Scripture Matters Podcast — S2E7 — Prayer Matters

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Amen.
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And then nothing.
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The room is still quiet.
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The diagnosis hasn't changed.
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The child still hasn't come home.
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The marriage still struggling.
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The job still hasn't appeared.
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The person you love still sick.
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And the problem that you've placed before God is still sitting exactly where it was before you prayed.
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So you pray again.
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Amen.
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Another day passes.
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Another week.
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Another month.
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And eventually a question begins forming that faithful Christians sometimes feel guilty for even thinking.
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Is anybody listening?
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Now maybe you'd never say that out loud, but you've wondered.
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Now those aren't questions asked only by unbelievers.
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Some of them have very well been whispered through tears by people who deeply love God.
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Because prayer can be one of the most beautiful parts of faith.
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And sometimes one of the most confusing.
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Or no.
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Or something we still don't quite understand.
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What happens to faith in that time of silence between amen and the answer?
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Maybe we've spent so much time asking whether prayer changes our circumstance that we have overlooked an even deeper question.
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What if prayer is doing something even when we cannot see anything happening?
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What if the silence after amen isn't empty at all?
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And what if prayer was never intended to merely be a way of getting things from God, but one of the way God draws his children nearer to himself?
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Because sooner or later every Christian has to decide whether prayer matters, even when the answer isn't the one we wanted when we wanted it.
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And that's the conversation we're having today.
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Because, good folks, prayer matters.
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Right here on the Scripture Matters Podcast.
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You've tuned in to the Scripture Matters Podcast, produced and published in cooperation with the Waters Road Church of Christ.
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Looking for a church home in the Houston area that lovingly stands upon God's Word?
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Waters Road is the place where you belong.
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If you need more information about the Waters Road Church of Christ, check out their website at www.wrc.org.
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We'd like to thank each of you who helped make this podcast possible, especially the prayerful support of our wives and families.
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And now, good folks, let's get back to another episode of the Scripture Matters Podcast.
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Well, good afternoon, good folks.
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It's time again for the Scripture Matters Podcast.
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And if today is the first time you've seen these two faces on your screen, let me take the opportunity to introduce ourselves.
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First of all, I'm Jonathan Sanford.
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I serve as the pulpit minister for the good brethren of the Waters Road Church of Christ in Pasadena, Texas.
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And I'm Cliff Thompson.
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I serve as one of the elders here at the Waters Road Church of Christ, and I teach in our adult Bible class.
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And folks, whether you have been with us since the beginning or if this is your first episode, we are so very glad and thankful you have decided to join our conversation today.
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And conversation, folks, that is really what we desired for this program to truly be about.
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This is not a Bible class.
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We're not here to preach another sermon.
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No, instead, this is a conversation.
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So if something we discuss here together raises a question, challenges you, or leave you wanting to hear more, folks, we'd love to hear from you.
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Yes, Cliff, and you continue, folks, to be the key in helping us to get these conversations in front of many more people.
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So please take the time.
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Please remember to like, share, and subscribe.
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And folks, that may seem like a small thing, but every time you share an episode, you help carry a Bible conversation beyond the audience that would normally find us.
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All right.
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Last week our conversation was entitled The Church Matters.
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And Cliff, I gotta tell you, I really enjoyed where that episode took us because we intentionally decided to try to move beyond simply defining the church.
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Yes, sir, we did.
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We talked about why the church matters to Christ, why the failures of imperfect people should not cause us to dismiss what belongs to him, and why Christ must remain the head and rightful authority over his church.
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And with that being said, a sincere thank you to everyone who watched, listened, uh, commented, and shared last week's episode.
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Over 7,000 of you tuned in to our episode, The Church Matters.
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And please, please know this we never take your support of the Scripture Matters podcasts for granted.
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Not even one moment.
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No, today now we move from something we as Christians experience together, the church, to something that can become intensely personal.
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That's right.
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We're talking about prayer.
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And really and truly, judging from the questions that people ask about it, this is one of those conversations, Cliff, that can become very real very fast.
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Yes, sir, because most Christians know what it is to pray.
