February 19, 2025 • 21 mins
We’re talking about trusting God in our daily decisions, learning to hear His guidance, and bringing faith into every part of life—including business!
Connect with Amy → WorkplacePrayer.com
Grab the Healthy Sustainable Weekly Rhythm Guide for Busy Moms → https://aliesehalcomb.com/weeklyrhythms
About:
Amy Lykosh, CEO of Workplace Prayer, joins us on the Peaceful Mompreneur podcast to share how prayer can be a game-changer in business. Growing up in a family that embraced paid prayer through her parents' business, Sunlight Curriculum, Amy saw firsthand how faith and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. She shares how working with a dedicated intercessor brought incredible breakthroughs in her family business—and how we, as mompreneurs, can experience the same.
In this conversation, we’re diving into how faith touches every part of life, from everyday struggles to big business decisions. Amy explains how trusting God and learning to hear His voice can bring clarity and confidence, no matter what season you’re in. We also talk about impartation through prayer, a powerful biblical practice that invites more joy and divine connection into daily life.
If you’re ready to bring more peace, faith, and direction into your business, this episode is for you! You can also connect with Amy at WorkplacePrayer.com and on her Make Prayer Beautiful podcast.
Grab the Healthy Sustainable Weekly Rhythm Guide for Busy Moms ► ► https://aliesehalcomb.com/weeklyrhythms
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, thank you so much for being here.
Guys, welcome to the PeacefulMompreneur.
And today I have a guest, amyLykosh, and I'm very excited to
have her and for her to shareher story and what she's doing
these days.
So, Amy, why don't youintroduce yourself?
Tell us who you are, what youdo, who you serve, why you do it
.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Oh well, thank you, elise, it's lovely to be with
you today.
So I am the CEO of WorkplacePrayer, where we pray for
businesses, and we also have afew additional ancillary
projects that we work on inteaching others to pray
effectively, because basicallywe're just like all prayer all
the time.
But we recognize that in therealm of business there's sort
(00:41):
of like this complete blind spotwhere people maybe recognize
that prayer is important ingeneral and they maybe have
certain areas where they praygenerally speaking, but in terms
of business, most people havenever even thought of it.
So part of what we like to dois say, no, actually prayer is
important, even in the realm ofbusiness.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
That's wonderful.
So tell me, how did you getinto this?
I've never heard of someonespecifically pray.
I mean, like people in businesspraying for their business is
one thing, but people who prayfor other people's businesses
never heard of it.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah.
So my parents started abusiness in 1990, the homeschool
company Sunlight Curriculum andthey decided upfront they were,
like you know, my dad had beenon staff with a missions agency
and he was, like we alwaysprayed before we started our
work.
That was part of our morning.
I guess you could say todaymorning huddle, but staff
meeting and so when they startedtheir business they thought,
(01:35):
well, let's invite our staff topray as part of their morning,
like that's reasonable, as partof expressing our values.
So I grew up with the idea thatpaid prayer for business was
just kind of something thatpeople did if they liked prayer
and they liked Jesus.
So it didn't even cross my mindthat that would be kind of an
odd concept.
And so about 30 years in thiswould be 2020, there were
(01:56):
certain things where I thoughtthere are shifts that I want to
see in the business but I can'tbring them.
Like I don't feel like I haveenough firepower in terms of
prayer.
Like I feel a little bit likeI'm trying to water a football
field and I have a garden hose,so like maybe eventually I'll
get there, but really it wouldbe better if I had a fire hose
or a sprinkler system, or theLord just opened up the heavens
(02:18):
and rains down.
But in any case, like I justwanted more and so I went
looking to see can I findsomebody to tutor me, can I find
somebody to pray like outside,who actually is not just a
person who loves prayer andloves Jesus, but is, like I have
dedicated my life to learningabout prayer, and that was
shockingly difficult to find.
(02:38):
So, as I would ask peopleanyway, I had no idea it was
going to be as hard as it was.
So when I finally found theperson who is now my business
partner and who ended up beingthe person that we hired, when I
found him I was like, okay,first of all, you are incredibly
, you're like the unicorn.
I didn't know where to locateyou, but you do exist.
So that's encouraging.
(02:59):
But then what astonished me andagain, at this point we'd had
30 years of paid prayer behindus and we had seen many very
beautiful answers to prayer.
The Lord was always veryfaithful.
So obviously, absolutely, I'm ahuge proponent of people
praying for their own businesses.
But what astonished me with thatbackground was that the third
(03:19):
day after we had hired him, Isent him a text at 11 pm and I
said, bob, we've had 10 answeredprayers today, and I didn't
even know this was possible,like this blew my mind.
And he texted back let's go fora dozen.
And to me that, like I justremember, like almost standing
still staring at my phone, likeI don't even understand how this
is possible, like here he isnot content with 10, but like
(03:43):
let's go for a dozen.
So now I know he's verycompetitive, but also that just
showed me how much I guess, howmuch faith he had, how much
expectation he had.
And then so we did end upgetting to a dozen that day.
And then that was June 3rd.
For the rest of the month wenever saw less than a dozen.
There were days we had twodozen.
I kind of felt like my like mostof my month was spent just
(04:04):
recording the answers to prayer,because it was such a dramatic,
like it was just dramatic.
