EP 57 The Faith Behind the Prayer - Christina Voth

God, when He speaks, is faithful. And although you may not see it now, I can tell you it is beyond what you see in the natural. It will come. Welcome to iRefresh, where we talk about the power of prayer in God's Word. Today I have with me a dear friend of mine, Christina Booth. Welcome. Thank you. Good to be here. Thank you. Okay, so we have been friends for decades, and we won't say how many. No. We're college buddies. Yes. And we even do some vacation together now. And one of my now new favorite spot of mine is... Magnolia. So she was my personal travel agent, us and our friend Brenda. Yes. So we had a blast. And we've just been buddies for even praying for our families. So it's just been an incredible journey of just encouragement to each other. And so today, because I know you have such a heart for prayer and our desire is to really hone in on the power of prayer, the impact and what it means to you personally, I would love to you just to share from your heart. That sounds great. Well, what I was thinking about today to share on is my own personal journey where I have heard words from the Lord I've had promises in scripture, but where I have not seen it yet come to pass. And I wanted to speak to that heart to women, to people who are contending for something, but not seeing it yet. And who are frustrated, who are losing hope, who actually will put it aside and say, I'm not gonna pray anymore. or who are even angry in the situation, or just discouraged. I wanted to speak to that. I can't wait, because I can usually encourage men. Because you're right, there are times where you continue to pray. It's almost like sometimes even the prophecies. We don't know when that prophecy might happen. But it doesn't mean that God hasn't spoken. But we're just waiting for the answer. Exactly. Yeah, so this is my own journey. And so I'm speaking from experience. I'm encouraging myself today as well. Awesome. So for Isaiah 25, verse 1, this is Isaiah speaking about the Lord. He says, Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you and praise your name from perfect faithfulness. You've done wonderful things, things that were planned long ago. So the idea here is it was planned long ago. God already had it orchestrated, but it had not yet come. And here's Isaiah saying, in perfect faithfulness, perfect. You've brought it about, and I'm praising you for it. It's an encouragement to our spirit to say, God has planned things ahead of time. You can trust him because he's faithful, and in that faithfulness, he will bring it about. Which is good. And which is the other thing you're saying is it's part of our prayer is the praise. Right. And even believing in what. And he's really saying something has already happened. He's talking about probably looking at Israel. Yes. And he's probably saying. These are things that you planned a long time ago that you would birth Israel as a nation, and you will do things with Israel going forward because there'll be a remnant. And so he's praising the Lord for what God has done and what God is going to do and how faithful he is in that planning. Good. Okay. The other thing I wanted to speak about is asking the Lord to help you to see what what is beyond what you see in the natural. Because there are things happening in the heavenlies. There are things happening in the spiritual realm. So the things that you're contending for are not yet here, but that doesn't mean nothing's happening. So God has planned things for your life. He's planned things for you, and they are yet to still come, but they are there. And God will keep those things. He's faithful, but yet he will help you to see beyond what you see in the natural. So verse Hebrews 11, 7 talks about Noah. And it says, by faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen. So he's warned about the flood. He hasn't seen the flood. When he's looking out, he's looking at dry land. For years, he's looking at dry land. I don't know if they even had rain. For so long. A lot of theologians don't think that they did. That's why I've heard, because a lot of the water actually came up and sprung up from the ground. That's how it took care of the earth at that time. That's right. Which, that's incredible faith, if you recognize that. Yes. Like, he's never seen, maybe. Yes. Okay. Because he has to believe God, first, that God is saying something that's going to happen. But secondly, something perhaps he's never even seen before is coming. And the next part says, in holy fear, he built the ark to save his family. So we're talking about a man who's looking at the facts in front of him. Right. And he does not see what God is saying. But yet he believes beyond what he sees with his eyes that this rain is coming, this flood is coming, and currently prepares for it. So I want to encourage people that your prayers are building an arc of faith. So continue to pray daily and build that arc of faith, that arc of prayer for what is coming for the things that you don't see yet. You know, I want to add a side note with that is the ridicule that was also accompanied by that. Yeah. Because I don't know if it was his family, but you definitely know that people were around there mocking him in that process. So it had to be harder. Not only did he have to have the faith for the unseen. Yeah. is