Joyful in Hope | EP 137

Welcome to another episode of I Refresh. I have with me Keri Kittinger and Veronica Scott, and I'm Cheryl Clare. And what a joy it is to be here today and to talk about prayer, one of our favorite topics. I agree. And I think the reason it's one of my favorite topics is because I need it. Oh, sure. Absolutely. I need it. And because I know the power of people agreeing with me in prayer, I like to also give it. I like to also offer it to others. But ladies, let's be honest. Sometimes there's a weight in prayer. And we don't live in a society that I was just thinking the other day. I mean, we get frustrated when the Chick-fil-A line is long and Chick-fil-A is the best, right? They're the quickest drive-thru line and even the quickest one. We can be like, come on now. I need to be somewhere. So just the... Waiting on the Lord. And one of my favorite verses on prayer is out of Romans 12, 12. And it says, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. So let's just kind of break that up a little bit here, because I think that the end of that is being a woman or a man who is faithful in prayer. But it starts with joy in the hope. Yes. We don't hope for things we already have. True. So hope is really that joy in the weight. Mm-hmm. What in the world? Block has his favorite verse. His and James. James 1. Consider it all joy when you face trials of various kinds. That's right. That's right. But, you know, the thing that I learned from that scripture is that the rest of that verse says, because, don't wish it away prematurely. Because it is for the perfecting of the saints. So again, we get in our mindset, Lord, stop this trial and take away this tribulation and this uncomfortableness. But he's calling us through that scripture to put our eyes on him. Recognize that, you know what? He's doing a great work in the saint, in the believer, in that season that we're in. And it just brings, you know, because growing up when I would read that scripture, I'm like, Lord, I don't understand how I'm supposed to be joyful when things are, you know, I'm in a bad place. Yes. So, but realizing the rest of the scripture, he's doing a work in you. Yes. Then you have, again, that brings your hope back to see there's a future in this process. Yeah. And there's a verse that says that in his presence, there is fullness of joy. So maybe we can have joy in the wait and joy in the hope when we're welcoming his presence and when we're entering into his presence. And a lot of that happens in prayer, right? Absolutely. And welcoming him there in worship and being in the word, that that then fuels us for the wait. So true. So true. Because in our flesh, waiting is not natural. And joyful waiting is not normal at all. Exactly. So we need Him. We need to enter into His presence to encourage us and strengthen us to finish walking out where we are. Yes. And I think of, of course, Cheryl, you've got a garden right now. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, the planting of seeds and then the weight in the hope. So you've planted a seed in the hope that it's going to produce fruit. And so even Jesus, you know, said to his disciples, the very last teaching that he gave after Judas had already, you know, fled. Yeah. to deny him, he, or more to deny him, to turn him in, but he said, abide in me. Yes. Abide in me. And part of abiding is it's waiting, it's remaining in that soil. So that seed that we plant is... It's its job is to remain. Its job is to wait. And then the growth happens. Right. And so that that that hope is that there will be growth. The hope is that there will be fruit. Yes. But there's a wait. There's other times, too, you can get derailed because even I've learned so much from the garden. And I've been doing little snippets of one-minute lessons from the garden because I truly do learn little things. And all of a sudden, I'll have to go grab my phone. I'm like, okay, I have to capture that because I don't want to forget what the Lord shows me because it was all the same soil. But in my garden, there's a little slant. And so some of the early seeds that were over here, it kind of got drowned out. Okay. Because the dirt kind of went there and it got a little bit too much moisture. Right. Yeah, when the water came, it went all sort of cooling down here. And so I didn't get tomatoes in those areas. But there were other places where things were planted that, yes, there was growth. And then, you know, even in that, yes, you wait in each one of those fruits, right? They harvest at different times. And so you also, if you don't harvest at the right time, it goes rotten. And then it's all those little pustery things, the ants and the bugs and all the worms and everything else, they take over. Yes. Because we, in the right time for us to be able to harvest, there's a timing on everything. I mean, sometimes it's not just even delay. It's like God's not waiting on us to do our part. There's sometimes we have to act in a faith and we have to launch into something. The Lord's prompting us and we're hesitant. We're fearful. We're like, because my past, I've tried this before and it didn't work. It could hinder you from walking out what God tells you to do for now. That's good. Because his timing is so important. Absolutely. You talked about it in other episodes. His timing means everything. And I watch if I start letting dead things grow on those plants, what it does, it draws the bugs to it. Wow. And they start