So by mid-month I was like, ohmy word, like can I join your
team?
How many people are doing thiswith you?
And he was like no, no, it'sjust me.
And again for me, having lookedfor paid prayer for like nine
months and not been able to findit anywhere, I was like no, no,
(04:24):
no, no, like people need this.
This is important and inretrospect I understand.
Like his thing as anintercessor is like I just want
to pray, like I don't want tohave to deal with billing, I
don't want to have to like allof the admin stuff, like please
know, that's not really my, Ijust don't want to.
But for me, I was like I reallylike business, like I am happy
(04:44):
to do that, and so that was howI started.
We spent the summer of 2020praying and then, by September,
we started to have our firstclients.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Okay, well, that's super exciting.
That is definitely like theLord laying it out, putting you
guys together, making thingshappen.
That's a very awesome story,all right.
So most of our audience,they're moms with young kids and
they're either just starting abusiness or they are, you know,
wanting to start a business.
Ok, and so prayer, and they'reJesus lovers, like that is the
(05:13):
point, we love the Lord.
And so, with that in mind, andwho you're talking to like, what
practical steps, like prayerfulsteps, should they be taking?
Where should they be spendingtheir time?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, so I love that.
So, as a mom with five sons, atthis point my oldest is in his
early 20s, so they're a littlebit older at this point, but I
worked through their wholechildhood and so I resonate with
that sense of like I'm actuallykeeping little people alive.
I do understand about that.
(05:47):
So really the beautiful thingabout prayer is that we get to
enter in wherever we are, and soone of the early questions that
I asked Bob, I was like on ascale of one to 10, like how
good are you at prayer?
Because one of the things thatI recognized was most of us, I
think, when we approach prayerwe're kind of like I'm really
not that good at it, like I'mnot even sure the Lord wants to
(06:09):
hear from me.
I kind of.
I know I went through a seasonwhen my oldest was born where I
maybe didn't even have a quiettime for seven months because it
was so all-consuming, like I'mjust keeping somebody alive.
And I remember asking a friendof mine like how, how does that
work?
Like I'm just sad about youknow, like is Jesus mad at me?
And she was like Amy, when youare ready to pray again, jesus
(06:32):
will be right there.
And so I was like, okay, well,that's encouraging to know that
he didn't actually leave justbecause I'm busy.
So, anyway, that was kind of myown internal issue.
So I asked Bob, like how goodare you?
Because again, I also would saylike I was maybe like at a one
on the scale of one to 10.
(06:52):
And most of the people aroundme I felt like maybe would be
like maybe I'm a fraction.
And even the woman at my churchwho I thought, like you are the
most prayerful person, like Ican ask you questions because
you will have the answers, Iwent to ask her a question about
prayer and she was like, well,I'm no expert.
And I was really like, ifyou're not an expert, what hope
is there for the rest of us?
And so I think what was reallyprecious?
(07:12):
When I asked Bob this question,he said, amy, because of my time
spent in prayer, the prayermeetings and the trainings and
the conferences, and like reallyjust being dedicated, I am a 10
in prayer.
But he said I actually believethat we're all 10s in prayer,
that the Father welcomes us tohimself because he's our Father,
because he loves to hear fromus, and so there's not a,
(07:34):
there's no, I guess breakdownbetween like, how much does he
want to hear from us?
And so for the startingentrepreneurs, for those who are
excited about Jesus, it's likejust be so excited to enter into
time with him.
Even if it's just a singlesentence prayer, quiet times,
almost like a nun or something,then probably I'm not actually
(07:55):
making it and instead to say, no, there's actually really
effective single sentenceprayers that you can pray, that
are powerful and beautiful.
And so I know for me, part ofwhat I would do when I was
(08:15):
getting ready to start workingor trying to just prepare for
things, would be to say Lord,just guide my work today, I want
you to be present here.
And it was so fun over time Icould track and see if I didn't
remember to pray, that likethings would not go as well.
And a couple hours in you'relike what is even going on?
(08:36):
And it's like, oh, oh, no, Ijust forgot to pray my prayer.
So then it's like Lord, justcome and be present.
Come and be present.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
That's fabulous.
Yeah, I love that and I likethat anecdotal about you
whenever you just had your firstson, which I have found is very
relatable.
It happened to me, it happenedto my best friend, it's happened
to people that I've met.
Like you know, you had thiswhole rhythm, like you had this
quiet time and now you'reresponsible for keeping someone
alive and you're like I don'tknow how to do this and it's so
(09:07):
great, like you're right, likeGod wants to hear from us, no
matter what it looks like.
And something that I had tolearn was very much like it
doesn't have to be, doesn't haveto look the way it used to look
.
It can look different.
And it took me longer than itshould have to realize that I
could do it at night before Iwent to bed and and you know
what.
That's how it worked for thatseason of my life and I felt
(09:28):
silly, honestly, that it took meso long, but I did it
eventually, okay.
So what sort of I guess we'retalking about mindset a little
bit what sort of mindset shiftsdo you think would have to
happen for someone who is justhad their first baby or a second
one?
You know, everyone causes alittle bit of chaos, I'm sure.
And so what?
