1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel Wojo, and 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: each week we unravel life's notts through prayer. Here you'll 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: find practical wisdom and prayer encouragement to guide you through 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: life's hardest seasons. Join me as we untangle life's messes together, 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: one prayer at a time. Hey there, I'm Rachel, and 6 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: I'm so glad you're here today. I want to start 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: by asking you about the thing you're bracing for. You 8 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: might know what I'm talking about already. Maybe it's a 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: phone call that you're afraid is coming, or a test result, 10 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: or a future where the thing that you love the 11 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: most or person you love the most is taken away 12 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: from you. And a lot of us carry fears like that, 13 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: kind of low and quiet. They run underneath your whole day, 14 00:00:59,000 --> 00:00:59,319 Speaker 1: and it. 15 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 2: Changes how we pray. We have a tendency to pray 16 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 2: small and ask God for the little stuff because we're 17 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 2: scared to hand him the big things. The one set 18 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 2: would wreck us if the answer came back as no. 19 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 2: And if that's you, this episode is for you. We 20 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 2: are going to sit in Romans eight today. In a 21 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 2: couple verses that whole chapter is so powerful, but these 22 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:29,039 Speaker 2: verses promise something better than just getting away from the 23 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 2: hard thing, something that we need so much more. And 24 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,559 Speaker 2: before we get into it, I want to be sure 25 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,479 Speaker 2: that you know about my new book, Praying Through Life's 26 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 2: Battles Ninety Days to Strengthen Your Faith. It releases August 27 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 2: twenty fifth. I feel like I've been saying that for 28 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 2: quite a while now, but two more weeks and it 29 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 2: will be out. You can pre order at Battleprayers dot com. 30 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 2: This book has three movements in it, for the weary, 31 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 2: for the warring, and for the winning, and today's episode 32 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 2: lives in that last category for the Winning, But for 33 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 2: now go to Battleprayers dot com and you can get 34 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 2: all of the download information there. So the first segment 35 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,519 Speaker 2: every week is our Question in a Hard Space, where 36 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 2: we talk about questions about prayer that don't have neat 37 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 2: little answers right And this week, how do I pray 38 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 2: about the future when I'm afraid of what could go wrong? 39 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 2: And I think so many of us assume that a 40 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 2: strong faith means that we're not afraid. So when fears 41 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 2: creep in, when fear keeps showing up, and especially a 42 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 2: fear about the future, we believe that we must not 43 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 2: be good Christians, we must not be praying right or 44 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 2: trusting hard enough, or we wouldn't have these feelings. But 45 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 2: Paul writes in Romans eight Versus thirty eight and thirty nine, 46 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,359 Speaker 2: for I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor 47 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 2: angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor 48 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 2: any powers, neither height nor depth or anything else in 49 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 2: all creation will be able to separate us from the 50 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 2: love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 51 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 2: Now that list is not random, if you think about it. 52 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 2: Paul is going corner by corner through every place that 53 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,839 Speaker 2: fear could possibly hide. Death and life that's in our bodies, right, 54 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 2: the things that the doctors make us worried about, angels 55 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 2: and demons, that's the stuff that we can't see, the 56 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 2: spiritual weight that we feel and can't always explain. And 57 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 2: then in the middle, Paul names time, the present, and 58 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 2: the future, and the exact thing that you're scared of 59 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 2: lives right there in that word future. I'm so glad 60 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 2: that Paul didn't get past this part. He looks at it, 61 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 2: he put it on the list. And then height and depth, 62 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 2: that's every direction everywhere that you could see, there's nowhere 63 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 2: you could fall outside of that. So Paul is not 64 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 2: telling us that the hard things won't come. He names them. 65 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 2: If we go back one verse, he's talking about all 66 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 2: the trouble, the hardship, the persecution, the famine. Paul knows 67 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 2: the future holds things that scare us. He's not saying that. 68 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 2: But what he is saying is that not one of them, 69 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 2: not a single thing in all the created universe, has 70 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 2: the power to separate us, to cut us off from 71 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 2: the love of God. So that can change how we pray. 72 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 2: We can quit begging God to promise us the future 73 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 2: with nothing hard in it, because he never promised that. 74 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 2: But we can ask him for what he did promise. 