Pray God’s Word, Emily Zavala's Story

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Welcome, friends.

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As you probably know by now, I love a good story, especially when it's a God story.

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I love to hear how God takes ordinary women like you and me and does extraordinary things

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in, for, and through them.

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Friends, I'm your host, Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares America

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and international, author and traveler on this journey of faith.

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I encourage you to take a moment to like or follow this podcast on your favorite streaming

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platform so you won't miss any of the stories of my amazing guests.

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Today, I'm talking with Emily Zavala.

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Emily has walked with the Lord for more than 50 years.

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Over the decades, the Lord has taught Emily many things and turned her into a powerful

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prayer warrior.

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This wife, mother, grandmother, and servant in ministry has had a global impact from her

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prayer closet on her knees.

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She is full of wisdom and is a delight to know, and I know you, as you listen to her

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story, will be encouraged as well in your walk with the Lord.

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Welcome, Emily.

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Thank you, Jodie, for having me.

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You have, as I mentioned, been walking with the Lord for many years now.

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How and when did that all begin?

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Well, actually, I can say that it probably began with my grandfather.

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My grandfather got saved during the Depression, early 30s.

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My mother knew the Lord as a child, so she grew up in that atmosphere.

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When she married my father, she was 15 years old.

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Of course, she left home, and so for many years, she didn't go to church.

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She wasn't away from God.

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She just was not a churchgoer.

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When I was growing up, we didn't grow up going to church.

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That's basically how it all happened.

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My mother rededicated her life to the Lord when my brother was drafted to the army during

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the 60s, and he went to Vietnam.

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She rededicated her life to the Lord.

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At that point, our whole family atmosphere changed because she was now a Christian.

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She took us to church.

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I was about 16 years old, and I didn't want to have anything to do with the Lord.

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Wasn't ready at that point to give my life to God, and really didn't know what that was

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about.

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But fast forward a few years, and then I got married, and my husband and I bought a fixer

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upper.

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We needed some work done on our house, and one of my uncles did remodeling.

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He came and helped us, and that was great.

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We really were so grateful for that.

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The only payment that he asked was for us to go to church with him.

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We thought, well, yeah, we could do that.

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That's a lot cheaper than having to dish out money.

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But anyway, that was kind of our attitude back then.

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Prior to that, I feel like I was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

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My mother, of course, would witness to us, and she would say to me, Emily, you need to

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turn your life over to the Lord.

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So I was running away from God pretty much.

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When my husband and I went to church, it was because we were having marital problems early

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on.

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So that's kind of what drew me to church.

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So we went to church when my uncle invited us.

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And then as we were coming into church, I could hear the choir singing.

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And we sat in the back pew of the church.

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And the song that was playing is How Great Thou Art.

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So we stood there in the pew and listening to the music.

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And I was just under such conviction that tears just started flowing down my face.

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And I didn't know what was going on.

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I thought, what in the world is going on?

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Why am I crying?

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Why are these tears just flowing down my face?

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So it kind of scared me.

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And so I looked at my husband.

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I said, let's get out of here.

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So we did.

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We left.

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You know, we came back the second time and the same thing happened.

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And then at that point, you know, I really realized we were having problems in our marriage.

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And so we went again.

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And so at that time, I think it was the third time we went, but we just gave our hearts

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to the Lord.

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I mean, I literally ran to the altar.

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And my husband and I both came together and were saved.

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And things changed totally.

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I mean, we were radically changed.

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It was amazing.

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And it's so true, you know, how they say that old things are passed away.

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Behold, all things have become new.

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And literally, that's what happened to us.

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I mean, we were just not the same people at all.

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It everything even in our marriage, my outlook of marriage changed because prior to that,

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I thought, I don't even know if I want to be in this marriage.

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And so when that happened, it's like everything changed and we were truly, truly born again.

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It was the most exciting time.

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I remember calling my mother and letting her know that my husband and I had gotten saved.

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And I mean, I can only imagine how she felt because she had 10 children.

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So I was the first of 10 children to get saved.

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And so her prayers were coming to fruition.

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And so she was so excited and we were both rejoicing.

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And I remember, you know, going to visit my mom and how we were excited to talk about

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the Lord and all my other siblings would look at me and just kind of didn't want to have

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anything to do with me.

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Like, oh my goodness, she saved.

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And she even looks different.

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That's how it all began.

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It was exciting.

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And you said everything changed.

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I mean, you know, your interest changed, your conversation changed, the things that, you

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know, the way you spent your time changed, you know, instead of doing other things, were

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in church or around people who were there.

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So you really did see a dramatic change in your lifestyle as well, right?

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Yes, absolutely.

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And the Lord was moving in such an incredible way during that time that was the Jesus movement.

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So my husband and I were like sponges.

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Anything that had to do with the Lord, we wanted it.

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We were so hungry for God.

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Yeah, all across the country, people were turning their lives over to Jesus.

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It was a marvelous time.

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And gosh, when we see what's going on at Asbury and now some of the other colleges, we really

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pray that that is the beginning of a new move of God, like we saw back in the 70s and 80s.

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But within that six months of your conversion, many of your siblings and your neighbors and

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your friends, they also got saved.

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How did that happen?

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Yeah, that was very exciting.

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And you're right, thinking about the Asbury revival that's going on right now.

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I'm so excited about it.

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And there's a scripture in the Bible that says, I forget what scripture it is in Psalms,

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it says, we were like men that dreamed.

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We've been praying for revival for 50 years and to see another move of God.

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And so seeing that is so exciting to me because it reminds me back when I got saved and how

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incredible that was.

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And people were coming to the Lord.

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And so I'm just so happy for those young people and what they're experiencing, because it

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is going to be life changing as it was for me.

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And during that time, we were just happy.

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We were excited.

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It was a new life.

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And we witnessed it just about anybody that we came across.

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And of course, my siblings, I remember the church that we had gone to where I got saved.

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That very first week, it was one of these Pentecostal churches that they believe that

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if you don't speak in tongues, you're not saved.

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But I received the Holy Spirit and the evidence of speaking in tongues the first week.

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I mean, I was just on fire.

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But then I soon realized that wasn't the church for us because it was so legalistic and so

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many things that they were demands that we're putting on us.

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So we were there maybe a couple of months and there was a short period there that I

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didn't go to church.

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We were looking for a church and then we found this one little church.

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It's called Oakland Assembly of God.

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We went through a friend of ours that told us about this church.

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We went to visit and at the time that they were visiting, they were having a revival.

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And this was in January of 73.

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We were saved August of 1972.

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And so in January of 73, we found this little church and we started going there and it was

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amazing.

