You’ve Been Enlisted in the Prayer Army, with Kathy Branzell

Get ready: you’re about to be enlisted to pray like you’ve never prayed before. Prayer is a battle, and this episode of Grounded will inspire you to fight to see God move in your midst. You’ll hear from guest Kathy Branzell, president of the National Day of Prayer, who shares how you can get involved this year. 

Episode Notes

• “Praying for Revival, with Kathy Branzell” episode of Grounded 
• National Day of Prayer website 
• National Day of Prayer event finder 
• “Our Kids Need Our Prayers, (And So Do Their Schools!), with Fern Nichols” video 
• Finding the Words to Pray book from Revive Our Hearts 

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Dannah Gresh: Well, hey there. Have you ever heard the term “prayer warrior?” Okay. I'm sure you have. What if I told you, you already are one. I'm Dannah Gresh. And you are listening to Grounded.

Portia Collins: And I am Portia Collins. We loved celebrating the Resurrection with you every day last week. If you didn't know, the egg hunting is over. 

Dannah: Can I say the egg hunting may be over. But my body is still feeling it. Can I say that? We had double Easter parties at the Gresh household this weekend. I hope my voice sounds awake because I barely am. 

Portia: Likewise, likewise, Emmy has run me all over the city wanting eggs. And so even though it's over, even though the ham eating and the party throwing and all of that is over, y'all already know Christ is still risen. 

Dannah: Amen. 

Portia: And that means we've got work to do. The battle rages.

Dannah: Yep, it sure does. And our guest today is Kathy Branzell, the president of the National Day of Prayer. Listen, I am not playing, I know no other woman on the planet that makes me want to pray the way Kathy does. It's on my bucket list to have coffee with her one day. 

When you talk about prayer warriors. She's not a prayer warrior, my friends. She is a prayer general and a five-star general at that. And you are about to be enlisted to pray like you have never prayed before.

Portia: Yes, absolutely. If you believe that your city needs prayer, that your nation needs prayer, that our world needs prayer, then Help us spread the word. Hit the share button right now; right now share this with your friends. Invite them to join us. And also send this episode to other women after it's over. And guess what? Now it's time to get this prayer party started. Erin, where are you? Bring us some good news, please. 

Erin Davis: I’m here. I’m still finding jelly beans in-between the couch cushions at the Davis house. We have a jelly bean hunt inside. I find those jelly beans for six months, at least six months. But I’m eager to be back. 

Dannah: This morning when I crawled out of bed, the twins spent the night on Easter Eve, and I had given them these little Easter bracelets. I got out of the bed and my feet met with stepping on Lego plastic beads all over the floor. 

Erin: I feel ya. I always say hospitals should change their pain skill to between zero and stepping on a Lego, because we all know that's the highest rate of pain. So, we're feeling the festivities, but so glad to be here with you. 

Dannah, you are not allowed to have coffee with Kathy without Erin Davis. 

Dannah: Okay.

Erin: So, I don’t know how we make that happen. I feel the same way. Oh man, all of us, because she's gonna get us fired up. But we want to give you some good news. She's gonna bring sunshine. We want to give you some good news. 

Since today's episode is dedicated to the topic of prayer, let me ask you an obvious question. What is prayer? I'll give you just a minute. 

Maybe you want to drop your answer in the chat or write something down if you think of it. What is prayer? Because we're going to talk about prayer in this whole episode, you need to know what we're talking about. Let me give you a simple definition. Prayer in its simplest form is saying or thinking something in the hopes that a higher power will listen and respond. Christians aren't the only ones who pray. Did you know that? 

Today's good news comes from Somotillo, Nicaragua, which is in Central America. I had to google it because I'm geographically impaired. And that is a site where a ministry called Shake the Nations launched a massive initiative to share the gospel in 17 regions in Nicaragua. And here's where prayer comes into play. There are several witches in the area. Yes, you heard me right . . . witches. Now, I'm not talking about necessarily the kind with the pointy hat and the brooms. I'm talking about the kind that call on the powers of darkness to do their bidding. 

