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Speaker 1: Life Audio Find inspiration as close as your phone.

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Speaker 2: Download the Jesus Calling app and get started today for free.

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Speaker 2: Look for the Jesus Calling app in both the Apple

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Speaker 2: and Google Play stores. Hi everybody, this is Susie McIntyre

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Speaker 2: Eaton and today we are on Jesus Listens Stories of

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Speaker 2: Prayer interviewing a man that I have looked up to

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Speaker 2: for a long time. I have read that he grew

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Speaker 2: up going to church because his mama said that since

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Speaker 2: you went out with your daddy last night picking and

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Speaker 2: singing and grinning on Saturday night, we're going to go

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Speaker 2: to God's house this morning. Well, The two came together

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Speaker 2: in his life in a very, very great story. I

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Speaker 2: am so glad to be with you today. Well, first

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Speaker 2: of all, I'd want to say welcome to you, Jimmy.

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Speaker 2: I've looked over your name so many times, and I thought,

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Speaker 2: surely that is a stage name. He just made that up.

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Speaker 2: I mean, that is the best stage name in the world,

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Speaker 2: Jimmy Gordon. And I read about you. You were born.

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Speaker 2: Lester James Fortune.

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Speaker 3: My nickname became Jimmy. Everybody called me Jimmy through the years,

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Speaker 3: but I named after my uncle Lester.

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Speaker 2: Were your family musicians?

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Speaker 3: Well, my family was, they sang on the weekends and

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Speaker 3: stuff like that at church. And it was a hobby

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Speaker 3: for my dad to sing. He played mandolin and he

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Speaker 3: played for square dances and things like that on the weekends.

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Speaker 3: So he'd take me with him sometimes as a kid

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Speaker 3: playing square dances at Saturday night. And Mama would make

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Speaker 3: us get up and go to church and repent on

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Speaker 3: Sunday for being out not doing the Lord's work, she said.

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Speaker 2: She just didn't know that you were going to use

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Speaker 2: all of that for the rest of your life and

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Speaker 2: for the Lord's work.

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Speaker 3: You should always say, don't run from God, run to God.

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Speaker 3: And so I always knew that that's where I needed

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Speaker 3: to be. And I saw what her prayers did for

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Speaker 3: my father, who was an alcoholic. And she prayed, prayed,

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Speaker 3: prayed for him and thought he'd never, ever turn his

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Speaker 3: life around. But he did.

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Speaker 2: One time your father was very ill. You were going

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Speaker 2: through a divorce. You went into your hotel room and

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Speaker 2: there God had a Bible opened.

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Speaker 3: Jeremiah 525. And it was opened up. That's what I

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Speaker 3: couldn't figure out. I made my way into that room

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Speaker 3: on a foggy morning about 2 o'clock in the morning,

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Speaker 3: and it was in March 1993. And my dad had

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Speaker 3: been diagnosed with cancer, and I was going through a

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Speaker 3: really bad separation divorce type thing. And I was pretty down.

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Speaker 3: I didn't want to leave home. I mean, I literally

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Speaker 3: did not want to go. I didn't want to be

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Speaker 3: on stage singing a song. I just wanted to try

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Speaker 3: to be home where I could fix everything, you know.

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Speaker 3: but it was a lonely time. I walked into that room,

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Speaker 3: found my way into that room, and sat on the

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Speaker 3: side of the bed, and I sat there, and I

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Speaker 3: turned the lamp on, and when I did, I saw

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Speaker 3: the Bible open, just laying there open, and my eyes

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Speaker 3: literally fell on Jeremiah 5.25. It said, Your sins and

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Speaker 3: your iniquities have kept good things from you. And at

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Speaker 3: that moment, I realized that I had to change me.

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Speaker 3: I had to get Christ to change me and ask

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Speaker 3: him into my heart to come in and clean everything out.

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Speaker 3: Not just come in the living room. You know, there

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Speaker 3: are many rooms in our hearts and we only let

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Speaker 3: him in the ones that are clean. You know, the

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Speaker 3: ones that are messed up, you don't want them to see,

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Speaker 3: but he sees them anyway. He knows what's there, but

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Speaker 3: we have to let him in to clean it out.

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Speaker 3: And so I asked him to come in. I said,

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Speaker 3: to come in all the rooms, clean it all out, please.

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Speaker 3: Take it all away from me. And I was so

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Speaker 3: excited because I felt like he was sitting there with me.

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Speaker 3: And I prayed and I asked him that prayer to

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Speaker 3: come into my heart. And I just felt like he

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Speaker 3: was right there with me. And I said, I'm taking

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Speaker 3: you at your word. His word was right here on

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Speaker 3: the left where I was reading it. And I felt

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Speaker 3: like he was on the right. And I just looked

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Speaker 3: at his word and said, This is how you speak

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Speaker 3: to me. This is your word. And that is God's word.

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Speaker 3: We have to, the way we communicate with God, we

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Speaker 3: get on our knees and we pray to him. And

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Speaker 3: he communicates through, that's why they call it God's word.

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Speaker 3: It is the anointed, inspired living word of God. And

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Speaker 3: so I have, had God speak to me through that,

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Speaker 3: through those words. So, so many times, but that was

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Speaker 3: the most important one that I needed to hear.

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Speaker 2: It got you on the right road.