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But eventually, life brings us to moments when simply knowing how to pray does not make what happens after that, amen, seem any easier.
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And that is where Jonathan and I want us to begin today.
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Not with a definition of prayer and not with a list of things that we already know.
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No, folks, we want to take a moment today to observe together what happens in that moment when we have prayed, kept praying, said our final amen, and looked around, yet nothing that we can see appears to be changing.
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You know, Jonathan, I've heard people say this, and I have to be honest with you, I've thought it myself at times.
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But when a Christian is praying about something over and over and over again, and then they look around and don't see anything changing.
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They say, God, are you doing anything about what I'm praying for?
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Yeah, Cliff, I think most people out there know very well the tension that you speak of.
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We pray for healing, we pray for our families, for someone maybe who has walked away from God, or for a difficult situation to change.
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And sometimes, brother, nothing looks different.
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And Jonathan, let's be brutally honest with each other here, my friend.
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That is one area in our Christian walk where we can become very discouraged really quick.
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If I'm praying faithfully, but I don't see anything happening.
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It is just normal for me to think, is my prayer actually accomplishing anything?
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That question truly matters, Cliff, because prayer is not a transaction.
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We bring our requests before God, trust his wisdom, and submit our desires ultimately to his will.
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Jonathan, when we think along the lines you just mentioned of submitting our desires to his will, Jesus gives us a perfect example of that in the garden.
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He prayed, not my will, but yours be done in Luke 22, 42.
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Exactly.
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And you think about that for just a moment.
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Jesus honestly asked for the cup to pass, yet surrendered ultimately to the Father's will.
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Prayer lets us ask boldly while entrusting the outcome to God.
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So, Jonathan, when we pray and we don't see the circumstances changing concerning what we prayed for, perhaps the first thing we need to examine is what we think prayer is supposed to accomplish.
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Yeah, I've got to agree with that statement.
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We can mistake visible change for proof that, hey, God heard us.
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But the truth, I think, is a little different.
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Scripture never promises an immediate change in our circumstances.
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Jonathan, then Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 through 7 really does speak to that, doesn't it?
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In that passage, Paul tells us to bring our request to God with thanksgiving.
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And then he talks about the peace of God, will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.
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Exactly.
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And Paul does not promise change circumstances.
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He knew that very well personally.
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He says God's peace can guard us within them.
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That's powerful, Jonathan.
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Maybe sometimes we're asking God to change the situation while all alone, God is using our prayer and the situation to change us.
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And that can truly begin to reshape us.
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Prayer, think about it this way: it can cultivate within us things like patience, humility, dependence, gratitude, and don't forget trust.
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Often long before we ever notice the change.
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Jonathan, another scripture is James 5, 16.
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It says the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
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And I just love that phrase, as it is working.
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Yeah, me too, Cliff.
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Prayer is not powerless simply because its effects may be invisible.
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But let me ask you something, Jonathan.
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Does that mean we should simply pray once and then forget about it?
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No, you think about Jesus.
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He taught persistence in Luke chapter 18, telling his disciples that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
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So continuing to pray isn't evidence that we don't trust God.
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It is actually can be evidence that we do trust him, then.
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No, that's exactly right.
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Persistence, it's truly faith in action.
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We keep praying because we trust in that moment that God is truly hearing us.
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Jonathan, first John 5, 14, then gives us another important piece of information concerning this subject.
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If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
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That's really the foundation, isn't it?
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It is.
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Our confidence is not that every request will be granted, no, but that God hears us as we pray according to his will.
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Sometimes the will of God is to answer our prayer with a yes.
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And sometimes God's answer might be no.
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Those are what I call immediate answers.
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However, Jonathan, that's not all.
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Sometimes, and to me, the hardest one of all is that we may have to wait.
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The difficult part is that scripture doesn't give us a timetable, does he?
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No.
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That's where real faith truly becomes lived trust.
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Think about it this way Hebrews chapter 11, verse number one calls faith the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
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So faith means continuing to trust God even when the answer isn't visible yet.
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Exactly.
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Faith trusts God long before the answer is ever visible.
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That reminds me of something, Jonathan.
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How often do we only recognize God's providence after we've looked backwards?
