CTN Episode 11 | Pray for Us: Prayer for Openness (Part 2)

0:00 You pray it and he can answer it. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. God will put the prayer in your heart to pray so that he can answer it. It goes into the hearts of the people, doesn't return void, it produces results. There are several prayers spoken of in the Word of God. The prayer of intercession is just one of those prayers spoken of in Ephesians 6 .18. And this particular book, Marked for Intercession, teaches the reader how to pray for your family, how to pray for your friends, how to stand in the gap for a nation, how to pray for leadership, and it goes on and on and on. I would encourage you to get this book and dive in deep so that you can be that man, you could be that woman that would stand in the gap and put up the hedge and be the love of God expressed in the earth.

0:59 You can go to my website at margieflaurent .org and not only will you find my book, but I also have a workbook that goes with the subject of marked for intercession. You can play with your hair. You can look at your watch. Put the toothbrush in your mouth. You could be in the car. You could be with William. You could be praying in tongues. No matter where you are, you could pray in tongues.

1:39 identifying yourself. You're building yourself up on your most holy faith. You're praying in the Holy Ghost and your inner man takes charge. Stupid flesh. What is the flesh? Mind, will, emotions. Who was it that said thought processes? One of you guys or maybe I just heard it from somebody else. I don't know. It's all your thoughts that are not always your thoughts. Some of it's the devil. And you know what he does? He goes in and he goes, he takes that little weakness you have in your soul, and he just, he shoots a fiery dart. And together, that fiery dart and that weakness in your soul, which we all have, takes a hold, and then it becomes a stronghold.

2:30 That's why you got to get healed in your soul if you're going to be an effective leader. All these new leaders rising up in the land, I'm not impressed. They don't even know the Bible. It's really scary. The Bible says don't put a novice in the ministry. Half of them aren't even healed. So, you know, they had a great church. And I'm telling you, I'm not even going to tell you how many numbers they had, because that doesn't matter. Remember, the Holy Ghost said it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. That fiery dark came at their mind, and they took the thought. That's why Jesus said, don't take the thought. Don't take the thought. Don't take it. Anything that's not of peace is not from God. God said, the plans I have for you are plans to prosper you, not harm you, to give you hope and a future. Thoughts of peace and not of evil. They took the thought.

3:51 And the thought said, you're discouraged. You don't have a choice. I can't say it because we're on camera. You don't have a church like so -and -so that lives in such -and -such a city and state. Well, they don't live in such -and -such a city, and they don't live in such -and -such a state. There's different demographics, different kinds of people, different kinds of lifestyle. So it doesn't fit you, so it's not you. That's why the Bible says when you compare yourselves with other people, it's not wise. But insecure people, they do that sometimes, right? And that thought came again. Discouragement. Such and such and so and so has a church in such and such and such a place. And they have a lot more people than you. And you guys, if you've been in the ministry just as long, and I don't understand why that's happening. Devil is a liar. If the devil can get to the head, he can get to the body. The Bible calls them fiery darts of the wicked. The Bible says, be not ignorant of Satan's devices. He will try to come and sift you as wheat and get you to come out of your race and keep you from running the race that's set before you. The Holy Ghost, I'm on a lot of tangents here, but I'm getting them all back because the Holy Ghost is the perfect reminder. I was preaching

5:23 last week in an amazing conference with the church of Joe Source's church, his women's ministry. God spoke to me while I was preaching. Don't you love it when that happens? He spoke to me while I was preaching. And you know what he said? He didn't say, I'll tell you, he didn't say, he said a lot of things out of my mouth. And you know how it is when you preach, you're saying a lot of things out of your mouth because it's in your spirit. And destiny is in your heart. Destiny is in your spirit. Zoe life, there's no time, no distance. Are you aware of that? Destiny, Ecclesiastes says, is in your spirit, in your heart. And so I was speaking out of my spirit. And what I found through my own preaching, that ever since I was a little girl, I started out as a little girl who used to sit in the back.

