Priscilla Shirer: Is Your Prayer Life Intentional? (Full Teaching) | Praise on TBN

Priscilla Shirer joins Laurie Crouch and Holly Wagner on TBN’s Praise. Be encouraged as they discuss the different ways that we can actively pursue growing closer to God as we learn to pray intentionally.

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i think we’re listening to everybody and

everything else hoping to find the voice

of god elsewhere when we are um really

turning our noses up at and ignoring the

main means of communication that we have

access to straight from the hand of god

himself and that’s the bible if you want

to hear from god and you don’t never

read the bible then you don’t really

want to hear from us right because

that’s the primary way

so you started speaking back when you

were like 19 years old yes yes what

okay your parents are amazing first of

all let’s start with you where where you

came from your mom and dad uh bishop

tony evans yes right there such a great

such a great man and your mother

yeah see your mother did such a good job

they are beautiful people and let me

tell you

it it it

just puts joy in my heart to even

discuss them and the reason is because

i know a lot of preachers kids who do

not have my story yeah their parents

were one way at church and they were a

different way at home and the the

relationship with jesus christ was so

segmented because it was like church

life over there and then regular life

and regular life looked different

and that is not my testimony my parents

are people of integrity and character

they’re like for real like all that

stuff my dad preaches about family and

and um just the the unit of of god being

passed from one generation to the next

in the unit of the family um the message

of christ being passed along you know he

he believed that we had devotions

together as a family we weren’t a

perfect family you know but um my dad

was intentional my mother they were

intentional about making sure that they

passed on what ministry really is it’s

an overflow right of your relationship

with jesus christ that’s right you know

i i thank god i’ve got the same story

yeah amazing parents and my dad always

said man your ministry is your is your

family yeah

in miniature that’s right and your

family is if it doesn’t happen at home

it’s not going to happen anywhere else

and um so it’s such an amazing heritage

that we have what’s your story girl well

actually this the same you know my

parents uh loved each other and

loved me and i was told every day that

um by my dad that i could be anything

and do anything and believed in me

and i’m very aware that our stories is

not been sadly yeah not as common yeah

you know that there are so many women in

particular who

you know have deal with abuse and

betrayal and abandonment and then they

grow up and and look for

love and security and all sorts of other

places so we’re but you know you’re just

grateful yeah yeah i’m grateful too but

i think about that and realize that when

i just go back one generation beyond my

parents my grandparents the choices that

they made literally changed the

trajectory of our entire family line

so at some point somebody had to decide

enough is enough right and i’m going to

actually be a man or a woman of god and

i’m going to follow the laurels of

scripture and i’m going to pass this

down to my children somebody in some

family line has to make that choice

that’s exactly and so it might as well

be us

that you said that because my dad um

again loved me very well but he had

never heard i love you from his parents

so he made the decision that he was not

going to be that so just to your point

somebody has to at some point make the

change and go we’re going to do it

differently and what i love about god is

that even if we if maybe you don’t have

that heritage god can take one moment of

time yes there’s nothing wasted in the

kingdom of god

and i love that but you ministered so

many people

around the world women from every

tribe and tongue yeah and uh where where

okay tell us about you if we were to

just squeeze you what do you think your

life’s messages is it one particular

thing or is it just i mean you talk

about everything but it really is

that the scriptures that from beginning

to end they really are a meeting with a

person yes and that if i can encourage

people to see that the bible itself is

not just a book that we’re not just

supposed to know it here but that it

literally by the holy spirit’s power is

translated into an experience with a

person

in our regular everyday rhythms of life

where you experience his passion his

peace you actually sense the joy the

comfort the nearness of god through the

scriptures that’s what i want to be able

to communicate i want the scriptures to

come alive as it did for me not only in

church as my dad preached faithfully

every sunday as he still does to this

day um and not only sitting at the knees

of my mom with her little flannel board

pieces as she would you know put them

there on the little you know the little

felt oh yeah

we all sunday school kids

[Laughter]

