1 00:00:02,420 --> 00:00:06,609 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel Wojo, and 2 00:00:06,790 --> 00:00:11,710 Speaker 1: each week we unravel life's knots through prayer. Here you'll 3 00:00:11,730 --> 00:00:15,870 Speaker 1: find practical wisdom and prayer encouragement to guide you through 4 00:00:15,930 --> 00:00:20,979 Speaker 1: life's hardest seasons. Join me as we untangle life's messes together, 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:29,300 Speaker 1: one prayer at a time. Well, hey there, I'm Rachel, 6 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,270 Speaker 1: and I'm so glad you joined me today. If you've 7 00:00:32,290 --> 00:00:35,550 Speaker 1: been walking through this season with me, the weary stretch, 8 00:00:35,630 --> 00:00:40,309 Speaker 1: the warring stretch, and now the winning, I have something 9 00:00:40,380 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: to tell you before we do anything else. As of yesterday, 10 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:49,100 Speaker 1: Praying Through Life's Battles is officially out in the world. 11 00:00:49,220 --> 00:00:51,860 Speaker 1: After all this time, it's finally a book that you 12 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:53,950 Speaker 1: can hold in your hands, and I've been waiting a 13 00:00:53,970 --> 00:00:56,430 Speaker 1: long time to say that to you. Well, I'll tell 14 00:00:56,470 --> 00:00:59,710 Speaker 1: you more about that. in a little while, but including 15 00:00:59,770 --> 00:01:02,810 Speaker 1: how you can get a copy today. But first, let's 16 00:01:02,870 --> 00:01:07,180 Speaker 1: get into this week's segment. And each week I share 17 00:01:07,220 --> 00:01:11,580 Speaker 1: with you a question from hard spaces. This week question 18 00:01:11,780 --> 00:01:15,940 Speaker 1: in hard spaces is just a little bit different. Maybe 19 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,709 Speaker 1: it's a question about a prayer, but usually people email 20 00:01:19,770 --> 00:01:22,110 Speaker 1: or DM them to me. And this one is just 21 00:01:22,330 --> 00:01:26,030 Speaker 1: a little bit different. And that today's question is one 22 00:01:26,050 --> 00:01:29,910 Speaker 1: I think a lot of us carry. It's, is it 23 00:01:30,010 --> 00:01:32,190 Speaker 1: too late for God to redeem the part of my 24 00:01:32,250 --> 00:01:35,789 Speaker 1: story that I've already given up on? And maybe there's 25 00:01:35,850 --> 00:01:39,930 Speaker 1: a chapter of your life that you've stopped praying about, 26 00:01:40,650 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: not because you don't believe God can do anything, because 27 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: you've decided that this particular thing is finished or over. 28 00:01:48,500 --> 00:01:52,250 Speaker 1: And maybe it's a relationship or something years that you 29 00:01:52,310 --> 00:01:55,530 Speaker 1: feel like were wasted, or a choice that you made 30 00:01:55,590 --> 00:01:59,450 Speaker 1: that you can't undo, you can't change the circumstances, and 31 00:01:59,470 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: you filed all of this in a too-far-gone file, it 32 00:02:03,940 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: seems silly to ask God for anything else regarding this issue, 33 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:12,350 Speaker 1: whatever it is. And in Scripture, redemption is never described 34 00:02:12,430 --> 00:02:16,570 Speaker 1: as something with an expiration date. Ephesians 1.7 says, in Him... 35 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: We have redemption through the blood, the forgiveness of sins, 36 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,859 Speaker 1: in accordance with the riches of God's grace. If you 37 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,540 Speaker 1: read that again, you see where the redemption actually comes from. 38 00:02:29,580 --> 00:02:34,470 Speaker 1: It doesn't come from how salvageable your situation is. It 39 00:02:34,610 --> 00:02:38,970 Speaker 1: comes from God, from the riches of God's grace. Your 40 00:02:39,070 --> 00:02:43,930 Speaker 1: circumstances don't set up the terms of redemption. God's grace does. 41 00:02:44,450 --> 00:02:48,060 Speaker 1: And that changes how we pray. When we believe something 42 00:02:48,150 --> 00:02:50,370 Speaker 1: is too far gone, we pray about it in the 43 00:02:50,410 --> 00:02:53,710 Speaker 1: past tense, if we pray about it at all. But 44 00:02:53,870 --> 00:02:58,490 Speaker 1: God doesn't relate to our story necessarily in the past tense. 