June 14, 2023 • 46 mins
Kimber talks with Ruthie Smith about her journey with prayer and the Holy Spirit and how growing deeper in a prayer walk with the Lord can bless our friendships. Ruthie shares practical steps and resources to help you take your next step of growth in prayer, a journey that never ends.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kimber (00:09):
hey friends.
Welcome to the, your sisterKimber podcast.
My name is Kimberly Gilberto andI'm so glad you're here.
I'm excited to share a devil,stomp and friend with you this
week.
Ruthie Smith is joining us totalk about prayer today and how
growing in her prayer life haschanged her life.
Prayer is her favorite thing totalk about.
And I'm really thankful for allthe wisdom and encouragement she
(00:31):
has to share with us today abouthow this aspect of our faith can
immensely bless our friendships.
I wish we could hear her storyover coffee today in the corner
of our favorite shop, but thisis the next best thing.
I'm so glad you're here, friend.
Let's get started.
Hi, Ruthie.
Good morning.
(00:52):
Hi,
Ruthie (00:52):
Kimber.
Thank you so much for having meon your show.
Kimber (00:56):
Yes, I'm so excited.
Welcome.
I, like I was telling you alittle bit ago, I've been kind
of wanting to talk to you for awhile with this.
we met, I think it was just lastyear at Dip Netting, is that
right?
Yes, yes.
Yeah.
And we had some goodconversations there and I was
like, oh, this is, this gal's adeep wealth.
So I'm really excited to talk toyou today about, um,
(01:17):
specifically prayer and just howthis can impact our friendships,
is what we're gonna get intotoday.
And so, yeah, I'm really excitedfor it.
Would you just start byintroducing yourself for our
friends listening?
Ruthie (01:29):
Yeah.
My name is Ruthy Smith.
I'm 38 years old.
I live in Eagle River.
Um, I have three daughters wholove Jesus.
Um, my, my oldest one, she's 18,she goes to actually the
Alliance College in Oregon andshe's training to be a
missionary.
Oh, wow.
That's
Kimber (01:47):
awesome.
Yes.
Does she know like what shewould like to do?
Missions work in like what
Ruthie (01:52):
Your demographic, you know, it changes all the time.
Yeah, yeah.
But right now she has adopted afamily from Africa.
She does International House ofPrayer, and so she adopted this
family and, you know, she helpsout with childcare and, um,
they, it's really cute.
They like make each other meals,so she'll have like a
(02:15):
traditional meal and, and thenlike last week she made them mac
and cheese.
I love it.
Do they like it?
Yeah, they, they did.
And they're teaching herSwahili.
So cool.
Um, she's really, really, um,doing well, learning the Swahili
language.
So now she's like, well thismakes sense.
(02:35):
Maybe I'm gonna go to Africa.
But yeah, you know, a month agoshe was going to the Middle
East, so wherever God calls her.
I see.
And yeah, she's growing in that.
Yeah.
And then I have a five and sixyear old, great kids.
I've been a bedside nurse forover 10 years.
I work in the hospital.
My husband's a nurse too.
(02:55):
And I'm also a Bible collegestudent and, pursuing seminary.
Yeah.
Kimber (02:59):
So that, yeah, I'm in seminary as well, so I know the
challenge.
Oh, girl.
So good.
Yeah.
So good.
Have you enjoyed your time?
Ruthie (03:07):
Um, yes.
I have learned so much and,initially I was just taking
classes because, um, I wasgetting funding for it and I
just wanted to learn more aboutthe Old Testament.
Um, and then.
I'm almost done with my, mybible college training.
Yeah.
And I didn't wanna stop, so, oh,I'm gonna keep going.
(03:28):
Yeah.
Cool.
Kimber (03:29):
Can you, taking, taking those classes, what has been
your favorite, like, area ofstudy so far?
Ruthie (03:33):
Uh, definitely the Old Testament.
Um, I'm this fall, I'm finishingmy modules in, the Torah and
mm-hmm.
The, latter, prophets and minorprophets and, um, man, the Old
Testament is just so rich andbeautiful and so, um, that's
definitely been my favoritepart, but surprisingly, I just
(03:57):
took, a class on.
Like ancient near Easternculture.
Yeah.
And, that was really eye-openingtoo.
Mm-hmm.
So I like to dork out on allthat history.
Yeah.
And, um,
Kimber (04:08):
I have loved the Old Testament, and I think for me,
one of the main reasons isbecause, I'm just so like story
driven as a person.
Yes.
I think that's why I became anEnglish teacher for a while.
Like, I'm a writer, you know,like I just, I, I think that
story is just so compelling tome.
And so I think because so muchof the Old Testament is
(04:28):
narrative, I always have beenreally drawn to it, to it.
Ruthie (04:32):
Oh man.
But it's just so good if, ify'all aren't reading the Old
Testament, you are missing out.
Yeah, it is.
I think some people
Kimber (04:39):
can be like intimidated by it for sure.
Um, cuz there is some likegnarly stuff in there.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah, for sure.
but what do you, what do youlove about it most?
Like if someone was saying like,oh, I don't know, I just feel
like intimidated to read the OldTestament or whatever.
What would you say is like, thereason they should, besides that
it's like obviously part of theword of
Ruthie (05:00):
God and stuff of Sure, yeah, of course.
Um, so I think for me at somepoint, you know, in my walk with
the Lord, I realized, I wasactually reading the book of
Isaiah the Holy Spirit came overme and I realized, the Old
Testament is not separated fromthe New Testament.
It is all one big story.
(05:23):
Yeah.
And once you can realize that,you can see Jesus in every
single verse and every singlestory in every single part of
the Old Testament and howeverything ties together.
Mm-hmm.
And so I think for me, justreading those stories, those Old
Testament, events and thingsthat happened, and even the
(05:45):
prophets, like everything ispointing to the person of Christ
and it is the most through thatlens.
Oh my goodness.
And I'm just so in love with it.
Kimber (05:55):
I love that.
Yeah.
I love that.
Yeah.
It's, yeah, because of thedivision.
Like old and new.
I think it is easy to think ofit as like we almost we're so
used to like the sequel format,but really it's not like, no
man, Jesus is like the climax ofthe story.
It'd be like if you just likeended the story.
Like halfway through and
Ruthie (06:15):
then picked a makeup up.
Yeah.
Oh, it's so, it's so beautifuland it just, every time I read
the Old Testament, I fall moreand more and more in love with
Jesus because I see why weneeded him so much and how
everything that came before himwas for him.
(06:35):
And, oh, it's so good.
I could talk about the OldTestament, the rest of our time
together, but
Kimber (06:41):
I love it.
Well that will be for anotherday.
Um okay.
Because I feel like I totallycould too.
So another time.
we'll have to get
Ruthie (06:48):
into that dip netting this year.
It's on.
Yeah.
There we go.
Kimber (06:51):
There we go.
Well, today I do wanna get intotalking about prayer cuz we have
been in a series on the podcastabout, uh, just how like, I talk
a lot about friendship here onthe podcast and in this series
we're talking about how growingcloser to Jesus and our
relationship with him canactually, like, also it like
(07:11):
spill out into the rest of therelationships in our lives and
absolutely less our friendshipsAbsolutely.
As well.
Oh yeah.
Well, and so this summer I'vebeen having most of my
conversations with Megan Frak,who's been my series guest,
co-host, big fam for thesetalks.
I know she's wonderful.
Um, but I did wanna have a fewguests on throughout the series
because I, I love having guestson and of course like getting
(07:34):
that extra perspective is such,just richens the conversation I
think.
And so, um, Megan and I havebeen talking about prayer and
intercessory prayer over thepast two weeks, and so you're
kind of our third conversationabout this.
And so, I'm so interested tohear, um, just how prayer has
grown in your life, blessed yourrelationship with the Lord and
(07:54):
relationship with people.
And I know this is somethingthat you're so passionate about
and so I'm excited for our talk.
Yeah.
Um, you said to me the other daythat when I asked you, you're
like, well, that's my favoritething to talk about.
So, sounds great.
Um, and so I would just love ifwe could start by just kind of
you sharing a little bit abouthow prayer has become just your
(08:15):
favorite thing to talk about.
Like what has been kind of yourjourney with this?
Yeah.
Ruthie (08:20):
So, I've always had a big, big faith, and that's
nothing.
Of my doing that is just thework of the Holy Spirit in my
life.
Yeah, ever since I was a littlekid, I just remember just, you
know, being outside and playingor, you know, riding on the bus
or whatever and just talking toGod.
Um, he was always just my friendthat was there.
(08:41):
And, know I have always had thisbig belief that whatever I'm
praying about is heard in heavenby my father.
And he's just weighingeverything perfectly.
And I don't fully comprehend themystery, but somehow God
partners with us through ourprayer and he just really
delights in us coming to him.
(09:03):
And in First Thessalonians fiveit says, rejoice always, pray
continually, give thanks in allcircumstances.
And it says, this is God's willfor you in Christ Jesus.
And sometimes, the Lord willjust put someone on my heart.
And I'll just start prayingfervently for them.
Mm-hmm.
And I have this, this beliefthat like, I might be the only
(09:28):
one praying for this person.
Mm-hmm.
Whether it's a coworker or afriend or someone who doesn't
know the Lord.
And, I've had a, a great enoughrelationship with God and, and
I'm so honored that he trusts meto pray for people that he puts
on my heart.
but I just believe that, prayersof deliverance and healing
prayers are how God partnerswith us.
(09:50):
Mm-hmm.
And how are people ever gonnaget heal, healed, or delivered
from addictions or whatever,without the laying on of hands
and praying.
Mm-hmm.
we've been given that authorityin Jesus' name to do that.
Yeah.
And advance.
God's kingdom healed is sick.
And, I'm just really passionateabout, praying in heavenly
places, defeating the works ofSatan and the powers of
(10:12):
darkness.
And, um, if you ever see mewearing my red shoes, it's
because I've been on a missionpraying out the Yes,
Kimber (10:19):
I heard about these shoes.
Can you tell
Ruthie (10:22):
us about them?
yeah, I, uh, again, just I feelso passionately about just
praying the enemy away.
Yeah.
And so, um, so someone startedjoking, you know, that, uh, I
was stomping on the devil, youknow, when I was praying.
And so, uh, Brit bought me thesebright red.
Uh, vans.
(10:42):
Yeah.
And so, uh, when I'm going towar, I put on my, my red shoes
and I, uh, just like envisionmyself just stomping all over
the devil.
So yeah,
Kimber (10:53):
those are my, I feel like symbols like that are so
helpful to me.
Um, yeah.