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At the fire of God was there, people were praising God and were so excited.

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And as soon as we walked in, there was a couple that greeted us.

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I remember so well, brother and sister, Salinas.

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So they greeted us and they just were so sweet.

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And basically from that time forward, they just kind of took us under their wing and

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they, you know, they invited us to go to their house.

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They would invite us to go to lunch.

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So we began to, you know, spend time with them.

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I remember going to the altar one Sunday morning at that church.

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And so I went for prayer for my siblings, for my family.

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And they asked, you know, what can we pray for?

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And I said, I just want my nine brothers and sisters to know the Lord.

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I want them to be saved.

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And so we prayed about that.

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And so I started inviting my siblings one by one.

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My mother and I, she started coming to church with me there and she loved it.

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And so, you know, one by one, my siblings started coming up.

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A couple of sisters came and then a brother, then another brother.

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And within six months of that time that we found that church, there was six of us that

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were there.

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They got saved.

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They got filled with the Holy Spirit.

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They were on fire just like I was.

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I mean, it was an amazing revival in the Savala family.

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It was every Sunday, every Wednesday, every Sunday night we were there.

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We just didn't want to miss church at all.

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And so we started bringing in sister-in-laws and friends and neighbors.

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And we would literally filled up a whole pew of the Savala family.

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And it was just an exciting time.

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And the presence of God was there.

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That's what drew you.

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It wasn't that you just wanted to be in church, but the presence of God was there.

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Well, the power of God, that's what really drew us.

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And the Lord literally just kind of imparted that fire.

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My husband and I, from the very beginning, and I really can say throughout the years

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that I've always had that fire in me.

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I've always wanted more of God.

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And even my siblings now that got saved during that time, they're still serving God.

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And then their children are serving God.

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My children are serving God.

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So it was something that impacted generations.

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It was the fire and the power of God, which is what so many churches have been missing

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several years, these last several years.

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But I believe that's coming back in the fire and the Holy Spirit is drawing people back

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to Him just like it did back then in the Jesus movement.

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And that's so exciting.

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Amen, it is.

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And Emily, you told me that, I mean, once you accepted the Lord, you never look back.

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You never waver in your faith.

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And quite honestly, when you encounter the power and presence of God, it does.

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It gives you that spiritual hunger in you that just doesn't compromise for anything

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less.

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But what were some of the keys to your spiritual growth?

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I mean, when we get saved, Jesus gives us the robe of righteousness to be His children.

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But we are then transformed along the way from glory to glory to be more like Jesus.

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It's a walk.

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But what were some of the keys in your spiritual growth?

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First of all, community.

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We definitely had community.

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And at that point, so many of my siblings were saved.

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And we would talk about the Lord and we'd get together for dinner.

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And it was always centered around Jesus.

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And even in my own personal life at home with my husband and I, he was the center of our

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home.

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And so going to the house of God, loving the house of God, that had a lot to do with my

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growth.

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And also this incredible couple that I said mentored us, brothers and sisters, Salinas,

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they just took us under their wing and they would invite us to all the church functions

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when we were new at the church.

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And it was amazing.

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And we had so many questions about the Bible and they began to teach us about the Bible.

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And we had whatever questions we had, they were able to answer them.

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And so I think another key would be that we were just hungry for God.

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We just never lost our hunger.

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We were always running after God and just searching and just wanting more of God.

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And it just grew as we grew in the Lord.

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That part just kept going.

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So the Lord was teaching us along the way and he was molding us and he was creating

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in us what he wanted us to be.

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And you know, throughout your walk, you said he's creating you to be what he wants you

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to be.

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And that even impacted the way you looked at things and your attitudes.

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Share a little about that.

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One of the things that really molded me was very early on when I got saved.

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Didn't know anything about, I didn't know how to pray, didn't know anything about the

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Holy Spirit.

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And that time when I left that first church that I was saved until I found the other church,

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there was a period of maybe a couple of months that I wasn't going to church and just really

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wanted to go to church and just like, where do I go to church?

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And of course, the Lord opened up a door for me to go to Oakland.

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He opened up that opportunity.

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But in between that time, the Lord did something with me that I look back now and that he was

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actually imparting to me what he want, what my assignment was.

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He molded me into what my future was going to look like.

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So what happened, just an incredible God encounter actually that happened.

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My whole life in serving the Lord has been molded and changed because of all these different

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encounters.

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As I walk with the Lord, I've had all these different encounters through dreams and visions

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and just encounters with the Holy Spirit.

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So what happened to me in that little short time that I wasn't attending church, it was

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in December of 1972 that there was an earthquake in Nicaragua, Managua, Nicaragua.

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And I was watching it on the news and for some reason I had this urgency to pray and

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I didn't know how to pray, but I just felt like I need to pray for them.

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I remember putting my baby to bed, my oldest daughter, she was nine months old, put her

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to bed and then I got down on my knees and I started to pray.

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But immediately what happened was the power of the Holy Spirit just came on me and I began

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to speak in tongues that I really couldn't even speak English.

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I didn't know what was happening, but it was just this amazing encounter that the Holy

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Spirit was actually interceding through me for this country and maybe for people that

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I didn't even know.

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For three days, Jody, I spoke in tongues nonstop and it was amazing.

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At that point from when I first got saved and I was filled with the Holy Spirit at that

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church and I spoke in tongues that one time and then after that I didn't speak in tongues

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anymore until that encounter that I had with the Lord in December of 1972.

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I had even questions, did I even speak in tongues, did I even get saved?

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When I had that encounter with the Lord, it's like he just baptized me and just poured that

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spirit of intercession on me.

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Of course I didn't know it was intercession and I didn't tell anybody and I did tell my

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mom and she said, Emily, that's just the Holy Spirit.

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That's all I knew about that.

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That was kind of my introduction to intercession and a precursor of things to come years later.

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That's what God imparted to me at that time.

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I didn't know he was going to call me to be not only a prayer warrior but an intercessor.

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You know how it says in the Bible that he looked from among them to see if there was

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anyone to stand in the gap.

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That's what the Lord did with me and of course I didn't know that until years later I realized

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what the Lord had called me to.

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So that was an amazing experience.

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Yeah, I mean you were partnering with God in something that he wanted done in the earth.

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He wanted to pour out his compassion and help on those people.

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At that time in your life you couldn't go physically but you could go in the Spirit

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and that's what he called you to do, which is an amazing thing that we get to partner

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with God, isn't it?

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I was so young I didn't even know what that was but it was great.

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I know it felt wonderful.

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The fact that the Lord did that early on I think really kept me throughout my walk with

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the Lord and the community and mentorship.

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Back then in those days we did what we call fellowship.

