1 00:00:07,900 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel Wojo, and 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:17,189 Speaker 1: each week we unravel life's knots through prayer. Here you'll 3 00:00:17,270 --> 00:00:21,370 Speaker 1: find practical wisdom and prayer encouragement to guide you through 4 00:00:21,410 --> 00:00:27,510 Speaker 1: life's hardest seasons. Join me as we untangle life's messes together, one. 5 00:00:27,470 --> 00:00:37,540 Speaker 2: Prayer at a time. I was standing on a dirt 6 00:00:37,580 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 2: road in Africa, miles from anywhere, when the guards that 7 00:00:42,420 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 2: had been hired to protect our team stopped walking. And 8 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,769 Speaker 2: their leader turned around and said, hey, we're not going 9 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,970 Speaker 2: any farther, because it was too dangerous for them, supposedly. 10 00:00:54,830 --> 00:00:56,790 Speaker 2: And if you can hold on to that picture, I'll 11 00:00:56,830 --> 00:00:59,470 Speaker 2: come back to it on how that day ended a 12 00:00:59,510 --> 00:01:01,830 Speaker 2: little bit later in the episode. But I want to 13 00:01:01,930 --> 00:01:06,020 Speaker 2: welcome you. to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel, and 14 00:01:06,060 --> 00:01:10,780 Speaker 2: I'm so glad that you are here. This month, we're 15 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 2: walking through the For the Warring section of my book, 16 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,540 Speaker 2: Praying Through Life's Battles, 90 Days to Strengthen Your Faith. 17 00:01:18,740 --> 00:01:22,460 Speaker 2: And today's episode comes from day 36. So if you're 18 00:01:22,500 --> 00:01:26,470 Speaker 2: reading along with us in the Bible reading challenge, you've 19 00:01:26,700 --> 00:01:30,750 Speaker 2: already met this verse. But if you haven't joined in yet, 20 00:01:30,870 --> 00:01:34,370 Speaker 2: part two runs through the end of October, and then 21 00:01:34,450 --> 00:01:37,610 Speaker 2: we will begin part three, November 1st. You can jump 22 00:01:37,690 --> 00:01:40,250 Speaker 2: in at any time, but you'll find all of this 23 00:01:40,350 --> 00:01:44,250 Speaker 2: on rachelwojo.com. I'll put the link in the show notes. 24 00:01:44,950 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 2: And now let's dive into this week's question in hard 25 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 2: spaces segment. Today's question is the one I hear a 26 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 2: lot of different forms of this question, but how do 27 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 2: I pray when I feel like I'm under attack and 28 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,660 Speaker 2: I don't know if it's the enemy or just me? 29 00:02:02,950 --> 00:02:05,470 Speaker 2: And if you've ever had a week where one hard 30 00:02:05,530 --> 00:02:08,110 Speaker 2: thing just piles up on top of another, you know 31 00:02:08,169 --> 00:02:10,780 Speaker 2: how this kind of starts. Like the car breaks down 32 00:02:10,850 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 2: the same week that the doctor calls with some news 33 00:02:14,010 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 2: that you weren't expecting. And then in the middle of that, 34 00:02:17,060 --> 00:02:19,820 Speaker 2: the thoughts start to slip in that you have doubts 35 00:02:19,940 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 2: or that something bad is going to happen. And maybe 36 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 2: God isn't as close as I thought he was. So 37 00:02:26,740 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 2: the second guessing starts and you wonder whether this is 38 00:02:30,020 --> 00:02:34,970 Speaker 2: spiritual warfare or or whether you're just tired and reading 39 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,740 Speaker 2: into a bad week. The Bible doesn't leave us guessing 40 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 2: about whether or not the enemy is real. Peter writes, 41 00:02:43,340 --> 00:02:45,079 Speaker 2: At the same time, plenty of hard weeks come from 42 00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:59,419 Speaker 2: just living in a broken world, right? where cars break 