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Speaker 1: Life Audio. You're listening to Everyday Prayers with Million Praying Moms,

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Speaker 1: where we're dedicated to helping moms pray God's word for

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Speaker 1: their families in the areas they need at most. I'm

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Speaker 1: your host, Nicolette Bell. Over the last decade, we've helped

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Speaker 1: thousands of moms make prayer a priority for their families.

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Speaker 1: Our mission is to help you do the same. Prayer

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Speaker 1: is not a last resort. It's our first and best

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Speaker 1: response to the challenges of parenting, a partnership for the

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Speaker 1: hearts of our children that God invites us into. Today's

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Speaker 1: devotion is written by me, written originally for Everyday Prayers podcast.

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Speaker 1: To learn more about Million Praying Moms, visit today's show

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Speaker 1: notes or Millionprayingmoms dot com. After a quick word from

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Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray together for our children forty six ten.

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Speaker 1: Be still and know that I Am God. For those

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Speaker 1: of you who don't know, we just welcomed home a

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Speaker 1: newborn baby boy right before Christmas. We have been soaking

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Speaker 1: in all of the baby snuggles and drowning and dirty

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Speaker 1: diapers and lack of sleep. It's amazing how quickly your

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Speaker 1: brain can block out those early newborn days. My husband

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Speaker 1: and I had a laughing fit in the hospital as

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Speaker 1: we both had completely forgotten how to swaddle a baby.

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Speaker 1: Our daughter is four years old, and I cauldn't believe

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Speaker 1: how much we had forgotten in those four short years.

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Speaker 1: As we've had family visiting, I'm reminded of what it

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Speaker 1: means to just be. See. I am a doer. I

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Speaker 1: am always doing something, and even when I'm not doing

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Speaker 1: something physically, my mind is usually thinking about what I

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Speaker 1: need to be doing. Can anyone relate? These early days

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Speaker 1: of newborn hood have reminded me of how important it

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Speaker 1: is to be present in the moment, and how that

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Speaker 1: is not really my strong suit at all. I have

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Speaker 1: been taking this time to try and really live into

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Speaker 1: the words of Psalm forty six to ten, or rather

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Speaker 1: I might call these words a bit of an invitation

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Speaker 1: that I feel like I have received from the Lord.

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Speaker 1: In my book Choosing Cheer, I share about my introduction

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Speaker 1: to the ancient practice of breath prayers. I remember a

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Speaker 1: specific moment years ago, lying on my couch, recovering from

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Speaker 1: surgery from the loss of our first baby. I'm feeling

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Speaker 1: angry and hurt and confused, and also the physical pain

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Speaker 1: of the absence of my womb. I remember reading about

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Speaker 1: breath prayers from an article one of my mentors wrote,

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Speaker 1: and I decided that I would give it a try.

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Speaker 1: I first learned the practice of breath prayers with one

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Speaker 1: simple verse. You guessed it, Psalm forty six to ten.

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Speaker 1: Breath prayers are really pretty simple. You inhale one two three,

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Speaker 1: and you exhale five six, seven eight to a scripture

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Speaker 1: or a biblical promise. So for this particular exercise, you

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Speaker 1: breathe in one two three four, be still in know

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Speaker 1: and you breathe out five six seven eight that He

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Speaker 1: is God, and you repeat it over and over again.

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Speaker 1: So breathe then be still in no exhale that He

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Speaker 1: is God, and you repeat it over and over again.

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Speaker 1: As I sat on my couch that day, I began

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Speaker 1: to feel the physical relaxation from this practice. The way

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Speaker 1: it settled my mind and my heart and my body

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Speaker 1: gave me hope in the midst of my season of grief.

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Speaker 1: So I began to practice this over and over again,

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Speaker 1: and I truly believe that it was one of the

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Speaker 1: tools that God used to pull me out of a

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Speaker 1: pit of grief and restore me to the joy of

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Speaker 1: His salvation. So sweet to me that in this season

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Speaker 1: of welcoming our precious miracle baby, and in the relearning

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Speaker 1: of the newborn days, that the Lord would remind me

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Speaker 1: of the importance of being still before him, That he

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Speaker 1: would recall the importance of breath prayers, and of the

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Speaker 1: magnitude of this tiny verse in Psalm forty six y ten,

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Speaker 1: that the same verse that brought me comfort and deep

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Speaker 1: grief also brings me consolation in a moment of great joy.