How would you help her changefrom I'm not able to do this to
(09:54):
no, I have the king of theuniverse on my side, like I can
do this.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah.
So I guess, if I'm justthinking about prayer, for me
again, part of it was sayingprayer doesn't have to be 15
minutes, prayer can be threeseconds.
And so one of the reallyprecious tools that a friend
gave me was, she said, after anunwanted divorce I would be.
I would have days where I waslike I don't know what I can
make for dinner, I don't know,like I'm just so struggling, I
(10:22):
don't know if I can make my bed.
And so then she would be likeLord, can you help me make my
bed, and he could help her makeher bed.
Or like Lord, can you help mefigure out what to make for
dinner, and he could help herfigure out what to make for
dinner.
And so I love that idea of theconstant reliance on the Lord,
the constant desire to say whatis the like, can you help me
(10:42):
with the next step, whatever thenext little step could be?
And in some ways that's kind oflike training ground, because I
read a beautiful quote.
It was in Meditations forMortals by Oliver Berkman, and
he was quoting somebody else,and it was something like if
your car headlights oftentimesonly illuminate a little ways in
front of you, but that's enoughto get you all the way to where
(11:04):
you need to go.
So it's not like, oh, I don'thave the whole large perspective
, I only have this littleperspective.
That little perspectiveactually is enough.
And so I guess that would beprobably the biggest thing that
I would say is like actuallyjust say oh, rather than turn
immediately to my phone.
Is there like three seconds tojust say, lord, be present here
(11:26):
in my life, or Lord, what do youwant to speak to me in this
moment?
And so I think what does it sayin James that if we ask for
wisdom, he's always so generousto give it.
And so I think the gift ofalways being like I just need
more wisdom that was definitelyone of my big prayers when my
boys were little like, oh mygoodness, I need more wisdom.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
That's perfect, okay, so what are some practical ways
that we could incorporateprayer into our daily lives and
our daily operation?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, yeah.
So I think for me I guess thisis probably also a little bit in
terms of mindset, but to beable to say the Lord actually
does care about all of it.
And so I, at one point I hadwritten up a series of 21 short
emails, like emails about shortsentence prayers that you could
pray as you go about your day,and one of them was about
(12:14):
details and that the Lordactually we think about the Lord
as kind of like big.
You know, you read Psalm 8 andit's like the heavens declare
the glory of God and I mean it'sso majestic and enormous.
But then it's like, oh, but healso is the God of the subatomic
particle, like he actuallycares about the entire span.
And so I think the ability tobe able to say the Lord actually
(12:34):
does care about the littlestthings, and one of the things
I've noticed, even in terms of,I guess, making prayer requests,
is that it's almost like wehave this restricted range where
we think it's okay to ask.
You know, it's kind of likeit's big enough that it's not
really obvious, but it's not toobig that I don't seem proud and
so kind of an embarrassing,maybe.
(12:54):
Example from my own life.
There was a time where I had amanicure and it was kind of like
has it lasted long enough?
Like is it going to breakbefore I have this event coming?
And I truly had been kind ofruminating on this because it's
I live far from town.
It's not like an instant, youknow, I'll just go and take care
of it.
It would require kind ofschedule, arranging and such.
And yet I didn't want to askabout that.
(13:16):
You know, it was kind of likethat's so petty.
It's like I want to change theworld and tell people to pray,
but I don't actually want to askabout this thing.
That's kind of trivial and I'mmaybe even a little embarrassed
about it.
But then it's like no, I needto actually break through and
say I am actually invited by theGod of the universe to cast all
of my cares on him, even ifthey're outside of that little
(13:37):
range of like well, I'm prayingabout a new car.
You know, like kind of the newcar prayers seem like they're
acceptable, but the manicureprayers are a little too small.
On the other hand, you have likeI'm running a business and I
like can I, can I actuallydouble my business, you know?
So there's like that side whereyou're like, can I even voice
this request?
I had a client ask me that atone point and I'm like bring me
(13:57):
the big request.
Like we want to celebrate thebig request with you.
So part of it is even justsaying God cares about the
details in the entirety, likefrom the very little all the way
up to the very big, and itdoesn't have to be like a deep,
you know, drawn out, wailing orsomething to voice these
requests.
It really could be like Lord, Idon't know what to do about my
nails, like I need some helphere.
(14:18):
So that's one aspect.
I think the other part is toactually believe that God cares
even about business, and so Oneof the really startling for me
realizations probably back inmaybe 2019, 2020, was that it
wasn't just that God cares aboutbusiness because of how much
(14:38):
you can donate to your favoritelocal charity or charity in
general, that he's not actuallyonly interested in the
generosity after you make themoney side, but he's actually
interested in having businessesthat thrive.
He's interested in havingfamilies that thrive.
He's interested in havingfamilies that thrive, he's
interested in communities thatthrive and that, when you look
at the scripture, he actually isa creative God, so he likes it
(15:00):
when his children are alsocreative.
So that for me was also one ofthe, I guess, celebration like
oh, I can pray about business,because business actually
matters to God.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
That's beautiful.
I love that.
Yes, absolutely.
So how let's say like, okay,they've decided, all right, I'm
going to do this, and they startdoing it?