to take over quicker. And I have to hurry up and pull the dead away. And that's part of that abiding. It's also at the prune, you have to take the dead away. That's such a good place. And I've even noticed, you know, certain branches start to die. So I've been trimming those and making sure I get those away from the plant. Because the rest are still fruit to be an aid, but the pruning. And I've learned, too, with that abiding is... It's grafting us. And my uncle was a pistachio farmer. He talked about the way that you have pistachio nuts and when you don't, you just have a pistachio tree. And he showed how they graft certain branches onto a tree. And I thought, how fascinating what they do. And there's other things involved, but grafting us, like becoming part of this tree what it's going to produce. And it's just amazing. I could go on with that. Right, right. And that's the miracle of Jesus, right? That he's grafted us into his family. That's right. And so then why would I want to not abide and not choose if he's miraculously grafted in? Yes, yes. Well, then I can wait on his perfect timing for that fruit, for that answer, for that fruition to come to my prayer. Yes. And I like your story, your example, because with that pistachio tree, before it's granted, it doesn't bear fruit. But once it's grafted, it bears much fruit. Yes. Much like we are with Jesus. When we are grafted in, then we bear much fruit. But before we accept him into our life, we're fruitless. Yeah. You know, our fruit's not good. Right. So what a great example. Good. Yeah. Such a good example. Okay. So ladies, joyful in hope. patient in affliction. Oh, yeah. Okay. So we've got that word hope can actually mean, wait, well, now we've got patient. So we were like, okay, but patient in affliction. And so that considered all joy when we're having trials. And so, you know, I think about Paul and Silas. There was that, was it Peter and Silas or Paul and Silas? In the inner cell, they'd been beaten. They'd been flogged. They were chained. What were they doing? They were praising God. They were praising and praising. Exactly. So here they were afflicted. Right. And I'm sure there was pain. Oh, sure. But there was a patience there. There was a joy there. And there was a resting in the work of the Lord. Right. Right. Instead of feeling justified to be bitter and angry and all the other emotions, instead they chose justice. They chose to praise and worship in the midst. And from what I understand, that area of the jail they were in was basically raw sewage. Oh. And so they were in that really yucky area. And you know the smell was horrible. Oh, absolutely. And instead of, again, saying, we're done. This is over with. This is the worst. My God has forsaken us. Right. Instead, they chose to praise and worship us. And as a result, what came out of that? The chains fell off. The door came open. Absolutely. And they were completely free. Yes. And what did they get to do? They led the jailer to the Lord. Absolutely. I mean, absolutely. And who knows? About abundant fruit. Absolutely. And who knows the witness to those? Right. Can you imagine? Like, what are y'all doing? Exactly. You know, singing. Are y'all hearing that? I'm hearing some singing from the inner cell here. That's the sewage area. But then it's the attitude check. Exactly. It is our attitude check when we begin to crumble, which we do crumble. When we grumble, we crumble. That's a good point. Because I always think about the children of Israel. I'm like, I don't want to do what they did. Right. And around and around because of that. And they really went through so much affliction multiple times. Yes. Because the grumbling. And I thought, Lord, let it be my reminder. Oh, so. Going ahead. And my faith, I can't see it, like you said, Veronica. But my faith, I'm going to believe, because you've done this before, whether it's for my life, it's helpful to me to stir up to remembrance. Yes. what God has done for someone else. Absolutely. And it's tragically, like I was praying for my children, I bring God's remembrance to what he's done for other children. Oh, absolutely. Because I'm like, God, you said you do not favor. Right. Therefore, according to your word, I can speak those things and know by faith that you will complete those things in my son's life. Yes. So true. And such a good example. Instead of getting bitter because you see other children that have the fruit of what you've been praying for, you use that in your prayer life. Yes. And you take that and say, okay, Lord, you're no respecter of person according to your word. So I'm asking you to do a mighty work in my life and in my family's life. And I am looking at this other family as an example of your goodness. Absolutely. Because Job's wife. Oh, yeah. Curse God and die. She wasn't looking at the future. No, she wasn't. No, she wasn't. And I think we talked about this one time years ago, but that, you know, in the end, God restored everything to Job, but he was still stuck with that water. