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Speaker 1: Life Audio. You're listening to Everyday Prayers with Million Praying Moms,

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Speaker 1: where we're dedicated to helping moms pray God's word for

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Speaker 1: their families in the areas they need it most. I'm

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

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Speaker 1: 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 Hartzell, author of

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Speaker 1: The Garden Scouts, a children's book series inspired by the

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Speaker 1: Fruit of the Spirit. To learn more about Rachel, or

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Speaker 1: to learn more about how you can get involved in

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Speaker 1: the ministry of Million Praying Moms, visit today's show notes

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Speaker 1: or Millionprayingmoms dot Com. After a brief word from our response,

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Speaker 1: will pray together for our.

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Speaker 2: Children Ephesians four thirty one through thirty two. Let all

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Speaker 2: bitterness and wrath, and anger, and clamor and slander be

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Speaker 2: put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind

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Speaker 2: to one another, tenderhearted forgiving one another as God in

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Speaker 2: Christ forgave you. As moms, we have this deep instinctual

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Speaker 2: desire to protect our kids from the world. So it

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Speaker 2: hurt my mama heart to listen as my daughter, who

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Speaker 2: was five at the time, told me about a kid

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Speaker 2: at church who was intentionally calling her the wrong name,

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Speaker 2: no matter how many times she or her teacher corrected him.

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Speaker 2: Let me tell you, she was fit to be tied.

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Speaker 2: At first, this seems like a really silly thing to

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Speaker 2: be bent out of shapeover, but it is a huge deal,

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Speaker 2: especially for kids. You see, our sense of identity and

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Speaker 2: self is deeply tied to our individual names, so it's

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Speaker 2: no wonder my daughter was upset when this kid wasn't

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Speaker 2: calling her by her given name. As you can imagine,

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Speaker 2: she initially had plans for revenge. So we had a

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Speaker 2: heart to heart about how God would want her to

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Speaker 2: react in love. It's been a few years, but I

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Speaker 2: imagine I recited a verse about forgiveness similar to today's

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Speaker 2: verses in Ephesians four thirty one through thirty two. Then

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Speaker 2: I floated the idea of her writing a forgiveness letter

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Speaker 2: to this kid. She loved the idea and even took

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Speaker 2: it a step further. Y'all, she bought this kid a

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Speaker 2: gift to express her love. I was so proud of

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Speaker 2: her for taking everything she'd been learning about God's deep,

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Speaker 2: unconditional love for us and putting it into action. Watching

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Speaker 2: her response reminded me why I truly believe kids are

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Speaker 2: a blessing from God. It is such a privilege to

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Speaker 2: witness our kids live out their faith so readily like this,

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Speaker 2: fully trusting that Jesus's example for how to live is best,

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Speaker 2: not easy, but best. It reminds me of what Jesus

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Speaker 2: says in Matthew eighteen three about becoming more like children

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Speaker 2: to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Part of having

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Speaker 2: that child like faith is humbling ourselves in forgiveness of

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Speaker 2: those who've wronged us. Her humble act of forgiveness made

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Speaker 2: me wonder have I ever forgiven someone like that? If

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Speaker 2: I'm honest with myself, no, it doesn't occur to me

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Speaker 2: to go beyond the habitual I forgive you. After all,

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Speaker 2: that's what I was taught to do, say the words

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Speaker 2: and move on. But what would happen if I started

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Speaker 2: a new habit of forgiveness, one that resembles a humble child,

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Speaker 2: what my relationships change. Just like how my daughter's act

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Speaker 2: of grace made a positive impact on her situation at church,

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Speaker 2: our own willingness to forgive can influence the atmosphere in

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Speaker 2: our homes. So I want to encourage you to join

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Speaker 2: me this week in forming a new habit of forgiveness,

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Speaker 2: one that goes beyond basic recitation and moves into love

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Speaker 2: and action. Maybe it looks like slipping your son a

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Speaker 2: handwritten note of forgiveness after he's broken curfew, then letting

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Speaker 2: him teach you about his new hobby. Or it's a

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Speaker 2: sincere conversation with your husband, free of distractions, while you

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Speaker 2: give him a foot rub. However you choose to forgive

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Speaker 2: your family members this week, remember to take time to

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Speaker 2: reflect on how your humility has impacted the atmosphere in

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Speaker 2: your home. Let's pray, Dear Heavenly Father. It's so easy

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Speaker 2: for me to give into my anger and frustration when

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Speaker 2: someone wrongs me, especially my loved ones, and even harder

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Speaker 2: for me to put aside my pride and forgive them. Lord,

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Speaker 2: help me cultivate the same tender love you pour over

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Speaker 2: meat every day, despite my sins and humble my heart

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Speaker 2: so I can live out my faith in love and

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Speaker 2: forgiveness with my family in Jesus' name.

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Speaker 1: Amen, Friends, we have completely revamped our Patreon tears. Now

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Speaker 1: with a ten dollars monthly donation, you automatically receive our

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Speaker 1: favorite monthly downloadable prayer calendar of curated scripture inspired prayers

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Speaker 1: that complement the devotions and prayers from the podcast. You

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Speaker 1: also receive each day's devotion and prayer in written form,

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Speaker 1: including reflection questions to accompany your quiet time. Many of

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Speaker 1: our members enjoy having the ability to read the day's

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Speaker 1: devotion or to save the prayer for future use. Lastly,

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Speaker 1: when you become a prayer, you're invited to a monthly

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Speaker 1: mom chat with me and surprise guests from our other

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Speaker 1: Million Praying Mom authors. You can learn more in today's

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Speaker 1: show notes or at Millionprayingmoms dot com. Until next time, friends,

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Speaker 1: the Lord bless you and keep you. Make His face

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Speaker 1: shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the

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Speaker 1: Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.