April 2, 2025 • 38 mins
Prayer has the potential to transform our lives in unexpected ways. Join me and my guest, Amy Lykosh, as we uncover how intercessory prayer can bring tangible results and personal growth, especially when practiced with expectation.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey friends, welcome to Honest Christian
Conversations.
I'm your host, anna Murby, andthis is season five.
I cannot believe I am at seasonfive already.
Thank you so much to everybodywho has been listening since the
very beginning, when my podcasthad a different name, I wasn't
(00:20):
consistent with it and I didn'teven know what I was doing.
Thank you so much for stickingwith it, and if you really are
curious to know what that othername was, feel free to go and
listen to season one and you'llfigure it out.
Thank you to those who listen,just to listen every once in a
while.
Maybe you're not consistent,maybe you don't follow the show
(00:40):
or subscribe.
That's totally fine.
I'm still thankful that you arelistening to this episode and
for all the episodes you havelistened to.
God is working through that,because I'm always praying for
everyone who's listening.
So you're getting something outof it and I'm thankful that you
tuned in.
I'm also thankful for all thosewho are now going to be
(01:02):
subscribed on YouTube.
You get to see and hear me andmy guests on these podcasts.
I'm thankful for you tuning inas well.
I was nervous to start seasonswith video, but I'm also really
excited for it.
I think it'll be great for youto be able to see my guests
(01:23):
rather than just hear theiramazing stories.
Yeah, if you don't know aboutany of my amazing guests that I
have had on, you need to go backand listen to season three and
four, because those guests aresuper amazing, their stories are
awesome and very encouragingand you are going to be blessed
(01:45):
by every episode that you listento.
Before I get started withtoday's episode, I want to say
also a special thank you to Alexand Alicia Sanfilippo from
Podmatch.
If it wasn't for Alex coming tome and emailing me in June of
2024, I don't know if I wouldstill be here podcasting because
(02:09):
I was about to pod fade and forthose who don't know what that
is, that just basically means Iwas about to fizzle out and stop
podcasting.
I owe a lot of my podcastingsuccess to their help through
Podmatch, through the tests thatI've taken to figure out what
(02:29):
kind of podcaster I was.
That actually helped me grow asa spiritual person as well and
has helped me in my Christianwalk too.
So I definitely owe a lot of mypodcasting success to them and
their help, their heart forserving indie podcasters like
(02:49):
myself.
So with that out of the way,all the awesome praise and thank
you to all my fans, myfollowers, my listeners and to
Podmatch.
I would like to introducetoday's guest.
Her name is Amy Lyka.
She is a wonderful woman.
I am so blessed that I got totalk to her.
(03:10):
She has a very unique ministryand it's full of the idea of
prayer.
She is very full of a love forprayer and you are going to find
her love for prayer contagious,as I have.
She's got such a bubblypersonality.
I really can't wait for you tohear this episode because she is
(03:33):
on fire for prayer and I'mhoping at the end of this so
will you also be.
And yes, I am very aware thatthat sounded weird the way I
said it.
You're going to get used to it.
If this is your first timelistening, I do say weird things
.
Go back and listen to myChristmas episode I did with
(03:56):
Laura Buckley.
I made a very funny faux pas inthat that had us rolling with
laughter.
That was a very fun Christmasepisode and I hope it gave you
Christmas cheer if you didlisten to that.
So that was aired on actuallyChristmas Day 2024.
(04:17):
So go back and find thatepisode.
You are going to be blessed bymy faux pas.
With that, we are going to getin today's episode.
Before the episode starts.
(04:48):
Make sure you follow the showso you never miss another
episode.
Amy, thank you so much forcoming on the show today.
I'm very excited to talk to youabout intercessory prayer.
This is a subject that, I'll behonest, I don't really know a
lot about.
I have experienced it in mylife at certain points, but I've
(05:09):
never thought deeply about howpowerful it can be, nor have I
actually partook of it withoutwanting something back for my
own self.
I haven't actually participatedin it without expecting God to
do something for me.
I don't know if I'm the onlyone who's ever been there done
(05:29):
that, but I loved all theepisodes I heard you talking
about this on, and it's such anamazing gift to businesses to do
something like that.
Maybe they never thought aboutdoing that, maybe they want to,
but they didn't know how.
So for you to come in and dothat, I think that's awesome.
(05:50):
But before we get into that,why don't you share with my
audience why you have such aheart for intercessory prayer,
why you have such a heart forothers?
Because I can see that in yourupbringing and everything, I can
see why you are doing what youare doing today, so go ahead and
share that with our audience.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Thank you, ana.
Yeah, I love what you saidabout just always wanting to
come to intercessory prayer butexpecting something.
And it kind of blew my mindwhen my business partner, when I
first met him, and he said whywould we pray if we didn't
expect God to do something?
Why would we pray and notexpect a result?
And so, instead of prayer beingsomething that was kind of the
(06:31):
good Christian thing to do, likecheck it off your list, it
moved it more into a place of no, you do this because you
actually do expect a result.
So I think it's wonderfulactually that you would pray and
expect a result.
That's exactly what you shouldbe after.
High five, high five to you.
So good.
But my background, my parents,my dad was on a missions agency.
(06:55):
He worked for a missions agencyand they always had morning
prayer as part of their staffmeeting.
And then, when my parentsstarted a business, they thought
that was really a good thing,that's just part of what we want
for our own lives, a way ofexpressing our own values.
And so they opted then to paytheir staff to pray every
(07:16):
morning during morning meetingif they chose to, so we don't
have only Christians on staff,but those who would like to be
paid for prayer, they can comeand do that.
So for 30 years, that was justmy norm.
I thought that was a prettybasic thing for business.
I didn't realize how unusualthat was, and so then, about 30
years in though, I thought Ifeel like there are things in
(07:37):
the business.
We've seen really beautifulprotection, we've seen beautiful
covering, but it feels likethere are certain things that
are not shifting, and I don'tknow how to make them shift
other than through more prayer.
I felt a little bit like I hada football field that I was
trying to water with a gardenhose, and I knew that I needed
either something more, like afire hose or a sprinkler system
or rain, but I needed somethingthat was bigger, and so I went
(08:00):
looking for somebody who knewmore about how to pray
effectively, and so that waswhen I found my who's, now my
business partner, and I was soinspired by the changes that I
saw that I, within a couple ofweeks, I was like are there
other people on your team?
Can I join your team?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I'm super excited about this.
That's awesome, yeah, and Imean it's such an amazing and,
like I said, it's an unexpectedministry tool that I didn't even
know existed and I'm prettysure no one else really did.
But now that they do, I hope alot of businesses are going to
(08:39):
come to you and want that.
Do you work with all kinds ofbusinesses, like whether they're
people of faith or not, or doyou just have a certain type
that you work with?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
That's a beautiful question.
So basically we don't restrict.
So if people want prayer, weare happy to pray for them.
So I have a few fun stories.
One of our clients said I lovethis so much, I would love to
sponsor my children's Taekwondostudio because I just treasure
the perspective that this man,mr Strong, who owns it.
I treasure him and what he'sdoing, and so I thought, well, I
(09:13):
don't think he's a believer,but I do want what he's doing to
thrive.
And so we prayed for hisbusiness for a while and it was
just, it was beautiful to seehow the Lord answered prayers,
even though he wasn'tspecifically asking for anything
and wasn't even a believer.
But most of our clients arebelievers, but they're not all
business owners.
(09:33):
We have people from a widerange of different occupations
and then some of them areemployees.
We also have people in ministryand we have a few that are just
families that feel like in ourfamily we would like to have a
little bit more prayer.
So we have such a range.
It's really a great privilege.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, and I think it's a great opportunity to
share the love of Jesus If youdo it for someone who's either
they're asking on behalf ofsomeone else like with the
studio, he wasn't specificallyasking but if he can see the
fruit of what people are prayingfor on his behalf, he's going
to see Jesus through that, andwho knows where that'll take him
.
So I think that's great thatyou guys don't discriminate or
(10:13):
anything like that on oh, I'msorry, you're not of faith, so
no, you know, it's like everyonecould use prayer from the right
God.
So it's good that you do that,and I think that's an even more
phenomenal idea than what italready was to begin with.
So that's great.
(10:34):
Have you had to work for anybusinesses that were awkward for
you?
I'm trying to think of you know, like maybe it's something that
doesn't align with your valuesor something like that.
