26:09

It came from a little bit every day the same thing.

26:12

I believe prayer life will come back and look at wow, being intentional in those morning sessions or that afternoon or whatever it is.

26:20

Look at it. It's really made a difference in my life.

26:24

I'm thankful, too, that you pray in front of our kids.

26:27

They know if they wake up early, you're gonna be downstairs praying, and it's become something they can trust, and I love that.

26:33

I think it's so good. Kids aren't learning what we do, what we're saying.

26:36

They're learning by what we're doing, and so it's good for us to have habits of prayer.

26:41

But it's good to have habits of prayer in front of the people we want to influence too.

26:44

So that's so good. And one of my prayers that I pray a lot, rachel, is I Pray God, wake me up tomorrow with the desire for to spend more time with you.

26:56

No, and it's like a perpetual.

27:00

So I've probably prayed that prayer for many years.

27:03

But God, tomorrow, I don't want it to just be today Help me tomorrow.

27:09

And so then when I do walk into that that next day, I think that that's, you know, a result of that prayer.

27:15

But then it continues. It's just non Stopping.

27:19

So we're praying for you two, 2024.

27:24

It's gonna be an incredible year for you guys. Started out with prayer, end it with prayer and Remember those of you who need to Google it.

27:32

Put it on your Spotify, listen to MC Hammer.

27:36

You got to pray just to make it today, and I think it will.

27:42

I think it could change their life it might change your whole life.

27:47

See you next week.

27:49

Share it, like it, comment and we are glad to be back.