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You know after church we'd go out to eat and we just, fellowship is what we called it.

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Now we call it community.

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I remember my youngest daughter Laura said she would say after church, well mom are we

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going to go fellowshiping?

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So that's what we call fellowship.

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So we did a lot of fellowshiping back then.

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So I think that was another key.

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Yeah, and you mentioned your daughters.

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You have two of them now adults, beautiful, beautiful women of God.

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How did you pass your faith on to your kids?

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I mean I'm sure the community had a lot to do with it but even in your home what were

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some of those things that you did that helped place that love of God in them as well?

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I think the fact that we loved Jesus and it was evident in our home that we loved him

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and prayer was a key and conversation about the Lord.

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That's what we talked about and even when the girls were little and they would come

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home from school they would tell me different things that would happen at school and we

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would pray about it and so they would see the Lord answer prayer and just the house

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of God and very involved in the house of God.

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My husband and I were Sunday school teachers.

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We did children's church.

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We were in the choir.

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We did bus ministry.

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So our whole life Jesus was the center of our life and this is what my children saw

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growing up.

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They saw a love for the house of God.

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They saw a love for Jesus.

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And so it was an exciting time.

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They would see us be excited and we couldn't wait to grow the house of God.

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They learned to love it and they got involved and they would see us that we were visible

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in doing the things that the Lord called us to do.

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So it was an example that we lived before them.

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Yeah, you know I had a very similar experience.

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I mean I grew up in that era as well and we got saved around the same time.

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I was young and watching my parents live out their faith in front of us at home marked

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me for life.

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I mean of course it was the Holy Spirit working in me but you know praying together as a family

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and seeing God answer our prayers.

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I mean you know God's real when you see that.

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Absolutely.

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It's just like the word of God says, you know, teach your children in the way they should

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go or train up your children in the way they should go and when they're older they will

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not depart.

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So that's what we instilled in them and it was amazing.

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And over the years Emily, the Lord has moved you even into new levels of your prayer life

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and your understanding of that partnership with God.

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Share a little bit about that and really what you learned about spiritual warfare which

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is a whole other level of prayer.

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It is.

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There is prayer and then there's intercession, then warfare, spiritual warfare.

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I knew a little bit about spiritual warfare but I didn't really grow in spiritual warfare

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until my youngest daughter turned away from God and that was a huge surprise to me.

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That was I didn't see it coming at all because my children were they loved the Lord.

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They were great children and they were just sweet little girls and they were always winning

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these character awards at church.

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I just really prided myself in being a good mother and actually probably a little bit

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too much.

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I think that was a prideful part of me that I thought you know kind of petted myself in

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the back like that.

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I'm such a good mother and I was.

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I was a good mother.

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But when my daughter turned away from the Lord it was just such a shock to me that it

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literally it happened overnight.

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Like I said I didn't see it coming and then at that point I remember asking the Lord,

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Lord what in the world happened?

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Why did this happen?

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How did this happen?

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And so the Lord you know began at that point I began to walk a journey of doing spiritual

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warfare.

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I had not you know been engaged in spiritual warfare like I engaged for two years during

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that time.

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And so when I asked the Lord what in the world happened?

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How did this happen?

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And the Lord took me to a scripture and I think it's Luke where it says when a man was

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sowing seed while he was asleep the enemy came in and planted spats seeds.

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When the seed started growing and the sower saw these weeds, how did these weeds happen?

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How did this come about?

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And that's kind of like what happened with me when I asked the Lord how did this happen?

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He began to show me some of the things that I needed to war over.

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And so that was a whole new experience and I didn't read books on that.

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I just didn't know anything about warfare.

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But he literally began to show me and teach me how to do warfare step by step which was

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amazing.

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So the first thing he showed me is about generational curses.

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So he began to show me how to do that and how to break generational curses.

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So I began to call out those curses that I felt like were on my side of the family and

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my husband's side of the family.

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So that's kind of how I began.

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And what did you do?

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I mean you called them out but what did you do about those curses?

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I mean did you break them in some way?

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Did you repent for something?

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I mean when you say you called them out what does that mean Emily?

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I mean a lot of people listening might want to do the same thing but they are not quite

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sure what you mean by that.

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Well my husband and I began to do warfare together and so we began to talk about it

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and what are the things that we need to maybe some of the generational curses that are in

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our family on both sides.

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And so we began to recognize what those were and then we prayed together and we came against

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those curses and just closed the door on them.

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But in particular one of them which was a huge one on my husband's side of the family

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they dealt a lot in witchcraft, literal witchcraft.

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Witchcraft is very embedded into the Hispanic community.

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It's in the culture even a little bit on our side of the family.

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But you know it was heavy on his side of the family so of course that's one generational

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curse that we broke.

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I mean we just utterly broke it together and you know pleaded the blood of Jesus over that

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and we had learned a little bit about warfare but just actually didn't put it to practice

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until that particular time.

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Yeah and scripture says Jesus became the curse for us so that we didn't have to live under

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the curse.

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So when we put those things under the blood of Jesus we can be sure that those things

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are broken.

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Absolutely and then began to show me about things in my own life, my personal life that

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I didn't know was there and one of them was pride.

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One of the things that the Lord showed me is that and I called it being a rebellious

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wife or a wife that manipulates her husband.

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My husband thought I was great you know and all that but the Lord showed me that and I

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went to him and I said honey the Lord showed me that I have been a rebellious wife and

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I need to repent.

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So I repented before him and I asked him to forgive me and he said oh you haven't done

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anything, you're fine.

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I said no I knew better.

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I knew better.

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My husband was such a good man.

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He was a good man, had a good heart, very patient and sometimes I tended to manipulate

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the situation to get my way like so many of us wives do.

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We manipulate our husbands and it wasn't like a big sin but it was a sin and it's the little

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foxes that spoil the vine and so the Lord showed me that and at that point I began to

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just change my attitude about that.

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Sometimes trying to make a decision about something and I thought well no we need to

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do it this way.

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So the Lord showed me no you need to let your husband lead you know and if he feels like

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this is what's good for your family then you should go with that and so I began to change

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my attitude in that respect and made a world of difference in me personally and also he

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showed me during that time that I had expectations on my children that I had put demands on them

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that I shouldn't have and I kind of judged their walk with the Lord with my walk with

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the Lord and how much I love the Lord and you know knew the word of God and so I just

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would show them things that they were doing that they were doing wrong and I would say

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well you need to pray about that you need to repent.