Several witches in the area attempted to place curses and make sacrifices at the site where one of these gospel initiatives was going to take place. The event was scheduled, and these witches gathered there. They called out to those dark powers, trying to stop what was happening. They hoped that nobody would attend the crusade, and they really hoped that no one would turn over their lives to Jesus. So, they cried out to that higher power. Like I said, something or someone other than the one true God, and they were hoping for a response. 

Now if you're listening to the podcast version of today's episode, you're gonna want to catch the video on Revive Our Hearts’ YouTube and Facebook, because I want you to see this photo. It just looks like a mass of people on their knees, because it's a mass of people on their knees. It's thousands of people surrendering their lives to Jesus. At that field where those witches cried out that no such thing would happen. 

I want you to listen to this report. “Witches had attempted to place sacrifices and curses around the field to stop the people from coming in hearing the gospel.” But, man, I love it when there's a but, “but the Lion of Judah roared and the devil was defeated tonight.” 

There's only one God, and He hears and responds to the prayers of His people, even when there's opposition and for what you're about to hear, and for what you're about to face in this week and for these days. We think that is really good news. 

Dannah: Oh, chills.

Erin: Me, too!

Dannah: That is a picture worth seeing. 

Erin: Absolutely. 

Dannah: They say a picture's worth a thousand words. And Erin, you said that told that story so well. But when that picture popped up, I know, praise the Lord. I want to get on my knees and pray right now.

I know, thousands of people right on their knees surrendered to Jesus. 

Dannah: Beautiful. Thanks, Erin. That was good news. 

All right, guys. Listen, do you struggle in your prayer life? Gotta be real. My first prayer this morning was Lord, refresh my prayer life because it's been a busy time lately. Do you ever feel that way? Or do you ever wonder how to have prep power when you pray? Well, you're in the right place. Kathy Branzell is here to help us. She's the president of the National Day of Prayer and the author of books like an Invitation to Prayer and Prayer Warrior. Kathy, welcome to Grounded, Welcome back to Grounded I should say. 

Kathy Branzell: Hey, good morning. So good to be with you.

Dannah: We are delighted to have you as you've heard. All of our hosts are vying for coffee with you. Are you a coffee drinker or tea girl? 

Kathy: Oh, I am a coffee consumer.

Dannah: Okay, it's time we get the calendars out. 

Hey, it feels like there's this spiritual battle. It’s just sick in our nation right now. Do you feel it too?

Kathy: Absolutely. There's so much going on which we as Christians then should go, “Oh, God's up to something.” I mean, the visitation at Asbury really got America's church's attention. And so, I’m hearing this great anticipation across the nation. There's great expectation that God's on the move.

Dannah: Yeah, I know I feel it. I'm so thankful for that, because when I read the headlines, they're just dark, and they're full of scary news. They're full of hopelessness. How does prayer help us with some of the headlines?

Kathy: So, for me, the news are just prayer prompts. You just take whatever the enemy's throwing, just like those witches in that last story. I mean, I had to laugh, because remember, Satan is not an equal foe to God. He's a created being. He only goes as far as the Lord will allow. He has to get through God to get to you. And then God takes what was meant to hurt you, and turns it into something to bless you and grow you. 

And so, just as bad news hits your ears, or your eyes, let it just become this prayer prompt from the Lord,”Glorify Yourself in this situation.” Be specific. Don't just say bless them, bless them, bless them, bless them, be with them, be with them, because He never leaves or forsakes you. Insert good news in the bad news.

Dannah: I love that perspective. It's beautiful. What a shift. I wonder, are all of us called to be prayer warriors when we see those headlines, or are just some of us?

Kathy: All of us are called to call upon the name of the Lord. We have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So, what relationship runs without communication? You know, we spouses, girlfriends, best friends, all of those things, we don't have to be really taught how to talk to each other. 