45 00:02:58,610 --> 00:03:03,209 Speaker 1: He's the one who redeems, and He is actively at work. 46 00:03:04,430 --> 00:03:06,389 Speaker 1: So if there's a part of your story that you've 47 00:03:06,410 --> 00:03:09,290 Speaker 1: kind of given up on, I want to challenge you 48 00:03:09,330 --> 00:03:11,690 Speaker 1: a little bit to bring it back into your prayers. 49 00:03:12,450 --> 00:03:16,530 Speaker 1: And it's not because you'll have some guaranteed outcome or success, 50 00:03:17,190 --> 00:03:20,530 Speaker 1: but because redemption is who God is. And He hasn't 51 00:03:20,590 --> 00:03:25,810 Speaker 1: stopped being God over something that you've stopped praying for. 52 00:03:26,690 --> 00:03:28,770 Speaker 1: So thanks so much for listening in to that first 53 00:03:28,810 --> 00:03:31,790 Speaker 1: segment of Questions in Hard Spaces. We'll be right back 54 00:03:32,389 --> 00:03:38,390 Speaker 1: after this brief word from our sponsors. Thank you for 55 00:03:38,610 --> 00:03:42,140 Speaker 1: allowing that word from our sponsors. And now... I want 56 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: to dive into the podcast segment each week that we 57 00:03:45,180 --> 00:03:49,380 Speaker 1: call Pray More, Worry Less Encouragement. This is the segment 58 00:03:49,420 --> 00:03:53,380 Speaker 1: where we focus on one prayer principle to help you 59 00:03:53,500 --> 00:03:57,990 Speaker 1: pray more and worry less. And today's principle grows right 60 00:03:58,130 --> 00:04:01,510 Speaker 1: out of that question we just talked about. The God 61 00:04:01,630 --> 00:04:06,410 Speaker 1: who redeems doesn't stop at forgiving your sin. He keeps 62 00:04:06,530 --> 00:04:10,530 Speaker 1: redeeming into all the parts of your life. even the 63 00:04:10,620 --> 00:04:13,750 Speaker 1: ones you thought were ruined. So let's look at Ephesians 64 00:04:13,770 --> 00:04:18,150 Speaker 1: 1-7 again. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, 65 00:04:18,210 --> 00:04:22,010 Speaker 1: the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of 66 00:04:22,070 --> 00:04:27,979 Speaker 1: God's grace. Paul is writing about the deepest redemption there is, 67 00:04:28,140 --> 00:04:33,340 Speaker 1: the blood of Christ buying back what our sin cost us. 68 00:04:33,940 --> 00:04:37,940 Speaker 1: That's the foundation. I never want to rush into past 69 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: that because everything else in our faith is based on 70 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:46,930 Speaker 1: that principle, right? God redeems a single circumstance in your life. 71 00:04:47,630 --> 00:04:51,650 Speaker 1: He has redeemed you. His blood, He paid the price 72 00:04:51,770 --> 00:04:54,650 Speaker 1: with the blood of His own Son. Your salvation is 73 00:04:54,730 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: settled if you've accepted Him as your Savior. But this 74 00:04:58,140 --> 00:05:00,840 Speaker 1: opens up something new. The God who is willing to 75 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,580 Speaker 1: spend the blood of Christ to buy you back is 76 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:09,109 Speaker 1: not a God who has lost interest. in your past 77 00:05:09,150 --> 00:05:13,349 Speaker 1: days or future days. The ongoing redeeming of your broken 78 00:05:13,410 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: places is the outworking of redemption. It's the same grace 79 00:05:19,020 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: that follows you out of salvation and into your kitchen, 80 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: into your marriage, into maybe years that you want to forget. 