Have you had them come to youand ask for prayer?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So that's a that's an interesting way of putting it.
I I don't know that I would saythere were any businesses that
I would not have already wantedto pray for.
But I can also recognize oneexample.
We know that we have some ofour clients who were very
excited about the COVID vaccineclients that would be, if not
(11:23):
opposed to it, at least morequestioning or kind of let's
take this without enthusiasm butjust kind of sober-mindedly
investigate.
So we had, I guess you couldsay, a range, and that is.
It's an interesting thing,because that was a very divisive
issue, to be able to say let'sbe open-handed about this and be
(11:43):
at peace.
We don't need to sidenecessarily one way or the other
, but we can say Lord, be atwork in the lives of all of our
people.
So I guess, even with that, oneof the really beautiful things
is.
Taking another really divisiveissue of politics, one of the
things that my business partnersaid was that years ago one of
(12:05):
his friends, he was praying, Ithink, for President Bush, and
at one point President Bush wastalking to somebody and he said
thank you for your prayers.
This job is far harder than Iwould have ever expected.
And then some years later,people would pray for President
Obama, and at one pointPresident Obama also said to I
forget if it was Franklin Grahamor somebody, a well-known
(12:26):
Christian leader.
He said thank you for praying.
This job is far harder than Iwould have expected, and so at
that point I felt like itshifted something in Bob's heart
.
The scripture tells us to prayfor those who are in authority,
whether they are, it kind of.
It says that about a Romanemperor who was very, very
ungodly.
And so if you're praying, for areally ungodly Roman emperor.
You really actually have noexcuse not to pray, and so I
(12:50):
have appreciated that really forBob.
He's like we just pray forthose who are in authority and
we pray for the Lord to bespeaking to them, for there to
be honor paid to the role, evenif you don't necessarily like
all of the policies, and so Ifelt like that was so precious,
so honoring to be able to say itdoesn't matter on which side
you fall, and really in any ofthese discussions we want to be
(13:16):
asking that the Holy Spiritwould be at work in the lives of
the people.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, I love that answer, Definitely.
Prayer does not have, I guess,boundaries.
Everyone can receive it,Everyone needs it and, like you
said, it doesn't matter whatside you fall on politically,
medically, all these differentthings you can pray for someone
(13:39):
who disagrees with you, and theBible tells us to pray for your
enemies, pray for those whopersecute you.
If he didn't want us to do that, he wouldn't have told us to do
that.
So clearly we're not meant tosegregate and stay in the
comfortable, which is what I've.
I'll be honest and say that thathas been my thing, because I
grew up in the church.
(14:00):
I rarely had friends whoweren't Christians and it's hard
for me to step out of myChristian bubble if you will and
be out there with people whodisagree with me on religions or
whatever, and I'm trying towork on that, but it's hard.
It's not something I'm used to,but it is something I'd be open
(14:23):
to.
So there it is.
Everyone who's listening.
If you want to come at me withsomething different from what
I'm used to, I'm game to talk,so share with us one very
special moment.
What opportunity you've had topray for somebody that it
changed their life significantlyand it changed your life
(14:46):
significantly.
Oh, wow so.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Lord.
What would be a good option forthat?
One of the things we we bothwant to pray for businesses, but
we also want to train people inhow to pray effectively,
because in order to have a largeenough team to be able to pray
effectively for businesses, weneed to have trained
intercessors.
So we also run prayer mentoringat different times throughout
(15:11):
the course of the year, and soat one point, the first round of
prayer mentoring, we hadsomebody announce to the group I
just found out that my husbandis having an affair, and so she
was, and I was like that'spretty gutsy, like I don't know
if I would ask for prayer if Ifound out my husband was having
an affair.
You know, you kind of want tokeep that to yourself.
There's a level of shame withthat and and yet people prayed
(15:32):
for her and I asked her about itlater and she said I was in
such pain, I just it was like Ihad to have additional prayer
coverage and so over the courseof it did not.
It was not a swift process.
It took probably 18 monthsbefore she was even able to wear
her wedding ring again.
But over time there has beenthis really beautiful
reconciliation and re-knittingtogether of their hearts and I
(15:57):
had the privilege of sittingwith them earlier this year and
they said without your prayercoverage I'm not sure that we
would have made it, and it'sbeautiful.
In one of our books we publishedher poems, her collection of
poems.
It's called Molten Lover.
I didn't say that very well,molten Lover, and in many ways
(16:18):
it's like in the scriptures,when you look at God, the way
that he describes the childrenof Israel, especially in the Old
Testament, it's like you areadulterers, you're, you're awful
, go away.
But then, on the other hand,it's like but I miss you so much
and I love you, come back.
It's kind of like this whiplasheffect of just that.
It's such a place of pain, andso what I loved about her
(16:40):
collection of poems is that it'sdemonstrating all of that, but
that's also how the Lord thinksabout us.
He loves us so much but there'salso so much pain in that, and
so I guess I'm not sure if Iwould say that completely
changed my life, but it was abeautiful reminder for me of
seeing afresh and anew how muchthe Lord loves us in the midst
(17:03):
of our own issues that we'rewalking through.
I know my friend.
One of the things that she saidas she was trying to figure out
like legally, scripturally, Icould leave my husband, I don't
have to stay in thisrelationship.
But she said in the end I justfelt like no, I am his fan, I
want good things for him, so I'mwilling to stay in it because
(17:24):
I'm a fan of who he is.
So I thought, oh, that's inmany ways how the Lord is
towards us, right, that he'sjust for us.
So thank you for that question.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, that's a bold woman.
Like you said, no one reallycomes out with their big baggage
and wanting to talk about it,because there's a level of shame
with that, with addiction,there's always shame with that,
and that's how Satan tries tokeep us trapped, because if we
don't ask for prayer, we can'theal.
(17:55):
So I'm proud of her for takingthat step to come out and share
that and look at what God didwith that.
That's amazing.
Prayer changes things, and inone of your episodes that you
were featured on, you mentionedsomething about how we need to,
(18:17):
like you said, pray expecting toget something out of it.
Why are you going to pray, notto expect anything?
And you were mentioning theconference you went to with I'm
forgetting her name McNutt,that's how I remember.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Good job, and she was talking about healing and how,
when you're praying for healing,you should be praying to expect
something.
I think some people take it toofar and they're expecting that
they're going to get whatthey're praying for specifically
, rather than maybe God's got adifferent plan for you and it's
not that.
So how do you deal withsituations where you're praying
(18:54):
for something specifically thatsomeone wants you to pray for
but it doesn't come to pass thatway?
How do you help them throughthat to see that God still works
miracles, he still does what hesays he's going to do, he's
still faithful and you can stilltrust and pray to him?
How do you help them when theyhave that moment of maybe doubt
(19:14):
or maybe just depression becauseit didn't go the way they were
expecting?
Hey friends, have you joinedthe Honest Christian
Conversations online group yet?
If you haven't, you're missingout on a perfect opportunity to
(19:35):
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This is a community for thosewho want to go deeper in their
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You can do Bible studiestogether, ask the questions you
have biblically and get theanswers that you might need or
maybe you're somebody who hasanswers to somebody else's
questions.
You can leave your prayerrequests.
(19:56):
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This is a community.
This is what church is supposedto be.
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finally took that step to makethis group so that people's
lives can flourish in Jesus name.
Also, if you haven't signed upfor the mailing list, you're
missing out on an opportunitythere as well.
(20:17):
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(20:39):
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notes.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah, that is a really powerful question because
there isn't an easy answer,right?
So I think we've allexperienced things where you
pray I prayed for my friend andshe died of cancer and that's
just a reality that that doeshappen.
And so I loved what JudithMcNutt said, which is, when we
pray, something always happens,and so that's really the
(21:11):
perspective that I come toprayer is that I don't know what
it is specifically that'shappening, but I know that
something is happening and so Iguess in certain places, like in
a really significant loss, Ijust actually have to walk
through the grief of that, andso there's that's not a wrong
(21:33):
response, that's an unnaturaland a right response because of
the love that I had for her.
And so I would say, like forsome of our clients, when they
come to us, their businesses arestruggling and then, as there
are clients, their businesseseither continue to struggle or
they might even have to closedown.
I don't know if that'sspecifically happened, but it
could, and that's, I would say,the normal thing with that is
(21:54):
that then you grieve thatbecause that is actually a loss.