Cause it, yeah.
I don't know what it is, like,know, cuz you could pray those
prayers without him, but it'sjust something about a symbol
that I think is the tactilenessof it helps bring.
The just the, I mean, prayer,that's one of the things that is
a challenge to me about it, islike, it's not tactile really.
(11:15):
I mean, it's like, it's all inmy mind, my heart, whatever.
Like maybe, you know, you cansay it out loud, but I think
that the symbol of likesomething like that helps make
it more, seem more tactile in mymind.
I don't know if that matters
Ruthie (11:28):
to you or not.
No, it definitely does.
And that's, yeah, that's why Iwear'em cuz I'm like, it's not
that it gives me power in anysort of way, right.
But it, remi helps remind methat like, yes girl, you've been
given authority.
I have that already.
Amen.
And you have that power, to dothe things.
And so, it's just fun.
(11:49):
But yeah, the red
Kimber (11:51):
shoes.
I love it.
Yeah.
So symbol like, man, that couldbe, that could be a helpful
place.
I feel like one thing that Iwould love to talk about today
is just like ways that, youknow, you talk about how this
has been something that's beenpresent in your life for a long
time.
but have, do you feel likeyou've grown in it as well, like
over the years, I would assume.
(12:11):
Would you agree with that or, ohyeah.
Has it just kinda always beenpresent?
Yeah.
Um, no.
So as you've like grown over theyears, I would love to hear kind
of like what are these stepsthat like, have moved you
forward in this walk?
Like of course the Holy Spiritswork in your heart, but like,
you know, for those of us wholistening who want to grow in
our prayer lives, I think it canbe, it can feel overwhelming or
(12:34):
like, where do I start kind ofthing.
And I mean, I guess of courseyou just start with praying,
but, um, what are some thingsthat you feel like have moved
you towards a deeper prayer walkwith the Lord over the years?
Ruthie (12:47):
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
first of all, we never stopgrowing in prayer.
Um, yeah.
Yeah.
I think, you know, you startpraying and you don't know if,
like, you're not confident, youdon't really know what, what
you're doing.
But then God answers that prayerand you're like, whoa, that
worked.
And then you start and it's, itgives you so much confidence and
(13:09):
you're like, wow.
Yes.
The Lord heard me and heanswered my prayer.
And the more you pray, and themore he answers prayers, you're
just like, wow, this is, this isso great.
And you just keep praying andthen that confidence just builds
up.
Um, yeah.
But last year, I got filled andbaptized by the Holy Spirit.
(13:29):
Mm-hmm.
And it changed my life forever.
I will never be the same person.
Um, after I got.
Baptized by the Holy Ghost.
The first thing I noticed washow much clearer I could hear
God's voice when I was praying.
And so, um, I, I could hear God,not, I, I could hear God when I
was praying.
(13:50):
and then I realized like howmuch passionately I could pray
when the Holy Spirit took overfor me when praying.
Mm-hmm.
Kimber (13:58):
Um, yeah.
Can you talk a little bit moreabout like, what that experience
was like for you?
Because I feel like for some ofour friends listening, they
might be more familiar with thatand some might not be as much.
And so I'd love to hear aboutyour experience with that.
Yeah.
Ruthie (14:10):
So, first of all, if you don't know what I'm talking
about and you want to go findout for yourself, just read the
book of Acts.
Mm-hmm.
Those people received the HolySpirit and power came over them,
and then they prayed the most,bold prayers.
Yeah.
And.
God responded.
It's so good.
In fact, this is my psa.
Just go, go out and read thebook of Acts right now.
(14:32):
Yeah, you'll never be the same.
Just go do it.
Um,
Kimber (14:34):
but recently when I recently, sorry, I'm gonna
sidetrack you for a secondbecause Yeah, no problem.
When I recently read the book ofActs, maybe like a couple months
ago, it was probably after as achurch, we did, um, kind of a
prayer study.
Some, some of the church did, ingroups and stuff.
And I think it was after thatthat I read the book of Acts.
(14:55):
And that was one of the thingsthat I noticed so prominently
was like, I had recently readthe gospels too.
And so then it was like, justlike even Peter is so different,
like yeah, he's a differentperson.
And I'm like, what's the change?
And I feel like the change islike he.
(15:16):
You know, Caesar is in Jesus,and then like the Holy Spirit
because yeah, it's just like a180.
It's, he's entirely different.
And so bold and just filledwith, uh, that confidence that
you're talking about in God, notin himself, but so good the
Lord.
And I was just like, wow.
Like there's nothing that Ithink a person can do that can
(15:38):
change you like that, you know?
Yeah.
Under the end.
Oh, receiving the Holy Spirit.
So I love that recommendation tostart an ax.
I love that.
Ruthie (15:47):
Oh, it's so good.
And just to be clear, likeeveryone gets the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit when they acceptJesus into their life.
Right.
But there is a continuousfilling mm-hmm.
Um, and baptism of the HolySpirit that comes on you, and
it's kind of like a batteryrecharge for your soul.
(16:09):
Mm.
And it's, it's so good.
But, um, you know, Jesus says tothe disciples, it would be
better that I go, because when Ileave, I'm gonna send the
helper.
And the disciples, they had tohave been like, no way.
You are here right, right here,right now.
We can see you, we canexperience you.
(16:30):
Like, why would Jesus say itwould be better that I go?
And it's, that's because whenthe Holy Spirit comes upon you,
man, your life will never be thesame.
And, um, for me, I got filledand immediately experienced that
power and it changed my prayerlife.
Mm-hmm.
There was something that justhappened where I would be
(16:50):
praying and I would just feelthis breakthrough in heaven.
so I knew people would behealed.
I knew that they were gonna bedelivered from the things that
were afflicting them.
And, yeah, receive the HolySpirit, it'll, it'll change your
life.
I
Kimber (17:08):
love that.
Wow.
So how do you keep, like,leaning into that and like the
daily, um, you know, as youlike, continue on your daily
prayer life and stuff, what doesthat look like for
Ruthie (17:19):
you?
you know, this might becontroversial for some people,
but, for me it's, it's prayingin tongues.
Um, I have a, a prayer language,and that is just the Holy Spirit
taking over and praying theperfect will of God.
Um, yeah.
Often I don't know what he'spraying and, um, but I know
(17:41):
that, that what he is praying isheard by the father in heaven
and he's testifying, you know,to me at the same time about
God's goodness.
And, and I just try to be quietand listen to that.
Hmm.
Um, but also, you know, it'sjust given me that assurance
that God hears me and he's, he'sready and willing to partner
(18:03):
with me, in helping people toknow him and, you know,
delivering them from theirsickness or whatever.
Like, I'm just like, God use me.
Yeah.
Oh, I love
Kimber (18:14):
that.
I feel like the older I get, themore I feel that desire and need
for the Holy Spirit to take overmy prayers because I don't know
what to pray.
And he does.
I don't know if it's just like,like my life gets more
complicated and the problemsseem more unmanageable or like,
you know what I mean?
Like, we need that, Yeah.
(18:35):
We don't know.
It's like the disciples saylike, we don't know how to pray.
or I don't remember who said, Ifeel like that's, that's
somewhere in scripture, right?
Yeah.
It's know how to pray.
Like we ought, maybe it's Paul.
Yeah.
Ruthie (18:47):
It's in Romans eight.
I know it's someone.
Yeah.
There we go.
Yeah.
The spirit helps us in ourweakness.
We don't know what Yeah.
What to pray for, but the spirithimself intercedes for us in
groaning.
Mm-hmm.
Um, right.
So, and that's exactly whathappens.
Kimber (19:01):
Mm.
That's such a, mm-hmm.
Man, that's so like, sweet tothe soul, I feel
Ruthie (19:05):
like too.
Yes.
So comforting.
It's comforting you say.
Yeah.
Kimber (19:08):
Mm-hmm.
I love that.
What would you say is likesomething that you've learned
about prayer in the last yearthat you didn't know before?
Like, it sounds like the lastyear has been kind of a wild
ride with you in that.
Um, but what is like one thingthat has really stood out to you
that, has been a shift,something you didn't know
before?
Ruthie (19:26):
you know, since I got film with the Holy Spirit, I
guess I used to just pray andjust kind of just take off and,
uh, you know, whether I goingoff a prayer list or had
something on my heart or someoneon my heart.
but in the last year, I'vereally just been trying to just
minister to the presence of theLord.
(19:46):
Just sit in his presence and askhim.
Like, Lord, what are you doing?
Mm-hmm.
How can I be a part of it?
Or, Lord, what do you want me topray about today?
Mm-hmm.
Again, it's that mystery, likeGod is all powerful.
He can, he has a, the cattle ona thousand hills like he doesn't
want or need for anything, butsomehow he delights.
(20:09):
In us calling out to him onbehalf of his people.
Yeah.
And so it's that partnering withGod, it's not my agenda, it's
God, what can I pray about?
How can I move your heart andbless you today.
Kimber (20:24):
Yeah.
I had never heard of that ideaof like ministering to the Lord
until, um, we did that prayerstudy as a church and I
literally thought it was like atypo.
This is so silly of me.
I just didn't know.
But like I was, because I had, Iread in the Old Testament, like,
you know, like the priestminister before the Lord and
(20:46):
stuff.
Yeah.
Um, is how I think I had usuallyread that.
And so I was like, is he talkingabout that?
But this idea of likeministering to the Lord.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat and just like how prayer
does that and how you see thatkind of happening?
For sure.
Yeah.
Ruthie (21:03):
You know, God is worthy to be praised.
he not only has made allcreation, but he sustains it and
all glory and honor and power ishis.
And so when you just sit in hispresence and, um, you quiet
yourself down and you justmeditate on his goodness and his
(21:26):
holiness, and you thank him fornot just what he's given you in
your life, but just who he is.
you're just ministering to hispresence.
You're there.
Mm-hmm.
And you are basically justgiving all glory to him, um
Right.
Just, just by sitting with himand being alone with him.
(21:47):
And, giving him praise andworship mm-hmm.
All of all of it is his anyways.
Um, right.
All our time, all our resources,everything belongs to him.
And so, yeah.
It's, it's an interestingconcept and it's, again, it's
another one of those mysteries.
It's
Kimber (22:03):
like, right.
Yeah.
Because like you're saying, he,it's not like he needs that.
Right.
He sustains everything inhimself, but he like desires us
to for sure.
Like, interact with him andthat's, yeah.
Such a mystery, but also like,it, it's such a reminder to me
of this is one of the reasons Ithink that I'm excited about
this series is because.