so you know not not just in those

instances but when we’re just quietly at

our kitchen table just reading whatever

our quiet time is for the day that

that’s not supposed to be a duty just to

check off that we did our quiet time

right this is his love letter to you and

if we open our hearts up to the reality

that that’s his intention is to speak to

us then we meet the author of the letter

not just the letter itself yeah right it

is the living word of god yeah if

if you don’t have some of these books

you better get some i’ve been listening

to the audio version of this

for the last couple days and i’m telling

you um hearing the voice of god you know

and discerning

um the voice of god it starts first with

listening it does it starts with

listening and to be listening to the

scriptures i think we’re listening to

everybody and everything else hoping to

find the voice of god elsewhere when we

are um really turning our noses up at

and ignoring the main means of

communication that we have access to

straight from the hand of god himself

and that’s the bible if you want to hear

from god and you don’t ever read the

bible then you don’t really want to hear

from god right because that’s the

primary way he speaks people want it you

know sky writing and

you know smoke signals it’s like no open

the bible god will speak to you that’s

exactly right and think about this you

know we look at the people in the old

testament who had some of those things

that we desire you know the the fiery

pillar by night and the cloud you know

in the day and and all of these

different things and we look at the

dreams and the visions and donkey

speaking and all the stuff and we’re

like lauren if you could just do that

we’d appreciate that you know if

lightning would flash at noon tomorrow

if you want me to take the job or not we

want that but think about the fact that

the psalmist prayed and said lord please

do not take your spirit from me they

want it in the old testament what we

have access to that’s right the reason

they needed all of that and not that god

can’t still do that because he can if he

chooses to but the reason they needed

those things is because they did not

have the gift that we have yep and that

is the holy spirit loving every single

one of us that’s exactly right yeah we

were just actually um at church recently

talking about the holy spirit and who he

is and and it um one of the you know the

paraclete is the word that would be used

to translate him and that’s actually a

battle term which you’re probably aware

of and you’re so deep holly that’s so

deep you’re so so deeply spiritual

and it’s uh it’s an ancient battle term

and so the greeks when they would go out

to battle you know they would go in

pairs and you would fight back to back

protecting each other’s back well your

battle partner was called your paraclete

so the holy spirit hey girl that’ll

preach right there right yes it does and

it so did yes

he’s your battle partner yeah and but if

you don’t if you actually don’t

connect and build this relationship with

him

right then how how are you going to hear

and you’re right so many times we spend

so much time flipping through social

media and getting on facebook and we

spend all that time looking for

information to make decisions

and he is our guide that’s right right

it’s his voice he’s he wants to guide

and direct us yeah and i think there’s a

misconception that the enemy sort of

pushes on individual believers that

there is some special hotline connection

that god has with some of us that he

does not also offer to everyone that if

you haven’t been to seminary that if

you’re not in ministry that if you don’t

have this

religious devoted elevated life of

spirituality that you don’t also have

the opportunity to hear from god but i’m

so grateful that it’s just that hearing

god is for regular women you know what i

mean just housewives and people trying

to pull the laundry and cook for their

kids and figure out new ways to cook

chicken for dinner it’s for us you know

what i’m so i’m so grateful um that it’s

not just reserved for certain people at

certain times but by god’s spirit we all

have access to hear them because i think

i’d be gooned that’s right that wasn’t

if that wasn’t the case i think that’s

probably one of my most um

if anybody if i could open my mouth and

say anything is that god loves you and

that god is there and that god is with

you and the holy spirit never leaves you

never you know that’s my passion if i if

i ever tell anybody that is that it’s

not just for the guy that’s up on the

pulpit or preaching or that it’s just

for us no matter where we are no matter

for all no matter what yeah but okay how

did you start

doing the kids stuff when did that take

place you know what it started about six

years ago now i was making scrambled

eggs in the morning as you do as you do

that’s right

my four-year-old at the time was already

sitting down eating his plate i was

finishing up another plate and my

four-year-old said while my back was

turned to him he said mom will i ever be

in a battle

and i just

said what babe he said will i ever be in

a battle like with satan and it’s one of

those questions where you kind of turn

around and go now what you know what

what were you dreaming about last night

you know where did that come from and so

it startled me but i just kind of turned

around and he had this this innocent