I don't know why we've made prayer so weird. When we're getting to talk to our Abba Father, we're getting to talk to the Author of our days, and the One who loves us more than any other person on this planet. And so, we always joke with pastors and say, “If you need nursery workers, just go into the pulpit and say, ‘Hey, today, I'm just going to randomly start calling on people here in the congregation to come up to the microphone and pray out loud for a minute.’” And you will watch people run to see if they can help with nursery duty. And I don't know why we've made it so complicated. 

Just pour out your heart. Talk to Him as you would a friend. You don't have to use the King James version of language to speak to Him. Just talk like you would to a friend.

Dannah: Yeah, I love that. I like to start my mornings with just a simple prayer. “Good morning, Jesus,” just because I'm crawling out of bed. It just kind of sets the tone for how I talked to Him during the day. 

You know, we've had you as a guest before. You have a beautiful gift of telling stories that inspire us to pray. I'm wondering if you can tell us about a time when you saw a dramatic answer to prayer.

Kathy: Wow. Well, thank you that I've already had the privilege of sharing the journey, the story of being healed from a brain tumor after fourteen-and-a-half-year fight.

Dannah: Yeah, that was on a previous episode. In fact, we'll try to find a link to that and put it in the show notes in the comments, because you’ve got to hear the radical story of Kathy Branzell's healing. It's phenomenal. So, I'm sorry, I interrupted you. But I was getting excited when I heard that story. 

Kathy: You know, a year after I was healed, then my high school son ended up with a very rare blood cancer that completely dissolved his cheekbone. And then, God gave us another miracle. And when the doctors were saying that it's not going well, in his next scan, God had regrown his cheekbone. 

Now, you need to understand we're not starfish. Right? And so dissolved bones do not regrow broken bones heal, but dissolved bones do not regrow. And so, that was just this miraculous answer to prayer. 

But what our friends, I think, need to hear today is that God hears and answers your prayer every day, that we are living on prayers that may have been prayed decades ago, and that the timing is finally right. We need to try to take our eyes off of all the bad news and quit talking so much about what Satan is up to, and really start saying, “Lord, I want to see You. Just like Moses, I want to see You.” Because His goodness, His greatness, His glory does surround us and everyday things in a child's voice. 

In everything that's blooming right now that's giving us all these allergies and everything else. And in just kindness in a protection moment, you know, that there are things that happen every day where you go, “Thank You, Jesus.” Okay. You've seen Him answer that prayer for protection and provision.

Dannah: So good. Gotta look for it, though. You gotta look for it. Well, some people are listening, let's say one of my Grounded sisters did get to have coffee with you. And she's sitting across the table from you and saying, I get so charged up when I hear you talking about prayer, but I just don't feel like my prayers have power. Where should she start?

Kathy: Start with praise. So, we get charged up when we talk about things we love you. We give attention to what we love. We talk about what we love. So, stop and think about what you talk about throughout the day. Let's talk more about Jesus. 

And so just in a time of praise, just as I would if I was sitting down having coffee with you, I would just start talking about how wonderful you are, and how you're God's workmanship. And so, start with that. Start with God, and talk about how great He is. Because as you “look full in His wonderful face,” as the hymn goes, “the things of earth grow strangely dim.” All you were worried about, all you were feeling heavy about, all of a sudden you realize how big and wonderful your God is. Just go through the Scriptures and grab those attributes that are unchanging and praise Him. 

And then you can start thanking Him. If I was having coffee with you, I would thank you. Thank you for being my friend. I thank you for all the time. Your time is precious. And you give it to me to sit down and have coffee. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you that the other day you brought me out some of that leftover egg salad from your Easter party. So go into a time of thanks. 

Those are easy things that we do with friends. Then pour your heart out. Can I just tell you something that's heavy on my heart today, Lord? That's what you and I would do. I'd lean over and go, how can I be praying for you? So, what's going on in your life? And we would talk about those things and maybe even a funny thing. 

Like you said, the Easter egg hunt is over. And well in my house, I will find plastic eggs for the next six months. And you just have to laugh. You know, it's like we didn't find them all. And it's so lifting those funny moments up and sharing them and just saying, “Thank you for laughter. Thank you for continuing to perfect me because I'm so imperfect, and let me just laugh at my imperfections knowing that You're gonna keep working on me Lord, thank You.