(22:25):
The idea that, our relationshipson earth give us just like a
tiny glimpse at what ourrelationship with the Lord could
look like.
You know, in those moments, likein your friendships that just
feel like holy and special.
You know?
I feel like that can be such aglimpse of like the close, the
even way more so closerelationship that we have the
(22:47):
opportunity to have with theLord.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Mm-hmm.
And so I'm like, okay, how can,because obviously they're
different in ways, but like howdoes the way that we interact
with our friends, how can welike paint that onto our
relationship with the Lord incertain ways to.
Give us a better understandingof like what this relationship
(23:07):
he wants it to look like becauseit is such a relationship.
And I think that's somethingthat man religion has missed
for, for a long time that Iwanna, I wanna dive into more
because there is, he desires arelationship and like he doesn't
need it, but he wants it.
Like, that's just something Ithink that is hard for us to
understand cuz we're so needsdriven as needs, you know?
(23:30):
For sure.
Yeah.
Well, what is one thing that youfeel like you used to struggle
with in prayer that you've nowgained some traction in, you
know, like some growth here.
Um, what is something that maybeover, the last few years or so
you would say that you have?
Okay, I've like seen a stepforward here.
(23:52):
Um, what comes to mind there?
Ruthie (23:54):
Um, I used to be really afraid of praying in front of
people.
Um, Yeah, I think everybodystruggles with that.
But um, when I was in my midtwenties, I was in a lady's
small group and the last thingthat we would do at the end of
the group time was pray for theperson on our left or on our
right or yeah.
(24:14):
Whatever the leader wanted us todo.
And I used to just sweat overit.
Oh yeah.
He's so nervous.
And, the more I participated,you know, the more I just grew
in that confidence.
Mm.
Right.
I was also part of a home churchat the time and we would go out
evangelizing and praying forpeople on the streets.
(24:35):
Mm-hmm.
And oh my goodness, that made meso uncomfortable.
But yeah, that's where I reallystarted to not only get
comfortable with praying forpeople, but like praying in that
power cuz I would see peoplechange.
Um, yeah.
Yeah.
And so I think if you'restruggling with prayer, joining
(24:56):
a small group or a serve team isthe perfect place to start out.
Um, getting exposure to otherpeople, praying, um, being kind
of put on the spot.
Maybe, you know, some, a lot of,um, of the serve teams will be
like, Kimber, you pray or pray,you pray, whatever.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, you'll find that, you know,just the more you do it, the
(25:18):
more you get comfortable withit.
Mm-hmm.
Um, right now I'm in a smallgroup, on Monday nights with
some elderly ladies.
I think I'm the youngest personthere by like 30 years.
And, um, I'm learning so much.
Yeah, I bet from them.
I love that.
Yeah.
They, I mean, I've been prayingmy whole life, but I'm, I'm
still just like, whoa, that wasbeautiful.
(25:39):
You know what they just said.
And they just break right onthrough heaven when they're
praying.
And there's just somethingbeautiful about continuing, to
have this conversation with Godno matter where you are, what
stage of life you're in.
Um, you can always learn fromthe next generation or, yeah.
Um, people that are justpassionate about praying.
Kimber (26:01):
Yeah.
That's one thing that I'vereally enjoyed so far talking
with Megan and you about in thisis, is just like learning from
you guys even.
And I totally agree with thecomment of like, you know, get
into a small group or somethingbecause mm-hmm.
Um, then you can, like, youbuild relationships with those
people and you can practicethese things in an environment
(26:22):
that, you know, feels safer.
And for sure it isn't a ton ofpeople right there, you know, if
that, if like praying in frontof people is something that's a
challenge for someone that, likestarting with a small group or
even just a couple people Yeah.
I think can be, can be such agreat way to like, get your feet
wet if you will.
Yeah.
Or you could just do like youdid and get.
(26:43):
Like, just go to the all theuncomfortable things, like all,
you know, street evangelism and,and just like cannon ball into
the cold water, if you will.
Yeah.
In that, but yeah, that'll doit.
Right.
I love that.
Hey friend, forgive me fortaking a quick moment in this
(27:04):
conversation to ask a favor ofyou.
I hope my conversation withRuthie is blessing you today.
And if so, would you take amoment to rate and review the
show on apple podcasts?
Reviews are so helpful inbringing new friends to the
show.
And I love reading what isblessing you from the podcast?
You can find the link to leave areview in the description of
this episode.
So thank you so much for takinga second to do that.
(27:26):
Okay.
Now back to the show.
So, when the, one of the thingswith this series that we've
really been focusing on is, likeI said, just how these
different, like spiritualdisciplines or just aspects,
aspects of our faith walk thatgrow our relationship with Jesus
can then flow out to grow ourrelationships too.
(27:48):
And so I would love to hear justlike, how do you see a growing
prayer life with the Lord?
How do you think that impactsour friendships?
Because I think so often wethink of it as well, that's a
personal thing.
My prayer life is, but mm-hmm.
I think it does impact.
So how do you see thathappening?
Ruthie (28:07):
Oh man, there is nothing better in the world than having
a prayer partner.
Mm-hmm.
And there's nothing that knitsyour hearts together, like
finding unity in praying foreach other or praying for a
cause.
my bestie and I met for a seasonat five 30 at the church every
(28:28):
Monday to pray.
Wow.
And we prayed for each other, weprayed for our families, we
prayed for the church.
Mm-hmm.
Um, for our ministries.
And, you know, it was asacrifice to get up that early
and meet, you know, that earlyin the morning.
but it started out our, our weekand it was something that we
(28:48):
both felt like that wasimportant to do.
And wouldn't you know that ourfriendship grew so much in that
season?
Yeah.
When we were crying out to theLord on behalf of each other and
our community.
not to mention like when you seebreakthrough in the things that
you're praying about.
Mm, yes.
It is so fun to celebratetogether.
(29:11):
Mm-hmm.
Like, we would literally calleach other, you know, super late
and be like, ah, oh my gosh,it's so fun.
Love that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then, you know, the mostbeautiful thing about this is
that we spent hours in dedicatedprayer time together and the
(29:31):
Lord used all of it and webecame like this prayer unit.
And when we were together, likethings were happening, we would
pray for people and they wouldget healed.
And we would pray for people andthey would get filled with the
Holy Spirit.
And God was just moving.
(29:51):
When her and I prayed for otherpeople together, it was so
amazing.
Like, we are praying for this.
So this young soldier mm-hmm.
And we had anointed him with oiland he had been on a jump.
He had jumped outta an airplaneand he'd hurt his back really
bad.
Mm-hmm.
And, we both had our hands onhim and we were praying and his
(30:14):
back started heating up.
Mm-hmm.
And, and we looked at each otherand we were both just like, keep
praying.
And so we were just praying andpraying and praying and he kind
of left, you know, and he textedme the next day.
He's like, I just woke upwithout back pain for the first
time in months.
Oh.
He's like, and you know, itcaused him to rejoice.
And then of course we're callingeach other like Right.
(30:37):
Yeah.
So man, God will work throughyour friendships, man.
If you wanna make somebody yourbestie, just invite them, to
pray with you, and You know,whether it's you're praying for
your marriage or you know,Ukraine or mm-hmm.
Like, pick up a voice of theMartyrs magazine, pray for the
persecuted in China.
Like, it doesn't matter.
(30:58):
Right.
But when you are praying witheach other, the lo the Lord is
so honored by that.
And you will see breakthrough inthe things that you're praying
for and I promise you, and thatperson will grow together too.
It's beautiful thing.
Kimber (31:13):
That's something that I feel like, you know, you hear
talked about okay.
So not in the tra in thetradition.
I grew up, you never reallyheard this idea, but I know that
it is a common term in sometraditions with the idea of like
agreement in prayer.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Ruthie (31:30):
Yeah.
you know, I think some peopletake this first outta context a
lot.
Mm-hmm.
But I, I also think.
this verse applies to, and it'sthe, the verse that says, when
two are more gathered in myname, um, I will be with them.
And historically like that is a,targeted to like church
discipline.
Mm-hmm.
(31:50):
But again, I've seen this timeand time again when you and
another person, you both lovethe Lord and you are just
praying, God is like, I'm gonnamove.
You're agreeing in prayer.
Mm-hmm.
That, you know, the things thatare bound in heaven are, are
bound on earth, and whatever isloosed on earth is loosed in
heaven.
Like God has given us authorityand somehow there is just,
(32:14):
again, it's a mystery.
There is a power in praying andagreeing.
As a unit that, things would bedone and God's will would be
done.
Mm-hmm.
And, I don't know.
Yeah.
You know, in Chrisses it says,the verse about, uh, th the
three chords, you know?
Right.
That, who can undo, uh, youknow, what does it say something
(32:35):
about the,
Kimber (32:36):
it's like a cord of three strands is not easily
broken or something.
Yeah,
Ruthie (32:40):
that's exactly.
Mm-hmm.
And so when, when you're astrand, your buddy's a strand
and then God is that otherstrand.
Like you can't break thosethings off those.
That is a powerful, powerfulthing.
When you pray with a friend or,you know, another sister in
Christ, there's just things thathappen and God will use every
(33:02):
moment of
Kimber (33:02):
it.
Hmm.
I love that.
And even from just like a superpractical standpoint of that
like, man, when you're prayingwith someone else, it's like,
You're not just your faith outthere.
Like, you can lean on eachother, like build each other's
faith up in that moment andencourage each other with things
that like the other one wouldn'thave thought of.
(33:23):
And like, I just feel likethere's such, it's just the, the
same principles that apply tolike why we work together in
just the world.
Like we help each other, likeour, our brains work together
and our hearts strengthen eachother.
And of course that applies to,to our prayer moments as well.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
(33:43):
I love that.
So if you're, like, if someone'slistening in, they're like,
okay, prayer partner.
Um, what should I, like, how doI go about getting, getting a
prayer partner?
Like what does that look like?
Did you just say to your friendlike, Hey, let's pray at 5:30 AM
like, you know, what has thatexperience for you in kind of
getting to that moment withsomeone, um, or building that
(34:05):
kind of a relationship lookedlike?
Ruthie (34:07):
well, initially we just wanted to see some breakthrough
in our ministries.
Hmm.
And, we were like, you know,this is important enough, we
need to prioritize this time.
and so that's kind of how thatstarted.
But, man, if you, if, if you'relistening and you know, you are
struggling with some things oryou need to see some
(34:27):
breakthrough, in your prayerlife or in your family, or
whatever's going on, getyourself somebody that you know
loves the Lord Hmm.
And is faithful, to, you know,setting a a part a time.
And, you know, you d it doesn'thave to be in person.