75 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 2: So what would that look like? God, I don't know 76 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 2: what's coming, but show me that it cannot separate me 77 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 2: from your love. Let me feel that your love reaches 78 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 2: all the way into the thing I'm most afraid of. 79 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 2: That's a power that the Lord loves to answer. Thanks 80 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 2: so much for listening into this segment of questions in 81 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 2: Hard Spaces. We'll be right back after this word from 82 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 2: our sponsors. Hey, thank you for allowing that word from 83 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 2: our sponsors. And now I'm diving into the segment each 84 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 2: week that we call Pray More worry Less, And this 85 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 2: is where we focus on just one principle one to 86 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 2: help you pray more and worry less. And today it 87 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 2: comes straight out of the same chapter Romans eight, Verses 88 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 2: thirty eight and thirty nine. I said, Paul's list isn't random, 89 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 2: and I want you to pray it. And the reason 90 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 2: is because he walks through every dimension where we might 91 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 2: be afraid, and in each one he leaves a little 92 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,799 Speaker 2: mark that says God's love is already here. So whatever, 93 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 2: if you walked in Carying today, whatever you're listening to, 94 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 2: and you say, where does this live on the list. 95 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 2: Maybe your fear is a body thing, maybe your body 96 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 2: or someone else you love. It's a diagnosis, a parent 97 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,039 Speaker 2: or a spouse aging right in front of you, a 98 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 2: kid that you can't keep safe no matter how hard 99 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 2: you try because they're growing up. And Paul already named 100 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 2: those bodily things death or life. So you can pray 101 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 2: into that Lord, even in this body, I know that 102 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 2: your love is not going anywhere. And maybe you're afraid 103 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 2: of something that you can't really point to. It's this 104 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 2: heaviness or a sense that something is against you. Paul 105 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 2: covered angels and demons too, And so you can pray 106 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 2: God the things that I can't see and I can't 107 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,679 Speaker 2: fight on my own. I'm so grateful that your love 108 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 2: has already won the war. It's then the future. What 109 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 2: if it's you at that two o'clock in the morning time, 110 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 2: which happens to me. Paul looked at the future and said, 111 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 2: nothing can separate you from the love of God. So 112 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 2: pray it straightforward. Lord, I don't know what's coming. I'm 113 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 2: scared of it. I'm handing you the part I can't 114 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 2: see because I know that you are already there. And 115 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 2: this is the part the more than conquers actually means. 116 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 2: It means that you win, not by having to never 117 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 2: face anything hard. Paul said, we are more than conquerors 118 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 2: in all these things, not around them. In them. You're 119 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 2: not promised to life where nothing ever comes after you 120 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 2: or nothing bad ever happens. God's love is the one 121 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 2: thing that cannot be touched no matter what. So when 122 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 2: you pray the scripture back to him and you are saying, Lord, 123 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 2: I can't talk myself out of being afraid, but I 124 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 2: can't hand over you the fear peace by peace, and 125 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 2: know that love has already covered me. I want to 126 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 2: tell you something about happened to me this actually just 127 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 2: this last week. It showed me what victory kind of 128 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 2: looks like and understanding the intimacy of God's love. I 129 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 2: was invited to record an interview at day Star Television, 130 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 2: and going in I knew that I really wanted to 131 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 2: share about my daughter Taylor, of course, about being her mom, 132 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 2: her special needs mom for twenty two years, and honestly, 133 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 2: I was kind of aiming at the redemptive parts of 134 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 2: our story, the places where God brought something good up 135 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 2: out of the losses, where I could point and say, 136 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 2: look what God did during that time, and that's what 137 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 2: you share right especially on TV. I was so sure 