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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: You're listening to Everyday Prayers with Million Praying Moms, where

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Speaker 2: we're dedicated to helping moms pray God's word for their

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Speaker 2: families in the areas they need at most. I'm your host,

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Speaker 2: Nicolette Bell. Over the last decade, we've helped thousands of

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Speaker 2: moms make prayer a priority for their families. Our mission

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Speaker 2: is to help you do the same. Prayer is not

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Speaker 2: a last resort. It's our first and best response to

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Speaker 2: the challenges of parenting, a partnership for the hearts of

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Speaker 2: our children that God invites us into. Today's devotion is

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Speaker 2: written by Tara L. Cole, author of Abide Forty Days

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Speaker 2: with Jesus and Everyday Prayers for the School Year. To

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Speaker 2: learn more about Tara, or to learn more about the

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Speaker 2: ministry of Million Praying Moms, visit Today's show notes or

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Speaker 2: Million Prayingmoms dot Com. After a brief word from our sponsors,

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Speaker 2: will pray together.

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Speaker 1: For our children. Proverbs thirteen twenty. Whoever walks with the

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Speaker 1: wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

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Speaker 1: Many times throughout my life I've asked my friends for advice.

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Speaker 1: All of us rely on our friends at times to

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Speaker 1: help us make a decision. The key is to carefully

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Speaker 1: consider which friends were asking. In One King twelve, ray

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Speaker 1: Hoboam didn't consider whose counsel he was seeking. He had

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Speaker 1: just become keen after his father, Solomon died. The people

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Speaker 1: came to him and asked him to lighten their load,

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Speaker 1: and he told them to go away and return in

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Speaker 1: three days. During those three days, he asked his father's

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Speaker 1: counselors and his own friends for advice. His father's counselors

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Speaker 1: told him to answer the people kindly, so they would

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Speaker 1: always be faithful to him. His friends told them to

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Speaker 1: answer the people harshly and say, and now, whereas my

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Speaker 1: father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add

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Speaker 1: to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but

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Speaker 1: I will discipline you with scorpions. One Keens, twelve eleven.

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Speaker 1: Instead of listening to the older, wiser advisors of Solomon,

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Speaker 1: ray Haboam chose to follow his friend's advice, and it

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Speaker 1: didn't go well for him. He quickly lost the ten

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Speaker 1: tribes of Israel, retaining only Judah and Benjamin, and the

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Speaker 1: kingdom was never again one complete people. The advice our

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Speaker 1: kids take sometimes might make little difference in their lives,

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Speaker 1: but at other times it can profoundly affect our children's future.

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Speaker 1: Having good friends who give wise advice during critical moments

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Speaker 1: is essential in order for our kids to stay strongly

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Speaker 1: connected to God. In elementary school, when they wonder how

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Speaker 1: to treat the new kid, they need friends who encourage

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Speaker 1: them to choose kindness. In middle school, when they wonder

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Speaker 1: if they should cheat on a test, they need friends

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Speaker 1: who encourage them to choose integrity. In high school, when

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Speaker 1: they face difficult dating decisions, they need friends who encourage

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Speaker 1: them to choose purity. In college, when they want to quit,

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Speaker 1: they need friends who encourage them to choose perseverance. There

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Speaker 1: are many times throughout our children's lives that the choices

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Speaker 1: they make may depend on the friends they have, and

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Speaker 1: we want those friends to be wise ones who look

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Speaker 1: to God for answers. Who are your children's current friends,

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Speaker 1: what voices are speaking into their lives when they have

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Speaker 1: a hard decision. Though we wish we could, we can't

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Speaker 1: always be there for our children. They will be faced

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Speaker 1: with the decisions where they only have a moment to choose,

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Speaker 1: and during those times, they need to be surrounded by

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Speaker 1: wise friends. We can't always control who their friends are,

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Speaker 1: but we can take our kids to church, get them

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Speaker 1: involved in activities, and encourage relationships that can have a

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Speaker 1: positive influence on them. We could also help our kids

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Speaker 1: be wise friends in the lives of others by encouraging

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Speaker 1: their relationship with God. Most of all, we can pray.

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Speaker 1: Ask God to provide your children with friends who will

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Speaker 1: speak life to them, and pray that your children speak

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Speaker 1: life to others. Let's pray, Lord, may our children walk

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Speaker 1: with wise friends and become wise friends.

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Speaker 2: We have completely revamped our Patreon tears. Now with a

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Speaker 2: ten dollars monthly donation, you automatically receive our favorite monthly

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Speaker 2: downloadable prayer calendar of curated scripture inspired prayers that complement

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Speaker 2: the devotions and prayers from the podcast. You also receive

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Speaker 2: each day's devotion and prayer in written form, including reflection

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Speaker 2: questions to accompany your quiet time. Many of our members

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Speaker 2: enjoy having the ability to read the day's devotion or

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Speaker 2: to save the prayer for future use. Lastly, when you

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Speaker 2: become a praying mom, you're invited to a monthly mom

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Speaker 2: chat with me and surprise guests from our other Million

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Speaker 2: Praying Mom authors. You can learn more in today's show

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Speaker 2: notes or at Millionprayingmoms dot com. Until next time, friends,

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Speaker 2: the Lord bless you and keep you. Make his face

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Speaker 2: shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the

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Speaker 2: Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.