When Life Hurts: How Prayer Became Donna VanLiere's Lifeline

Hey everyone! Welcome back to another episode of Stuff God Never Said. I'm Audrey Cauthen, and today I'm thrilled to have my friend Donna VanLiere with us. Donna is an amazing mom, author, speaker, and a true prayer warrior. In this episode, we dive into the power of prayer and what it means to pray from a position of victory in Christ.

Donna shares her personal journey through infertility and how it deepened her prayer life. She talks about the challenges and blessings of adopting her three wonderful children from China and Guatemala. We also discuss her experiences as an author, including her popular Christmas novels that have been adapted into TV movies.

But it doesn't stop there. Donna opens up about her battle with a neurological disorder that left her in pain and how prayer and fasting played a crucial role in her healing process. Her story is a powerful reminder of the importance of praying boldly and persistently, even when things seem impossible.
Throughout our conversation, we emphasize that prayer doesn't have to be complicated or perfect. It's about talking to God, our Father, and trusting Him with our needs and the needs of others. Donna encourages us all to step out in faith and pray for those around us, whether we're in a grocery store or at the gym.

Join us as we explore how prayer can transform lives and ignite a passion for connecting with God. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and comment below with your thoughts and prayer requests. We'd love to hear from you!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at [e-mail]. See you next time!


TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Authority in Prayer
0:16 Introduction to Donna VanLiere
0:43 Donna's Family and Adoption Journey
2:22 Donna's Children and Their Achievements
2:48 Donna's Career as an Author
3:14 Christmas Novels and TV Adaptations
4:02 Writing Nonfiction and Collaborating with NASA
4:40 Fiction Trilogy and Biblical Prophecy
5:36 Donna's Walk with the Lord
6:24 Infertility Journey and Prayer Life
7:31 Adoption as a Calling
8:53 Misguided Advice During Infertility
10:31 The Power of Prayer and Fasting
11:02 God Gives the Desires of Our Hearts
12:02 Journey Through Infertility and Adoption
13:17 Donna's Health Challenges
14:18 Neurological Disorder Diagnosis
15:39 Seeking Treatment and Facing Challenges
17:01 Disfigured and Seeking Prayer
18:17 Lack of Prayer Support in Church
19:53 Turning to Fasting and Prayer for Healing
21:08 Experiencing God's Healing Power
22:51 Heart Change Through Prayer
24:17 Starting a Women's Prayer Ministry
25:39 Encouraging Others to Pray
26:44 Overcoming Fear in Prayer
27:55 The Simplicity of Prayer
29:09 The Importance of Prayer in Everyday Life
30:36 Personal Testimonies of Prayer
32:02 The Authority of Prayer in Jesus
33:31 Spiritual Warfare and Prayer
34:42 The Reality of the Spiritual World
36:00 Encouragement to Pray Boldly
37:08 The Impact of Prayer on Others
38:35 The Power of Persistent Prayer
40:06 Personal Stories of Prayer and Healing
42:02 The Role of the Holy Spirit in Prayer
43:14 Conclusion and Encouragement to Pray

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
If we're true believers in Christ, if he's our Lord and Savior, then we have his authority.

(00:04):
And we don't pray for victory.
We pray from the position of victory.
Hey guys, thank you so much for joining us today at Stuff God Never Said.
With me today is my friend Donna VanLiere, who is, she is so many things.

(00:26):
She is an incredible mom, she's an author, a writer, speaker, but most importantly,
she is a voice for prayer, she's an advocate for prayer, and she is, she is who I think of
when I think of a prayer warrior.
So thank you so much for being with me today Donna.
Well thanks for having me.
And my kids might, you know, have some qualms about incredible mom.

(00:48):
Hey, I know your kids.
I know your kids.
Bad moms don't make incredible kids.
So I'll fight them on that one.
Good to hear.
Well, just, I would love for you to just introduce yourself a little bit, tell us a little bit
about what you do and, and you're walk with the Lord and how he's done all that he's

(01:09):
done, woman and all, we don't have time for all, but some of the really amazing things
he's done.
Well, as we just discovered, I just had a birthday this week.
Yes, happy birthday.
Happy birthday.
Yes, birthday people.
Everyone say birthday.
And in November, my husband Troy and I will celebrate 35 years.

(01:31):
That's a big deal.
35 years and we have three children.
Our two girls are from China and our son is from Guatemala.
So we went through a pretty long journey of infertility.
Yes, and so hard.
Yeah, so yeah, it is a hard journey.
That's why when you were on it, if you remember, you came in for prayer, you were on the

(01:53):
prayer and we even prayed that people would stop saying things.
If God didn't say it, don't say it.
Right, right, right.
You don't need to tell her that because we heard a lot of it.
So I knew the things that you were hearing.
So yeah, we have the three kids and they are awesome.

(02:15):
My oldest is now 23.
Wow.
Graduate of college.
Yeah, I've got a 21-year-old and an 18-year-old.
And they really are.
They're amazing.
They're so intelligent.
They're sweet.
They love the Lord.
They're good people.
Yeah, they're good people.
I've definitely been blessed.
Yes.
You raised people you want to hang out with and that I feel like is the goal.

(02:36):
Right.
Exactly.
I don't know if we want to invite them for Thanksgiving this year.
Yes, I definitely want them over for Thanksgiving.
That's so good.
I love that.
Well, you've done an awesome job.
And tell us a little bit about your work as an author.
Yeah, I've worked as an author of, oh boy, for 20-some years, 24 years now, I guess.

(02:57):
Wow.
Yeah, a long time.
I've written a lot of fiction, which God has blessed me with story ideas.
And so I've written some fiction novels that have six of them have been made into, made
for TV movies.
Six of those?
Six.
Oh, I only know about like two of them.

(03:18):
Yep.
Which ones are they?
Well, they're all the Christmas novels.
It's Christmas shoes, Christmas blessing, Christmas hope, Christmas notes, Christmas secret,
Christmas town.
And there have been so many times, well, the first time I read a script, I was like, did
they even read the book?
Because this is so different.

(03:41):
And by the last one that was made, they literally got the main character's name right.
That's what they got right.
Everything else was different.
Oh.
Not quite sure why they even wanted to adapt the book, because it really wasn't the same.
But we could probably agree that the books are better.
Well, the book is always better.
The book is always better than a movie.

(04:03):
But yeah, so I've written fiction.
I've written nonfiction.
I wrote the biography of Rick Husband.
He was the commander of the space shuttle Columbia.
Oh, wow.
So I worked with many people at NASA to write that one.
Yeah, there was many times I would have to say say that one more time in layman's terms.

