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Speaker 1: The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall

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Speaker 1: preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out

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Speaker 1: and thy coming in, from this time forth and even forevermore.

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Speaker 1: Psalm one one seven through eight. Dear God, the Lord

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Speaker 1: of heaven and Earth, you preserve us from our own

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Speaker 1: sin and corruption. In your love for us, You turn

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Speaker 1: away from our wickedness and accept us with open arms.

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Speaker 1: The enjoyment that comes from repentance is the blessing beyond measure.

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Speaker 1: Though we do not deserve it, you are faithful to

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Speaker 1: forgive us when we turn towards you. How wonderful it

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Speaker 1: is that we can come before you in prayer, confessing

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Speaker 1: our sins and failures, knowing that we will be welcomed

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Speaker 1: into you your everlasting arms. We praise you for your

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Speaker 1: faithfulness and love, and for the joy that comes from repentance.

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Speaker 1: In Jesus's name. Amen, Thank you for joining me in prayer.

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Speaker 1: Stay tuned for today's free podcast, Meditative Prayers with Zach Clinton,

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Speaker 1: where you can draw close to God and find strength

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Speaker 1: in him.

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Speaker 2: My friends, welcome to your meditative prayer on staying on

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Speaker 2: track to get the most out of your spiritual journey.

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Speaker 2: Uspray dot Com every day and make prayer a priority

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Speaker 2: in your life. Again, our goal for today's meditative prayer

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Speaker 2: is all about staying on track. So right now, go

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Speaker 2: ahead and separate yourself from all else and just take

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Speaker 2: a moment to calm down. Maybe close your eyes, breathe

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Speaker 2: in and breathe out, and just simply let your body relax.

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Speaker 2: As you do so, concentrate on quieting your spirit. And

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Speaker 2: now turn your thoughts to the Word of God, and

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Speaker 2: prepare your heart and open your mind to receive from

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Speaker 2: the Lord. Today we'll be meditating on Ephesians chapter four,

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Speaker 2: verse twenty seven from the King James version, which is

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Speaker 2: simple yet profound. All it says is neither give place

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Speaker 2: to the devil. Right now, my friends, lets you simply

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Speaker 2: pour out our adoration to the God of all flesh. Jesus.

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Speaker 2: I praise you, for you alone are good, and your

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Speaker 2: goodness knows no end. God. I worship you for your

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Speaker 2: unfailing righteousness and unending grace toward me. I bless your name,

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Speaker 2: Holy Spirit, for there is none like you, with your

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Speaker 2: extravagant love which sustains me and lifts me up. Be

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Speaker 2: vigilant of your behavior do not set yourself up for failure.

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Speaker 2: You see, you can open doors for the devil in

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Speaker 2: your life through your actions and your words. So be

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Speaker 2: careful of what you say and what you do, so

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Speaker 2: as to not give him an opportunity to accuse you

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Speaker 2: and move against you. Avoid what you know you should

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Speaker 2: not do. Stop stealing, stop gossiping, stop cursing others. When

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Speaker 2: you accept Christ, you accept you will change your ways

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Speaker 2: and adopt his. When you renew your mind in the

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Speaker 2: Word and seek the Holy Spirit, you will be conformed

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Speaker 2: to the image of Christ and become more like him.

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Speaker 2: The Bible says that a curse without cause will not land,

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Speaker 2: So do not give cause to the devil. Do not

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Speaker 2: open a door that you later cannot close. Make a

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Speaker 2: conscious choice to put God first in your life and

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Speaker 2: to seek after the things of the Spirit. Be careful

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Speaker 2: of your actions and persevere in righteousness. The more you

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Speaker 2: seek after the Spirit, the more like Him you will be.

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Speaker 2: The more you seek after and partake and ungodly desires,

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Speaker 2: the more your flesh will control you. So again, be

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Speaker 2: vigilant of your actions and do not create opportunities for

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Speaker 2: more problems in your life. Perhaps, my friends, you're struggling

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Speaker 2: with this very thing. Perhaps you're seeking to live a

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Speaker 2: spiritfulled life and just don't feel like you're succeeding. The

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Speaker 2: Bible says those who confess their sins and ask for

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Speaker 2: forgiveness shall obtain mercy. So reach out to God and

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Speaker 2: confess your sins to him. Leave no root of bitterness, malice,

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Speaker 2: or hate in your heart, and ask the Holy Spirit

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Speaker 2: to come and minister God's grace to you. Now, maybe

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Speaker 2: consider for a moment God's goodness in your life and

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Speaker 2: thank him for it. Thank God for his reckless love,

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Speaker 2: Thank him for his care and for supplying all your needs.

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Speaker 2: Thank the Lord for his life loving kindness and patience

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Speaker 2: towards you, for his willingness to meet you at your

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Speaker 2: worst to give you his best. Think for a minute

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Speaker 2: on past situations where you experienced God's goodness and thank

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Speaker 2: him for all past blessings over your life and for

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Speaker 2: those still to come. My friends, God is present and

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Speaker 2: he is listening to you. He knows the standard to

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Speaker 2: which you strive to achieve. He is more than capable

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Speaker 2: and willing to help you be who you are called

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Speaker 2: to be. So approach God in the boldness of his love.

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Speaker 2: Believing that his promise is true and that he will

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Speaker 2: sustain you. Petition God for his wisdom and his knowledge,

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Speaker 2: and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to be

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Speaker 2: vigilant with your thoughts, with your words, and with your behavior. Remember,

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Speaker 2: do not give the devil away to defeat you. Be

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Speaker 2: vigilant of what you do, where you go, and who

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Speaker 2: you hang around. Do not open doors for the enemy

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Speaker 2: to enter into your life. You have God's Holy Spirit

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Speaker 2: to show you how to behave and to help you.

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Speaker 2: So reach out to God today and call upon his

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Speaker 2: wisdom and his mercy and seize this opportunity to be

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Speaker 2: watchful and wise, to honor the trust God is placed

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Speaker 2: upon you, and in doing so, to bring honor to

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Speaker 2: the name of Christ. My friends, thank you for completing

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Speaker 2: today's meditative prayer on pray dot com. By incorporating this

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Speaker 2: healthy habit as a daily practice, I believe you're not

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Speaker 2: only making prayer priority, but you're also strengthening your walk

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Speaker 2: with God. As always, my name is Zach Clinton, Vice

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Speaker 2: President of the American Association of Christian Counselors, and we

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Speaker 2: love being a part of your life. Hey for more help, hope, encouragement,

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Speaker 2: information and inspiration, I would encourage you guys to go

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Speaker 2: visit our website at AACC dot net. Again, that's AACC

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Speaker 2: dot net