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, I say that as jazz. I'm sure there were some, there were some forgiveness and that kind of thing, you know. That's true. That he was patient. Right, right. He was patient in affliction. Yes. Oh, my goodness. I remember speaking of Job that we always give his friends a bad rap. And listen, we should. Right. But they did sit with him for like, was it like 10 days or something before they even started talking? So, you know, there was some patience going on there with them. And I think about so. So our next nugget here is being so joyful and hope. Patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. I love that. And so maybe in order to be faithful in prayer, the joyful in hope, the patient in affliction, because, you know, to say I'm faithful in prayer and I get my answer every 10 seconds that I mean, so there's really not a faithfulness. So what? There's no affliction. No, exactly. Exactly. Because if you just get it pronto, that's the vending machine in the sky, and we just ask and he delivers. One, there's no relationship. Right. And the Lord is really looking for a relationship. And he's also looking, he's working on, for our good, but he's working on other people to be able to bring things about that he's spoken to us, right? Yes. But I think, you know, you also look, not just choosing joy in those things, because then it's a happier life anyway. It's kind of like, even if, you know, even if the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to go into the fire, and if they said, even if... you know, they were going to praise God. They're going to trust God because on the other side, they already knew. They knew, absolutely. They knew that affliction on the other side where their victory still lies. I think we forget on the other side of anything, our eternal reward. Right, yes. That's it. Well, Job, right? In the middle of the book of Job, I know that my Redeemer lives. So he's in the midst of affliction. He's praying. He's asking for this to be removed. But I know that... That my Redeemer lives. I remember hearing somebody speak one time, and as you're praying and as you're contending for things, you have to decide ahead of time that God is good. Absolutely. So as we know, we have it settled in our hearts. Good. As we're praying that God is a good father. He wants, he has good gifts for me. His ways are higher. His timing is perfect. And so then when I'm praying, there can be hope. There can be joy. And there can be a faithfulness because it's, It's not just the here and now, but it's remembering, Lord, you're working things out for my good. There's a greater purpose. There's more than just this. There's a pathway, though. You know, I think when we look at it, Veronica and I have talked about this in the past, is sometimes there is a pathway towards our healing. And for me, I watched my mother, her pathway of healing was different than what I prayed for. And it looked different. But... Every time she went to a doctor appointment, she was talking to the doctor. She was praying for her. She was getting an update on their issues. And then the one doctor who had brain surgery and the other one whose wife had cancer. And she was speaking life into them while she was afflicted physically. She was speaking of that. So we don't know what God appointments we have. In the midst of our affliction. Yes. What is it that, you know, I have my relationships with people because of maybe something related to my health that I have an appointment with someone and I've asked the Lord. If I'm supposed to testify of you, do something while I'm at this appointment. Beautiful. Help me to see. Good. Because what it does is it changes my attitude. I'm looking for God to help me because I might have anxiety or I'm not sure about this report. Right. But when I have asked the Lord, okay. I may never see this person again, and I want to make sure they're saved. I think that the Lord can help us. I don't do that every single time. But when we are intentional with the way the Lord operates, is he does have something in the midst that it may not have been so much about my healing or my pathway to it. It was, I was supposed to be about the Father's business, and it was to touch that person's lives. And that's what the Lord is looking for, our obedience, because... We know we're all appointed once to die. I would like us to be quick and painless. Me too. But on the other side, I want to make sure that we bring as many people to Christ. Amen. And however many times, if you think about how many times can we say that when we connected with someone, did we not, even like you've talked about in the presence of the Lord, if we are the carrier of his presence. Yes. Yes. Is that not the most significant thing today we can think of? In his presence and he allows us to be the carrier. Yes, yes. Then it's not anything I have to say or do. Right. That's right. It's what he does. What he does. I get to just be present and he does the work. We don't have, again, like you said, Veronica, we don't have to know the story. Right. He does something in them. That's right. Yeah. And when we can carry joy in the midst of affliction, when we can carry joy in the midst of the weight, others notice that. And again, it's not for them to notice us, but they're like, how can you be at peace? How can you have joy right now? Yes. Well, you know, it's when it's not just about our circumstances, but we know, I mean, I know that my Redeemer lives. Like we said, I know that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I know that Jesus is for me. Right. But there is, we can know all those things, but there's still a faithfulness to prayer. So I think what we talked in an earlier episode about the asking, the seeking, and the knocking. And so maybe that's kind of the faithfulness in prayer is that we are women who continue to ask. Right. No matter how many times