EP 67 The A.C.T.S. of Prayer - Gail Marten

She had her little stack of Bibles and reference books and everything, and she prayed for her family. She prayed for her five kids, her grandkids, and my mom modeled that so beautifully. But she was a prayer warrior, and she sat in her what we referred to as the prayer chair for at least an hour every day. Welcome to iRefresh, where we talk about the power of prayer and God's Word. Welcome to another episode of our iRefresh podcast, where I have Gail Martin. Welcome. Thank you. It's an honor to be here. Well, I'm so glad you're with us. And, you know, you had rave reviews. People are like, you've got to have Gail on. And so I just thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for you just to share and testify of the power of God's Word in your life and prayer. Yeah. Well, what an honor. I have known the Lord for many decades, got saved when I was 14. And I am so grateful for my upbringing because I was raised in a Christian home. And we went to church every Sunday. There was no swearing, no alcohol, no smoking, just a very wholesome upbringing. I'm so grateful for that. And I ended up going to Oral Roberts University. I had never known a single soul who went to ORU. So for me to go there, I realized was absolutely the direction of the Lord, because how did he get me there? It's amazing when I look back at my life, but I'm grateful and I think for prayer, probably the biggest thing in my life is prayer of thanks. And I was taught early to follow the word, the letters ACTS. A-C-T-S, when I pray. I still do that. Okay. Where A is to start with worshiping and adoring him. I still just take time to do that. And then C, confession, taking time to confess our sins. And let me interject a scripture here. I'm not good at memorizing scripture anymore, so I thought I would have it in front of me. It's easier when we were younger. James 5.16 says, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. So it is a prerequisite for us to confess our sins. And I feel like there's always a prerequisite for prayer, but usually very simple things. You know, God isn't asking us to do huge things in order for him to answer our prayer. Sometimes it's just to be confident and be. Another scripture, 1 John 5, 14, 15, says, This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him. So what's the prerequisite there? Just to be confident. Yes. To know that he hears us. And so confession, adoring him, worshiping, confessing our sin, and then tea for Thanksgiving. And that's my heart. I am such a grateful person. And it is easy for me to... utter those prayers of thanks regularly. Even when times are hard, do you find that you're such a routine that you can still find a place of thanks even when you're going through bad reports or tough times? Absolutely. And I know it's because of the network he has built for me. I have a great family where, like I said, we were raised in a Christian environment. And then I have the most wonderful husband of 35 years, almost 36. That's awesome. Wow. And so we were in full-time ministry together for many years in Illinois. Wow. So his strength, and we have three daughters who are all in full-time ministry. They love the Lord. The oldest two are married to awesome Christian guys and wonderful sons. And we have a few grandchildren, which is just a whole new wonderful season. So fun, yes. Oh, my goodness. I always say it's all the love and none of the responsibility. There you go. So you get to spoil them and send them home. Yes. And my daughter, middle daughter, says regularly, you're unrecognizable, Mom, because I spoil the grandchildren. But anyway, and then S for acts takes us to supplication. And that's where we pray for others. And my mom modeled that so beautifully. She went to heaven a few years ago. But she was a prayer warrior. And she sat in her what we referred to as the prayer chair for at least an hour every day. She had her little stack of Bibles and reference books and everything. And she prayed for her family. She prayed for her five kids, her grandkids, and anybody that asked her to pray. She kept a list. And she kept journals. We girls, there's three daughters and two sons, and the sons are like, yeah, okay, journals. The girls. Yeah, they don't care. Yeah. We're like, oh, my goodness. So that's wealth. I mean, all the riches. And what an inheritance that you have and then actually get to see those prayers. Yes. So, Gail, you know, you talked about what I'm hearing is a legacy, that you created a pattern for your daughters, but you received it from your mother and your grandmother. What would you say about that legacy? I think it was just a very normal thing in our world. At my grandparents, you know, we always prayed before meals. If we spent the night with them, we prayed before bed. I would see my grandma with her Bible in the morning. And then, of course, my mom, the same thing, even more so because she was such a warrior and spent so much time in the Word. And I can't even remember her not reading. being in that chair for an hour every day. And an interesting story about my mom, my brother had two kids who kind of got off on a wrong foot and did the whole drug thing and everything. And my mom, I know it's her prayers that kept them alive, and now they are serving the Lord. And when my