Maybe this is somebody who livesacross the country and you could
do it over the phone, but makesure you have a regular time
(34:51):
that you're meeting right.
And don't miss it.
Why do you think that's
Kimber (34:54):
so important?
Because I agree.
Ruthie (34:56):
Yeah, because it establishes a routine, right?
You're like, for us it was likeMondays at five 30, we're
praying, we're not schedulinganything else.
During this time, our husbandsand families will be asleep.
we won't get interrupted duringthis time.
and, and there's somethingagain, when you sacrifice to
(35:17):
make time for something asspecial as prayer.
Yeah.
Again, God is honored by that.
Kimber (35:23):
And so I think it's like, I mean, going back to the
Old Testament, image of prayeris like a fragrant offering.
and like the offerings, the OldTestament, like it's a
sacrifice.
Yeah.
Otherwise it's not Well of, youknow, if it doesn't cost you
anything, it's not a sacrifice.
So.
Correct.
I think that correlation, itmakes a lot of sense to me in
the context of scripture that,you know, the setting aside of a
(35:44):
time sacrificing that time andmaking it set apart, I think is
just, it's like trusting theLord with what you're doing.
Yeah.
Rather than for sure.
Trying to fit it in to randomtimes or something like that.
Ruthie (35:56):
Absolutely.
You're so right about that.
And, you know, it doesn't haveto be super early in the
morning.
Sure.
It could be at nap time or, youknow, before bed or whatever.
Whatever works for you because.
Any, I feel like any time thatyou have downtime and you're not
watching Netflix or doingwhatever you wanna do, like you
(36:18):
are sacrificing, you know, yourtime to do something important,
like meeting with God.
Mm-hmm.
And, you'll be blessed and Godwill be honored.
So, so do it.
I love that.
And, um, I love that.
The other thing that, thatprayer with your friends does
is, You know, in, in James five16, it says, confess your sins
(36:39):
to each other and pray for eachother so that you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous personis powerful and effective.
Mm-hmm.
I want my prayers to be powerfuland effective.
Yeah.
If I'm speaking prayers, like Iwant them to be heard and I want
them to be powerful.
And when you find a girlfriendthat you can pray with and you
(37:03):
trust each other and you have asafe space to, confess sin to
one another, you will receivehealing and God will bless you
through that.
And then, and then you go intoprayer time and your prayers are
gonna be powerful and effective.
It's like a win win.
but the more you establish thatrelationship and pray together,
(37:25):
that confessing of sin becomesnormal and mm-hmm.
Um, right.
It becomes something that, youknow, can be uncomfortable at
first, but then becomes routineand then you have
accountability.
Yeah.
And it's, it's still good.
Hmm.
So I just wanna, um, I justwanted to throw that out there
(37:46):
too.
Yeah.
Kimber (37:46):
It's such a good challenge for us.
Yeah.
I love that.
and actually ask someone toengage in that kind of a
relationship with you and setthat time, man, I think that
kind of intention can, I canfeel hard at first, but I love
your encouragement that like, itis worth it.
Yes.
It's worth it to, to maybe makethat awkward move.
So I love that.
Ruthie (38:06):
Yes, for sure.
Kimber (38:07):
Well, as we wrap up today, I like to end my
conversations just with someencouragement for our friends
listening, about whatever we'retalking about.
And man, today I feel like theperson who is on my heart with
this is just like a friend who'slistening and she's like, man, I
want to grow in my prayer life,but I just feel stuck.
Like, I don't know, maybe likehow to move forward here.
(38:31):
Or maybe she's been, prayingsome prayers that feel like they
haven't had much traction inthem or Sure they're stuck in
some way.
Like what would you say to hertoday is like the encouragement
or direction to move forward in?
Ruthie (38:46):
I would like to say first of all, that everyone
struggles with prayer at somepoint.
Whether it's getting going orjust not.
You know, experiencing thatbreakthrough or just feeling
like you pray the same prayersall the time.
Mm-hmm.
Um, there are literally like 5million different books and
(39:08):
e-courses on prayer because itcan be a mystery.
Mm-hmm.
I would say go find some books.
yeah.
You know, first of all, theBible is sufficient for
everything in life.
Yeah.
And, um, in Matthew, Jesusteaches us to pray the Lord's
Prayer.
(39:29):
you're feeling like you justdon't know, like the order or
like how you should pray, Jesusmodels that for us in the Lord's
Prayer.
Yeah.
And so just meditate on thoselines one at a time, you know?
Mm.
Our father who are in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
And just even if you spend, youknow, five minutes on each line
(39:50):
of that prayer, and you canpersonalize it.
And, um, that's a, that's a,first of all, a great place to
start love.
But also look at the Psalms.
Those are also beautiful,beautiful prayers.
and again, tons of good books.
I just read Praying The Bible byDonald Whitney, and it's just
(40:11):
all about, um, the power ofpraying scripture.
Mm.
Kimber (40:15):
I love that.
Ruthie (40:15):
But, something that is just timeless too is, uh, like
the Puritan prayer books.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, like Valley of Vision and,piercing Heaven.
That's another good one.
Um, prayers that avail as much.
These are all just like prayerbooks that, yeah.
Are super old, but, really giveyou a good, like foundation
(40:36):
Yeah.
For all kinds of differentprayers.
But, um, if you are, you know,maybe you're a little further
along in your prayer lifemm-hmm.
And you're just feeling like, Iwanna pray more in power, or,
You know, I want to, I wanna seepeople healed, or I want to see
(40:57):
people delivered, or I just praythe same thing every day.
And, man, go out and evangelize,pray for people.
Mm-hmm.
You know, go to the park, see ifyou see somebody that needs
prayer, just say, Hey, can Ipray for you and start doing it?
Start seeing God work.
again, I, I will always put in aplug to join a small group or a
(41:17):
serve team, because Yeah.
You will again, have manyopportunities to pray for people
to receive healing or to be, youknow, just blessed, see
breakthrough in their family.
But I think the most importantthing I can tell everybody is,
you know, Jesus says, my sheepknow my voice and they hear me
(41:37):
and they follow me.
And if you don't pray, then youwon't know his voice.
And it's not just praying, it'salso listening.
Mm-hmm.
And so just start somewherewhether You're just in your
bedroom and you're praying, oryou're praying with your husband
or with your kids.
I mean, just start somewhere sothat you can start to recognize
(42:01):
the leading of the Holy Spiritand, God's voice when he speaks
to you in prayer.
And be sure to listen.
not enough just to say yourprayers, like give God some
room.
You know?
a prayer is a, conversation, anda conversation is a two-way
street.
So you, you have to make roomand time and space to listen.
(42:24):
Um, yeah.
To God talk to you when you'repraying.
So, um,
Kimber (42:28):
what does listening look like for you, would you say?
Yeah, because I think that'ssomething that, you know, maybe
seems a little bit ambiguous tosome people.
Ruthie (42:37):
Sure.
you know, there's a time and aplace for the listening prayer.
sometimes when you're outevangelizing, you're just like,
Lord, heal this person, andthat's all you have time for.
Mm-hmm.
Um, when you're listening, it's,it's in a quiet place.
you know, I, I wouldn'trecommend doing it with, while
(42:57):
you're cooking lunch oranything, like
Kimber (43:00):
when your kids, it's hard to listen when you're doing
other things.
I mean, yes.
It seems intuitive to me inregular human conversations.
Ruthie (43:09):
Yeah.
And, you know, God's voice comesin that still small whisper.
It's, um, I've heard it,described as like the tickle of
a feather on your soul.
Um, so you have to really setapart.
Um, some quiet time and space toactually listen and, the Holy
(43:31):
Spirit will speak to you.
It is God's will to speak to youand for him to know you and for
you to be, for you to know Godand his character and who he is.
He's a good father and he wantsto be known, and so he will not
withhold.
Um, one of my favorite verses inthe Bible is, ask and it will be
(43:52):
given to you, knock, and thedoor will be open.
Um, search and you will find me.
I don't think I said it in theright order, but, um, that's
okay.
You got
Kimber (44:01):
it in the pieces.
Yeah.
Ruthie (44:02):
That is God's will.
He, he wants you to come to himand it's his will, for him to be
known as well.
So, mm.
Um, just start, just startpraying and pray with your
sisters.
And pray for, pray with yourkids.
Mm-hmm.
and you will be blessed.
I, I promise that is, that is apromise.
Kimber (44:21):
Mm-hmm.
I love that man.
So good.
Ruthie, I am really thankful foryou sharing with us today.
It was just so, encouraging andchallenging for me.
And I, again, like we said, I'mreally blessed to learn from you
and others in this cuz it'sdefinitely something that I feel
like the Lord is growing meright now in me right now.
(44:43):
And so thanks so much fortalking to us today.
Thank you.
I love it.
What are you gonna go out and dotoday on this lovely summer day?
You got anything fun planned?
Ruthie (44:54):
Well, you know, I'd love to go paddle boarding.
Mm-hmm.
But it.
Yeah, if this rain looks alittle dolly Yeah, it would be
on.
Kimber (45:04):
Hopefully by the time this airs next week, it will be
beautiful and sunny and we willjust hope that you got a chance
to go do that.
Oh Lord.
Ruthie (45:13):
Let it be so.
Right.
Amen.
Amen.
Kimber (45:17):
Thank you, Kimber.
Thanks so much Ruthie.
You
Ruthie (45:20):
have a great day.
You too.
Kimber (45:25):
Friends.
I'm so glad you could join meand read the, on the show this
week.
If you are feeling encouraged totake a step of faith toward a
deeper prayer life after ourconversation know that I'm
praying for you in that.
Maybe you start with readingacts like Ruthie said, or
carving out some focused,consistent time for prayer in
your day.
Or maybe it's asking a friend tobe your prayer partner.
(45:46):
Whatever your next step is.
I know the Lord is going to meetyou there.
And friends, if you are lovingthe series so far, will you
share it with a friend thisweek?
It's my biggest prayer out ofthis series that you would take
these conversations to your ownfriend circles.
Don't let the talk stop here.
And a great way to do that is toshare the podcast and then talk
about it after you've bothlistened.
Maybe you ask the friend, you'dlike to be a prayer partner
(46:08):
with, to listen to it as anavenue to talk about join each
other in prayer once a week.
And remember the best way tostay connected with this
community is by joining mynewsletter crew.
All you have to do is visit yoursister kimber.com to subscribe.
Then you'll get my weeklynewsletter directly to your
email inbox each Tuesday with apreview of what will be featured
on the podcast that week.
(46:29):
I also like to include apractical tip to try for that
week and some other resources tohelp you grow friendships, the
honor, God, and draw you closerto Jesus.
