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072 - The Power of Prayer
92 Plays1 year ago
We do not know the power of prayer. We think of prayer as something we do when we've tried everything else. It should be our first choice! It was the power of God through the prayers of righteous Elijah that stopped the rain in Israel for three years. It was to his Father in prayer that Jesus turned in his most difficult moments, especially in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Listen to this chapter from the Preacher Dad's new book "Battle Plan" and be challenged.
Check out PreacherDad.com for more!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Mission
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Hello everybody, welcome to the Preacher Dad podcast.
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My name is Jared and I am the Preacher Dad and I blog over at PreacherDad.com where you can find biblical perspectives on everything from parenting to politics to preparation.
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I'm the husband of one, the father of eight, and an expert in pretty much nothing.
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But I know Jesus who's the expert in everything and so I'd like to tell you what he has to say.
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At PreacherDad.com, we're trying to equip and inspire Christians to engage in the culture war and to inspire the next generation to make a difference for Christ.
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So I hope that that is important to you.
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I'm so glad that you've decided to join me today.
Humor and Book Insights
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I have something funny to share with you first.
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First on the docket is a dad joke told to me recently by my children who somehow found an old joke book that had some gems in it.
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That joke book had this one.
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Who was it that built King Arthur's round table?
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Well, it was circumference, of course.
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He built King Arthur's round table.
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And then what did the princess say when her photos were slow and being developed?
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The princess, what did she say when her photos were slow and being developed?
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Well, she was heard to say, someday my prince will come.
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Yes, I know.
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I loved it, too.
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I loved it, too.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Listen, folks, I wanted to share with you something today.
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There's a...
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a project that I've been working on for some time, and I hope that you'll stay tuned.
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If you'd like to know more about this project, well, you can go to preacherdad.com and click on the link to subscribe to the Preacher Dad Post, which is my newsletter where you can get all the up-to-date information on the book that I'm writing.
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I'm trying to become a published author, and I have been doing some work on that today.
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And I thought, you know, I'm just going to share this with you.
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Hopefully it'll be an encouragement to you.
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The book is entitled Battle Plan, and it's about how everyday Christians can make a difference in the culture war.
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And there's quite a number of things that I go through.
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10 basic things that anybody can do and you know just try to give some insight there about the things that I've learned over the past few years but I wanted to share with you probably the most important one
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Hey folks, I want to tell you about 7 Weeks Coffee.
Partnerships and Sponsorships
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What is 7 Weeks Coffee?
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Well, let me tell you.
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They're a company that believes every life is worth fighting for.
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When you purchase 7 Weeks Coffee, you're directly helping to fund their network of over 750 pro-life organizations across the country.
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That's because with every purchase of their delicious coffee, 7 Weeks is donating 10% of that sale to pro-life pregnancy centers that reach women and men in crisis every day.
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In the last two years, Seven Weeks Coffee has donated $250,000 to help save the lives of children and also rescue their parents from years of regret and suffering.
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But you don't have to endure poor quality coffee to make a difference.
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Their coffee is harvested in the most organic way possible, and you can taste the difference in every sip.
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It really is quite good, folks.
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I really am loving this coffee.
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These coffee beans are mold and toxin free, and they use organic farming practices.
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And the coffee is ultra low in acid.
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When a baby reaches seven weeks from conception, it is the size of a coffee bean.
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And that is also the point at which a heartbeat is first detectable.
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Seven weeks coffee is committed to the pro-life cause and you can get an outstanding product while contributing to the important work of pregnancy centers across the United States.
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Now, in order to get 10% off, you can go to PreacherDad.com and use my special link, or you can go to 7weekscoffee.com and use the promo code PreacherDad for 10% off.
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And then you can join me in saving lives one cup of coffee at a time.
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Go to 7weekscoffee.com today and use the promo code PreacherDad.
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This is something we're also talking about at our church on Sundays.
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Which reminds me that this episode is brought to you by Cornerstone Fellowship.
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Cornerstone Fellowship, just a few miles north of Tombsboro, Georgia on Highway 112.
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We are a simple little country church that loves people and loves Jesus.
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And we'd love for you to come and partake and participate.
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So if you're ever in the middle Georgia area, look us up and come and worship with us at 11 o'clock on Sunday mornings.
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We would love to see you.
The Power of Prayer
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But we are talking a lot about prayer.
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Prayer is not just the last resort.
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It's our first option.
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I want to share with you a little bit about prayer and its impact in the culture war.
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This is our most powerful weapon.
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If the first shall be last and the last shall be first, then this action step is the most important.
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Many people put prayer in the, I can't do anything else, so I might as well category.
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We have this mistaken idea that it's our last resort after we have exhausted every other means of resolution.
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Friends, this is our most powerful weapon.
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It's the biggest gun in the closet.
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It makes the biggest difference by far.
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Prayer should be our first step instead of our last resort.
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We should start and end everything with prayer, whether that's our day, whether it's a letter, maybe it's a campaign, meetings, devotions, whatever it is, the list goes on and on.
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In the Christian economy, prayer equals power.
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Going into the culture war without prayer is like trying to drive to work without gas in the car.
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You might get a short distance on the fumes, but eventually you will be either pushing the car or calling a friend for a ride.
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Andrew Murray, the 19th century pastor and revivalist, said it this way, Prayer is the secret of power and life, not only for ourselves but for others, for the church, for the world, for the church.
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It is to prayer that God has given the right to take hold of him and his strength.
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It is on prayer that the promises wait for that fulfillment.
