Prayers Don’t Have to Be Pretty

In this episode, we dive into one of the most freeing truths about prayer: God is not looking for perfect words — He’s looking for a trusting heart. Together, we explore what it means to approach the Father with confidence, even when our prayers feel messy, unfinished, or emotionally raw.

We talk about how prayer was never meant to be a performance. It’s a relationship. It’s honesty. It’s showing up as you are, not as you think you “should” be. Through Scripture, real-life examples, and personal reflection, we unpack how faith—not flawless phrasing—is what moves the heart of God.

Throughout the episode, we also respond to the questions listeners have sent in, including:

• “What if I don’t know what to say when I pray?”
• “Does God still hear me when my mind wanders?”

We navigate each question with compassion and clarity, grounding every answer in the character of the Father—His patience, His nearness, and His desire to hear from His children.

By the end of the episode, listeners will walk away with a renewed sense of freedom:
You don’t need perfect prayers. You just need a willing heart and confidence in the Father who loves you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Say That Again podcast. This is Pastor Hetty.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

This is Dina.

SPEAKER_04 0:06

This is Josh. We're so glad that you guys are with us again. We had an amazing episode two, and I have the same amazing guest in the building again, Delara. So I'm so excited. We had such an amazing conversation. So it's only good that we just do this again and continue this conversation. If you guys remember, we were talking about praying, praying with faith, praying from a place of authority. And we were just talking about how there's a difference when you pray from the word and when you pray from faith and not from feelings or emotions. And then Josh got in the word and he started talking about the ultimate prayer of Jesus when he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and he knew that he was going to the cross and the importance of just praying through and how prayer sometimes can look like endurance. So I just want Josh to continue the conversation on that as we continue this episode.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Yeah, for sure. Um, it this is amazing. Luke 22, if you haven't read it, read it. Like, read honestly in the entire book. Uh oh, just read it. Read the whole Bible. Just read the whole Bible. Yeah, just go ahead and just read it.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

Just read it.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Um, but where we left off, where we kind of want to pick up is Luke 22, 45. When he got up from prayer, came uh sorry, when he got up from prayer and came to the disciples, he found them sleeping exhausted and their grief. Why are why are you sleeping? He asked them. Get up and pray so that you won't fall into temptation. We started talking about that a little more even after we finished talking about the um after the episode. And we started just talking about how when we look into it, the the disciples didn't know or they let the weight of the circumstance take over them. They let the weight of the circumstance like overwhelm them. They didn't uh necessarily I don't want to say no because they they like Dina even said they they they saw Jesus do it right in front of them, they saw Jesus portray the perfect picture of intimacy, portray the perfect picture of praying and submitting to the Father's will. But when it hit them, what did they do? They fell asleep. You know what I mean? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:25

So I was gonna say because I so this is just me speculating. What if there were some parts that Jesus couldn't really show them that could only be experienced through your own relationship with the Father? Yeah, but then again, you have the Messiah in front of you. It's true, and then even when Jesus came down from from praying, what did he say? You guys can't even be awake for one hour. Yeah. Like, what are you guys doing?

SPEAKER_00 2:57

And if you though this I looked into it, if you study it, it all this is literally within hours. So he he went to pray the hours later, in the basically the same day that well, the next day, technically, because it was late at night. The next day it happens. So it's like it just shocks me. Like, like you just said, you can't even stay awake for an hour. You just you're seeing everything that I'm having to the bear, you're seeing everything that you're walking through it, you want to submit to me, but you can't pray with me. And that that just blows my mind because it's like, how many times have we done that? I've done that many times where I'm like, where I feel the tug, go pray, go pray, put your phone down, go pray. And I'm and I'm like, ah, nah. Or I fall asleep. I'm like, I wake up early tomorrow, knowing dang well I'm not gonna wake up early tomorrow.