How can they confidently makebusiness decisions through
prayer?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yes.
So I will say in some ways,that is, I don't want to say
trial and error, but I would saysort of like, in any
relationship that you aredeveloping, it takes a little
bit to even know the person.
So there is, if I think about,like, when I first met my
husband, like I I, there weresome.
(15:45):
I mean, very first we had somecommunication issues, that kind
of it took a while to get thisresolved, but like I didn't know
who he was, I didn't know hischaracter, I didn't like I maybe
could recognize his voice, butdid I really know how his
thought processes worked andsuch that takes time.
And so, similarly, I think, ifyou're asking the Lord for
wisdom around a businessdecision or you're curious, like
(16:07):
, okay, can you help meunderstand this better, lord?
Or I just you know option A oroption B, what do you think?
I think what's precious is that, over time, as you ask those
questions and pause for a minute, it's like, okay, I have a
sense of which direction is theway of peace.
And if neither of them reallyfeel like the way of peace, it
could be that you just need toactually spend some time either
(16:29):
researching it more or thatthere's going to be something in
the next couple of days that isgoing to make it more clear.
I think oftentimes when thingsfeel kind of cloudy and murky,
it's just because it's not timefor the decision to actually be
made yet.
But a lot of that is so insteadof saying trial and error, I
guess I would say a lot of thatis just walking it out with the
Lord.
It's walking it out and saying,okay, I'm learning to hear
(16:52):
God's voice better, I'm learningto understand what he's saying
and how it feels.
So this, I guess for me, wasalso one of the really fun
things was being able torecognize that the Lord is
communicating in different ways,that he's speaking so maybe I
can hear him not necessarilyaudibly, but kind of get a sense
of what he's saying but that hemight be speaking through a
(17:14):
picture.
Like I'm not a visual artist.
My sister's really good.
She had a picture at one pointwhere she was like we were
praying about something andshe's like, oh, I'm a pink tree,
and that had a really specificmeaning for her.
She's like it's a very cutepink tree, and so that's not how
the Lord speaks to me normally.
He does occasionally send thoselittle visions.
A vision is also usually likeone to four seconds, it's just
(17:37):
like a little still image.
But it's like what does thatmean?
And then you figure it out withthe Lord.
So also a gut feeling like do Ifeel good about that or do I
feel kind of resistant, likethat's actually another form of
communication that the Lord canbe sending.
So there's additional.
But I feel like that startledme and surprised me how many
different ways the Lord wastrying to communicate and then
(17:59):
even that it was possible for meto get attuned to what he was
saying.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Okay, yeah, all right .
So if there was, if you had anyother pieces of advice or
encouragement for the myaudience, what would you tell
them if you had?
You know mom with young kidsstarting a business.
What do you say to her?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I probably would want to actually just give an
impartation on hearing God'svoice, so if that's okay.
So, um, I did not grow up in aculture of impartation at all.
When you look at the scripturesit talks about Paul mentions
this several times in Timothy,and then we also see this in the
book of Acts, where the elderswould come and lay hands on Paul
(18:40):
and whoever his travelingcompanion was before they would
send them out, and it was a wayof I guess you could say like
commissioning or blessing with agift.
So Rabbi Lappin talks aboutthis like if I have a guitar, I
could give you the guitar andthen I don't have the guitar
anymore.
But if I give you a tune, thenI have the tune and you have the
(19:00):
tune.
And so that's often how I thinkabout impartations is it's like
I have something and I canshare it because I've learned it
, I've taken the time and I'vehad the gift of being given that
, and so if this isn't somethingyou want to receive, it's
totally fine, but if you do wantto receive it, here is just my
prayer of impartation for you.
(19:21):
So, lord, I thank you for theways that you have taught me
over the years how to listen toyour voice and that it wasn't
instantaneous, but that itdidn't take forever either, like
in some ways, it was fasterthan I was expecting.
And so, lord, I ask that, forany who would like to hear your
voice better, that as they'respeaking their single sentences
(19:43):
to you, as they're runningaround and there's poopy diapers
and there's little vomits hereand there because people just
get sick and there is like, oh,my goodness, it's time for the
next meal that in the midst ofthat that there would be an
increased hunger to talk to youabout what's happening and that
there would be an increaseddesire to hear what you're
saying.
And so, lord, from that place,I ask that you would blow out
(20:06):
the channel between your voiceand their ears, that any cobwebs
or dust, that you would simplyblow that away, that it would
become a clear channel.
I pray, lord, for the opening ofthe ears.
I pray, lord, that if there's aspace, or that the eyes would
be able to see, that there wouldbe a release of visions.
Lord, I pray that if you'resending dreams in the night,
that they wouldn't be confusingor frustrating, but that instead
(20:28):
it would be like oh, I actuallyfeel like that was a hopeful
dream or that was encouraging.
I actually can understand whatthat means.
We thank you that dreams areone of the things that you use
in the scriptures to communicate.
Lord, I pray for any kind ofgut sensations or like a gut
feeling that there would be aclarity around what is the way
of peace.
So, generally speaking, lord, Ithank you for all of the ways
(20:50):
that you communicate, thatyou're playful, that you're a
joyful father who delights inyour children, and so I ask for
release of that in greatermeasure.
