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Speaker 1: Let us pray, and I will bless them that bless

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Speaker 1: THEE and curse him that curseth THEE. And in THEE

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Speaker 1: shall all families of the earth be blessed. Genesis twelve three.

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Speaker 1: Dear God, the seasons of uncertainty and adventure begin. Like Abraham,

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Speaker 1: Give me the courage to move without hesitation. Give me

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Speaker 1: the ability to see through your eyes, so that the

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Speaker 1: journey to my destiny does not overwhelm me, causing me

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Speaker 1: to hesitate and miss what you have for me.

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Speaker 2: Lord.

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Speaker 1: From this moment on, I declare that I will move

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Speaker 1: in faith and power as I take steps in the

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Speaker 1: direction of my promised land, decreeing that everything my feet

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Speaker 1: touch has already been established and given to me. I

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Speaker 1: will not use manipulation and lies to try to protect

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Speaker 1: myself or the ones I love, but rather through honesty

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Speaker 1: than trust in the Lord, I know that everything will

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Speaker 1: work out for my good. Thank you Jesus that even

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Speaker 1: though like Abraham, I try to take things into my

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Speaker 1: own hands, your grace and love is enough to redirect

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Speaker 1: my steps. Then set me on the right path in Jesus' name, Amen,

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Speaker 1: thanks for making prayer a priority in your life. To

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Speaker 1: hear the Bible come to life. Stay tuned for the

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Speaker 1: Bible in a Year, brought to you by Bible in

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Speaker 1: a Year dot com.

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Speaker 3: Abram and Sarah. Before this story, we learned about the

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Speaker 3: Tower of Babel and mankind's attempts to be their own

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Speaker 3: gods and make their name great. Now we learn about Abram,

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Speaker 3: God's chosen hero to be the father of nations. The

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Speaker 3: following is inspired by the Book of Genesis.

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Speaker 2: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the

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Speaker 2: Bible in a Year podcast. As I said in yesterday's episode,

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Speaker 2: God was already at work to bring about his great

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Speaker 2: plan of redemption for the world, and today we're going

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Speaker 2: to look at a pivotal figure in his plan, a

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Speaker 2: man named Abram. If you've ever had to pick up

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Speaker 2: and move from a place you've called home your entire life,

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Speaker 2: you will relate to Abram. He was seventy five years

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Speaker 2: old when God called him to take his wife Sarah,

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Speaker 2: leave his home and go to a place he did

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Speaker 2: not know. That sounds like a very stressful move to me.

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Speaker 2: But you see, God had a plan for Abram, and

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Speaker 2: it couldn't or wouldn't be accomplished if he stayed where

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Speaker 2: he was. He needed to step out with faith and

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Speaker 2: trust in God. Faith is the central things aroout Abram's life.

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Speaker 2: Often he passed the test of faith. Other times, as

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Speaker 2: we'll see today, he struggled, tried to work out the

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Speaker 2: problem in his own strength and wisdom, and as you

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Speaker 2: can imagine, that doesn't work out well at all. But

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Speaker 2: through it all we'll continue to see how God is present,

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Speaker 2: that he is provider and protector for Abraham and Sarah

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Speaker 2: and all who trust in Him. Let's listen in now

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Speaker 2: to this story.

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Speaker 3: Out of the line of Shem came Abram, a man

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Speaker 3: well advanced in years. When Abram was seventy five years old,

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Speaker 3: the Lord spoke to him, saying, go away from your

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Speaker 3: country and your people to an unknown land. I have

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Speaker 3: a place for you. I will bless those who bless you,

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Speaker 3: and curse those who dishonor you, and through you all

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Speaker 3: the nations shall be blessed. This was Abram's call to adventure,

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Speaker 3: and he had no idea what the Lord would truly

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Speaker 3: do through him. Yet he obeyed and left his father's

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Speaker 3: land with his wife SARAHI, and his nephew Lot. They

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Speaker 3: journeyed together determined to see God's will unfold before them.

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Speaker 3: They set out to Canaan, the land God had chosen

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Speaker 3: for them. There, God spoke to Abram, saying, this is

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Speaker 3: the land I have promised to you and your descendants.

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Speaker 3: Even now, as the Lord's will was being shown to Abram,

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Speaker 3: he could not fathom what great things God would do.

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Speaker 3: Abram pitched their tent in between Bethel in a place

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Speaker 3: called Ay and built an altar there and dedicated it

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Speaker 3: to the Lord. Shortly after, they ventured forth towards Negev

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Speaker 3: to explore more of God's promised land. Later, there was

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Speaker 3: a severe famine in the land. The land, once bursting

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Speaker 3: with promise and opportunity, became desolate, and the once hopeful

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Speaker 3: Abram decided to take his family and all his possessions

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Speaker 3: to Egypt. There they lived until the famine was over.

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Speaker 3: As they entered Egypt, doubt and paranoia began to seep

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Speaker 3: into Abram's mind. Abram became fearful that Sarria's beauty would

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Speaker 3: cause the Egyptians to kill him so they could take her. Abram,

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Speaker 3: fearful and faithless, devised a lie. He spoke to his wife, saying,

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Speaker 3: when we enter Egypt, do not tell them that you

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Speaker 3: are my wife. Instead, tell them you are my sister.

