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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Teach Us to Pray is brought to you

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Speaker 1: by Life Audio and is a part of our Faith

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Speaker 1: Toolkit series. For more inspirational faith affirming podcasts, visit lifeaudio

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Speaker 1: dot com.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back, friend. You are listening to the Teach Us

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Speaker 2: to Pray podcast, where we teach believers practical, in real

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Speaker 2: life tips on how to grow your faith and relationship

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Speaker 2: with God through the power of prayer. I'm Christina Patterson,

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Speaker 2: host of the Teach Us to Pray podcast and founder

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Speaker 2: of Beloved Women, where I encourage, equip and empower women

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Speaker 2: in the love of Jesus Christ and the truth of

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Speaker 2: God's Word. We are continuing our three part series on

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Speaker 2: the three ways that God answers prayer. He answers with

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Speaker 2: a no, a yes, or a maybe. Last time, we

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Speaker 2: talked about how some time God answers our prayers with

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Speaker 2: a no, but even in that, God is good and

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Speaker 2: we can trust him because He's working all things out

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Speaker 2: for our good and his glory. If you hadn't had

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Speaker 2: an opportunity to check out that episode, be sure to

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Speaker 2: check out the previous episode so you can learn more

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Speaker 2: about how to respond and receive a know from God

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Speaker 2: so that you can still be encouraged by the heart

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Speaker 2: and will of God even when the answer is no. Today,

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Speaker 2: we're going to be talking about how to respond when

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Speaker 2: God's answer to our prayer is yes. Now, obviously, this

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Speaker 2: is our favorite way that God will answer our prayers,

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Speaker 2: because that's why we're praying them in the first place,

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Speaker 2: because this is what we want. And sometimes many times,

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Speaker 2: if we're honest, if we remember, God does give us

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Speaker 2: what we want. He answers with a yes. Now, here's

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Speaker 2: the thing that we have to be careful about. Don't

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Speaker 2: miss the yes. And what I'm saying is sometimes we'll

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Speaker 2: be praying about something. We'll move on with our life,

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Speaker 2: and God will answer our prayer and we'll forget that

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Speaker 2: we even prayed about that thing. We can kind of

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Speaker 2: take it for granted, sometimes, can't we. Then we'll get

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Speaker 2: to a point we'll start complaining about it. That job

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Speaker 2: that we prayed for, that family that we prayed for

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Speaker 2: being able to get into that school. We prayed so

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Speaker 2: fervently for it, and God gave us a yes, and

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Speaker 2: we were so happy, and we move forward and now

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Speaker 2: we're carrying the weight of that yes. We're carrying the

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Speaker 2: harvest of that season and sometimes even a yes can

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Speaker 2: be heavy, and now we got to put in the work.

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Speaker 2: Now we can choose to be thankful and remember that

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Speaker 2: this is an answered prayer, or we can complain and

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Speaker 2: we can become frustrated and we can forget the blessing

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Speaker 2: that God has given us with the yes to our prayers.

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Speaker 2: But we can't assume that just because it's good and

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Speaker 2: we got a yes, that it's gonna be easy. There's

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Speaker 2: gonna be work, there's gonna be challenges. Oh, and you

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Speaker 2: better believe there's gonna be some spiritual warfare. So it's

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Speaker 2: important for us to remember that the blessings that God

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Speaker 2: has given us, the blessings that we desired that He

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Speaker 2: granted us, are from Him. Because what it's gonna do

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Speaker 2: it it's gonna encourage us to continue to remember where

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Speaker 2: our blessings come. It's gonna point us back to God. Now.

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Speaker 2: The other temptation that we might face when we have

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Speaker 2: an answered prayer is to make it an idol. Sometimes, yeah,

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Speaker 2: we prayed for and we got it, and then we

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Speaker 2: forget all about the God that gave it to us. Now,

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Speaker 2: God's not gonna answer a yes for us to then

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Speaker 2: go serve whatever it is that we prayed for, that man,

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Speaker 2: that money, that promotion, that ministry. No, he has a

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Speaker 2: purpose for and a reason why he allowed our desires

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Speaker 2: to line up with His will and give us a yes.