138 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 2: that I knew where the meaning of the day was 139 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 2: going to be, and it was a great conversation. I'll 140 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 2: be sharing more information on the release, but it's interesting 141 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 2: about what happened there, because what really happened was in 142 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 2: the middle of it, I said something that I've said 143 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 2: a lot of times before that I thought I was 144 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 2: saying to the whole audience. I said, there are some 145 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 2: things we are just never going to understand until we 146 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:23,319 Speaker 2: get to heaven. And I wasn't going for this really 147 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 2: big moment. It was just true, and it came from 148 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 2: parts of my own story that still don't make sense 149 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 2: to me even now. But what I didn't know, what 150 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 2: I have no possible way of knowing, was that the 151 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 2: man interviewing me, doctor Doug, had lost his own mother 152 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 2: just four days before he interviewed me, four days He 153 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 2: was sitting right across from me, carrying a grief so 154 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,079 Speaker 2: new that it hadn't even had time to settle, and 155 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 2: I had no idea. So while I was talking about 156 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 2: Taylor and Heaven, those words landed on him. And I 157 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 2: looked at him, and I could just tell that those 158 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 2: words met him so intimately. The look on his face. 159 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 2: There were places where he was hurting, and God used 160 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 2: them to reach him in a way that I didn't 161 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 2: even know he was hurting. And I need you to 162 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 2: see this, because here's what I look at. Death had 163 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,199 Speaker 2: come for both of us, my daughter Taylor years ago, 164 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 2: his mother only four days ago, and so both of 165 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 2: us had encountered this very first thing on Paul's list, 166 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 2: death and life, but death didn't separate either one of 167 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,440 Speaker 2: us from God's love, and in fact, love went straight 168 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 2: through the middle of it, my loss reaching his loss. 169 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 2: Death did not get the final word. Love was doing 170 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 2: the thing that death swears it will prevent. And I'm thinking, 171 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 2: you know, oh, this victory is the story that I 172 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 2: had kind of rehearsed in there on the way to 173 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 2: the interview. But it was really God's showing me that 174 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 2: not even death, whether it was doctor Doug's mom or 175 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 2: my daughter, could put a single person in that room 176 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,559 Speaker 2: outside the reach of His love that had been sitting 177 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 2: there with us the whole time, and he showed up 178 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:25,320 Speaker 2: to show us how significant it was. That's a part 179 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 2: of my new book, Praying through Life's Battles. It's ninety 180 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 2: days of moving through three seasons, for the weary, for 181 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 2: the warring, and for the winning. And in that winning section, 182 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 2: it isn't about thinking that the battles are just behind you. 183 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 2: It's about learning to pray the way we've just talked 184 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 2: about from inside God's love, where we know nothing can 185 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 2: get past it, even more and more standing in the 186 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 2: middle of a battle. If the future is one of 187 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 2: those things that's scaring you right now, I want you 188 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 2: to get this book. It releases August twenty fifth, and 189 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,079 Speaker 2: you can pre order it today at battleprayers dot com. 190 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 2: When you preorder, it helps more than you to ever know. 191 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 2: It can help you because you can get the book 192 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 2: right away. If you go to battle Prayers dot com, 193 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 2: you can get a digital copy to start reading right away, 194 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 2: but also preorders help it get in the hands of 195 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 2: the people who actually need it. So go to battleprayers 196 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 2: dot com and pre order your copy or share it 197 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 2: with a friend. Thank you so much for joining me 198 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:34,440 Speaker 2: on today's Untangling Prayer podcast. I hope that you are 199 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 2: so encouraged in your walk with the Lord and you 200 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 2: recognize that His love is with you in the middle 201 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 2: of the battle until next time. God sees you, he 202 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 2: hears you, and he knows your needs. Thank you for 203 00:12:55,480 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 2: listening to the Untangling Prayer Podcast with Rachel Wojo, show 204 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:05,199 Speaker 2: notes and resources. Please visit Rachelwojo dot com. See you 205 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 2: again soon.