wide-eyed

look that he was very serious he wanted

to know the answer to that question so i

took the opportunity after after praying

really quickly and saying how do i

answer this lord i just said you know

actually babe you you are in a battle

with the enemy every single day you know

that tug that you feel on the inside to

engage in something maybe you shouldn’t

to say something to be mean to and then

you feel that pull back and forth about

whether or not to do it that’s the the

war and then by this time a six-year-old

brother comes around the baby at the

time was in the crib i mean he’s like

little teeny bitty and i said guys you

do know you have invisible armor right

and to a four-year-old and a

six-year-old boy hearing that they have

they’ve got a sword what you know

there’s a helmet available you know so i

just started and we started memorizing

ephesians chapter six wow and so as i

was looking at how engaged they were in

this idea that there’s a spiritual

battle and that they’re engaged in it

every single day as a mom who’s hoping

her boys will love to read i thought to

myself wouldn’t it be great if there was

an adventure series that really was all

about fiction all about some kids who

discover that there is an invisible

realm and that in this invisible realm

they meet a guide this guide shows them

and gives them access to the armor that

they they have available to them to

defeat the enemy there and that the

victories they experience there in

aortos which is which is a greek word

for invisible that the victory they

experience there translates to their

experiences on earth if they can just

learn how to get victory there they’ll

experience victory here and so i just

started crafting these chapters for my

boys and i would read it to them before

bed and and craft these characters and i

sort of based the characters off of my

boys and nieces and nephews and i didn’t

intend to write them for publishing i

was just writing them to read to my boys

so that we’d have something to read

together and so here six years later we

have the prince warrior series and it’s

for prince and princesses alike so good

who just want to to learn how to arm

themselves to stand firm against the

schemes of the enemy wow it’s so good i

i actually can’t wait to

read those to jordan

hello

30 year old jordan yeah probably not

but

i like them you never know but i just

have so many young people in my world

yeah i i just think it’s

well personally i love

um

it’s like why i love c.s lewis because

he could fiction that actually could

make the point right i just feel like i

learned so much from that

yeah almost more than somebody teaches

that’s right oh like somebody who’s

telling the story and the goal was to

give organic opportunity for there to be

a conversation between a you know a

ten-year-old and their mom or a

ten-year-old and their dad about

something they read and it just hinted

at something that caused a spiritual

interest to be peaked that opens the

door for this conversation about

spiritual things oh by the way

way jesus told stories told stories

that’s right

that’s right exactly so the theological

principles are just all tucked in there

somewhere that’s great we actually

decided on um the princewarriors.com

what we did is we have this little

button called secrets so that a parent

or kid can click on secrets and actually

see what the theological secrets are

that are tucked in each chapter wow so

if a parent hadn’t read the whole thing

but they just want to go in there they

know their kids on chapter two book two

they can go in there and see what the

secrets are and then bring it up at

dinner and say hey when you read this

what do you think that meant so we just

started trying to stir the conversation

a little bit that’s so cool that’s

awesome okay so um a few months ago we

were at bishop jake’s church and you got

the the big

beautiful award they are beautiful

people are they amazing and my

mother-in-law got the lifetime

achievement yes she did and um

so

you had your kids with you your boys all

three people three beautiful boys by the

way giant boys giant boys they are dead

i mean i just remember them from being

little giant every day

you um something that touched me so much

during that is that you started uh

telling the the audience what you speak

over your kids and so just talk about

that did you did your parents do that to

you

like that or was it just something

that you

i’m trying to think of exactly why i

started doing that what the specific

reason was i don’t know that i can

remember i just thought this is my

opportunity to get something stuck in

their head get a message stuck in time

is right the time is

this is my opportunity you know while i

have an audience while they’re here and

nothing with me that’s right i’m gonna

get this this soundtrack stuck in their

head because i know the enemy’s coming

after them i know that he’s going to try

to make them feel insecure and

discouraged and overwhelmed and

frustrated and like they’re ill-equipped

to do whatever god has for them so i

have literally said nearly the same

thing to them for years and years every

morning

they know what’s coming i say boys look

at mama in the eyes and they all go ugh

and they love it and they just don’t let

you know is that what’s happening oh yes

yes

okay they’ll tell this story 40 years

from now they’ll do sitting here

[Laughter]

