1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:03,520 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 2 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel Wojo, and 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 2: each week we unravel life's notts through prayer. 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 1: Here you'll find. 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 2: Practical wisdom and prayer encouragement to guide you through life's 6 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 2: hardest seasons. Join me as we untangle life's messes together, 7 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 2: one prayer at a time. 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 1: I'm Rachel Wojo, and I'm so glad you're with me today. 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: Let me ask you something. Have you ever prayed for 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: a thing so specifically, so faithfully that you could picture 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: exactly what the answer was supposed to look like. You 12 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: had the outcome mapped out in your mind, and then 13 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: you spent weeks, maybe even months or years watching for 14 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,279 Speaker 1: it to show up in that exact way, and it 15 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: just didn't, So you stopped expecting anything from God at all. 16 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: I've lived in that place, and I know what it 17 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: is like to even write something down in a journal, 18 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: believing with everything in me that God was going to move, 19 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: and then to watch the calendar turnover year after year 20 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: while nothing happened. And I know how easy it is 21 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: after enough of that, to stop watching for God to 22 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: work altogether. You start praying with your eyes kind of 23 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: half closed bracing for disappointment instead of expecting God's good gifts. 24 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: If that's where you are, this episode is for you today. 25 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: We're talking about living with expectancy again, even while you're 26 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: still in the fight, because I have come to believe 27 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: that God moves for you, not just someday when the 28 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: battle's over, but right in the middle of it, sometimes 29 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: in ways you'd never ever think to look for. And 30 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: we're talking about praying like you actually believe God is 31 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 1: going to answer. You are holding your hands open to 32 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: the truth that his answer may not look like anything 33 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: in the picture inside your head. We're going to talk 34 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: about how we need his help, his vision, and even 35 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: how to recognize His goodness when it shows up. This 36 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: whole idea starts or sits right at the heart of 37 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: my new book, Praying through Life's Battles Ninety Days to 38 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: Strengthen Your Faith. It releases August twenty fifth, but it's 39 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: available for pre order now at Battleprayers dot Com or 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: anywhere you buy books. The book moves through three seasons, 41 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: the weary, the warring, and the winning. In today's conversation 42 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: lives in that middle stretch of the warring where you're 43 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: still in it, but you're wondering, You're trying to lift 44 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: your eyes and remember what God has already done. If 45 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,359 Speaker 1: that's the season you're in. I'd left for you to 46 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: pre order a copy of the book today at Battleprayers 47 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: dot com. But I also want to move into this 48 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:11,079 Speaker 1: week's questions segment of the podcast, And this week's question 49 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: is how do I keep expecting God to answer when 50 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: I've been disappointed before? And how do I know I 51 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: won't just miss it when He does answer? And that's 52 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: actually two fears wrapped into one. I think a lot 53 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: of us carry both of those. The first is the 54 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: fear of hoping again. Once you've prayed hard for something 55 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: and it didn't come the way you wanted. Hope starts 56 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: to feel kind of dangerous, like expecting good starts to 57 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: feel naive. So we protect ourselves by lowering our expectations, 58 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: and we call it being realistic. But look at what 59 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: God says in Psalm eighty one, verse ten. He says, 60 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: I am the Lord, your God who brought you out 61 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. 62 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: Open your mouth wide. That's not the position of someone 63 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: who's bracing for disappointment. It's like the position or posture 64 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: of a baby bird with its head tipped all the 65 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: way back, fully expecting to be fed. God isn't asking 66 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: us to expect a little. He's asking us to open 67 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: our mouth wide with real expectancy because of who he 68 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: is and what He's already done. And he reminds the 69 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: people in this verse, I brought you out of Egypt. 