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Speaker 2: But ultimately, as believers, our focus, our devotion, our worship

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Speaker 2: is always to him, not the blessing, but the one

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Speaker 2: who blesses, not the answered prayer, but the one to

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Speaker 2: whom we pray. It's going to be so important that

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Speaker 2: we remember that, that we remember where our yests came from,

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Speaker 2: because if we don't, we'll be tempted to worship our

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Speaker 2: answered prayers and not the God that answers. Now, I

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Speaker 2: also want to make this note when it comes to

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Speaker 2: answered prayers, it is okay for God to answer your

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Speaker 2: prayer with a yes. And I'm making this clarification because

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Speaker 2: I know there are certain people out there that may

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Speaker 2: feel guilty when you get what you want. Sometimes we

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Speaker 2: feel like we have to live these sacrificial lives on

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Speaker 2: the altar of inconvenience to prove to God how much

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Speaker 2: we love him. And yes, sometimes we need to make sacrifices.

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Speaker 2: But sometimes God just flat out gives you what you want.

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Speaker 2: And when he's trying to bless you. Don't turn away

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Speaker 2: from it, don't miss the yes, don't forfeit it because

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Speaker 2: you feel like you need to prove something to God

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Speaker 2: that you sacrifice this for him. No, receive it with

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Speaker 2: thanksgiving and give him all glory for it. Now, let

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Speaker 2: me give you a personal example so you can kind

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Speaker 2: of better understand what I'm talking about here. When I

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Speaker 2: was in college, I met my husband Donald, and y'all,

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Speaker 2: I had the biggest crush on him before he even

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Speaker 2: knew it, right, and I didn't really know what to

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Speaker 2: do with myself. I prayed to God about it, and

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Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, I really like him, you know,

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Speaker 2: and we were friends and we were in some of

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Speaker 2: the same circles and things like that. But I didn't

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Speaker 2: really know how to approach the situation. So I just

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Speaker 2: continued to pray about it, and Donald and I continue

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Speaker 2: to grow in our friendship and get to know each other.

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Speaker 2: But I was just I wasn't really sure if he

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Speaker 2: liked me or not. I didn't know if he knew

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Speaker 2: that I liked him. I just wasn't really sure about

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Speaker 2: the situation. And also I was in a season where

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Speaker 2: I was trying to stay focused on God and not

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Speaker 2: get distracted. I had come out of season where I

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Speaker 2: was in a relationship and it did not end well,

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Speaker 2: and I made some mistakes in that relationship and I

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Speaker 2: felt guilty about it, and I really wanted to do

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Speaker 2: things right the next time. So when things started to

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Speaker 2: grow between Donald and I, I got scared. I became

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Speaker 2: fearful because it was like, wait, God's answer and my prayer,

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Speaker 2: I really like this guy, and I think he might

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Speaker 2: like me too. Is God really working this out in

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Speaker 2: my favor? And because I had just the guilt of

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Speaker 2: my past, I didn't really feel like I deserved like

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Speaker 2: this good, healthy relationship. And I felt like I needed

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Speaker 2: to prove to God that I would sacrifice, you know,

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Speaker 2: being in a relationship to just be sold out for him,

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Speaker 2: you know, and that's great. The issue was God wasn't

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Speaker 2: calling me to do that. He was trying to bless

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Speaker 2: me with a beautiful marriage and family, and thank God,

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Speaker 2: he didn't let me get in the way. So I

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Speaker 2: remember one day I walked into my dorm room, and

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Speaker 2: I know that it was the Holy Spirit that led

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Speaker 2: one of my friends to say this to me when

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Speaker 2: I walked in, because it just kind of came out

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Speaker 2: of nowhere. The thing was was we weren't even like

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Speaker 2: talking to each other. Like I hadn't talked to her

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Speaker 2: about what was going on, We hadn't had any conversation.

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Speaker 2: I walked in and she just looked at me and

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Speaker 2: was like, Christina, sometimes God gives you what you want.

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Speaker 2: And I was like okay, and I just walked to

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Speaker 2: my room. But y'all, I knew that was God speaking

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Speaker 2: to me. And what he was saying is, I'm trying

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Speaker 2: to bless you with the relationship with the God you

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Speaker 2: have a crush on, and you keep pushing it away.

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Speaker 2: I'm trying to give you a yes to the desires

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Speaker 2: of your heart, and I need you to receive it.

