Changing Hollywood One Prayer at a Time

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.785 --> 00:00:13.450
I have so many stories in Hollywood of Christians who just prayed and through their prayers, they got to touch lives, they got to change sets, and they got to impact production companies.

2
00:00:13.490 --> 00:00:18.652
They got to watch people's lives just completely transform.

3
00:00:19.053 --> 00:00:25.655
Welcome to the iRefresh podcast, where every conversation points to the life-changing power of God's living word.

4
00:00:26.155 --> 00:00:29.337
Let's pursue God together one conversation at a time.

5
00:00:30.412 --> 00:00:39.867
Welcome to another episode of iRefresh, and I am delighted to introduce you to, I feel like she's my sister from another mother, and that's Karen Covell.

6
00:00:39.887 --> 00:00:40.127
Welcome.

7
00:00:40.268 --> 00:00:40.708
Welcome.

8
00:00:41.715 --> 00:00:43.077
Thank you so much.

9
00:00:43.177 --> 00:00:44.018
I feel the same.

10
00:00:44.458 --> 00:00:46.441
Or twins separated at birth, you know.

11
00:00:46.981 --> 00:00:47.582
There you go.

12
00:00:48.323 --> 00:00:49.124
I love it.

13
00:00:49.404 --> 00:00:50.065
It is a joy.

14
00:00:50.125 --> 00:00:58.415
Whenever I talk about you, I'm like, if you know a little about who I am, Karen is a different version of the same thing.

15
00:00:58.936 --> 00:01:00.318
We have a passion for prayer.

16
00:01:01.304 --> 00:01:01.604
Yes.

17
00:01:02.085 --> 00:01:02.606
Oh, we do.

18
00:01:03.247 --> 00:01:09.315
And to see the world in a big way where we know it's not about us, it's about us inviting God in.

19
00:01:09.715 --> 00:01:16.725
I get so excited every time I talk to you, every time I hear what you're doing, your love for women, your passion for gathering people to pray.

20
00:01:16.845 --> 00:01:18.447
I'm all in, Cheryl.

21
00:01:19.348 --> 00:01:29.596
You know, Karen, what is so beautiful is when I got involved with Hollywood Prayer Network, which you're the founder of, is I love the connections.

22
00:01:30.457 --> 00:01:40.285
Matter of fact, you know, being a part of that ministry has allowed me to connect with other people in the industry to pray and encourage them.

23
00:01:41.045 --> 00:01:46.149
And then to realize, to see how God is doing miracles in their lives.

24
00:01:46.910 --> 00:01:59.536
And so I would love you to share your heartbeat, like where you are at this point and running such an incredible ministry that has a global impact to touch the lives of the film industry.

25
00:02:00.626 --> 00:02:01.547
Well, thank you.

26
00:02:02.568 --> 00:02:05.430
A friend of mine years ago wrote a book called One Big Thing.

27
00:02:05.870 --> 00:02:20.302
And he says that all of us are on this planet to do at least one big thing for God, to bring down his kingdom, to open him up to other people, to allow people to experience his love and his plan for them.

28
00:02:20.943 --> 00:02:29.510
And yet we find that in one of two ways, either something we're passionate about, we can't stop talking about, we are driven to be a part of,

29
00:02:30.350 --> 00:02:32.031
or something that makes us angry.

30
00:02:32.472 --> 00:02:35.634
Because when we're angry about something, that can lead us to take action.

31
00:02:36.155 --> 00:02:52.006
Well, I found over 25 years ago that I was leading with my husband a prayer group in Hollywood of Christians in the entertainment industry who would pray together, intercede for the industry, pray for each other's struggles and projects and joys.

32
00:02:52.927 --> 00:03:01.670
And yet they were all told by their parents, by their families, by their pastors, don't come to Hollywood, that's Satan's pit.

33
00:03:02.170 --> 00:03:07.692
That's you're going to lose your faith, you're following a selfish career, get a real job.

34
00:03:07.772 --> 00:03:09.192
I mean, we heard everything.

35
00:03:10.032 --> 00:03:11.753
And I found out that

36
00:03:12.969 --> 00:03:15.470
That would only be broken through prayer.

37
00:03:16.210 --> 00:03:18.591
If we pray for somebody, we can't hate them.

38
00:03:19.051 --> 00:03:21.272
If we pray for Hollywood, we can't hate it.