and i do i just look at them and i say

you are men of integrity and character

and honesty you will be a blessing to

your teacher today you will be a

blessing to your friends you will love

the lord your god with all your heart

with all your soul and with all your

strength you will put on the full armor

of god so that you can stand firm

against the schemes of the devil you

will have the praises of the lord in

your mouth all day long so that you can

speak well over those who are near you

you are the head you are not the tail

you are above you are not beneath you

are a leader you are not a follower and

you will love the lord your god all of

your days and about halfway through that

they start going you will love the lord

all right

so they’re they’re moaning about it but

the fact that they can repeat it back to

me yes means that it’s getting in

absolutely i remember one time when um

just with paris

what she would hear from me often and

the phrase i would use is you’re the

love beyond measured daughter of the

king that’s great and so i talk about

that and so and you know put that in the

middle of sentences all the time and

then one time i overheard her on the

phone with a little friend and there was

this

emotional thing happening she goes no

you you’re you are the love beyond

measure daughter of a king do you know

that that’s awesome so i’m just like yes

yes

that’s right that’s those are small

little victories listen because there’s

a lot of stuff you go through and so you

have to celebrate the victories that’s

right i know oh yeah so now that they’re

you know they’re older now and so i’ve

just printed it up actually i printed up

unique ones that i can start to see

little ways that the enemy might want to

take advantage of a vulnerability here

or fear here or an insecurity there so i

just wrote up a little list for each one

and i have them posted on the our house

is really tiny so they’re right there in

the hallway posted on the little closet

door and every morning i still say my

part to them but they have to go read

their own out loud um so that i can hear

it but also so that they can hear it

and so they read their own every single

day i’m like this is my this is my

chance to put as much in them as i can

you have that posted on your website or

anything that people do you know what i

wrote a blog post about it a while back

i’ll have to so it’s there

but i’ll repost it again jerry could you

get on him

we’ll re-post that so that yeah people

could print that out that’s right and

say that’s a great idea i love that and

i love that actually that they

you have them say some things because

yeah right you know faith comes by

hearing that’s right and

you have to hear sometimes from your own

mouth i actually remember when i was

dealing with cancer

that i could read

the healing scriptures but there’s

something about saying them out loud you

got that right and saying them louder

than the fear in my own head right

because the fear in my head was big

and so saying it louder and so there’s

just something about finding a promise

and i know there are people watching and

you’re in the middle of

your own situation and so

it’s worth it to do the work to find the

promise that speaks to your situation

and underline it certainly but

take a moment

and shout it

shout it shout it loud because fear

fear can over

you can try to overtake it but you just

speak his truth louder so i love the

fact that you have your voice and not to

mention the fact holly that the enemy

does not know what we are thinking but

he sure enough will hear what you’re

saying right so when we speak god’s word

into the atmosphere that we’re actually

clothing ourselves

in the promises of god um it’s almost

like it becomes a fortified shelter

against the attacks of the enemy because

god watches over his word to perform it

yes so we can either give the enemy

ammunition with negativity and

complaining and speaking um basically

collaborating with his attempts to drag

us down or we can go ahead and just

speak the promises of god and let the

enemy know we’re not just going to let

him just waltz in here and take

advantage of us we’re going to put up a

fight because we’re going to stand firm

on what our god says

but it’s so it’s good that you put it

that way because to be honest there are

times when it’s so much easier to

complain oh i mean come on right yeah

follow in it

and i i was i have a pity party and

invite friends right come and join you

david said you know i complained and my

spirit was overwhelmed

right so we get overwhelmed the more

complaints yes but it’s complaining is

so easy

oh it’s intrinsic it’s so easier just to

focus on me and the bad and and the more

we do the bigger the problems become

whatever you give your attention

magnifying and then you try to than

other people you want other people to

join you’re complaining yeah it doesn’t

actually help anything so and then we

get mad at the friends who won’t join us

right we don’t even want to be there no

exactly

you’re not gonna feel bad for me you’re

right goodbye well you know i it’s like

a marriage i

a a marriage that was actually close to

us for a while um one of one day the

girl said to me she said you know it’s

really hard being around other good

marriages

because ours is so bad and i was like

hello

you need to be around

good marriages isn’t that interesting

yeah it was easier for her to be around

bad marriages

so we had to

break fellaini

a lot just like a lot of judgment

i think some of that was part of it but

maybe a lot of jealousy yeah yeah you

know because you had a good one and and

we don’t have so it’s really hard to be

around the good ones right you know i

don’t i don’t even get that yeah

marriage takes work doesn’t it yes

anybody here at this table have a

perfect marriage anybody married to

perfect men

[Laughter]