70 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 1: Before he says open wide, he says, remember what I did. 71 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 1: Expectancy is built on memory. Now here's where the second 72 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: fear comes in. And honestly, this is the one that 73 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: might trip us up just a little bit more because 74 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: we fear that God will answer, but it will come 75 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: in a way that we don't recognize, and we might 76 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: walk right past our own answered prayer because it didn't 77 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: match what we were expecting. Can I be honest with 78 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:10,159 Speaker 1: you that fear is not unfounded because God's answers don't 79 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: always look like ours. His ways are higher than our ways, 80 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: and that's exactly why we can't rely on our own 81 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: eyes here. We need his. We need him to open 82 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: our eyes to what he's doing, the same way we'd 83 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: ask him for anything else. And so we can pray, Lord, 84 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: help me see you help me recognize your hand, even 85 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: when it shows up in a shape that I wasn't 86 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: really looking for. So we hold these two things at 87 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: the same time. We open our mouths wide expecting God's 88 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: good gifts, but we ask for his vision so we 89 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: don't miss the good when it comes. When you're still 90 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: in a fighting mode and God is already moving for you, 91 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: the question isn't whether he's at work, it's whether we'll 92 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: have the eyes to see the way that he's moving. 93 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning into this question in hard spaces. Will 94 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: be right back after this brief word from our sponsors. 95 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening in to that word from our sponsors. 96 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: And now for this week's segment of Pray More worry 97 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: Less Encouragement, And this week is a little different, But 98 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: for this week's Pray More worry Less Encouragement, I want 99 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: to sit with one verse Psalm chapter seventy seven, Verse fourteen. 100 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: It says you are the God who performs miracles. You 101 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: display your power among the people's. Now, I've talked about 102 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: Psalm seventy seven before on the podcast, but I want 103 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,359 Speaker 1: to come at it from a little bit different angle 104 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: today because the whole first half of Psalm seventy seven 105 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: is Asaff in the pit. He's crying out, he can't sleep. 106 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: He's asking those gut riching questions like has God forgotten 107 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: to be merciful? Has this unfailing love vanished for And 108 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: maybe you've prayed some version of those questions yourself. I 109 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: know that I have. And then right in the middle 110 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: of the Psalm, something sort of changes. Asaf makes a decision. 111 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: He says, I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, 112 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: I will remember your miracles of long ago, and he 113 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: stops staring at what he can't see, and he deliberately 114 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: turns to remember what God has already done in the past. 115 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: And that's the moment he arrives at verse nineteen. You 116 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: are the God who performs miracles. I believe that. Asaf 117 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: doesn't talk himself out of the pit with some kind 118 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: of positive thinking, and he doesn't pretend that the pain 119 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: isn't real. He fights his way back to expectancy by remembering. 120 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: He looks back at God's track record and he uses it. 121 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: Remembering what God has done is how Asaf fights. And 122 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: it's not this soft sentimental thing. It's a weapon he 123 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: picks up when he's in the pit, and it's one 124 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: God has given to us too. If you're in a 125 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: warring season and you're worn down, can't see any way forward, 126 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: then remembering the way God has already moved for you 127 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: is how you can keep standing. This is why I 128 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: don't think expectancy is the same thing as wishfull thinking. 129 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: You know, wish will thinking is just hoping for a 130 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: good outcome with nothing to stand on. But expectancy is grounded. 131 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: It's built on the evidence, the long history of a 132 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: God who has moved before and will move again. When 133 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: you remember the God who performed miracles long ago, you 134 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: can open your mouth wide today you can be ready 135 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: to receive. Let me give you something practical, because I 136 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: don't want this just to be a nice little idea 137 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: this week. I want you to do what Aceft did, 138 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: actually stop and remember. Think back over your life and 139 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: name the times God moved, the provision that showed up 140 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: out of nowhere, the door that opened when every other 141 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: one was closed, the person he put in your path 142 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: at exactly the right moment. Write them down if you can, 143 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: because when you rehearse what God has done, you start 144 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: to pray differently about what he might still do. Your 145 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: prayers stop being timid, they start being expectant, and you 146 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: start watching for the way He moves for you with 147 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: your eyes wide open instead of half closed. For today's 148 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: answer prayer story, I wanted to tell you about something 149 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: