CTN Prayer & Purpose – Episode One 🎙️

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You pray it and he can answer it. The effectual

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fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

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God will put the prayer in your heart to pray

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so that he can answer it. It goes into the hearts

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of the people, doesn't return void, it produces

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results. Welcome to our broadcast, Prayer and

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Purpose. I'm your host, Marty Florent. Today,

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we're going to discuss the necessity of being

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a man and a woman of prayer it's necessary in

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the day and the hour that you and i live that

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we have a vibrant intimate prayer life with our

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lord and savior jesus christ you see we are living

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in challenging times and i don't have to tell

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you that darkness gross darkness is covering

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the earth that there's a lot of trials tribulations

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our young people are experiencing a lot of fear

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a lot of anxiety a lot of torment we are living

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in challenging times and prayer my friends we're

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going to learn in this broadcast is our lifeline

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it's necessary that we be men and women of prayer

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you know the bible says we have not because we

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ask not even in the case of things that we have

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need of in our everyday lives we have to ask

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of god and as we continue in our study and in

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our teachings we're going to find out exactly

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why we need to ask we're going to find out exactly

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why we need to be close to god in the day and

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in the hour that we live in today so i have a

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very interesting scripture it's actually one

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of my favorite scriptures it's a scripture found

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in luke chapter 11 verse 1 where the disciples

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came to jesus and they said lord Teach us to

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pray. Now, I want you to notice they didn't say,

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Lord, teach us to preach. Lord, teach us to prophesy.

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Lord, teach us how we can operate in the gifts

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of the Spirit. Lord, teach us how to cast out

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devils. Yes, Jesus was doing all of those things.

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But the disciples also noticed that Jesus had

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a secret life of prayer. how do you know that

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because the bible says that jesus would withdraw

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at times into a mountain to be alone at times

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into a wilderness the bible also says that the

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more famous he became the more he withdrew and

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he prayed he never relied on just having a casual

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relationship with his heavenly father he relied

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on having an intimate direct communication with

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His Heavenly Father. And that's how it is for

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you and I. No matter where we are in our stage

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of life or in our phase of life, in our season

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of life, it's very important that we maintain

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a healthy, intimate relationship with our Father

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God. So the disciples came to Jesus and they

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noticed He was successful. They noticed Also

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that he was a man of prayer. And I love this

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question that they asked the master. They said,

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Lord, we've been watching you. And we see how

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you operate. We see how wise you are. We see

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that you never grow weary in well -doing. We

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see that you know people's thoughts. We see that

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you have an overflow and a presence that you

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carry with you all the time. So they said, Lord,

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it's your prayer life, isn't it? So they said,

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Lord, teach. us to pray and that's the purpose

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of this broadcast to teach the believers how

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to pray now as we enter into our teaching i just

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want to highlight this one thing there's all

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different kinds of prayer so it's going to take

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months maybe years to get all of this word of

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god into your heart But I believe that the word

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of God does not return void. I believe that it's

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God's will and God's desire for you to connect

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with him in a deeper and a more intimate way.

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And that's the very thing that you've been longing

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for. You know, David said in Psalm 63, my God,

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you are my God. will I seek you. My flesh longs

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for you in this dry and thirsty land to see your

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power and your glory. I believe that deep down

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on the inside of each and every one of you, there

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is a longing and a desire to know God in a deeper

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and more intimate way. But one thing I learned

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from talking with young people, older people,

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people of all age groups, is that most people

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They want to have intimacy with God. They want

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to have a prayer life, but they just don't know

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how. They just don't know where to begin. Well,

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that's the purpose of this broadcast, to teach

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you how to pray. So let's talk about the necessity

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of being a person of prayer. Number one, prayer

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is the believer's lifeline. It is the believer's

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lifeline. It is necessary to be a person of prayer

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for many reasons, hence the title. And the interesting

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thing about my title is that when the Spirit

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of God gave me this title, I felt impressed to

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look up the word necessity. And necessity defined

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is something that is required, essential, or

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indispensable. I like that. dispensable your

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prayer life is in dispensable it is necessary

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to the believer to stay strong in these challenging

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times it is something you need or must have either

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to complete a task or for survival now I like

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that we need to have a vibrant prayer life because

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it's necessary for us to survive in the challenging

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times that we live in now the one part of this

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definition i didn't like was it said or must

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either to complete a task we need it to complete

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a task prayer should not be a task prayer should

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not be something that we're working at it's part

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of works right because nothing of works is going

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to get us where we need to be with god right

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the task I believe a prayer should be born, I

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would say it like this, out of a heart of love.