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Speaker 1: In the postpartum recovery room at the hospital, when I

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Speaker 1: was feeling overwhelmed, I prayed this prayer. When I was

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Speaker 1: rocking my newborn at one am after a feeding, staring

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Speaker 1: into his sweet little eyes, I prayed this prayer. Whether

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Speaker 1: we are in a moment of grief or joy, our

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Speaker 1: need for awareness of God does not change, and our

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Speaker 1: lack of ability to do it on our own also

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Speaker 1: does not change. We need the presence of Jesus to

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Speaker 1: still us and to help us just to be. Years

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Speaker 1: after my first encounter went breath prayers, I was preparing

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Speaker 1: for a Bible study on the Holy Spirit for the

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Speaker 1: women's ministry at my church and I learned in my

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Speaker 1: study that the Hebrew word for breath is the same

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Speaker 1: word for Holy Spirit. The word is ruak, literally means

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Speaker 1: breath and spirit. It's the word that's used in Genesis

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Speaker 1: when God breathes life into Adam and Eve. It's the

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Speaker 1: same word in Ezekiel, where God breathes life into the

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Speaker 1: dry bones, and it's the word that is used to

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Speaker 1: describe the Holy Spirit in the scriptures. So literally, by

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Speaker 1: centering in on our breath, we are acknowledging the Holy

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Speaker 1: Spirit dwelling in us if we are believers in Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Not only does our breath sustain us physically, there is

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Speaker 1: a distinct spiritual nature of significance to it as well.

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Speaker 1: Science agrees right there are so many studies on the

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Speaker 1: power of breathing and how it can help us in

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Speaker 1: a moment of panic. There is power in our breath,

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Speaker 1: put there by God himself. I don't want to miss

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Speaker 1: this power. So in this season, I'm asking the Lord

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Speaker 1: to give me joy in the being. I'm asking him

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Speaker 1: to help me to slow down and to be present,

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Speaker 1: fully present with my family in this season, fully present

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Speaker 1: with all of you on our journey to become praying moms.

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Speaker 1: I've received this invitation from Psalm forty six' ten to

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Speaker 1: trust That he Is god AND i am, not And

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Speaker 1: he is working in the. Details the invitation is for

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Speaker 1: you as. Well let's pray, together be still and know

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Speaker 1: that he Is. God be still and know That he

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Speaker 1: Is God. Father, today whether we find ourselves in a

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Speaker 1: season and of, grief a season of, joy or maybe

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Speaker 1: somewhere in, between may you help us to experience the

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Speaker 1: joy of being both being found in your presence and

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Speaker 1: the assurance of being known by. You increase our trust in,

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Speaker 1: you give us your, breath our very, lifeline and increase

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Speaker 1: our awareness of your presence with. Us we love, you

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Speaker 1: and we thank you that you Are god and we are.

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Speaker 1: Not In jesus', Name, amen, friends we have completely revamped

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Speaker 1: Our patreon Tears. Now with a ten dollars monthly, donation

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Speaker 1: curated scripture inspired prayers that complement the devotions and prayers

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Speaker 1: from the. Podcast you also receive each day's devotion and

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Speaker 1: prayer in written, form including reflection questions to accompany your quiet.

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Speaker 1: Time many of our members enjoy having the ability to

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Speaker 1: read the day's devotion or to save the prayer for future. Use,

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Speaker 1: lastly when you become A Praying, mom you're invited to

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Speaker 1: a monthly mom chat with me and surprise guests from

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Speaker 1: our Other Million Praying mom. Authors you can learn more

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Speaker 1: in today's show notes or At millionprayingmoms dot. Com until next, time,

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Speaker 1: friends The lord bless you and keep. You make his

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Speaker 1: face shine upon you and be gracious to. You may

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Speaker 1: The lord look with favor on you and give you.

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Speaker 1: Peace