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We pray and pray, and the answer we receive makes no sense at the time we receive it.
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But eventually, in hindsight, that answer becomes crystal clear.
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Oh, yeah, Cliff.
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We should, I think, though, be careful about judging God's providence by today's limited perspectives.
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You see, we do not always see what our God sees.
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So let me ask you this, Jonathan.
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What should a Christian do when they prayed for a long time and nothing seems to be changing?
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Here's your answer.
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Keep praying, keep obeying, keep trusting.
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You see, a delayed or unexpected answer is not evidence that God has ever stopped listening.
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So that keeps me thinking, Jonathan.
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Perhaps we should ask a different question.
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Instead of only asking, when will God change this situation?
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Maybe we should be asking, Lord, what are you teaching me while I wait?
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No, I think you're on to something there because there is a much deeper question.
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Think about it.
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Waiting can become a place where God forms patience, dependence, and trust within our hearts.
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I know that is something we all need to remember, Jonathan, but that's also something hard to do, especially while some might be waiting on an answer of what to them is an extremely important prayer.
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Another thing that's hard to remember, Jonathan, is in the absence of a visible change, that does not mean the absence of God's presence is there.
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No, that's exactly right.
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A lack of visible change does not prove in any way that our God is absent.
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Again, you have to remember, good folks, that our view is simply limited.
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So, folks, if you're listening today and you've been praying about something for a long time, and then the best advice that Jonathan and I can give you is don't give up simply because you don't see an answer.
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Now, here's the reality: keep praying and keep trusting.
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I'm going to sound like a broken record, folks, but it's so true.
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Even when your circumstances are not changing, prayer can still strengthen your faith and deepen your dependence upon God.
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And maybe that's the real lesson here, Jonathan.
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You know, prayer isn't just about asking God to change what's around us or maybe even our circumstances.
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It's about allowing our relationship with God to change what's within us.
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No, here's the deal.
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We may not see in that moment what our prayers are accomplishing, Cliff, but we know.
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We know the one to whom we are praying.
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And Jonathan, through God's holy word, we have confidence that God hears our prayer.
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God knows what we need, and God does really care for us.
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So, good folks, when you decide tonight to finish your evening in prayer, please do not measure prayer only by what changes tomorrow.
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Pray with the faith to be able to say to God, God, I do not understand, but I trust your wisdom, I trust your timing, and God, I trust your will.
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Yeah, because sometimes the answer we are waiting for isn't visible yet.
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No, exactly.
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Here's the thing, folks.
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We cannot see uh the things that we don't see that we cannot see, they will never truly be proof that in any way God has stopped hearing us.
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And maybe that's where less faith becomes greater faith, Jonathan, when we keep praying, keep trusting, and keep walking with God, even when we cannot see the answer.
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Amen.
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Again, we may not see the answer, but we can keep trusting the one who sees the very things that we cannot see.
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Jonathan, let me ask you a question.
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Have you ever prayed about something so long that you finally wonder, is God even listening?
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When it comes to prayer, I think that may be another one of those hard questions a Christian kind of wrestles with.
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Brother, not only do I agree that that's a difficult question, but I can also honestly speak from experience.
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I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt, Cliff.
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When we pray sincerely and repeatedly, apparent silence, it can be very difficult to understand and unfortunately can lead us many times to make conclusions that aren't exactly true.
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So, since I'm in the questioning mood today, Jonathan, let me ask you an uncomfortable question.
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Why do some prayer appear to remain unanswered?
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Uh well, Cliff, wait a second.
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I thought in the in this deal we talked about it a long time ago, I was gonna be the one to ask the hard questions.
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But here's the first thing I got to tell everybody out here today.
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What feels unanswered?
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What feels unanswered to us as the individuals who pray by faith, again, folks, it is not proof that God did not hear us.
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Scripture never promises us that our every request will be granted.
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Yes, sir.
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I cannot help but think about 1 John 5, 14 when it says, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
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That little phrase, according to his will, seems to be extremely important in that verse, Jonathan.
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No, here's the thing, Cliff.
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Prayer is not us persuading God to adopt our will.
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I know that's what we might want, but it's just not the case.