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So it's not a task, meaning works, but prayer

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should always be born out of a heart of love.

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Out of a heart of love for God and out of a heart

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of love for people as we teach you how to even

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pray the prayer of intercession. Catherine Coleman

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once said, the greatest power God has given to

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man is the power of prayer. Think about that.

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The greatest power God has given to man is the

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power of prayer. And, my friends, wishing should

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never be a substitute for prayer. Sometimes we

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say, oh, I wish this would happen, and I wish

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that would happen. No, wishing is not a substitute

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for prayer. You can pray effectively. You can

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pray accurately. opens up the door for God to

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work. You can see fruit in your prayer life.

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You can see answers to your prayer. And that's

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what we're going to go ahead and be teaching

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you in this broadcast. Okay. We're going to take

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a short break here and then I'll be back and

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we'll continue on the subject, the necessity

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of prayer in the life of the believer. Early

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in 2025 I had a dream that I'd like to share

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with you. I dreamed I was a guest speaker in

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a church. During the preaching I had a vision

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of a great ship. I saw the ship going straight

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and it was moving fast and furious ahead on the

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water. Then I saw the ship suddenly turning to

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the right. I said to the people, the ship is

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turning, but we must continue to pray into it.

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It's not a time to stop praying. I could see

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that the ship was turning and the church was

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at the helm of the ship, causing the ship to

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turn. Upon awakening, God gave me an assignment,

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and the assignment was, and still is, to mobilize

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prayer. We are praying together on our KIU prayer

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conference call. I would love it if you could

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join us. If you'd like more information, go to

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my website at margieferrant .org, or the number

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is on the screen. I look forward to praying with

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you. Now let's go back to the broadcast. So let's

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continue on the subject of the necessity of prayer

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in the life of the believer. We left off with

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this amazing quote from Catherine Coleman. She

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said, the greatest power given to man is the

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power of prayer. And we also said that wishing

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should not be a substitute of prayer. You can

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have answers to your prayers. You can see God

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opening up the door for you because of your prayers.

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You can see answers to your prayers on the behalf

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of your children, your family, your nation. Wishing

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is never a substitute. There are ways to pray

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whereby you can get results. The Bible says that

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the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man

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avails much. So we can see fruit. in our prayer

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life now i've often said this and i don't know

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if you have i've often said to god i just want

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more of you god i want more of you one day i

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was saying that in my devotional time and the

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spirit of god spoke to me and he said margie

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you don't need more of me i need more of you

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well what does that mean it means we have to

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make room for god we have to have our own discipline

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in prayer, our own time of prayer. What I like

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to do is put it in my calendar. Okay, at 830

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a .m., I'm making an appointment with God, and

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I'm going to make sure that nothing distracts

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me from the presence of God. That's where the

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discipline comes in. You know, the Bible talks

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about discipline, but here's a quote that I really

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like. Prayer goes from sacrifice to joy. From

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a desire to a discipline and to a delight. Eventually,

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when you make your appointments with God and

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you say, I'm going to seek the face of God, what

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happens is it starts out as a discipline or a

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sacrifice. Then it goes into a desire. Pretty

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soon you're desiring to be in the presence of

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God. Pretty soon you can't wait for your devotional

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time with him. It becomes a desire and that's

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when it becomes fun. That's when it becomes a

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delight. You look forward to that time of intimacy

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in the presence of your heavenly father. And

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at first you won't see, you know, how prayer

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is changing you and you won't see how the intimacy

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is being developed. But over time, as you walk

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out your Christian life and your Christian, even

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during the day, you'll see that you have a connection

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with God that you didn't have before. So we want

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to talk more about that. So prayer, number one,

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changes things. The very first thing that prayer

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changes is you. 2 Corinthians 3 .18 says, But

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we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in

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the mirror of the glory of the Lord, are being

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transformed into the same image from glory. to

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glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Like

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we just said, at first, when you spend time in

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the presence of God, you don't realize how you're

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being changed. But when you behold Him, when

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you look at Him, when you look at the mirror

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of His Word in devotional time, when you look

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at the face of Jesus as you use your spiritual

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imagination in the place of prayer, you don't

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realize it, but you are being changed. You are

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being transformed. Something is changing. And

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number one, it's you. The Bible says in Hebrews

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11, 12, 1 and 2, that we're to look unto Jesus,

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the author and the finisher of our faith. So

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in the place of prayer, it's as if we're looking

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at him. And as we look at him, we're being changed

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into the same image. From glory to glory. You

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see, you become what you behold. I'm going to

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say that again. You become what you behold. Oral

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Roberts once said, In prayer we learn to change.

