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Speaker 1: Life Audio. You're listening to every Day Prayers with Million

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Speaker 1: Praying Moms, where we're dedicated to helping moms pray God's

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Speaker 1: word for their families in the areas they need it most.

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

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Speaker 1: helped 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 and read by Rachel Adams, author of

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Speaker 1: Everyday Prayers for Love, a part of our Million Praying

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Speaker 1: Moms every Day Prayers devotional series. I recently reread this

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Speaker 1: devotional and it blessed me tremendously. Rachel provides beautiful reminders

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Speaker 1: of how God loves us just because we are His,

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Speaker 1: not because of anything we can do to earn it

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Speaker 1: or deserve it, and we are invited to love others

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Speaker 1: from a place of knowing that we are beloved. If

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Speaker 1: you don't have a copy of this book, you're going

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Speaker 1: to want to grab one for yourself and maybe even

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Speaker 1: for a friend. Every Day Prays for Love is available

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Speaker 1: wherever books are sold. This month, I've invited Rachel to

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Speaker 1: share excerpts from her book that help us break down

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Speaker 1: the famous love passage one Corinthians thirteen, specifically focusing on

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Speaker 1: verses four through eight that read, love is patient, Love

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Speaker 1: is kind. It does not envy, It does not boast.

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Speaker 1: It is not proud. It does not dishonor others. It

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Speaker 1: is not self seeking. It is not easily angered. It

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Speaker 1: keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil,

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Speaker 1: but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust,

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Speaker 1: always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. We've heard this

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Speaker 1: verse at weddings, we've heard it in the church. But

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Speaker 1: this is one of those passages that is beautiful and

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Speaker 1: easy to read but hard to put into practice, isn't it.

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Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I know that I

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Speaker 1: need more patience and kindness in my parenting. Rachel weaves

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Speaker 1: in scripture from throughout the Bible to help us truly

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Speaker 1: understand the type of love that Paul is describing here

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Speaker 1: in his letter to the Corinthians. Our prayer and hope

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Speaker 1: is that this month. As we pray this together, our

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Speaker 1: understanding of God's love would grow deeper. To learn more

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Speaker 1: about Rachel, or to learn more about how you can

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Speaker 1: get involved in the ministry of Million Praying Moms, visit

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Speaker 1: Today's show notes or Millionprayingmoms dot Com. After a quick

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Speaker 1: word from our sponsors, we'll pray together for our children.

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Speaker 2: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as

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Speaker 2: some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not

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Speaker 2: wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

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Speaker 2: Two Peter, Chapter three, verse nine. Nearly three decades later,

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Speaker 2: I can still remember the Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames

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Speaker 2: play I attended at church. The flickering lights, eerie music,

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Speaker 2: and impassioned actors created a vivid representation of the vast

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Speaker 2: difference between the two eternal realities of Heaven and Hell.

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Speaker 2: Watching from the pew, fears swept over me and brought

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Speaker 2: me to my knees, with my head bowed and tears

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Speaker 2: stinging in my eyes. I prayed for God to save me.

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Speaker 2: Coming to know God as my savior was the beginning

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Speaker 2: of my faith journey. Fast forward to my first job

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Speaker 2: out of college, a woman was training me to be

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Speaker 2: a community liaison for our state government. Though I didn't

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Speaker 2: realize it initially, I received much more than training for

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Speaker 2: my new job. She became the mentor I didn't know

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Speaker 2: I needed. By living out her faith in front of me.

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Speaker 2: For the first time, I realized the possibility that God

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Speaker 2: could be personal to me and affect my life now,

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Speaker 2: not just in eternity. Years past, and I became a mother.