Dannah: So good. I love that. Just talk to Him like you would a friend you're having coffee with, that simplifies it. 

Okay, National Day of Prayer is coming up. So we've got to put our prayer warrior hats on. It's the first Thursday of May every year. What's the theme this year, Kathy?

Kathy: The theme this year is “Pray Fervently in Righteousness and Avail Much” from James 516.

Dannah: And what's that mean?

Kathy: Oh my goodness. It’s so fun to unpack, and I'm going to do it quickly. But pray fervently. That's what we've just been talking about. Erin told us about what prayer is. It's this conversation with our Lord, and fervently just means out of your heart. It's not fuss, it's not noise. You know, you don't have to get all riled up. It's just from the heart. Pray fervently in righteousness. He became sin who knew no sin, that we could become His righteousness. And so we get to pray from our heart in Him to Him and avail much. Here's what I want you to hear about your prayer from this theme today. 

The word “much” you're like, “Huh?” What is much? What does that look like on a spreadsheet on a bottom line? What's much, because some days I climb into bed going, “Did I accomplish anything today?” Oh, but sisters, if you prayed that word much in the New Testament, in the original language it is the same word God uses to describe His glory is mercy and our reward in heaven. 

I'd say that's a lot. And so, when you think your prayers are just hitting the ceiling, they're not; that's a lie. Your prayer, you can reach around the world and pray for someone. You can reach across the table and pray for someone and avail more in their life than anything that you could physically possibly do on your own or an earthly measure.

Dannah: Good. That's good. Why does it matter? That we pray fervently this year at this time in history?

Kathy: Because it's just time to open our hearts. It's not it's not a fancy speech. You're not praying to the people sitting around the table or at your prayer gatherings. Of course, we want you to come together. It's important right now to be praying in unity with your community. 

So, while yes, you can stay in your prayer closet or sit comfortably in that recliner, I'm going to beg you to go to our event finder on our website that we'll share in a moment and find other people to go pray with.

Talk to people at your church. We need togetherness. Isolation is Satan's game, because he's more than happy to come keep you company. And we need to be pouring our hearts out together with one another, from the heart to the ears of Jesus, and watch things change.

Dannah: Yeah, I love that. You know, I've heard my friend Donna tell me that. She read that bands that are marching across a bridge have to change cadence. So, when they're marching down the street, they march in sync, boom, boom, boom, boom. But because it can be damaging to a bridge, when even smaller bands march in cadence over a bridge, they break cadence when they go over a bridge so they don't do damage to the structure. And that is such a picture of spiritual warfare, right? 

When we pray in cadence together in unity, in one voice, it has power to be destructive to the enemy forces.

So, get out there on the National Day of Prayer the first Thursday of May every year, and pray in cadence. Of course, the National Day of Prayer is volunteer driven, Kathy. I was a volunteer for many years in the State of Missouri when I lived there. How can our Grounded sisters get involved? Where do you need help this year?

Kathy: Oh, goodness, well go to our website NationalDayofPrayer.org. And like I said, you can click on the event finder and find the closest gathering to you. We need prayer everywhere, okay, there's no competition. There's no, “Hey, this is my thing.” We need prayer. 

So, if you're willing to pray for a neighborhood and nation with your neighbors, get together. If you're willing to pray at the bus stop, if you're willing to pray in your living room with a group of friends at your church, go out to the community gathering. 

Also, if you go to our website to click on volunteers, get to know your state coordinator. We have coordinators in every single state who need team members. Every single person is born with a talent. God has bought a talent into you, and it is needed for the Kingdom. And so, if you would reach out to our state coordinators and say, “How can I help?” They would be glad to hear from you.

Dannah: Well, I reached out to my state coordinator years ago, and those are some of the funnest years of serving Jesus that I can remember. So, if this is scratching an itch and you think maybe this is where God could use me, check it out NationalDayofPrayer.org. 

