1 00:00:07,900 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. 2 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 2: I'm Rachel Wojo, and each week we unravel life's knots 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:20,310 Speaker 2: through prayer. Here you'll find practical wisdom and prayer encouragement 4 00:00:20,390 --> 00:00:24,270 Speaker 2: to guide you through life's hardest seasons. Join me as 5 00:00:24,329 --> 00:00:28,730 Speaker 2: we untangle life's messes together, one prayer at a time. 6 00:00:35,810 --> 00:00:40,010 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel, and I'm 7 00:00:40,070 --> 00:00:43,690 Speaker 1: so glad that you are with me today. You know, 8 00:00:43,710 --> 00:00:47,870 Speaker 1: this past Sunday morning, I was speaking at a prayer retreat, 9 00:00:48,350 --> 00:00:51,310 Speaker 1: and at breakfast, I sat down at a table with 10 00:00:51,370 --> 00:00:55,090 Speaker 1: a woman I hadn't met before. It was completely random. 11 00:00:55,150 --> 00:00:58,470 Speaker 1: I just chose to sit with her, and we wound 12 00:00:58,570 --> 00:01:01,290 Speaker 1: up chatting about everyday things for a few minutes as 13 00:01:01,370 --> 00:01:03,900 Speaker 1: I was eating breakfast. I was mostly listening to her. 14 00:01:04,610 --> 00:01:08,260 Speaker 1: But she confided in me at 80 years old that 15 00:01:08,340 --> 00:01:13,500 Speaker 1: she's afraid of losing her independence. And she teared up 16 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: when she talked about how awful that would be. Right now, 17 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,940 Speaker 1: she drives everywhere she can go, and she laps her 18 00:01:20,980 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: farmland every single day as far as walking. And I'm 19 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,660 Speaker 1: sharing this with you because I think a lot of 20 00:01:26,740 --> 00:01:31,030 Speaker 1: us carry that same version of fear, maybe even especially 21 00:01:31,170 --> 00:01:35,370 Speaker 1: after we reach midlife or once we reach certain points 22 00:01:35,569 --> 00:01:38,830 Speaker 1: in our lives, if you're the one who feels like 23 00:01:39,170 --> 00:01:42,590 Speaker 1: you're worried about the future and you have a fear 24 00:01:43,470 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: of losing your abilities, then if that's been on your mind, 25 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: this episode is for you. We're in the For the 26 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: Warring section of my book, Praying Through Life's Battles, and 27 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,700 Speaker 1: today's devotional comes from Day 34, The Way He Cares 28 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:02,090 Speaker 1: for You. In this battle, the enemy tries to convince 29 00:02:02,150 --> 00:02:05,190 Speaker 1: you that you are on your own in this struggle 30 00:02:05,350 --> 00:02:08,830 Speaker 1: and nobody really cares about what's happening to you. And 31 00:02:08,910 --> 00:02:12,929 Speaker 1: God answers that in Isaiah 46, 4. So that's where 32 00:02:12,990 --> 00:02:15,990 Speaker 1: we're going to spend a little bit of our time today. 33 00:02:16,010 --> 00:02:19,389 Speaker 1: And I'll tell you the rest of my breakfast conversation 34 00:02:19,430 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: a little later in the episode. But if you'd like 35 00:02:22,540 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: to read along with today's episode, Then turn to Day 34, 36 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: The Way He Cares for You, on page 82 of 37 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,570 Speaker 1: Praying Through Life's Battles, 90 Days to Strengthen Your Faith. 38 00:02:35,230 --> 00:02:41,169 Speaker 1: It's available at battleprayers.com or wherever you buy books. And 39 00:02:41,250 --> 00:02:45,770 Speaker 1: now for this week's segment of Questions in Hard Spaces, 40 00:02:45,870 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: where I answer the hard questions that people send in 41 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,279 Speaker 1: about prayer, whether they email them or message me. And 42 00:02:54,260 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: today's question is, How do I pray when I'm afraid 43 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: of getting older? And when people hear the words midlife crisis, 44 00:03:03,300 --> 00:03:07,890 Speaker 1: they usually picture