we've asked before. True. We are women who continue to seek the face of the Lord. And we are women who continue to knock on that door of heaven in our prayers. And so I think for me, that excites me about being faithful in prayer, knowing that, Lord, you hear me. Right. Lord, you're there. You're with me. You're that ever-present help in time of need. Right. But there is a part that he asks me to play in prayer. And so that's an honor. Yes. Yes. And it takes faithfulness. You're exactly right. And I think about the scripture that says a faithful prayer does not return void. So when we're putting our prayer request before the Lord and we're giving that prayer request in faith, it's not going to return void. Amen. So we have to. And that is part of finding joy in the midst is knowing God hears us and he answers us. Yes. Yes. There's a verse with Abraham and hope, and it says, I believe it's in Hebrews, but it says, in hope, against all hope, believed. So there's this way that sometimes we can, we may not feel, I think what that is is we don't feel hopeful all the time. We don't feel joyful all the time. We don't feel like being faithful all the time. But when we can go beyond that, against all hope and still believe, against all affliction and still believe, there's something, There's something powerful about that. Prayer is powerful. It's so powerful. Yes. And you're right, because it's an opportunity for us to pull on the strength from heaven when we don't have the strength in our natural. Yes. And the prayer will get you into that second level of, I can do this with all things, Christ, with him, with Jesus. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Yeah. And that's part of the prayer. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think we can also be encouraged when we help each other along the way. Absolutely. It is to, like we've talked before, like texting somebody, let them know that you're praying, because sometimes you just need to know that we're not alone. What we're standing and believing for for something, whether it's a miracle that somebody needs, is that there's that constant flowing of being sensitive to reach out to people, to connect with them, because, you know, that seed that we're planning for them, you never know when we need it. Yes. And because that's a good point. You're right. It's amazing sometimes when somebody, I had something in my Bible recently. I opened it up. I grabbed different Bibles, and I had a note. It was from some program from some church. I don't remember the church. There was a note on it, and it was basic prophetic prayer of affirming what God's plans were for me. Awesome. Awesome. And I was like, okay, I'm in service. I could just start crying right now. I'm like, I don't know. I think it's my writing or I don't know. It's really similar to my writing, but I don't remember this. And somebody gifted this to me. It's in this Bible. I happened to take the right one. I needed, the Lord knew what I needed. And I thought, how is it that we can be that for each other as well? When we need that help to help. Like the men that came and dropped their friends. Yes. It's like, because we need to be that one, sometimes the gap to hold each other up. Absolutely. For whatever we're believing for. That's your good point. You're exactly right. And there's power in that. Yes. There is power in that. Because like you said, it was a word that was given to you at a previous time, but it put such life in you when you re-read it. Yes. I don't remember reading it. I don't know if somebody handed it to me. I don't know. God knows when we need to hear his word. Absolutely. I think those prayers, that's a great example. Sometimes in my journal, I'll write out prayers. When you can then look back on something and go, Oh, wow. Lord, you did answer that. Or that's still a cry of my heart, but Lord... That doesn't frustrate me. It's, it's to know that like my heart's in the right place. Like I know where to go to, like, and, and because I turned to you there five years ago in this journal and you gave me peace, I've made it these five years. I haven't, I haven't just passed out from affliction or waiting or given up. Um, I remember somebody saying one time, you know, can you, can you make it till tomorrow? You know, I can. And so doesn't Jesus even say, don't worry about tomorrow. That's right. Today has enough of its own. So even to go, can I be joyful in hope today? Yeah. Can I be patient in affliction today? Good. Can I be faithful in prayer today? I can. We don't have to worry about, we'll have new mercies for tomorrow. That's right. And so we get a refresh. That's right. So it's almost like, here we go. Okay, Lord, I can be patient. today. I can be joyful today. I can be faithful in prayer today. Amen. That is good. That is great. Yeah. Well, we hope that you are enjoying the segments. I hope you're going to share those with your friends. I think we all need each other to encourage each other to Continue to pray, be in the Word every day, and know that God hears you. He's responding to you. And sometimes you just need that connection. And we'd love to connect with you. So reach out to us at irrefresh.net. We'd love to hear from you. We have personalized prayer that we arrange, whether you're local or away. We can do Zoom calls. We want to make sure that you are connected with the body of Christ and hopefully in your local church. Or we can pray, and we can also direct you as well.