SPEAKER_04 3:44

You know, it's just yeah, that's that's a good um point because that was one of the questions that we got in from last week that I want to ask, and we can continue. It says, How do I find the time to talk to God when I'm glued to my phone and social media all day? Feels like I'm always distracted and I want to get better and actually connecting with Him. Like you said, you know, you know, we make those plans that we want to pray, or I'm gonna pray tonight. Yeah. And then what do we do? We watch, we binge watch like five episodes, yeah. And then we fall asleep, and then the couch, and we just literally wake up to get to the bed and we're out.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

I I think it's kind of you just have to do it. You you I I mean, y'all can add on, but you I for me personally, I just have to do it. I have to be so strict with myself. I'm gonna pray. I'm going to pray tonight. I'm gonna read my Bible, I'm gonna spend time with the Father, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this. And and I'm not gonna touch my phone, I'm not gonna lay down. So many times I'm like, I'm gonna pray laying down. No, no, woke up the next day. Like, yeah, so I would say just you can pray in tongues and it's called the snore tongues. I was just saying being so strict with yourself and making sure that you're doing it. Yeah, ultimately, ultimately, yeah, it's just straight discipline.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

There is some practicality to that. Like, please know if you need to have timers on your phone and you need to have blockers, like there's apps now that will completely block you out of every app.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

And like just put guardrails for yourself. Guardrails are okay. It doesn't mean that you're weak in any way. You're you're just trying to train your discipline. Your discipline needs training. So if you can download the apps, delete Instagram for like a week, do what you need to do to start creating healthy patterns. And then once you have them pretty much built, it's it's a little bit easier. Like I'm not perfect at it. I still tr struggle to with it daily. Like I TikTok has been deleted and reloaded so many times on my phone. But that's just, I mean, those serotonin hits that everybody phone addiction is real, like it's a real thing. And there's no condemnation in that. It's just now knowing that that's something that you struggle with is taking those disciplined steps. And like, even if you need an accountability person in your life, if that's something that you struggle with, that's okay. Find someone and just be like, Can you please make sure that you know, even if they have to check in with you, like, did you pray today? Like, if that's what it takes for you to become disciplined, then do it.

SPEAKER_04 6:19

That's good. I think that's very important. I I've done that with some people.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:25

It's like they told me, I can't pray. I just, okay, so this is what we're gonna do. At this time, we're gonna pray, we're gonna text each other. I'm praying, and we're both, you know, we're both gonna show up and we're just gonna pray. Yeah, and we're gonna encourage each other, and we're gonna do that every night until you feel like you get a pattern going.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:45

Um, and it's helped, right? It's helped people, it's helped me, and also the phone thing. It's like if it's a problem, then put your phone in a separate room, right? Right. If you need music, get a boombox, right? You know, get a cassette player, I'm getting um try to find, try to find another device that is not as distracting, like a computer or something like that. And you know, we only have the the page in the background, which is playing music. Um, that's what I do is yeah, I put my phone, you know, separate from my eyes, and I'll have music playing from my computer. Yeah, and it's I'm just engaging in prayer. And how we talked about in the second episode is I have my Bible out. That's what I'm reading, that's what I'm scrolling, you know what I mean? I'm flipping the pages, I'm looking for something, I'm reading, and then I'm praying at the same time. So I think if the phone, the phone is a problem when it's in the line of sight.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:47

So if you can simply just move it out of your sight, put it in another room or put it behind you, and use a, you know, use another device to play your music or whatever it is, and you don't even need music, right? Yeah, and you just just start to pray. I think um so those are I think great things that that help people, practical things, and yeah, there's no like right answer in a sense because everybody has their own method, right? And it all boils back down to being disciplined. Yeah, like you have to like you have to fight for this thing, right? Think about like when you were so passionate, you know. If you ever had like a boyfriend in middle school or girlfriend in high school, you were you wanted to talk to that person all day, every day. Nothing was holding you back.

SPEAKER_03 8:36

Right.

SPEAKER_04 8:36

So if you're having that struggle of, you know, I can't pray, you know, let's let's let's dig a little deeper. Are you passionate for Jesus? Is it more of a question of Lord? You know what, I've lost my first love, and I don't have that passion for your presence as I used to, you know, like forgive me, restore that fire in me. Maybe that's how we should be praying when we do and say, you know what, I've been so distracted with life, and maybe we're at a different place in life where we have a career, kids, family, wherever we're at, you know, in school or just a different um job. And just being honest with yourself, yeah, you know, because when you like somebody, you're you're always gonna be talking to them, right? And this is not like oh you stopped loving God, but it's like have you stopped, has that passion to to be in his presence stopped? Has that first love diminished? Yeah, and that's that was one of the a main issue for me a few years ago, is I got so burned and I got so worked in church, and I just got burnt out. And I remember just the fire of my first love was just diminishing. And I was operating on busy, busyness, performance, yeah, and I didn't want to pray. I lost my passion for prayer. That's one of the first things that you throw out when you get burned out, you know, you throw out prayer. But why? That's actually the source of fire. That's the source of you know, faith. That's the source of passion, and yeah, that's like the thing that we throw out. Yeah, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 10:19

