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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer,

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Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to

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Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening

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Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants

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Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after this short word from

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Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray through today's prayer to be graceful

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Speaker 1: when you're annoyed. A Prayer to be graceful when You're annoyed,

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Speaker 1: written by Whitney Hoppler, read by Lea Gerard. Above all

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Speaker 1: love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude

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Speaker 1: of sins First Peter four eight. Honestly, life with other

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Speaker 1: people can be messy. People will annoy you. Sometimes they'll

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Speaker 1: be late to meet you, forget what you told them,

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Speaker 1: say something insensitive, chew too loudly, enact in many other

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Speaker 1: annoying ways. Annoying behaviors can stack up, and before you

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Speaker 1: know it, you can feel irritated and frustrated. When you're annoyed,

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Speaker 1: you'll be tempted to react by snapping back in anger

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Speaker 1: or holding a grudge. You might feel justified, after all,

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Speaker 1: it was the other people who messed up, but God

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Speaker 1: cause you to be graceful even when you're annoyed, because

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Speaker 1: God has given you grace for your own mistakes. The

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Speaker 1: Bible encourages you in First Peter four eight above all

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Speaker 1: love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude

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Speaker 1: of sins. The word covers in this verse is an

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Speaker 1: excellent way to describe how God's grace works in these situations.

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Speaker 1: When people make annoying mistakes, they're exposing the fact that

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Speaker 1: sometimes they sin, as we all do. Sometimes in this

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Speaker 1: fallen world, you may be tempted to point it out

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Speaker 1: or make them pay for it. However, this verse suggests

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Speaker 1: that when you love deeply, that love acts like a

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Speaker 1: strong blanket, covering it up instead of exposing it to

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Speaker 1: the harsh light of judgment and resentment. This is the

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Speaker 1: essence of grace. Grace is getting what you don't deserve

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Speaker 1: God's favor and not getting what you do deserve God's judgment.

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Speaker 1: When you choose grace in your relationships, you're extending that

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Speaker 1: same undeserved kindness to someone else who needs it. You

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Speaker 1: can afford to do this because you've already been given

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Speaker 1: the ultimate grace of salvation from God. Your relationship with

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Speaker 1: God is built entirely on God's grace. We all need

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Speaker 1: God's grace to cover our sins, including the sins that

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Speaker 1: annoy other people. Think about the times when you've been

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Speaker 1: late to an appointment, made insensitive comments, or done other

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Speaker 1: annoying things. Yet God has continued to love you. God

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Speaker 1: has covered your sins completely through the sacrifice of Jesus.

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Speaker 1: The bad behavior that annoys you and other people, such

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Speaker 1: as carelessness, rudeness, and self centeredness, comes from the same

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Speaker 1: fundamental brokenness that God has completely forgiven in you. Choosing

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Speaker 1: to be graceful is a powerful way of honoring your

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Speaker 1: graceful God, as well as honoring the people God calls

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Speaker 1: you to love. Here's how you can put First Peter

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Speaker 1: four eight into practice when people's sins annoy you. Before

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Speaker 1: reacting to annoying behavior, take a moment to breathe and

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Speaker 1: offer a quick silent prayer, asking God to help you

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Speaker 1: see that people who annoy you the way God sees them.

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Speaker 1: This pause can help you prevent saying or doing something

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Speaker 1: you regret in anger, and gives you time to ask

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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit for guidance on how to respond. Ask

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Speaker 1: yourself why the people might be acting in annoying ways.

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Speaker 1: Are they stressed, Are they in pain? Are they simply tired?

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Speaker 1: Understanding why they may be making bad choices can give

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Speaker 1: you some empathy for them as fellow human beings who

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Speaker 1: struggle sometimes just like you do. Choose to cover their

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Speaker 1: mistakes by loving them anyway. Of course, if people sin

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Speaker 1: against you in serious ways, you need to address those issues.

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Speaker 1: But for the multitude of small annoying sins that people commit,

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Speaker 1: you can choose to let them go. Making that choice

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Speaker 1: can prevent minor annoyances from turning into major walls between

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Speaker 1: you and other people. It can be challenging to choose

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Speaker 1: grace when you feel annoyed, but the more you do so,

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Speaker 1: the easier it becomes, because you know that God will

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Speaker 1: help you every single time. Being graceful when you're annoyed

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Speaker 1: is worth it. When you do, God's love will flow

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Speaker 1: through your life into the lives of others, blessing everyone

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Speaker 1: along the way. Let's pray, Dear God. I confess that

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Speaker 1: when people annoy me, my first reaction is sometimes to

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Speaker 1: get angry with them, judge them, or hold a grudge

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Speaker 1: against them. I can forget how often I need grace myself.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for loving me so deeply that you covered

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Speaker 1: over my multitude of sins through Jesus' saving work on

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Speaker 1: the Cross. Because you gave me that gift, I know

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Speaker 1: I have no right to withhold it from others. When

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Speaker 1: someone does something annoying, Please help me stop before I react.

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Speaker 1: Fill my heart with your deep love so it can

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Speaker 1: act like a blanket covering their mistakes instead of exposing them.

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Speaker 1: Help me to choose grace over grievance every single time

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Speaker 1: I find myself feeling annoyed. May your grace inspire me

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Speaker 1: to give others grace. Help me to see them from

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Speaker 1: your perspective so I can remember that we're all broken

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Speaker 1: and in need of your saving love. I want your

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Speaker 1: love to flow through my relationships. Thank you God. Amen.

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Speaker 1: day begins and ends centered on the Word of God

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