So any loss that we deal with,I think what the scripture says
is that blessed are those whomourn, for they will be
comforted.
So the beautiful thing is thatwe're not mourning in order to
get more mourning, that we mournbecause then we get comforted,
but you do actually have to walkthrough the process of grief.
(22:14):
So I think a lot of as I teachon prayer, as I think about
prayer, as I pray myself, a lotof it is actually just saying
Lord, I'm telling you what Iwould prefer, I'm telling you
what I'm hoping for, what Iwould like to expect, but I also
am not the God of the universeand I don't have infinite
knowledge or understanding orpower.
So I'm, in many ways, much ofwhat I pray is like this is what
(22:40):
I would like, but I'm alsoleaving the results to you, lord
, and you work it out as youwill, and that I wish in many
ways that I could just pray andthere would be a guarantee.
But I think that would be kindof disturbing in its own way.
But I think that would be kindof disturbing in its own way.
So I would say part of evenwhat we are seeking as we teach
is to say God is actually good,and so let's work from the
perspective that God is good,that he's not there to smite us,
(23:03):
that he's there to bless us,but that if sometimes the
blessing that he sends isn'tanything like what we expected,
it would be to say, lord, thenlet us walk through that grief
and then show us how to hope andhave faith for the future.
So one of my friends will talkabout how, uh, what it says in
first Corinthians 13 about faith, hope and love remain, or faith
, hope and love abide, that thatis not something that is just
(23:26):
in this life, that it's almostlike we are building up our
faith, hope and love muscles onthis earth because we're going
to be stretching those intoeternity, because there's always
going to be more Of theincrease of his government.
There will be no end.
So it's like, even into theeternity there still is increase
, that we're still going to beliving from a place of faith and
hope.
It's a great question.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yes, and that was a great answer.
Well, thank you answer.
It's easier to handle the griefof things not going your way
when you have people in yourcorner helping you through.
If you're doing it alone, I cansee why you would fall into
despair and thinking God doesn'tcare or anything.
(24:06):
But if you have someone who'sbeen there, done that, they can
help you through it and say youknow, I've gone through that
season of God not answering aprayer the way I was expecting.
Let me help you pick up fromwhere you are and we can move
forward together.
I mean, it talks about iron,sharpening iron in the Bible
(24:28):
cord of three strands.
Obviously, we need each other.
So prayer is a very powerfulthing and when you can get more
than one person in on it, itdefinitely has big powers.
So you are a wife and a motherof five boys right, Correct and
(24:48):
you own a farm.
Well, not own, you have a farmwe live on.
land is probably how I would sayit.
I used to want six boys.
I have five kids, three girlsand two boys, so I didn't quite
get what I wanted.
Okay, that's okay, because allmy kids are rambunctious anyway.
(25:09):
Yeah, because all my kids arerambunctious anyway.
But my question is how do theysee what you do?
Does it impact themsignificantly, especially your
kids?
Because they see what you dofor a living.
They see how important prayeris to you.
Has it strengthened theirprayer life?
Do they have the same desiresto want to intercess for others
(25:35):
who might need it?
Or are they just, you know, Imean, depending on their age,
maybe they're just like whatever, because they're not old enough
yet.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
That's a really interesting question.
So I'm 45, and so I have reallybeen interested in prayer since
I was.
I think I would have been 40when I first went to a Judith
McNutt conference and felt like,oh, I'm entering back into
prayer at a deeper level.
I feel like during the timethat my children were young, I
(26:01):
was still a good Christian mom,but I was not as passionate
about prayer.
I didn't understand how to doit effectively.
It kind of freaked me out, andso I would say the way that it
looks for them is often, if theydon't feel good, let me make
sure that I'm praying over themand praying for them.
If there's something that we'rewondering about, it's like well
then let's just ask the Lord.
(26:23):
We don't really know what to dohere.
Can we please have some wisdom?
And then a lot of it is.
Also, if we're drivingsomewhere, I'll be like all
right, let's talk aboutdeliverance.
And then I just give them alecture on how to do deliverance
and why they might want it atsome point.
But because they are older,three of them are already
working with my husband and thenthe younger two are at home but
(26:43):
often doing their own things.
I would say there is less thatthey're actively watching me.
A lot of my time of prayer isspent either on the phone,
walking and praying, or in thelower pasture on my own praying.
So if we're walking through theairport and I have my arm up
listening to worship music,they're usually not like let's
walk right next to mom.
(27:04):
So everybody knows we'retogether.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
They're usually like we'll meet you at the gate mom.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
But I think there's a lot of.
What I've noticed is that withmy own life, I look back at the
things that my parents did.
So, even though they didn'tnecessarily teach me, like I
have the pattern of that, soeven if my boys never want to
walk through the airport withtheir arm up praising the Lord,
I'm okay with that, like that'salso very specific to me, but
they know that that is somethingthat I do and so they have it
(27:32):
kind of in their muscle memory.
So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
That makes sense.
It's so hard to get kidsinterested in the things of God
compared to the things of thisearth and I know I've had
troubles trying to get mychildren to want to read the
Bible.
My older ones, especially myteenagers they're like meh, it's
like.
I'm not going to make it apunishment for you but I would
(27:57):
love it if you would read yourBible, pray.
So I use every opportunity I canto say that over and over, you
should really pray, you shouldreally read your Bible.
I show them by example.
I'm 40, so I'm not far behindyou.
But yes, my prayer life hasbeen stale at some points.
It's had some moments of highsand lows and I've tried to be
(28:22):
more focused.
It's hard when you have a lotof kids because they need your
help.
You're in the middle of it,You're feeling it and then all
of a sudden one of them needsyou and then you feel well, do I
stop?
What's going to happen?
Is God going to be upset if Istop in the middle and go help?
Or do I tell my kid go away,I'm busy?
It's just a hard balance as amom trying to do that, but at
(28:43):
the same time I want my kids tosee it too.
So, yeah, it's fun stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Right.
So I love what you said, Partof the way that I've tried to
encourage my own children to bein the word more.
Some of them deal with somereading difficulties, and so I
have done.
At one point I bought a bunchof different Bibles on Audible.
I love the Daily Message.
That's my favorite.
But then there's also a reallylovely one.
I think InterVarsity Press putit out.
(29:09):
It's the First Nations version.
So I think InterVarsity Pressput it out it's the First
Nations version.
So it's kind of the NewTestament from the perspective,
as if it was.
I mean, it was written by aNative American.
So even the Lord's Prayer it'svery non-traditional, it's very
beautiful.
But then there's an NT WrightNew Testament translation and
then probably I have one that'smore dramatized.
(29:30):
I mean there's a bunch ofdifferent options and so to say
this you guys are listening toaudio books all the time anyway.
Spend a little bit of timelistening, like, pick one and
then spend a little bit of timelistening to this one over,
however long, and just get someof the word in you in that
regard.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So yeah, yeah, I will read it out loud, even if
they're not.
If I can clearly tell they'renot paying attention, I'll still
read it out loud.
I read it out loud to myselfbecause sometimes I just it hits
different when you hear it, asopposed to just reading it.
So you know, I'll read it tomyself in my room and I'll feel
(30:06):
awkward when one of them walksby and they're like why is she
reading yourself?
It's like I'm hoping someonewill hear something at some
point.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yeah Well, but that's also the biblical word for
meditation, like, one of thewords is murmur, and so I think
anytime we're reading it aloud,as you said, it does hit
differently because it's goingin the ear gate as well.
So I would say you're justactually preaching to your own
soul.
So if they wonder you're likeI'm just preaching to my soul.
Today, children, we're all goodhere.
I'll have to tell them thatnext time.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
So on the same wagon train of being a mom and a wife
and having land and having abusiness where you're praying,
are there times where you feelburnt out with the prayer aspect
or you just feel like it'srepetitive.
I guess I don't know if that'squite what I'm trying to say,
(31:01):
but are there seasons you gothrough where it just feels like
it's just business or itdoesn't have that deep
connection that it once did?
And if so, how do you handlethose times and how do you get
back on track?
Speaker 2 (31:15):
That's a really beautiful question.
So I Hmm, yeah, jesus, thankyou.
So I I wouldn't say that I'vehad any seasons where it's been
dry.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I would say there have been good.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yes, there have been days, but then I'm kind of like.
I was reading a book fast like agirl, and it was talking about
how if a guy wants to fastbecause his hormones are kind of
the same all month long, likeany day that he picks to fast,
(31:49):
it's going to be pretty much thesame.
