God's blessings
come to us in many ways,
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but to be truly blessed
of God, one must be found
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walking with Jesus, so please
stay tuned to our next exciting
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edition of Walking With Jesus.
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Greetings, I'm Eric
Garloff, your host for
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Walking With Jesus.
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In our last three episodes we
talked about maturing in Jesus,
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working for the
happiness of others,
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and gaining a knowledge of God.
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In this episode we'll be talking
about opening your heart to God
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through the privilege of prayer.
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Here's something to think about:
We can go about our day thinking
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about God, meditating
upon His love and mercy for us,
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contemplating His blessings
upon our lives, and seeing His
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hand in nature.
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Yet through all of this we
are not experiencing communion
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with Him in the
fullest sense of its meaning.
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In order for us to really
experience communion with God,
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we must have something
to say to Him concerning our
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actual life.
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The book, Steps to Christ,
page 64, puts it this way:
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Prayer is the opening of
the heart to God as to a friend.
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Not that it's necessary in order
to make known to God what we
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are, but in order to
enable us to receive Him.
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Prayer does not bring God down
to us, but brings us up to Him.
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When Jesus was upon the
earth He taught His disciples
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how to pray.
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He directed them to present
their daily needs before God,
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and to cast all of their
care upon Him, and the assurance
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He gave them that their
petitions should be heard
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is assurance also to us.
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Jesus himself, while he dwelt
among men, was often in prayer.
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If Jesus, who is the sinless Son
of God, had the need to commune
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with God the Father in
prayer, how much more should we
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who are sinful human beings
commune with God in prayer?
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We need to commune with
God through prayer in order to
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sustain our spiritual lives
just as assuredly as we need
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to breathe air to
sustain our physical lives.
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Yet we often find
ourselves void of this kind of
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communion with God.
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The Bible's counsel for us in
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 is to:
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And Matthew 26:41
says, Watch and pray that you
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enter not into temptation.
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In fact the Bible has
much to say about prayer.
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It also tells us how to approach
God in prayer, and what we
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should do in order for God
to hear and answer our prayers.
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Now that might be surprising
to some of you, but God does
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give us guidelines on prayer.
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Please allow me to share another
quote with you, which enlightens
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us on our need of prayer and
tells us about the conditions
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for answered prayer.
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It's found in Steps to
Christ, page 65-66 which says:
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There are certain conditions
upon which we may expect
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God will hear and
answer our prayers.
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So you see, my friend,
the answers we receive to our
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prayers are in proportion
to the need that we feel of God
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in our lives.
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I truly believe the
more we learn about God,
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the more we will feel a
need to have God in our lives,
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and the more we will be
praying to God for forgiveness,
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for victory, for guidance, and
for power to live a godly life.
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All too often we turn
to God in time of need,
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but we don't hardly give
Him a second thought during the
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rest of the day.
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I've often compared our need
of God with the steering wheel
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in our car.
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We need to be in
communion with God all the time,
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just as we should have our
hands on the steering wheel
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at all times while driving,
using it to control and guide
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our vehicle in the
direction that it should go.
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But many Christians, instead
of communicating with God
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on a regular basis throughout
the day, only seem to talk
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with Him after
something bad has happened,
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as if He were the spare
tire in the trunk of the car.
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only there to help out in
the bad times, instead of the
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steering wheel guiding them
through life, and helping us
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every moment of the day.
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When we pray we should, through
faith, expect that God will hear
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and answer our prayer.
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Hebrews 11:6 says:
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And Jesus said to His disciple
in Mark 11:24 the following:
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Let me ask you, do
you take Him at His word?
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God is faithful, and He will
answer your prayer, my friend.
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But when God answers prayer
He does not answer it with
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human wisdom, but rather he
answers it with divine wisdom.
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What I mean by that is simply
this: God sees the end from
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the beginning, and He has
our best interest on His heart.
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You can count on that.
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When God answers prayer He
basically has three choices,
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and each one is
an answer to prayer.
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Choice number
one is to say, Yes.
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Choice number two is to say, No.
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The choice number three is to
say, The time is not right yet;
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Wait awhile and I'll answer
you when it's best for you.
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When we come to God in prayer,
however, we need to come to Him
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without regarding
iniquity in our hearts.
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If we cherish sin and cling
to it, how can we expect God
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to hear and answer our prayer?