Friends.
Thank you so much for being partof this community until next
time.
It's your sister Kimber.
hey friends.
Welcome to the, your sisterKimber podcast.
My name is Kimberly Gilberto andI'm so glad you're here.
I'm excited to share a devil,stomp and friend with you this
week.
Ruthie Smith is joining us totalk about prayer today and how
growing in her prayer life haschanged her life.
Prayer is her favorite thing totalk about.
And I'm really thankful for allthe wisdom and encouragement she
(00:31):
has to share with us today abouthow this aspect of our faith can
immensely bless our friendships.
I wish we could hear her storyover coffee today in the corner
of our favorite shop, but thisis the next best thing.
I'm so glad you're here, friend.
Let's get started.
Hi, Ruthie.
Good morning.
(00:52):
Hi,
Ruthie (00:52):
Kimber.
Thank you so much for having meon your show.
Kimber (00:56):
Yes, I'm so excited.
Welcome.
I, like I was telling you alittle bit ago, I've been kind
of wanting to talk to you for awhile with this.
we met, I think it was just lastyear at Dip Netting, is that
right?
Yes, yes.
Yeah.
And we had some goodconversations there and I was
like, oh, this is, this gal's adeep wealth.
So I'm really excited to talk toyou today about, um,
(01:17):
specifically prayer and just howthis can impact our friendships,
is what we're gonna get intotoday.
And so, yeah, I'm really excitedfor it.
Would you just start byintroducing yourself for our
friends listening?
Ruthie (01:29):
Yeah.
My name is Ruthy Smith.
I'm 38 years old.
I live in Eagle River.
Um, I have three daughters wholove Jesus.
Um, my, my oldest one, she's 18,she goes to actually the
Alliance College in Oregon andshe's training to be a
missionary.
Oh, wow.
That's
Kimber (01:47):
awesome.
Yes.
Does she know like what shewould like to do?
Missions work in like what
Ruthie (01:52):
Your demographic, you know, it changes all the time.
Yeah, yeah.
But right now she has adopted afamily from Africa.
She does International House ofPrayer, and so she adopted this
family and, you know, she helpsout with childcare and, um,
they, it's really cute.
They like make each other meals,so she'll have like a
(02:15):
traditional meal and, and thenlike last week she made them mac
and cheese.
I love it.
Do they like it?
Yeah, they, they did.
And they're teaching herSwahili.
So cool.
Um, she's really, really, um,doing well, learning the Swahili
language.
So now she's like, well thismakes sense.
(02:35):
Maybe I'm gonna go to Africa.
But yeah, you know, a month agoshe was going to the Middle
East, so wherever God calls her.
I see.
And yeah, she's growing in that.
Yeah.
And then I have a five and sixyear old, great kids.
I've been a bedside nurse forover 10 years.
I work in the hospital.
My husband's a nurse too.
(02:55):
And I'm also a Bible collegestudent and, pursuing seminary.
Yeah.
Kimber (02:59):
So that, yeah, I'm in seminary as well, so I know the
challenge.
Oh, girl.
So good.
Yeah.
So good.
Have you enjoyed your time?
Ruthie (03:07):
Um, yes.
I have learned so much and,initially I was just taking
classes because, um, I wasgetting funding for it and I
just wanted to learn more aboutthe Old Testament.
Um, and then.
I'm almost done with my, mybible college training.
Yeah.
And I didn't wanna stop, so, oh,I'm gonna keep going.
(03:28):
Yeah.
Cool.
Kimber (03:29):
Can you, taking, taking those classes, what has been
your favorite, like, area ofstudy so far?
Ruthie (03:33):
Uh, definitely the Old Testament.
Um, I'm this fall, I'm finishingmy modules in, the Torah and
mm-hmm.
The, latter, prophets and minorprophets and, um, man, the Old
Testament is just so rich andbeautiful and so, um, that's
definitely been my favoritepart, but surprisingly, I just
(03:57):
took, a class on.
Like ancient near Easternculture.
Yeah.
And, that was really eye-openingtoo.
Mm-hmm.
So I like to dork out on allthat history.
Yeah.
And, um,
Kimber (04:08):
I have loved the Old Testament, and I think for me,
one of the main reasons isbecause, I'm just so like story
driven as a person.
Yes.
I think that's why I became anEnglish teacher for a while.
Like, I'm a writer, you know,like I just, I, I think that
story is just so compelling tome.
And so I think because so muchof the Old Testament is
(04:28):
narrative, I always have beenreally drawn to it, to it.
Ruthie (04:32):
Oh man.
But it's just so good if, ify'all aren't reading the Old
Testament, you are missing out.
Yeah, it is.
I think some people
Kimber (04:39):
can be like intimidated by it for sure.
Um, cuz there is some likegnarly stuff in there.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah, for sure.
but what do you, what do youlove about it most?
Like if someone was saying like,oh, I don't know, I just feel
like intimidated to read the OldTestament or whatever.
What would you say is like, thereason they should, besides that
it's like obviously part of theword of
Ruthie (05:00):
God and stuff of Sure, yeah, of course.
Um, so I think for me at somepoint, you know, in my walk with
the Lord, I realized, I wasactually reading the book of
Isaiah the Holy Spirit came overme and I realized, the Old
Testament is not separated fromthe New Testament.
It is all one big story.
(05:23):
Yeah.
And once you can realize that,you can see Jesus in every
single verse and every singlestory in every single part of
the Old Testament and howeverything ties together.
Mm-hmm.
And so I think for me, justreading those stories, those Old
Testament, events and thingsthat happened, and even the
(05:45):
prophets, like everything ispointing to the person of Christ
and it is the most through thatlens.
Oh my goodness.
And I'm just so in love with it.
Kimber (05:55):
I love that.
Yeah.
I love that.
Yeah.
It's, yeah, because of thedivision.
Like old and new.
I think it is easy to think ofit as like we almost we're so
used to like the sequel format,but really it's not like, no
man, Jesus is like the climax ofthe story.
It'd be like if you just likeended the story.
Like halfway through and
Ruthie (06:15):
then picked a makeup up.
Yeah.
Oh, it's so, it's so beautifuland it just, every time I read
the Old Testament, I fall moreand more and more in love with
Jesus because I see why weneeded him so much and how
everything that came before himwas for him.
(06:35):
And, oh, it's so good.
I could talk about the OldTestament, the rest of our time
together, but
Kimber (06:41):
I love it.
Well that will be for anotherday.
Um okay.
Because I feel like I totallycould too.
So another time.
we'll have to get
Ruthie (06:48):
into that dip netting this year.
It's on.
Yeah.
There we go.
Kimber (06:51):
There we go.
Well, today I do wanna get intotalking about prayer cuz we have
been in a series on the podcastabout, uh, just how like, I talk
a lot about friendship here onthe podcast and in this series
we're talking about how growingcloser to Jesus and our
relationship with him canactually, like, also it like
(07:11):
spill out into the rest of therelationships in our lives and
absolutely less our friendshipsAbsolutely.
As well.
Oh yeah.
Well, and so this summer I'vebeen having most of my
conversations with Megan Frak,who's been my series guest,
co-host, big fam for thesetalks.
I know she's wonderful.
Um, but I did wanna have a fewguests on throughout the series
because I, I love having guestson and of course like getting
(07:34):
that extra perspective is such,just richens the conversation I
think.
And so, um, Megan and I havebeen talking about prayer and
intercessory prayer over thepast two weeks, and so you're
kind of our third conversationabout this.
And so, I'm so interested tohear, um, just how prayer has
grown in your life, blessed yourrelationship with the Lord and
(07:54):
relationship with people.
And I know this is somethingthat you're so passionate about
and so I'm excited for our talk.
Yeah.
Um, you said to me the other daythat when I asked you, you're
like, well, that's my favoritething to talk about.
So, sounds great.
Um, and so I would just love ifwe could start by just kind of
you sharing a little bit abouthow prayer has become just your
(08:15):
favorite thing to talk about.
Like what has been kind of yourjourney with this?
Yeah.
Ruthie (08:20):
So, I've always had a big, big faith, and that's
nothing.
Of my doing that is just thework of the Holy Spirit in my
life.
Yeah, ever since I was a littlekid, I just remember just, you
know, being outside and playingor, you know, riding on the bus
or whatever and just talking toGod.
Um, he was always just my friendthat was there.
(08:41):
And, know I have always had thisbig belief that whatever I'm
praying about is heard in heavenby my father.
And he's just weighingeverything perfectly.
And I don't fully comprehend themystery, but somehow God
partners with us through ourprayer and he just really
delights in us coming to him.
(09:03):
And in First Thessalonians fiveit says, rejoice always, pray
continually, give thanks in allcircumstances.
And it says, this is God's willfor you in Christ Jesus.
And sometimes, the Lord willjust put someone on my heart.
And I'll just start prayingfervently for them.
Mm-hmm.
And I have this, this beliefthat like, I might be the only
(09:28):
one praying for this person.
Mm-hmm.
Whether it's a coworker or afriend or someone who doesn't
know the Lord.
And, I've had a, a great enoughrelationship with God and, and
I'm so honored that he trusts meto pray for people that he puts
on my heart.
but I just believe that, prayersof deliverance and healing
prayers are how God partnerswith us.
(09:50):
Mm-hmm.
And how are people ever gonnaget heal, healed, or delivered
from addictions or whatever,without the laying on of hands
and praying.
Mm-hmm.
we've been given that authorityin Jesus' name to do that.
Yeah.
And advance.
God's kingdom healed is sick.
And, I'm just really passionateabout, praying in heavenly
places, defeating the works ofSatan and the powers of
(10:12):
darkness.
And, um, if you ever see mewearing my red shoes, it's
because I've been on a missionpraying out the Yes,
Kimber (10:19):
I heard about these shoes.
Can you tell
Ruthie (10:22):
us about them?
yeah, I, uh, again, just I feelso passionately about just
praying the enemy away.
Yeah.
And so, um, so someone startedjoking, you know, that, uh, I
was stomping on the devil, youknow, when I was praying.
And so, uh, Brit bought me thesebright red.
Uh, vans.
(10:42):
Yeah.
And so, uh, when I'm going towar, I put on my, my red shoes
and I, uh, just like envisionmyself just stomping all over
the devil.
So yeah,
Kimber (10:53):
those are my, I feel like symbols like that are so
helpful to me.
Um, yeah.
Cause it, yeah.
I don't know what it is, like,know, cuz you could pray those
prayers without him, but it'sjust something about a symbol
that I think is the tactilenessof it helps bring.