also the skeptics around. I think today that we can be believing something in our heart. I've, I have been more bold in my prayer life in the last year of trying to stand out and like have a voice of like what I'm believing for that I haven't seen. And, What I feel in my spirit, the Lord has showed me. Right. And trying to confess and, like you said, even to praise, knowing who my God is and directing my prayer and my praise of, if this is what you've done before, and I feel in my spirit, this is what you're directing me to. To actually even vocalize it in front of other people around me. Right. Which is... You open up your door to doubt and fear of what other people are going to say. Right. And that can be discouraging. And that can keep you from wanting to continue to pray. But I'm here to say pray. Pray into it. Don't let go of it. Build that arc of faith. Because God, when he speaks, is faithful. And although you may not see it now... I can tell you it is beyond what you see in the natural. It will come. So when I refer to skeptics, what is it that you do when you feel other people may doubt in what you're believing and standing for? Have you sensed that in your life when you've been praying for something else? How do you counteract it? Yes. There's a couple things. One is specific words that the Lord has given me, I feel like you have to guard. Scripture talks about guarding your heart for out of it flows life. And so there are certain words that I don't share with people that I am pursuing through prayer, but I hang on to. Because if I release it and then people are giving me these doubts or telling me other things, I may bend my ear towards that. I have to be careful. Yeah. So I want to steward what the Lord has told me. That's good. And that's really important. So there's times when you know something that the Lord's put on your heart, even if it's something in the promises of God that you are contending for with a family member. is sometimes not necessarily share that with other people. Maybe it's just a general, like, I'm praying for whatever. Right. But you don't necessarily speak specifically what the Lord showed you. Right. Just because I think you're right, though, it allows for other people to give opinions. Right. Which, you know, I think no matter what that problem might be in our lives or what we're fighting for is we can avoid some of the ridicule of other people so we can stay in faith a little bit easier, I think. Right. protect what God's put on our heart unless God tells you to release it. That's right. Yeah, that's a good point. I like that. So Hebrews 11, 11 to 12 talks about Sarah and Abraham. And this is an interesting point because normally we think of Sarah in the tent laughing when she's told she might have a baby. And we're like, okay, I don't think so. You're 90 years old. And she's laughing. But in Hebrews 11, 11 and 12, it credits her with faith. And it says, And that's the next part. The part that I encourage my soul with is that God is faithful to what he's promised. So if he's given me a word, he's given you a word. He's spoken to you out of scripture and you've got that promise. He's faithful to see that promise through. So because God is a keeper of the word, I can entrust my soul, my life, my thoughts, my discouragements to him because I know that he will be found faithful in that promise. So the thing I like to focus on is God is a keeper and he keeps that which he says he's going to do until it is fulfilled. You know, when you say a keeper, I also think about that he also, the tears that we shed, because over some of those things that we're believing for, there's definitely those tears. that we've cried out to God when we are desiring. And he captures those along with that, which is a beautiful thing when you realize in those moments of feelings very desperate when there's sometimes when it feels like when we pray over something, sometimes it's, I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like it's two steps back from what I was believing for. You might have a nugget of hope and then you start to rejoice and, And then it's like, I don't know about you, but sometimes it's just hard to not feel, not to give up, but to be discouraged in the process. Right. Well, I think that's where we get back now. We talked about Sarah. We get into Abraham. Because in, let's see, it's Romans 4, 18 through 21. I'll just give you a few parts of it. But it says that Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead. Wow. And so we get discouraged because we don't see anything. Or like you said, we go backwards and we're feeling like we're even further from where we believe God was going to take us. Yeah. He faced the fact that his body was as good as dead. And I don't think it's wrong to be able to see the truth that's set before you, the facts that are before you. But the difference with Abraham is that he said that beyond all hope, he had hope and he believed in God because God had the power to do what he promised. Yeah. And so even though he faced the fact, he had hope. And the hope came not from himself, not from what he saw. The hope came from knowing who God was and that God would keep that promise for him and be found faithful. So practical today. So how does that today translate for something that you have been praying for that you haven't seen