priscilla and i are not i’m pretty sure

but

actually i know your

husband not perfect for you

but it does take work right it takes

speaking the truth it takes persevering

through the talking over him every day

you will

and

surrounding yourself like you just said

surrounding yourself with people who are

going to hold you accountable to doing

the work of marriage yes and we have

this older i say older couple they’re

really not they’re 10 years down the

road so they’re 10 years down the road

and raising kids in marriage and

ministry and that’s all you really do

need someone where there’s a little bit

of a gap yes that they can look back on

the season you’re in and give wise input

but we’ve really submitted ourselves to

their authority in the sense that if

they look at our schedule and they’re

like when is the last time y’all been on

a date when’s the last time you guys

have actually had a really good

conversation that wasn’t about business

or wasn’t about ministry just about the

two of you and if we have not done that

and they say get your butts on a plane

and get to us right now

we have a commitment to them that if

there’s something they see we need to

realign we will get on a plane and we

will get there because they care more

about the state of our souls than they

do the state of our our ministry yeah

they need people like that that are

going to just charge you up and keep

everybody here’s the thing sometimes i

think people the people will say that

you know like you need accountability

but then to do the work of then actually

being accountable yielding yourself to

somebody else’s voice especially for a

guy

i feel like it’s easier for us as women

because we’re relational beings we like

that feeling of protectedness and being

covered um there’s safety and security

so it’s at least easier for us but for

sometimes for husbands

they’re like i’m the leader in this

house and i’m not trying to submit to

anybody else the best husbands in the

world i think are those who are willing

to submit to the authority of their

pastor or spiritual leader in their life

and humble themselves to know that i

need

guidance and direction and so we got to

pray for our husbands in that regard yes

because that’s a hard thing for that

that man part of men you know that macho

man

which we need we want the doctor

we do

no but it’s i actually remember

a thousand years ago you might have just

had the baby

so we’re sitting at dinner with the four

of us philip and me and you and jerry

that’s right and you pulled out this

little pad of paper and go okay

how do we do this

i was like i wasn’t prepared but it was

how do you how do we do you know

marriage and raise kids and do the

ministry because at that time your kids

would have been the ages my kids are

right now right

right and i’m always very mindful of

that when i’m around people that are

just a step ahead i want to just glean

what i can from this moment because

they’ve been there and done this already

it’s no point in all of us making the

same mistake no we might as well just

learn from each other exactly

to do that and so i just actually

appreciate that about you but then i

feel like that’s i i do that all the

time i’m calling people and go so how do

you handle this situation yeah when my

kids were teenagers and i was you know

trying to not kill them i’d go okay

hope assistant out here because

right having the real conversations

humbling yourself you know acknowledging

that they’re

your kids aren’t perfect but help me

get them along the next step so i just

you know appreciate that quality in you

and

raising kids you know i know that um

uh

when we talk about um you know

the truth sets us free

and and jesus always

you know when he was encountered by the

devil he said

get behind me satan he spoke truth to a

lie and then said get behind me i’ll no

longer look at you

so we know that speaking the word

that’s

that’s our battle right that’s right

that’s how we fight that’s right it’s a

sword of the spirit the word of god it’s

a sword of the spirit

and so that’s that’s help us

help us to know when you talk about

prayer in your your fervent book

this one right here

um a woman’s battle plan

for serious specific and strategic

prayer

tell us a little bit about about that

yeah you know one of the things that i

walked away with from the from the film

from the recording of the film we we

filmed for about um three months

and after saying those lines over and

over and really just being engrossed in

this story line it occurred to me that

while i did

value prayer i had neglected

intentionality with prayer

being strategic in prayer actually

trying to detect

where you see the enemy’s fingerprints

kind of his handiwork meddling in your

life

where you anticipate he might want to

take advantage of a weakness or a or a a

bit of divisiveness

and just being mindful of that so that

when we pray we’re not just randomly

saying words that we’ve heard all along