Thank you, lord.
We love you, Amen.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Amen, that was great.
Yes, thank you.
Okay.
So where can people find you,amy, if they want to know more
about you or get in touch withyou?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, thank you.
So our website,workplaceprayercom is wonderful.
I also have a podcast.
Every day I just talk aboutlike five or 10 minutes of
thought about prayer.
That's the Make PrayerBeautiful podcast, because I do
want prayer to be beautiful andnot something that's kind of
hard or unpleasant, and so yeah,those are two of the best ways.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Awesome, okay, well, I will have those linked in the
notes.
Absolutely Thank you so muchfor coming on with us.
Absolutely Thank you so much.
All right, thank you so much for being here.
Guys, welcome to the PeacefulMompreneur.
And today I have a guest, amyLykosh, and I'm very excited to
have her and for her to shareher story and what she's doing
these days.
So, Amy, why don't youintroduce yourself?
Tell us who you are, what youdo, who you serve, why you do it
.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Oh well, thank you, elise, it's lovely to be with
you today.
So I am the CEO of WorkplacePrayer, where we pray for
businesses, and we also have afew additional ancillary
projects that we work on inteaching others to pray
effectively, because basicallywe're just like all prayer all
the time.
But we recognize that in therealm of business there's sort
(00:41):
of like this complete blind spotwhere people maybe recognize
that prayer is important ingeneral and they maybe have
certain areas where they praygenerally speaking, but in terms
of business, most people havenever even thought of it.
So part of what we like to dois say, no, actually prayer is
important, even in the realm ofbusiness.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
That's wonderful.
So tell me, how did you getinto this?
I've never heard of someonespecifically pray.
I mean, like people in businesspraying for their business is
one thing, but people who prayfor other people's businesses
never heard of it.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah.
So my parents started abusiness in 1990, the homeschool
company Sunlight Curriculum andthey decided upfront they were,
like you know, my dad had beenon staff with a missions agency
and he was, like we alwaysprayed before we started our
work.
That was part of our morning.
I guess you could say todaymorning huddle, but staff
meeting and so when they startedtheir business they thought,
(01:35):
well, let's invite our staff topray as part of their morning,
like that's reasonable, as partof expressing our values.
So I grew up with the idea thatpaid prayer for business was
just kind of something thatpeople did if they liked prayer
and they liked Jesus.
So it didn't even cross my mindthat that would be kind of an
odd concept.
And so about 30 years in thiswould be 2020, there were
(01:56):
certain things where I thoughtthere are shifts that I want to
see in the business but I can'tbring them.
Like I don't feel like I haveenough firepower in terms of
prayer.
Like I feel a little bit likeI'm trying to water a football
field and I have a garden hose,so like maybe eventually I'll
get there, but really it wouldbe better if I had a fire hose
or a sprinkler system, or theLord just opened up the heavens
(02:18):
and rains down.
But in any case, like I justwanted more and so I went
looking to see can I findsomebody to tutor me, can I find
somebody to pray like outside,who actually is not just a
person who loves prayer andloves Jesus, but is, like I have
dedicated my life to learningabout prayer, and that was
shockingly difficult to find.
(02:38):
So, as I would ask peopleanyway, I had no idea it was
going to be as hard as it was.
So when I finally found theperson who is now my business
partner and who ended up beingthe person that we hired, when I
found him I was like, okay,first of all, you are incredibly
, you're like the unicorn.
I didn't know where to locateyou, but you do exist.
So that's encouraging.
(02:59):
But then what astonished me andagain, at this point we'd had
30 years of paid prayer behindus and we had seen many very
beautiful answers to prayer.
The Lord was always veryfaithful.
So obviously, absolutely, I'm ahuge proponent of people
praying for their own businesses.
But what astonished me with thatbackground was that the third
(03:19):
day after we had hired him, Isent him a text at 11 pm and I
said, bob, we've had 10 answeredprayers today, and I didn't
even know this was possible,like this blew my mind.
And he texted back let's go fora dozen.
And to me that, like I justremember, like almost standing
still staring at my phone, likeI don't even understand how this
is possible, like here he isnot content with 10, but like
(03:43):
let's go for a dozen.
So now I know he's verycompetitive, but also that just
showed me how much I guess, howmuch faith he had, how much
expectation he had.
And then so we did end upgetting to a dozen that day.
And then that was June 3rd.
For the rest of the month wenever saw less than a dozen.
There were days we had twodozen.
I kind of felt like my like mostof my month was spent just
(04:04):
recording the answers to prayer,because it was such a dramatic,
like it was just dramatic.
So by mid-month I was like, ohmy word, like can I join your
team?
How many people are doing thiswith you?
And he was like no, no, it'sjust me.
And again for me, having lookedfor paid prayer for like nine
months and not been able to findit anywhere, I was like no, no,
(04:24):
no, no, like people need this.
This is important and inretrospect I understand.
Like his thing as anintercessor is like I just want
to pray, like I don't want tohave to deal with billing, I
don't want to have to like allof the admin stuff, like please
know, that's not really my, Ijust don't want to.
But for me, I was like I reallylike business, like I am happy
(04:44):
to do that, and so that was howI started.