43 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 2: down and bodies get sick. In day 36, I wrote 44 00:03:03,220 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 2: that the enemy doesn't just attack our circumstances. He attacks 45 00:03:08,020 --> 00:03:10,750 Speaker 2: our souls. And doubt is one of the main ways 46 00:03:10,810 --> 00:03:13,429 Speaker 2: that he attacks our mind and soul. He'll take a 47 00:03:13,470 --> 00:03:16,370 Speaker 2: hard week and use it to tell you that you 48 00:03:16,450 --> 00:03:20,950 Speaker 2: are completely defenseless. And since doubt usually sounds like our 49 00:03:21,090 --> 00:03:24,100 Speaker 2: own thoughts, it's easy just to think that, oh, this 50 00:03:24,180 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 2: is just me. But our verse today in 2 Thessalonians 3, 51 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:33,470 Speaker 2: verse 3, the setting matters. Paul started the church in Thessalonica, 52 00:03:34,150 --> 00:03:36,910 Speaker 2: and before long, a mob had stirred up the city, 53 00:03:37,070 --> 00:03:39,910 Speaker 2: and the believers sent Paul away at night for his 54 00:03:40,090 --> 00:03:43,910 Speaker 2: own safety. The new Christians he left behind, though, kept 55 00:03:44,090 --> 00:03:48,150 Speaker 2: facing persecution and trials. And Paul mentions that in the 56 00:03:48,170 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 2: very first chapter of Thessalonians. Most scholars believe that he 57 00:03:52,580 --> 00:03:56,660 Speaker 2: wrote this from Corinth, where he was running into opposition 58 00:03:56,740 --> 00:04:00,340 Speaker 2: as well. And so toward the end of the letter, 59 00:04:00,860 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 2: he asks them to pray for him. And he's pretty 60 00:04:04,180 --> 00:04:07,890 Speaker 2: frank about why. He writes, And pray that we may 61 00:04:07,950 --> 00:04:12,430 Speaker 2: be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone 62 00:04:12,470 --> 00:04:15,750 Speaker 2: has faith. Then he follows it right away with, But 63 00:04:15,810 --> 00:04:19,229 Speaker 2: the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and 64 00:04:19,290 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 2: protect you from the evil one. In the Greek, the 65 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,610 Speaker 2: words for faith and faithful are, come from the same root. 66 00:04:26,890 --> 00:04:29,490 Speaker 2: And so in these two sentences, he goes from people 67 00:04:29,529 --> 00:04:32,450 Speaker 2: who aren't faithful to the Lord, to the Lord who 68 00:04:32,570 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 2: is faithful. This verse fits so well when you can't 69 00:04:36,300 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 2: tell where the attack is coming from. And you can 70 00:04:38,380 --> 00:04:40,740 Speaker 2: tell the Lord, hey, I don't know if this is 71 00:04:40,779 --> 00:04:43,420 Speaker 2: the enemy or it's just me, but you can ask 72 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 2: God to strengthen you and protect you from the evil 73 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,490 Speaker 2: one the same way that Paul asked for these believers. 74 00:04:50,580 --> 00:04:53,930 Speaker 2: You can leave all of the details to the Lord. 75 00:04:54,790 --> 00:04:56,950 Speaker 2: And if the heavy feeling has been with you for 76 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,720 Speaker 2: a long time, make sure that you talk to someone 77 00:05:00,779 --> 00:05:03,700 Speaker 2: about it. I always encourage you to pray, but talk 78 00:05:03,740 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 2: to a pastor, a counselor, your doctor. God uses people 79 00:05:07,460 --> 00:05:11,330 Speaker 2: to help carry us through whatever life is bringing to us. 80 00:05:12,029 --> 00:05:14,670 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening in to Questions in Heart Spaces. We'll 81 00:05:14,710 --> 00:05:18,010 Speaker 2: be right back after this brief word from our sponsors. 82 00:05:19,170 --> 00:05:21,610 Speaker 2: Thank you for listening in to that word from our sponsors. 83 00:05:21,670 --> 00:05:25,300 Speaker 2: And now for this week's Pray More, Worry Less encouragement. 