somebody buying a sports car or having 45 00:03:07,930 --> 00:03:10,890 Speaker 1: an affair. But for a lot of us, it doesn't 46 00:03:10,930 --> 00:03:13,510 Speaker 1: have to do with either of those things. It happens 47 00:03:13,550 --> 00:03:17,110 Speaker 1: when you're sitting in a doctor's office or you're helping 48 00:03:17,169 --> 00:03:20,790 Speaker 1: your mom or dad with something and they always used 49 00:03:20,830 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: to do it on their own. Or maybe even you're 50 00:03:23,540 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: helping your spouse do something that they used to do 51 00:03:26,139 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 1: on their own. And the thought crosses your mind that 52 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:33,770 Speaker 1: someday this will be where you land. That you will 53 00:03:33,810 --> 00:03:38,490 Speaker 1: be unable to do things for yourself. And fear shows up. 54 00:03:39,610 --> 00:03:42,930 Speaker 1: I think that fear gets such a grip on us 55 00:03:43,130 --> 00:03:46,700 Speaker 1: in this stage because so much around us is changing. 56 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:50,660 Speaker 1: In midlife specifically, kids grow up. They move out. The 57 00:03:50,710 --> 00:03:53,710 Speaker 1: parents who used to take care of us often need 58 00:03:53,790 --> 00:03:55,830 Speaker 1: us to take care of them. Or in my case, 59 00:03:55,890 --> 00:03:59,410 Speaker 1: they're both in heaven. And so when the thought grips 60 00:03:59,450 --> 00:04:01,630 Speaker 1: you that, you know, life is getting a little bit 61 00:04:01,690 --> 00:04:06,150 Speaker 1: more lonely, it sounds pretty reasonable to have fear. But 62 00:04:06,350 --> 00:04:09,150 Speaker 1: I want to talk about Isaiah 46. It starts in 63 00:04:09,170 --> 00:04:13,490 Speaker 1: verse 1 and 2. God talks about two of Babylon's gods, 64 00:04:13,610 --> 00:04:17,390 Speaker 1: Bel and Nebo. And when trouble came to Babylon, those 65 00:04:17,670 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 1: idols had to be packed up. and loaded onto animals 66 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: to be hauled away. Isaiah says the images that are 67 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:30,950 Speaker 1: carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary. The 68 00:04:30,990 --> 00:04:34,550 Speaker 1: gods the Babylonians trusted to take care of them had 69 00:04:34,589 --> 00:04:36,870 Speaker 1: to actually be taken care of. They had to be 70 00:04:36,910 --> 00:04:41,050 Speaker 1: carried around by tired animals. And in verses 3 and 4, 71 00:04:41,050 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: God turns to his own people and says, Listen to me, 72 00:04:45,180 --> 00:04:48,600 Speaker 1: you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people 73 00:04:48,660 --> 00:04:52,190 Speaker 1: of Israel. You whom I have upheld since your birth 74 00:04:52,690 --> 00:04:56,490 Speaker 1: and have carried since you were born. Even to your 75 00:04:56,770 --> 00:04:59,630 Speaker 1: old age and gray hairs, I am He. I am 76 00:04:59,730 --> 00:05:03,010 Speaker 1: He who will sustain you. I have made you and 77 00:05:03,370 --> 00:05:07,290 Speaker 1: I will carry you. I will sustain you and I 78 00:05:07,330 --> 00:05:10,590 Speaker 1: will rescue you. You see, Babylon had to carry its 79 00:05:10,650 --> 00:05:14,300 Speaker 1: gods from place to place. And God is reminding Israel 80 00:05:14,330 --> 00:05:17,700 Speaker 1: that He's the one who has been carrying them since 81 00:05:17,820 --> 00:05:20,869 Speaker 1: the day they were born. He plans to keep right 82 00:05:20,970 --> 00:05:25,620 Speaker 1: on doing it even after their hair turns gray. You know, 83 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: midlife has a way of showing us what we've been trusting. 84 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,010 Speaker 1: It's easy to lean on our own health or our 85 00:05:34,089 --> 00:05:38,810 Speaker 1: independence without realizing it until those things start to corrode. 