or words that we’ve kind of memorized

along the way or words that are

comfortable to us but we’re actually um

praying in a way that is targeted it’s

kind of exactly what you described a few

moments doing the work to find the

promises of god that actually apply in

everything that we know intentional

prayer

and then writing it down sometimes we

need to write our prayers down only

because it keeps us focused it reminds

us what we’re praying about you know so

when it’s posted there in that war room

and you come back in there day after day

you’re reminded this is your prayer this

is where you’re focusing your um your

prayer life on and until i see an answer

i’m gonna keep praying this prayer it

also gives you a great track record with

god because then when god does answer

you can see that date at the top of that

page of when you started praying that

and then you’ll be able to put a date

down of when god answered however in his

sovereignty he chose to what a great

track record not just for you but your

grandchildren and your

great-grandchildren to see how grandmama

or grandpa prayed and believed that god

would answer wow i think that thing i

loved about uh or you know even the

prayer because in ephesians six it talks

about the armor you know which we’re

familiar with but then prayer is a

weapon yeah that’s right kicks into

after that sword

it goes right to prayer and it’s not the

the

the prayer that’s oh god why you know

the whining i mean you can do that for a

minute because maybe we all need to

whine for a minute the complaining side

of it you can’t complain to god because

honestly the psalms david complained for

a bit yeah i mean you know he went he

went on a journey with god he was

intimate and real with his pain and

agony before god and then there’s got to

be a rising up then there has to be a

point where you that’s the thing so at

some point yes do the complaining but at

some point you have to begin speaking

the truth

of what god has to say about your

marriage about your health

and about your family about

reconciliation i just remember even that

for me with

just some situations and

you know family and extended family that

was hard it was so hard and and i

remember moments of you know the

complaining before god because of course

i was perfect and they were the problems

well everybody else needs to change yeah

if they would it would really help out

my life totally

um then

but so i you know complained but then i

started

you know talking about pulling out the

scriptures that talked about unity and

reconciliation and and together and

faithfulness and just declaring that and

i’ve seen god do what only he could do

yeah in the lives of people i mean i saw

it in my health but i i’ve also seen it

in relationships with people and so i

just think that

that if if people understood more about

the power

you know some people say well all i can

do is pray no no that’s not all

that’s the thing that’s the thing to do

right

second

second chronicles 7 14. if my people

right who are called by my name humble

themselves and pray yeah right then he’s

going to heal our land we’re too busy

complaining about our land and our

government and all that’s happening it’s

like well you can complain

but if you prayed as much as you

complained maybe we would see something

different and you know what if i were

your enemy what i’d want to do is

devalue in your mind the potency of what

i know to be the most powerful weapon

you have against me so he’s made our

churches focus on being a house of great

programs or a house of great preaching

and a house of great singing

when they’re supposed to be a house of

prayer because it’s the prayer that

pushes back the kingdom of darkness so

if i were the enemy that’s exactly what

i do i devalue what i knew was the most

potent weapon that you had in your

arsenal against me so we do everything

first except pray pray and so for you

personally so how do you

when do you when do you pray are you

late at night person are you the middle

of the day person are you well i guess

morning first of all lest anyone think

that my life is you know i’m up on a

mountaintop praying for god

that’s right

um my life is very much like everybody

else’s that it’s just laundries and

laundry and kids and it’s kind of that

thing where you know once your feet hit

the floor

in the morning it’s over it’s just

full-on for the rest of the day right

and so um

i have this ongoing actually part of my

prayer is lord would you continue to

help me to prioritize this in my life

because it can so easily kind of get

pushed off of the that position of

priority so i just say lord i need you

to stir i don’t want to manufacture

passion i want you to stir in me a

passion to where i don’t want to go a

day without prioritizing prayer and then

hearing back from you listening to you

through the scriptures and so i try to

do that in the morning because it seems

like that’s the best time if i wait till

the end of the day i’m it ain’t gonna

