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Speaker 1: Beat the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life,

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Speaker 1: whereunto thou art also called and hast professed a good

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Speaker 1: profession before many witnesses. First Timothy six twelve. Dear Lord,

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Speaker 1: we come to you humbly today with heavy hearts, asking

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Speaker 1: for your healing and mercy. You have promised us that

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Speaker 1: those who are in Christ Jesus will stand firm and

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Speaker 1: be victorious in the good fight of faith. We praise

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Speaker 1: you for that promise, even when it feels like we

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Speaker 1: are fighting all alone. Help us to stay upright and

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Speaker 1: not be swayed by the temptations of this world. Help

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Speaker 1: us to keep our eyes on You and keep us

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Speaker 1: ever focused on your love. We rest in the knowledge

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Speaker 1: that you are here with us through every step of

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Speaker 1: this journey, even when it feels like we are wandering aimlessly.

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Speaker 1: We seek after you and your promises with our entire

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Speaker 1: being and desperate need of the grace that only you

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Speaker 1: can give. In Jesus' name, Amen, thank you for joining

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Speaker 1: me in prayer. Stay tuned for today's free podcast Meditative

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Speaker 1: Prayers with Doctor Tim Clinton, where you can draw close

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Speaker 1: to God and find strength in him.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to your meditative prayer on having a sustained faith

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

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Speaker 2: dot Com every day and make prayer priority in your life.

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Speaker 2: Our goal for today's meditative prayer is on having a

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Speaker 2: sustained faith. You set aside the moment and you go

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Speaker 2: to your private, secret place, place where you can relax, recharge.

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Speaker 2: If you're able to close your eyes with me, maybe

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Speaker 2: breathe in through your nose, excel through your mouth, begin

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Speaker 2: to let the tension leave your body. Focus your heart

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Speaker 2: and mind with me as we reach out to God

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Speaker 2: and let his words fill our heart. We're going to

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Speaker 2: be meditating on one Timothy six, verse twelve from the

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Speaker 2: King James version. Fight the good fight of faith, lay

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Speaker 2: hold on eternal life, Paul wrote, whereunto thou art called

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Speaker 2: Timothy and has professed a good profession before many witnesses.

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Speaker 2: As we get started, I hope you'll take a moment

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Speaker 2: to pour out your love, your adoration to God. Come before,

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Speaker 2: Come before his throne. With that heart, Jesus, I praise

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Speaker 2: you for not leaving me an orphan alone, for sending

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Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit to empower me, for calling me and

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Speaker 2: enabling to run my race, and giving me eternal life

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Speaker 2: as my portion, my gift for sacrificing yourself to restore

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Speaker 2: my broken relationship with God the Father, broken because of sin.

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Speaker 2: I worship you for your love demonstrated in salvation. I

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Speaker 2: extose I lift up your name, God, for you are

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Speaker 2: worthy of all glory, perseverance in faith. In your race

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Speaker 2: here on earth, You're going to encounter a lot of

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Speaker 2: difficulties that euations and circumstances, maybe the tragic death of

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Speaker 2: a loved one, unexpected irreparable loss, betrayal, maybe from someone

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Speaker 2: close or dear to you. Situations and circumstances you never

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Speaker 2: dreamed of, never dreamed you even begin to live through.

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Speaker 2: As painful and as difficult as life may get, the

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Speaker 2: race does not stop, but neither can. You may knock

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Speaker 2: the wind out of you, but get back up. You

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Speaker 2: must persevere in your faith and be faithful to the

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Speaker 2: calling God has entrusted to you. It may take time

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Speaker 2: and effort, but get back up burden, for you are

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Speaker 2: burdened by the glorious purpose in the Kingdom of God.

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Speaker 2: As such, you have to have faith. You have to

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Speaker 2: tell yourself that you are walking in alignment with Him

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Speaker 2: and cannot stop. Keep your eyes fixed on him. It's

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Speaker 2: understandable that this task may take extraordinary effort and seem impossible. However,

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Speaker 2: you don't have to let fear overwhelm you. And I

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Speaker 2: want to remind you you are not alone. God knows

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Speaker 2: that it's difficult, that persevering in faith is hard to do,

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Speaker 2: and he wants to strengthen you. Jesus went to the

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Speaker 2: cross because it was not easy. But it was not easy,

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Speaker 2: nor was it pleasant for him. He understands the pain

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Speaker 2: of pushing through, the exhaustion of endurance, the pain of brokenness.

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Speaker 2: Jesus is waiting on you with open arms. He's cheering

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Speaker 2: you on, and he lends his strength so that you

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Speaker 2: may overcome as he did, step by step. This is

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Speaker 2: your opportunity to present yourself before God and to reach

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Speaker 2: out to him. Let him walk with you, let him

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Speaker 2: carry you. Confess your sins, receive his forgiveness, his strength,

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Speaker 2: his power. You will get through this. Now think for

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Speaker 2: a moment on all the times that God showed you kindness.

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Speaker 2: Refrain your mind. Think of the challenges Jesus had to

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Speaker 2: overcome to show you his love, all the pain he

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Speaker 2: pushed through and the scorn he suffered at the cross.

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Speaker 2: Jesus persevered all of it in his pursuit because of

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Speaker 2: his love for you. Thank him for his example of

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Speaker 2: perseverance in faith, and thank Jesus for his grace poured

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Speaker 2: out on you. For his provision and his care, you

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Speaker 2: can trust his heart. Thank him for all your current

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Speaker 2: blessings and for those still to come. And I hope

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Speaker 2: you'll never forget that God is present and that He's

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Speaker 2: listening to you. He never said persevering in faith would

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Speaker 2: be easy, but he promised to help you each step

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Speaker 2: of the way. God send us Holy Spirit to enable

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Speaker 2: you to overcome all fear, to push past the doubts,

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Speaker 2: and to know that you can trust Him. So ask

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Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit to increase your faith. Ask him to

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Speaker 2: make you more like Jesus. Ask him to endure the

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Speaker 2: trials of this world. Ask him to empower you to

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Speaker 2: overcome as Jesus did. Ask him to have faith in

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Speaker 2: the plans of your heavenly Father and know that he

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Speaker 2: is in control. And remember, keeping your faith is like

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Speaker 2: running a race. Try as hard as you can to win,

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Speaker 2: but be sure to receive the life that continues forever.

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Speaker 2: You were called to have life and you confess the

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Speaker 2: great truth about Christ in a way that people heard.

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Speaker 2: So don't hold back. Reach out to God in faith,

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Speaker 2: ask him for strength to persevere. You can overcome because

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Speaker 2: Jesus overcame and he will give you the strength to

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Speaker 2: do it. Reach Out to God in faith and you

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Speaker 2: will see the very best of his goodness. I believe

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Speaker 2: manifested in your life. Thank you for completing today's meditative

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Speaker 2: prayer on pray dot com. By incorporating this healthy habit

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Speaker 2: as that daily practice, you are making prayer priority and

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Speaker 2: I believe strengthening your walk with God. I'm doctor Tim Clinton,

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Speaker 2: President of the American Association of Christian Counselors. We love

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Speaker 2: being a part of your life. Please visit our website

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Speaker 2: at AACC dot net or tim Clinton dot com. That's

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Speaker 2: AACC dot net or tim Clinton dot com.