39
00:03:21.832 --> 00:03:26.653
If we pray for that neighbor that's driving us crazy, suddenly we get a different perspective.

40
00:03:27.274 --> 00:03:41.198
And so I thought, why don't I start a prayer network getting Christians to pray for people, for projects, for the issues in Hollywood, which I see as the world's most influential mission field.

41
00:03:41.852 --> 00:03:42.836
So I started.

42
00:03:43.237 --> 00:03:47.311
I take credit, I think, for having the slowest growing ministry on the planet.

43
00:03:48.197 --> 00:03:51.799
And one person at a time, would you pray for Hollywood?

44
00:03:51.859 --> 00:03:57.002
Would you pray for the people that are cultural leaders, the people impacting our culture?

45
00:03:57.682 --> 00:04:01.604
And I, at first, got people saying, pray for Hollywood, please.

46
00:04:02.065 --> 00:04:03.906
Or, oh, they sure need it.

47
00:04:04.406 --> 00:04:06.767
There was always an attitude behind it.

48
00:04:07.348 --> 00:04:09.729
And I just felt driven to keep going.

49
00:04:09.869 --> 00:04:10.710
Just keep going.

50
00:04:10.890 --> 00:04:14.452
Prayer is not preparation for the greater work.

51
00:04:14.932 --> 00:04:16.653
Prayer is the greater work.

52
00:04:16.793 --> 00:04:16.953
Amen.

53
00:04:17.173 --> 00:04:18.837
That's been credited to different people.

54
00:04:18.877 --> 00:04:21.523
I've heard Oswald Chambers, but it's so true.

55
00:04:22.004 --> 00:04:24.469
So that was my driving force.

56
00:04:24.609 --> 00:04:26.594
25 years ago, I started the Hollywood Prayer Network.

57
00:04:27.557 --> 00:04:29.238
It has slowly grown.

58
00:04:29.578 --> 00:04:31.300
God is changing hearts.

59
00:04:31.340 --> 00:04:32.680
He's bringing people together.

60
00:04:33.301 --> 00:04:37.644
So that now we have 170 chapters in 40 countries.

61
00:04:38.444 --> 00:04:44.789
We have 20 vocational groups of people in Hollywood gathering as Christians in the arts.

62
00:04:45.289 --> 00:04:48.231
We know of over 10,000 Christians in Hollywood.

63
00:04:48.751 --> 00:04:50.913
We have a mailing list all around the globe.

64
00:04:51.633 --> 00:04:54.074
And we still feel like a well-kept secret.

65
00:04:54.434 --> 00:04:57.976
So we're just gonna keep showing up, keep telling people, just pray.

66
00:04:58.757 --> 00:05:00.818
We don't want you to do anything else, just pray.

67
00:05:01.458 --> 00:05:04.419
And because of that, we get to see God moving.

68
00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:08.381
And so I am completely committed to prayer.

69
00:05:09.402 --> 00:05:16.005
It's not about us, it's about inviting God in and letting Him do His miraculous work in people's lives.

70
00:05:17.281 --> 00:05:21.103
You know, that's so important when you just do the first step.

71
00:05:21.404 --> 00:05:28.408
And your faithfulness, I believe sometimes, yes, we don't always feel like we see the fruit of a lot of labor.

72
00:05:29.249 --> 00:05:34.772
But I think it's the consistency of going through the yes to God.

73
00:05:35.393 --> 00:05:37.774
And really, it's the impact of prayer.

74
00:05:37.794 --> 00:05:40.416
And it's really getting other people to say yes.

75
00:05:40.536 --> 00:05:42.037
And it's their obedience to God.

76
00:05:42.137 --> 00:05:43.178
aligning with yours.

77
00:05:43.258 --> 00:05:49.901
And there's that power of connected agreement and prayer to see the Lord really touch a lot of people's lives.

78
00:05:50.561 --> 00:05:55.344
You know, I've been okay about not seeing the answers right away.

79
00:05:55.404 --> 00:05:56.464
That's the hardest thing.

80
00:05:56.524 --> 00:05:58.545
I think we have to keep showing up.

81
00:05:58.725 --> 00:06:00.106
We just have to be faithful.

82
00:06:00.146 --> 00:06:05.269
He asked us to be faithful, not successful or faithful, not productive.

83
00:06:05.429 --> 00:06:09.691
My husband always teases me and says, God did not say be busy and know that I am God.

84
00:06:10.071 --> 00:06:13.155
He said, be still and know that I am God.