that's well happening in my own life right now, actually 150 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: because I think it's the best example I have this 151 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: week of what we've been talking about today. Back in 152 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, I wrote a book called One More Step, 153 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: Finding stre when you feel like giving up, And while 154 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: well before I was working on it, I wrote something 155 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: in my journal. I wrote that I believed God was 156 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: going to do and more than you can ask or 157 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: imagine kind of thing with that book Ephesians three twenty right, 158 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: immeasurably more than all we can ask or think. And 159 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: I really believed. I had this sense that this book 160 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: was going to go further than I could even picture. 161 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 1: But honestly, it didn't. The book came out and it 162 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,440 Speaker 1: did fine, and I was grateful for it very much so, 163 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: but that more than you can ask or imagine thing 164 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: that I'd written in my journal, it wasn't there. Years 165 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: went by, and I honestly kind of let that expectation go. 166 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: I filed it away as one of those times I'd 167 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: probably read too much into a feeling or let the 168 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: emotions get the best of me. And then, all these 169 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,200 Speaker 1: years later, a door opened that I didn't see coming. 170 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: I've been given the opportunity to usually to record the 171 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: One More Step Bible study and make it available on 172 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: Right Now Media. If you're not familiar, Right Now Media 173 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: is one of the largest faith based streaming libraries in 174 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: the world, and tens of thousands of churches reached their 175 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: audience their small groups. I could have never reached this 176 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: group of people on my own back in twenty fifteen. 177 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 1: Do you see it? The more than you can ask 178 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 1: or imagine? Thing that I wrote in my journal over 179 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: a decade ago is actually happening right now in a 180 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: form that I never could have imagined. I was picturing 181 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: one thing, and God was setting up something completely different 182 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: on a timeline that I didn't get to vote for. 183 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: He was moving the entire time that I thought he'd 184 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: gone quiet, and that's the way he works, That's the 185 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: way he moves for you, even in the silence. If 186 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: I had been the one holding the pen, I'd have 187 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: closed the book on that journal entry years ago, i'd 188 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,839 Speaker 1: have said, well, that one didn't turn out the way 189 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: I thought it would. But God wasn't finished. He was 190 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: working on a timeline that made no sense to me, 191 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: and in a shape that I couldn't have created. So 192 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,600 Speaker 1: if you're sitting there today with an old prayer you 193 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: gave up on, or a journal entry, you're almost embarrassed 194 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: you ever wrote. I want you to hear this. You 195 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: just never know what God wants to do or how 196 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,679 Speaker 1: he wants to do it or win. So you keep 197 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,719 Speaker 1: your eyes open, you keep your mouth open wide. Your 198 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: answer might already be on its way, wearing a face 199 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,559 Speaker 1: that you didn't expect. And that's the kind of story 200 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: that shapes this new book, Praying through Life's Battles, because 201 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: so much of the fight of faith is learning to 202 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: keep prayer, saying, keep expecting, and keep watching for God 203 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: to move, even when the answer feels slow, or even 204 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: when it comes in a form that you weren't expecting. 205 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: This book walks through ninety days of scripture and prayer 206 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: built for the weary, the waring, and the winning seasons 207 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: of the battle. And if today's conversation stirred something in you, 208 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: if you needed the reminder the God is still moving. 209 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: I'd love for you to pre order a copy at 210 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: battleprayers dot com. The book releases to August twenty fifth, 211 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: but preordering is a great opportunity right now because you 212 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: can start reading right now. My publisher has allowed me 213 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,599 Speaker 1: to offer a digital version, and so if you preorder, 214 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: go back to battleprayers dot com follow the instructions. Thank 215 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: you for joining me on Untangling Prayer. I'm Rachel Wojo, 216 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 1: and I want you to remember God sees you, he 217 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: hears you, and he knows your needs. 218 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 2: Thanks for joining me on the Untangling Prayer podcast. If 219 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 2: this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who 220 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,199 Speaker 2: could use a little hope, and be sure to subscribe 221 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 2: for more. Until next time, keep seeking, keep trusting, and 222 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:18,439 Speaker 2: keep praying.