#26 - We Need Gentleness, Kindness, and Prayer

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Welcome to Mind and Faith Matters. I'm the host

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Dr. Cory Potter and on today's episode, I want

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to continue my talk on prayer, but I have a heavy

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heart and I actually want to pray with you and

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just have some time of reflection before I go

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into strategic prayer as a weapon in spiritual

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warfare that I was going to this week. I just

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have such a heavy heart lately. Maybe it's that

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people aren't being so gentle in the workplace

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with each other. I've heard stories from different

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states and I've experienced it sometimes myself.

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And I'm thinking we need gentleness right now.

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As believers we need to be gentle with people

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who are reacting to events in the United States

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anyway because they are as unbelievers not able

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to see things from a God perspective. But us

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as believers, those who are actually following

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after God, when we see these events, and I'm

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going to speak specifically about a couple of

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events that sparked me to talk about this, and

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I certainly am not sharing political views. I'm

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going with biblical views. maybe in political

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situations. You see, this week a national conservative

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voice that goes to college campuses and talks

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about his faith and conservative views, Charles

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Kirk, was shot. Now I've seen a lot of reactions

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on social media and some of them shock me from

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certain people. I'm one that no matter what my

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political beliefs are the death of one person

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by another person is wrong. I can't see it any

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other way and this has followed up in this hometown

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that I live in now about six weeks ago or around

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there. One of our city councilmen, Lee Vogler,

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was in his office. a man who knew him and had

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some dispute with him that hasn't been disclosed

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came in and doused him with a five gallon can

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of gas. Now Lee started to run and try to get

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away from the scene and flee this guy but the

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guy lit him on fire and now this man has multiple

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burns over 60 % of his body and is in intensive

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care and is going to be there for months. rehabbing

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and he has a wife and kids just like Charles

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Kirk has a wife and kids and it doesn't matter

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to me if someone's single or married or is a

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parent or not and I was thinking about my reaction

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and my first reaction when I started to see people

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who may not be believers they're not gonna see

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things from a biblical perspective from a Holy

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Spirit within me who's Allowing me to experience

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the fruit of the spirit which one of the fruit

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is gentleness And I just feel like I Need to

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be careful and I think my listeners need to be

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careful that if you consider yourself a believer

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right now It's not that you can't feel like Wrong

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is wrong and right is right and feel like you

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have an opinion But I just know that there are

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people Who are unbelievers in this world that

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are experiencing the same thing that a believer

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does and I think our reaction needs to be Patience

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and gentleness You know, I think of it like this

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I just heard this on someone else's podcast The

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gentleman was sharing a story about hypothetically

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if a blind man came let's just say into my house

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and he started to bump into furniture I don't

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think the proper response for me would be to

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say why are you doing that like can't you just

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get to where you're going the truth of the matter

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is when someone's blind we treat them with gentleness

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And in biblical fashion, 2 Corinthians 4 -4 says

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this, and I have to read it over here on the

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side tonight because this isn't what I planned

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to do. I just feel led that I need to. In the

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New Living Translation, 2 Corinthians 4 -4 says,

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Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded

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the minds of those who don't believe. They are

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unable to see the glorious light of the Good

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News. And a couple episodes back, I talked about

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a fresh start with God and what the Good News

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of the Gospel was. This next, verse four. They

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don't understand this message about the glory

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of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

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So they're blinded to it. And John 3, 3. The

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Bible says in the English Standard Version, Jesus

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answered him, truly, truly I say to you, unless

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one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom

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of God. And so I think sometimes we're holding

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people who aren't believers to a standard of

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they should know. Now, what I'm not saying is

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evil is going to happen and people don't know

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unless they're believers what good and bad is

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I don't I don't believe that and I'm not excusing

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any behavior that the perpetrators did to these

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people and in these stories I shared what I'm

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saying is my reaction initially on social media

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was if I'm honest Why are you being such an idiot

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about this? Why are you being so heartless? And

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I think it goes back to people's hurts. And you

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hurt me, I want to hurt you. You said this, I

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want to say that. And that's the political landscape

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these days. And I'm not all for that. Second

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Timothy, by the way, the Bible isn't for it either.

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Second Timothy chapter two, verses 24 and 25

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in the ESV. English standard version says it

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like this and the Lord's servant so if you're

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serving God if you truly are a follower of him

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and he's Lord of your life it says in the servant

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I'm sorry and the Lord's servant must not be

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quarrelsome but kind to everyone able to teach

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patiently enduring evil like other verses that

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say love your enemy continuing verse 25 correcting

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his opponents with gentleness now I'm not on

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the national stage nor do I want to be in the

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sense of I'm not putting myself out there by

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saying the things I'm saying maybe I'm putting

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myself in danger But people that are defending

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their faith in front of a larger audience Sometimes

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it can seem like truth is not gentleness and

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I'm not defending any particular person I'm just

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saying when you're sharing the Word of God when

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you're sharing your faith If you have an opponent

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the Bible says we need to correct With gentleness

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God may perhaps grant them repentance leading

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to a knowledge of the truth in other words Being

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rude is not going to bring people to your side

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and especially When we're talking about trying

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to represent who God is To others to close us

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for today. I want to pray I'm not trying to model

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a perfect prayer I'm just praying from my heart

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as I feel necessary and led for this episode.