(04:23):
Why can't I understand?
Literal rocket scientists.
They are.
They really are.
Yeah.
So yeah, I've written fiction as well.
I wrote the trilogy of books that was two thirds of it was fiction.
And then the last third was where I got it from the Bible.
Yeah, was that the Jacob's trouble?
Yeah, that was the--

(04:43):
Those were so good.
That was a series of them.
It was the time of Jacob's trouble, the day of Ezekiel's hope, and Daniel's final week.
And it was about what the Bible calls the end of days.
So it was fictionalized.
But then at the end, it was really a biblical study about where it all comes from.
Yeah.
In scripture.
Yeah.

(05:03):
That 27% of the Bible is prophecy.
It's not just made up.
It's not make believe.
Yeah.
It's not myth.
All those things will happen.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
I've just worked as an author over the years and worked as a speaker.
COVID kind of shut a lot of that down.

(05:24):
Yeah.
As it did.
Yeah, COVID.
Yeah, it's just--
Yeah, it's just--
COVID things.
Yeah, it's just doing the COVID stuff that it was so good at.
Yeah, I've just done that for, well, over two decades now.
Wow.
So long time.
That's amazing.
So you're walk with the Lord.
Have you always loved Jesus?
Well, I was--
I became a believer when I was six years old.

(05:45):
But yes, I loved Jesus, but I didn't love Jesus until I was an adult, truly.
When I was-- you know, when I was really walking with him and really opening the Bible by
myself and really studying it and really just getting into his Word and learning more about
prayer at that time as well.

(06:06):
Yes.
And of course, our journey of infertility really took me into the Word.
Yeah.
And bring it close.
And to pray.
So that all really just kind of upended my life in a good way.
Yeah.
It's a sad journey.
It's a long journey because you know that.
It's hard.
It's painful, it's lonely.
Mm-hmm.

(06:26):
Yeah.
It's a really hard journey.
And I don't wish it on anybody.
Yeah.
You know, I can agree with that.
I know what joy adoption was for us.
And-- but I never want to-- I never say that to people if they're going through an infertility
journey.
I say, well, you know you can always adopt, you know, because no.

(06:47):
I heard that so many times.
But when you're going through that journey, the Lord has to bring you.
Yes.
To that.
And that's something I interviewed, Student Alicia.
Not that long, a couple weeks ago.
And they have a foster care journey.
And we briefly touched on that, but how walking through infertility or whatever the thing

(07:09):
is, some of the advice people gave is like, oh, just do that.
Oh, nonchalant.
Oh, nonchalant.
Oh, no.
Like, oh, just adopt.
And we're like, OK, but do you know what you're saying?
Like if you are not called into that by the Lord himself, don't do it.
Right.
Even if it's good.
Yes.
And one of the things we talk about is that just because it's good doesn't mean it's obedient.

(07:31):
Exactly.
Or obedient right now.
And if you're following the Lord, we had multiple, I wouldn't say, failed adoptions
because those babies have good lives.
I don't want to say failed.
But we did not get the children we thought we would get.

(07:52):
Right.
More than once.
More than three times.
And it's hard.
It is hard.
But you know, like it followed, followed what the Lord is saying.
Because could we have thrown more money and gotten what we wanted?
Could we have pushed our way through that door and got what we got to be parents?
Yes.
You know, maybe.
But that's not what God had for us.

(08:12):
Yeah.
Exactly.
And how hard would that be to push forcefully against the will of God?
But it's also a beautiful thing because God will let you do that sometimes.
Oh, yeah.
Like, you push, you push past him enough, he's going to say, okay, go.
Yeah, exactly.
This is a one and a half for you, but okay, go.
Right.
We have friends, they were, they were on their own fertility journey and they had a couple

(08:36):
of people who'd say, well, get on an adoption list and you'll get pregnant.
You're like, you can't tell you get pregnant.
Oh, and all this time, I thought it was a different way.
But yeah, people just say the craziest things.
Yeah.
You know, we got to the point where we didn't even want to talk about it in front of people

(08:57):
because we just dread what they would say.
And thankfully, we didn't have family members who did that at all.
But you know, I've known people.
It was rough with their families.
Yeah.
And the things that were said, that makes it harder and sadder.
Yeah.
Yeah.

(09:17):
Really sad.
Yeah, it's really hard.
What was your prayer life like in the process of infertility?
Because I imagine, and I could be wrong, I imagine that your prayer life, because of how
you pray now, I imagine it was like building blocks.
It was.
And then like, yes, deeper into prayer with the next trial.

(09:37):
And then deeper into prayer with the next trial.
Yes.
So I feel like infertility, I know what a heavy walk that is and how hard it is.
And so I feel like you have to either go wean into God or completely push God away.
Yeah.
You know, like there's really no, like it's that line of which way you're going to go.

(09:59):
There's no just like, I'm just going to keep hoping and you know, right?
Keep pumping myself with these needles, injecting medicine in my body.
And having such a good time.
Right.
Oh, that was the first time that I started to fast was during our fertility journey.
Yeah.

(10:20):
Infertility, rather.
Yeah, that was the very first time that I ever started fasting and I was just praying.
And of course, you know, we were praying for a child and we did get a child.
Yeah.
It wasn't the way that in my mind that I was praying for, but we ended up with three beautiful

(10:41):
kids out of it.
So it was during that time of prayer and fasting that God, that God changed my desires.
You know, the word says that God will give you the desires of your heart.
Yes.
I'm so glad you said that.
But this is the key to that.
God gives the desires.
God puts the desires in there.

(11:01):
Yes.
And the giver of the desires.
It's not like, oh, I want a car.
I want this.
You know, in that you're going to get all these desires.
No, God puts those desires in your heart.
And God put the desire for adoption in my heart.
Yes.
Yes.
100%.
I know it.
Yes.

(11:21):
Because there was a, there was just this shift as we were going on this crazy journey.
Like I said, all these medicines that they make you do and the tests, which are just horrible.
Yeah.
That's why I said I don't wish it on anyone to have to go through that.
But during all of that, just praying and fasting and just God molding my heart and just letting

(11:46):
me see little glimpses of adopted children with their parents.
I mean, I clearly remember one time I was in Kroger.
I was in the checkout lane.
And at another checkout lane, a couple down for me was this little Asian girl, little toddler
in the seat, you know, in the buggy where he pushed her around.

(12:10):
And her father was with her very white father, very Caucasian.
And but she just reached up and grabbed his neck and he brought her up out that night.
I was like, she doesn't know.
She doesn't know that he looks completely different from her and he doesn't know that either.
He just sees his child and that was such a God moment for me where God was saying, see,

(12:38):
there is no difference.
There's no difference here.
It's your child.
It's blood coursing through her veins.
No, it's not a mixture of your blood and your husband's blood.
And it's, she's covered by the blood of Jesus and there was a huge moment for me.
And all of that was brought on by prayer and the time that I was spent fast-named during

(13:01):
that time too.
And I am convinced that it wouldn't have been that way otherwise.
Yeah.
I just don't believe that I would have, that I would have been changed toward the desires
of God.
Yeah, I love that you brought up the desires of our heart because the whole prosperity,

(13:23):
gospel and name and claim it.
I feel like it just twists that into maybe not Americanized or Western.
I don't know.
They make it the, if you do good, you'll get good.
I'm like, that is the opposite of the gospel.
Exactly.
God does not want us to be happy and get everything we want.

