July 15, 2025

🎙️ Prayer & Purpose Podcast | CTN Episode 5

🎙️ Prayer & Purpose Podcast | CTN Episode 5

In Episode 5 of Prayer & Purpose with Margie Fleurant, we explore what it truly means to pray with faith—faith that believes, declares, and takes hold of God’s promises. Margie unpacks how active faith is not passive wishing, but confident, grounded expectation based on God’s Word.

Whether you’re praying for breakthrough, healing, direction, or loved ones—this episode will reignite your belief that your prayers move the heart of God and open the door for Him to work.

🔥 In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

  • Activate your faith through Scripture
  • Align your words with God’s will
  • Stay anchored in truth even when results take time

🕊️ “Wishing should never be a substitute for prayer. Prayer, backed by faith, opens the door for God to move.”

🎧 Tune in and be stirred to pray bold, effective prayers that change lives—starting with your own.

WEBVTT

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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. 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, and I'm your host, Margie Florent. We're

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going to continue our study on the four foundations

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of prayer. We left off with the first foundation.

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That is number one. We have to ask. You and I

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have to ask. We said that man is God's avenue

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into the earth. And I want to invite you to go

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back if you didn't hear that first episode. On

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that first foundation, I would invite you to

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go ahead and dive back into that episode and

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find out the things that we said about why it's

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important that we ask. Now, the second foundation

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of prayer is number two, that God hears you when

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you pray. Proverbs 15, 29 says, the Lord is far

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from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of

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the righteous. And I love this scripture. First

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John 5, 14 and 15 says, now this is the confidence.

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I like that word confidence. This is the confidence

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that we have in him. That if we ask, there's

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that word ask again. If we ask anything according

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to his will, he hears us. And if we know he hears

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us. we know that we have the petitions we desire

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of him number one he said this is the confidence

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that we have if we ask anything according to

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his will now his will is found in the word of

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god so if you want to know what the will of god

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is go into the scripture find a scripture that

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meets your need or the need of a person you are

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praying for agree with the scripture and that's

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what you present before the throne room of god

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now the bible says If we ask anything according

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to his will, then we know when we pray according

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to his will and we ask, he hears us. See, God

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is not deaf. God hears you when you pray. And

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if we know he hears us, whatever we ask, then

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we know that we have the petitions we desire

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of him. I just want you to get that visual in

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your mind and in your heart. Number one, that

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his eyes are upon you. but his ears are also

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open onto your prayers. Have that visual within

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you that God hears you when you pray. God is

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not deaf. God is not blind. He hears and he sees.

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And when you pray, he hears your prayers. John

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11, 42, when Jesus was standing at the tomb of

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Lazarus, Lazarus was dead four days. He came

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to the tomb. Now, in this particular case, in

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this particular prayer, Jesus groaned in the

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spirit. He wept and he was troubled. That's another

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kind of prayer. We'll talk about that in another

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episode. But when he prayed according to the

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will of God in that prayer, Romans 8, 26 through

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28, the Bible says he lifted up his eyes toward

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heaven and he said, Father. I thank you that

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you heard me and that you hear me always when

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I pray. So when you pray, your prayers go past

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your hands into the hands of Jesus. And if Jesus

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said, Father, I thank you that you hear me always

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when I pray. Then when you pray and they pass

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through the hands of Jesus, God hears him when

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he prays. God hears you when you pray. Okay.

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So the only time that he won't hear you is if

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you regard iniquity in your heart, if you have

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unforgiveness in your heart, if you have ought

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against anybody. The Bible says in Psalm 66,

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19 through 20, if I regard iniquity in my heart,

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the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has

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heard me. He has attended to the voice of my

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prayer. Blessed be God who has not turned away

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my prayer nor his mercy from me. So it's very

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important that when you pray and you stand before

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the throne room of God, that you confess your

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sin. You make sure that there's nothing in you

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that's going to hinder your prayer life. I don't

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know about you, but it's not worth it. We have

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way too much to do for the kingdom of God. We

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have way too much going on in the world. We have

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way too many things that are happening in the

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lives of the rising generations. And they need

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you and I as mothers and fathers to stand in

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the gap for them, to put up the hedge so we should

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not have any ought against anybody because it

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will hinder our prayers. And my friends. It is

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not worth it. Eternity is at stake here. Okay.