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I was putting expectations on my children that I should not have and I remember during

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that time Laura had rebelled that one night she just was we had a big fight in the family

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and she left so a couple weeks later I went to her and I went to her and I said look I

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am so sorry Laura this is what the Lord showed me that I've been I have not been a good parent

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in this respect and I want you to forgive me and so she said mom I forgive you but I'm

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not going back home and so I thought that was gonna help her to come back home for me

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to admit what some of the areas where I had been wrong or you know where I had been too

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strict or too demanding or or whatever but she did not come home.

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And she was an adult by this time she wasn't a teenager.

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You know when she was 18 she just turned 18 yes she was an adult in body but maybe not

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in mind you know what I mean.

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Yeah oh yeah yeah.

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Yeah so I went to her and she said oh no I'm not coming back home and so that just devastated

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me and that's what took me to non-stop intercession and doing warfare for her for two years the

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Lord showed me how to pray and even different things that I saw in her that oh no I need

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to break that spirit that's been you know hovering over her and I just would break that.

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One thing that happened one of the things that I was so shocked about you know when

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Laura turned away from the Lord was that she was just the sweetest little girl growing

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up and she had the call of God on her life and I didn't know that I just she would do

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things and I didn't realize that she had this call of God on her life I just thought it

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was so sweet when she was little she just loved the Lord and she was like a little evangelist

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even as a little girl she would witness to her friends in school and this was an elementary

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school she had a I think it was in third grade she had led one of her little friends to the

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Lord his name was Patrick and Patrick you know got saved and he wanted to be a little

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preacher and of course she was she was on fire for God and so together they prayed for

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their classmates they would fast their lunch mind you they would fast their lunch and pray

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for their classmates and so one day they went up to the teacher and asked if they could

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preach to the class and because it was a Christian school the teacher allowed them to do that

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and so Laura sang a song and spoke a little bit about the Lord and then and then Patrick

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preached a word I don't know what he preached on but it was the sweetest thing I thought

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that was just so sweet so they invited these kids to church and Laura knew that my husband

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and I would go pick them all up she just knew and she didn't even have to ask she said my

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mom and dad will pick you up so sure enough I remember that one Sunday we bought all these

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kids to church and and so one night there was a Christian radio station that had just

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started in Houston it's called KSBJ this still ongoing but they were at the early stages

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of the radio show and they had a program at night that was called night light Laura wanted

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to call in one night and you know give her testimony about what happened in the classroom

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so I said yes honey you could go ahead and call and this was a Friday night she she called

463
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:54,000
the radio station and then I had put a little cassette tape in the recorder and you could

464
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:59,560
record from the cassette tape on the radio so I recorded that conversation and basically

465
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:04,960
she gave her testimony about what the Lord did in her classroom and all these kids got

466
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:10,800
saved and her it was a sweet testimony and the DJ I remember his name was Tony J he said

467
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:15,280
Laura you're you're very mature for your age and I have a word for you he says I've never

468
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:20,680
done this before I've only done this twice but I have a word for you and basically it

469
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:26,520
was out of Ezekiel I think it's chapter 30 or 31 and that she would be a prophet to the

470
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:32,000
nations and so you know recorded that and I had forgotten all about that because at

471
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,680
that point I didn't know anything about prophetic movement prophetic words none of that was

472
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:42,160
taught in my church and so during that time that I was doing warfare the Lord reminded

473
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:47,680
me about that tape so I took it out and I listened to it and I thought oh my goodness

474
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:53,920
no wonder the enemy has come against her she's cut the call of God on her life so I began

475
00:28:53,920 --> 00:29:00,800
to really pray into that word and so then I began to prophesy over her and I remember

476
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:05,800
writing a letter to her and saying girl the Laura that you see in the mirror is not the

477
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:12,280
real Laura the real Laura is going to get saved she's going to marry a man of God and

478
00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:18,440
she's going to be when many souls to the kingdom of God and so she tells me now when she received

479
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:22,840
that she thought she must be crazy she thought I was crazy it was good because she was away

480
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:28,120
totally away from God and so but that's the word of the Lord that he gave me and I stood

481
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:34,920
on that and I didn't I didn't veer from that at all and so that's exactly what's happened

482
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:39,400
she's has an amazing life right now she's married to a wonderful man of God worship

483
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:47,200
leader she's gone to the nation she's prophesied it's just amazing so it's just really important

484
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:52,280
if parents have a vision for their children that they write it down just like it says

485
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:58,400
in um Habakkuk says write the vision and make it plain and this is God's vision this is

486
00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:02,920
God's vision yeah because you had your own ideas of what your kids were doing but when

487
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:07,960
you had God's vision that's what had power behind it yes absolutely and that's that's

488
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:12,080
what I knew that the Lord was doing in her life it just was so clear to me it was just

489
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:18,760
amazing it took two years of warfare and uh toward the end of that two years what my husband

490
00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:23,240
and I did of course he taught me so much during that time it's amazing I could literally write

491
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:28,080
a book about that toward the end of the two years of intercession and warfare that I did

492
00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:33,640
my husband and I decided to go off for three days and we found a little cabin in the middle

493
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:39,480
of nowhere that we borrowed from a friend of ours went there and fasted for three days

494
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:43,960
we didn't we didn't take any food we just took herbal teas and you know we had the word

495
00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:50,640
of God and we fasted for three days read the word of God it was amazing and shortly after

496
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:56,480
that Laura came back to the Lord just as quickly as she was away from that she that that quickly

497
00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:01,760
she returned to the Lord almost as if none of that had ever happened and she came back

498
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:07,040
even stronger than she was right before that it was just amazing it's such a beautiful

499
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:13,960
God story that is a God story and that God story really birth a new desire in your heart

500
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:19,600
to pray for prodigals for other people share a little bit about that because I know that

501
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:24,440
in our staff pro times when you were on staff at somebody cares we prayed for many of them

502
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,240
and I know that wasn't the beginning of that heart for you so share a little bit about

503
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:33,720
that when that happened at the beginning when I was just shocked about it I was literally

504
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:39,440
depressed for about three days I didn't want to get out of bed it was like I just couldn't

505
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:44,600
believe it it was so devastating to me because all I've ever wanted in my life was to be

506
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:49,980
a mother a wife and that my children serve the Lord that was the main thing but I quickly

507
00:31:49,980 --> 00:31:56,280
after three days I got about a bit and I just rolled up my sleeves I remember almost like

508
00:31:56,280 --> 00:32:00,240
saying to the devil you don't know who you're messing with and so I sort of rolled up my

509
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:05,880
sleeves and started praying nonstop at that point as the Lord gave me this tenacity to

510
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:11,320
just pray so I started praying for every prodigal that I could think of and I saw some of them

511
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:17,760
come to the Lord during that time so and then praying for my daughter yeah and the and the