come into fruition? How do you do just what you saw Abraham do? Yeah. For me, it always goes back to prayer, Cheryl. Okay. I love prayer. I spend time in prayer. I've gone through the gamuts of not wanting to pray for things, being frustrated in prayer. I've gone to the gamuts of where all I do is cry before the Lord. But it always goes back to prayer. Prayer is the key. Prayer is building that faith of an ark before the Lord. And each day is another piece laid in that ark to where you're building it. and where God encourages your soul and rebreats again that, that word that he spoke to you or that promise. You know, I know you are tenacious. I mean, your personality is very almost defiant. Like I'm not going to give in like that's your natural other people. That's not necessarily their bent. And, For them to have a discipline, to be able to stir things up within them. Like, you know, you have to stir up. Like David said, I had to encourage myself in the Lord when he felt discouraged. What would you say to someone, though, that that's not their natural inclination? How do you stir up faith? Right. Okay. Two things that I do, and we're talking about when you have a word from the Lord or a promise that you are waiting on and it hasn't come to be. Yes. Yes. So two things I recommend. One is when you can't go to prayer anymore because you're just tired of talking about it, you go to the Word. And I'm not saying go to the Word and stir up that faith and be that mighty woman of God. I'm saying just regular Word reading. But ask the Holy Spirit to reveal something to you fresh and new that day while you're reading. That's good. For example, I did that the other day. I was discouraged about one of the words that God has given me. Mm-hmm. I'm reading in the book of Jeremiah right now. I'm like, oh, Lord. I don't want to read about a weeping prophet right now. I need encouragement. And I said that to the Lord. And I said, but this is in my quiet time I'm going to read. Would you encourage me? And there's one little verse in this whole chapter I read that said that God, if you repent, God will cure the prodigal. And I thought, oh, my word, one of the things I'm praying for are the prodigals in the United States. Wow. And I thought, you know what, Lord, you're going to cure these prodigals. You're going to bring them home. They're going to repent. But you are the one who will do the curing. And so that's just an example of how the Lord encouraged my heart in something I'm praying for. for America. That's good. Because, you know, the one thing I, when you just said even just being in the Word is if you have a discipline to being in the Word every day, and like I use the YouVersion app just to go and I have a Bible plan that I use. And you can start any day. It doesn't have to be January 1st. But there's a lot of different things just to be able to get into the Word. I find it's amazing how God orchestrates what I'm reading that day. Yes, to what you need. Sometimes it's not even for me, but I'm like, wow, that's a really great nugget. And then I realize when I hear that, I'm like, Lord, you reveal something I didn't understand before. I feel like he gave me a clear understanding of a part of Scripture. Right. Right. But so often then, too, is I will be around somebody later on that day or within two days. I literally will share that nugget with someone. And then I'm like, wow. Right. I'm encouraged when I'm like just sharing with them and I see them spark. I'm like, OK, that was for them. Right. So it helps to stir up someone else in the word to help them with whatever. I didn't know. I would share like, oh, this was kind of fun to hear. Yeah. Yeah. So I love how we can stir it up in each other to encourage each other to be able to believe, pray what God has promised for us that it'll still happen. Right. And the beauty of it is that when you're reading Scripture, just regular time with the Lord, when you have to put or you think you have to put prayer aside, it stirs prayer in you. Because you're thinking, like in my situation, well, now I want to pray for the prodigals again. I want to pray because God says he'll cure them. So I have hope again. Right. The other thing I wanted to talk about when you say how can you encourage somebody who needs to be encouraged in prayer and in faith is to just stop and... think about the things you're thankful for. So if you can't go to reading the Bible or you're discouraged in prayer and don't wanna pray, sometimes I stand at a window in my home and I look outside and I just thank the Lord for what I see. And I'll say things like, Lord, I thank you for the tree that I see in front of me. I thank you for the color green, because you made colors. I thank you for the way that tree provides shade for the kitten that just came underneath. We have a lot of cats in our neighborhood. Yes, you do. For that, for the birds that are in the tree. Then I'm reminded of how God provides for them. And these are small creatures compared to many creatures that are, you know, larger. But God cares for them. And so I start stirring up faith in me. If he cares for the bird, he cares for me. And then scripture comes back to my memory and I'm starting to pray. I'm starting to engage in communication with the Lord. There's a shift that happens. Mm-hmm. That heart of gratitude is really the