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So it's very important that when you pray, you

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know, you just take a look on the inside. The

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psalmist said, Lord created me a clean heart

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and renew a right spirit within me. So take a

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look on the inside. We don't want to have condemnation

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and we don't want to have guilt consciousness

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and the condemnation consciousness, but just

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look on the inside. If you have any odd against

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anybody, let. it go because it's not worth it

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so God hears you when you pray number three when

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you pray he answers you Jeremiah 33 3 says call

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upon me and I will answer you and show you great

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and mighty things which you do not know so when

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you call upon him he will answer you have you

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ever called somebody you know, and you get their

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voicemail or back in the day, some of you will

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remember this. We used to get a busy signal.

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Now we just get voicemail. Well, when you call

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upon God and you pray to him, he not only hears

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you, but the Bible says, I will answer you. You

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just have to be careful between the time you

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said your prayer and the time when the answer

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manifests, because there's always a gap in between.

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That's where faith comes in. And that's where

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you've got to hold fast the confession of your

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faith without wavering, which is our next point.

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But I'm going to say it right here and right

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now. That's why it's important that you understand

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that he answers you when you pray. Just don't

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allow doubt and worry and confusion to get in

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the way, you know, between the time you pray

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and the time your manifestation comes. Jesus

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said in Luke 18, 1, he said, men ought to always

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pray and not faint. Don't faint if you don't

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see visible results. Hold fast the confession

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of your faith. This is the confidence that you

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can have in him. If you ask anything according

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to his will, he hears you. And if you know he

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hears you, you know that he's answered you. You

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know that he has. the petitions you know that

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you he you know that he answers the petitions

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that you ask of him okay so god hears you when

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you pray and he answers you when you pray isaiah

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41 17 says when the poor and needy need water

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or when the poor and needy need water the lord

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said i will answer them i will not forsake them.

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So the Lord answers your prayers. Now, before

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we get into our last foundation, we're going

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to go ahead and take a break here and I'll see

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you when we get back. Early in 2025, I had a

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dream that I'd like to share with you. I dreamed

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I was a guest speaker in a church. During the

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preaching, I had a vision of a great ship. I

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saw the ship going straight and it was moving

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fast and furious ahead on the water. Then I saw

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the ship suddenly turning to the right. I said

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to the people, the ship is turning, but we must

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continue to pray into it. It's not in time to

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stop praying. I could see that the ship was turning

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and the church was at the helm of the ship, causing

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the ship to turn. Upon awakening, God gave me

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an assignment, and the assignment was, and still

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is, to mobilize prayer. We are praying together

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on our KIU prayer conference call. I would love

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it if you could join us. If you'd like more information,

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go to my website at margithurant .org, or the

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number is on the screen. I look forward to praying

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

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of a jingle and what sounded like digging that

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was my dog Milo yes he's here with us in the

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studio so for this session we decided to take

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his collar off so I just wanted you to be aware

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if you'd like to see a picture of Milo you could

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follow me on my instagram at margieflaurent .com

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and we have a lot of content there including

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my really cute dog who made a lot of noise in

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the last segment okay so we're going to go ahead

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and continue in our subject the foundations of

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prayer the last foundation is to stay in faith

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and oftentimes i see people submitting prayer

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requests and they are asking for prayer and the

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mindset is if we could just get hundred people

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to pray or a thousand people to pray or ten thousand

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people to pray then God will hear our prayers

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and it will bring the manifestation of that which

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we desire well yes prayer opens up the door for

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God to work and we have not because we ask not

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but it's also important to remember that when

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you pray it's important to release your faith

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Mark 11, 23 and 24 says, That's what faith is.