512
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:23,680
devastation that a parent feels for that that your children are away from God that's the

513
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:27,000
worst nightmare for a parent as far as I'm concerned that's the way I feel it's just

514
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:32,240
one of the worst things and so I do have a heart to pray for prodigal's because I could

515
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:38,200
see the hand of the Lord and the promises that he gave us that our children would be

516
00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:44,240
saved and one of the words that he gave me during that time that I was praying was out

517
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:49,480
of Isaiah where it says my words that I have put in your mouth would not depart out of

518
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:56,080
your mouth nor out of the mouth of your children nor out of the mouth of your children's children

519
00:32:56,080 --> 00:33:02,160
and so I stood on that word and I declared it and it's true you know it came to pass

520
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:08,120
so the word of God is so powerful amen well you know that of course the Bible is the preeminent

521
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:14,220
book on learning anything about the Christian faith including prayer but you know over time

522
00:33:14,220 --> 00:33:18,840
are some other really good books on prayer that can kind of point us in the right direction

523
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:23,680
do you have any that you can recommend books or resources for others who might want to

524
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:28,320
become more effective well like you said first of all the Bible is the one that I recommend

525
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:32,440
you know reading the Bible that's just for first and foremost because the word of God

526
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:38,040
is life in its spirit you know to borrow the word of God as much as you can and a good

527
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:44,520
book on prayer which I read years ago is called destined for the throne and so it teaches

528
00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:52,880
it about prayer and then on warfare I would recommend this is how we fight by Francis

529
00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:57,920
Franjapane which is totally warfare it's a great book and then for person of growth I

530
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:03,800
would say high in speed in high places that's a good book beautiful daily devotion yes I

531
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:09,640
love it and then also intimate friendship with God by Joy Dawson mm-hmm are four books

532
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:16,360
that I would recommend so Emily as you said Laura did come back to the Lord in a remarkable

533
00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:23,240
way after two years of persistent prayer for you but about ten years later the unthinkable

534
00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:28,080
happened and your husband was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and when we're in

535
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:32,480
the midst of crisis we generally we don't even know where to recognize all that's going

536
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:37,960
on around us but as you've looked back on those months before he went to be with the

537
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:45,680
Lord how did you see God carrying you through that yeah well it's amazing how your life

538
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:50,840
can change from one day to the next forever and that's literally what happened my whole

539
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:59,200
life changed at that point you know he had a had a seizure one night and I thought it

540
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:05,120
was a heart attack and but he had a seizure I call the ambulance and they came and so

541
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:12,520
went to the hospital and ran some tests and then I was given the devastating news that

542
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:18,240
he had a brain tumor I was just shocked at that point I thought okay I don't know how

543
00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:22,320
what I'm gonna do I don't know how I'm gonna act but it's just like that right away I the

544
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:28,560
Lord took me to health care mode to care for my husband to focus on him and so at that

545
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:34,880
point I just focuses on him and how I was gonna take care of him for nine months I remember

546
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:40,200
they had had to go on to the hospital they did a biopsy and the biopsy came that it was

547
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:45,520
just inoperable and there was nothing they could do the chemo wouldn't even help and

548
00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:51,960
they did some radiation and the doctors you know when we went back two weeks later after

549
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:58,360
the hospital we went back for the results he asked the doctor well doc how long do I

550
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:05,000
have and the doctor said nine months and so he said okay so he was such a brave man the

551
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:09,520
doctor told me exactly what to expect and you know the next nine months and how it was

552
00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:14,480
gonna happen and sure enough it happened just like that so for nine months you know I took

553
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:19,080
care of my husband and my daughter Laura was at the time like I said she was just traveling

554
00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:25,520
all over the world that was using her using her mightily and she was working for a ministry

555
00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:29,640
in Norway at the time so I called her and told her what happened so she made a beeline

556
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:34,760
back home helped to take care of him helped me for nine months to take care of her dad

557
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:40,920
you know it's really something how that during that time when I had done so much intercession

558
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:46,560
for so many things that the Lord had me pray about nations and people during that time

559
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:52,000
it's just almost like that kind of stopped and I wasn't you know giving caribou just

560
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:56,720
to get you know care to my husband so it was funny how that didn't happen I thought Lord

561
00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:01,880
all this intercession that I've done it so here the spirit of intercession is not stirring

562
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:08,040
in me for for myself and for my husband but but the Lord showed me that he was carrying

563
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:13,920
me he really showed me so clear that poem about the footprints how you know the person

564
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:19,880
only saw one pair of footprints and because that's that was when the Lord was carrying

565
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:24,840
them so the Lord literally carried us during that time and so I know other people were

566
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:31,960
praying for us and so we made it through that time and my husband passed away in May of

567
00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:37,240
2003 the Lord gave me the strength to take care of him and didn't fall apart at all during

568
00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:42,720
the whole time I was taking care of him but after he passed away it was just like I sat

569
00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:47,880
down after the funeral and I and I realized what in the world did I just go through so

570
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:53,280
the Lord began to show me what I had just been through and he told me Emily I'm gonna

571
00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:57,880
bring you into a time of peace when I was sitting there on the couch looking at the

572
00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:03,560
picture window very lonely right after my husband died just so lonely and feeling sorry

573
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:12,040
for myself and depressed and the Lord said to me Emily I'm in the loneliness and he's

574
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:17,120
just began this conversation with me and I sort of tilted my head but like what and he

575
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:23,680
said I'm in the loneliness and he immediately began to put a song remind me about a song

576
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:31,280
that Michael W Smith wrote that's called Above All I think it says some of the lyrics are

577
00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:37,920
crucified, abandoned and alone he took the fall and thought of me above all and then

578
00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:44,480
it says crucified, abandoned and alone he took the fall and thought of me above all

579
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:50,680
and so I remember those words I said Lord you were you do know what loneliness is because

580
00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:55,680
you were hanging there on the cross you were all alone even the father had to turn his

581
00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:01,440
eyes away from you because you had all this sin our sin on you that you carried on the

582
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:07,880
cross and then he said to me Emily do you remember that plant and of course through

583
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:12,600
the years as long as I've been in that house I've had many many many plants but I knew

584
00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:18,760
exactly that the Lord was talking to me about that corn plant that I've had years before

585
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:24,000
that we had put in the patio and at that time when he spoke that to me that plant had been

586
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:30,760
gone long gone years ago but it's funny that I knew exactly what plant he was talking about

587
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:36,760
and he said Emily there is a fragrance that I want to emanate out of your life that only

588
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:43,040
comes through the dark times and so at that point you know I said to myself I can feel

589
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:50,960
sorry for myself or I can dive into this season of mourning and walk through my season of