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What it is, it's bringing our request to him while trusting his greater wisdom.
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I guess this must be the day for questioning, Jonathan.
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I'm sorry, but I'm asking for something that seems Completely reasonable.
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I'm praying for, let's say, a struggling marriage.
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Maybe I'm praying for a wayward child.
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Uh, maybe there's a serious problem at work I'm praying for, or someone who desperately needs to come back to God.
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Absolutely.
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I mean, we we should pray for matters such as what you speak of.
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We should pray for all of those things.
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But even good motives, Cliff, do not give us God's perspective.
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Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9 reminds us of this.
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Tells us, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways.
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Oh, Jonathan, it is so hard to remember that.
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But thinking about that verse now, I have to be reminded that I'm only seeing things from a carnal mind, which truly has its limitations.
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Exactly.
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Again, let us remind you our view, our perspective is limited.
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What may feel like silence may involve God's timing, his providence, or an answer that may be very different from the answer we expected.
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So does that mean we should just stop praying when we don't see results, Jonathan?
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No, quite the opposite.
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Jesus taught his disciples that they ought to always pray and not lose heart in Luke chapter 18 and verse 1.
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Jonathan, I like that because Jesus connected persistent prayer with refusing to give up.
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Apparently, waiting doesn't mean prayer has failed.
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No, exactly.
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Waiting does not mean that our prayer has failed, but continued prayer can deepen our trust while our circumstances just may remain unchanged.
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Jonathan, Paul experienced something just like that, didn't he?
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I mean, didn't he plead with the Lord three times about his thorn in the flesh?
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Yes, sir, he did.
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And God's answer was not to remove that thorn, was it, brother?
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No, sir.
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Instead, the Lord said in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 9, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
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Jonathan, that's perfect example again, because Paul prayed for a specific change, but God provided something different.
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Sufficient grace.
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Yeah, exactly right.
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Paul received that sustaining grace instead of the removal of the thorn of the flesh.
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And that tells us that sometimes God does not take away our thorn, whatever it may be, instead, he gives us the strength in that moment to endure it.
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But Jonathan, along with all of that, there's another possibility that I you and I have to discuss now.
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Could some prayer appear unanswered because maybe something is wrong with the life of the person praying?
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Well, I think that's a necessary possibility that we should examine carefully here, okay?
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Psalm 66 and verse 18 tells us, if I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
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Now that does not mean every delayed answer reveals some hidden sin, but cherished rebellion, folks, it absolutely does affect our relationship with God.
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So prayer isn't a substitution for obedience.
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We cannot think that we can deliberately live contrary to God's will and then expect prayer to operate like a spiritual vending machine, so to speak.
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No, you're exactly right.
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Again, prayer is not a substitute for repentance or obedience.
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You think about James 5, 16.
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It speaks specifically.
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The prayer of a righteous person has great power.
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Then perhaps we shouldn't ask only, why hasn't God answered my prayer?
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Maybe we should also ask, what is God teaching me while I wait?
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No, I think in that moment, that's the wiser question here.
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Waiting can cultivate, again, patience, humility, perseverance, and deeper trust in God's wisdom.
00:26:51.519 --> 00:27:02.400
So if someone's listening today that had been praying for months or maybe even years and sees no change, what would you say to them, Jonathan?
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Again, let us remind everybody out there today that um we should not mistake apparent silence for God's absence.
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Again, keep praying, keep obeying, and keep trusting that God sees what you cannot.
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And remember, God may answer with yes, may answer with no, or something completely different from what we expected.
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Our faith cannot depend upon receiving the answer we wanted.
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No, that's exactly right.
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Our faith rests in God's character, his wisdom, his righteousness, love, and his faithfulness, not in receiving the outcome that we wanted.
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So maybe the greatest question isn't why hasn't God answered the way I wanted?
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No, maybe it's this.
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Will I trust God when his answer is not the one I expected?
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Because faith doesn't require us to see everything God is doing.
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No, that's true.
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Faith trusts in the one who sees what you and I cannot.
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And that gives us something to hold on to, Jonathan, when the prayer responses kind of seem silent.
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Yeah, and God remains faithful even when the answer that He has given us is not yet visible.