(13:43):
He wants us, like, happiness is fleeting.
Like when our stuff goes, our happiness goes.
But God wants us to be holy, which is like an eternal joy.
Exactly.
Like, I want that.
I don't want the, give me what I want so I can feel happy until it gets hard or goes away.
You know?
So I love that.
It's just trading my will for his.

(14:04):
Yes.
Exactly.
But your will on my heart instead of me.
I, I found a journal, my, not that long ago that was like, I was praying for someone
who told me to pray specifically for what I want.
This is early in infertility.
And I like had it all written out.
I want four kids by 30, which is not out it went.
And I want, you know, two boys and two girls.

(14:26):
I want this.
I want that.
And I'm just like laughing at it.
I know.
That sounds like me.
Right.
Not like what I want.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, it sounds like me as well.
Like, it's like, I love you and it's really cute, but just buckle up.
Yes.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When I, when I started that whole journey, I would think, okay, I would pray, okay, all right,

(14:52):
Lord, you're will be done.
You're will be done.
I don't, I didn't mean that.
Yeah.
You know, I didn't mean it.
But now when I pray, I mean, I can, and then when I pray for people even, I say that God
has a perfect will in heaven and he sees it.
Yeah.
All laid out.
He sees Audrey's perfect will.
He sees everything.
All laid out in heaven.
And so I'll pray, what you see, the, see their Lord, let it be done here on earth.

(15:16):
That's so good.
That perfect will that he sees, because we always want to interject our will.
Yes.
And as well.
Yeah.
He's like, okay, I know you see something up there, Lord, but here, here's mine too.
Yeah.
And just keep injecting what we want.
Yeah.
Our desires.
Yeah.
But what's wild is he's like, you would miss so much.

(15:37):
Mm-hmm.
If I just give you what I want, what you want it.
Yeah.
And so much.
Right.
Like you're dreaming too small.
Yeah, exactly.
You know, right.
Right.
So, so good.
So you adopted your three precious babies.
How long was that process from?
Well, it was way too long.
For our daughter, for oldest Gracie, it was 18 months.

(15:59):
I say it was longer than the gestation of an elephant.
That sound long, it was long.
And then our second daughter, they narrowed it down.
It was more like 14 months or 15 months.
It was still very long.
It was, yeah, it was really long.
And for David and Guatemala, it was supposed to be six months, but they kept kicking his paperwork

(16:19):
back out like, no, you need another signature here or another signature in Guatemala.
So that ended up being 12 months.
So that was the shortest of the three.
And it was the shortest flight as well.
You're like 12 months in four hour flight.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yes.

(16:40):
Oh, man.
You got your three babies.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And he was, they were all different.
The two girls were, they were both found on the street.
And policemen found both of them.
One was in front of a government building.
So I know that the mama put it right there in front of that government building.

(17:01):
So that, you know, the police would be able to find her quickly and get her into an orphanage.
And then our, our, our, our first daughter, she was, she was just found on the side of the
street there.
And a policeman took her into an orphanage.
And what a testimony they all have.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
And David was, when he was born, he was taken directly into foster care.

(17:25):
So his journey was a little bit different than the girls, but, but they all made their way
to Tennessee.
Yeah.
Sounds uneventful.
Right.
You're right where they came from.
Yeah.
But that might be nice.
A little, a little season of uneventful.
Yes.
Exactly.
Oh, man.
So let's, let's talk about your, I don't know, you ought to call it a diagnosis when you

(17:48):
started to become.
Sure.
I don't know.
I mean, I don't even remember the details of that story.
Sure.
So yeah, if you would just touch on kind of what happened with your health.
It was almost 13 years ago.
Wow.
And I kept feeling my, my head start to, to pull.

(18:09):
It was like it was like a muscle thing that was happening.
So I would have to literally just like twist it back around.
But it kept happening.
And then it was happening more frequently.
And then it started to the point where it kept getting stuck.
And I would have to stop and just focus on getting my head straight again on my body.

(18:33):
And then it got to the point where I would have to count down inside of my head, say, okay.
And three, two, one, turn.
It was like, I was like trying to tell my brain, tell my head to turn.
So, and that was pretty progressive.
It was happening pretty quickly.
So I went to the doctor and he took a look at me.

(18:55):
And he said, you have to go see a neurologist.
He knew there wasn't anything that he could do for it.
He just knew.
And so I made an appointment with a neurologist and went into downtown Nashville.
And he said, oh, you know what you have?
It's just this neurologist.

(19:15):
His bedside manner was terrible.
He said, you have a neurological disorder.
We don't know what causes it.
We don't even really know what to do for it.
Except.
We do know that your brain sends wrong signals to your muscles.
And so my brain was telling my two opposing muscles to work at the same time.
So like if your bicep is working, your tricep is relaxed or vice versa.

(19:39):
Okay, yeah.
But my brain was telling opposing muscles to work at the same time.
Particularly in my neck and in my back.
And there were times where I would go and then in the beginning I would try to go get a massage
thinking, okay, I just must need muscle work done or something.

(20:01):
And there were so many times a massage therapist would start massaging my back.
And one woman even said, wow, you have muscles like a linebacker back here.
And then one person said, wow, I know some men who would love these muscles back here.
And I never said anything.
You know, I never said, it's actually a disorder I've got.

(20:23):
I don't mess with me.
Yeah, because it's nothing that I did to.
It just makes my muscles tense and hard.
So I go to this neurologist and he said, well, what we can do is we can give you injections
in your muscles.
And you'll have to do that every three months for the rest of your life.

(20:46):
So they don't address the brain at all, which causes it.
The brain is sending wrong signals.
So he started giving me, he pulled out six needles and he started giving me injections in
my neck, which hurt a lot more than I thought it was going to hurt.
And once he got done with the fifth one, I started to pass out.

(21:09):
And he grabbed a hold of me and pulled me back up.
And he said, well, let's forego that sixth shot.
And I was like, that is the only good thing that he said this entire day.
And as I was walking down the hall, he actually yelled out the door.
He said, now remember to set your appointment for the next three months for your next round
of shots.

(21:30):
Yeah.
Cool.
Thanks, guys.
I thought you've got to be kidding me.
For the rest of my life, I have to do this.
I have to see you.
Right.
And he said, another thing, he said, now this won't even take effect.
It takes about two weeks for it to take effect.
And yeah, so really it only lasts for about two and a half months if even that before you

(21:52):
have to go back in for your next round.
And at the time, my kids were small.
My son was five at the time.
And so I got in the car, was pulling out of the parking garage, actually, when Troy called
me.
And he said, well, what did the doctors say?
And I said, he told me there's something wrong with my brain.