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Prayer is one of the most changing experiences

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we will ever know. I'm going to repeat that.

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In prayer we learn to change. Prayer is one of

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the most changing experiences we will ever know.

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But Margie, I don't feel like I'm changing. Your

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feelings have nothing to do with what's going

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on in the realm of the spirit. In the realm of

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the spirit, something's being exchanged. You

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are being changed. God is working in you both

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to will and to do of his good pleasure. You are

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humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God.

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And in that place of humility, you're saying,

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Lord, I need you. Lord, I love you. Lord, I want

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to seek you. And in that. something is going

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on on the inside of you. Okay? What else does

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prayer change besides you and me? Number two,

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prayer changes the world around you. I love that.

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Prayer releases good things into your world.

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The world in general. 2 Chronicles 7, 12 -16

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says, Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night

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and said to him, I have heard your prayer. Aren't

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you glad God hears you when you pray? Well, I

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don't feel like he hears me. Here we go with

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feelings again. Prayer has nothing to do with

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feelings. You may feel God. You may not feel

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God. No matter what, your prayers open up the

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door for God to work. Your prayers are changing

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you. I have heard your prayer. And I have chosen

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this place as a house of sacrifice. He said,

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when I shut up heaven and there is no rain or

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command the locusts to devour the land or send

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pestilence among my people. He said, this is

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what's going to happen if my people pray. If

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my people who are called by my name will humble

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themselves and pray and seek my face and turn.

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from their wicked ways. He said, I'll hear from

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heaven. There it is again. God hears you when

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you pray. I'll hear from heaven. I will forgive

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their sin. And then he said, I'll heal their

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land. Then he says, now my eyes will be open

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and my ears attentive. to the prayer that is

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made in this place. For now I have chosen and

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sanctified this house that my name may be there

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forever, and my eyes and my heart will be there

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perpetually. So prayer changes you, but prayer

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also changes the world, or let's say it like

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this, the world around you. That could be your

00:16:37.889 --> 00:16:41.149
family, your friends, your community, your school,

00:16:41.470 --> 00:16:45.700
your college. Prayer changes things. Ian Bounds

00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:48.879
once said, God shapes the world through prayer.

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The more prayer there is in the world, the better

00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:57.059
the world will be. Okay, we're going to take

00:16:57.059 --> 00:16:59.840
another break, and we'll see you in a few minutes.

00:17:01.230 --> 00:17:03.990
The Lord spoke to me one day. He said, Margie,

00:17:04.069 --> 00:17:07.630
many of my people desire to be intimate with

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me. They desire to spend time with me. They desire

00:17:11.089 --> 00:17:14.630
to have a vibrant prayer life, but they just

00:17:14.630 --> 00:17:18.829
don't know where to begin. They just don't know

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how to start. So I wrote this book with that

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in mind. Encountering God through prayer. Simple

00:17:25.609 --> 00:17:29.390
strategies to develop a powerful prayer life.

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I take the reader from the very basics. Begin

00:17:33.670 --> 00:17:38.089
where you are. Begin with 15 minutes. Find a

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quiet place in your house. Go into a closet if

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you have to. Shut the door. Just begin where

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you are. And I teach the reader about the heart

00:17:50.730 --> 00:17:53.470
of the Father. Because if you don't know who

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God is, you're not going to understand His character

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and His nature, and you'll be afraid of Him.

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So I go into the heart of the Father. Who is

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the Father? What's His character? What's His

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nature? And then I take the reader all the way

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up into... what I call contemplative prayer.

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So if you would like a wonderful resource on

00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:21.039
how to begin your prayer life, I encourage you

00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:23.980
to get this book, Encountering God Through Prayer.

00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:29.799
Go to my website at margieflaurent .org. Prayer

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is necessary also because prayer produces intimacy.

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Prayer produces intimacy with the one you pray

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to. the one you pray for, and the one you pray

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with. Let's address first the one you pray to.

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Of course, we're referring to the Lord Jesus

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Christ, our Heavenly Father. Here's an example.