But for a woman, especiallyduring her fertility years,
there's like this wholeinterplay and so some days are
going to be a lot easier andsome days are going to be a lot
harder.
And I was like this makes somuch sense because I would tell
my business partner, who is male, like fasting was really hard
today.
I felt like I could just clawup the walls and he was kind of
like, yeah, I've really neverexperienced that.
(32:10):
Well, yes, because he's justlike, it's just the same level
all the time.
And so I think I'm very okaywith even saying if I'm coming
to the Lord and I'm a hormonalwreck, that's okay, the Lord
still loves me.
Lord, and I'm a hormonal wreck,that's okay, the Lord still
loves me.
Or if I'm coming to the Lordand I'm triumphant on top of the
world, that's okay, the Lordstill loves me.
So it's okay.
If I'm not doing well, I guessis the point I don't think that
(32:33):
that's a problem.
I think that that's actuallyjust part of living my life with
the Lord.
And so I would say, in order toprevent the burnout because I
know that this is a thing mybusiness partner is a generation
older than I am and he's beenpart of the prayer movement for
40 years.
So when I first partnered withhim, he had some really helpful
advice.
He was like you're going toneed a prayer shield right away,
and that's not easy necessarilyfor most of us to be like oh, I
(32:56):
just have multiple people whoare really good at prayer that I
can think of off the top of myhead.
So that's part of even what weoffer is, if you don't know
where to find a prayer shield.
That's part of the capacitythat we think that we serve in
is that we're here offeringprayer support to those who need
it.
But so I have a prayer shieldfor me personally.
We, our business has a prayershield.
I mean, we're both my businesspartner and I are also clients
(33:19):
of our own business, so it'slike we have concentric layers
of protection.
I think there's also a part.
I remember listening to a womanI'm forgetting her name, but
she talked about how she singsthe Psalms and she's been doing
that for maybe 40 years at thispoint, and she said I have never
been burnt out because I amalways worshiping, and so it's
(33:39):
very difficult if you'reworshiping.
Like that's also a way of beingrefueled, and so I think part
of even my own journey over thelast five years has been to say
Lord, what, what are thedifferent things that actually
feed me?
My friend Perry Marshall wouldsay I he says something like I
am an elder statesman.
That means that I need to go tothe thin places often, and so
(34:00):
for him he's just like becauseof the nature of what I do, I
pour out a lot, which means Ineed to go and get refueled,
refueled, refueled.
So that's part of.
I think I would say I'm alwaystaking my internal temperature.
I shouldn't say always, butlike very frequently I'm taking
it to say how am I doing andwhat do I need in order to be
able to still be a well ofliving water that's flowing
(34:22):
through.
And then I also I mean I praywith my business partner
literally seven days a week.
There's maybe five days a yearthat we don't actually talk and
pray together, just becausemaybe we're traveling
internationally or something.
But there's a level where,because we've prayed that much
over the phone, we have a senseof like I don't think you're
doing as well as you are what'sgoing on, so just that.
(34:43):
There's that level also ofsupport and PR coverage.
So I know that not everybodyhas that, but I also think in
the specific role that I serve,that number of protections and
things are.
They're helpful.
So if you were to ask me, likewhat would a normal mom need, my
answer would probably be alittle different.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah Well, having people intercess for you, I
think, is something everyoneneeds and maybe we won't have it
to the same degree that youhave it.
But again, you guys are doing alot more difficult work and,
like you said, sometimes youfeel emotionally drained from it
because it's a big, powerfulthing that you're doing and you
need to get refilled and youhave to do it somewhat quickly
(35:24):
and if you don't, that's when Ithink that burnout or feeling
like you just don't want to dothis anymore.
Satan can come in and mess withyou if you aren't doing what
you need to do.
So I can see why you guys havealmost a team of experts if you
will doing that for you and theeveryday mom or dad or person in
(35:44):
general just doesn't need it tothat level and if they can just
find a couple people they knowwho will pray for them
consistently.
Usually you've got grandparentswho will do it.
When I was going through myprodigal season, my grandparents
were very instrumental inpraying for me.
My whole family was praying andyou know you, you've got family
(36:06):
and I'm pretty sure if they'rebelievers they'll pray for you.
If you tell them, hey, pray forme every day, I need this, they
probably already are doing it.
It's probably true.
So, before we go um with yourbusiness, is it something that
people can join from anywhere,like is it something you can do
(36:28):
online, or is it just local andlocal people to your area are
able to apply to be in it?
Oh, that's a great question.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
No, we, we do everything virtual.
So I live in central Virginia,my business partner lives in
Tennessee, and then we have teammembers literally across the
globe.
So we have Australia, southAfrica are some of the people,
some of the nations where ourpeople pray.
And then we have two calls onTuesday that we invite any of
our clients who can join us tojoin.
(36:56):
And so today we had a call andone of our people was in the
Philippines, and we have peoplein Mexico and Canada and the UK,
and so it's, it's very, veryfun.
I mean, not everybody can make9am and 9pm.
Eastern time, but we do werecord them so they're available
after the fact if people can'tbe live.
But no, we, we are global andthen there isn't actually.
(37:19):
I guess we've done one liveevent, but most of the time
we're completely just a virtual,and so people email or text
prayer requests and, yeah, it'swonderful.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
So if people want to get in touch because they want
to be a part of this, wherewould they go for that?
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Yeah, so workplaceprayercom is our URL,
so you're welcome to reach outvia the contact page.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Yep, all right.
Well, thank you, amy, so muchfor coming on.
This has been an awesomeepisode and I wish you all the
best with everything you'redoing, because it is a very
significant and very neededavenue of prayer and I hope that
everyone who's listening today,their hearts and minds have
been opened to the significanceof prayer and intercessing for
(38:05):
prayer.
If you want any advice on howto do that, I'm pretty sure
Amy's more than willing to helpyou with that.
If you don't want to getinvolved at the level that she's
doing it, but you just want tounderstand how, I don't see her
saying no to that, because I canclearly see the love of prayer
in her eyes.
So I guarantee, if you wanthelp with that, she'd be willing
(38:29):
for that.
And yeah, thank you so much forcoming on.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Absolutely.
You're awesome.
Would you like me to pray aprayer of blessing?
Speaker 1 (38:38):
over your people as we go.
Your people as we go,absolutely.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Okay.
So, father, we thank you that.
It's really precious, lord,that it says in Isaiah that when
you saw that there wasinjustice and that there were no
intercessors, that you yourselfbecame the intercessor and
Jesus.
It says in the New Testamentthat you ever lived to make
intercession for us.
And it also says, holy Spirit,that you are there, that when we
(39:00):
don't know what to pray, thatyou're there to pray.
And so, lord, we think aboutall the members of the Godhead
that this matters, that youactually care so much, that we
have prayer coverage, that youare actively participating in
this, that you are the first andgreatest intercessor.
And so, lord, I am asking forthose who are listening that
they would be excited to come toyou in prayer.
(39:23):
Lord, for those who maybe havehad some weird or unexpected or
uncomfortable experiences in thepast even as I did that maybe
make them hesitant around thetopic of prayer, lord, I'm
asking that you would start tospeak answers to them around how
to be able to pray moreeffectively and how to be able
to pray from a place of peaceand rest and joy.
(39:44):
And, lord, for those who arejust curious and who maybe don't
have the challenging past inthe realm of prayer, but are
just like I don't really can Ihear God's voice.
What does that look like, lord?
I'm asking that you would opentheir eyes to be able to see,
that you would open their earsto be able to hear, that you
would release any place wherethey could feel what you're
feeling, lord, I'm asking that,instead of expecting to hear
(40:07):
from you only in the scriptures,that instead there would be
such a grace to be able to saywow, the Lord really does speak
to us in a whole range ofdifferent ways, and that that
would be a joyful process ofdiscovery and of understanding
what it looks like for you to beat work.
We thank you that you say inyour word my sheep hear my voice
and that there's no conditionson that, that that's just a
(40:29):
basic reality for us as yourchildren.
Thank you, lord.
We love you Amen.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Amen.
Thank you, Amy, again forcoming on.
I've enjoyed this conversationso much.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Me too.
Thank you so much.
Hey friends, welcome to Honest Christian
Conversations.
I'm your host, anna Murby, andthis is season five.