It's like it's what like stokes the fire. Is that the word? Yeah, like it stokes the fire of it all, but also like give yourself grace when you're learning that. And a tool that I use is like my car has become a place where I pray for a lot of reasons. Like my hands are busy, like I'm focused on one thing, and I just kind of just let it out and pray. And in my cars where sometimes I have the most beautiful moments where I'm like on 35, just like in tears. I'm like, someone next to me probably thinks I'm a crazy person, but you know what? It's fine. So taking those moments, like in the car, in the shower, while you're doing a chore, just talk. It doesn't have to be you sitting in a corner of your house. It's literally just a conversation. Like, hey Jesus, I want to speak with you. Can like just be in this place with me in this moment and then just let it flow, you know? It it's not some, it doesn't have to sound a certain way. I used to be like that where it had to sound and be so eloquent, and he doesn't care about none of that. None of it.

SPEAKER_04 11:19

Absolutely not. I think touching on our next point or question that somebody submitted is um they just want a deeper perspective on when we pray, sometimes we think that we have to have the right words, yeah, and it oftentimes it causes us to not even pray. So I think it's important for us to understand that we don't have to have eloquent words.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

We were talking about it right before this episode, and we were just I was kind of telling Hetty and Dina, uh, for those listening, I was telling them like I'd just be talking to God like he just sitting right next to me, and he is, he's right, he's with us all the time, but I just be talking to him like just God, this, this, this, this is how I feel. Why am I feeling this? Why I there's no I think the moment you start putting yourself in a box, you're gonna become so suffocated. You're gonna become so suffocated. And like you said, prayers and ultimately when we're burnt out is the first thing that we throw out. So when we're so we're we put ourselves in a box, and we're also putting him in a box because it's like I have to talk to you in a certain way when he's like, I just want, I just want you to talk to me. Yeah, I just want you to talk to me. I want to blow your mind. Like, I I want I care about the little things, I care about um like what you're going through, how how your day went. I care about how are you feeling of that you did this. How are you feeling like this happened to you that you walked through that? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 12:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

I think that's the biggest thing that's helped me is just knowing it's completely putting getting myself out of the box of thinking that I have to talk to him a certain way, is just knowing that I could just talk to him however. You know?

SPEAKER_03 13:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:09

I think I think what really can stop people from praying like that is because simply, right, if we view God as a father, it's easier to approach him how you're talking about, or we can just talk to him, or if we had a good relationship with our father.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

Yeah, it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 13:28

Better say that's a big thing. You know, we had that relationship where we can just call him, talk to him, joke around, or if our father was extremely hard on us, or just very difficult to deal with, or you know, they're always at work, there were always a way, and not to blame the fathers, but sometimes that can influence our relationship with the father. And we think that, oh, I everything that I do has to be perfect, right? Or if our fathers have put this false expectation on us, or you know, these family expectations that we have to live up to, yeah, that could also affect our prayer lives, or it's like, oh, I have to pray a perfect prayer every single time. But I just want to remind people that we can never wow God with our prayers. That's not the point of it.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Right.

SPEAKER_04 14:18

He's already so proud of us, yes, is that he just wants us to be with him. Yes, you know, it's not really like the prayer part, it's more of the relationship part that he cares the most. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 14:33

No, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

I'm like, he literally came down, he died for our sins, he tore the veil, yes, so that way we could have direct access to him. Yeah, and in that there was no contingencies, like it wasn't like you have to sound like this, you don't you need a degree, you need all these things. He's like, I literally came, died for you, removed the barrier between me and you so that we could talk. So talk, like so. Let's build this relationship, you know?