We spent the summer of 2020praying and then, by September,
we started to have our firstclients.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Okay, well, that's super exciting.
That is definitely like theLord laying it out, putting you
guys together, making thingshappen.
That's a very awesome story,all right.
So most of our audience,they're moms with young kids and
they're either just starting abusiness or they are, you know,
wanting to start a business.
Ok, and so prayer, and they'reJesus lovers, like that is the
(05:13):
point, we love the Lord.
And so, with that in mind, andwho you're talking to like, what
practical steps, like prayerfulsteps, should they be taking?
Where should they be spendingtheir time?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, so I love that.
So, as a mom with five sons, atthis point my oldest is in his
early 20s, so they're a littlebit older at this point, but I
worked through their wholechildhood and so I resonate with
that sense of like I'm actuallykeeping little people alive.
I do understand about that.
(05:47):
So really the beautiful thingabout prayer is that we get to
enter in wherever we are, and soone of the early questions that
I asked Bob, I was like on ascale of one to 10, like how
good are you at prayer?
Because one of the things thatI recognized was most of us, I
think, when we approach prayerwe're kind of like I'm really
not that good at it, like I'mnot even sure the Lord wants to
(06:09):
hear from me.
I kind of.
I know I went through a seasonwhen my oldest was born where I
maybe didn't even have a quiettime for seven months because it
was so all-consuming, like I'mjust keeping somebody alive.
And I remember asking a friendof mine like how, how does that
work?
Like I'm just sad about youknow, like is Jesus mad at me?
And she was like Amy, when youare ready to pray again, jesus
(06:32):
will be right there.
And so I was like, okay, well,that's encouraging to know that
he didn't actually leave justbecause I'm busy.
So, anyway, that was kind of myown internal issue.
So I asked Bob, like how goodare you?
Because again, I also would saylike I was maybe like at a one
on the scale of one to 10.
(06:52):
And most of the people aroundme I felt like maybe would be
like maybe I'm a fraction.
And even the woman at my churchwho I thought, like you are the
most prayerful person, like Ican ask you questions because
you will have the answers, Iwent to ask her a question about
prayer and she was like, well,I'm no expert.
And I was really like, ifyou're not an expert, what hope
is there for the rest of us?
And so I think what was reallyprecious?
(07:12):
When I asked Bob this question,he said, amy, because of my time
spent in prayer, the prayermeetings and the trainings and
the conferences, and like reallyjust being dedicated, I am a 10
in prayer.
But he said I actually believethat we're all 10s in prayer,
that the Father welcomes us tohimself because he's our Father,
because he loves to hear fromus, and so there's not a,
(07:34):
there's no, I guess breakdownbetween like, how much does he
want to hear from us?
And so for the startingentrepreneurs, for those who are
excited about Jesus, it's likejust be so excited to enter into
time with him.
Even if it's just a singlesentence prayer, quiet times,
almost like a nun or something,then probably I'm not actually
(07:55):
making it and instead to say, no, there's actually really
effective single sentenceprayers that you can pray, that
are powerful and beautiful.
And so I know for me, part ofwhat I would do when I was
(08:15):
getting ready to start workingor trying to just prepare for
things, would be to say Lord,just guide my work today, I want
you to be present here.
And it was so fun over time Icould track and see if I didn't
remember to pray, that likethings would not go as well.
And a couple hours in you'relike what is even going on?
(08:36):
And it's like, oh, oh, no, Ijust forgot to pray my prayer.
So then it's like Lord, justcome and be present.
Come and be present.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
That's fabulous.
Yeah, I love that and I likethat anecdotal about you
whenever you just had your firstson, which I have found is very
relatable.
It happened to me, it happenedto my best friend, it's happened
to people that I've met.
Like you know, you had thiswhole rhythm, like you had this
quiet time and now you'reresponsible for keeping someone
alive and you're like I don'tknow how to do this and it's so
(09:07):
great, like you're right, likeGod wants to hear from us, no
matter what it looks like.
And something that I had tolearn was very much like it
doesn't have to be, doesn't haveto look the way it used to look
.
It can look different.
And it took me longer than itshould have to realize that I
could do it at night before Iwent to bed and and you know
what.
That's how it worked for thatseason of my life and I felt
(09:28):
silly, honestly, that it took meso long, but I did it
eventually, okay.
So what sort of I guess we'retalking about mindset a little
bit what sort of mindset shiftsdo you think would have to
happen for someone who is justhad their first baby or a second
one?
You know, everyone causes alittle bit of chaos, I'm sure.
And so what?
How would you help her changefrom I'm not able to do this to
(09:54):
no, I have the king of theuniverse on my side, like I can
do this.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah.
So I guess, if I'm justthinking about prayer, for me
again, part of it was sayingprayer doesn't have to be 15
minutes, prayer can be threeseconds.
And so one of the reallyprecious tools that a friend
gave me was, she said, after anunwanted divorce I would be.
I would have days where I waslike I don't know what I can
make for dinner, I don't know,like I'm just so struggling, I
(10:22):
don't know if I can make my bed.
And so then she would be likeLord, can you help me make my
bed, and he could help her makeher bed.
Or like Lord, can you help mefigure out what to make for
dinner, and he could help herfigure out what to make for
dinner.