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Speaker 3: This way my life will be spared and they will

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Speaker 3: treat me well as expected. Pharaoh caught notice of Sarria's

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Speaker 3: beauty and brought her into his courts so that he

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Speaker 3: might be with her. And just as Adam put himself

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Speaker 3: before his wife in the garden, so Abram did to

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Speaker 3: his wife in Egypt. Pharaoh, to gain favor with Sarahi,

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Speaker 3: blessed Abram and adorned him with sheep, cattle, servants, and camels.

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Speaker 3: Abram's lie was working, yet God is not one to

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Speaker 3: play partner and a lie. The Lord afflicted Pharaoh and

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Speaker 3: his house with great plagues and revealed that Sarai was

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Speaker 3: Abram's wife. Pharaoh, frantic and confused, demanded answers from Abram.

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Speaker 3: What is this you have done to me? Why did

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Speaker 3: you not tell me that she was your wife? He shouted, Now,

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Speaker 3: then here is your wife, Take her and go. So

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Speaker 3: they went their way back to Canaan and settled in Bethel.

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Speaker 3: This would be the first of many failures by Abram,

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Speaker 3: yet God's enduring protection over him and his future was steadfast.

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Speaker 3: Abram would need it for the journey would only become

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Speaker 3: more difficult.

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Speaker 2: The forefather Abraham, the one with many sons, was called

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Speaker 2: by that name. He lived in the land of earth

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Speaker 2: and was named Abram. Genesis twelve starts out with God

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Speaker 2: speaking to Abram. I just absolutely love this promise that

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Speaker 2: God makes to Abram in verses one through three. Go

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Speaker 2: from your country and from your relatives, and from your

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Speaker 2: father's house to the land which I will show you.

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Speaker 2: And I will make you into a great nation. And

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Speaker 2: I will bless you and make your name great, and

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Speaker 2: you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those

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Speaker 2: who bless you, and the one who curses you, I

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Speaker 2: will curse. And in you all the families of the

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Speaker 2: earth will be blessed. What an honor, what a privilege

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Speaker 2: it must have felt like for Abram to hear God's

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Speaker 2: promise that through him, God would bless the entire world.

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Speaker 2: In order for that promise to be fulfilled, however, Abram

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Speaker 2: and his wife Sarah had to trust in God like

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Speaker 2: they had never done before. Imagine being told to leave

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Speaker 2: your home, your family, your friends, your land, and go

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Speaker 2: somewhere to be determined. Just go. Oh, would you take

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Speaker 2: that step? Abram? One of our great examples of faith

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Speaker 2: in the Bible did answer the call and embarked on

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Speaker 2: the great adventure of faith. In many ways, this is

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Speaker 2: a story of contrast that reveals a truth about our

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Speaker 2: own journey of faith. At many moments, Abram is faithful, trusting,

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Speaker 2: and fully in step with God's plans. He follows God

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Speaker 2: to Canaan, the land that God chose for him. But

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Speaker 2: then a famine had and Abram decided to leave for

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Speaker 2: greener pastures. Without consulting God, he left and he went

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Speaker 2: to Egypt. We're not told that God directed him there,

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Speaker 2: so this was clearly Abram's idea. It was the beginning

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Speaker 2: of a series of poor choices that demonstrated a lack

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Speaker 2: of faith. This is not unlike you and me. When

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Speaker 2: things get tough, we may often try to take things

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Speaker 2: into our own hands, rather than resting and trusting in

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Speaker 2: the care and the providence and the promises of God.

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Speaker 2: And then one bad shah choice begets another, and soon

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Speaker 2: we find ourselves in a desert. That's what happened to Abram.

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Speaker 2: He lied about his own wife, giving her to the

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Speaker 2: Pharaoh to save his own skin. It seemed to work

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Speaker 2: at first, but sin and lies always catch up to us,

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Speaker 2: don't they. God stepped in and set Abraham back on course.

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Speaker 2: But just imagine the loss of trust between Abram and

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Speaker 2: Sarah and the erosion in their relationship. And still, as

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Speaker 2: we've been seeing over and over again in each story,

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Speaker 2: God's hand was there, his presence there to protect and

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Speaker 2: provide for Abram and his family and for the ultimate

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Speaker 2: purpose of God's glory and their redemption and the redemption

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Speaker 2: of the world. May we be like the Abram who

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Speaker 2: stepped out in faith, believing God, rather than the Abram

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Speaker 2: who set off on his own course in fear. And

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Speaker 2: may we find hope and comfort knowing that even when

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Speaker 2: Abram lost faith for a one God did not abandon him.

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Speaker 2: Dear God, thank you for this beautiful story of your

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Speaker 2: promise to bless the world through Abril. Help us to

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Speaker 2: follow his example of faith and learn from his mistakes

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Speaker 2: that were born of fear and faithlessness. May we trust

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Speaker 2: in your ever present grace and mercy to call us

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Speaker 2: back to You when we walk away. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.

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Speaker 2: I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas Texas. Download thepray dot

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Speaker 2: com app and make prayer a priority in your life.

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Speaker 2: If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you love.

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Speaker 2: By sharing this podcast, you can make a difference in

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Speaker 2: someone's life. And if you want more resources on how

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Speaker 2: to tap into God's power for successful Christian living, be

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Speaker 2: sure to visit Jack Graham dot org. God bless