6:19 of my yard on an old tree stump and I would sit in the back of my yard and I would look up into heaven or into the sky really and I wanted to see God's face. Who would ever think of that as a child? I just wanted to see God's face. Think about your life when you were a child. What was going on in your heart? Prophetic preaching will cause you to think prophetically about your own life. So then I was older, and what I used to do as a little girl is I would go into the bushes, and I used to be in a tight area in this one bush, and I used to like to be around the bushes, and in that little place outside, I would want to pray. I would pray, and I would talk to God. I used to always like to go into those tight places to be alone. Do you know that my maiden name is Grotto? And you know what that name means? Cave. A cave. A grotto is a cave.

7:29 Isn't that something how you can be named by God? If he knows how many hairs you have on your head, then the Bible also says he calls you by name. You are named by God. My other name is Marguerite. Do you know what marguerite means? A pearl. Do you know how pearls are made? Google it. That's my life. Then after a while, you know, I went to a Catholic private school for a while until I was about in the fourth grade, and I had an altar. Don't get mad at me now. I had an altar, and I had the Virgin Mary. And I had flowers, fresh flowers that I would pick, and I would pray the rosary in front of my altar, and I would pray to Mary almost every day. And then the good part is there wasn't our father tacked on yet. Obviously, we realize now that it's unscriptural to pray to saints and the mother of Mary. But I didn't know. But you know, God sees your heart. He looks at the heart. And destiny was calling me. Destiny had something to say to me as a child. So in my heart, I had this heart for God. And then when I got older, as

9:03 a teenager, I got rid of the altar. Put my Steppenwolf peace sign up on the wall with the peace sign. Anybody know who Steppenwolf is? How old are you? Okay. And instead, I would pray in my bed. I had my rosary, and I'd hide it under my pillow. little did i know that i was a house of prayer little did i know as a little girl destiny was calling me little did i know that there was something in me in regards to prayer and that as a almost 60 year old woman this month god would call me to teach the world how to pray then he would join me with a husband whose desire from God was to finance the gospel. And he married me.

10:39 that song show me your face lord show me your face i'll sing it show me your face lord show me your face the lord spoke to me one day he said marty Many of my people desire to be intimate with me. They desire to spend time with me. They desire to have a vibrant prayer life. But they just don't know where to begin. They just don't know how to start. So I wrote this book with that in mind. Encountering God Through Prayer.

11:24 Simple Strategies to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life. I take the reader from the very basics. Begin where you are. Begin with 15 minutes. Find a quiet place in your house. Go into a closet if you have to. Shut the door. Just begin where you are. And I teach the reader about the heart of the Father. Because if you don't know who God is, you're not going to understand his character and his nature, and you'll be afraid of him. So I go into the heart of the Father. Who is the Father? What's his character? What's his nature? And then I take the reader all the way up into what I call contemplative prayer. So if you would like a wonderful resource on how to begin your prayer life, I encourage you to get this book, Encountering God Through Prayer.

12:24 Go to my website at margieflaurent .org. don't let a lot of you be teachers are you out of your mind you want to be a teacher you want to be a leader in the church you better know who you are you better be healed and you better know that God is the one that puts you in that position otherwise when the hard times come which they will you will not stand or cause us to live by what we see in our spirits. I'm going to tell you another story. Are you all guys all right with this message? I got, I think, 10 pages this time of notes. I was in a season in my life where what happened is I got really hurt. I was so hurt. I wish I had you as a friend. You would have helped me. All my friends forsook me. It