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Speaker 2: Something about the responsibility of being a parent caused a

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Speaker 2: sense of urgency in my heart. Began to read my Bible, pray,

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Speaker 2: and get involved in church. The more time I spent

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Speaker 2: with God, the more I learned of his love. I

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Speaker 2: shifted from seeking him to avoid hell to wanting to

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Speaker 2: be with him in heaven so I could experience his

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Speaker 2: love eternally. I began to see Him as father and

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Speaker 2: myself as his beloved daughter. For years, I selfishly fed

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Speaker 2: myself spiritually, until I realized I couldn't keep God's love

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Speaker 2: all to myself. I began serving and sharing him with others,

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Speaker 2: just like my mentor had once done for me. I

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Speaker 2: gave him full access to my heart and my life,

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Speaker 2: desiring to live for him alone. Slowly, as I learned

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Speaker 2: to surrender to his will. He became not just my

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Speaker 2: savior and father, but also my Lord. As I reflect

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Speaker 2: on my journey of faith, it amazes me that my

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Speaker 2: relationship with him continues to develop. I'm now starting to

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Speaker 2: recognize him as my favorite person to talk to and

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Speaker 2: be with. I'm beginning to know him as my friend.

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Speaker 2: While this is my unique journey, he desires a personal

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Speaker 2: relationship with you two. Isn't it remarkable that the God

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Speaker 2: of the universe wants to make himself known to us.

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Speaker 2: It is a joy and a privilege to experience the

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Speaker 2: depth of our creator. What a gentleman he is to

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Speaker 2: patiently reveal each loving layer of himself as we become ready.

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Speaker 2: Throughout the scriptures, we witness God's patience for us by

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Speaker 2: giving us time to quit living our way and begin

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Speaker 2: living His way. One of my favorite examples of his

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Speaker 2: forbearance is found in Luke chapter fifteen, Verses eleven through

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Speaker 2: thirty two, in the Parable of the Lost or Prodigal Son.

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Speaker 2: In the story, a man had two sons, the youngest

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Speaker 2: of whom squandered all of his wealth through while living.

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Speaker 2: He ended up starving, finally came to his senses and

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Speaker 2: decided to return home. The father was filled with compassion

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Speaker 2: when he spotted his son some distance away. He ran

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Speaker 2: to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.

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Speaker 2: He brought out the best robe, a ring for his finger,

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Speaker 2: and sandals for his son's feet. The father orchestrated a

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Speaker 2: feast to celebrate because his son was lost and now

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Speaker 2: was found. This story is a tangible illustration of our

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Speaker 2: relationship with our heavenly Father. He is patiently waiting for

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Speaker 2: us too, no matter what we have done. He is

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Speaker 2: looking toward the horizon, ready for us to come to

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Speaker 2: our senses. He feels no condemnation, only compassion. He is

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Speaker 2: ready to celebrate his child, who was once lost and

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Speaker 2: is now found. He longs to run to you with

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Speaker 2: arms open wide. God will search for us and give

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Speaker 2: us opportunities to respond. He will not force us to

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Speaker 2: come to him, but once we do, he welcomes us

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Speaker 2: into his loving embrace. He is patient with us, not

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Speaker 2: wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

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Speaker 2: The father in the parable in Luke chapter fifteen, forgave

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Speaker 2: because he was filled with affection for his child. The

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Speaker 2: challenge for us is to imitate the behavior of the

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Speaker 2: Father with the people in our lives. Just as God

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Speaker 2: has exemplified long suffering with us, we should be patient

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Speaker 2: with others and even ourselves. Father, I'm grateful for your

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Speaker 2: patience with me. You have always pursued me and waited

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Speaker 2: for me to come to you. Thank you for welcoming

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Speaker 2: me with open arms. May I be patient with myself

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Speaker 2: and not rush the process of sanctification. Help me to

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Speaker 2: extend the same forbearance to the people in my life.

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Speaker 2: In Jesus's name.

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Speaker 1: Amen, friend, we are so glad that you are a

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Speaker 1: part of our community here on the podcast. If you

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Speaker 1: love everyday prayers in the ministry of Million Praying Moms,

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Speaker 1: I invite you to join our Praying mom community on Patreon.

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Speaker 1: For just ten dollars a month. You can connect deeper

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Speaker 1: through a monthly scripture inspired prayer calendar, each day's devotion

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Speaker 1: and written form and bonus content only available to our

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Speaker 1: Patreon family. Learn more in today's show notes or at

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Speaker 1: Millionprayingmoms dot com. Until next time, friends, the Lord bless

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Speaker 1: you and keep you. Make His face shine upon you

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Speaker 1: and be gracious to you. May the Lord look with

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Speaker 1: favor on you and give you peace