84 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 2: This is the part of the show where I hone 85 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,460 Speaker 2: in on one prayer principle. And this week it comes 86 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,820 Speaker 2: from the Divine Strategy and Day 36, which is where 87 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,229 Speaker 2: God's word reads, When my praise is faithfulness, I become 88 00:05:40,630 --> 00:05:45,070 Speaker 2: your fortress and defender against every assault on your soul. 89 00:05:45,650 --> 00:05:49,050 Speaker 2: Paul wrote, The Lord is Faithful. in the present tense, 90 00:05:49,390 --> 00:05:52,909 Speaker 2: is faithful. So it applies to whatever we're going through. 91 00:05:52,970 --> 00:05:57,190 Speaker 2: When doubt comes after us, it usually goes after God's 92 00:05:57,270 --> 00:06:00,710 Speaker 2: track record first. Doubt tries to get you to forget 93 00:06:01,570 --> 00:06:04,860 Speaker 2: when God has been faithful for you, to you. And 94 00:06:04,940 --> 00:06:07,780 Speaker 2: so this time is the one where it feels like, oh, 95 00:06:07,820 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 2: he's not going to be faithful. And we use praise 96 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,799 Speaker 2: to push back on that, to put his track record 97 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,500 Speaker 2: back in front of us and When you thank God 98 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 2: out loud for specific times that He's been faithful, your 99 00:06:20,220 --> 00:06:23,620 Speaker 2: soul gets to be preached to. It hears it. So 100 00:06:23,660 --> 00:06:27,180 Speaker 2: this week, before you ask God for anything about the 101 00:06:27,220 --> 00:06:31,500 Speaker 2: battle you're in, maybe tell Him a few times what 102 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 2: He's done, where He's already come through for you. And 103 00:06:34,540 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 2: I find that being specific is helpful. If you're not 104 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,380 Speaker 2: sure where to begin, just think about the last year 105 00:06:40,930 --> 00:06:44,419 Speaker 2: and look for the moments that you didn't expect. to 106 00:06:44,660 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 2: find solutions, and yet somehow they were there. Now back 107 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 2: to that story in Africa. For this week's answered prayer story, 108 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,490 Speaker 2: we had been walking for a while, making our way 109 00:06:55,550 --> 00:06:58,650 Speaker 2: to this village orphanage when those guards stopped and said, hey, 110 00:06:58,690 --> 00:07:01,450 Speaker 2: we're not going any further. It's too dangerous. We were 111 00:07:01,510 --> 00:07:05,859 Speaker 2: miles from anywhere. None of our team was familiar, and 112 00:07:06,270 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 2: it was all American volunteers, where depending on these guards 113 00:07:10,140 --> 00:07:13,650 Speaker 2: that we had paid, to protect us, and here they 114 00:07:13,690 --> 00:07:17,850 Speaker 2: are threatening to abandon us. So I was really worried. 115 00:07:18,050 --> 00:07:20,370 Speaker 2: The doubts came fast. What if we had made a 116 00:07:20,410 --> 00:07:23,670 Speaker 2: mistake in coming here? And what if God didn't really 117 00:07:23,710 --> 00:07:28,429 Speaker 2: call us to this particular mission? And fear whispered that 118 00:07:28,570 --> 00:07:32,090 Speaker 2: we were alone, and I especially felt that. But God 119 00:07:32,170 --> 00:07:36,190 Speaker 2: had not forgotten us in this remote place. And I 120 00:07:36,250 --> 00:07:40,330 Speaker 2: think about this passage, the Lord is faithful and he 121 00:07:40,410 --> 00:07:44,370 Speaker 2: will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 122 00:07:45,610 --> 00:07:48,690 Speaker 2: So right there on that road, instead of giving into doubt, 123 00:07:48,910 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 2: I started praising the Lord for His faithfulness, and I 124 00:07:53,180 --> 00:07:55,740 Speaker 2: thanked Him. I thanked Him. I said, look, God, I 125 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,020 Speaker 2: know You've protected us before on this trip. You've provided 126 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 2: for us on this trip, and You've opened doors for 127 00:08:02,260 --> 00:08:05,370 Speaker 2: us on this trip to get us here, so protect us. 128 00:08:05,990 --> 