mom died, all of us kids were kind of looking at each other going, Who's going to step in and fill this? You know, it's going to be all five of us need to step up our prayer lives to even match what one woman was doing. But when she started to wonder about one of my nephews. They used to, his friends and Nathan would stop in to my parents' garage and they would take Pop out of the refrigerator. So when my mom figured out that they were just helping themselves, she didn't say stop. She started taping scripture and writing messages and, On those cans of Pepsi. Oh, wow. How creative. Yes. And so to this day, my nephew remembers that she did that. And he said, you know, and we would read them. Like we would laugh, but we would read aloud to each other. And that was just God's word. Yes. I love that. So even if they were amused by his grandma... They were reading the word aloud, and we know that it made a difference in turning those boys around eventually, and I'm so grateful. That legacy is powerful, and I also heard you said your mother had five children. So for the people who have one to five to more children, she made it still, you said, over an hour. Mm-hmm. of time when the Word and prayer. And so if she can do it, a whole lot more of us can do that. Yes. That's powerful. Yes. So again, it takes me back to gratefulness, that I am always able to just thank God in my prayers, even when there's tough times, because he has just done what he said he would do. And he has... given me such a wonderful, solid life. And, you know, we're involved in church, and we have a great community of people and just friends from every walk of life that we have experienced. So even those churches that we used to pastor in Illinois, those people still reach out to us, you know, getting a text to pray. And I find that the older I get, the more I want to pray. Somehow it becomes more of an urgency. Or maybe it's because we're empty nesters and I finally have time. You have time where it's not crowded. And I think that's one of the things, I think when we were, you know, I had kids, it's like when you're getting ready and you can shut a door, that was your space of maybe not too many interruptions besides the door, you know, knocked. But, you know, I think you're right, though. But you found that you had a legacy, and maybe it's even your grandmother before that, of that example that now you are showing that not only to your daughters but your grandchildren, which is beautiful. What a beautiful heritage. Yes. And you mentioned my grandmother. One thing I always remember about her was when my grandfather was in the hospital and he died of emphysema back in the 70s. And I remember I stayed with her while he was in the hospital. I was home for the summer. It was when I was a student at ORU. I was there from 80 to 84. And it was the summer that I was home and I was staying with her. And I remember looking down the hall and seeing her kneeling at her bed. And, you know, there's something about kneeling for prayer, that posture. I don't think that at least that's not a normal thing for me. Not today. But I do think there's something about that posture of actually just kneeling before him and making our prayer. our needs known. That's a powerful act. I think that we should do it more often. No, it's a powerful act. You know, I did that not too long ago. I just felt, I don't know what it was, I was getting ready to go to bed, and then I was gonna pray, and I usually just pray until I fall asleep, And whatever is in my heart with people of sending prayer requests. And I thought, no, I'm supposed to kneel before I go to bed. And, you know, that's such a good reminder because it also sets the tone of that humbling ourselves before the Lord. You know, we see it in Scripture. But that powerful act of just bringing ourself into alignment where we're ready to receive what he has. So we're not just one way communications. We need to do it more often, don't we? Right? Yeah, because part of the confession, but also be willing to hear the instruction, because I don't know about you, but when I hear that prompting from the Lord, I'm like, okay, I do need to do the confession. Bring myself back into alignment with the things that God wants the very best for us. Yes. So that's powerful. I love that, that acts. Yes. Really good steps. Yes. So I think one of the things that I feel is that prayer doesn't have to be difficult. And I think that sometimes Christians get caught up in, I don't know how to pray an eloquent prayer, or I don't know. And he just wants to hear from us. And when we think, just like I said, with adult children, think of how it blesses you when they reach out to you to share something with you or whatever. And our Heavenly Father is so blessed when we reach out to him. So I try to encourage people that, Just talk to him. And I think I have a very simple prayer life. I don't think I am any, you know, wonderful, oh, use big, spectacular words or even, you know, I just confessed my ability to not quote scripture like I used to when I was in school. Just talk to him. The simplest prayer to let him know that you're feeling thankful, that you're feeling joyful, or you're feeling really down and I need you. And, of course, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and being able to pray in the