(22:13):
And he said, well, we knew that.
What else did he say?
Right.
Gotcha.
Right.
Which made me laugh.
But I started to cry at the same time.
Because you know that one part of my brain thought, I actually have a brain disorder that they're
telling me there's no cure for it.
There's nothing that can be done for this.

(22:34):
But the other part of me was saying, God created my brain.
And God can heal my brain.
And I wasn't ready at that point in time to like really start that fight.
So that was so discouraging to get that news.
And at that time, my head was literally stuck over my shoulder, Audrey.

(22:58):
Oh, I mean, you drove yourself out of my tail.
I know it was hard, but it can be done.
And did you still move it?
Or was it literally just like it couldn't tell it to me?
It was stuck and it was so painful because you know, if one part of your body isn't working
right, especially if it's your head, it's your neck.

(23:19):
Everything down my back, everything was in pain because it was all a skew.
I was literally disfigured.
And what I mentioned in church was at that time we went to a different church.
We want to make everyone aware it wasn't the church we go to now.
It was not conduit.
It was another church.

(23:41):
And they had a really long hallway where I would take my kids to classes.
So I would walk my kids down to class there.
And in that long, great hallway passing so many people and they would walk up to me and say,
oh my goodness, what happened to you?
Were you in a car accident?
You know, because how else do you get like that?
Did you fall or you know, what happened?

(24:04):
And so I would tell them, well, I have this brain disorder and you know, the doctors say that
there isn't anything that can be done for it.
And so I got a lot of, oh, wow.
Huh.
I'm going to pray for you.
And then they would keep walking.
And that happened Sunday after Sunday after Sunday because like I said, it was obvious.

(24:30):
There was something that was wrong with me.
And I was so sad.
Here I am in this church and church people aren't praying for me.
I would walk around Franklin or you know, have to pick the kids up at school or whatever.
Go to the grocery store and run into people and the same thing.

(24:53):
Wow.
No kidding.
Huh.
I'm going to pray for you and walk away.
And I always say, if you told me that this happened to you, Audrey, I wouldn't have believed it.
I wouldn't have believed that no one in a church prayed for you.
But it happened to me and I know that it was true.
No one prayed for me.
All those many months that I was twisted up and no one in the whole city ever prayed for

(25:20):
me.
It was the craziest thing.
Like I said, I was so sad.
I would thank Lord.
Why are any of your people praying for me?
But then after a few months, I got really mad.
And I thought, Lord, why aren't any of your people praying for me?
I am clearly a disfigured person.

(25:42):
And what was really frustrating was at the time.
I just clearly remember it.
There was a couple of different times where there was a pastor who came into our home and
saw me and there was someone else in Christian ministry who came into our home.
And when I was in another room, I heard the mass Troy.

(26:05):
What's the matter with Donna's neck?
And so, and I heard Troy explain to these two different people who at two different times
at our house and neither of them even prayed for me in my own home.
Someone in Christian ministry and an actual pastor.
Not a lead pastor, but you know, a pastor.

(26:28):
So it was just, it was staggering to me that that happened.
And I had determined I am not going back from more shots.
I'm not doing that for the rest of my life.
And like I said, I wasn't up for that fight as soon as it happened.
And it was a few months in.

(26:48):
But at the whole time, I was reading scripture, I was reading the Bible, I was praying.
And then it just came to me, I mean, the Lord just gave me the greatest desire.
I was like, I have got to fast.
I have to fast to see if my head will go straight on my body again, to see if I can break up
this pain.

(27:09):
And I told Troy, I said, I'm going to start a fast to pray that my head will go on straight
and that the pain will break.
And he said, well, how long are you going to fast?
I said, I don't know.
So I started to fast and I knew I would have to do the Daniel fast, would just be pure fruit

(27:29):
or pure vegetable, not mashed potatoes.
Yeah, that's all the more stuff in it.
Right, it would just have to be the pure, unadulterated veggies or fruits.
And then I would do a day here or there where I would just do the pure 100%.
You like, you just water.
But I knew I needed some food because of my brain.

(27:51):
I needed food, some sort of nutrition to get to my brain.
So I just started to fast and I was praying throughout, I was reading scripture.
And I would love to say that it was all mountain top experiences, but it was mostly valley.
It was valley experiences.

(28:11):
I mean, I can't even remember a day where I was like, woohoo, yeah, I'm on it.
It wasn't like that at all.
It was, my pain got worse.
It got much worse.
It was so bad.
I couldn't even walk like down to the mailbox to get the mail because it was so painful.

(28:31):
Because like I said, when your head is not on your body correctly and you're trying to walk
and your spine doesn't line up correctly as well.
So it was a really painful time, but on day 32, I woke up and I could twist my head around.
I could twist my head around and the pain had broken up.

(28:58):
And I tell people I'm 97% healed.
Wow.
I'm not 100% healed.
Like even sitting here today, I feel it.
Yeah.
I feel the muscles in my body trying to fight back a little bit.
And like I just came from an appointment, you know, that helps me with some things.

(29:21):
But I just praise God that I am not where I was almost 13 years ago.
Because I don't know what my body would look like really.
And I don't know what my brain, how it would be functioning, everything would just be
so different.
But he has just brought me so far.

(29:44):
And I know there's probably someone who's saying, well, you're not 100% healed.
No, I'm not.
I still wear contacts too.
Yeah.
Right.
I still wear contacts.
You know, there are people who still have hearing aids.
There's still people who are on a cane or they have a prosthetic.
No, I'm not 100% healed.

(30:04):
But I'm still relying on God for that final 3%.
But the fact of what when I spoke in church was that what changed me the most was not the
fact that my head is straight on my body again.
Like if people see me today, they would never have known that I was disfigured all those

(30:30):
years ago.
But what changed me the most was my heart for people because I never wanted anyone to feel
the way that I did.
I never wanted anyone at all.
If they're walking in the grocery stores or in downtown anywhere, walking around in pain

(30:54):
and no one touching God for them, no one doing that.
I never wanted people to walk into a church and realize there's no one here who will pray
for me.
And I'm disfigured and no one will pray for me.
Imagine the people who have chronic pain and you don't see it.

(31:15):
You don't know it.
Who are you going to?
Who are you going to find for prayer?
So that's why I just started praying.
If I would see somebody, I would say, "Hey, can I pray for you?
If I would run into someone and they would tell me what's happened, say, "Hey, can I pray
for you right now?"
And tears would always fill their eyes, always, because they just couldn't believe it that

(31:39):
someone was going to touch God at that moment for them.
And it didn't matter if I was in Hobby Lobby or the parking lot somewhere, at discount
tire, at public's wherever I was.
I mean, I prayed for cashiers, just a 30-second prayer, having a horrible day.
And I prayed for you right now, 30 seconds, get my groceries, just keep walking.