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The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3 .10, this

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is the amplified version, For my determined purpose

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is that I may know Him. that I may progressively

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become more deeply and intimately acquainted

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with him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding

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the wonders of this person more strongly and

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more clearly. I love that. He said, my purpose,

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my determined purpose, the Amplified said, is

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that I may know him. It's not ministry. It's

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not writing two thirds of the New Testament.

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He had one purpose toward the end of his life.

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And his purpose was, and he spoke it, is that

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I may know him. And I love the way this verse

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says it in the Amplified, that I may become more

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deeply and intimately acquainted with him. So

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prayer produces intimacy with the one you pray

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to. According to Webster's Dictionary, intimacy

00:20:04.769 --> 00:20:10.349
is defined as associated in close personal relations

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involving warm friendship or a personally close

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or familiar association, close, personal connection

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or familiar experience. So when you pray, you

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become familiar or more familiar with the Lord

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Jesus Christ, his person. Yes, we can get to

00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.940
know him through the word of God. Yes, we can

00:20:48.940 --> 00:20:52.059
study the scriptures and find out the heart of

00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:55.119
Jesus and how he talked and how he operated.

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But there is also a place in prayer. where you

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can come to know him on a more personal and a

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deeper level. You become familiar with him. You

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become familiar with his voice. You become familiar

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with his presence. Okay. So this kind of prayer

00:21:16.509 --> 00:21:21.130
produces this kind of intimacy. And I like how

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it says here in the definition, it involves a

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warm friendship. or a personally close or familiar

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association, private or closely personal. I want

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to know Jesus like that, don't you? I like what

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I heard Kenneth E. Hagin say one time, and this

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really hit me hard, and it stuck with me for

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the last 45 years. He said, Jesus is more real

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to me. Then my wife laying next to me in the

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bed. And I said to myself, he really knows God.

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He really knows Jesus. He had such intimacy with

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Jesus that all the natural world was just not

00:22:12.740 --> 00:22:17.359
distracting him from the connection that he had

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with Jesus Christ. was nothing of the outward.

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It was something on the inside of him. And I

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believe this kind of intimacy, my friends, will

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anchor us in these challenging times in the everyday

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life that you and I have to live in this world.

00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:38.859
So prayer produces intimacy with the one you

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pray to. I want to show you Moses. Moses had

00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:46.799
friendship with God. Let's look over at Exodus

00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:51.079
33, verse 11. It says here, So the Lord spoke

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to Moses face to face as a man speaks to a friend.

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There's that word friend again. I'm going to

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repeat this. So the Lord spoke to Moses face

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to face as a man speaks to his friend. now in

00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:09.099
the scripture goes on to talk about joshua he

00:23:09.099 --> 00:23:11.160
didn't depart from the tabernacle that was a

00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:14.200
very wise young man he stayed in the presence

00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:18.480
of god because he was being um he was being trained

00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:23.119
okay but here we see moses he had a face -to

00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:27.319
-face relationship with god as a man would speak

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to a friend and i said to god you know what if

00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:34.329
moses can have that why not you and i under the

00:23:34.329 --> 00:23:37.630
New Testament. We are under better covenant based

00:23:37.630 --> 00:23:41.069
upon better promises. We are one with the Lord.

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We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We have

00:23:44.109 --> 00:23:46.490
it better than Adam and Eve. We don't have to

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go to some mountain to pray. We are the house

00:23:50.950 --> 00:23:55.509
of prayer. We can pray to him anytime. Adam and

00:23:55.509 --> 00:23:58.410
Eve used to have to wait for God to come down

00:23:58.410 --> 00:24:01.230
and fellowship with them, but we don't have to

00:24:01.230 --> 00:24:05.200
wait. We can go to God anytime, any place. We

00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:08.640
can have intimacy and friendship with God. Again,

00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:12.220
if Moses had it, I want that. If Kenneth E. Hagin

00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:15.519
had that, I want that. Because my friends, God

00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:20.740
is no respecter of persons. It just takes a discipline.