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

And I think that's what we forget, but that's so good.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

That's literally, and just knowing the father, the father relates to you, like knowing he like you just said, he like I would I would even add on to that. He made us, you know, like he he made us, he knows your emotions, he knows, yes, he already he already knows what you're going through. He's seen the beginning from the end, knows exactly when you're gonna walk out from from that job, knows exactly when you're gonna you were gonna sin, knows exactly everything. So he he with that mindset, knowing that he already relates to you, knowing that I'm talking to my my my father. I'm talking, and he knows everything within me. I am just vocalizing it. I am it's like a like a verbal processing moment with the father of like I already know you know, but this is it. This is what I want to lay in your hands.

SPEAKER_04 15:47

Yeah, I remember Ashley, she mentioned that in episode one, and that kind of hit me because I tend to forget about this whole um, you know, how your physical relationship, your natural relationship with your parents, yes, could affect how you approach God. So it's not even just your father, even your mother. If you were raised by a single mother, it's how the environment in your home could really influence how you approach God or how you perceive God to treat you. Yeah. And I think most of the time it's a deeper situation where it's like we have to go to God and ask for God to heal that part in our hearts.

SPEAKER_03 16:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:29

Like if you feel that you know what, maybe that's what I'm struggling with. Because this is why it's so important that we keep talking about like sonship, right? Yes, and praying from faith and authority that comes from identity as a son or a daughter, is that we have to be honest with ourselves and say, Am I struggling with this? If so, then that's a good indicator, that's a good start that I can go to the father and say, Hey, can you heal me in this area? Yeah, you know, instead of me being so discouraged with prayer that I don't even want to pray because I don't know what the situation is, or the I don't know what the problem is. So I'm blaming other things when in reality it's my perception of God.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:09

And I was gonna say something very deep in the sense of words don't even matter because God is spirit and He wants us. What does the Bible say? Is that the Spirit, when we don't know what to pray, that the Spirit uh gives us utterances or even groans in the spirit. Yeah, so and how does that sound like? It literally sounds like um like deep groans or even crying or even like sounds when you're just so hurt or you're just going through something, like you make these sounds, or or sometimes you're like you're like mumbling, crying, right? And it's not making clear sense in English, but God can still pick up on what you're saying because God is spirit, so He He senses what's happening in the spirit. So it's not really about your English or your Spanish or your French or whatever line your your native language is. It's how you're approaching them in the spirit, you know, praying in the spirit, whether it's through um utterances of groaning, whether it's praying the word, whether it's just you crying out to him and your crying itself is a prayer. God can translate that because he's spirit, his first language is spirit, his first language is understanding your spirit. Yeah, say that again.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Say that again.

SPEAKER_04 18:30

Say that again. I think a lot of us we that's what relig religion teaches you is that you have to come with the most perfect prayer. And you notice, you know, when you first come to church, you're hearing everybody praying, you're like, oh man, I'm nowhere near them. Yeah, that's not the point. That's a good point because people can be praying religious prayers and never touching heaven, right? Yes. When you have somebody that's soft spoken or who's just groaning in the spirit or praying in tongues and they're touching the throne room of heaven, but then you have this loud person that can pray the most elegant prayers, yeah, but they're not really touching the robe of Jesus, they're not catching his attention.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

There's no substance behind the shout. There you could we could be shouting and there'd be no substance. I went to a young adult service and he and they they talked about that shouting without substance. We could be so loud, and sometimes we get like just literally, like you just said, we could get in these environments around believers, and we could be thinking like, oh, they're really, they're really touching it. They're really, they're really up there. They're really anointed, but there's no substance. They don't have the the they're not walking in, they're not walking in the authority, like we're like we've been talking about. They're not walking in the submission, in the in the in the um, the submission to the Lord's will and just the intimacy. That's literally it. Just they're not walking in the in intimacy. So they're loud, they're shouting, they're jumping, and you're wanting that, and you're comparing yourself to that. And I think that's the biggest thing. And just to add on to it, that's the biggest thing that we see now a lot, now in in this generation, and even not just this generation, but in all ages is comparison. Comparison will can kill authority, I feel like. Absolutely, comparison can kill and look honestly, could like literally suck the life out of us because we're we're being so I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 20:28