Kathy, we would be remiss if we talked about prayer and didn't do prayer. So, would you end your time with us by just lifting up every woman listening, no matter what country she may be in, that she would become a prayer warrior?

Kathy: Ah, absolutely.

Lord Jesus, we love You so much. I just thank You for my sisters around the world, Lord, we come to You with our emotions, and we lay them at Your feet. You give us back fruitfulness as our hearts are plugged in to You, Holy Spirit. Let our love and joy and peace be pure. I just asked today, Lord, that You would show Your glory, that they would see You, that they would know that You are always on the move, that You love them deeply, that they are fully forgiven any game of shame or guilt that the enemy has been playing with them. Lord, let them know that that is nonsense and that all was finished on the cross if they serve a risen Savior.

Lord, let us remember that our prayers accomplish much, that You take what we give You and You press it down and shake it up. You do kingdom things above and beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine. And so, thank You that today we get to think bigger of You. We get to think more of You, we get to talk more of You. And so, thank You for loving my sisters more than I ever could. And thank You that we get to love one another. In Jesus’ beautiful, powerful, wonderful name we pray, amen.

Dannah: Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Kathy Branzell, our friend. She is the president of the National Day Prayer Task Force. And that National Day of Prayer is coming up. So make sure you check out her website NationalDayofPrayer.org. God bless you, friend. 

Kathy: Love you. 

Dannah: Portia, what is coming up next?

Portia: I got you. I got you. Look, I've been over here. Just in the throes of reading all of these great comments from are Grounded sisters, and they are engaged in ready. They’re prayer warriors, and they are stepping up to the plate. They're ready. 

So, I'm super excited. Hopefully we can read some of those comments later in the episode. 

Well, coming up next, have you ever been invited to stand in the gap through prayer? Tell me in the comments. What’s that phrase come from? Well, Erin Davis is gonna tell us when we get grounded in God's Word, just a few minutes. But first, we've got a lot to pray for. 

You know, just a few weeks ago, second graders being murdered in the hallways of their Christian school, alarming political tension, suicides . . . I mean, you name it. I don't need to tell you that our world is broken. But I do need to ask you a question. 

Actually, I'm gonna let Fern Nichols ask it. Watch this short clip from a previous Grounded episode. 

What motivated you to ask other moms to pray with you for your children's school?

Fern Nichols: I love that question. Because it was a day of crisis of belief, when I was sending my two oldest sons to the junior high school that wasn't very far from our home. And, you know, as moms, we know this little area of their lives and how that needs to be brought under the control of the power of the Holy Spirit, because they want to go their own way. 

I just have this passion. I mean, I prayed for them all their lives, even from the womb. But yet that day, when I gave them a kiss and a hug and sent them off to school, I knew they needed more prayer. And I said, Lord, with all that's going on at that school, I mean, I'm sending them into a battlefield, really. Peer pressure and all of the things that would be coming. They were brought up in faith. David, they accepted Christ. But I knew, and we all know, that Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy our kids. 

So, who's going to stand in the gap? Who are we going to bring with us to stand in the gap? We need an army for our children today. And so I said, “Lord, there must be one other mom that would take time out of her busy schedule and pray.” It was going to be an hour of prayer, not our talking about our concerns, or maybe your feeling of overwhelmingness or even discouragement, in light of raising children. And maybe the school or whatever, we were going to bring it to the Lord who is the powerful God who could change it.

Erin: Did you hear that important question? Who's going to stand in the gap? 

Kathy and Fern are both a little older than me. I'm so grateful that women who are older than me have stood in the gap for my life and my sons’ lives. But I need to stand in the gap for others. 

So that phrase “stand in the gap,” ever wonder where that came from? I think I know the answer. It's time for me to say my favorite words: open your Bible. We're going to be in the book of Nehemiah this morning verses 13–14. And before I read them, I always like to remind us that every text is part of a context. And the context here is that Nehemiah was leading the people of Israel, those that were left after they were taken into bondage and captive by the neighboring countries. But Nehemiah was taking the nation of Israel and he was leading them in rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. And Jerusalem at this point in God's story in Scripture was in shambles. 