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Prayer is more than just giving God a shopping list of things that we want or need.
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It is communication.
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It is a dialogue which includes listening.
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We should not be the only ones speaking when in a season of prayer.
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If we want God to control our culture, to be the ultimate commander-in-chief in this battle for our society, we need to do what He says.
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And sometimes He gives instructions through prayer.
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There is certainly a time and place for all the activities that we usually think of when we consider how to make a difference.
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The previous nine chapters are a great start.
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But we must begin to understand that prayer is not just for the elderly or the super godly Christians, wherever they are, because the rest of us just don't have time.
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Prayer should be the cornerstone of every attempt to make a difference.
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Our Lord Jesus Christ is the one that makes all this happen, according to Colossians 1.17.
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He is in charge.
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He is Almighty God.
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He has said in John 15 verse 5, Without a strong connection to the true vine, we are nothing more than sticks in the yard.
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We must abide in Him.
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This is done through seasons of prayer and Bible study and meditation.
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then our work becomes fruitful because we are doing it in concert with the Creator, the all-wise, all-knowing King of the universe.
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He's chosen to work through the prayers of His people.
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I don't know why, except perhaps, perhaps He enjoys doing things with us, not just in spite of us, which also happens sometimes.
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but to do things with his children as a part of our relationship together.
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This seems like something that would appeal to our Father in Heaven.
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It appeals to my daddy heart.
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Maybe it appeals to his heart also.
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It certainly could not be said that God needs us to help him.
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Our Father is more than able to accomplish his will without assistance from humans.
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But universal mystery number 34 is that the creator of the universe chooses to include us in his work.
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And it is through prayer that he makes this happen.
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In addition to this, prayer is also for our own good.
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It improves our mental clarity, our inner peace, and most importantly, draws us into a deeper relationship with our Father in heaven.
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That alone is worth the effort and struggle it takes to make time for prayer.
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Jesus taught us in Matthew 6 that our Father knows what we need before we ask.
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So why do we need to ask?
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Why is prayer so important if our loving Heavenly Father already knows what we need?
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There are times when I can see that my children need something.
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I know exactly what they need, how to give it to them, how to make it for them, what time to give it, the whole nine yards.
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I could easily step in and impress them with my knowledge and kindness and attentiveness.
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I often will do that.
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But there are times when I wait for my children to realize this on their own.
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I wait for them to ask.
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I enjoy being asked, but for their own development in the areas of humility and self-awareness, it is important that I sometimes wait for them to understand their need.
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And to ask for help is very good for all of us, especially when it comes to resisting the destructive, subtle deceptions of pride.
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So it goes with our Father.
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He knows what we need.
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He doesn't need our help.
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Yet through prayer, He includes us in the work He does in the world and brings us into a deeper relationship with Him all the time.
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He grows us through prayer.
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Prayer is a very life-shaping thing to do, both for us and for others.
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And isn't that the calling of every Christian?
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Life-shaping?
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regardless of our vocation.
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So start praying about things.
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Start seeking his face.
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Humble yourself before the almighty God, for this is the path of healing.
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Our land will not be healed until we do things God's way.
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Look at 2 Chronicles 7.14 for that answer.
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There are many books and resources on the subject of prayer, but I can recommend a few to you to get started.
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Andrew Murray on prayer.
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Of course, that was written by Andrew Murray.
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Shocker.
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Another one is Release the Power of Prayer by George Mueller.
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If anybody would be an authority on the power of prayer, it would have to be George Mueller.
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Developing Your Secret Closet of Prayer by Richard Burr.
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All of these are great places to start, but there's just such a wide variety of resources out there.
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And I encourage you to jump in and dive in and take a hold of them.
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But please remember how important prayer is and that it's not just, well, all I can do is pray.
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No, that's the most powerful thing you can do.
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You should choose that first.
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We should be in prayer all the time.
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Prayer all the time.
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And I sure would appreciate it if you would pray for this podcast.
Engagement and Support
00:13:11
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Hey, parents, if you're looking for a fun and entertaining way to teach your children about character, then I've got the right podcast for you to check out.
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It's called Character Stories Podcast.
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On the Character Stories Podcast, we do the voices of other shapes and sizes, and we have occasionally sound effects as well.
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And I would love for you to come and join us over there and hear a great story that has a great lesson and moral in it as well.
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So come on over and check out the Character Stories podcast today.
00:13:46
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I sure would appreciate it if you would pray for the things that we're doing here at Preacher Dad.
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And if you feel led to contribute, you can go to PreacherDad.com and click on the Donate button down at the bottom of the page.
00:14:00
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You can also purchase 7 Weeks Coffee.
00:14:02
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That's an excellent coffee, and I'm just really enjoying partnering with them.
00:14:07
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And you can get 10% off if you use the promo code PreacherDad.
00:14:13
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And you can also...
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support pregnancy centers around the country.
00:14:17
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I mean, it's a win-win-win here, folks.
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So if you believe in what we're doing, I'd appreciate it if you would subscribe to our podcast and our channel and you'd subscribe to the newsletter on the website.
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There's just lots of ways for you to stay involved and stay connected.
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But I sure appreciate you listening today and I hope this has encouraged you and I hope that you will continue to fight on, to stand strong in the fight and don't give up.
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Now, I know things sometimes look really hard
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But we have to hang on, hang on tight, and just have faith through the hard days.
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All right, folks, God bless you.
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God be with you.
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I'm so thankful for each and every one of you, and I pray that each of you will continue to draw closer to the Lord.
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Have a great day.
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Bye-bye.