85
00:06:13.636 --> 00:06:14.577
Be prayerful.

86
00:06:15.118 --> 00:06:16.841
Be patient.

87
00:06:17.161 --> 00:06:18.082
Turn to him.

88
00:06:18.283 --> 00:06:19.444
Know it's not about us.

89
00:06:19.484 --> 00:06:21.828
Those are hard things for us as human beings.

90
00:06:22.573 --> 00:06:23.474
You're so right.

91
00:06:23.774 --> 00:06:29.981
You know, when you speak about Jim, he's very gifted, a composer of a lot of different works.

92
00:06:30.502 --> 00:06:36.749
I got the privilege to be in your home, and he showed me his studio and all his amazing music.

93
00:06:37.350 --> 00:06:42.255
I come from a musical background, and I just totally was so inspired by his gift.

94
00:06:42.816 --> 00:06:52.608
So I love how you complement each other with your different, the arts and the gifts that each of you have and to affect the kingdom of God in strategic ways.

95
00:06:53.758 --> 00:06:55.219
Which is, thank you, thank you.

96
00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:57.020
But that's another thing we realize.

97
00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:59.721
We marry somebody because we love them.

98
00:07:00.202 --> 00:07:08.046
But I think God brings two people together in marriage because he has an eternal purpose that only that couple can fulfill.

99
00:07:08.586 --> 00:07:10.107
And we need to find out what that is.

100
00:07:10.727 --> 00:07:18.192
So when we were about 10 years into our marriage, we had little kids, we were trying to write a book, we were going in all different directions.

101
00:07:18.972 --> 00:07:20.393
And we realized, you know what?

102
00:07:20.954 --> 00:07:30.341
In order to know what to say yes to and what to say no to or what to choose as the best thing to do to spend our time, we need to have a mission statement for our marriage.

103
00:07:30.962 --> 00:07:39.729
And we prayerfully said, Lord, reveal to us what you have for us so that we have the freedom to do what's best in your eyes.

104
00:07:40.450 --> 00:07:44.273
And it may be other good things are available, but they're not available.

105
00:07:44.393 --> 00:07:47.095
what's best and we get to say no freely to things.

106
00:07:47.716 --> 00:07:57.163
So we found and sought out a mission statement that we realized for the two of us was so unique and so exciting that it would be for the rest of our lives.

107
00:07:57.504 --> 00:07:58.705
It's not dependent on work.

108
00:07:59.125 --> 00:08:00.046
It includes work.

109
00:08:00.626 --> 00:08:02.268
It's not dependent on our children.

110
00:08:02.468 --> 00:08:04.630
It included our children until they grew up.

111
00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:12.796
But it continues to be the driving force of why we're together, how we pray together, what we do to show up each day.

112
00:08:13.337 --> 00:08:18.801
And I think that mission statement came out of our committed prayer.

113
00:08:19.461 --> 00:08:29.510
We have prayed together every day of our marriage, whether it's on the phone, even by text when we connect with each other, or in person for 42 years.

114
00:08:29.730 --> 00:08:33.713
And we're committed to know that that's what keeps us going.

115
00:08:34.182 --> 00:08:35.203
That's powerful.

116
00:08:35.684 --> 00:08:36.104
I love that.

117
00:08:36.124 --> 00:08:39.628
We just celebrated 32 years, Tim and I, last week.

118
00:08:40.308 --> 00:08:41.530
Oh, congratulations.

119
00:08:41.710 --> 00:08:44.973
But I love that you have a mission statement for your marriage.

120
00:08:45.454 --> 00:08:46.595
It's really important.

121
00:08:46.655 --> 00:08:49.538
We found for us, God, why did you bring us together?

122
00:08:49.598 --> 00:08:50.999
Why are we here in this crazy place?

123
00:08:51.700 --> 00:08:54.642
And three things became really clear through lots of prayer.

124
00:08:54.783 --> 00:09:14.518
And that was we together love to challenge Christians outside of Hollywood to not hate it, but to pray for it, to send talented young believers here to be a part of our community and to look at us as an influential mission field, not some horrible business place that that.

125
00:09:15.078 --> 00:09:15.659
is evil.

126
00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:19.381
The second thing is we love to build community in Hollywood.

127
00:09:19.741 --> 00:09:26.605
We both have the gift of hospitality, and we have people over at our house five nights a week, during the week, weekends.