I cannot believe I am at seasonfive already.
Thank you so much to everybodywho has been listening since the
very beginning, when my podcasthad a different name, I wasn't
(00:20):
consistent with it and I didn'teven know what I was doing.
Thank you so much for stickingwith it, and if you really are
curious to know what that othername was, feel free to go and
listen to season one and you'llfigure it out.
Thank you to those who listen,just to listen every once in a
while.
Maybe you're not consistent,maybe you don't follow the show
(00:40):
or subscribe.
That's totally fine.
I'm still thankful that you arelistening to this episode and
for all the episodes you havelistened to.
God is working through that,because I'm always praying for
everyone who's listening.
So you're getting something outof it and I'm thankful that you
tuned in.
I'm also thankful for all thosewho are now going to be
(01:02):
subscribed on YouTube.
You get to see and hear me andmy guests on these podcasts.
I'm thankful for you tuning inas well.
I was nervous to start seasonswith video, but I'm also really
excited for it.
I think it'll be great for youto be able to see my guests
(01:23):
rather than just hear theiramazing stories.
Yeah, if you don't know aboutany of my amazing guests that I
have had on, you need to go backand listen to season three and
four, because those guests aresuper amazing, their stories are
awesome and very encouragingand you are going to be blessed
(01:45):
by every episode that you listento.
Before I get started withtoday's episode, I want to say
also a special thank you to Alexand Alicia Sanfilippo from
Podmatch.
If it wasn't for Alex coming tome and emailing me in June of
2024, I don't know if I wouldstill be here podcasting because
(02:09):
I was about to pod fade and forthose who don't know what that
is, that just basically means Iwas about to fizzle out and stop
podcasting.
I owe a lot of my podcastingsuccess to their help through
Podmatch, through the tests thatI've taken to figure out what
(02:29):
kind of podcaster I was.
That actually helped me grow asa spiritual person as well and
has helped me in my Christianwalk too.
So I definitely owe a lot of mypodcasting success to them and
their help, their heart forserving indie podcasters like
(02:49):
myself.
So with that out of the way,all the awesome praise and thank
you to all my fans, myfollowers, my listeners and to
Podmatch.
I would like to introducetoday's guest.
Her name is Amy Lyka.
She is a wonderful woman.
I am so blessed that I got totalk to her.
(03:10):
She has a very unique ministryand it's full of the idea of
prayer.
She is very full of a love forprayer and you are going to find
her love for prayer contagious,as I have.
She's got such a bubblypersonality.
I really can't wait for you tohear this episode because she is
(03:33):
on fire for prayer and I'mhoping at the end of this so
will you also be.
And yes, I am very aware thatthat sounded weird the way I
said it.
You're going to get used to it.
If this is your first timelistening, I do say weird things
.
Go back and listen to myChristmas episode I did with
(03:56):
Laura Buckley.
I made a very funny faux pas inthat that had us rolling with
laughter.
That was a very fun Christmasepisode and I hope it gave you
Christmas cheer if you didlisten to that.
So that was aired on actuallyChristmas Day 2024.
(04:17):
So go back and find thatepisode.
You are going to be blessed bymy faux pas.
With that, we are going to getin today's episode.
Before the episode starts.
(04:48):
Make sure you follow the showso you never miss another
episode.
Amy, thank you so much forcoming on the show today.
I'm very excited to talk to youabout intercessory prayer.
This is a subject that, I'll behonest, I don't really know a
lot about.
I have experienced it in mylife at certain points, but I've
(05:09):
never thought deeply about howpowerful it can be, nor have I
actually partook of it withoutwanting something back for my
own self.
I haven't actually participatedin it without expecting God to
do something for me.
I don't know if I'm the onlyone who's ever been there done
(05:29):
that, but I loved all theepisodes I heard you talking
about this on, and it's such anamazing gift to businesses to do
something like that.
Maybe they never thought aboutdoing that, maybe they want to,
but they didn't know how.
So for you to come in and dothat, I think that's awesome.
(05:50):
But before we get into that,why don't you share with my
audience why you have such aheart for intercessory prayer,
why you have such a heart forothers?
Because I can see that in yourupbringing and everything, I can
see why you are doing what youare doing today, so go ahead and
share that with our audience.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Thank you, ana.
Yeah, I love what you saidabout just always wanting to
come to intercessory prayer butexpecting something.
And it kind of blew my mindwhen my business partner, when I
first met him, and he said whywould we pray if we didn't
expect God to do something?
Why would we pray and notexpect a result?
And so, instead of prayer beingsomething that was kind of the
(06:31):
good Christian thing to do, likecheck it off your list, it
moved it more into a place of no, you do this because you
actually do expect a result.
So I think it's wonderfulactually that you would pray and
expect a result.
That's exactly what you shouldbe after.
High five, high five to you.
So good.
But my background, my parents,my dad was on a missions agency.
(06:55):
He worked for a missions agencyand they always had morning
prayer as part of their staffmeeting.
And then, when my parentsstarted a business, they thought
that was really a good thing,that's just part of what we want
for our own lives, a way ofexpressing our own values.
And so they opted then to paytheir staff to pray every
(07:16):
morning during morning meetingif they chose to, so we don't
have only Christians on staff,but those who would like to be
paid for prayer, they can comeand do that.
So for 30 years, that was justmy norm.
I thought that was a prettybasic thing for business.
I didn't realize how unusualthat was, and so then, about 30
years in though, I thought Ifeel like there are things in
(07:37):
the business.
We've seen really beautifulprotection, we've seen beautiful
covering, but it feels likethere are certain things that
are not shifting, and I don'tknow how to make them shift
other than through more prayer.
I felt a little bit like I hada football field that I was
trying to water with a gardenhose, and I knew that I needed
either something more, like afire hose or a sprinkler system
or rain, but I needed somethingthat was bigger, and so I went
(08:00):
looking for somebody who knewmore about how to pray
effectively, and so that waswhen I found my who's, now my
business partner, and I was soinspired by the changes that I
saw that I, within a couple ofweeks, I was like are there
other people on your team?
Can I join your team?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I'm super excited about this.
That's awesome, yeah, and Imean it's such an amazing and,
like I said, it's an unexpectedministry tool that I didn't even
know existed and I'm prettysure no one else really did.
But now that they do, I hope alot of businesses are going to
(08:39):
come to you and want that.
Do you work with all kinds ofbusinesses, like whether they're
people of faith or not, or doyou just have a certain type
that you work with?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
That's a beautiful question.
So basically we don't restrict.
So if people want prayer, weare happy to pray for them.
So I have a few fun stories.
One of our clients said I lovethis so much, I would love to
sponsor my children's Taekwondostudio because I just treasure
the perspective that this man,mr Strong, who owns it.
I treasure him and what he'sdoing, and so I thought, well, I
(09:13):
don't think he's a believer,but I do want what he's doing to
thrive.
And so we prayed for hisbusiness for a while and it was
just, it was beautiful to seehow the Lord answered prayers,
even though he wasn'tspecifically asking for anything
and wasn't even a believer.
But most of our clients arebelievers, but they're not all
business owners.
(09:33):
We have people from a widerange of different occupations
and then some of them areemployees.
We also have people in ministryand we have a few that are just
families that feel like in ourfamily we would like to have a
little bit more prayer.
So we have such a range.
It's really a great privilege.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, and I think it's a great opportunity to
share the love of Jesus If youdo it for someone who's either
they're asking on behalf ofsomeone else like with the
studio, he wasn't specificallyasking but if he can see the
fruit of what people are prayingfor on his behalf, he's going
to see Jesus through that, andwho knows where that'll take him
.
So I think that's great thatyou guys don't discriminate or
(10:13):
anything like that on oh, I'msorry, you're not of faith, so
no, you know, it's like everyonecould use prayer from the right
God.
So it's good that you do that,and I think that's an even more
phenomenal idea than what italready was to begin with.
So that's great.
(10:34):
Have you had to work for anybusinesses that were awkward for
you?
I'm trying to think of you know, like maybe it's something that
doesn't align with your valuesor something like that.
Have you had them come to youand ask for prayer?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So that's a that's an interesting way of putting it.
I I don't know that I would saythere were any businesses that
I would not have already wantedto pray for.
But I can also recognize oneexample.
We know that we have some ofour clients who were very
excited about the COVID vaccineclients that would be, if not
(11:23):
opposed to it, at least morequestioning or kind of let's
take this without enthusiasm butjust kind of sober-mindedly
investigate.