13:54 was really bad. But I know you wouldn't have done that to me. I don't know why people can't just see people's hearts. And just give people a break. We need to give each other a break. What the heck is wrong with us? We bury our own wounded. I'll tell you what happened. Garth knows because he was in a meeting when it came out of my mouth. I didn't know. I was teaching people how to pray. Teaching intercession. And I was young and anointed. and pioneered somewhat of a small prayer movement and i heard the holy ghost say to me when i was preaching the devil was just waiting till i got tired because he was going to take me out because he was so mad at what i was doing and destroying the kingdom in the 80s and the devil came in like a vengeance and so Almost died. We are in a war. This is no joke. See, I'll tell you what happens. The devil sees your potential. And he's not afraid of what you are now, Garth. He's afraid of what

15:28 you will become. Not that what we don't have now is good, but you all haven't, everybody in this room, you all haven't seen anything yet. God told us in November of 2015, he said, you got to listen to it. It's incredible. He said to us, the best years, my people, are yet ahead of you. And we are not that young. wait in a long time and the Holy Ghost said the best years are yet ahead of you but when I peeled myself up off the ground because all my friends in ministry forsook me aren't you glad that Jesus said I will never leave you I will never forsake you I am with you always even unto the end of this age I decided, everyone say decided. I decided I am going to seek the Lord. I decided my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

16:38 I decided and understood that the word of God says he is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. I understood that he will never leave me, never forsake me, that he loves me with an everlasting love, that he is patient and he is kind. And then I discovered also that he could be a friend and a husband that sticks closer than a brother. And I decided I was going to go to him, run to him, run into his presence. When the poor and needy need water, I, the Lord, will answer them. I will not forsake them. So I started praying. Was it hard to pray? It was hard to pray. But I prayed anyway. You've got to pray. Just start praying. Put worship music on. I worship you, Jesus. Could you see Jesus?

17:30 I couldn't see him. But I knew he was there. Is Jesus here today? He's here. Our angels in this room, they're here. We just don't see him. Remember, we're in the world. We're not of the world. But there's a truckload of angelic activity in this room today. And I just began to develop my intimacy with Jesus again. You know, sometimes it's just got to be every day. You know, like that scripture, the steadfast love of the Lord never changes. It's new every morning. Sometimes it's every day. You got to pick yourself up and you got to walk into his presence. So I started praying. I used my spiritual imagination. I pretended I was like Mary at the feet of Jesus. And I would worship him and talk to him. And then sometimes he'd talk back. And then I got my journal out.

18:28 And I started writing things down. And I just began to get stronger and stronger. and stronger. Read a couple of books by T .D. Jakes, one in which is called Woman, Thou Art Loosed. And had visitations from the Holy Spirit. One day I walked into my prayer room after dropping the kids off at the bus stop and I opened the door because God knows when you're coming to meet with him. He's watching us. And he's so excited because he's like, they're coming to seek me. They're coming to pray. And he's excited. God's excited to see me. Yes, he's excited to see you. He created you for intimacy with him. He created you to fellowship with him. That's why he created Adam and Eve. He wanted a family. I opened the door, and I opened the door to walk into my office.

19:29 The glory of God hit me like a cloud, like X2, the rushing mighty wind, and I felt the Holy Ghost come on me, and I got on my knees, and it was like, oh, my God, God's here. He was there all along. You understand? And I sat down, and I just was like. Oh, my God. And I got out my journal. And you know what he said to me? He said to me, and I'm saying it to you for a reason. This is my book, Decision Time. Everyone should read this book, especially those of you who are at a crossroads in your life. You don't know what to do. You don't know how God is leading you. This is the book where you reach a place where you say, Lord. Not my will, your will be done in my life. I also include in this book, how to hear the voice of God, which is important when you're making decisions. If you go to my website at margieflaurent .org, you will see that this book is available to you. He said, I have watched over you and preserved you even unto this present hour. And I had flashbacks of me with Jacqueline in the front yard holding her and flashbacks of the twins in the triplet stroller. Flashbacks of some things I went through.