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Faith is believing even though you don't see

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the physical manifestation. And we're going to

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get into it in our teaching, but I just want

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to say right here that faith... is a spiritual

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force. And faith comes from the heart of the

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human spirit and it goes into the realm of the

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spirit and it is a spiritual force. And your

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faith with your prayers can open up doors, can

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move mountains, can do a lot of things that you

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are believing for. So it's very important that

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we stay in faith. And most importantly, exercise

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our faith when we pray. So let's go ahead and

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talk about what faith is. Hebrews 11 .1 says,

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Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

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the evidence of things not seen. So faith is

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essentially, it's not just wishful thinking,

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but a deep -seated belief. what is not yet visible

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based on God's promises it's about having confidence

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in things we anticipate and a firm conviction

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about things beyond our physical senses so faith

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is a substance of things we hope for and it's

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the evidence of things we don't see so that's

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faith it's believing before you actually see

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the manifestation. We've often heard the story

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of Thomas. People call him Doubting Thomas. Well,

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Thomas said, I'm not going to believe that Jesus

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is risen unless I see the nail prints in his

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hands. That's what I'm going to believe. And

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of course, you know the story. Jesus walked through

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the wall, manifested himself to Thomas and said,

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Behold my hands and that's when Thomas believed

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but that's not faith. That's why they call him

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doubting Thomas faith Believes that you receive

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it Before you actually have it and I like the

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scripture in Hebrews 11 1 where it says now faith

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is the new King King James Version says now Faith

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is so faith. I like to look at it like this is

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now You have it now. Now faith is. So in the

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realm of the Spirit, you believe you receive

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it, and you have it now. Okay? So we said faith

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is a powerful spiritual force, and it goes into

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the unseen realm. Let's go into James 1, verse

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5. Hope you're enjoying these teachings. I would

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encourage you to let your friends know that we

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are releasing this broadcast These are very basic

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foundational truths Regarding prayer and purpose

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and I just want to encourage you to stay with

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us because we're just going to progress with

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each and every episode in the things concerning

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prayer, the different kinds of prayer, the different

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ways to pray, and also we're going to get into

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finding your purpose, okay? So let's go into

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James chapter 1, verse 8 says, If any of you

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lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to

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all liberally and without reproach. It says here,

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but let him ask how? faith so it's not just praying

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random words it's asking in faith but let him

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ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts

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is like the wave of a sea driven and tossed by

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the wind but for let not that man suppose he

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will receive anything from the Lord the Bible

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says he is a double -minded man unstable in all

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his ways another translation says but when you

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ask you must believe and not doubt because the

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one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown

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and tossed by the wind that person should not

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expect to receive anything from the lord such

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a person is unstable or un or double -minded

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in all that we do let's break that verse down

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okay In context, he is referring to the importance

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of faith when seeking guidance or help from God.

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When asking for this wisdom, which is the context,

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one must be or do or stay firm in your belief

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without doubt. This highlights the necessity

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of trusting God's character and his promises.

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It's very important. That's why we always say

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it's very important that you put the Word of

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God in your heart. The Word of God does not return

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void, but it will produce faith in your heart.

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The Bible says in, I think it's Romans 10, 17,

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that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the

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Word of God. It doesn't say that faith comes

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by having heard. No, we've got to daily put the

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Word of God in our heart. That's why the Bible

00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:56.799
says in Luke 11, give us this day our daily bread.

00:16:57.019 --> 00:16:59.500
So it's very important that in order for our

00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:03.360
faith to remain strong, that we put the word

00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.859
of God in our heart, because faith comes by hearing

00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:12.700
and hearing by the word of God. So all the promises

00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:17.470
of God, the Bible says, are yes and amen. So

00:17:17.470 --> 00:17:21.490
his promises are trustworthy and will be fulfilled.

00:17:22.049 --> 00:17:26.470
Yes and amen, the Bible says. Yes is in agreement

00:17:26.470 --> 00:17:31.150
and amen is the Hebrew word, so be it or truly.

00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:35.029
So when God makes a promise, you can stand in

00:17:35.029 --> 00:17:39.789
faith on that promise because it is yes and amen

00:17:39.789 --> 00:17:44.700
and it is certainly going to come to pass. In

00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:48.480
this verse, James uses the metaphor of a wave

00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:52.440
tossed by the wind to illustrate doubt. This

00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:57.240
imagery comes or conveys instability and uncertainty.

00:17:57.579 --> 00:18:01.180
Just as waves are unpredictable and are driven

00:18:01.180 --> 00:18:04.680
by external forces. Did you hear that? By external

00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:09.769
forces. A doubting person lacks a solid foundation

00:18:09.769 --> 00:18:14.089
in their faith and is easily swayed by circumstances.