I feel I don't want to ramble, but we're just being we when we're comparing, it's just it robs you from your identity, yes, yes, it strips you from your authority. Yeah, you you're basically saying, I'm not good enough. Yeah, I need to do it like them, but ultimately that's their walk with God, that's their history. You know, you can't what's the term that I use in that sermon? You know, they try to orform at that point. They're trying to leech off somebody else's anointing, right? Or trying to leech off of somebody else's identity style, right? And it's no, everybody has a different walk, but ultimately, if you can't, for example, like me, I can't speak good English or good Spanish, you know? So I I struggle sometimes. My brain is like trying to go back and forth, and yeah, I mumble, I stumble in a lot of words or I can't pronounce a lot of words. Yeah, but I know that when I'm praying to God, it doesn't matter. Yeah, exactly. If I come to him in spirit and truth, what does the Bible say is that he looks for those, God is spirit, and he looks for those who worship him in spirit and in truth.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

That's good.

SPEAKER_04 21:35

So if you're struggling with I don't know what to pray, it's okay, it's normal. Even the Bible says if you don't know what to pray, that's when the Holy Spirit comes and he prays through you. So just pray that say, Holy Spirit, come and help me pray. I don't know what to pray. I literally pray that when I don't know what to pray. Yeah, because it's biblical, it's in the Bible, and I just start to feel the Holy Spirit moving me, and I start almost sense I Like he's giving me these ideas to pray, or he'll expose my heart.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:05

And say, Hey, this is the areas that you kind of need to attack. And then I start to pray against those things. And then, you know, Holy Spirit reveals so much. That's why He's the helper that was sent to us. Yeah. Imagine this is just coming to me right now. Imagine just trying to pray without the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_03 22:24

Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_04 22:25

It don't even make sense.

SPEAKER_03 22:27

It don't make sense.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

You have all of these religions that pray for hours and do they do all this praying without the Holy Spirit. And it's just a bunch of repetition. They're repeating the same prayers, thinking, hoping that they'll get power out of those prayers or you know, meditation and all these things. And you know, they have their benefits, but we have the privilege to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_03 22:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 22:54

And when we don't know what to pray, He helps us what to pray. When we don't know what to pray in English, we can just pray in the spirit, or just shout, or just cry, or just utter these mumble sounds, or whatever it is that God is putting in our hearts. Um that's good.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

The Holy Spirit is our translator, he'll translate it for us.

SPEAKER_04 23:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Yeah, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 23:18

Um, I just want to tackle this last question here that we have. Is there really a right or wrong way to pray? And it's a good question.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah, I mean, the wrong way to pray, I mean, you'll hear it. There's no wrong way to pray. And yes, in essence, there's no wrong way, right? But I think it all has to do with the foundation of where your prayers are coming from. So if they're coming from a place of you not knowing your identity, you're praying in shame, you're praying in guilt, you're praying in this like sort of condemnation type of mindset, we don't want you to pray like that. You know, we want you to find freedom, we want you to find forgiveness so that way you're praying from a place of true faith and knowing your identity in Christ and who you are. Um, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

I think even like you just said, true and praying through that faith, but also praying like with that faith and authority, like knowing who I am in in God, knowing who I am in Christ, knowing that I am a son, knowing that you are a daughter, knowing that he loves me, knowing that I have the authority to co conquer whatever's in my way, to shake off whatever the enemy's trying to throw at me. Yeah, it that's should that's the biggest thing. So I think like you just said, knowing our identity and knowing um that we are a kingdom citizen. Come on, yeah. Knowing that we are a kingdom citizen, it helped it helps you the way you pray in general. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:46

Like it amplifies the it so I think your prayers can be distorted from you're saying from the position that you're praying from. Yeah, like the orphan spirit type, like somebody who's not praying from sonship, they pray from a timid spirit, yeah, they're unsure, they're begging, yeah. There's they're they're hoping God hears instead of knowing that God is listening, right? There's no confidence. And there's a s there's a shift when you pray from sonship. And I think that's really my answer to that question is when you pray from an orphan spirit, when you you don't believe that you're loved or you're not, it could really distort your prayers.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:29

But when you pray from sonship, it's not that you have to, like we're talking about, you don't have to pray the perfect English prayer.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

You have to perform. It's not a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 25:36