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So keep praying, keep trusting, keep obeying.
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And folks, leave the answer with the one who sees what you cannot.
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Jonathan, that really brings us to the final question we promised to consider today.
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If prayer is doing more than simply delivering our request to God, then how should prayer actually shape our relationship with Him?
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Oh, Cliff, here's the part of today's episode that I really look forward to.
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We talked about these three questions last week.
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This one really stood out to me because ultimately this should change the way we approach God all together.
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If the only time I talk to God is when I need Him to change something, then I may be treating prayer more like an emergency phone number than a relationship.
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You know, Jonathan, that's worth thinking about because prayer was never intended to exist only in moments of crisis.
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Exactly right, Cliff.
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1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 17 simply says, pray without ceasing.
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Now that does not mean that we spend every waking second of our life involved in speaking of prayer.
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No, it describes a life, a life that remains continually dependent upon God, a life where prayer is woven into our relationship with him.
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So we pray when something is wrong, but we also pray when everything seems to be going well.
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Amen to that.
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We thank him even when we're not asking him for anything.
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We praise him because of who he is.
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We confess when we have sinned, we seek his wisdom before the decision instead of only asking him to repair the damage after we make a mess of things.
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And we pray for other people because prayer continually moves our attention beyond ourselves.
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And the more regularly we come before God, the more conscious we become of our dependence upon Him.
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And I think that may be, Cliff, one of the greatest things that prayer will ever accomplish in our lives.
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Prayer certainly brings our needs before God, but it also continually brings us back into the conscious presence of God.
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And that makes the silence after Amen look a little different than it did when we begin today, Jonathan.
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Absolutely.
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It really, really does.
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Because now the question is not simply, did God give me what I asked for?
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No, the question becomes, Am I still walking with him while I wait?
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And if the answer is yes, then prayer is already doing something important.
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Yes, sir.
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So, good folks, when you pray, ask boldly, pray persistently, submit your desires to the very will of God, but do not allow prayer to become merely a list of your biggest requests.
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No, let it deepen the relationship we have with the Father who we know hears you, knows you, and ultimately cares for you.
00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:18.160
Oh, Jonathan, I think that's a beautiful way to just tie a bowl on today's conversation.
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So, with that, Jonathan, I and I want to say thank you for spending this time with us today.
00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:31.039
And we hope this conversation has encouraged you in your own prayer life.
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Yeah, and please, folks, remember the Scripture Matters Podcast.
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We provide this to you each and every Friday afternoon completely free of charge.
00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:44.319
We have no sponsor reads, no paid advertisements.
00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:49.680
So, one of the greatest ways you've asked, How can we pay you back for these wonderful episodes?
00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:56.240
The greatest way you can pay us back is simply sharing today's episode.
00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:06.799
Yeah, folks, copy the link, post it on your social media, text it to a friend, or send it to someone else who could use this conversation right now.
00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:12.720
Yeah, prayer matters is certainly a conversation that a lot of people need to hear.
00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:20.319
And while you're here, folks, be sure to like, follow, and subscribe if you've not already done so.
00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:28.559
So you can join us each week right here on YouTube or Facebook, BuzzSprout, or one of our many podcast platforms.
00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:34.480
There's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all these other great podcast platforms.
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And next week we move into another subject that touches a very part of our relationship with God, don't we, Jonathan?
00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:42.960
That's right, brother.
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We'll ask what worship really is and who determines how God should be worshipped and whether worship can ever become more about us than the one we claim to honor.
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Because next week's conversation is called Worship Matters.
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We hope you'll join us, folks.
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Until next time, folks, once again, my name is Jonathan Sanford.
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And I'm Cliff Thompson.
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Reminding each of you out there to stay focused.
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Folks, stay grounded.
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And remember, as always, good folks, Scripture Matters.
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Goodbye, everybody.
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Thanks for spending part of your day with us on the Scripture Matters Podcast.
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We'll be back with a new conversation every Friday at 3.30 p.m.
00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:37.679
on YouTube, Facebook, and all major podcast platforms.
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Until then, may the word guide you and your week and is only remember Scripture Matters.