The just the, I mean, prayer,that's one of the things that is
a challenge to me about it, islike, it's not tactile really.
(11:15):
I mean, it's like, it's all inmy mind, my heart, whatever.
Like maybe, you know, you cansay it out loud, but I think
that the symbol of likesomething like that helps make
it more, seem more tactile in mymind.
I don't know if that matters
Ruthie (11:28):
to you or not.
No, it definitely does.
And that's, yeah, that's why Iwear'em cuz I'm like, it's not
that it gives me power in anysort of way, right.
But it, remi helps remind methat like, yes girl, you've been
given authority.
I have that already.
Amen.
And you have that power, to dothe things.
And so, it's just fun.
(11:49):
But yeah, the red
Kimber (11:51):
shoes.
I love it.
Yeah.
So symbol like, man, that couldbe, that could be a helpful
place.
I feel like one thing that Iwould love to talk about today
is just like ways that, youknow, you talk about how this
has been something that's beenpresent in your life for a long
time.
but have, do you feel likeyou've grown in it as well, like
over the years, I would assume.
(12:11):
Would you agree with that or, ohyeah.
Has it just kinda always beenpresent?
Yeah.
Um, no.
So as you've like grown over theyears, I would love to hear kind
of like what are these stepsthat like, have moved you
forward in this walk?
Like of course the Holy Spiritswork in your heart, but like,
you know, for those of us wholistening who want to grow in
our prayer lives, I think it canbe, it can feel overwhelming or
(12:34):
like, where do I start kind ofthing.
And I mean, I guess of courseyou just start with praying,
but, um, what are some thingsthat you feel like have moved
you towards a deeper prayer walkwith the Lord over the years?
Ruthie (12:47):
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
first of all, we never stopgrowing in prayer.
Um, yeah.
Yeah.
I think, you know, you startpraying and you don't know if,
like, you're not confident, youdon't really know what, what
you're doing.
But then God answers that prayerand you're like, whoa, that
worked.
And then you start and it's, itgives you so much confidence and
(13:09):
you're like, wow.
Yes.
The Lord heard me and heanswered my prayer.
And the more you pray, and themore he answers prayers, you're
just like, wow, this is, this isso great.
And you just keep praying andthen that confidence just builds
up.
Um, yeah.
But last year, I got filled andbaptized by the Holy Spirit.
(13:29):
Mm-hmm.
And it changed my life forever.
I will never be the same person.
Um, after I got.
Baptized by the Holy Ghost.
The first thing I noticed washow much clearer I could hear
God's voice when I was praying.
And so, um, I, I could hear God,not, I, I could hear God when I
was praying.
(13:50):
and then I realized like howmuch passionately I could pray
when the Holy Spirit took overfor me when praying.
Mm-hmm.
Kimber (13:58):
Um, yeah.
Can you talk a little bit moreabout like, what that experience
was like for you?
Because I feel like for some ofour friends listening, they
might be more familiar with thatand some might not be as much.
And so I'd love to hear aboutyour experience with that.
Yeah.
Ruthie (14:10):
So, first of all, if you don't know what I'm talking
about and you want to go findout for yourself, just read the
book of Acts.
Mm-hmm.
Those people received the HolySpirit and power came over them,
and then they prayed the most,bold prayers.
Yeah.
And.
God responded.
It's so good.
In fact, this is my psa.
Just go, go out and read thebook of Acts right now.
(14:32):
Yeah, you'll never be the same.
Just go do it.
Um,
Kimber (14:34):
but recently when I recently, sorry, I'm gonna
sidetrack you for a secondbecause Yeah, no problem.
When I recently read the book ofActs, maybe like a couple months
ago, it was probably after as achurch, we did, um, kind of a
prayer study.
Some, some of the church did, ingroups and stuff.
And I think it was after thatthat I read the book of Acts.
(14:55):
And that was one of the thingsthat I noticed so prominently
was like, I had recently readthe gospels too.
And so then it was like, justlike even Peter is so different,
like yeah, he's a differentperson.
And I'm like, what's the change?
And I feel like the change islike he.
(15:16):
You know, Caesar is in Jesus,and then like the Holy Spirit
because yeah, it's just like a180.
It's, he's entirely different.
And so bold and just filledwith, uh, that confidence that
you're talking about in God, notin himself, but so good the
Lord.
And I was just like, wow.
Like there's nothing that Ithink a person can do that can
(15:38):
change you like that, you know?
Yeah.
Under the end.
Oh, receiving the Holy Spirit.
So I love that recommendation tostart an ax.
I love that.
Ruthie (15:47):
Oh, it's so good.
And just to be clear, likeeveryone gets the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit when they acceptJesus into their life.
Right.
But there is a continuousfilling mm-hmm.
Um, and baptism of the HolySpirit that comes on you, and
it's kind of like a batteryrecharge for your soul.
(16:09):
Mm.
And it's, it's so good.
But, um, you know, Jesus says tothe disciples, it would be
better that I go, because when Ileave, I'm gonna send the
helper.
And the disciples, they had tohave been like, no way.
You are here right, right here,right now.
We can see you, we canexperience you.
(16:30):
Like, why would Jesus say itwould be better that I go?
And it's, that's because whenthe Holy Spirit comes upon you,
man, your life will never be thesame.
And, um, for me, I got filledand immediately experienced that
power and it changed my prayerlife.
Mm-hmm.
There was something that justhappened where I would be
(16:50):
praying and I would just feelthis breakthrough in heaven.
so I knew people would behealed.
I knew that they were gonna bedelivered from the things that
were afflicting them.
And, yeah, receive the HolySpirit, it'll, it'll change your
life.
I
Kimber (17:08):
love that.
Wow.
So how do you keep, like,leaning into that and like the
daily, um, you know, as youlike, continue on your daily
prayer life and stuff, what doesthat look like for
Ruthie (17:19):
you?
you know, this might becontroversial for some people,
but, for me it's, it's prayingin tongues.
Um, I have a, a prayer language,and that is just the Holy Spirit
taking over and praying theperfect will of God.
Um, yeah.
Often I don't know what he'spraying and, um, but I know
(17:41):
that, that what he is praying isheard by the father in heaven
and he's testifying, you know,to me at the same time about
God's goodness.
And, and I just try to be quietand listen to that.
Hmm.
Um, but also, you know, it'sjust given me that assurance
that God hears me and he's, he'sready and willing to partner
(18:03):
with me, in helping people toknow him and, you know,
delivering them from theirsickness or whatever.
Like, I'm just like, God use me.
Yeah.
Oh, I love
Kimber (18:14):
that.
I feel like the older I get, themore I feel that desire and need
for the Holy Spirit to take overmy prayers because I don't know
what to pray.
And he does.
I don't know if it's just like,like my life gets more
complicated and the problemsseem more unmanageable or like,
you know what I mean?
Like, we need that, Yeah.
(18:35):
We don't know.
It's like the disciples saylike, we don't know how to pray.
or I don't remember who said, Ifeel like that's, that's
somewhere in scripture, right?
Yeah.
It's know how to pray.
Like we ought, maybe it's Paul.
Yeah.
Ruthie (18:47):
It's in Romans eight.
I know it's someone.
Yeah.
There we go.
Yeah.
The spirit helps us in ourweakness.
We don't know what Yeah.
What to pray for, but the spirithimself intercedes for us in
groaning.
Mm-hmm.
Um, right.
So, and that's exactly whathappens.
Kimber (19:01):
Mm.
That's such a, mm-hmm.
Man, that's so like, sweet tothe soul, I feel
Ruthie (19:05):
like too.
Yes.
So comforting.
It's comforting you say.
Yeah.
Kimber (19:08):
Mm-hmm.
I love that.
What would you say is likesomething that you've learned
about prayer in the last yearthat you didn't know before?
Like, it sounds like the lastyear has been kind of a wild
ride with you in that.
Um, but what is like one thingthat has really stood out to you
that, has been a shift,something you didn't know
before?
Ruthie (19:26):
you know, since I got film with the Holy Spirit, I
guess I used to just pray andjust kind of just take off and,
uh, you know, whether I goingoff a prayer list or had
something on my heart or someoneon my heart.
but in the last year, I'vereally just been trying to just
minister to the presence of theLord.
(19:46):
Just sit in his presence and askhim.
Like, Lord, what are you doing?
Mm-hmm.
How can I be a part of it?
Or, Lord, what do you want me topray about today?
Mm-hmm.
Again, it's that mystery, likeGod is all powerful.
He can, he has a, the cattle ona thousand hills like he doesn't
want or need for anything, butsomehow he delights.
(20:09):
In us calling out to him onbehalf of his people.
Yeah.
And so it's that partnering withGod, it's not my agenda, it's
God, what can I pray about?
How can I move your heart andbless you today.
Kimber (20:24):
Yeah.
I had never heard of that ideaof like ministering to the Lord
until, um, we did that prayerstudy as a church and I
literally thought it was like atypo.
This is so silly of me.
I just didn't know.
But like I was, because I had, Iread in the Old Testament, like,
you know, like the priestminister before the Lord and
(20:46):
stuff.
Yeah.
Um, is how I think I had usuallyread that.
And so I was like, is he talkingabout that?
But this idea of likeministering to the Lord.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat and just like how prayer
does that and how you see thatkind of happening?
For sure.
Yeah.
Ruthie (21:03):
You know, God is worthy to be praised.
he not only has made allcreation, but he sustains it and
all glory and honor and power ishis.
And so when you just sit in hispresence and, um, you quiet
yourself down and you justmeditate on his goodness and his
(21:26):
holiness, and you thank him fornot just what he's given you in
your life, but just who he is.
you're just ministering to hispresence.
You're there.
Mm-hmm.
And you are basically justgiving all glory to him, um
Right.
Just, just by sitting with himand being alone with him.
(21:47):
And, giving him praise andworship mm-hmm.
All of all of it is his anyways.
Um, right.
All our time, all our resources,everything belongs to him.
And so, yeah.
It's, it's an interestingconcept and it's, again, it's
another one of those mysteries.
It's
Kimber (22:03):
like, right.
Yeah.
Because like you're saying, he,it's not like he needs that.
Right.
He sustains everything inhimself, but he like desires us
to for sure.
Like, interact with him andthat's, yeah.
Such a mystery, but also like,it, it's such a reminder to me
of this is one of the reasons Ithink that I'm excited about
this series is because.
(22:25):
The idea that, our relationshipson earth give us just like a
tiny glimpse at what ourrelationship with the Lord could
look like.
You know, in those moments, likein your friendships that just
feel like holy and special.
You know?