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Speaker 2: And I'm so glad that God made that message clear

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Speaker 2: to me, because sometimes will allow shame and guilt and

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Speaker 2: mistakes of our past to prevent us from receiving a

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Speaker 2: yes from God. And like the song says, when Jesus

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Speaker 2: say yes, nobody can say no. So if God is

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Speaker 2: giving you a yes, receive it. Take the territory, go

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Speaker 2: forth and enjoy it, because that's why He's giving it

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Speaker 2: to you. Don't push it away. You don't have anything

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Speaker 2: to prove the Father wants to bless you, thank him

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Speaker 2: for it, give him glory for it, and enjoy it.

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Speaker 2: You know, I think of the Israelites and God giving

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Speaker 2: them the Promised land that he said that he would.

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Speaker 2: But how many of you know?

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Speaker 1: Not all of.

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Speaker 2: God's chosen people received the promised land, not all of

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Speaker 2: them that could have received the promised land. Why it

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Speaker 2: wasn't because God said no, God said they could. It

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Speaker 2: was because they were intimidated to go forth in there, yes,

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Speaker 2: and receive all that God has for them. There are

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Speaker 2: some of you who God is trying to expand your territory.

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Speaker 2: He's giving you a yes, and you need to receive

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Speaker 2: it and faith, just like we receive a know from

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Speaker 2: God with faith that He's with us and that he

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Speaker 2: cares for us, he loves us. Even when the answer

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Speaker 2: is no, we need just as much faith sometimes when

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Speaker 2: the answer is yes, to go forth and take what

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Speaker 2: God is giving us, and then we give the glory

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Speaker 2: right back to Him. And this is where we share

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Speaker 2: our testimony, because remember when I shared with you about

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Speaker 2: how sometimes God answers with the know that even then

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Speaker 2: all things work together for the good of His glory.

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Speaker 2: The same is true when the answer is yes, all

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Speaker 2: things work together for His glory. So now it is

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Speaker 2: up to you to give him the glory and share

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Speaker 2: your testimony, share the goodness of God when he blesses you.

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Speaker 2: Let others know that it was Him that that good

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Speaker 2: thing came from. So, as a review, when the answer

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Speaker 2: to your prayer is a yes, receive that yes, give

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Speaker 2: God glory, and never forget where your answered prayer came from.

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Speaker 2: It is my hope that today's episode has provided you

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Speaker 2: with insight and helpful tips on how you can pray.

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Speaker 2: Be sure to listen to our next episode, where we

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Speaker 2: will talk about when God's answer to our prayer is wait,

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Speaker 2: when he gives us a maybe. We have so much

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Speaker 2: more to talk about when it comes to prayer, So

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Speaker 2: I hope that if you were encouraged by today's episode,

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Speaker 2: you will share it with a friend and subscribe so

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Speaker 2: that you don't miss any future episodes of the Teacher

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Speaker 2: Us to Pray Podcast, where we will continue to learn how,

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Speaker 2: just like breathing, prayer can become a natural, consistent, and

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Speaker 2: life giving part of our everyday lives. Until then, be

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Speaker 2: sure to connect with me at Beloved Women dot org

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Speaker 2: and check out the show notes to download my free

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Speaker 2: five day prayer guide. I also want to invite you

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Speaker 2: to study the Bible with me by downloading the Beloved

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Speaker 2: Women app available in the Apple and Google Play stores,

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Speaker 2: or at Belovedwomen dot tv. Thank you so much for

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Speaker 2: taking time to listen today. God bless you and I'll

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Speaker 2: talk to you in the next episode.

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Speaker 1: Teach Us to Pray is a production of Life Audio

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Speaker 1: and the Salem Web Network. If you enjoyed this episode,

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Speaker 1: would you take a minute and leave us a review

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Speaker 1: in your podcast app? It really does help more people

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Speaker 1: like you find the podcast To hear more from Christina Patterson,

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Speaker 1: be sure to check out her fantastic site, Belovedwomen dot org.

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Speaker 1: A special thanks to Kelly Gibbons, Steven Sanders, and Stephen

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Speaker 1: McGarvey for their production and editing on this episode. You

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Speaker 1: can find more podcasts like this over at life audio

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Speaker 1: dot com.