590
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:56,440
mourning with the Lord and so the Lord began to show me Emily this is your season of mourning

591
00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:02,600
you know how it says there's a time to be born time to die time to rejoice and so and

592
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:09,160
then there's a time to mourn and so I recognized that this was my time to mourn and that I

593
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:14,360
had to do it with the Holy Spirit and so I invited the Holy Spirit to come in to help

594
00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:19,840
me mourn and to comfort me and he did and there was times where you know talk to talk

595
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:24,680
think about my husband and pray his love song to me that he that he had that I would play

596
00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:29,440
it over and over and I would cry and it was just I just dove myself into the season of

597
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:35,200
mourning and dealt with it you know with everything I had and it was painful but it was good at

598
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:42,120
the same time after I gave myself a whole year to do that and he carried me through

599
00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:48,360
that it was amazing and that that one encounter with the Lord just really helped me to recognize

600
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:54,120
that I was in the season of mourning and that I was to you know not put it in the back burner

601
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:59,040
not deal with it but deal with it with the Lord go go through it with the Lord and it

602
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,000
was just it was amazing it really was.

603
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,760
Well you know friends there are widows and orphans all over the world who are in very

604
00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:10,640
difficult circumstances like now in Turkey in Syria due to the horrific earthquake.

605
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:14,680
Many have special needs that we as a company of women we can meet together.

606
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:17,600
Would you consider joining us with a special gift to help?

607
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:23,280
Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the widow and orphan tab at the top of the page.

608
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:27,840
Emily you mentioned you know your grief and your sorrow and during those times we can

609
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:31,760
feel like God's done with us but he wasn't done with you was he?

610
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:37,160
He placed you in a new role in a new ministry giving you new ministry opportunities so what

611
00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:40,360
happened tell us a little about the things you saw God doing.

612
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:44,640
It was it was an amazing time like I said and and I wanted to mention one thing about

613
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:52,760
that that plant that when I start actually what happened I had gone to work I'd gone

614
00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:58,560
I had found a job at a church near my home and I thought it's time for me to go to work

615
00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:05,600
so I found this job and I was there for about a year and then they let me go and then my

616
00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:10,680
friend Doug Stringer heard about it and he said Emily I want you to come work for me

617
00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:15,640
and so I thought oh my goodness and he said no Doug you don't have to do that he said

618
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:20,080
no he said just bring your resume next week and we'll talk about it.

619
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:28,840
So that was on a Thursday and that weekend Hurricane Katrina hit and it was devastating

620
00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:34,880
and so on Monday Doug had called me and said can you come in today so I went in so when

621
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:40,840
I went in there was into the office there was so many people there that had gathered

622
00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:46,360
because Somebody Cares was sort of a hub of you know where people would gather when there

623
00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:51,320
was you know things that happened like disaster relief and so there was so many people there

624
00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:56,000
I walked in there was just like people everywhere that phone was ringing and people were talking

625
00:42:56,000 --> 00:43:01,440
they having conferences and it was just amazing so I did I knew it was Doug was too busy to

626
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:05,560
interview me so I just went in there and I just started answering the phone I just started

627
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:09,000
picking up the phone and I went into one of the offices and just started answering the

628
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:14,960
phone and so that's what happened that's kind of how I was introduced to Somebody Cares

629
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:19,760
and so after things had died down about a month or two and actually right after Katrina

630
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:25,040
I think it was another hurricane I believe it was Rita yeah it was so it was back to

631
00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:29,960
back so it was non-stop at Somebody Cares and so I got involved in this disaster relief

632
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:34,200
that was part of what they did they did so many things but part of it was disaster relief

633
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:39,920
and so after about two or three months of that Doug finally said he talked to me about

634
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:45,480
what I would be doing there so so what he did he just kind of put me at the front desk

635
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:51,880
as a receptionist and and that was amazing because that was a whole new experience for

636
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:57,360
me because prior to that I had pretty much been a housewife and a mother of which I enjoyed

637
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:02,440
doing so I had no big work experience other than that one year that I worked for that

638
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:08,960
church also as a receptionist and so so anyway he put me there at the front desk and I was

639
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:15,520
a receptionist and and it was wonderful being there working for Doug and he was a friend

640
00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:20,000
but also he was just a big leader in in the city he was well known all over the world

641
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:25,580
and to be able to be a part of this ministry just opened up a whole new life for me and

642
00:44:25,580 --> 00:44:33,000
you were so valuable as people came in looking for assistance you were the first beautiful

643
00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:39,040
face they saw and with such compassion which was a whole new area of ministry that you

644
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:46,560
hadn't had before that's right I was plunged into ministry which was amazing and and just

645
00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:52,320
working for Doug that was such a good man and I think Doug's heart wasn't so much concerned

646
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:57,140
about what my skills were which weren't very many but he was concerned that he was fulfilling

647
00:44:57,140 --> 00:45:02,840
the word of God to help the widow that really was his heart and I didn't know at its time

648
00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:08,400
but that was his heart for hiring me and so because he really wanted to help the widow

649
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:13,640
my whole life changed I've met so many incredible people in ministry pastors from all over the

650
00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:19,800
city and from time to time we would do these pastors meetings and pastors and leaders meetings

651
00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:24,520
which I was a part of and part of greeting and I got to know all these incredible people

652
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:28,560
in ministry in Houston and every time I'd go to a different church you know I knew people

653
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:34,480
there and so it just opened up a whole new world for me like I said so one of the things

654
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:40,280
that I did there I wanted to share this story my friend Belinda Thacker was Doug's assistant

655
00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:46,080
at that time and her and I became good friends and then I shared with her the story about

656
00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:51,760
my plant my corn plant and I remember saying you know it's something Belinda that that

657
00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:57,720
fragrance would only come out at night I remember that that it was only at night for some reason

658
00:45:57,720 --> 00:46:02,640
so she said well Emily what kind of what does it look like and so I tried to describe to

659
00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:06,160
her she said why don't you just look it up on the on the computer and she showed me how

660
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:10,720
to do that so you know so here comes this picture you know the computer bought this

661
00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:18,520
image of the corn plant and I clicked on that website and it was a website of a nursery

662
00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:23,080
of plants and flowers and all that and different people would write in their questions and

663
00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:28,000
there was one particular lady that said I have this corn plant in my house and all of

664
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:32,840
a sudden it started blooming and I've had it for years and years and that's kind of

665
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:37,720
what happened to my corn plant I didn't know it bloomed until years and years later so

666
00:46:37,720 --> 00:46:41,600
she said all of a sudden it gives out this fragrance that's so strong I have to get it

667
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:47,120
out of my house and the and the person wrote back and said well the fragrance part only

668
00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:52,800
happens in mature plants and it's rare but it only happens in very mature plants so that's

669
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:57,880
another thing that the Lord showed me when he was talking to me about that season of

670
00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:03,600
mourning that there was a fragrance that he wanted to emanate out of my life that only

671
00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:11,000
comes through the dark times and it said and also in that website that letter said it only

672
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:15,400
happens in the evening the plant only gives out its fragrance in the evening and I thought

673
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:19,480
I'm so glad he said it because I thought that I really just noticed that it was at night

674
00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:24,560
that I did that that really happened and so that clarified that yes you know it did it

675
00:47:24,560 --> 00:47:30,240
happened and so the Lord showed me that as well that he could speak to me like that because

676
00:47:30,240 --> 00:47:34,280
of all the years of serving him and the maturity level that I was at that he could actually

677
00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:36,120
speak to me that way.