(32:01):
Because it was so important, I just didn't want people to feel that way.
I didn't want them to feel that they were neglected and overlooked and just not cared for.
So when I came, when we changed churches, we'd only been there, I don't know, like five
or six months.
And I asked, "The pastor's wife, Shannon, you know, I said, "Hey, can I start a

(32:26):
women's prayer ministry?"
And it's just, everything is just kind of dominoed from there.
The prayer ministry that we have now, where people, you know, fill the auditorium, where
people can come up for prayer.
Because I just couldn't let anyone come into a church and feel that way.

(32:51):
And I'm so grateful for our pastor, Darren, because pastors can't do that.
They can't do everything.
No.
Even a church staff, they can't do everything.
They can't create all these different ministries.
There are only so many people.
And at that time, the church staff was much, much smaller than it is now.

(33:13):
But I'm so grateful for him that he was like, "Yeah, go for it.
Just do it."
And so to be able to pray with people and say, "Hey, could you do this on a Sunday morning
as well?"
And some people have really, they've stepped out of their comfort zones.
You know, some people have said, "I don't think I can do that.

(33:35):
I don't think I can pray with people.
I know you can.
I know you can do it."
Yeah.
I love how God used your anger.
Yes.
I just feel like anger.
Right.
Just anger.
Yes.
I feel like anger is something that's so frowned upon.
Yes.
And oftentimes compared to faith.
Like, "Oh, if you're angry, then you're not having faith."
Like, "No, maybe I'm angry because I have faith."

(33:55):
Yeah.
Right.
I'm angry because I have faith.
I know things can be different.
And, but like, he uses that.
He uses that passion in you and that super painful, confusing experience.
I would, I could imagine that was very confusing.
Right.
That like, everyone's saying this, but not one person has even in my own church said,

(34:18):
"Oh my gosh, can I pray for you?"
Yeah.
That's so scary.
You must feel so afraid.
Can I pray for you?
Yeah.
How?
How does that happen?
It's confusing.
Yeah.
But, but you sharing even just that alone, and I've said this before, that picture of you

(34:38):
being in a church hallway and no one praying for you has played in my head so many times
and combatted lies from the enemy about what prayer has to be.
It really has.
And God has used that anger to, to, I've watched, I have watched our safety team at church
pray over people in the hallway.

(35:00):
Like, I feel like God has used your, hurt, your righteous anger to cause a ripple effect
in the way prayer works at our church.
Yeah.
And it's just like, hello.
Well, hello, just pray.
Yeah, just do it.
The Lord calls us the house of prayer.
Right.
The Lord calls us of kicking it and being like, works in the house of programming.

(35:24):
Yes.
Exactly.
But it's a house of prayer.
And it is so important.
Maybe the most important.
And we just treat it like, like, I do think, I do think the enemy has given everyone, I mean
not everyone, but many people, is spirit of fear around it.

(35:45):
Yes.
I'm not high up enough in the church or I am a new believer or I don't know the Bible
that well or I don't want to quote something and get it wrong or I don't want to, I don't
know how long I'm like, there's like, it's like there's these rules that everyone who's
like, high up enough or close enough to Jesus knows that everyone else doesn't know.

(36:05):
And I feel like the majority of people think they're in the, like, the group that doesn't
know.
Yeah.
And that's just not true.
Right.
It's just not, all you have to do.
We have the privilege of just going to our father and just talking to him whenever we want.
We don't need any burnt offerings.
We don't need anything.

(36:25):
We just talk to him.
Exactly.
And like, let's talk to him about our friend.
Yes.
Who needs him?
Exactly.
Let's talk to him about our friend who doesn't know him.
Let's talk to him about, you know, a good parking spot, whatever.
He cares about it all.
Does that mean he's going to say yes to everything you want?
No, it doesn't.
Right.
It doesn't at all.
It doesn't mean that you have unlimited access and you can show other people that they

(36:50):
too have unlimited access to the creator of the universe.
Right.
That's a big deal.
And it's also, let me finish this thought before it all comes out, but it's also not a big
deal.
Like you don't have to just bring big deals before him.
Yes.
Exactly.
You agree anything.
Right.
About anyone.

(37:11):
Yep.
Yep.
Yep.
I always say don't make it weird.
That's why I think so many people don't pray.
They just make it so weird.
Yeah.
You know, because I think, well, do I touch your shoulder?
Do I do it?
I do it full of my hands.
Do I kneel down?
You know, what do I do?
Do I do this?
Yeah.
And it's just, the people just make it awkward.
And you already said, you're talking to your father.

(37:34):
Yeah.
You're already talking to your friend.
Yeah.
Well, now you just say, you just start praying.
Yeah.
All right.
Can I pray for you, Audrey?
Yeah.
Right now, you know exactly what she needs.
I pray you move all the right people and all the right places
because she needs your help today.
Yeah.
I mean, it can just be so fast.
Simple.

(37:54):
It can be so fast, so simple.
Don't make it weird.
Don't make it hard.
Even Jesus said, don't use a lot of words.
Yeah.
He said that.
Don't pray a lot of words thinking that you're going to be heard or, you know, think you're
going to be smarter.
Looks smarter than everybody else.
No.
Just keep it simple.
Jesus prayer, our Father, our heaven, the Lord's prayer.

(38:16):
That is a short prayer.
If you don't know how to pray, pray this.
Yes.
Pray this way.
He wrote it out.
Read it until you memorize it if that's what you need to do.
Right.
You know, it covers all the basis.
Yeah.
It covers everything.
And you can just pray for anybody, anywhere.
You don't have to, you don't have to hold hands and bow down.
You know, and just get on your knees and progress.

(38:38):
Right.
You don't need to do that.
Right.
I mean, weird people.
Yeah.
Nobody has ever said, you mean right here by this serial, you're going to pray right here
by the eggs.
Yeah.
No one has ever done that.
It's actually, I pray right now.
Yes, please.
I remember you saying that and I tested that theory myself.
Yeah.
And to this day, because I do that a lot more than I ever thought I would.

(39:01):
And I just, it's like the spirit just taps and is like, hey, that was a good time.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Let's pray.
Let's pray about it.
Right.
You should pray.
It's not weird.
It's not like, I'm never, has anyone said no.
Oh my gosh.
When I'm like, can I pray for you?
And it was, and it was, it was actually funny enough a guy in ministry.
He was like, I just don't have time right now.

(39:22):
I got to run.
Oh, okay.
Not, not church ministry, but he was in, he was like, pray for me from afar.
And I was like, I got you.
So it wasn't like, you know, don't pray.
Okay.
It was just like, like, can I pray for you?
And he was like, I got to go.
But will you pray for me while I go?
Right.
And I was like, yep.
I got you by.
I thought I was going to get my first no.
It was about a year ago.