86 00:05:38,990 --> 00:05:41,990 Speaker 1: And they're good gifts from God. It's okay to feel 87 00:05:42,029 --> 00:05:46,059 Speaker 1: sad when Our body starts to decline. God is the one, though, 88 00:05:46,430 --> 00:05:48,930 Speaker 1: who promises He will carry us. He's the one who 89 00:05:49,170 --> 00:05:53,210 Speaker 1: we can lean fully on. So how do we pray 90 00:05:53,270 --> 00:05:56,330 Speaker 1: when we're afraid of growing older? I'd start by being 91 00:05:56,370 --> 00:06:00,820 Speaker 1: honest with God about the fear. Tell Him exactly what 92 00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:05,060 Speaker 1: you're afraid of. Label it, whether it's being alone or 93 00:06:05,140 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: being a burden to someone else or Whatever it is, 94 00:06:09,500 --> 00:06:15,530 Speaker 1: God already knows. He isn't bothered by you declaring out 95 00:06:15,610 --> 00:06:19,529 Speaker 1: loud what you are struggling. Pray Isaiah 46 for back 96 00:06:19,589 --> 00:06:22,870 Speaker 1: to Him. Maybe that looks like, Lord, you carried me 97 00:06:22,930 --> 00:06:25,510 Speaker 1: since the day I was born, and even when my 98 00:06:25,570 --> 00:06:29,350 Speaker 1: hair grows gray, you will sustain me. I'm trusting you 99 00:06:29,570 --> 00:06:33,990 Speaker 1: to keep your word. Praying God's own word back to 100 00:06:34,050 --> 00:06:37,650 Speaker 1: Him is one of the ways that we fight the battles. 101 00:06:38,260 --> 00:06:42,340 Speaker 1: because it puts His truth right beside the enemy's lie. 102 00:06:43,100 --> 00:06:46,060 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to this segment of Questions 103 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,460 Speaker 1: in Heart Spaces. We'll be right back after this brief 104 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: word from our sponsors. Thank you for listening in to 105 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,620 Speaker 1: that word from our sponsors. And now for this week's 106 00:06:58,700 --> 00:07:04,900 Speaker 1: segment of Pray More, Worry Less Encouragement. Today's prayer principle 107 00:07:05,779 --> 00:07:11,110 Speaker 1: is God cares for you, in every stage and every 108 00:07:11,190 --> 00:07:14,290 Speaker 1: season of your life. This week I was reading Matthew 109 00:07:14,390 --> 00:07:19,070 Speaker 1: Henry's commentary on Isaiah 46, and I love what he says. 110 00:07:19,250 --> 00:07:21,770 Speaker 1: He wrote that God who was there first will be 111 00:07:21,810 --> 00:07:25,330 Speaker 1: there last. He also pointed out that in old age, 112 00:07:25,830 --> 00:07:28,050 Speaker 1: we'll need help as much as we did when we 113 00:07:28,090 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: were babies. None of us really wants to think about 114 00:07:32,220 --> 00:07:36,540 Speaker 1: that or accept that, but Matthew Henry says that's exactly 115 00:07:36,610 --> 00:07:41,590 Speaker 1: when God's promises keep carrying us. He even pictures God saying, 116 00:07:42,030 --> 00:07:45,310 Speaker 1: you change, but I am the same. And that's a 117 00:07:45,330 --> 00:07:49,380 Speaker 1: real comfort when we're in midlife or beyond, when so 118 00:07:49,420 --> 00:07:52,740 Speaker 1: much around us is changing. Remember that God held you 119 00:07:52,820 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: before you could even do one thing for yourself. And 120 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: he's holding you today right in the middle of whatever 121 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: the season looks like for you. In the For the 122 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: Warring section of Praying Through Life's Battles, our posture in 123 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:11,100 Speaker 1: prayer is praise. We look back on what God has done. 124 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: And the divine strategy for day 34 says that when 125 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,660 Speaker 1: you praise God for His faithful care, you experience His 126 00:08:18,700 --> 00:08:23,900 Speaker 1: sustaining power that carries you through every season. When we 127 00:08:23,940 --> 00:08:27,510 Speaker 1: start thanking God for the specific ways that He's taken 128 00:08:27,550 --> 00:08:30,450 Speaker 1: care of us in the past, then the worry about 129 00:08:30,490 --> 00:08:34,770 Speaker 1: the future starts to loosen its grip. And this week, 130 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,079 Speaker 1: I want to encourage you to sit down with a 131 00:08:38,140 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: notebook or a journal, a prayer journal, and look back 132 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,300 Speaker 1: over your life with God if you've never done this before. 