678
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:41,760
And the boy the fragrance of Christ does emanate from you and the years that you were at somebody

679
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:47,320
cares it was very clear to so many that you know you know that the Lord brought in so

680
00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:55,000
that that fragrance of Christ they could be touched by it too so what a wonderful example

681
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:58,920
of what God does in our lives when we submit our life to him.

682
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:04,760
Absolutely it's just so beautiful I just love it I'm so humbled by it it just stirs that

683
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:09,880
fire in me for the Lord and then just more of him and even to this day you know it's

684
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:15,640
just amazing what the Lord said in my life and one of the things that he showed me early

685
00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:21,880
on again all through these different times periods in my life that he marked me and imparted

686
00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:27,480
me and helped me to grow into who I was going to be and one of the scriptures that he gave

687
00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:32,560
me early on as a Christian was this through this beautiful dream that I had no way to

688
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:38,000
interpret it but it's something that never left my mind and it was this beautiful dream

689
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:43,880
that I was in this forest and the trees were so tall that I looked up and that they kind

690
00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:51,600
of shaped into a cone they were so tall and big big red shiny fruit was hanging from that

691
00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:57,720
tree from those trees it was like a forest and so the Lord for some reason took me to

692
00:48:57,720 --> 00:49:02,560
scripture says you didn't choose me but I chose you that you would bear fruit and that

693
00:49:02,560 --> 00:49:07,920
your fruit will remain and so I can look back now through all these years that the fruit

694
00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:14,160
in me that he started to mold and develop at an early you know early 50 years ago that

695
00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:19,120
it has remained because it's remained in my children and it's remained in my grandchildren

696
00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:24,160
and now even great-grandchildren I have a great-grandchild he goes and witnesses you

697
00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:28,040
know he's only a baby but my grandson goes out and prays in the streets of Houston he

698
00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:33,560
takes his baby with him so he he's the fruit is in him as well and so my grandchildren

699
00:49:33,560 --> 00:49:38,960
are serving the Lord so it's so true that when the Lord marks you when he says that

700
00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:45,800
you are who you are it is so true because now I can see back that the fruit has remained

701
00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:52,440
and will continue to remain but you know going back to working at with the ex-singer Somebody

702
00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:59,720
Cares one of my jobs when I started working there is to proofread the books that he would

703
00:49:59,720 --> 00:50:05,280
write and so Belinda had me proofread the book that he was writing at that time which

704
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:10,080
is called Who's Your Daddy Now and in that book he wrote a little segment about my daughter

705
00:50:10,080 --> 00:50:15,280
and how she was you know Doug was like a spiritual father to her and helped her and mentor her

706
00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:20,160
in so many ways even even helped to finance some of her ministry trips it was amazing

707
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:26,400
during that time you know he was writing kind of a little segment about her and how her

708
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:31,920
father had passed away and that before her father passed away he had asked Doug to watch

709
00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:37,680
over us well I didn't know that at the time I had no idea and so when I was proofreading

710
00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:43,640
that book and I saw that that's what was written in there I just like oh my goodness and I

711
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:49,920
went to Doug and I said Doug please don't feel obligated to do any of that I said because

712
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:56,680
my husband where the tumor was you know sometimes you know he it just wasn't he wasn't in his

713
00:50:56,680 --> 00:51:01,400
right mind so and I explained that to him and he said no Emily I knew it was God and

714
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:09,920
so I love how Doug you know had me come there and and just to be under his covering it was

715
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:13,960
such a gift to me because you know after you lose your husband and you know your whole

716
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:19,000
world changes and you I'm thinking what am I going to do now and the Lord was so sweet

717
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:25,520
to place me in that ministry not because of any skill that I have but because of a man

718
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:31,360
of God that decided to you know live out the word of God this is to take care of the widows

719
00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:36,000
and he he literally took care of me not you know financial or anything although you know

720
00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:41,240
of course I get paid for working there but just to be under that covering and I can truthfully

721
00:51:41,240 --> 00:51:47,800
say that the trajectory of my life would have been totally different after my husband passed

722
00:51:47,800 --> 00:51:54,280
away had I not worked there at somebody cares so that marked me and that and just who I

723
00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:59,720
am today and to this day Doug's a good friend and he's family to me and all my family somebody

724
00:51:59,720 --> 00:52:05,120
cares so God had so much more for me that I didn't know about after my husband passed

725
00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:09,120
away and where does God have you now well after you know being there at somebody cares

726
00:52:09,120 --> 00:52:15,400
for 15 years which was an amazing season in my life my children live in the Dallas area

727
00:52:15,400 --> 00:52:19,920
and they're all in ministry and so I thought well it's time you know for me to sell my

728
00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:24,720
house and move so I moved here to be close to my family at my age I need to be closer

729
00:52:24,720 --> 00:52:31,600
to family just to be there for them and I'm continuing to do to intercede for my family

730
00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:37,600
and I say to people pray for your family pray for your children and don't don't stop praying

731
00:52:37,600 --> 00:52:43,260
because nobody prays for your children like you do and so one of my main callings in life

732
00:52:43,260 --> 00:52:48,000
is to pray for my children because they're all in ministry and we know that people in

733
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:53,440
ministry you know all the attacks come against people in ministry in so many different ways

734
00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:59,400
and so I pray for them that's a job that I pray for them every day pray for the ones

735
00:52:59,400 --> 00:53:04,320
that God gives me to pray for intercede for situations I'm still praying for the nations

736
00:53:04,320 --> 00:53:11,200
I'm still praying for revival now more than ever and I'm so happy and excited to see

737
00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:17,200
the asbury revival and I know that's just a precursor of what is to come I believe that's

738
00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:23,120
gonna even grow and and I'm excited about this so I'm doing a lot of you know praying