81 00:05:28,290 --> 00:05:30,210 Speaker 1: And I've had to learn this in my own life. 82 00:05:30,270 --> 00:05:32,390 Speaker 1: There are things that have happened to me that I 83 00:05:32,450 --> 00:05:36,830 Speaker 1: never wanted, choices in my past that I couldn't undo 84 00:05:36,970 --> 00:05:40,170 Speaker 1: on my own. And for a long time, I treated 85 00:05:40,730 --> 00:05:44,190 Speaker 1: those things as permanent damage. Like, there's no use praying 86 00:05:44,250 --> 00:05:47,690 Speaker 1: about it anymore. The riches of God's grace kept pressing 87 00:05:47,890 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: into those places. And I just want to share with 88 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,260 Speaker 1: you that He redeemed and is continuing to redeem what 89 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,460 Speaker 1: I had written off. So don't pray about your broken 90 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,330 Speaker 1: places as if your story is over. Bring them to God. 91 00:06:02,420 --> 00:06:05,820 Speaker 1: His whole nature is to redeem and say, Lord, I 92 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: gave up on this. I filed it as too far gone, 93 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: too far out of here, but I'm bringing it back 94 00:06:12,500 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: to you. You're agreeing with the character of God who 95 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:22,170 Speaker 1: has never once run out of grace. For our final 96 00:06:22,270 --> 00:06:26,849 Speaker 1: segment each week, I share an answer prayer story. And 97 00:06:27,230 --> 00:06:29,830 Speaker 1: I want to tell you a piece of my own 98 00:06:29,930 --> 00:06:33,450 Speaker 1: story of redemption. Maybe you've heard it before, but it's 99 00:06:33,550 --> 00:06:36,980 Speaker 1: the reason this principle isn't just theory to me. One 100 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,180 Speaker 1: of the reasons, back in the 90s, I was a 101 00:06:40,220 --> 00:06:43,660 Speaker 1: single mom raising a child with special needs, and it 102 00:06:43,700 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: was a hard season. I wasn't looking for my life 103 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:50,260 Speaker 1: to change so much as I was just trying to 104 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,659 Speaker 1: hold everything together and figure things out. And around that time, 105 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,510 Speaker 1: I heard about something brand new I was at Sunday 106 00:06:57,550 --> 00:07:01,409 Speaker 1: school and one of the people, members of the class 107 00:07:01,490 --> 00:07:05,570 Speaker 1: came in and told me about something brand new, internet dating, 108 00:07:05,890 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: online dating. Plenty of people were leery about it. My 109 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,860 Speaker 1: now mother-in-law said to my now husband, but Matthew, there 110 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,700 Speaker 1: are perverts on the internet. And she was and is right, 111 00:07:17,820 --> 00:07:21,230 Speaker 1: but God in his way was connecting all the dots 112 00:07:21,290 --> 00:07:24,980 Speaker 1: that we couldn't see. And online dating, Internet dating service 113 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: is how Matt and I found each other. He was 114 00:07:26,980 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: a divorced single dad raising a daughter and I was 115 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,230 Speaker 1: a single mom raising a child with special needs and 116 00:07:34,030 --> 00:07:37,410 Speaker 1: two people carrying stories that hadn't quite gone the way 117 00:07:37,450 --> 00:07:40,850 Speaker 1: that we'd planned. And God brought us together to begin 118 00:07:40,890 --> 00:07:44,690 Speaker 1: a new one. What made it new wasn't that we 119 00:07:45,090 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: healed each other. It was that we were each fully 120 00:07:48,460 --> 00:07:52,620 Speaker 1: devoted to God first and then fully committed to each other. 