So we had, I guess you couldsay, a range, and that is.
It's an interesting thing,because that was a very divisive
issue, to be able to say let'sbe open-handed about this and be
(11:43):
at peace.
We don't need to sidenecessarily one way or the other
, but we can say Lord, be atwork in the lives of all of our
people.
So I guess, even with that, oneof the really beautiful things
is.
Taking another really divisiveissue of politics, one of the
things that my business partnersaid was that years ago one of
(12:05):
his friends, he was praying, Ithink, for President Bush, and
at one point President Bush wastalking to somebody and he said
thank you for your prayers.
This job is far harder than Iwould have ever expected.
And then some years later,people would pray for President
Obama, and at one pointPresident Obama also said to I
forget if it was Franklin Grahamor somebody, a well-known
(12:26):
Christian leader.
He said thank you for praying.
This job is far harder than Iwould have expected, and so at
that point I felt like itshifted something in Bob's heart
.
The scripture tells us to prayfor those who are in authority,
whether they are, it kind of.
It says that about a Romanemperor who was very, very
ungodly.
And so if you're praying, for areally ungodly Roman emperor.
You really actually have noexcuse not to pray, and so I
(12:50):
have appreciated that really forBob.
He's like we just pray forthose who are in authority and
we pray for the Lord to bespeaking to them, for there to
be honor paid to the role, evenif you don't necessarily like
all of the policies, and so Ifelt like that was so precious,
so honoring to be able to say itdoesn't matter on which side
you fall, and really in any ofthese discussions we want to be
(13:16):
asking that the Holy Spiritwould be at work in the lives of
the people.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, I love that answer, Definitely.
Prayer does not have, I guess,boundaries.
Everyone can receive it,Everyone needs it and, like you
said, it doesn't matter whatside you fall on politically,
medically, all these differentthings you can pray for someone
(13:39):
who disagrees with you, and theBible tells us to pray for your
enemies, pray for those whopersecute you.
If he didn't want us to do that, he wouldn't have told us to do
that.
So clearly we're not meant tosegregate and stay in the
comfortable, which is what I've.
I'll be honest and say that thathas been my thing, because I
grew up in the church.
(14:00):
I rarely had friends whoweren't Christians and it's hard
for me to step out of myChristian bubble if you will and
be out there with people whodisagree with me on religions or
whatever, and I'm trying towork on that, but it's hard.
It's not something I'm used to,but it is something I'd be open
(14:23):
to.
So there it is.
Everyone who's listening.
If you want to come at me withsomething different from what
I'm used to, I'm game to talk,so share with us one very
special moment.
What opportunity you've had topray for somebody that it
changed their life significantlyand it changed your life
(14:46):
significantly.
Oh, wow so.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Lord.
What would be a good option forthat?
One of the things we we bothwant to pray for businesses, but
we also want to train people inhow to pray effectively,
because in order to have a largeenough team to be able to pray
effectively for businesses, weneed to have trained
intercessors.
So we also run prayer mentoringat different times throughout
(15:11):
the course of the year, and soat one point, the first round of
prayer mentoring, we hadsomebody announce to the group I
just found out that my husbandis having an affair, and so she
was, and I was like that'spretty gutsy, like I don't know
if I would ask for prayer if Ifound out my husband was having
an affair.
You know, you kind of want tokeep that to yourself.
There's a level of shame withthat and and yet people prayed
(15:32):
for her and I asked her about itlater and she said I was in
such pain, I just it was like Ihad to have additional prayer
coverage and so over the courseof it did not.
It was not a swift process.
It took probably 18 monthsbefore she was even able to wear
her wedding ring again.
But over time there has beenthis really beautiful
reconciliation and re-knittingtogether of their hearts and I
(15:57):
had the privilege of sittingwith them earlier this year and
they said without your prayercoverage I'm not sure that we
would have made it, and it'sbeautiful.
In one of our books we publishedher poems, her collection of
poems.
It's called Molten Lover.
I didn't say that very well,molten Lover, and in many ways
(16:18):
it's like in the scriptures,when you look at God, the way
that he describes the childrenof Israel, especially in the Old
Testament, it's like you areadulterers, you're, you're awful
, go away.
But then, on the other hand,it's like but I miss you so much
and I love you, come back.
It's kind of like this whiplasheffect of just that.
It's such a place of pain, andso what I loved about her
(16:40):
collection of poems is that it'sdemonstrating all of that, but
that's also how the Lord thinksabout us.
He loves us so much but there'salso so much pain in that, and
so I guess I'm not sure if Iwould say that completely
changed my life, but it was abeautiful reminder for me of
seeing afresh and anew how muchthe Lord loves us in the midst
(17:03):
of our own issues that we'rewalking through.
I know my friend.
One of the things that she saidas she was trying to figure out
like legally, scripturally, Icould leave my husband, I don't
have to stay in thisrelationship.
But she said in the end I justfelt like no, I am his fan, I
want good things for him, so I'mwilling to stay in it because
(17:24):
I'm a fan of who he is.
So I thought, oh, that's inmany ways how the Lord is
towards us, right, that he'sjust for us.
So thank you for that question.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, that's a bold woman.
Like you said, no one reallycomes out with their big baggage
and wanting to talk about it,because there's a level of shame
with that, with addiction,there's always shame with that,
and that's how Satan tries tokeep us trapped, because if we
don't ask for prayer, we can'theal.
(17:55):
So I'm proud of her for takingthat step to come out and share
that and look at what God didwith that.
That's amazing.
Prayer changes things, and inone of your episodes that you
were featured on, you mentionedsomething about how we need to,
(18:17):
like you said, pray expecting toget something out of it.
Why are you going to pray, notto expect anything?
And you were mentioning theconference you went to with I'm
forgetting her name McNutt,that's how I remember.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Good job, and she was talking about healing and how,
when you're praying for healing,you should be praying to expect
something.
I think some people take it toofar and they're expecting that
they're going to get whatthey're praying for specifically
, rather than maybe God's got adifferent plan for you and it's
not that.
So how do you deal withsituations where you're praying
(18:54):
for something specifically thatsomeone wants you to pray for
but it doesn't come to pass thatway?
How do you help them throughthat to see that God still works
miracles, he still does what hesays he's going to do, he's
still faithful and you can stilltrust and pray to him?
How do you help them when theyhave that moment of maybe doubt
(19:14):
or maybe just depression becauseit didn't go the way they were
expecting?
Hey friends, have you joinedthe Honest Christian
Conversations online group yet?
If you haven't, you're missingout on a perfect opportunity to
(19:35):
grow your relationship withJesus Christ.
This is a community for thosewho want to go deeper in their
relationship.
You can do Bible studiestogether, ask the questions you
have biblically and get theanswers that you might need or
maybe you're somebody who hasanswers to somebody else's
questions.
You can leave your prayerrequests.
(19:56):
You can leave your praisereports.
This is a community.
This is what church is supposedto be.
This is a community.
This is what church is supposedto be, and I am so glad that I
finally took that step to makethis group so that people's
lives can flourish in Jesus name.
Also, if you haven't signed upfor the mailing list, you're
missing out on an opportunitythere as well.
(20:17):
I send out a weekly emailchocked full of so much awesome
content that I don't have timeright now to share it all with
you.
But when you do sign up forthat mailing list, you get my
seven-day free devotional that Icreated just for those who sign
up for the mailing list.
If you haven't joined either ofthese, you can go to my website
(20:39):
,honestchristianconversationscom
and sign up there, or you canuse the links for it in the show
notes.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah, that is a really powerful question because
there isn't an easy answer,right?
So I think we've allexperienced things where you
pray I prayed for my friend andshe died of cancer and that's
just a reality that that doeshappen.
And so I loved what JudithMcNutt said, which is, when we
pray, something always happens,and so that's really the
(21:11):
perspective that I come toprayer is that I don't know what
it is specifically that'shappening, but I know that
something is happening and so Iguess in certain places, like in
a really significant loss, Ijust actually have to walk
through the grief of that, andso there's that's not a wrong
(21:33):
response, that's an unnaturaland a right response because of
the love that I had for her.
And so I would say, like forsome of our clients, when they
come to us, their businesses arestruggling and then, as there
are clients, their businesseseither continue to struggle or
they might even have to closedown.