00:08:10,030 Speaker 2: And when I praised and the team started to pray 129 00:08:10,110 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 2: and praise. We were all kind of just declaring God's faithfulness. God, 130 00:08:15,070 --> 00:08:17,900 Speaker 2: we know that you are in charge. And as we 131 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 2: did that, the doubt that was trying to paralyze me 132 00:08:21,740 --> 00:08:25,250 Speaker 2: started to lose its grip. What happened then was that 133 00:08:25,290 --> 00:08:29,690 Speaker 2: the guards changed their minds and decided to honor their 134 00:08:29,710 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 2: commitment after all. And so I learned on that African 135 00:08:34,140 --> 00:08:38,260 Speaker 2: road that the enemy uses doubt and fear to make 136 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,440 Speaker 2: us question whether or not God is faithful and whether 137 00:08:41,460 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 2: or not he is still with us. Things don't always 138 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,500 Speaker 2: turn out the way that they did that particular day. 139 00:08:48,580 --> 00:08:52,059 Speaker 2: And sometimes the people that we're counting on do walk 140 00:08:52,140 --> 00:08:54,780 Speaker 2: away and they do abandon us. And Paul knew this 141 00:08:54,850 --> 00:08:57,790 Speaker 2: firsthand as well. But he also knew that the Lord 142 00:08:57,850 --> 00:09:01,490 Speaker 2: is faithful. And that's what we praised him for that 143 00:09:01,570 --> 00:09:07,510 Speaker 2: particular day. In our day 36 of Praying Through Life's Battles, 144 00:09:07,550 --> 00:09:10,870 Speaker 2: there's a spot in the middle where you could name 145 00:09:10,910 --> 00:09:14,390 Speaker 2: your own story. Lord, I praise you as my faithful defender. 146 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:19,059 Speaker 2: Thank you for strengthening me and protecting my soul from 147 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 2: every attack. I celebrate how you've been faithful through. And 148 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:26,740 Speaker 2: then just fill in the blank. Go ahead and name 149 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,730 Speaker 2: how God has been faithful. When doubt tries to make 150 00:09:29,750 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 2: you question God's presence, He will help you respond with 151 00:09:35,820 --> 00:09:40,439 Speaker 2: praise and His faithfulness is proven. I'm so thankful that 152 00:09:40,540 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 2: His protection guards my soul against enemies' lies. He is 153 00:09:45,350 --> 00:09:50,150 Speaker 2: my fortress and you can pray to Him that very thing, 154 00:09:50,330 --> 00:09:54,459 Speaker 2: that He is also your fortress. The battle cry for 155 00:09:54,500 --> 00:09:57,729 Speaker 2: today in day 36 of the devotional says, I praise 156 00:09:57,770 --> 00:10:01,380 Speaker 2: God for his faithfulness and he becomes my faithfulness. against 157 00:10:01,580 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 2: every doubt that tries to attack my soul. And I 158 00:10:05,380 --> 00:10:10,140 Speaker 2: pray that this day 36 of praying through life's battles, 159 00:10:11,420 --> 00:10:14,740 Speaker 2: talking about it on the podcast has been a blessing 160 00:10:14,780 --> 00:10:17,340 Speaker 2: to you. If you feel like you're under attack and 161 00:10:17,380 --> 00:10:20,500 Speaker 2: you want help knowing what to do to pray, Every 162 00:10:20,540 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 2: day in this book gives you what the enemy says, 163 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,550 Speaker 2: God's strategy, a prayer, and a battle cry to hold 164 00:10:26,670 --> 00:10:30,870 Speaker 2: on to. And you can get your copy at battleprayers.com 165 00:10:31,070 --> 00:10:34,690 Speaker 2: or wherever you buy books. Hey, thanks for joining me 166 00:10:34,750 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 2: on Untangling Prayer. I pray this has been a blessing 167 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,620 Speaker 2: to you. I'm Rachel, and I want you to remember 168 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 2: God sees you, He hears you, and He knows your needs. 169 00:10:46,220 --> 00:10:48,340 Speaker 2: Keep seeking, keep trusting, and keep praying.