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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer,

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Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to

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Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening

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Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants

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Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after this short word from

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Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray through today's prayer for contentment and

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Speaker 1: retirement years. A Prayer for Contentment in Retirement Years written

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Speaker 1: by Vivian Bricker read by Leah Gerard. But godliness with

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Speaker 1: contentment is great gain, or we brought nothing into the

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Speaker 1: world and we can take nothing out of it First

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Speaker 1: Timothy six six through seven. My mom used to say

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Speaker 1: that she would never retire. At first, she had steady,

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Speaker 1: full time work as a medical transcriptionist. However, once her

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Speaker 1: work was outsourced, she lost her job. This affected our

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Speaker 1: family deeply as we started to be unable to afford things.

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Speaker 1: We had to cut back on what we were buying

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Speaker 1: at the grocery store, start making budget friendly meals, and

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Speaker 1: stop going on vacations. This could have really thrown my

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Speaker 1: mom for a loop, but she took everything in stride.

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Speaker 1: She never stressed about it or made my sisters and

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Speaker 1: me feel afraid of our future, my mom would keep working,

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Speaker 1: even if that meant she wasn't getting paid fairly for

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Speaker 1: her work. My mom continued to do contract work for

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Speaker 1: the rest of her life and passed away long before

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Speaker 1: she would have been able to retire. For those who

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Speaker 1: have the privilege of entering retirement, there are so many

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Speaker 1: things to be thankful for. Not everyone has this privilege. Therefore,

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Speaker 1: make sure you give praise to God. There are many

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Speaker 1: people just like my mom who never received a retirement

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Speaker 1: because they passed away or were never blessed to have

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Speaker 1: full time work. If you're a retiree, are you content

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Speaker 1: If not, why do you think this is Some people

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Speaker 1: in retirement may be lacking contentment because they found so

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Speaker 1: much fulfillment in their work and that work is no

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Speaker 1: longer part of their lives. A simple fix for this

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Speaker 1: is reconnecting with friends and family members, as well as

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Speaker 1: getting out more. If this is what's causing you to

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Speaker 1: feel discontent, you'll feel much better once you're around your

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Speaker 1: loved ones again. On the other hand, if you're struggling

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Speaker 1: with contentment for another reason, it might be a good

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Speaker 1: time to check your heart, focus and reassess the blessings

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Speaker 1: that could be found in retirement. The Apostle Paul tells

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Speaker 1: us in One Timothy six six through seven. But godliness

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Speaker 1: with content is great gain, for we brought nothing into

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Speaker 1: the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

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Speaker 1: Paul boldly says in this passage, godliness with contentment is

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Speaker 1: great gain. What does this statement mean to you? Do it?

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Speaker 1: Challenge any present discontentment in your heart. We brought nothing

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Speaker 1: into this world, and we can't take anything out of

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Speaker 1: it when we pass away. Sure we might have expensive cars,

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Speaker 1: a big home, or a boat, but we can't take

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Speaker 1: any of those things with us. Retirement can bring many

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Speaker 1: blessings into our lives, but if we're always discontent with

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Speaker 1: being retired or with what we have after retirement, will

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Speaker 1: never be happy. We need to choose to practice contentment

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Speaker 1: in all things because we've already been blessed by Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Finding contentment in retirement could be done by joining hobby groups,

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Speaker 1: meeting up with old friends, or learning a new language.

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Speaker 1: Do something that brings you lasting joy and fulfillment, something

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Speaker 1: you could never find the time to do when you

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Speaker 1: were working full time. Just because work is over doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean you have to stop finding purpose in your life.

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Speaker 1: If you aren't sure which new hobby or skill to cultivate,

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Speaker 1: pray about it and see where the Lord directs your heart.

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Speaker 1: If contentment is difficult for you as you navigate your retirement,

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Speaker 1: ask the Lord for help. He can change your heart

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Speaker 1: of discontentment into a heart of contentment. God can do

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Speaker 1: all things, and he will fill your heart with joy.

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Speaker 1: Wait on his timing and allow his power to work

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Speaker 1: in your life. Let's pray, Dear God. If I'm being honest,

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Speaker 1: I'm not content in my retirement. I'm tired of never

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Speaker 1: being involved in things anymore. I feel like life is

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Speaker 1: passing me by and I'm just sitting on the sidelines.

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Speaker 1: Because of this, I felt discontent with my life recently.

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Speaker 1: I struggle to see anything good about retirement, even though

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Speaker 1: I know it's a blessing to be where I am today.

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Speaker 1: Many people never receive a retirement. Thank you for blessing

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Speaker 1: me with retirement and also giving me contentment through your son.

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Speaker 1: Help me to be content in all situations because I

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Speaker 1: know you. I've been redeemed and saved and this is

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Speaker 1: the greatest blessing of all. Amen. Your daily prayer is

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Speaker 1: a production of life, audio and Salem. Media. If you

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Speaker 1: liked what you heard today, be sure to follow our

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Speaker 1: sister show your nightly prayer. You can find your nightly

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Speaker 1: prayer at lifeaudio dot com or in your favorite podcast app.

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Speaker 1: By following your daily prayer and your nightly prayer, you

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Speaker 1: can be sure that your day begins and ends centered

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Speaker 1: on the Word of God and prayer