I don't know if that'sspecifically happened, but it
could, and that's, I would say,the normal thing with that is
(21:54):
that then you grieve thatbecause that is actually a loss.
So any loss that we deal with,I think what the scripture says
is that blessed are those whomourn, for they will be
comforted.
So the beautiful thing is thatwe're not mourning in order to
get more mourning, that we mournbecause then we get comforted,
but you do actually have to walkthrough the process of grief.
(22:14):
So I think a lot of as I teachon prayer, as I think about
prayer, as I pray myself, a lotof it is actually just saying
Lord, I'm telling you what Iwould prefer, I'm telling you
what I'm hoping for, what Iwould like to expect, but I also
am not the God of the universeand I don't have infinite
knowledge or understanding orpower.
So I'm, in many ways, much ofwhat I pray is like this is what
(22:40):
I would like, but I'm alsoleaving the results to you, lord
, and you work it out as youwill, and that I wish in many
ways that I could just pray andthere would be a guarantee.
But I think that would be kindof disturbing in its own way.
But I think that would be kindof disturbing in its own way.
So I would say part of evenwhat we are seeking as we teach
is to say God is actually good,and so let's work from the
perspective that God is good,that he's not there to smite us,
(23:03):
that he's there to bless us,but that if sometimes the
blessing that he sends isn'tanything like what we expected,
it would be to say, lord, thenlet us walk through that grief
and then show us how to hope andhave faith for the future.
So one of my friends will talkabout how, uh, what it says in
first Corinthians 13 about faith, hope and love remain, or faith
, hope and love abide, that thatis not something that is just
(23:26):
in this life, that it's almostlike we are building up our
faith, hope and love muscles onthis earth because we're going
to be stretching those intoeternity, because there's always
going to be more Of theincrease of his government.
There will be no end.
So it's like, even into theeternity there still is increase
, that we're still going to beliving from a place of faith and
hope.
It's a great question.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yes, and that was a great answer.
Well, thank you answer.
It's easier to handle the griefof things not going your way
when you have people in yourcorner helping you through.
If you're doing it alone, I cansee why you would fall into
despair and thinking God doesn'tcare or anything.
(24:06):
But if you have someone who'sbeen there, done that, they can
help you through it and say youknow, I've gone through that
season of God not answering aprayer the way I was expecting.
Let me help you pick up fromwhere you are and we can move
forward together.
I mean, it talks about iron,sharpening iron in the Bible
(24:28):
cord of three strands.
Obviously, we need each other.
So prayer is a very powerfulthing and when you can get more
than one person in on it, itdefinitely has big powers.
So you are a wife and a motherof five boys right, Correct and
(24:48):
you own a farm.
Well, not own, you have a farmwe live on.
land is probably how I would sayit.
I used to want six boys.
I have five kids, three girlsand two boys, so I didn't quite
get what I wanted.
Okay, that's okay, because allmy kids are rambunctious anyway.
(25:09):
Yeah, because all my kids arerambunctious anyway.
But my question is how do theysee what you do?
Does it impact themsignificantly, especially your
kids?
Because they see what you dofor a living.
They see how important prayeris to you.
Has it strengthened theirprayer life?
Do they have the same desiresto want to intercess for others
(25:35):
who might need it?
Or are they just, you know, Imean, depending on their age,
maybe they're just like whatever, because they're not old enough
yet.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
That's a really interesting question.
So I'm 45, and so I have reallybeen interested in prayer since
I was.
I think I would have been 40when I first went to a Judith
McNutt conference and felt like,oh, I'm entering back into
prayer at a deeper level.
I feel like during the timethat my children were young, I
(26:01):
was still a good Christian mom,but I was not as passionate
about prayer.
I didn't understand how to doit effectively.
It kind of freaked me out, andso I would say the way that it
looks for them is often, if theydon't feel good, let me make
sure that I'm praying over themand praying for them.
If there's something that we'rewondering about, it's like well
then let's just ask the Lord.
(26:23):
We don't really know what to dohere.
Can we please have some wisdom?
And then a lot of it is.
Also, if we're drivingsomewhere, I'll be like all
right, let's talk aboutdeliverance.
And then I just give them alecture on how to do deliverance
and why they might want it atsome point.
But because they are older,three of them are already
working with my husband and thenthe younger two are at home but
(26:43):
often doing their own things.
I would say there is less thatthey're actively watching me.
A lot of my time of prayer isspent either on the phone,
walking and praying, or in thelower pasture on my own praying.
So if we're walking through theairport and I have my arm up
listening to worship music,they're usually not like let's
walk right next to mom.
(27:04):
So everybody knows we'retogether.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
They're usually like we'll meet you at the gate mom.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
But I think there's a lot of.
What I've noticed is that withmy own life, I look back at the
things that my parents did.
So, even though they didn'tnecessarily teach me, like I
have the pattern of that, soeven if my boys never want to
walk through the airport withtheir arm up praising the Lord,
I'm okay with that, like that'salso very specific to me, but
they know that that is somethingthat I do and so they have it
(27:32):
kind of in their muscle memory.
So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
That makes sense.
It's so hard to get kidsinterested in the things of God
compared to the things of thisearth and I know I've had
troubles trying to get mychildren to want to read the
Bible.
My older ones, especially myteenagers they're like meh, it's
like.
I'm not going to make it apunishment for you but I would
(27:57):
love it if you would read yourBible, pray.
So I use every opportunity I canto say that over and over, you
should really pray, you shouldreally read your Bible.
I show them by example.
I'm 40, so I'm not far behindyou.
But yes, my prayer life hasbeen stale at some points.
It's had some moments of highsand lows and I've tried to be
(28:22):
more focused.
It's hard when you have a lotof kids because they need your
help.
You're in the middle of it,You're feeling it and then all
of a sudden one of them needsyou and then you feel well, do I
stop?
What's going to happen?
Is God going to be upset if Istop in the middle and go help?
Or do I tell my kid go away,I'm busy?
It's just a hard balance as amom trying to do that, but at
(28:43):
the same time I want my kids tosee it too.
So, yeah, it's fun stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Right.
So I love what you said, Partof the way that I've tried to
encourage my own children to bein the word more.
Some of them deal with somereading difficulties, and so I
have done.
At one point I bought a bunchof different Bibles on Audible.
I love the Daily Message.
That's my favorite.
But then there's also a reallylovely one.
I think InterVarsity Press putit out.
(29:09):
It's the First Nations version.
So I think InterVarsity Pressput it out it's the First
Nations version.
So it's kind of the NewTestament from the perspective,
as if it was.
I mean, it was written by aNative American.
So even the Lord's Prayer it'svery non-traditional, it's very
beautiful.
But then there's an NT WrightNew Testament translation and
then probably I have one that'smore dramatized.
(29:30):
I mean there's a bunch ofdifferent options and so to say
this you guys are listening toaudio books all the time anyway.
Spend a little bit of timelistening, like, pick one and
then spend a little bit of timelistening to this one over,
however long, and just get someof the word in you in that
regard.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So yeah, yeah, I will read it out loud, even if
they're not.
If I can clearly tell they'renot paying attention, I'll still
read it out loud.
I read it out loud to myselfbecause sometimes I just it hits
different when you hear it, asopposed to just reading it.
So you know, I'll read it tomyself in my room and I'll feel
(30:06):
awkward when one of them walksby and they're like why is she
reading yourself?
It's like I'm hoping someonewill hear something at some
point.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yeah Well, but that's also the biblical word for
meditation, like, one of thewords is murmur, and so I think
anytime we're reading it aloud,as you said, it does hit
differently because it's goingin the ear gate as well.
So I would say you're justactually preaching to your own
soul.
So if they wonder you're likeI'm just preaching to my soul.
Today, children, we're all goodhere.
I'll have to tell them thatnext time.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
So on the same wagon train of being a mom and a wife
and having land and having abusiness where you're praying,
are there times where you feelburnt out with the prayer aspect
or you just feel like it'srepetitive.
I guess I don't know if that'squite what I'm trying to say,
(31:01):
but are there seasons you gothrough where it just feels like
it's just business or itdoesn't have that deep
connection that it once did?
And if so, how do you handlethose times and how do you get
back on track?
Speaker 2 (31:15):
That's a really beautiful question.
So I Hmm, yeah, jesus, thankyou.
So I I wouldn't say that I'vehad any seasons where it's been
dry.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I would say there have been good.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yes, there have been days, but then I'm kind of like.