20:58 Flashbacks. All along, God was there. Don't ever doubt, honey, he's there. He is there. He's there. I promise you, he's there. He's there. He's there. You can't feel him like a human being. And sometimes it's like I just wish I could have a hug. But God is always there for you. I think sometimes we are all very insensitive. People walk into our church, and we expect the pastor to do all the work. And all to the left and to the right, there are people hurting and wounded. and need somebody to speak into their life. I think we need to, even in the area of finances, let's not even get on that track. People have needs, and people turn a deaf ear. One time we were

22:29 in a service, and you were there, and some guy was there, and I got permission from Joe Source, of course, because I asked him first and whispered. God told me to give him a truckload of money. All the money that was in my wallet, which I think at that time was a truckload. It's all relative. Am I right? And the Holy Ghost said, give it to him. And Joe looks at me, Pastor Source. He looks at the guy. He goes, I didn't tell her anything. You know how Pastor Joe is. I didn't tell her. He's Italian. I didn't tell her anything. I think we need to be more sensitive to people's needs financially. Creating us a clean heart.

23:16 a right spirit in your church, Father. So I prayed like that for quite a while after that visitation, continue in prayer, and I'd watch, and I'd have intercession here and there, and so on and so forth. I said all this for a reason. And one day, I just started getting dissatisfied and discontent. And I was like, I'm dissatisfied and discontent by spending a lot of time with God every day? What is that? Dissatisfied. Everyone say dissatisfied and discontent. That's why you got to discern what's my soul and what's in my spirit. So if you're dissatisfied and discontent, God may want to do some new things through you.

24:01 You just have to be open to the new thing. What is he saying about? what he's saying to you. Is this flesh discontentment or is this maybe God wants to launch you out? Maybe you're like a tree, you're planted in a place and God has branches and he wants you to branch out because your gift is going to make room for itself and God's going to do some new things and cause some doors to open to you of their own accord. Because there's a lot of pastors, I can tell you straight up, that have a lot of treasure. And I believe he's going to begin to launch some out. So I was really discontent. And after like about a week or two of that, because sometimes some of us are hard -headed, we're like, why am I so discontent? It's two weeks, three weeks. Then I'm praying and it's like, listen, there's times we pray and it's dead. I get it. Because it's just dead. God spoke to me one time about something.

25:02 Then he stopped talking for six months. So figure that out. My friends all know about it. God stopped talking for six months. It was unbelievable. The only way he spoke to me was through the word, but that's the best possible way. But do you understand what I'm saying? Sometimes it's just a test. So then the thought came to me, you know, that manuscript. that's in your attic that you started writing 20 years ago? And I was like, in my head I thought, yeah, but it was really God's thoughts. He was causing my thoughts to become agreeable with his thoughts. Get it out.

25:49 What? That vision from 20 years ago? Dig it out. Get it out. I took out that manuscript, and we didn't have computers in those days, or did we? I don't even know. I think I typed it. Instead of praying for five hours, now I'm praying for a lot less and writing a book. Still in the presence of God. Still walking in destiny. Still walking in purpose. What's more important on a bird? The left wing or the right wing? We need both.

26:30 What's more important? Prayer or meditating in the Word? And when you're writing a book, you're meditating in the Word. Thank you, Lord. Praise His holy name. My book, Contend, Stewarding the Hearts and Destinies of Our Children Through Prayer, is one of my most favorite projects thus far. In this book, I teach the reader how to pray effectively for their children, their grandchildren, and the rising generations that are in the earth today. Make no mistake about it. There is war over the hearts and the destinies of our children.

27:40 And this book will equip you as to how to pray effectively for those young people. In this book, I teach you about the power and the purpose of praying in tongues. I show you what a prayer alert looks like. There are sample prayers. Not only that, there are outlines at the end of each chapter. So if you run a Bible study, you can use this book as a springboard to teach others how to pray for their children. Go to my website at margieflaurent .org and pick up your own copy.

28:32 Thank you so much for tuning in to today's podcast. It has been such a joy sharing this time with you. For more inspiration and resources on today's topic, please visit our website at margiefloran .org.