00:18:14.529 --> 00:18:17.349
So it's the word of God that stabilizes you.

00:18:17.410 --> 00:18:21.410
It's the word of God put in your heart that stabilizes

00:18:21.410 --> 00:18:25.170
you. So if you want your faith to increase, it's

00:18:25.170 --> 00:18:28.869
very important that you put the word of God in

00:18:28.869 --> 00:18:30.789
your heart. We're going to go ahead and take

00:18:30.789 --> 00:18:33.450
a break here and we'll see you in a few minutes.

00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:37.359
The Lord spoke to me one day. He said, Margie,

00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:41.019
many of my people desire to be intimate with

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

00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:48.000
to have a vibrant prayer life, but they just

00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:52.220
don't know where to begin. They just don't know

00:18:52.220 --> 00:18:55.539
how to start. So I wrote this book with that

00:18:55.539 --> 00:18:59.000
in mind. Encountering God Through Prayer, Simple

00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:02.819
Strategies to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life.

00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:07.059
I take the reader from the very basics. Begin

00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:11.480
where you are. Begin with 15 minutes. Find a

00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:15.839
quiet place in your house. Go into a closet if

00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:19.460
you have to. Shut the door. Just begin where

00:19:19.460 --> 00:19:24.099
you are. And I teach the reader about the heart

00:19:24.099 --> 00:19:26.859
of the Father. Because if you don't know who

00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:30.240
God is, you're not going to understand His character

00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.059
and His nature, and you'll be afraid of Him.

00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:36.839
So I go into the heart of the Father. Who is

00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:39.220
the Father? What's his character? What's his

00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:42.400
nature? And then I take the reader all the way

00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:47.599
up into what I call contemplative prayer. So

00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:50.680
if you would like a wonderful resource on how

00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:54.519
to begin your prayer life, I encourage you to

00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:57.359
get this book, Encountering God Through Prayer.

00:19:57.579 --> 00:20:06.009
Go to my website at margieflaurent .org. So we

00:20:06.009 --> 00:20:08.269
emphasize the importance of putting the word

00:20:08.269 --> 00:20:11.170
of God in our hearts and that faith comes by

00:20:11.170 --> 00:20:14.170
hearing and hearing by the word of God. Let's

00:20:14.170 --> 00:20:16.769
go ahead and talk about verses seven and eight.

00:20:16.829 --> 00:20:20.019
It says that when a man doubts. Let not that

00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:23.079
man suppose he will receive anything from the

00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:27.480
Lord. He is a double minded man, unstable in

00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:32.460
all his ways. So it is critical that you and

00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:37.480
I get out of doubt and get into faith. It's important

00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:41.299
that we have an expectation of receiving from

00:20:41.299 --> 00:20:44.900
God instead of receiving nothing from God. And

00:20:44.900 --> 00:20:48.319
if we are being tossed, we are double minded.

00:20:48.460 --> 00:20:51.140
And the Bible says, let not that man think he

00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:54.319
will receive anything from God. In other words,

00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:58.619
you or I will have conflicting beliefs. You know,

00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:01.460
we will not receive anything from God again.

00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:04.779
That's why it's very important to have the word

00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:06.829
of God in your heart. to know the scriptures,

00:21:07.049 --> 00:21:10.150
to know the promises so that you won't be double

00:21:10.150 --> 00:21:13.549
minded in all of your ways. So it's not just

00:21:13.549 --> 00:21:18.490
prayer. It's exercising your prayer in faith.