Spirit is so important to me. And I know people say to me, well, you get to work from home alone because I'm an online principal, which was not a result of COVID. I've been doing that for 15 years. But I do get to work from home by myself. And so I'm aware that I pray out loud all day long. So, you know, I might hang up the phone with a parent and just pray over him, you know, whatever it was, or just praying in the spirit. I do that a lot because I don't know what to pray. Right. So just let my spirit communicate with him. Or because I lose focus. Sometimes I switch to praying in the spirit because when I start praying in English, it reminds me of what I need to put on my grocery list or, you know, whatever. So sometimes when I pray in the spirit, it keeps me focused. Well, you know, you've said some things that I think are important. Like other people could say, hey, that's easy for you to say because your life is so, it was easy. Yeah. But you made choices early on. You created a pattern in your life. And that was really a discipline. So I want to, you're not saying it, but it is you chose a discipline in your life. You chose to every day make it an act of your will to have that dialogue with the Lord. Yes. Which is really, how would you talk to someone who like that's so far from them? What would you do to encourage them? How to get to that place of discipline? Mm-hmm. Well, you know, in raising our girls, that's definitely what we taught them. And praise God they listened because I know children don't always listen. And I've got lots of friends who, you know, come to me and please pray for my son or daughter. And so I do understand that in no way am I saying, you know, it's because I did everything right that I have kids who are following the Lord. We live in a world where there is sin. And... darkness. And sometimes we just don't know what the attacks are. But I would sure encourage people to know what God is asking of us and to do our very best. And what I think we have in our society today is people who maybe know the Lord or know about the Lord, and they're like, he'll forgive me. Well, he is a forgiving Lord. But we need to be repentant. And that really It breaks my heart when I see people kind of going down that path where they do the same thing over and over again because he'll forgive me. But I think that's where we hear the message of grace And yet, you know, the Apostle Paul talked about that. But the whole point was just because God's now allowed us for the price that Jesus paid, he did give us grace, but it was not our license to sin. That's right. And so... You know, I think that people also don't look that, you know, you reap what you sow. So even if they want to enjoy and confess on the other end, you do pay a price for those actions. And that's where I don't think sometimes we have that attitude of gratifying our flesh at the moment and not looking at long-term effects. There are consequences, definitely. And we've tried to teach that to our kids and they're teaching that to their kids. And one of the scriptures we always said regularly was no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. So, of course, we're going to miss it. But we try to walk uprightly. So if if you're going to. continue to do the things that you know, the Holy Spirit's saying, don't, don't go there, don't do that, then you're not in a place where you can go boldly to the throne. I feel like that's part of that confidence that I was quoting in that scripture is just feeling like, I'm doing my best, Lord. I know I miss it. I ask you to forgive me. But boy, when we walk the way he's asked us to, we can go boldly to the throne. It's not that he's rewarding us for being good because he's not that kind of God, and he knows we miss it. But I think we have more confidence in going to him with that boldness and confidence when we know we're doing our very best and we've listened to the Holy Spirit when he said, don't do that, don't go there, don't say that, or whatever, if we will... Be quick to listen and, oh, okay, or to apologize because we said something we shouldn't have or whatever it is he's asking us to do to try to live that upright life. Now, you've said, I want to ask this question for people. You're talking about you just got to want a simple conversation with you. But then you were talking about when you hear promptings and you're hearing promptings. Someone who doesn't necessarily know about hearing God, how would you tell them, how would you begin to hear? What do you know when it's your voice or God's voice? What would you tell them? Well, that comes with practice. But first and foremost, they need to read the book of Acts, make sure they know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Christians, if you have the baptism and you know you aren't using your prayer language, start using it every day. If you aren't filled with the Spirit, get in the Word and see that it's for you too. But that's where you learn to hear the Holy Spirit. And I think it just takes practice. You know, years ago, there were times that I wondered, is that you, God? Or is that just me? But then going ahead and stepping out and walking in it and then realizing if it was Him and then rehearsing. How did that sound? Yeah. How did that feel? There you go. So that I recognize it the