You don't have to perform, right? But you get to pray from confidence, love, authority, and you're you're gonna feel and see the results.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Yeah, you know? The more, and the more you you like you just said, the more you pray, the more we spend time with the Father, everything is gonna shift. Everything is gonna shift. Our prayers are gonna be more, like you just said, are gonna be more authoritative. Our prayers are gonna be more faithful. Because I think sometimes, I think sometimes we could have a willing spirit, but be spiritually fragile. And so when I say that, when I say Okay, that's a bar, but go say that again. No, sometimes we could have a willing spirit, but be spiritually fragile. So, what I mean, we're when we're praying, we're willing, we're telling God we're willing to go wherever he wants us to go. We're willing to do whatever he wants us to do, we're willing to lay down whatever he wants us to lay down, but when we go home, we don't pray. We don't have that substance, we don't have the weight, we don't have there's no You're not equipped with what you're needing. We're not equipped with what we need. We're spiritually fragile in that moment where we're just speaking and we're willing. Lord, send me, Lord, do whatever you want to do in my life. I want to have the authority, I want to look like that person.

SPEAKER_03 26:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

But you're you don't even spend time with him. And I and I say that and because it convicted me, you know, like that's this stuff is convict. I know it convicts us three all here on this podcast. So I just I just want to say that if you you battle with that, know that he loves you, know that he wants a relationship with you, know that you don't have to compare yourself, you don't have to compare yourself to any other believer, you don't have to compare yourself to anyone around you, but just yes, be fully focused on the father.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Yes, and don't compare it because you don't know what that costs.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

You don't know the cost of the oil that they carry. So you're like, Lord, make me like this person, but then when you're going to then he's like, okay, fine, let me refine you. And you're going through similar, like we just don't know what other people walk through to get to the point where where they're at. So it's like, some people I know, I know I I walked side by side with them. I know what it took for them to get there, and I'm like, if I had to go through that, I don't know if I could I've if I could carry that burden or go with what they like go through what they walk through. So comparison also like one it it it messes you up, but two, you're comparing yourself to someone that maybe had to go through hell and back to get where they're coming from. So you you just never know.

SPEAKER_04 28:15

Absolutely. I think ultimately looking at the parable of the ten virgins, right? With the oil, yeah, everybody we we have to be prepared with prayer. This is why I I felt so strong to do that sermon a few weeks ago, Can You Keep a Secret Place? Is ultimately understanding that especially in this season in our lives, but in the grand scheme of things in the world, what's happening in the world, and America, Iran, so many things happening, right? What is what should we be doing? Praying. We should always be praying, but now more than ever, that the enemy is prowling like a lion, and we can feel the darkness, we could feel something shifting. And I'm talking about like in the world, right? Is that we have to be praying like we never prayed before. So these last few weeks, ultimately, it's for me why I wanted to do um that message and continue talking on prayer because I feel the urgency from heaven to pray. Is that we can't afford a minute without praying. You know, we can't afford having a night not in prayer, we can't afford protecting our minds, our families, and covering ourselves in the blood of Jesus and you know, praying those spiritual prayers that protect us and cover us. We can't afford putting on the armor of God and praying for the next day or praying for that day in your job, praying for your boss. We can't afford not praying for your leaders, um, you know, in your job, in your church, yeah, in your school, wherever you're at in life, we can't afford not to be praying, especially in this time that we're in. Exactly. So I just want to encourage everybody that's listening. Yes, you don't have to pray the perfect prayer. You just gotta pray. Yes, and you you gotta make it a point to pray every single day and pray as much as you can. You know, the same way that you're on your phone or that we're on TV or that we're playing video games or that we're doing XYZ, it's the same effort. We just gotta switch that effort and do it to prayer. Make it a goal. It's like every night I'm gonna show up in the closet, whether I have the strength or not, I'm gonna pray. You know, is we can't again, we can't afford to go without prayer, especially as things are shifting in the world. God is coming for Jesus is coming for a bride that is prepared with oil, that is prepared in prayer, that is vigilant, that sees, that prays and watches.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Yeah, yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

I I kind of want to I just ask like the question for whoever's listening. I want like it's like a self-reflection question. It's like, what can I do today to make prayer and intimacy with the Father a top priority in my life? And why I ask that it's because you just hit it. We don't the time like we don't know when he's coming back. It could be what like, but if tonight is our last night, I want to make sure that I am that prayer and my intimacy with him is so much important to me that day. And that's just I feel like if we apply that to every day, we'll see. We'll see just a like we literally live like each day is our last knowing I love that wanting to give the Lord everything that we have that day, even if it was rough, even if we lost something, lost someone, Lord. At the end of the day, you still reign. Yeah, I still if you came tonight, I am with you.