And so I love that idea of theconstant reliance on the Lord,
the constant desire to say whatis the like, can you help me
(10:42):
with the next step, whatever thenext little step could be?
And in some ways that's kind oflike training ground, because I
read a beautiful quote.
It was in Meditations forMortals by Oliver Berkman, and
he was quoting somebody else,and it was something like if
your car headlights oftentimesonly illuminate a little ways in
front of you, but that's enoughto get you all the way to where
(11:04):
you need to go.
So it's not like, oh, I don'thave the whole large perspective
, I only have this littleperspective.
That little perspectiveactually is enough.
And so I guess that would beprobably the biggest thing that
I would say is like actuallyjust say oh, rather than turn
immediately to my phone.
Is there like three seconds tojust say, lord, be present here
(11:26):
in my life, or Lord, what do youwant to speak to me in this
moment?
And so I think what does it sayin James that if we ask for
wisdom, he's always so generousto give it.
And so I think the gift ofalways being like I just need
more wisdom that was definitelyone of my big prayers when my
boys were little like, oh mygoodness, I need more wisdom.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
That's perfect, okay, so what are some practical ways
that we could incorporateprayer into our daily lives and
our daily operation?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, yeah.
So I think for me I guess thisis probably also a little bit in
terms of mindset, but to beable to say the Lord actually
does care about all of it.
And so I, at one point I hadwritten up a series of 21 short
emails, like emails about shortsentence prayers that you could
pray as you go about your day,and one of them was about
(12:14):
details and that the Lordactually we think about the Lord
as kind of like big.
You know, you read Psalm 8 andit's like the heavens declare
the glory of God and I mean it'sso majestic and enormous.
But then it's like, oh, but healso is the God of the subatomic
particle, like he actuallycares about the entire span.
And so I think the ability tobe able to say the Lord actually
(12:34):
does care about the littlestthings, and one of the things
I've noticed, even in terms of,I guess, making prayer requests,
is that it's almost like wehave this restricted range where
we think it's okay to ask.
You know, it's kind of likeit's big enough that it's not
really obvious, but it's not toobig that I don't seem proud and
so kind of an embarrassing,maybe.
(12:54):
Example from my own life.
There was a time where I had amanicure and it was kind of like
has it lasted long enough?
Like is it going to breakbefore I have this event coming?
And I truly had been kind ofruminating on this because it's
I live far from town.
It's not like an instant, youknow, I'll just go and take care
of it.
It would require kind ofschedule, arranging and such.
And yet I didn't want to askabout that.
(13:16):
You know, it was kind of likethat's so petty.
It's like I want to change theworld and tell people to pray,
but I don't actually want to askabout this thing.
That's kind of trivial and I'mmaybe even a little embarrassed
about it.
But then it's like no, I needto actually break through and
say I am actually invited by theGod of the universe to cast all
of my cares on him, even ifthey're outside of that little
(13:37):
range of like well, I'm prayingabout a new car.
You know, like kind of the newcar prayers seem like they're
acceptable, but the manicureprayers are a little too small.
On the other hand, you have likeI'm running a business and I
like can I, can I actuallydouble my business, you know?
So there's like that side whereyou're like, can I even voice
this request?
I had a client ask me that atone point and I'm like bring me
(13:57):
the big request.
Like we want to celebrate thebig request with you.
So part of it is even justsaying God cares about the
details in the entirety, likefrom the very little all the way
up to the very big, and itdoesn't have to be like a deep,
you know, drawn out, wailing orsomething to voice these
requests.
It really could be like Lord, Idon't know what to do about my
nails, like I need some helphere.
(14:18):
So that's one aspect.
I think the other part is toactually believe that God cares
even about business, and so Oneof the really startling for me
realizations probably back inmaybe 2019, 2020, was that it
wasn't just that God cares aboutbusiness because of how much
(14:38):
you can donate to your favoritelocal charity or charity in
general, that he's not actuallyonly interested in the
generosity after you make themoney side, but he's actually
interested in having businessesthat thrive.
He's interested in havingfamilies that thrive.
He's interested in havingfamilies that thrive, he's
interested in communities thatthrive and that, when you look
at the scripture, he actually isa creative God, so he likes it
(15:00):
when his children are alsocreative.
So that for me was also one ofthe, I guess, celebration like
oh, I can pray about business,because business actually
matters to God.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
That's beautiful.
I love that.
Yes, absolutely.
So how let's say like, okay,they've decided, all right, I'm
going to do this, and they startdoing it?
How can they confidently makebusiness decisions through
prayer?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yes.
So I will say in some ways,that is, I don't want to say
trial and error, but I would saysort of like, in any
relationship that you aredeveloping, it takes a little
bit to even know the person.
So there is, if I think about,like, when I first met my
husband, like I I, there weresome.
(15:45):
I mean, very first we had somecommunication issues, that kind
of it took a while to get thisresolved, but like I didn't know
who he was, I didn't know hischaracter, I didn't like I maybe
could recognize his voice, butdid I really know how his
thought processes worked andsuch that takes time.
And so, similarly, I think, ifyou're asking the Lord for
wisdom around a businessdecision or you're curious, like
(16:07):
, okay, can you help meunderstand this better, lord?