I was reading a book fast like agirl, and it was talking about
how if a guy wants to fastbecause his hormones are kind of
the same all month long, likeany day that he picks to fast,
(31:49):
it's going to be pretty much thesame.
But for a woman, especiallyduring her fertility years,
there's like this wholeinterplay and so some days are
going to be a lot easier andsome days are going to be a lot
harder.
And I was like this makes somuch sense because I would tell
my business partner, who is male, like fasting was really hard
today.
I felt like I could just clawup the walls and he was kind of
like, yeah, I've really neverexperienced that.
(32:10):
Well, yes, because he's justlike, it's just the same level
all the time.
And so I think I'm very okaywith even saying if I'm coming
to the Lord and I'm a hormonalwreck, that's okay, the Lord
still loves me.
Lord, and I'm a hormonal wreck,that's okay, the Lord still
loves me.
Or if I'm coming to the Lordand I'm triumphant on top of the
world, that's okay, the Lordstill loves me.
So it's okay.
If I'm not doing well, I guessis the point I don't think that
(32:33):
that's a problem.
I think that that's actuallyjust part of living my life with
the Lord.
And so I would say, in order toprevent the burnout because I
know that this is a thing mybusiness partner is a generation
older than I am and he's beenpart of the prayer movement for
40 years.
So when I first partnered withhim, he had some really helpful
advice.
He was like you're going toneed a prayer shield right away,
and that's not easy necessarilyfor most of us to be like oh, I
(32:56):
just have multiple people whoare really good at prayer that I
can think of off the top of myhead.
So that's part of even what weoffer is, if you don't know
where to find a prayer shield.
That's part of the capacitythat we think that we serve in
is that we're here offeringprayer support to those who need
it.
But so I have a prayer shieldfor me personally.
We, our business has a prayershield.
I mean, we're both my businesspartner and I are also clients
(33:19):
of our own business, so it'slike we have concentric layers
of protection.
I think there's also a part.
I remember listening to a womanI'm forgetting her name, but
she talked about how she singsthe Psalms and she's been doing
that for maybe 40 years at thispoint, and she said I have never
been burnt out because I amalways worshiping, and so it's
(33:39):
very difficult if you'reworshiping.
Like that's also a way of beingrefueled, and so I think part
of even my own journey over thelast five years has been to say
Lord, what, what are thedifferent things that actually
feed me?
My friend Perry Marshall wouldsay I he says something like I
am an elder statesman.
That means that I need to go tothe thin places often, and so
(34:00):
for him he's just like becauseof the nature of what I do, I
pour out a lot, which means Ineed to go and get refueled,
refueled, refueled.
So that's part of.
I think I would say I'm alwaystaking my internal temperature.
I shouldn't say always, butlike very frequently I'm taking
it to say how am I doing andwhat do I need in order to be
able to still be a well ofliving water that's flowing
(34:22):
through.
And then I also I mean I praywith my business partner
literally seven days a week.
There's maybe five days a yearthat we don't actually talk and
pray together, just becausemaybe we're traveling
internationally or something.
But there's a level where,because we've prayed that much
over the phone, we have a senseof like I don't think you're
doing as well as you are what'sgoing on, so just that.
(34:43):
There's that level also ofsupport and PR coverage.
So I know that not everybodyhas that, but I also think in
the specific role that I serve,that number of protections and
things are.
They're helpful.
So if you were to ask me, likewhat would a normal mom need, my
answer would probably be alittle different.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah Well, having people intercess for you, I
think, is something everyoneneeds and maybe we won't have it
to the same degree that youhave it.
But again, you guys are doing alot more difficult work and,
like you said, sometimes youfeel emotionally drained from it
because it's a big, powerfulthing that you're doing and you
need to get refilled and youhave to do it somewhat quickly
(35:24):
and if you don't, that's when Ithink that burnout or feeling
like you just don't want to dothis anymore.
Satan can come in and mess withyou if you aren't doing what
you need to do.
So I can see why you guys havealmost a team of experts if you
will doing that for you and theeveryday mom or dad or person in
(35:44):
general just doesn't need it tothat level and if they can just
find a couple people they knowwho will pray for them
consistently.
Usually you've got grandparentswho will do it.
When I was going through myprodigal season, my grandparents
were very instrumental inpraying for me.
My whole family was praying andyou know you, you've got family
(36:06):
and I'm pretty sure if they'rebelievers they'll pray for you.
If you tell them, hey, pray forme every day, I need this, they
probably already are doing it.
It's probably true.
So, before we go um with yourbusiness, is it something that
people can join from anywhere,like is it something you can do
(36:28):
online, or is it just local andlocal people to your area are
able to apply to be in it?
Oh, that's a great question.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
No, we, we do everything virtual.
So I live in central Virginia,my business partner lives in
Tennessee, and then we have teammembers literally across the
globe.
So we have Australia, southAfrica are some of the people,
some of the nations where ourpeople pray.
And then we have two calls onTuesday that we invite any of
our clients who can join us tojoin.
(36:56):
And so today we had a call andone of our people was in the
Philippines, and we have peoplein Mexico and Canada and the UK,
and so it's, it's very, veryfun.
I mean, not everybody can make9am and 9pm.
Eastern time, but we do werecord them so they're available
after the fact if people can'tbe live.
But no, we, we are global andthen there isn't actually.
(37:19):
I guess we've done one liveevent, but most of the time
we're completely just a virtual,and so people email or text
prayer requests and, yeah, it'swonderful.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
So if people want to get in touch because they want
to be a part of this, wherewould they go for that?
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Yeah, so workplaceprayercom is our URL,
so you're welcome to reach outvia the contact page.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Yep, all right.
Well, thank you, amy, so muchfor coming on.
This has been an awesomeepisode and I wish you all the
best with everything you'redoing, because it is a very
significant and very neededavenue of prayer and I hope that
everyone who's listening today,their hearts and minds have
been opened to the significanceof prayer and intercessing for
(38:05):
prayer.
If you want any advice on howto do that, I'm pretty sure
Amy's more than willing to helpyou with that.
If you don't want to getinvolved at the level that she's
doing it, but you just want tounderstand how, I don't see her
saying no to that, because I canclearly see the love of prayer
in her eyes.
So I guarantee, if you wanthelp with that, she'd be willing
(38:29):
for that.
And yeah, thank you so much forcoming on.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Absolutely.
You're awesome.
Would you like me to pray aprayer of blessing?
Speaker 1 (38:38):
over your people as we go.
Your people as we go,absolutely.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Okay.
So, father, we thank you that.
It's really precious, lord,that it says in Isaiah that when
you saw that there wasinjustice and that there were no
intercessors, that you yourselfbecame the intercessor and
Jesus.
It says in the New Testamentthat you ever lived to make
intercession for us.
And it also says, holy Spirit,that you are there, that when we
(39:00):
don't know what to pray, thatyou're there to pray.
And so, lord, we think aboutall the members of the Godhead
that this matters, that youactually care so much, that we
have prayer coverage, that youare actively participating in
this, that you are the first andgreatest intercessor.
And so, lord, I am asking forthose who are listening that
they would be excited to come toyou in prayer.
(39:23):
Lord, for those who maybe havehad some weird or unexpected or
uncomfortable experiences in thepast even as I did that maybe
make them hesitant around thetopic of prayer, lord, I'm
asking that you would start tospeak answers to them around how
to be able to pray moreeffectively and how to be able
to pray from a place of peaceand rest and joy.
(39:44):
And, lord, for those who arejust curious and who maybe don't
have the challenging past inthe realm of prayer, but are
just like I don't really can Ihear God's voice.
What does that look like, lord?
I'm asking that you would opentheir eyes to be able to see,
that you would open their earsto be able to hear, that you
would release any place wherethey could feel what you're
feeling, lord, I'm asking that,instead of expecting to hear
(40:07):
from you only in the scriptures,that instead there would be
such a grace to be able to saywow, the Lord really does speak
to us in a whole range ofdifferent ways, and that that
would be a joyful process ofdiscovery and of understanding
what it looks like for you to beat work.
We thank you that you say inyour word my sheep hear my voice
and that there's no conditionson that, that that's just a
(40:29):
basic reality for us as yourchildren.
Thank you, lord.
We love you Amen.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Amen.
Thank you, Amy, again forcoming on.
I've enjoyed this conversationso much.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Me too.
Thank you so much.
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