SPEAKER_04 31:58

You know what I mean? Absolutely. I love what you said. You know, what if today was our last day? My prayer style when I'm trying to encourage people to pray in church is that kind of prayer. You know, if you ever give me a mic and I was like, hey, pray or encourage people to pray, that's my mindset. It's like, how can I get these people to pray like if today was their last day? Because again, tomorrow's not promised. We don't know that. So every day, every moment that we get to pray, we should pray like that. Yeah, with an urgency, with the passion, with the zeal, with the understanding that ultimately God is a sovereign God. I'm not God, I'm not in control, but I get to partner with Him through prayer, through obedience. But if I don't make it tomorrow, I'm gonna do the craziest prayers I can, and I'm gonna do the most dangerous prayers I can. That's at least for me. Yeah, I've come to the place where it's kind of like it's more exciting to be involved in the kingdom of God than to be swept away and drowned in the problems of the world or in the heaviness of the kingdom of darkness. That's good. No, yeah, the kingdom of darkness can get, I guess, more darker, right? In the sense of what's happening in the world, but I'm gonna be in prayer even more.

SPEAKER_03 33:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 33:19

I'm gonna be more focused on doing what I have to do in my assignment and my mission. And ultimately, this is why we're doing this podcast is to really encourage young adults or anybody that's listening. It's like, hey, there's a there's a quick um a short time frame before Jesus returns. Yeah, we don't know what's gonna look like, we don't know what's gonna happen, but we have a duty to be prepared with fresh oil. Yeah, you know, I just feel that urgency right now to keep stressing it, is that you don't want to be found having to borrow oil from somebody else, that's like we were talking about. Yeah, yeah. It's like, you know, can you lend me oil? Can you pray for me all the time? No, we gotta switch from can you pray for me to a place where you're in prayer, and now it's like, how can I pray for others? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

What is it? What's the one thing that Bishop always says? Um, let prayer be your don't let prayer be your last resort, but your first response.

SPEAKER_03 34:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

And like let it just be the one thing that you cling to. No matter what's happening in your life, just revert to prayer. Good, bad, ugly, just let that always be where you end up.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

I I think also don't even let the like you said, like if he comes back tomorrow, if it's my last day, don't let that scare you. You know, I'm scared. No, no, like don't let it scare you. Like, we should like we you say this a lot. We should be happy. Like, well, that should that stuff should make it like knowing that I want to live the best way I can for my father. So when I'm up there with him, yeah, I get to hear good and faithful stuff.

SPEAKER_04 34:55

Absolutely. Man, this is was such a great episode the last few weeks. Just so grateful for you guys and grateful for our young adults group or anybody that's listening. I just want to end it off with a prayer and really again just encourage and stress the urgency. But Father, we just thank you for everybody that has been listening to this podcast. I thank you so much for what you've been doing. I thank you for the testimonies. But Lord, right now I just want to pray if there's any anxiety or fear or shame and prayer, that you just break it off right now in the mighty name of Jesus. And I come against every lie against prayer, that you would break it, Lord, that you would put an urgency, that you would return us to our first love and to the passion that we once had for prayer, that you would just bring us to that urgency of prayer and that we would be prepared like those five virgins with oil, that we wouldn't have to borrow, Lord Jesus, that you would bring us to a place where we pray and watch and we don't fall asleep, that you would bring us to a place where we can pray and see at the same time, and that we can pray kingdom prayers, that we can pray your will be done on earth, Lord, and not just be praying the little low-level prayers for selfishness, for our um gain and just for our interests, but that you shift us from that to a place of praying your kingdom prayers, Father. So, right now, I pray that you would release a grace and a fire in us that would take us to prayer, and that you would just really get us so excited for your presence. Lord, I thank you. I thank you for your word, I thank you for this time. We bless the people today in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. We love you guys, and thank you for tuning in for episode three.