factor. And I think you're so right when you go out in nature. When you were talking about a tree and then when it's green, I'm like, well, winter was really hard on some of our plants. We've lost a lot of them. But there's these ones in our front yard, they're two incredible hollies, but they have not looked really good. And we're like, oh, our landscape guy is like, oh, I think they're going to make it. And then a week ago they were like, I don't know. They're not looking good. I'm like, you know what? I am going to speak over them. I'm going to breathe on them. He goes, well, go for it. And so I'm like, I went around and I heard something about Deuteronomy 28, the blessings. Like, Lord, I don't remember what the blessings are, but I'm blessing my trees. And they will live and not die. And they will declare the works to the Lord. And you know what's so funny? My husband and I, we got out this week. And sure enough, I got up underneath the high. But I'm like, we're looking out. There's green. There's green. And I'm like, ah. I took a picture. I sent it to the landscaper. It looks green. Yay. You know, because I'm like, it is life. And I'm like, that's the beginning of spring. And there's like new hope that rides. I'm like, we have hope. Like, we don't want to replace them. And actually, we can't because there's nothing left to even replace them. So anyway, I'm like, God's blessing on letting us see the glimpse of life. Yeah. It's awesome. And the beauty that you can rejoice because God is a life giver. He's creator. And if he's a life giver, the word he's given to you will be a word of life over you that you will see come to pass. You can trust him in it. There's a beauty in life that surrounds us in nature because it really does show the glory of the Lord. That's good. Yeah. So, Christina, you know, you talked about when we're praying and the plans that you have. But when you're praying, it's not just for you or your family. You've also talked about you're praying over the nation. Right. Tell me, how does that look to you and how it affects even the life around you? Yeah. Here's a beautiful example of that. I could just cry about this because I just think there's so much promise in it. My mom was raised by her grandmother for eight years. in war-torn Nazi Germany. My mom ended up coming to the United States when she was 18. Her grandmother died when my mom was in her 30s. Her grandmother prayed for her every single day, a spirit-filled woman. I can't imagine what those prayers would have been like to cover my mom, knowing all that she had gone through. My mom said the day that her grandmother died, she felt a change, a shift around her. She knew that her grandmother had died before she was even told. When I was thinking about that and contemplating about how prayers move through generations, the Lord led me to a verse, Psalm 31, 11. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever. And the purposes of his heart. through all generations. And I just felt the Lord say, not only is that grandmother's who was born in 1886, her prayers not only affected her granddaughter, but God is still fulfilling them even today, five generations later. And I know that that's what our prayers do. So we have to hold on to the promises and the word that's spoken to us. We have to continue to build that arc of faith, of prayer, because it not only affects us and our families, but generations to come. Christina, you shared some really powerful nuggets of just the power of prayer and prayer. that arc of developing that. I love the way you describe that, you know, the plans that we got has that we are to really see that we can't quit. And that's the, really the message here is that you contend, you don't stop. You continue to press through because even looking at her grandmother, you know, And the heritage that the blessings of those prayers are actually even being fulfilled in your life, but your children and their children. That is the thing that we have to hold on to. And a lot of it is she's also talked about is having hope and stirring it up, getting into the word and allowing the Lord to encourage her. Those are like those are gold for us. Yeah. And I'm so grateful for those just reminders for you. And we just believe with you that God would help you to see the power of prayer, even when, like she said, you don't necessarily see it. but he is working on your behalf. And we want to join together. We have to have sisters in the Lord come together. That's what I Refresh is about, is we join our faith together and encourage each other to not quit, to keep moving forward. We hope that this has been a real encouragement. I think Christine has given us some really great steps of reminders that we have hope. We have hope in who God is, how he's established himself. and that he will do what he says he's going to do. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his word will stand true. So believe in him that he who started something in our lives, he will continue until it's fulfilled. Please reach out to us. We have an iRefresh community on Facebook, and we would love to have you come together. If you would like prayer, we are here for you. Just reach out, let us know, and we will arrange to even have personalized prayer with us. Christina, thank you for joining us today. Welcome. Thanks for having me. you