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Speaker 1: Life Audio. You're listening to every Day Prayers with Million

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Speaker 1: Praying Moms, where we're dedicated to helping moms pray God's

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Speaker 1: word for their families in the areas they need it most.

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

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Speaker 1: helped 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 Adams, author of

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Speaker 1: Everyday Prayers for Love, a part of our Million Praying

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Speaker 1: Moms every Day Prayers devotional series. I recently reread this

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Speaker 1: devotional and it blessed me tremendously. Rachel provides beautiful reminders

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Speaker 1: of how God loves us just because we are His,

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Speaker 1: not because of anything we can do to earn it

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Speaker 1: or deserve it, and we are invited to love others

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Speaker 1: from a place of knowing that we are beloved. If

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Speaker 1: you don't have a copy of this book, you're going

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Speaker 1: to want to grab one for yourself and maybe even

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Speaker 1: for a friend. Every Day Prays for Love is available

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Speaker 1: wherever books are sold. This month, I've invited Rachel to

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Speaker 1: share excerpts from her book that help us break down

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Speaker 1: the famous love passage one Corinthians thirteen, specifically focusing on

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Speaker 1: verses four through eight that read, love is patient, Love

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Speaker 1: is kind. It does not envy, It does not boast.

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Speaker 1: It is not proud. It does not dishonor others. It

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Speaker 1: is not self seeking. It is not easily angered. It

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Speaker 1: keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil,

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Speaker 1: but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust,

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Speaker 1: always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. We've heard this

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Speaker 1: verse at weddings, we've heard it in the church. But

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Speaker 1: this is one of those passages that is beautiful and

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Speaker 1: easy to read but hard to put into practice, isn't it.

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Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I know that I

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Speaker 1: need more patience and kindness in my parenting. Rachel weaves

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Speaker 1: in scripture from throughout the Bible to help us truly

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Speaker 1: understand the type of love that Paul is describing here

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Speaker 1: in his letter to the Corinthians. Our prayer and hope

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Speaker 1: is that this month. As we pray this together, our

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Speaker 1: understanding of God's love would grow deeper. To learn more

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Speaker 1: about Rachel or to learn more about how you can

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Speaker 1: get involved in the ministry of Million Praying Moms, visit

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Speaker 1: today's show notes or Millionprayingmoms dot Com. After a quick

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Speaker 1: word from our sponsors, we'll pray together for our children.

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Speaker 2: Whoever does not love does not know God, because God

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Speaker 2: is love. First John chapter four, verse eight. What is love?

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Speaker 2: A group of adults posed this question to children. A

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Speaker 2: seven year old named Danny answered, love is when my

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Speaker 2: mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a

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Speaker 2: sip before giving it to him to make sure it

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Speaker 2: tastes okay. Mary Anne, age four, said love is when

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Speaker 2: your puppy licks your face even after you left him

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Speaker 2: alone all day. Bobby, age seven, said love is what's

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Speaker 2: in the room with you at Christmas if you stop

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Speaker 2: opening presents and listen out of the mouths of babes.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: Our current generation is inundated with books, songs, television shows,

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Speaker 2: and movies that have all tried to explain love. However,

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Speaker 2: the descriptions always seem to come up short. Scholars, poets,

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Speaker 2: and screenwriters have attempted to contemplate the meaning of adoration,

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Speaker 2: also to no avail. While humans have debated the true

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Speaker 2: meaning of love for centuries, Scripture gives us the uncomplicated,

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Speaker 2: pure definition God is love. Unfortunately, love has become a

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Speaker 2: confusing term with little meaning in most instances. In our

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Speaker 2: English language, we use the word love to describe our

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Speaker 2: emotions about everything from food, to family to God. However,

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Speaker 2: Biblical Greek has four different words to distinguish the various

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Speaker 2: meanings of love romantic, brotherly, familiar, and sacrificial. The authors

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Speaker 2: use the Greek word agape in First John four and

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Speaker 2: one Corinthians thirteen. Agape is a divine love that comes

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Speaker 2: from God. It is superior to all other loves because

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Speaker 2: it is the greatest and highest form, perfect, holy, and pure.

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Speaker 2: Because God is eternal, his affection toward us will last forever.

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Speaker 2: He is the origin and the culmination of love, the

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Speaker 2: alpha and the omega. The apostle John asserts, beloved, let

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Speaker 2: us love one another, for love is from God, and

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Speaker 2: whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

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Speaker 2: From this verse we can conclude that God is the

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Speaker 2: source the beginning of all things, most notably the origin

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Speaker 2: of love. This truth is affirmed at the very beginning

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Speaker 2: of the Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens

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Speaker 2: and the earth. He did not need to form the universe,

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Speaker 2: Yet God chose to make it. Why Because adoration is

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Speaker 2: best expressed towards something or someone else. God brought the

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Speaker 2: world and humanity into existence as an expression of his

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Speaker 2: own heart. Throughout God's word, it is evident that everything

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Speaker 2: the Lord has done is motivated by love. His devotion

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Speaker 2: has always involved choice and action from him. We learn

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Speaker 2: that love isn't just a feeling, it is a verb.

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Speaker 2: It is something we give, something we do. The Apostle

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Speaker 2: Paul provides us with a beautiful example of love in

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Speaker 2: action in One Corinthians thirteen. He concludes his proclamation about

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Speaker 2: love with this statement. And now these three remain faith, hope,

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Speaker 2: and love. The greatest of these is love. We may

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Speaker 2: have heard verses from this chapter read at many ways ceremonies.

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Speaker 2: In fact, they were read at mine. But living out

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Speaker 2: these characteristics can sometimes be difficult. Our human nature consistently

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Speaker 2: fails to portray these attributes. Apart from the Holy Spirit,

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Speaker 2: we cannot love like he does. God created us in

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Speaker 2: his own image. This verse gives us hope. If God

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Speaker 2: is love, we can be too, no matter what our

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Speaker 2: various experiences and backgrounds are. When asked what love is,

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Speaker 2: I hope we can all confidently answer God is love

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Speaker 2: and He loves us. It is as simple as that.

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Speaker 2: Let's pray Father. Love can be so confusing the world

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Speaker 2: has tainted the term. Help me to understand. You are

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Speaker 2: the origin of love and how much you adore me.

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Speaker 2: Let this be the foundation of all I think, say,

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Speaker 2: and do in Jesus's name.

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Speaker 1: Amen, friend, we are so glad that you are a

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Speaker 1: part of our community here on the podcast. If you

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Speaker 1: love everyday prayers in the ministry of Million Praying Moms,

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Speaker 1: I invite you to join our praying mom community on Patreon.

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Speaker 1: For just ten dollars a month, you can connect deeper

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Speaker 1: through a monthly scripture inspired prayer calendar, each day's devotion

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Speaker 1: in written form and bonus content only available to our

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Speaker 1: Patreon family. Learn more in today's show notes or at

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Speaker 1: Millionprayingmoms dot com. Until next time, Friends, the Lord bless

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Speaker 1: you and keep you. Make his face shine upon you

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Speaker 1: and be gracious to you. May the Lord look with

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Speaker 1: favor on you and give you peace,