And as always seems to happen when the people of God rise up and step into the identity God has given us, we try to build our lives on God's standards, there was some opposition. And the guys who were opposing this particular moment in history, have some funny names. That's a reason to open your Bible and go to Nehemiah for all on its own. 

So, Nehemiah in the face of that opposition, and I love how Kathy says that we need to stop talking so much about what Satan's doing. I do think we can glorify the enemy too much. But the enemy is at work. 

And so, in the face of an enemy, Nehemiah gathers the people of Israel together in a holy huddle, and he gives them this speech, Nehemiah 4, verses 13–14. 

“So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.” 

Get the picture? God’s people gathered together with their clans, their families with weapons in their hands.

“And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.'”

Nehemiah didn't even name the enemies there. But did you catch the position of God's people” It's there in verse 13, and the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places. In other words, as this speech was happening, as this moment was happening, God's people literally stood in the gap. 

And Nehemiah gave this very Braveheart style speech. Listen to it again, from verse 14, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

He said, “I want you to remember two things, God's people: one is that the Lord is great and awesome, and two, your family is worth fighting for. 

So, I'd like to take just a moment this Monday morning and look you in the eyes. I'm imagining your face on the other side of the screen. I want to say the same thing. Opposition to God's Word and God's people is increasing, it's not decreasing. There are so many gaps. There are gaps in our systems. There are gaps in our politics. There are gaps in our families. And again, I want to look you in the eye and repeat Fern’s question, who will stand in the gap? 

Now, I'm one of those women, one of those Christians who doesn't feel very confident about prayer. It's not an area where I feel particularly gifted. It's clunky when I pray. But when I read the speech in Nehemiah and hear from women like Kathy and Fern, I have this desire that wells up in me. I want to. 

Now, maybe as you've been listening to this whole episode, and you felt like I feel this isn’t my spiritual gift. You heard Kathy say that all of God's people are called to pray. 

When you don't feel like praying, when you don't know what to pray, when praying doesn't seem to work, when darkness seems to be winning, what do we do then? We say to each other, “Do not be afraid of them.” Remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight. Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, your home, your country, your churches, wherever you want to see God move. Remember the Lord, who was great and awesome, and fight. 

You have to read the rest of Nehemiah to see what happens there. But you can guess when we remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and we commit to fight the battle of prayer, then we charge into battle. And prayer is a battle day after day. We pick up our swords—the Sword of Truth. We hit our knees, which is the posture of warriors in God's kingdom. And we fight to see God move in our midst. 

Portia I'm going to turn it over you but maybe you can answer the question for our sisters. Who's gonna stand in the gap?

Portia: Me!

Erin: knew you would. 

Portia: I was trying to type into the chat, but then I was like, I gotta watch this. Our Revive Our Hearts team is asking right now in the chat who is going to stand in the gap. So if that is you, we encourage you type “me,”

Erin: Absolutely.

Portia: Let us know that you are standing in the gap. You know, Erin, your teaching really reminded me of something that I experienced last year. When my family was just dealing with so much with the incarceration of my sister, the loss of a dear loved one, I remember that day my mama had gone to pieces. I looked her in her face and I said, “You know, we go to war. We go to war on our knees. That’s the only way that we are going to get through this. We have to fight in prayer.” 

Erin: So true. 

Portia: So, thank you so much for just sharing that with us and encouraging us and even though things have kind of alleviated a little bit for us, we are still fighting still on the battlefield for the Lord. 

Erin: You know, we fight until Jesus comes back on that white horse. 

Portia: That’s it. 

Erin: I mean, it does not let up. We keep fighting in prayer. 

Portia: Absolutely, amen. 

Well, I've got some good stuff for you. You know, I love to be the friend to tell you about all the good stuff. I have something really good to tell you today. We have a brand-new resource from Revive Our Hearts; it is hot off the presses. It's called Finding the Words to Pray:50 Scriptures to Guide Your Prayers. It's 50 passages from the Word of God that you can turn into prayers. 