happen no that’s the same with me no if

i don’t if in the morning if i if it

doesn’t happen then yeah then it just

gets it’s like if it doesn’t happen just

the very first year i know

but i will say i learned a bit from

brother lawrence that you know age old

saint from that book practicing the

presence of god um that really just

gives us freedom lifts that burden off

of us of feeling like if we don’t have

an hour to spend with the lord at the

beginning of the day that it’s a waste

of time to practice god’s presence all

day long yes so my kids are a little bit

older now but i went through a season

four five six years there where i would

just write down scripture verse on a

three by five card the same one on five

different cards maybe and i’d put one on

the bathroom mirror where i’d be washing

little hands all day one where i was

gonna be doing the dishes one where i

was folding clothes one near the sandbox

outside and i just would have the same

verse for like two weeks so everywhere i

went i was just running into this verse

and by the time i got to the end of the

day not only had me and the lord talked

about this one verse a lot not only was

it inscribed on my heart but it became

god’s word to me it became

something that really there was a life

in it wasn’t just a verse i’d learned

there was life in it because me and god

been talking all day long for a couple

of weeks about the sentiments that he’d

um inscribed in this in this passage of

scripture so i think that idea of

practicing the presence of god it takes

that guilt off of i didn’t have my quiet

time and it didn’t look like this and it

didn’t fit in a comfortable little box

well look do it however you got to do it

right practice his presence all day long

how do we do that

well number one by being creative with

how you can feed yourself on his word so

my sister five kids she’s got this

little clip on her dashboard she’ll do

the same thing write a three by five

card down with scripture and she puts it

in that clip and so you know running

errands for two hours every day trying

to get kids to soccer practice and

everything she’s just running face to

face um in face to face with this with

this verse over and over throughout the

scriptures when things come up in the

middle of the day that are problems you

might call a girlfriend about you might

you can still call her but also

on god yeah just ask him about it ask

him about what scripture verse applies

to this particular uh

circumstance how would he want to lead

and guide you and you’ll be amazed how

you’ll begin to see the encounters that

you have the circumstances that align

the little beckonings and convictions of

god’s spirit how they all begin to work

together to help you to realize you

actually are hearing god’s voice and

seeing his providence as he steers you

in the direction of his will for your

life it doesn’t have to be so mystical

yeah

yeah it’s a little more pr just what

you’re saying it’s a practical thing

just seeing it it’s like

it’s like um phillip the reason i know

his voice

when he calls he doesn’t have to say a

long sentence he goes hey babe

i recognize it’s because after your time

with him all day that’s right right if i

only talked to him once every blue moon

that would be a little trickier that’s

right to me it’s the same with god it’s

if you just you spend those moments yeah

you know talking listening talking

listening reading the word it becomes um

very familiar yeah it’s like anthony’s

voice compared to your dancing that’s

right i talked about that and i started

the voice

my brother and my dad they have the same

name they walk alike they talk alike

i’ve seen my brother take advantage of

the fact that he’s got my dad’s name i

tried to milk that as much as he’s like

you want to hear that story

oh anthony’s done that quite a few times

throw him under the bus that’s right but

even though he’s fooled a lot of people

before not you not me because i know the

two voice right you know his voice and

so you know there are things for example

that people could say to me that jerry

said my husband jerry said this but if

it is totally out of the character that

i know to be of my husband of 18 years

then i would be able to confidently say

to them i know my man didn’t say that

because i know him you know and so

that’s why we read god’s word because we

get to know his personality we get to

know the character of god we get to see

the kinds of things he says and doesn’t

say

and so it occurs to us when our ego is

speaking or when fear is trying to get a

word in because fear always has

something to say and pride and

insecurity is also speaking the enemy is

speaking you’ll be able to detect well

god didn’t say that because that’s

totally out of out of alignment with his

character or out of alignment with his

personality as it’s displayed in

scripture and so the more you know god

the more clearly you can hear him at tbn

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