I feel like that can be such aglimpse of like the close, the
even way more so closerelationship that we have the
(22:47):
opportunity to have with theLord.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Mm-hmm.
And so I'm like, okay, how can,because obviously they're
different in ways, but like howdoes the way that we interact
with our friends, how can welike paint that onto our
relationship with the Lord incertain ways to.
Give us a better understandingof like what this relationship
(23:07):
he wants it to look like becauseit is such a relationship.
And I think that's somethingthat man religion has missed
for, for a long time that Iwanna, I wanna dive into more
because there is, he desires arelationship and like he doesn't
need it, but he wants it.
Like, that's just something Ithink that is hard for us to
understand cuz we're so needsdriven as needs, you know?
(23:30):
For sure.
Yeah.
Well, what is one thing that youfeel like you used to struggle
with in prayer that you've nowgained some traction in, you
know, like some growth here.
Um, what is something that maybeover, the last few years or so
you would say that you have?
Okay, I've like seen a stepforward here.
(23:52):
Um, what comes to mind there?
Ruthie (23:54):
Um, I used to be really afraid of praying in front of
people.
Um, Yeah, I think everybodystruggles with that.
But um, when I was in my midtwenties, I was in a lady's
small group and the last thingthat we would do at the end of
the group time was pray for theperson on our left or on our
right or yeah.
(24:14):
Whatever the leader wanted us todo.
And I used to just sweat overit.
Oh yeah.
He's so nervous.
And, the more I participated,you know, the more I just grew
in that confidence.
Mm.
Right.
I was also part of a home churchat the time and we would go out
evangelizing and praying forpeople on the streets.
(24:35):
Mm-hmm.
And oh my goodness, that made meso uncomfortable.
But yeah, that's where I reallystarted to not only get
comfortable with praying forpeople, but like praying in that
power cuz I would see peoplechange.
Um, yeah.
Yeah.
And so I think if you'restruggling with prayer, joining
(24:56):
a small group or a serve team isthe perfect place to start out.
Um, getting exposure to otherpeople, praying, um, being kind
of put on the spot.
Maybe, you know, some, a lot of,um, of the serve teams will be
like, Kimber, you pray or pray,you pray, whatever.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, you'll find that, you know,just the more you do it, the
(25:18):
more you get comfortable withit.
Mm-hmm.
Um, right now I'm in a smallgroup, on Monday nights with
some elderly ladies.
I think I'm the youngest personthere by like 30 years.
And, um, I'm learning so much.
Yeah, I bet from them.
I love that.
Yeah.
They, I mean, I've been prayingmy whole life, but I'm, I'm
still just like, whoa, that wasbeautiful.
(25:39):
You know what they just said.
And they just break right onthrough heaven when they're
praying.
And there's just somethingbeautiful about continuing, to
have this conversation with Godno matter where you are, what
stage of life you're in.
Um, you can always learn fromthe next generation or, yeah.
Um, people that are justpassionate about praying.
Kimber (26:01):
Yeah.
That's one thing that I'vereally enjoyed so far talking
with Megan and you about in thisis, is just like learning from
you guys even.
And I totally agree with thecomment of like, you know, get
into a small group or somethingbecause mm-hmm.
Um, then you can, like, youbuild relationships with those
people and you can practicethese things in an environment
(26:22):
that, you know, feels safer.
And for sure it isn't a ton ofpeople right there, you know, if
that, if like praying in frontof people is something that's a
challenge for someone that, likestarting with a small group or
even just a couple people Yeah.
I think can be, can be such agreat way to like, get your feet
wet if you will.
Yeah.
Or you could just do like youdid and get.
(26:43):
Like, just go to the all theuncomfortable things, like all,
you know, street evangelism and,and just like cannon ball into
the cold water, if you will.
Yeah.
In that, but yeah, that'll doit.
Right.
I love that.
Hey friend, forgive me fortaking a quick moment in this
(27:04):
conversation to ask a favor ofyou.
I hope my conversation withRuthie is blessing you today.
And if so, would you take amoment to rate and review the
show on apple podcasts?
Reviews are so helpful inbringing new friends to the
show.
And I love reading what isblessing you from the podcast?
You can find the link to leave areview in the description of
this episode.
So thank you so much for takinga second to do that.
(27:26):
Okay.
Now back to the show.
So, when the, one of the thingswith this series that we've
really been focusing on is, likeI said, just how these
different, like spiritualdisciplines or just aspects,
aspects of our faith walk thatgrow our relationship with Jesus
can then flow out to grow ourrelationships too.
(27:48):
And so I would love to hear justlike, how do you see a growing
prayer life with the Lord?
How do you think that impactsour friendships?
Because I think so often wethink of it as well, that's a
personal thing.
My prayer life is, but mm-hmm.
I think it does impact.
So how do you see thathappening?
Ruthie (28:07):
Oh man, there is nothing better in the world than having
a prayer partner.
Mm-hmm.
And there's nothing that knitsyour hearts together, like
finding unity in praying foreach other or praying for a
cause.
my bestie and I met for a seasonat five 30 at the church every
(28:28):
Monday to pray.
Wow.
And we prayed for each other, weprayed for our families, we
prayed for the church.
Mm-hmm.
Um, for our ministries.
And, you know, it was asacrifice to get up that early
and meet, you know, that earlyin the morning.
but it started out our, our weekand it was something that we
(28:48):
both felt like that wasimportant to do.
And wouldn't you know that ourfriendship grew so much in that
season?
Yeah.
When we were crying out to theLord on behalf of each other and
our community.
not to mention like when you seebreakthrough in the things that
you're praying about.
Mm, yes.
It is so fun to celebratetogether.
(29:11):
Mm-hmm.
Like, we would literally calleach other, you know, super late
and be like, ah, oh my gosh,it's so fun.
Love that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then, you know, the mostbeautiful thing about this is
that we spent hours in dedicatedprayer time together and the
(29:31):
Lord used all of it and webecame like this prayer unit.
And when we were together, likethings were happening, we would
pray for people and they wouldget healed.
And we would pray for people andthey would get filled with the
Holy Spirit.
And God was just moving.
(29:51):
When her and I prayed for otherpeople together, it was so
amazing.
Like, we are praying for this.
So this young soldier mm-hmm.
And we had anointed him with oiland he had been on a jump.
He had jumped outta an airplaneand he'd hurt his back really
bad.
Mm-hmm.
And, we both had our hands onhim and we were praying and his
(30:14):
back started heating up.
Mm-hmm.
And, and we looked at each otherand we were both just like, keep
praying.
And so we were just praying andpraying and praying and he kind
of left, you know, and he textedme the next day.
He's like, I just woke upwithout back pain for the first
time in months.
Oh.
He's like, and you know, itcaused him to rejoice.
And then of course we're callingeach other like Right.
(30:37):
Yeah.
So man, God will work throughyour friendships, man.
If you wanna make somebody yourbestie, just invite them, to
pray with you, and You know,whether it's you're praying for
your marriage or you know,Ukraine or mm-hmm.
Like, pick up a voice of theMartyrs magazine, pray for the
persecuted in China.
Like, it doesn't matter.
(30:58):
Right.
But when you are praying witheach other, the lo the Lord is
so honored by that.
And you will see breakthrough inthe things that you're praying
for and I promise you, and thatperson will grow together too.
It's beautiful thing.
Kimber (31:13):
That's something that I feel like, you know, you hear
talked about okay.
So not in the tra in thetradition.
I grew up, you never reallyheard this idea, but I know that
it is a common term in sometraditions with the idea of like
agreement in prayer.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Ruthie (31:30):
Yeah.
you know, I think some peopletake this first outta context a
lot.
Mm-hmm.
But I, I also think.
this verse applies to, and it'sthe, the verse that says, when
two are more gathered in myname, um, I will be with them.
And historically like that is a,targeted to like church
discipline.
Mm-hmm.
(31:50):
But again, I've seen this timeand time again when you and
another person, you both lovethe Lord and you are just
praying, God is like, I'm gonnamove.
You're agreeing in prayer.
Mm-hmm.
That, you know, the things thatare bound in heaven are, are
bound on earth, and whatever isloosed on earth is loosed in
heaven.
Like God has given us authorityand somehow there is just,
(32:14):
again, it's a mystery.
There is a power in praying andagreeing.
As a unit that, things would bedone and God's will would be
done.
Mm-hmm.
And, I don't know.
Yeah.
You know, in Chrisses it says,the verse about, uh, th the
three chords, you know?
Right.
That, who can undo, uh, youknow, what does it say something
(32:35):
about the,
Kimber (32:36):
it's like a cord of three strands is not easily
broken or something.
Yeah,
Ruthie (32:40):
that's exactly.
Mm-hmm.
And so when, when you're astrand, your buddy's a strand
and then God is that otherstrand.
Like you can't break thosethings off those.
That is a powerful, powerfulthing.
When you pray with a friend or,you know, another sister in
Christ, there's just things thathappen and God will use every
(33:02):
moment of
Kimber (33:02):
it.
Hmm.
I love that.
And even from just like a superpractical standpoint of that
like, man, when you're prayingwith someone else, it's like,
You're not just your faith outthere.
Like, you can lean on eachother, like build each other's
faith up in that moment andencourage each other with things
that like the other one wouldn'thave thought of.
(33:23):
And like, I just feel likethere's such, it's just the, the
same principles that apply tolike why we work together in
just the world.
Like we help each other, likeour, our brains work together
and our hearts strengthen eachother.
And of course that applies to,to our prayer moments as well.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
(33:43):
I love that.
So if you're, like, if someone'slistening in, they're like,
okay, prayer partner.
Um, what should I, like, how doI go about getting, getting a
prayer partner?
Like what does that look like?
Did you just say to your friendlike, Hey, let's pray at 5:30 AM
like, you know, what has thatexperience for you in kind of
getting to that moment withsomeone, um, or building that
(34:05):
kind of a relationship lookedlike?
Ruthie (34:07):
well, initially we just wanted to see some breakthrough
in our ministries.
Hmm.
And, we were like, you know,this is important enough, we
need to prioritize this time.
and so that's kind of how thatstarted.
But, man, if you, if, if you'relistening and you know, you are
struggling with some things oryou need to see some
(34:27):
breakthrough, in your prayerlife or in your family, or
whatever's going on, getyourself somebody that you know
loves the Lord Hmm.
And is faithful, to, you know,setting a a part a time.
And, you know, you d it doesn'thave to be in person.
Maybe this is somebody who livesacross the country and you could
do it over the phone, but makesure you have a regular time
(34:51):
that you're meeting right.
And don't miss it.