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I thought about it and a lot of my episodes kind

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of are coming together to paint this picture

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of maybe some ways that we can get rid of our

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busyness and be still and present before God

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and then understand that We sometimes drift away

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and we need to come back and prayer is the way

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that we can do that. But with my heavy heart

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tonight, I'm just going to pray. Dear Heavenly

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Father, Lord, we come to you and we praise you

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that you hear our prayers and that you love us

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and that you loved us first. Lord, we thank you

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for pursuing us. We thank you for sending your

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son Jesus to die on the cross. for our sins.

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And Lord, we do thank you that you had the power

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to raise him up and defeat death. And Lord, we

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thank you that you are a God who loves us, who

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cares for us, and who gives us your word to help

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guide us and your spirit to lead us in living

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out your word. And so tonight, God, first and

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foremost, I do pray for protection for all my

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listeners' families and their own selves against

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the tactics and the problems that Satan loves

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to bring their way. Lord, even this episode being

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an impromptu episode after such a hard work week

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is a testament to how the pressures can take

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us away from our purpose and so Lord I pray that

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as believers who are honestly trying to follow

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you find you in a deeper more connected way that

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you would guide us and protect us Lord I pray

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for the families of those who I haven't mentioned

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that have been attacked or have been killed for

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just the way they are or the way they look. And

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Lord, I know that you're not counting one sin

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greater than another. A sin and not doing things

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by your way and against you is wrong. And we

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all sin. Lord, help us to see that someone else's

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sin and our sin are just that, sin. And Lord,

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You've made a way And Lord as we follow you and

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we get that forgiveness of our sin Change us

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mold us make us new and in that Lord We want

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to have deeper roots into you So that we can

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as as trees if we're gonna look at that picture

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Lord That you give us abundant fruit and the

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fruit that you say is the fruit of the Spirit

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We can't put it on, we can't glue it on our trees,

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and we can't fake it like it's there. God, people

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will know us by our love, and they'll know us

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by your fruit in us, showing others. And Lord,

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tonight, above anything, as we respond to America's

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nonsense and bickering. and all the things that

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are tearing us apart, Lord. I pray that you give

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believers gentleness. And Lord, that we accept

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that gentleness, that we can take it into our

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workplaces and take it into our marriages and

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take it into our raising of our children. And

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Lord, especially as we come against those who

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don't believe in you, they don't know you, they've

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been blinded by Satan to the kingdom of God.

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And you just are right there shining so bright.

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and they can't see you and lord ugliness is not

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going to lead them to you i pray that you give

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us gentle spirits lord i want you to help me

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in this area as much as i do my listeners i'm

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not just praying right now for others to hear

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real in a real vulnerable situation God, I pray

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for my gentleness. As people come, they're not

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trying to attack me at work. They're really just

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trying to live out their own insecurities sometimes,

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and they're struggling with their own significance.

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And Lord, my significance isn't how many listeners

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I have to a podcast or how many dollars I make

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in my day job. But Lord, my significance is how

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I serve you and how I respond to you. and how

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I become more like Jesus and how I allow you

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to mold me and shape me. God I have an active

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part in it and prayer is such a powerful active

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part and I pray that you would help us each to

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use prayer as a weapon in our lives against the

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enemy in Satan. And Lord I thank you so much

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that your truth can break through and as Amazing

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grace the song says I was blind but now I see

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But what a day that is when people come and get

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a deeper understanding Of who Jesus is and they

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accept them they accept him in their lives But

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I pray for that for those that may not know you

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tonight that just stuck with this episode I pray

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that you would give them a fresh start with you

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and have Them inclined to go listen to the other

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episode where I talk about that fresh start But

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Lord, I'm not trying to advertise my podcast.

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I'm wanting people to know who you are And I

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want people to be in awe of you. And if I can

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model for them how Jesus is and how Jesus lived

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his life on earth, Lord, help me to do so. Lord,

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we just pray these things in the precious name

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of your son, Jesus. Amen. really like to thank

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you for joining me this week I pray that as you're

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going throughout your week that somehow these

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words would help you to reflect help you to be

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gentle in your own self control but also to ask

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God to give us that gentleness and this idea

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of being kind without being quarrelsome. No one

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knows that the world needs that right now, not

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just the United States, the whole world needs

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it. And so I thank you for listening. I pray

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that you have a great week. Remember, your mind

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matters, your faith matters, and the more I think

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about it, each and every listener should matter

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not just to me, but to each other. So here's

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to loving one another better. Have a great week.