(39:43):
I was walking in downtown and I saw a little girl.
She was around five maybe and she was bald with her mom.
So we know what bald means when we see a child.
Yeah.
And but the mom had shaved head on both sides.
And in the middle, the hair that was there was different colors.

(40:04):
And she had piercines, you know, throughout her face.
She had tattoos.
It was in the summer.
So she was wearing a tank top, she had tattoos.
And she even had a piercing that was right there.
Like the clavicle one.
I don't even know how that works.
Because where's the other, where's the backing?
I don't get it.
And the Lord knows.

(40:24):
Yes.
So I saw the mom and I was like, oh, boy.
I mean, I just sensed from the Lord, pray for this little girl.
And I looked at the mom and I thought, that's going to be a big no right there.
There's just no way.
And even when we walked across the street, I sensed it again, pray for this child.

(40:45):
And I thought, Lord, have you seen the mother?
Because I'm looking at the mother.
Are you looking at her, Lord?
And it was again, it was like pray for this child.
So I asked her, you know, when we cross the street, I said, how's your little lamb doing?
Oh, but a precious way to see that.
Yeah, I don't even know where that was the Lord.
It just came out.

(41:07):
And she told me where she was in her chemo treatments.
And I said, well, can I pray for her right now?
And she said, yeah, actually, I would love that.
And here I am thinking that she's going to say no.
But I'm telling you, Audrey, people, they may not look at, they may even rail against it,

(41:32):
but deep down, they want to touch from God.
Because there is that hole in our hearts that's been put there from design, from creation.
It's put there by the Lord, for the Lord.
And she wanted that touch from God for her little girl.
So I prayed for her on the streets.

(41:53):
It was really busy, but she didn't care.
She didn't feel awkward about it at all.
And she went her way and I went, I went my way.
I wish I could have heard that prayer.
I don't even remember what it was, but I mean, I just, because it was the Holy Spirit.
Yeah.
And it was just another learning experience.
It was like when the Lord says go, just go, just do it.

(42:16):
No matter what that person may look like.
Yeah.
And it's so easy for us to, and we all do it, whether people want to admit it or not, to
look at someone and say they wouldn't be interested.
Yeah.
Or they're too busy over there, they don't need me to do anything.
Or we have all these reasons why they're not the ones we should, or we're not the ones

(42:42):
who should approach them.
Right.
And that's just such a good memory.
It's not even you, it's the Lord.
The Lord wants to reach them and he's interesting Donut to do it.
And that's really an honor.
It's a huge honor.
Right.
It is.
But people need to remember is that we have the authority in Jesus to pray.

(43:05):
He gave us that authority.
We're covered by his blood, by the blood of Jesus.
If we're in Christ, if we're true believers in Christ, if he's our Lord and Savior, then
we have his authority to pray.
And we don't pray for victory.
We pray from the position of victory.
Ooh.
Because Satan's already been defeated.

(43:26):
Yes.
He's already defeated.
A lot of people, I don't know when they, I sense that when they pray that they feel like,
"Well, I didn't go anywhere."
Yeah.
But that's just not true.
That's not true.
Because the Bible says that the moment we start to pray, an answer goes out from heaven.

(43:49):
And that God is already working.
He's that, the answer is already being given.
And he's already at work.
He's already shooting for the arrows to reroute the enemy.
And there's all sorts of stuff happening in the spiritual world.
So I always tell people, take the pressure off of yourself.
You just pray and everything is up to God.

(44:11):
Yeah.
Everything.
Yeah, I saw this interview.
You mentioned the spiritual world.
I saw this interview with a, was it a witch or a former witch or something like that?
And she said, just because I feel like we spend a lot of time not thinking about the reality

(44:33):
of the spiritual world that we live in.
She said there was some kind of like dart throwing thing.
I don't know.
I really should have paid more attention to what it was.
But she said there was like pictures of kids on this wall and they would like throw
darts and those darts had some kind of like spiritual authority, I guess, or something.

(44:55):
I don't know.
I feel like I'm going to have to go back and rewatch and then like make this make more sense.
But she said I could always, I could always tell the kids that were prayed for because the
dart would literally move.
Really?
It would literally, I would throw it towards them and it would shift itself like at the
last minute.
Wow.

(45:15):
Like before it.
Wow.
The way to put spells on people or something.
And I remember thinking people who are witches or serve the enemy of God or are Satanist or
whatever, they don't doubt the spiritual realm that we live in.
So we shouldn't either.

(45:36):
Exactly.
And you know, Satan knows the authority that we have in Jesus.
He knows it.
He doesn't want us to know it.
Yeah.
And he wants to keep us from knowing it.
But we do have it.
It's there.
It's for us.
It's right within reach.
It's literally a prayer away.
It is literally just talking to your dad.

(45:58):
Talk to your dad.
Right.
And we live in this broken world, chaotic world that is so noisy and so distracting.
And people more than ever, they're hopeless.
They're despairing.
They're suicidal.
You know, suicide rates are up and they need us to touch them in the grocery store at the

(46:22):
gym.
My son is now having a conversation with a guy that he met at the gym.
Just out of the blue, this guy asked my son, do you go to church and is asking him my 18-year-old
son?
I'm telling you, there are people who are out there, they're searching.
And they are looking to be touched by God.

(46:45):
And that's where we come in across the world, you know, throughout the streets, our businesses,
the gym, the grocery store, the hairstylist, wherever we are.
We are that touch of God.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I feel like a lot of times the people who do have the boldness to do it, like street
preachers, it's like they focus more on hell than they do in heaven.

(47:06):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll say.
Yeah.
Let's just make it about Jesus.
Yeah.
You know, don't go to hell.
You'll burn forever.
Love Jesus.
It's like, wait, hold on.
That's, add that to the list of stuff God never said.
Right.
Yeah.
Right.
You know, it's a, yeah, I just, I love how you said it.
Just a touch from God.