Why do you think that's
Kimber (34:54):
so important?
Because I agree.
Ruthie (34:56):
Yeah, because it establishes a routine, right?
You're like, for us it was likeMondays at five 30, we're
praying, we're not schedulinganything else.
During this time, our husbandsand families will be asleep.
we won't get interrupted duringthis time.
and, and there's somethingagain, when you sacrifice to
(35:17):
make time for something asspecial as prayer.
Yeah.
Again, God is honored by that.
Kimber (35:23):
And so I think it's like, I mean, going back to the
Old Testament, image of prayeris like a fragrant offering.
and like the offerings, the OldTestament, like it's a
sacrifice.
Yeah.
Otherwise it's not Well of, youknow, if it doesn't cost you
anything, it's not a sacrifice.
So.
Correct.
I think that correlation, itmakes a lot of sense to me in
the context of scripture that,you know, the setting aside of a
(35:44):
time sacrificing that time andmaking it set apart, I think is
just, it's like trusting theLord with what you're doing.
Yeah.
Rather than for sure.
Trying to fit it in to randomtimes or something like that.
Ruthie (35:56):
Absolutely.
You're so right about that.
And, you know, it doesn't haveto be super early in the
morning.
Sure.
It could be at nap time or, youknow, before bed or whatever.
Whatever works for you because.
Any, I feel like any time thatyou have downtime and you're not
watching Netflix or doingwhatever you wanna do, like you
(36:18):
are sacrificing, you know, yourtime to do something important,
like meeting with God.
Mm-hmm.
And, you'll be blessed and Godwill be honored.
So, so do it.
I love that.
And, um, I love that.
The other thing that, thatprayer with your friends does
is, You know, in, in James five16, it says, confess your sins
(36:39):
to each other and pray for eachother so that you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous personis powerful and effective.
Mm-hmm.
I want my prayers to be powerfuland effective.
Yeah.
If I'm speaking prayers, like Iwant them to be heard and I want
them to be powerful.
And when you find a girlfriendthat you can pray with and you
(37:03):
trust each other and you have asafe space to, confess sin to
one another, you will receivehealing and God will bless you
through that.
And then, and then you go intoprayer time and your prayers are
gonna be powerful and effective.
It's like a win win.
but the more you establish thatrelationship and pray together,
(37:25):
that confessing of sin becomesnormal and mm-hmm.
Um, right.
It becomes something that, youknow, can be uncomfortable at
first, but then becomes routineand then you have
accountability.
Yeah.
And it's, it's still good.
Hmm.
So I just wanna, um, I justwanted to throw that out there
(37:46):
too.
Yeah.
Kimber (37:46):
It's such a good challenge for us.
Yeah.
I love that.
and actually ask someone toengage in that kind of a
relationship with you and setthat time, man, I think that
kind of intention can, I canfeel hard at first, but I love
your encouragement that like, itis worth it.
Yes.
It's worth it to, to maybe makethat awkward move.
So I love that.
Ruthie (38:06):
Yes, for sure.
Kimber (38:07):
Well, as we wrap up today, I like to end my
conversations just with someencouragement for our friends
listening, about whatever we'retalking about.
And man, today I feel like theperson who is on my heart with
this is just like a friend who'slistening and she's like, man, I
want to grow in my prayer life,but I just feel stuck.
Like, I don't know, maybe likehow to move forward here.
(38:31):
Or maybe she's been, prayingsome prayers that feel like they
haven't had much traction inthem or Sure they're stuck in
some way.
Like what would you say to hertoday is like the encouragement
or direction to move forward in?
Ruthie (38:46):
I would like to say first of all, that everyone
struggles with prayer at somepoint.
Whether it's getting going orjust not.
You know, experiencing thatbreakthrough or just feeling
like you pray the same prayersall the time.
Mm-hmm.
Um, there are literally like 5million different books and
(39:08):
e-courses on prayer because itcan be a mystery.
Mm-hmm.
I would say go find some books.
yeah.
You know, first of all, theBible is sufficient for
everything in life.
Yeah.
And, um, in Matthew, Jesusteaches us to pray the Lord's
Prayer.
(39:29):
you're feeling like you justdon't know, like the order or
like how you should pray, Jesusmodels that for us in the Lord's
Prayer.
Yeah.
And so just meditate on thoselines one at a time, you know?
Mm.
Our father who are in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
And just even if you spend, youknow, five minutes on each line
(39:50):
of that prayer, and you canpersonalize it.
And, um, that's a, that's a,first of all, a great place to
start love.
But also look at the Psalms.
Those are also beautiful,beautiful prayers.
and again, tons of good books.
I just read Praying The Bible byDonald Whitney, and it's just
(40:11):
all about, um, the power ofpraying scripture.
Mm.
Kimber (40:15):
I love that.
Ruthie (40:15):
But, something that is just timeless too is, uh, like
the Puritan prayer books.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, like Valley of Vision and,piercing Heaven.
That's another good one.
Um, prayers that avail as much.
These are all just like prayerbooks that, yeah.
Are super old, but, really giveyou a good, like foundation
(40:36):
Yeah.
For all kinds of differentprayers.
But, um, if you are, you know,maybe you're a little further
along in your prayer lifemm-hmm.
And you're just feeling like, Iwanna pray more in power, or,
You know, I want to, I wanna seepeople healed, or I want to see
(40:57):
people delivered, or I just praythe same thing every day.
And, man, go out and evangelize,pray for people.
Mm-hmm.
You know, go to the park, see ifyou see somebody that needs
prayer, just say, Hey, can Ipray for you and start doing it?
Start seeing God work.
again, I, I will always put in aplug to join a small group or a
(41:17):
serve team, because Yeah.
You will again, have manyopportunities to pray for people
to receive healing or to be, youknow, just blessed, see
breakthrough in their family.
But I think the most importantthing I can tell everybody is,
you know, Jesus says, my sheepknow my voice and they hear me
(41:37):
and they follow me.
And if you don't pray, then youwon't know his voice.
And it's not just praying, it'salso listening.
Mm-hmm.
And so just start somewherewhether You're just in your
bedroom and you're praying, oryou're praying with your husband
or with your kids.
I mean, just start somewhere sothat you can start to recognize
(42:01):
the leading of the Holy Spiritand, God's voice when he speaks
to you in prayer.
And be sure to listen.
not enough just to say yourprayers, like give God some
room.
You know?
a prayer is a, conversation, anda conversation is a two-way
street.
So you, you have to make roomand time and space to listen.
(42:24):
Um, yeah.
To God talk to you when you'repraying.
So, um,
Kimber (42:28):
what does listening look like for you, would you say?
Yeah, because I think that'ssomething that, you know, maybe
seems a little bit ambiguous tosome people.
Ruthie (42:37):
Sure.
you know, there's a time and aplace for the listening prayer.
sometimes when you're outevangelizing, you're just like,
Lord, heal this person, andthat's all you have time for.
Mm-hmm.
Um, when you're listening, it's,it's in a quiet place.
you know, I, I wouldn'trecommend doing it with, while
(42:57):
you're cooking lunch oranything, like
Kimber (43:00):
when your kids, it's hard to listen when you're doing
other things.
I mean, yes.
It seems intuitive to me inregular human conversations.
Ruthie (43:09):
Yeah.
And, you know, God's voice comesin that still small whisper.
It's, um, I've heard it,described as like the tickle of
a feather on your soul.
Um, so you have to really setapart.
Um, some quiet time and space toactually listen and, the Holy
(43:31):
Spirit will speak to you.
It is God's will to speak to youand for him to know you and for
you to be, for you to know Godand his character and who he is.
He's a good father and he wantsto be known, and so he will not
withhold.
Um, one of my favorite verses inthe Bible is, ask and it will be
(43:52):
given to you, knock, and thedoor will be open.
Um, search and you will find me.
I don't think I said it in theright order, but, um, that's
okay.
You got
Kimber (44:01):
it in the pieces.
Yeah.
Ruthie (44:02):
That is God's will.
He, he wants you to come to himand it's his will, for him to be
known as well.
So, mm.
Um, just start, just startpraying and pray with your
sisters.
And pray for, pray with yourkids.
Mm-hmm.
and you will be blessed.
I, I promise that is, that is apromise.
Kimber (44:21):
Mm-hmm.
I love that man.
So good.
Ruthie, I am really thankful foryou sharing with us today.
It was just so, encouraging andchallenging for me.
And I, again, like we said, I'mreally blessed to learn from you
and others in this cuz it'sdefinitely something that I feel
like the Lord is growing meright now in me right now.
(44:43):
And so thanks so much fortalking to us today.
Thank you.
I love it.
What are you gonna go out and dotoday on this lovely summer day?
You got anything fun planned?
Ruthie (44:54):
Well, you know, I'd love to go paddle boarding.
Mm-hmm.
But it.
Yeah, if this rain looks alittle dolly Yeah, it would be
on.
Kimber (45:04):
Hopefully by the time this airs next week, it will be
beautiful and sunny and we willjust hope that you got a chance
to go do that.
Oh Lord.
Ruthie (45:13):
Let it be so.
Right.
Amen.
Amen.
Kimber (45:17):
Thank you, Kimber.
Thanks so much Ruthie.
You
Ruthie (45:20):
have a great day.
You too.
Kimber (45:25):
Friends.
I'm so glad you could join meand read the, on the show this
week.
If you are feeling encouraged totake a step of faith toward a
deeper prayer life after ourconversation know that I'm
praying for you in that.
Maybe you start with readingacts like Ruthie said, or
carving out some focused,consistent time for prayer in
your day.
Or maybe it's asking a friend tobe your prayer partner.
(45:46):
Whatever your next step is.
I know the Lord is going to meetyou there.
And friends, if you are lovingthe series so far, will you
share it with a friend thisweek?
It's my biggest prayer out ofthis series that you would take
these conversations to your ownfriend circles.
Don't let the talk stop here.
And a great way to do that is toshare the podcast and then talk
about it after you've bothlistened.
Maybe you ask the friend, you'dlike to be a prayer partner
(46:08):
with, to listen to it as anavenue to talk about join each
other in prayer once a week.
And remember the best way tostay connected with this
community is by joining mynewsletter crew.
All you have to do is visit yoursister kimber.com to subscribe.
Then you'll get my weeklynewsletter directly to your
email inbox each Tuesday with apreview of what will be featured
on the podcast that week.
(46:29):
I also like to include apractical tip to try for that
week and some other resources tohelp you grow friendships, the
honor, God, and draw you closerto Jesus.
Friends.
Thank you so much for being partof this community until next
time.
It's your sister Kimber.
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