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Like we said earlier, prayer goes from sacrifice

00:24:23.660 --> 00:24:28.900
to joy, from a desire to a discipline and to

00:24:28.900 --> 00:24:33.369
a delight. Let's see. Was Moses always that close

00:24:33.369 --> 00:24:37.369
to God? Let's look back into Exodus 3. It says

00:24:37.369 --> 00:24:41.549
here in Exodus 3, verse 6, Moreover, he said,

00:24:41.609 --> 00:24:44.710
God appeared to Moses and the whole burning bush

00:24:44.710 --> 00:24:49.150
experience. So Moses, you know, is in this, in

00:24:49.150 --> 00:24:51.990
the presence of God. And God says, you know,

00:24:52.009 --> 00:24:54.650
don't draw near to this place. Take your sandals

00:24:54.650 --> 00:24:56.769
off your feet for the place where you stand is

00:24:56.769 --> 00:25:00.849
holy ground. Moreover, he said, God said, I am

00:25:00.849 --> 00:25:05.109
the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the

00:25:05.109 --> 00:25:08.309
God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now, look

00:25:08.309 --> 00:25:12.569
here. This is Moses's very first encounter with

00:25:12.569 --> 00:25:16.250
God. What did Moses do? What was his response?

00:25:16.589 --> 00:25:21.809
It says right here. And Moses hid his face for

00:25:21.809 --> 00:25:28.230
he was afraid to look upon God. Now, what changed

00:25:28.230 --> 00:25:33.589
between Exodus 3 to Exodus 33? I believe that

00:25:33.589 --> 00:25:38.269
Moses watched God and he saw that God was true

00:25:38.269 --> 00:25:41.470
to his word. He saw that God was faithful. He

00:25:41.470 --> 00:25:44.630
saw the heart of God, that God loved his people

00:25:44.630 --> 00:25:50.069
and it transformed him. It changed him. And instead

00:25:50.069 --> 00:25:53.089
of having fear in the presence of God, he had

00:25:53.089 --> 00:25:56.440
confidence. in the presence of god that's why

00:25:56.440 --> 00:25:59.779
it's very important to balance your your prayer

00:25:59.779 --> 00:26:02.980
life with the word of god and with scriptures

00:26:02.980 --> 00:26:06.299
because the word of god and the scripture will

00:26:06.299 --> 00:26:09.819
reveal the true character of god and who he really

00:26:09.819 --> 00:26:13.420
is so that you don't have to be afraid of god

00:26:13.420 --> 00:26:18.160
okay so moses had intimacy with god and we're

00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:22.299
going to close with this deuteronomy 34 says

00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:28.599
that verse 10 but since then there had not arisen

00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:31.619
a prophet like moses whom the lord knew face

00:26:31.619 --> 00:26:34.619
to face in and then it goes on to say in all

00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:36.900
the signs and the wonders and the mighty power

00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:39.440
that manifested through him but i like verse

00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:47.420
10 this is moses's legacy moses knew god face

00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:54.079
to face as a man would speak to his friends Prayer

00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:58.059
produces intimacy, number one, with the one you

00:26:58.059 --> 00:27:02.640
pray to. Okay? Thank you for joining our broadcast.

00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:05.299
I look forward to seeing you the next time as

00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:08.660
we continue in this teaching, What Prayer Produces.

00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:12.579
Thank you for joining me during this broadcast.

00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:15.680
Before we go, I would like to say a prayer for

00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:18.019
you. And I'm going to take that prayer from the

00:27:18.019 --> 00:27:21.119
book of Ephesians, a Holy Spirit inspired prayer.

00:27:21.660 --> 00:27:24.839
Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith

00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:27.579
in the Lord Jesus Christ and your love for all

00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:31.240
the saints. do not cease to give thanks for you

00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:34.380
making mention of you in my prayers and here's

00:27:34.380 --> 00:27:36.359
the prayer I'm going to pray for you that the

00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:39.200
God of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory

00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:44.539
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation

00:27:44.539 --> 00:27:48.940
in the knowledge of him the eyes of your understanding

00:27:48.940 --> 00:27:53.039
being enlightened so father I just come before

00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:56.500
you in Jesus name and I thank you father that

00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:59.809
you have given us this word and season unto you,

00:27:59.869 --> 00:28:03.369
your people. So therefore, Father, I pray that

00:28:03.369 --> 00:28:06.869
you would open up the eyes of their understanding,

00:28:07.190 --> 00:28:10.670
that the entrance of your word would bring light

00:28:10.670 --> 00:28:13.690
and enlightenment, that this word concerning

00:28:13.690 --> 00:28:16.750
prayer and purpose would go deep down on the

00:28:16.750 --> 00:28:21.289
inside of them and bear fruit. In Jesus' name.

00:28:22.469 --> 00:28:25.390
Amen. God bless you. Thank you so much for tuning

00:28:25.390 --> 00:28:27.910
in to today's podcast. It has been such a joy

00:28:27.910 --> 00:28:28.910
sharing this time with you.