next time. And the reverse is true, too. That if it was me, then when things don't work out and then you can look back and identify. See, I was totally in the way of that. The Lord was trying to tell me, but I was doing my own thing. Well, you know, it reminds me of even some of the things I've learned even from my family and went. trying to solidify when I was first hearing the word of God, like him speaking to something to my heart, is it becomes a familiar voice. Just like if you were on the phone, if you didn't even look at the phone, you still know your daughter's voice between the three daughters. You begin to learn to know which voice it is without even looking. Because like you said, it is a practice. So the first time you heard it, I love how you said that. Okay, that's a familiar. That becomes familiar. And the scripture talks about like that God says that we will know his voice, that his sheep will know it. And then that way we're not deceived. So the more that we begin to hear that first prompting, it also, it will align to his word. Yes. So if some people are new to this, it needs to make sense. So you need to be in the Word to also be familiar with when you feel that prompt in the Lord. Does that make sense? Does that line up with God's Word? In your journey with your life of prayer, how do you feel like when you talk about you share the Word and the prayer, how has that impacted your life today? I think being there for... Other people who need prayer. I love when I get texts. I'm in several groups of ladies, especially, who will text me when they need prayer for something. I'm in a book club of eight ladies that I taught with at Victory Christian School. And now we meet. We're coming up on 10 years. We've met once a month for 10 years. And we've also evolved into a prayer group. And so being available for people when they text and that they have the confidence that I will pray. That when they say, would you pray for my nephew or for me or whatever, and I have a list and I... That's good. And keep that list. But they have also accustomed to knowing that when they ask you for prayer, you actually follow through and do what you said you would do. Yes. And I would encourage people to be that friend for others that don't just say, oh, yeah, I'll pray for you. If you know you aren't going to pray, then don't even say that because people count on it. And I see how the Holy Spirit just begins to ripple. You know, we prayed, our group prayed for a man in Illinois that none of us even knew, and he was on his deathbed from COVID. And... we got word to pray for him. So our little group of eight started praying, and we knew hundreds of others were praying too. And that's what the Holy Spirit does, and starts sending out this ripple. And so that's exciting to me, that we can be people of prayer and make a difference in people's lives Just by being obedient and doing what I can do. I can't control other people and what they're going to say to pray. But I can utter those prayers, whether in the spirit or, you know, in my language or whatever. But knowing that when we go to him with confidence and we know that he hears us, he will answer prayer. And we see it all the time. You know, that's one thing I love what you shared, your testimony, the scriptures about knowing that we can be confident and knowing that he does hear our prayers. Is there one takeaway you would want to just reassure people as we're concluding to just encourage them in their walk with prayer? Yes. Well, I would go back again to if you're having trouble, if you're saying, I can't get up every morning and have prayer time. Yes, you can. Start with five minutes. that little system of following the word acts. If you spend a minute on each of those, a minute to adore him, a minute to confess sins, a minute to give thanks, specific thanks, and then that supplication is two-part. First, praying for other people, and then for your own petitions. If you just spend a minute on each of those, You've spent five minutes in prayer, and you will find that that won't be enough time. Because if you'll get in the habit of doing that, the next day it's going to grow, and the next day it's going to grow, and the next day it's going to grow. And then, as I also encourage you, if you don't have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, seek that, because it is for everybody. And then you add to your daily walk, praying in the Spirit, and being available to people to pray simple prayers. You don't have to be an eloquent speaker. You don't have to be an eloquent speaker. Just simple prayers to help a person out. Thank you so much for sharing. Absolutely. It's my pleasure. I think. And we'd like to also recommend to you to go to iRefresh.net because Gail was talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And we do actually have information about how to understand what it's about and how you can benefit in receiving and know what the benefits are with the baptism and that prayer language is really powerful. So we encourage you to connect with us. You can even email us, and we'd be glad to even walk you through those steps. We're so glad you came and listened. And be sure to share with your friends so that they can be encouraged to continue to pray and to believe for God to fulfill his promises for you.