121 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: That was 26 years ago. Today, we have our two girls, 122 00:07:57,700 --> 00:08:00,580 Speaker 1: one of which is our tailor in heaven, and our 123 00:08:00,690 --> 00:08:03,590 Speaker 1: children together, five of them with a little one in 124 00:08:03,630 --> 00:08:06,670 Speaker 1: heaven that we lost. Our youngest is now 15. And 125 00:08:07,070 --> 00:08:09,950 Speaker 1: when I look at our family, I'm not looking at 126 00:08:10,070 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: two broken stories that just tolerated each other. I'm looking 127 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:19,020 Speaker 1: at God's redemption story unfolding. What we thought was damaged 128 00:08:19,100 --> 00:08:22,950 Speaker 1: and beyond repair was made into something that we could 129 00:08:23,110 --> 00:08:28,630 Speaker 1: never have asked for or imagined. And when I say 130 00:08:28,650 --> 00:08:31,890 Speaker 1: that the God who redeems the forgiveness of your sin 131 00:08:32,570 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: is the same God who redeems the circumstances that you've 132 00:08:36,010 --> 00:08:38,500 Speaker 1: given up on, I want you to hear me loud 133 00:08:38,540 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: and clear because I've lived this redemption for 26 years. 134 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:48,190 Speaker 1: God is so good. And that kind of redemption, is 135 00:08:48,250 --> 00:08:51,660 Speaker 1: what my new book is about, Praying Through Life's Battles, 136 00:08:51,660 --> 00:08:56,260 Speaker 1: 90 Days to Strengthen Your Faith, that released yesterday, and 137 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: I couldn't be more grateful to put it into your hands. 138 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,309 Speaker 1: This past weekend, I actually had the privilege of celebrating 139 00:09:04,370 --> 00:09:06,609 Speaker 1: the launch a little early with a room full of 140 00:09:06,610 --> 00:09:10,989 Speaker 1: 200 women at the Hope Radio Christ in You Women's Retreat, 141 00:09:11,350 --> 00:09:14,990 Speaker 1: and I make cupcakes because baking is my therapy and 142 00:09:15,010 --> 00:09:19,340 Speaker 1: there was cake and just a whole lot of laughing 143 00:09:19,510 --> 00:09:23,980 Speaker 1: and praying together. Incredible speakers. I got to be a 144 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:28,079 Speaker 1: part of that. There's something so special about being surrounded 145 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 1: by women who know what it means to be weary, 146 00:09:31,540 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: but to be warring and to keep showing up and 147 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: to be winning. That's the whole heart of this book. 148 00:09:39,580 --> 00:09:42,020 Speaker 1: If you haven't grabbed a copy yet, I would love 149 00:09:42,059 --> 00:09:45,780 Speaker 1: for you to head to battleprayers.com and you can get 150 00:09:45,830 --> 00:09:48,650 Speaker 1: a free digital copy to start reading while your print 151 00:09:49,130 --> 00:09:52,170 Speaker 1: book is on the way to you. You can download 152 00:09:52,190 --> 00:09:55,530 Speaker 1: the audio book right now as well or Kindle. Thank 153 00:09:55,570 --> 00:09:59,410 Speaker 1: you so much for walking this road with me. I 154 00:09:59,490 --> 00:10:02,420 Speaker 1: am so pleased. to share with you that this book 155 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,020 Speaker 1: is out. Thank you for joining me on the Untangling 156 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,359 Speaker 1: Prayer Podcast. I pray today's episode encouraged you in your 157 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: walk with the Lord. And until next time, remember, God 158 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,980 Speaker 1: sees you, He hears you, and He knows your need. 159 00:10:20,150 --> 00:10:22,270 Speaker 1: Keep seeking, keep trusting, and keep praying.