739
00:53:23,120 --> 00:53:29,520
for you know revival and praying for in the church and praying for my family and and and

740
00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:34,840
just being available to the Lord in any way that he wants to use me in prayer and intercession

741
00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:40,440
amen so I love to ask my guests Emily if there's a woman or women in the Bible that have inspired

742
00:53:40,440 --> 00:53:45,160
or encouraged or taught you something what about you is there one that comes to mind

743
00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:50,880
there's so many I mean I think we can relate to every woman in the Bible at some point

744
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:57,920
or another in our walk with the Lord but like at this point it you know you know in my 70s

745
00:53:57,920 --> 00:54:05,520
and almost my late 70s now I'm available for the Lord if he wants me to intercede for whatever

746
00:54:05,520 --> 00:54:10,960
just like Anna and it was in the Bible she loved in the Bible she loved the house of God and so

747
00:54:10,960 --> 00:54:15,280
she dedicated her life to prayer and that's that's what I want to do that's what I'm doing

748
00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:22,800
and to pray for my children so I can relate to Anna right now and also I love the story of Hannah

749
00:54:22,800 --> 00:54:30,720
when she would go year after year to the temple and pray for a child and just like I would go to

750
00:54:30,720 --> 00:54:36,720
the Lord you know over again and again in prayer for my my daughter that was away from the Lord

751
00:54:36,720 --> 00:54:44,880
and so one particular time that she was praying which she yeah I think it was Eli I think it was

752
00:54:44,880 --> 00:54:51,600
the priest Eli would see her and then she was she was trembling and she was shaking and and he

753
00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:56,720
thought she must be drunk but I know that it was intercession she was doing intercession and I know

754
00:54:56,720 --> 00:55:01,520
that at that time the Lord spoke to her and said you know he was going to answer her prayers because

755
00:55:01,520 --> 00:55:07,760
she she got up and she you know she felt better and she you know felt joy and so the Lord did

756
00:55:07,760 --> 00:55:14,640
answer her prayer and so I can relate to to Hannah in the persistent prayer of intercession

757
00:55:14,640 --> 00:55:21,440
and how she saw her prayers come to fruition concerning her um her child wanting a child.

758
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:30,720
Well 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18 says always be joyful never stop praying be thankful

759
00:55:30,720 --> 00:55:37,040
in all circumstances for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. As you've listened

760
00:55:37,040 --> 00:55:43,280
to Emily you you've heard that she is one who doesn't stop praying she goes to the Lord with

761
00:55:43,280 --> 00:55:51,200
thanksgiving with joy knowing that he is her heavenly father and cares for her needs and he's

762
00:55:51,200 --> 00:55:57,760
doing the same for you he wants to do the same for you never stop praying. Emily would you take a

763
00:55:57,760 --> 00:56:03,840
moment and pray for everybody who's listening to this amazing God story. Heavenly Father we just uh

764
00:56:03,840 --> 00:56:09,520
I just want to say I love you so much Lord I'm so grateful with this opportunity to share my testimony

765
00:56:09,520 --> 00:56:16,320
God and I pray that you would open doors in ways that people out there that are listening to my

766
00:56:16,320 --> 00:56:21,840
voice will be able to share their testimony because your word says they overcame by the blood of the

767
00:56:21,840 --> 00:56:29,040
lamb and the word of their testimony and how powerful it is and just as I have a story that

768
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:34,000
you know kind of behind the scenes where nobody really knows but you know my story you've molded

769
00:56:34,000 --> 00:56:40,080
me and I ask that you mold them Lord and that you reveal to them what their story is what their

770
00:56:40,080 --> 00:56:46,400
assignment is what their position in the church of God is and so God I just pray that you would

771
00:56:46,400 --> 00:56:52,560
anoint them that you would stir up the gifts that are within them father and Lord that you would

772
00:56:52,560 --> 00:56:59,520
teach them those that that may be have wayward children Lord that that they can know father that

773
00:56:59,520 --> 00:57:06,560
you do answer prayer because it is your will for our children to be saved and when we pray according

774
00:57:06,560 --> 00:57:13,760
to your will you will do it so I just pray that they will never give up that they will pray without

775
00:57:13,760 --> 00:57:18,720
ceasing and continue to pray even after their children come back to the Lord that they will

776
00:57:18,720 --> 00:57:25,040
continue to pray for their their families Lord like never before and so I pray God that um

777
00:57:25,040 --> 00:57:30,480
that those that need even need healing right now that anything they need is in the word of God

778
00:57:30,480 --> 00:57:36,320
and that your word never comes back void and when they declare your word that you will do it father

779
00:57:36,320 --> 00:57:42,560
I pray that you would stir a hunger in them for more of your word and for your ways and for your

780
00:57:42,560 --> 00:57:48,160
character father and that you would lead them in every season father that you would teach them

781
00:57:48,160 --> 00:57:53,520
what they should need to learn at that time that their ears will be open to your

782
00:57:53,520 --> 00:58:00,000
to your voice and that their eyes will be will have spiritual eyes to see what you want them to see

783
00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:05,360
that they would have the mind of Christ father and that you would bless their families Lord

784
00:58:05,360 --> 00:58:11,680
and their walk with the Lord that they would just go from glory to glory and continue to serve the

785
00:58:11,680 --> 00:58:18,960
Lord all the days of their lives because their fruit will remain as it has remained in me and my

786
00:58:18,960 --> 00:58:26,880
family in Jesus name amen thank you for tuning in in our show notes at hergodstory.org you'll

787
00:58:26,880 --> 00:58:31,600
find scriptures and other information we talked about and don't forget to sign up for our emails

788
00:58:31,600 --> 00:58:36,720
and get a six-week devotional book you can download for free or you may want to purchase a 12-week

789
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:42,240
devotional book on women of the bible for just 12 knowing that all the proceeds will go to our

790
00:58:42,240 --> 00:58:48,320
Widows and Orphan fund we'd love to pray with you on our 24-7 prayer and text line so give us a

791
00:58:48,320 --> 00:58:57,440
call anytime at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer@somebodycares.org and now dear friends I bless

792
00:58:57,440 --> 00:59:03,360
you from Ephesians 3:16-19 may God strengthen you with power through his spirit in

793
00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:09,920
your inner man so that Christ dwells in your heart through faith may you be rooted and established

794
00:59:09,920 --> 00:59:16,160
in love and have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to

795
00:59:16,160 --> 00:59:22,800
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge may you be filled to the measure of all the fullness

796
00:59:22,800 --> 00:59:29,040
of God Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and
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797
00:59:29,040 --> 00:59:46,560
about or support the ministry go to somebodycares.org