(47:27):
Like, that's all it takes is all, that's all he needs.
Yeah.
Just a little, a little open door.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, a little bit of boldness.
Yeah.
And then if you, if you discover that something is wrong, really wrong in their life, their
husband has left them, that happened to a woman I prayed with in a, in a store, yep,

(47:48):
her husband had just left her.
We just stopped and prayed.
If, you know, whatever you find out about them, it comes up, hey, can I pray for you right
now?
Yeah.
Again, don't make it weird.
It's just part of your conversation.
Yeah.
And you just start, you talk to God and then just keep talking.
Yeah.
it, wherever you are. Yeah, yeah, just don't make it weird and make it happen. I do want to share,

(48:11):
do I have time to share this story because it's, um, I was a few months ago because I want people to
know about this when it comes to, to prayer. Yeah, it was just not a few months ago. It was a few weeks
ago. I was having a really bad stretch of pain and I never know quite why it happens, um,
but it does. Yeah, I think it's people sometimes people just create stress in my neck. Um, that,

(48:38):
that makes sense. Um, and it was a bad stretch of pain and I was at the Y on a Saturday morning,
doing one of my classes. They have a lot, they have stretching classes there that I go to because
the stretching is really good for my neck and my back. So I go there and it was during that class,
I sensed the Lord say, have Mark pray for you today. This guy at our church and I've only seen him

(49:06):
like three times at the Y, the whole time I've been a member there and it's always been around
the same time of day and it's during the week. And I'm always there on Saturday and I'm like, okay,
they had to be me because I know he's not here on Saturdays. He's never been on Saturday. I've
never seen him here on a Saturday. And so finish the class and I sensed again, the Lord say,

(49:27):
have Mark pray for you today. And I again, I thought, okay, Lord, is that you or me? Because I know
that Mark's not here on Saturdays. And so I was about to leave. Again, it was just this urgency was
like, have Mark pray for you. So I was like, all right, Lord, I'm going to look in this room and prove to

(49:50):
you. He's not here. You know, that's sort of thing. And so I stuck my head around in the wellness center,
you know, where all the equipment is and who's there? Mark. Good old Mark. On a Saturday. And I walked
over to him, I tapped him on the shoulder, he turns around and he's like, oh, hey, Donna. And so I said,

(50:11):
Mark, you're not going to believe this. I said, actually, you will believe this because I sensed
that the Lord was telling me that you were here today and you're supposed to pray for me today.
And I said, and I was actually arguing with the Lord that you're never here on Saturday. He's like,
I know, I'm not. And he says, he says rare than ever here on a Saturday. So he prayed for me right

(50:34):
there in the why, late hands on me, prayed for me. I told him what was happening. And my pain got
worse. I got so much worse. And this is what I want people to know that sometimes that happens when
you pray for something, either the pain will get worse, the situation will get worse, something will

(50:57):
get worse that oftentimes happens. So I don't want people to get discouraged by that in any way.
I want you to keep praying through, you know, in your infertility journey. You had to keep praying
through because there's a lot of discouraging painful times that happen and something like that.
So it was a few days later and my pain was still really bad. And I ran into a couple of friends.

(51:24):
And you know, we were just talking out out on the street actually. And it was telling, you know,
we were just catching up. And then before we went dispersed to where we were going, I said, you
know what? Could you two pray for me really quick? And I told them what was happening. They laid hands on

(51:45):
me, prayed and we all went our separate ways. And it wasn't immediate, but it was probably three
hours later. My pain was gone. Yeah. But again, it's like you have to pray through. So many people
stop short. They stop short and they don't see the miracle. They don't see the damn break. You know,

(52:09):
they don't they don't see the wall come down because you have to keep praying through. Yeah. And
it was years ago when I was praying. And of course, I don't have the scripture because it just
entered my head. But when I was praying, it read in my Bible, I was like, Lord, what do you want me to
know about this disorder I have? What can I do? What can I do for this? And he gave me, it was very

(52:36):
clearly. It was a scripture in Acts. And like I said, I can't remember what it is right now. And
so I was turning there. And literally as I was turning there, I said out loud, I said, Oh, Lord, please
don't let this be the scripture about, you know, Sephira and Ananias, you know, who dropped it.
Please don't let it be that because then I was, no, it was just me thinking these thoughts. But

(53:02):
the scripture I turned to was when Paul was laid laid hands on the man laid hands on Paul. And Ananias
laid hands on Paul and the scales fell fell from his eyes. And he was healed the blindness left him.
And it was, it just rang out to me so clearly that that it was where my healing was going to come from

(53:29):
is when people would put their hands on me and Paul. It's Acts 9-18. I just looked it up. I don't have
the Bible memorized yet. Right. I don't either. And guess what? That's okay. We can still pray for people.
Yeah, exactly. But when I saw my friends out on the street that came to me again,

(53:50):
because the Lord had told me all those years ago that my healing would come when people laid their
hands and prayed for me. So I asked them if they would pray and they did. And just three hours later,
the pain was gone. Now, does that mean that's going to happen for the rest of my life? Maybe,
maybe the Lord will heal me completely. And I won't have this brain muscle issue anymore. Maybe

(54:14):
that will happen. Yeah. What, however, he chooses to heal me. If it means like for the rest of my life,
I'm asking, Hey, Audrey, would you pray for me today? Yeah. If that's what it is, then that's what I'm
going to do. Yeah. But we just have to be faithful and obedient and just keep praying through. Don't

(54:34):
let the enemy discourage you. Yeah. And say, well, you see that? You see that? Audrey, it didn't work.
It didn't work. So give up. Now keep praying through. Yeah. I, I, like, as you're saying, that I'm thinking
through times recently where I've fasted and prayed. And, and one of the big ones was I did 42 has
always been my number that the Lord has led me with and directed me. I have a tattoo right here.

(54:59):
Oh, is that what that is? Yeah, that's what it is. It's a 42. Whatever God's calling me into something,
he, I mean, I can give you 25, I can give you 42 stories about how this number shows up when he's
like, go this way. Keep going. You're doing good. Like I started out boom 42 so many times it's wild.
Well, in the spring time, we, I felt the Lord putting this on my heart to write and podcast. And I did

(55:26):
not want to. I just didn't want to. I was not interested. I had those same thoughts about prayer.
Like, I'm not smart enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not, I didn't have never even been to Bible
school. Like all these things and he's just like, he just kept nudging and I was like, I'm going to,
I'm going to pray about it. I'm going to fast about it. Stoos, wife, Alicia, fasted with me for 42 days.

(55:48):
I was like, let's do a 42 day prayer, fast and prayer. Just meet and veggies. And I felt nothing.
And I feel like I sacrificed a lot with no direction and with no answers. And I didn't feel a
Holy Spirit. And I was just hungry the whole time. And I wanted cake. Yeah. Right.

(56:10):
Right. Right. That was like, cool. Makes for nothing. So we had at the end of the 40,
dinner on the 42nd day, we decided to go to a fancy restaurant to just talk about what the Lord
has done. And I'm like, guess what? He's done nothing. Nothing. Like I'm all grumpy about it.
I just want to eat. And I'm like, let's just not talk about it. Like I don't know. I'm kind of

(56:31):
back to square one. Well, we just ordered a meal and split it and split our checks. And would you
believe it? Both of our checks were $42. Oh my word. Wow. And I opened my check. And I'm like,
I look at her. I'm like, even 42. It was like 42 80 or something. But it was 42 dollars.