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Speaker 3: I lost my dad and I did go through divorce

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Speaker 3: and everything, but, um, he has given me, uh, since then,

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Speaker 3: you know, I lost my mother and I had my

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Speaker 3: son passed away last year, October, my oldest boy, my

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Speaker 3: brother just passed away a couple months ago. My youngest brother, um,

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Speaker 3: been going through a lot of loss. Um, But God

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Speaker 3: has given me through it all, realizing that this world

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Speaker 3: is only passing through, that there's nothing here that can

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Speaker 3: really satisfy us. Although it's beautiful and I've enjoyed it,

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Speaker 3: I've loved it very much. And I think God wants

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Speaker 3: us to do that. But that doesn't mean as Christians,

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Speaker 3: people who turn our lives over to him doesn't mean

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Speaker 3: that things aren't going to happen. Life's going to happen.

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Speaker 3: But he gives us a peace and a joy about

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Speaker 3: it that I can't explain. To know that, had the

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Speaker 3: faith to know that this and all there is, that

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Speaker 3: what comes after this, one breath, last breath here, you

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Speaker 3: will be in the presence. You know, the Bible says

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Speaker 3: to be absent from the body is to be present

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Speaker 3: with the Lord. And I take him at his word.

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Speaker 3: and so I believe that, and that's the things that's

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Speaker 3: got me through it. I don't understand how people go

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Speaker 3: through loss and deaths and things of children or loved

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Speaker 3: ones or friends, and they don't have that hope. You know,

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Speaker 3: when things really get down and some catastrophe happens and

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Speaker 3: we hit our knees and we pray to God and

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Speaker 3: we want Him and we want Him to do this,

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Speaker 3: we want Him to do that, and then as things

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Speaker 3: get better and start going, moving on, we then we

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Speaker 3: move away from God and we don't hit our knees

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Speaker 3: as much. We don't praise not, you know, uh, it's

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Speaker 3: just a human nature. And I wonder about that sometimes,

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Speaker 3: but you know, God's grace, but I always come back

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Speaker 3: to what my mama said, Jimmy, no matter what you've

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Speaker 3: done in life, uh, don't run from God, run to God. Um, and,

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Speaker 3: and we, we need to do that. But not only that,

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Speaker 3: when we, when we do run to him, We should

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Speaker 3: stay attached to him. Yes.

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Speaker 2: The prayers of a righteous person, a man, will not

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Speaker 2: return void.

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Speaker 3: I think he's been fixing me ever since 1993 when

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Speaker 3: I gave my heart to him. He's been fixing me

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Speaker 3: ever since because I was broken.

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Speaker 2: I think he's refining you just like gold. And as

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Speaker 2: long as you are submitting to him and you're allowing

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Speaker 2: him to speak to you, you're just getting off a

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Speaker 2: little bit of slough all the time. And because he

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Speaker 2: made you in his image, he created all of us

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Speaker 2: in the image of God, God did. And Jesus loves us.

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Speaker 2: And thank God for the Holy Spirit that he sent

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Speaker 2: to us to be able to speak to other people

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Speaker 2: as well.

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Speaker 3: Well, I tell you what, I want to thank you

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Speaker 3: for what you have allowed God to do in your life.

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Speaker 2: Thank you.

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Speaker 3: Your smile is infectious and your spirit is definitely infectious.

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Speaker 2: Well, I really appreciate it.

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Speaker 3: When you look at you, it can't help but smile

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Speaker 3: and see God's love in you. And I appreciate you

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Speaker 3: and what you've allowed God to do in your life.

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Speaker 2: Thank you.

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Speaker 3: You discovered your purpose and you let God live it

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Speaker 3: through you. Thank you.

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Speaker 2: We usually stop with and wrap things up with a

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Speaker 2: prayer from Jesus Listens. And today I want to read

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Speaker 2: out of Jesus Listens, and it's June 28th. Dear Jesus,

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Speaker 2: you are the risen one, my living God. I celebrate

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Speaker 2: the joy of serving a Savior who is so exuberantly alive.

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Speaker 2: I rejoice also in your promise to be with me

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Speaker 2: continually throughout time and eternity. I enjoy worshiping you in

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Speaker 2: a variety of ways, singing hymns and praise songs, studying

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Speaker 2: and memorizing your word, praying individually and with others, glory

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Speaker 2: in the wonders of your creation. Whatever I do, Lord,

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Speaker 2: I want to do it all for your glory. In

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Speaker 2: your victorious name, amen. And Lord, again, I just ask

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Speaker 2: you to continue to... Watch over Jimmy and his wife Nina.

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Speaker 2: I thank you, Lord. for her help today. I thank you, Lord,

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Speaker 2: for their humbleness, for their giving, for their sacrifice of

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Speaker 2: their lives to go out on the road and continue

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Speaker 2: to share what you have been instilling in their lives

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Speaker 2: for so many years. Thank you, Lord, for your protection

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Speaker 2: around them. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you so

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Speaker 2: much for being with us today. We're so glad you

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Speaker 2: joined us today on this episode of Jesus Listens Stories

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Speaker 2: of Prayer, the YouTube series. Remember, Jesus hears you, he

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Speaker 2: cares for you, and he's just a prayer away. We'll

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Speaker 2: see you next time on another episode of Jesus Listens

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Speaker 2: Stories of Prayer. I'm Susie McIntyre. God bless you.

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Speaker 1: Be sure to follow us on social media and on

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Speaker 1: the Jesus Calling podcast on Apple or wherever you get

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Speaker 1: weekly audio episodes and special monthly series like this one.

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Speaker 1: And be sure to subscribe to the Jesus Calling channel

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Speaker 1: on YouTube where you'll find the video version of this interview.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.