Because it let's face it, some of us, we don't know what to pray. I was just reading a comment, I think Reshawnda was saying how sometimes it's clunky, and she freezes up. And so this guide is created to kind of be a help with that. We can always pray God's Word right back to Him. 

There's also space in this resource for journaling and some reflection questions. Plus, it is just gorgeous. In a minute, I will have Erin to come back on screen, so she can hold up her copy. But you are getting the scoop on this resource one day early. Because starting tomorrow, we will send you this new resource when you give a gift of any amount to Revive Our Hearts. 

Also, monthly partners just know that this is a resource that comes to you that you can request as just a part of being a monthly partner. No additional donation is needed. And so think about this: Mother's Day is coming up, graduations, weddings, lots of good reasons to stock up on this beautiful book and to recruit other people to pray. You can request your copy at ReviveOurHearts.com starting tomorrow. Erin jump on in here. Do you have your copy?

Erin: I got it. I got it. And I don't know if you can tell this is gold leaf, which I love a little gold leaf. 

Portia: Yes.

Dannah: It’s such a nice size. 

Erin: It is a cute size. 

Dannah: It’s like a pocket book size.

Erin: Yeah. And you can write out your prayers in there. So, for me, that helps me pray when I can write them out, then my brain doesn't quite wander. So, we're excited about this resource available tomorrow.

Dannah: I love that. I'm excited about that, too. Hey, guys, listen, I gotta read you this one comment from Linda about the program today because I think it kind of the quote of the day. This is from Linda. She writes her favorite quote of the day was Kathy Branzell saying, “The headlines of the news are just prayer prompts.”

Erin: Man, yeah, that hit me right in the heart. 

Dannah: Yeah, let's start there as we watch the news. I complained. I was watching the news with my in-laws and my husband and I was just like, “Man, they’ve got no good news. Nothing good. Nothing. There's nothing. It's all gloom and doom.” I just sat there and complained. Well, what if I sat there and prayed? 

Erin: Yeah.

Dannah: What would happen? 

Erin: Yeah, what if every morning you took a quick look at the headlines—don't fall all the way down that rabbit hole because it is easy to complain—and just grabbed a prayer prompt or two out of there. Things would start to shift.

Portia: Yeah, that's a challenge for me because I have a tendency to just kind of avoid the news altogether. I'm one of those just stick your head in the sand.

Erin: Yeah, and act like it’s not happening. 

Portia: This is a challenge for me to engage differently with the media that I take in and to use it as prayer prompts. 

Dannah: Erin, as you were teaching I was following along in Nehemiah, but I was in the New Living Translation, which is a good translation for younger girls. And so, I use it a lot when I'm discipling tweens and teens. And it says that in verse 13, that you started in, that “they stood at the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas.” That's the word it used, exposed areas. 

And I was like, oh, that's getting real, right? Because when we come up and bring our head out of that hole, where the peace could leave us momentarily, we are in that exposed place when we're prayer warriors. But rest assured, the Lion of the tribe of Judah does stand in front of us. We just want to invite you to go to those exposed places and stand in the gap. I didn't know where that came from, Erin. That is so good. 

Erin: Yeah. 

Dannah: What a good program today. 

Erin: I don't know if it all came from there, but it certainly applies.

Portia: Definitely.

Erin: And the image that God gives us and as we said, there's plenty of gaps in our world. But listen, no real change is going to happen apart from God's people taking seriously our role to pray. 

So, we've given you clear instructions, stand in that gap, answer the question, who will stand in the gap? We hope it's you. 

We also hope you're gonna come back next week. We're gonna give out hope and perspective like we hope to do every week for the crisis that's happening among young women, and crisis is not an overstatement. To me, if you have a young woman in your life at all—daughters, granddaughters, neighbors you go to church with—get yourself the episode next week. We'll be here; we hope you're gonna be here. 

Dannah: Yeah, be with us next week. Wake up with hope together on Grounded. 

Erin: Grounded audio is powered by Skype. Grounded is a production of Revive Our Hearts calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. 

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