(56:55):
Both of us. I was like, yours is probably like 43 or something. And she was like, it's 42. Wow.
And I was like, dang it. Do I have to do this? Yeah. And she was like, yeah, I'd say so. I think you do.
But it's like stuff like that where it's like, I thought that the Lord would be like, oh, you're so,

(57:17):
you're so good. And you're fasting. And here's all the pets on the back. No, those days sucked.
Those 42 days sucked. I was hungry. I was grumpy. I felt like Jesus did not love me very much.
And I was like, cool. Thanks for really me do this for nothing. And then, and then it's like,
literally, I just, I still can't believe it when I talk about it. Like I took, we took a selfie with our,

(57:40):
with our checks. Yeah. And like we both have like tears in our eyes. Like, okay. Like what's the next thing?
Yeah. Yeah. But you, yeah. You knew you wanted to give up, but you didn't. And that's important for people
to know. Yeah. Is that like I said, you're not going to have those mountain top experiences. Sometimes,

(58:02):
sometimes you might be. Yeah. Yeah. But I didn't have power. Yeah. I did not either. Until I did. Yeah.
And it was like, I would never have, I would never have been at this restaurant with Alicia had I not.
Like if I gave up halfway through, I'd be like, ah, it's canceled dinner. I ruined it. I gave up. It was too hard.
Yeah. Exactly. We stuck to it. Yeah. You powered through. Yeah. Yeah. That's the way it is with fasting

(58:28):
and prayer. You just got to keep praying through. Yeah. Because there is a breakthrough coming. And then it
may not look the way that you want it to look. Matter of fact, it probably will not look the way that
you want it to look. Yeah. At all. I mean, when I was fasting and praying, I never, I never thought that I
would have a, have any lead up any sort of be a volunteer, you know, lead in a prayer ministry. I never

(58:54):
thought that. Yeah. When I started praying. Yeah. But God just keeps revealing things, you know.
He'll keep revealing things. And so that's why he's just got to keep, you got to keep at it. And it's
from the Lord too, just, just the capacity you have in your brain to like remember the things.
Yeah. So many people, you get so many prayer requests. And I feel like you follow up and your team too.

(59:20):
Yes. Follow up and continue to pray and ask about people by name. And I'm like, how did you remember that?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it is, it is funny because we've had a lot of people who come into the room
on Monday mornings when the, the women meet on Monday morning. And a lot, and many times people come
in their prayer. And there've been so many over the years that one time I was in a restaurant just

(59:44):
several months ago. And I was leaving this woman ran up to me and she said, Oh, Donna, hi. And I have no
memory at all. I was like, wow, I, I should know you because she knows my name. And then as she talked,
she, she's, you know, then she related being at the being with us to pray. And she said, I just

(01:00:06):
want you to know what's happened since then. And I was like, wow, but I thought, well, the Lord is so good
that I, I may not remember every face that comes in there, but they do. They remember it. And I
guarantee you that I do not remember the prayers that were prayed over people when they come in

(01:00:28):
there, but they remember them. Oh, yeah. Because I've had them tell me that so many times, they'll say,
and I remember that so and so prayed this. I was like, wow, that's a great memory because I, you know,
none of, I don't remember any of that. But it's not, it's not for me. It's for them. Yeah. That prayer
was for them. Yeah. To remember. And that just shows how involved the Holy Spirit is. Absolutely. I know

(01:00:50):
what you say. I know what they need to hear. Right. Let me do it. Yeah. And get out of the way and move.
You'll just keep moving on. Get out of the way. Right. Right. Keep moving on. It's so good. It's so good.
Yeah. I brought our youngest in for prayer that time. And it just, it was a mess. She was
Nick you, preemie had all the health things and skin things and sleep and eat. And it was, it was

(01:01:15):
really hard. And I was so thankful. And it was so thankful that I ignored how hard it was. But one
thing I just kept feeling is I was like, I can't, I can't ever put her down because I know she feels
abandoned. She feels afraid. I knew like I knew that in my mom get, even though she was teeny tiny baby.
Yeah. And I remember it was Debbie. Like you guys like took, took turns praying over,

(01:01:37):
laying hands on my sweet baby and praying over me and praying over her. And she no context whatsoever.
I was just like, I need to sleep and I need my baby to eat and not be sick. And that's it. That's
all I want. And she, she like prayed specifically over her blood, which we later found out that
there were like parasites in her blood. And I was like, she didn't, I didn't know that. Right.

(01:02:00):
The Lord told her to pray over her blood. And then, and then she also said, just she just was like,
I come again, it's a spirit of abandonment. And it, and she's held insecure. And every day since then,
I have prayed over that spirit of abandonment and that she would feel and know that she is held
and secure. Even if it's not by me in that moment. And now she's two and a half and she's

(01:02:22):
misindependent. And her skin looks amazing. And she eats all the food. And, and of course, it was a
process. You know, it wasn't just like, oh, they prayed and then everything went overnight. Right.
But, but like those prayers were answered. And they were so specific to my Josie that like that,
that was only the Lord. Yes. It is. And it is. I was walking in obedience. Right. It is, it's what,

(01:02:43):
yes, it's the Holy Spirit. When we're in there together and and people come in. Yeah, whatever,
you know, word or glimpse that we may get or scripture verse, you know, we'll just, we'll just
pray it. And like I said, we don't, we don't remember it. We don't remember it. But you still do.
And I'm still impressive. But they do. But they do. You know, they remember specifically what was

(01:03:07):
prayed over them. And that is just all the Lord. That's all he's doing and how he reaches and touches
people. He's so good. Mm hmm. So good. Well, thank you so much for coming here and having this most
important conversation with me. Well, thanks. I mean, every single guest I've interviewed so far has
talked about. I'm like, what carried you through? What got you through the brokenness? The

(01:03:31):
little, all the things. And like prayer prayer. And and then, you know, we see in here things, it's like,
oh, where's your you have to offer? And yeah, here is what we have to offer. And it is everything.
Right. So thank you for I and I'm praying that this episode will ignite a fire under every
believer to to pray more. Yes. And to pray boldly and to pray imperfectly. Yeah, you know,

(01:03:56):
absolutely. Just do it. Perfectly. Yeah. Just do it. Right. You're going to get words wrong. We
all do. Yep. You're going to outremember scripture. Yeah. It came from it's fine. Exactly. Yes.
Right. I know God said this. Yes. Somewhere. Somewhere. But he loves you. And I'm paraphrasing right now.
Really badly. Yeah. Yeah. But that's okay. Because God knows our heart. And he knows exactly the

(01:04:21):
scripture that you're thinking of. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Thanks.
You're the best. What a good day. Yeah. Great day. It's part day week. Yeah.
Hey, even though it's going to be like a month later, wish to do a happy birthday in the comments.
And Donna, both of them. That's right. Thank you guys again so much for joining us on Stuff God. Never

(01:04:44):
said. If you are watching this on YouTube, like, subscribe and comment. Let us know what you think.
How you're praying, how we can pray for you, all the things. We're so glad you're here. If you
have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at sup. That's sup [e-mail].

(01:05:04):
We'll see you next time.
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