Or I just you know option A oroption B, what do you think?
I think what's precious is that, over time, as you ask those
questions and pause for a minute, it's like, okay, I have a
sense of which direction is theway of peace.
And if neither of them reallyfeel like the way of peace, it
could be that you just need toactually spend some time either
(16:29):
researching it more or thatthere's going to be something in
the next couple of days that isgoing to make it more clear.
I think oftentimes when thingsfeel kind of cloudy and murky,
it's just because it's not timefor the decision to actually be
made yet.
But a lot of that is so insteadof saying trial and error, I
guess I would say a lot of thatis just walking it out with the
Lord.
It's walking it out and saying,okay, I'm learning to hear
(16:52):
God's voice better, I'm learningto understand what he's saying
and how it feels.
So this, I guess for me, wasalso one of the really fun
things was being able torecognize that the Lord is
communicating in different ways,that he's speaking so maybe I
can hear him not necessarilyaudibly, but kind of get a sense
of what he's saying but that hemight be speaking through a
(17:14):
picture.
Like I'm not a visual artist.
My sister's really good.
She had a picture at one pointwhere she was like we were
praying about something andshe's like, oh, I'm a pink tree,
and that had a really specificmeaning for her.
She's like it's a very cutepink tree, and so that's not how
the Lord speaks to me normally.
He does occasionally send thoselittle visions.
A vision is also usually likeone to four seconds, it's just
(17:37):
like a little still image.
But it's like what does thatmean?
And then you figure it out withthe Lord.
So also a gut feeling like do Ifeel good about that or do I
feel kind of resistant, likethat's actually another form of
communication that the Lord canbe sending.
So there's additional.
But I feel like that startledme and surprised me how many
different ways the Lord wastrying to communicate and then
(17:59):
even that it was possible for meto get attuned to what he was
saying.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Okay, yeah, all right .
So if there was, if you had anyother pieces of advice or
encouragement for the myaudience, what would you tell
them if you had?
You know mom with young kidsstarting a business.
What do you say to her?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I probably would want to actually just give an
impartation on hearing God'svoice, so if that's okay.
So, um, I did not grow up in aculture of impartation at all.
When you look at the scripturesit talks about Paul mentions
this several times in Timothy,and then we also see this in the
book of Acts, where the elderswould come and lay hands on Paul
(18:40):
and whoever his travelingcompanion was before they would
send them out, and it was a wayof I guess you could say like
commissioning or blessing with agift.
So Rabbi Lappin talks aboutthis like if I have a guitar, I
could give you the guitar andthen I don't have the guitar
anymore.
But if I give you a tune, thenI have the tune and you have the
(19:00):
tune.
And so that's often how I thinkabout impartations is it's like
I have something and I canshare it because I've learned it
, I've taken the time and I'vehad the gift of being given that
, and so if this isn't somethingyou want to receive, it's
totally fine, but if you do wantto receive it, here is just my
prayer of impartation for you.
(19:21):
So, lord, I thank you for theways that you have taught me
over the years how to listen toyour voice and that it wasn't
instantaneous, but that itdidn't take forever either, like
in some ways, it was fasterthan I was expecting.
And so, lord, I ask that, forany who would like to hear your
voice better, that as they'respeaking their single sentences
(19:43):
to you, as they're runningaround and there's poopy diapers
and there's little vomits hereand there because people just
get sick and there is like, oh,my goodness, it's time for the
next meal that in the midst ofthat that there would be an
increased hunger to talk to youabout what's happening and that
there would be an increaseddesire to hear what you're
saying.
And so, lord, from that place,I ask that you would blow out
(20:06):
the channel between your voiceand their ears, that any cobwebs
or dust, that you would simplyblow that away, that it would
become a clear channel.
I pray, lord, for the opening ofthe ears.
I pray, lord, that if there's aspace, or that the eyes would
be able to see, that there wouldbe a release of visions.
Lord, I pray that if you'resending dreams in the night,
that they wouldn't be confusingor frustrating, but that instead
(20:28):
it would be like oh, I actuallyfeel like that was a hopeful
dream or that was encouraging.
I actually can understand whatthat means.
We thank you that dreams areone of the things that you use
in the scriptures to communicate.
Lord, I pray for any kind ofgut sensations or like a gut
feeling that there would be aclarity around what is the way
of peace.
So, generally speaking, lord, Ithank you for all of the ways
(20:50):
that you communicate, thatyou're playful, that you're a
joyful father who delights inyour children, and so I ask for
release of that in greatermeasure.
Thank you, lord.
We love you, Amen.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Amen, that was great.
Yes, thank you.
Okay.
So where can people find you,amy, if they want to know more
about you or get in touch withyou?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, thank you.
So our website,workplaceprayercom is wonderful.
I also have a podcast.
Every day I just talk aboutlike five or 10 minutes of
thought about prayer.
That's the Make PrayerBeautiful podcast, because I do
want prayer to be beautiful andnot something that's kind of
hard or unpleasant, and so yeah,those are two of the best ways.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Awesome, okay, well, I will have those linked in the
notes.
Absolutely Thank you so muchfor coming on with us.
Absolutely Thank you so much.
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