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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 Belle. 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 Stacy Thacker, author of ten books,

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Speaker 1: including our brand new book, Every Day Prayers for Christmas.

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Speaker 1: To learn more about Stacy, or to learn more about

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Speaker 1: how you can get involved in the ministry of Million

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Speaker 1: Praying Moms, visit today's show notes or Millionprayingmoms dot Com.

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Speaker 1: After a word from our sponsors, We'll pray together for

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Speaker 1: our children.

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Speaker 2: Oh Christmas crate for God, who said let light shine

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Speaker 2: out of the darkness, has shown in our hearts to

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Speaker 2: give the light of the knowledge of the glory of

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Speaker 2: God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have

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Speaker 2: this treasure in jars of clay, to show the surpassing

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Speaker 2: power belongs to God and not to us. Second Corinthians

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Speaker 2: four six through seven. It's true we didn't have much.

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Speaker 2: We were two broke college students living in a two

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Speaker 2: bedroom apartment. I met my roommate, Robin during my freshman

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Speaker 2: year at Indiana University when I showed up to her

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Speaker 2: Bible study with Mary, a girl who lived on my

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Speaker 2: dorm floor. Robin and I hit it off immediately, and

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Speaker 2: we were ecstatic when it worked out for us to

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Speaker 2: share an apartment. Our senior year. We grocery shop together,

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Speaker 2: cooked croc bought meals ate brownies before they were completely cooled,

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Speaker 2: and talked about Jesus and boys, but mostly Jesus. During

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Speaker 2: our December finals week, we decide we needed a bit

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Speaker 2: of Christmas cheer and a distraction from studying, but neither

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Speaker 2: of us had the money to get a tree. Instead,

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Speaker 2: we bought a cheap set of Christmas lights and covered

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Speaker 2: the makeshift television stand we had made from an old

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Speaker 2: moving grate. I'm not sure who started the song, but

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Speaker 2: by the time we finished hanging the lights, Oh Christmas

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Speaker 2: Grate was born. We left the lights up well past

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Speaker 2: Christmas because we couldn't think of a single reason to

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Speaker 2: take them down. The Christmas grate became the New Year's

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Speaker 2: Great and the Valentine's Great and so on, And just

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Speaker 2: so you know, my mom still has the Christmas grate

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Speaker 2: in her kitchen, and every time I see it, I

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Speaker 2: can't help but smile and sing. Something to think about.

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Speaker 2: I don't know why God chose sinful, broken people to

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Speaker 2: be the place his glory light dwells. But scripture tells

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Speaker 2: us that the same God who spoke light into existence

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Speaker 2: is the same God who makes his home in our hearts.

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Speaker 2: He sheds his light on the acknowledge of God's glory

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Speaker 2: that is revealed in the face of Christ. And now,

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Speaker 2: in a stunning turn of events, this same light shines

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Speaker 2: in and through us, all because of Jesus. But wait,

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Speaker 2: most days, I feel less like a glorious Douglas fur

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Speaker 2: from the forests of Oregon, and more like a moving

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Speaker 2: crate strung with lights or to borrow from the verse

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Speaker 2: of the day. I feel like a fragile clay pot.

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Speaker 2: Corinth was renowned for its pottery, so clay pots were

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Speaker 2: readily available and used every day. They were common and

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Speaker 2: practical and could be purchased at the market. But they

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Speaker 2: cracked easily. But even in their fragile, common crack state,

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Speaker 2: they could still be filled with oil and the light

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Speaker 2: a lamp that would brighten the whole house. Why does

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Speaker 2: God choose broken, sinful people to be lit from within

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Speaker 2: by the power of his presence? Perhaps, and this is

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Speaker 2: what Paul hintsat here, it's because we are weak and

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Speaker 2: others can't help but see that the power is from

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Speaker 2: God and not from us. And when people see this,

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Speaker 2: they might say, I don't know how you do what

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Speaker 2: you're doing, or how did you survive that trial? Or

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Speaker 2: why do you have so much joy? And we can

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Speaker 2: smile and say, with one hundred percent certainty, it's not me,

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Speaker 2: that's Jesus and me. The gifts we've been given is

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Speaker 2: that He would choose us, live within us and use

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Speaker 2: us to shine his light to a dark, dark world.

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Speaker 2: Let's pray, Father, we have nothing to recommend ourselves. We

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Speaker 2: are like common clay pots. You have chosen to fill

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Speaker 2: us with your glorious light. Please shine through us so

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Speaker 2: that others may know that this is not from us,

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Speaker 2: but you in Jesus' name, Amen.

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Speaker 1: I hope you're enjoying reading along with us this month

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Speaker 1: in our new book, every Day Prayers for Christmas. Grab

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Speaker 1: your copy in a few for gifts wherever books are sold.

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Speaker 1: If you love the Everyday Prayers podcast, consider joining our

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Speaker 1: community with a ten dollar monthly donation through Patreon. When

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Speaker 1: you join, you automatically receive a ownloadable scripture inspired prayer

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Speaker 1: calendar every month, plus the devotions and prayers from this

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Speaker 1: month in written form, along with an invitation to our

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Speaker 1: monthly live mom chat. Learn more in today's show notes

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Speaker 1: or at Million Prayingmoms dot com. Until next time, friends,

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Speaker 1: the Lord bless you and keep you. Make His face

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Speaker 1: shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the

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Speaker 1: Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.