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But when we come to
Him and confess our sins,
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and make all known wrongs right
with Him, then we can be assured
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that God will hear our prayer,
and work on behalf to give us
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the answer of most
value to our spiritual lives.
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But when we have confessed
all known sin in our lives,
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and if our prayers still
don't seem to be answered,
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we are to grab hold of
His promises and be patient.
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He will answer in the manner
and time which is best for us
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because He loves us
with an everlasting love.
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Adding to this, Steps
to Christ, page 68 says:
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Yes, we need public prayer,
corporate prayer, and private,
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or secret prayer.
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If you want to see God moving
in your life, you'll incorporate
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all of these forms of
prayer into every day.
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I'd like to encourage you to
follow everything that you're
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learning here.
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If you do it will make a
huge difference in the quality
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of your spiritual life.
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I'd like to encourage you
to attend the mid-week prayer
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meeting at your local church.
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And if there isn't one going on
at your church, then I challenge
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you to get one started.
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If for some reason, you
can't hold it within the church
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itself, then find a home in
which you can meet and begin
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praying with as many people
as you can find to join you.
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I'd also like to suggest that
you use the Bible, and the book
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Steps to Christ, as your
devotional readings during your
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prayer meeting.
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Together these will draw
your thoughts heavenward,
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and will prepare your
heart and mind to receive
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the blessings of the
Holy Spirit as you commune
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with God in prayer.
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When you study the Bible,
and come to God in prayer,
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try to do it in a
place that is quiet and free
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from distractions.
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Sitting in your own
living room with the TV on,
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or the radio playing, is not a
good place to be, for they will
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surely draw your mind away
from God, and make it nearly
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impossible to
receive the blessing that God
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would want you to have.
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In today's day and age it would
also be good to turn off your
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cell phone during
your prayer and study time,
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for distractions will
come if you leave the doors
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open for them.
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And this is exactly
what the enemy of our souls
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will try to do.
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He will do everything that
he can to distract you and draw
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your mind away from God.
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Now I'm talking about
your private time of study
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and prayer here, not
your communion with God on a
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moment by moment
basis throughout the day,
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for there is no time or
place that you can not offer up
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a prayer or commune with God.
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He is waiting to hear from
you twenty-four hours a day,
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seven days a week, and
He delights in listening
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to the longing of our hearts.
00:10:19.74\00:10:21.89
Reading once more from the book,
Steps to Christ, page 69, 70
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we find this:
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Nothing that in any way
concerns our peace is too small
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for Him to notice.
00:11:02.99\00:11:03.96
There is no chapter in
our experience too dark
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for Him to read.
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There is no perplexity too
difficult for Him to unravel.
00:11:07.65\00:11:10.68
When our hearts are in communion
with God throughout the day,
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we will be filled to
over flowing with His spirit,
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and this will manifest
itself in our conversations,
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and our interactions with
those that we meet and greet
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as the day progresses.
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All too often, however, we find
ourselves talking to our friends
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about the weather, about
the TV show we saw last night,
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about the new car we
just bought, or some other
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non-spiritual issue.
00:12:09.47\00:12:10.64
Now don't get me wrong, we can
use these types of conversations
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for God's purpose, but that will
only happen if we're looking
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for ways of
sharing Jesus with others.
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After all, the main object in
mingling with others is to share
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Jesus with them.
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Let me give you a quick example.
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I know a pastor
who has an antique car.
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He takes his car to
car shows on Sundays.
00:12:32.55\00:12:35.11
This gives him an
opportunity to meet new people,
00:12:35.14\00:12:37.86
and in doing so he
shares his faith with fellow
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car enthusiasts.
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He could easily talk about his
car without mentioning Jesus,
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but it's his goal, and his
desire to draw others to God.
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And this is what I'd
like to leave with you today:
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As you find yourself in prayer
with God on a daily basis,
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and throughout the day, ask Him
to bring people into your life
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giving you an opportunity
to share Jesus with them,
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and He will do it.
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This will prove to be
a great blessing to you,
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and as you do this your
walk with Jesus will grow,
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and you will mature in the
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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May God's rich blessings be
upon you and your loved ones.
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Your faith grows
when up walk with Jesus.
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His love, mercy, and compassion
guides us through life.
00:13:25.82\00:13:29.95
If you ever had doubts about
the Bible, or God's great love
00:13:29.96\00:13:34.78
for you, then
watch our next program,
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Putting Your Doubts Away.
00:13:37.71\00:13:40.10