133 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,180 Speaker 1: Think about a season when you didn't know how things 134 00:08:47,220 --> 00:08:50,910 Speaker 1: were going to work out, and write down how He 135 00:08:50,990 --> 00:08:54,610 Speaker 1: carried you through it. And thank Him for it out loud, 136 00:08:55,070 --> 00:08:59,819 Speaker 1: because after you've spent some time looking back, Praying that 137 00:08:59,900 --> 00:09:04,500 Speaker 1: same trust forward into the years ahead will work, and 138 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:07,580 Speaker 1: you can tell God you're trusting Him to carry you 139 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:12,990 Speaker 1: into the future as well. Deuteronomy 33, 27 will hold 140 00:09:13,020 --> 00:09:16,090 Speaker 1: you close in this time. The eternal God is your refuge, 141 00:09:16,140 --> 00:09:21,290 Speaker 1: and underneath are the everlasting arms. Let's pray the battle 142 00:09:21,330 --> 00:09:24,590 Speaker 1: cry from day 34 together as I praise God for 143 00:09:24,630 --> 00:09:28,950 Speaker 1: His faithful care, my burdens shift from my shoulders to 144 00:09:28,990 --> 00:09:33,290 Speaker 1: those of the one who carries me through every battle. 145 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,780 Speaker 1: At the beginning of the episode, I told you about 146 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: a woman I met at breakfast on Sunday morning, and 147 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:44,449 Speaker 1: I want to finish that story now when she told 148 00:09:44,510 --> 00:09:49,450 Speaker 1: me how much her independence means to her it made 149 00:09:49,490 --> 00:09:51,790 Speaker 1: me think of my dad. And I told her, he 150 00:09:51,830 --> 00:09:55,820 Speaker 1: always used to say, if you stop moving, you stop living. 151 00:09:55,900 --> 00:09:57,930 Speaker 1: And I told her about that. And she said, boy, 152 00:09:57,970 --> 00:10:01,650 Speaker 1: it's true. And even though she had shared the fear 153 00:10:01,700 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: with me, what I loved the most about my conversation 154 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,900 Speaker 1: with her was her confidence. She seemed to know deep 155 00:10:08,940 --> 00:10:11,660 Speaker 1: down that God really does care for her and you 156 00:10:11,700 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: could hear it in the way she talked about her life. 157 00:10:16,059 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: I specifically am thinking about how she just paused to 158 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: say that God had always been in control. Before I 159 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: got up from the table, she thanked me for taking 160 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,350 Speaker 1: a few minutes to talk with her, and really, all 161 00:10:29,420 --> 00:10:32,530 Speaker 1: I did was listen. She was such a treasure to 162 00:10:32,590 --> 00:10:36,030 Speaker 1: listen to. She has a fear about the future, but 163 00:10:36,070 --> 00:10:40,370 Speaker 1: she's also resting in the promises that we've been talking 164 00:10:40,429 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: about today, that the God who made us will carry us. 165 00:10:44,950 --> 00:10:47,670 Speaker 1: She's still moving and she's still trusting God with any 166 00:10:47,710 --> 00:10:52,339 Speaker 1: years that she has ahead. So if today's episode encouraged you, 167 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,699 Speaker 1: I'd love for you to read Day 34, The Way 168 00:10:55,780 --> 00:10:59,500 Speaker 1: He Cares for You, in Praying Through Life's Battles, 90 169 00:10:59,500 --> 00:11:05,069 Speaker 1: Days to Strengthen Your Faith. Each devotional includes the enemy's tactic, 170 00:11:05,890 --> 00:11:10,229 Speaker 1: God's divine strategy, and a battle cry. You can order 171 00:11:10,330 --> 00:11:16,349 Speaker 1: your copy at battleprayers.com. or wherever you buy books. Thank 172 00:11:16,370 --> 00:11:20,170 Speaker 1: you for joining me on Untangling Prayer. I'm Rachel Wojo, 173 00:11:20,750 --> 00:11:24,850 Speaker 1: and remember, God sees you, He hears you, and He 174 00:11:24,929 --> 00:11:30,290 Speaker 1: knows your needs. Thanks for joining me on the Untangling 175 00:11:30,390 --> 00:11:34,860 Speaker 1: Prayer podcast. If this episode resonated with you, share it 176 00:11:34,900 --> 00:11:37,780 Speaker 1: with someone who could use a little hope, and be 177 00:11:37,900 --> 00:11:42,170 Speaker 1: sure to subscribe for more. Until next time, keep seeking, 178 00:11:42,530 --> 00:11:45,380 Speaker 1: keep trusting, and keep praying.