00:21:18.769 --> 00:21:21.990
Now, I want to make a comment here, and I think

00:21:21.990 --> 00:21:24.990
this is going to encourage many of you. You can

00:21:24.990 --> 00:21:28.769
have faith in your heart and be stabilized in

00:21:28.769 --> 00:21:33.549
your heart and doubt and warfare coming at your

00:21:33.549 --> 00:21:37.880
mind or. your thought life now the bible says

00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:41.059
in second corinthians for though we walk in the

00:21:41.059 --> 00:21:45.180
flesh we do not war according to the flesh for

00:21:45.180 --> 00:21:48.559
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but

00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.259
mighty through god to the pulling down of strongholds

00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:56.599
casting down imaginations another translation

00:21:56.599 --> 00:22:00.640
says arguments and every thing that exalts itself

00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.000
against the knowledge of God, bringing every

00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.200
thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:11.839
So there's times when you pray and you know you've

00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:14.619
prayed in faith and you've got all kinds of doubt

00:22:14.619 --> 00:22:17.960
and unbelief thoughts coming at your mind. But

00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:19.940
you know that you know that, you know, on the

00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:22.400
inside, you have faith. You prayed in faith.

00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.799
Well, my advice to you is to cast down those

00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:28.519
thoughts when those thoughts come at your mind.

00:22:28.619 --> 00:22:33.599
Cast them down. Don't accept the thought. Didn't

00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:37.859
Jesus say, don't take the thought? Okay, just

00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:40.519
cast them down. There's another scripture in

00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:43.200
Psalms that says, I am distracted at the noise

00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.799
of the enemy. Sometimes it's just the enemy to

00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:48.660
get you into doubt, to speaking and saying the

00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:51.859
wrong things, and therefore it nullifies your

00:22:51.859 --> 00:22:54.599
prayers. Just hold fast the confession of your

00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:59.170
faith without wavering. Faithful is he, who had

00:22:59.170 --> 00:23:03.750
promised okay let's talk about the faith of abraham

00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:11.349
romans chapter 4 it says here we're doing a thorough

00:23:11.349 --> 00:23:13.990
teaching on faith and i hope you're enjoying

00:23:13.990 --> 00:23:19.589
it romans chapter 4 verse 17 says edison is written

00:23:19.589 --> 00:23:22.769
speaking to abraham i have made you the father

00:23:22.769 --> 00:23:26.869
of many nations in the presence of him whom he

00:23:26.869 --> 00:23:30.680
believed who gives life to the dead and calls

00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:34.220
those things which do not exist as though they

00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:40.319
did, who contrary to hope in hope believed so

00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:43.259
that he would become the father of many nations

00:23:43.259 --> 00:23:47.859
according to that which was spoken. So he took

00:23:47.859 --> 00:23:51.380
that which was spoken. He took the promise of

00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:55.619
God. Okay. And he, he believed. And the Bible

00:23:55.619 --> 00:24:00.400
says in verse 19 that Abraham was not weak in

00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:06.019
faith. He did not consider his own body now dead.

00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:09.839
Neither Sarah, who was 100 years old, and he

00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:14.140
did not waver. He wasn't wavering at the promise

00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:16.940
of God through unbelief, but was strengthened

00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:20.900
in faith, giving glory to God and being fully

00:24:20.900 --> 00:24:24.430
convinced. that what he had promised what god

00:24:24.430 --> 00:24:29.210
had promised he was able also to perform so we

00:24:29.210 --> 00:24:31.430
see in this scripture that abraham believed god

00:24:31.430 --> 00:24:34.569
he didn't consider the circumstances he didn't

00:24:34.569 --> 00:24:37.190
consider the deadness of sarah's womb the bible

00:24:37.190 --> 00:24:41.309
says he was fully persuaded he did not waver

00:24:41.309 --> 00:24:45.589
at the promise of god through unbelief and that

00:24:45.589 --> 00:24:49.369
is very important lastly let's talk about peter

00:24:49.369 --> 00:24:52.569
walking on the water and here's what it looks

00:24:52.569 --> 00:24:56.049
like to exercise your faith the scripture says

00:24:56.049 --> 00:25:01.450
um in matthew 14 that jesus told the disciples

00:25:01.450 --> 00:25:05.210
to get out you know he he was tired and immediately

00:25:05.210 --> 00:25:08.750
the bible says jesus made the disciples get into

00:25:08.750 --> 00:25:11.589
the boat and go ahead of him to the other side

00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:15.279
while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed

00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:17.920
them, he went up into the mountain by himself

00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:21.339
to pray. And later that night he was alone. And

00:25:21.339 --> 00:25:24.819
the Bible says, you know, that the boat was out

00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:27.140
there. There was a lot of waves. There was a

00:25:27.140 --> 00:25:31.519
lot of wind. And shortly before dawn, Jesus steps

00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:34.900
out into the water and he's walking on the water

00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:37.579
and he's coming to the disciples. Now the disciples

00:25:37.579 --> 00:25:40.339
get afraid, they get upset and they're like,

00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:44.140
oh my gosh, It's a ghost. But Jesus immediately

00:25:44.140 --> 00:25:49.119
said to them, take courage. It is I. Don't be

00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:53.099
afraid. I want to just say something about fear.

00:25:53.380 --> 00:25:57.279
Fear is the opposite of faith. That's why Jesus

00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:00.599
said to the disciples, don't be afraid. Take

00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:05.160
courage. It is I. Faith is a spiritual force,

00:26:05.259 --> 00:26:10.660
we said. but so is fear. Stay in faith. Job said,

00:26:10.819 --> 00:26:14.900
that which I greatly feared has come upon me.

00:26:15.099 --> 00:26:18.759
So it's important to remember to stay in faith

00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:23.720
and don't allow fear access to your heart. So

00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:27.200
the scripture goes on to say in verse 28, Lord,

00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:31.240
if it's you, Peter said, tell me to come on the

00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:34.500
water. Then what did Jesus say? He said, come.

00:26:35.150 --> 00:26:38.650
And this one word released enough faith in Peter's

00:26:38.650 --> 00:26:41.970
heart to step out of the boat and step into the

00:26:41.970 --> 00:26:44.470
water. But what happened? I know many of you

00:26:44.470 --> 00:26:46.970
know this story, but it's worth repeating. Because

00:26:46.970 --> 00:26:49.369
again, faith comes by hearing and hearing by

00:26:49.369 --> 00:26:52.049
the word of God. What happened to Peter? The

00:26:52.049 --> 00:26:54.869
Bible says he stepped out of the boat. He was

00:26:54.869 --> 00:26:58.789
walking toward Jesus. And when he saw the wind,

00:26:58.990 --> 00:27:02.789
he got into fear. The Bible says he was afraid.

00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:07.099
And he got out of fear. He saw the wind and he

00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:10.759
began to sink. And he said, Lord, save me. And

00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:13.619
immediately Jesus reached out and caught him.

00:27:13.700 --> 00:27:15.519
And then he said, oh, you have little faith.

00:27:16.059 --> 00:27:19.779
Why did you doubt? Peter started out in faith,

00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:23.220
but he didn't end there. OK, what we want to

00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:27.859
do is we want to stay in faith. And I also want

00:27:27.859 --> 00:27:30.630
you to notice in this verse. that peter what

00:27:30.630 --> 00:27:34.369
he did was he took his eyes off of jesus he took

00:27:34.369 --> 00:27:38.029
his eyes off the promises and therefore he began

00:27:38.029 --> 00:27:41.170
to doubt he began to waver and that's when he

00:27:41.170 --> 00:27:43.950
began to sink so it's very important that we

00:27:43.950 --> 00:27:46.789
focus on the word of god look at the word of

00:27:46.789 --> 00:27:50.849
god look unto jesus the author and the finisher

00:27:50.849 --> 00:27:56.000
of our faith and stay rooted and grounded In

00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:00.660
the promises of God that are all yes and amen.

00:28:01.140 --> 00:28:04.180
Okay. We're going to conclude this episode today.

00:28:04.220 --> 00:28:07.180
And I look forward to seeing you next time. You

00:28:07.180 --> 00:28:10.500
pray it and he can answer it. The effectual fervent

00:28:10.500 --> 00:28:15.519
prayer of a righteous man avails much. God will

00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.359
put the prayer in your heart to pray so that

00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:20.400
he can answer it. Goes into the hearts of the

00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:23.400
people. Doesn't return void. It produces results.

00:28:23.930 --> 00:28:26.490
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's podcast.

00:28:26.890 --> 00:28:28.730
It has been such a joy sharing this time with

00:28:28.730 --> 00:28:31.329
you. For more inspiration and resources on today's

00:28:31.329 --> 00:28:33.950
topic, please visit our website at margiefloran

00:28:33.950 --> 00:28:34.670
.org.