128
00:09:26.685 --> 00:09:32.048
We have baby showers and wedding showers and community groups and prayer groups and worship nights.

129
00:09:32.628 --> 00:09:37.270
We also have two bedrooms upstairs since our boys left that we have people stay in all the time.

130
00:09:37.711 --> 00:09:39.632
We love building community.

131
00:09:40.232 --> 00:09:46.835
And the third thing is we have a passion to share our faith with the other people in our industry who otherwise may never hear about Jesus.

132
00:09:47.395 --> 00:09:52.637
And so we have taught a class for 35 years called How to Talk About Jesus Without Freaking Out.

133
00:09:53.277 --> 00:09:58.280
And we bring in industry professionals, 15 at a time, once or twice a year.

134
00:09:59.020 --> 00:10:03.902
And for 35 years we've been pouring into people saying, let's just be culturally relevant.

135
00:10:04.002 --> 00:10:08.544
Let's be so confident in God that we get excited to tell other people about it.

136
00:10:09.064 --> 00:10:16.690
And so those three things, Jim and I just walk in step with and know that this is our purpose until our last breath.

137
00:10:17.451 --> 00:10:19.313
That is so amazing.

138
00:10:19.513 --> 00:10:24.357
And I've watched and I've seen where there were gentlemen that were staying in the upper room.

139
00:10:25.197 --> 00:10:25.658
Pretty cool.

140
00:10:26.438 --> 00:10:28.820
So, yeah, Christopher and Cameron, sorry, but you're out.

141
00:10:29.241 --> 00:10:29.701
You're out.

142
00:10:30.081 --> 00:10:30.842
Sorry about that.

143
00:10:30.902 --> 00:10:34.005
We tell them, you better book way ahead if you want to come back.

144
00:10:34.939 --> 00:10:35.639
That's awesome.

145
00:10:36.079 --> 00:10:37.620
But I love the continuation.

146
00:10:37.680 --> 00:10:49.084
In every season of your life, the mission stayed true, and you're constantly showing the love of Christ, and you emulate it through that hospitality of welcoming people into your home nonstop.

147
00:10:49.664 --> 00:10:50.164
It's beautiful.

148
00:10:51.185 --> 00:11:04.193
In fact, another thing prayer has brought to Jim's in my mind is the fact that we know people in different cities all over the world where there is some place that Christians have bought property and they open it up to the community.

149
00:11:04.313 --> 00:11:06.174
In Washington, D.C., there are a couple.

150
00:11:06.694 --> 00:11:16.100
In Atlanta, in London, in Chicago, Christians who say we're putting stakes in the ground and we are bringing community together, owning property.

151
00:11:17.153 --> 00:11:19.956
And we realized in Los Angeles, there's nothing like that.

152
00:11:20.437 --> 00:11:25.102
So we started praying quite a few years ago for the house next door.

153
00:11:25.443 --> 00:11:27.125
We want to take down the fence.

154
00:11:27.625 --> 00:11:29.848
We want to open it up to community.

155
00:11:29.908 --> 00:11:31.289
We want to have people staying.

156
00:11:31.329 --> 00:11:32.931
We want it to be like La Bride.

157
00:11:33.672 --> 00:11:43.594
If you're aware, Francis and Edith Schaeffer in Switzerland in the mid-1900s, they brought people from all over the world to just stay, have meals together, pray together.

158
00:11:44.234 --> 00:11:47.174
And so that's our next prayer.

159
00:11:47.254 --> 00:11:54.736
We are walking once a week seven times around the two properties saying, Lord, it's got to be a miracle, but we believe you're going to do it.

160
00:11:55.636 --> 00:12:01.637
And we're just seeing how he can supply for us to expand the understanding of the need for community.

161
00:12:02.554 --> 00:12:03.535
You know, that's so key.

162
00:12:03.575 --> 00:12:13.100
When you think about how Christ was telling us how we spread the gospel, yes, we can speak it when we know someone's ready to receive the message directly.

163
00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:25.507
But sometimes, because of hurt in and out of the church, that they need something where they know that we're authentic, and what we say and how we act, they are the same.

164
00:12:26.288 --> 00:12:31.091
And I think a lot of us as Christians, we haven't been able to do the two things so much.

165
00:12:31.851 --> 00:12:43.235
I love how you demonstrate it of showing love, acting it out, and being authentic so that they realize what you're saying and how you live your life, they match.

166
00:12:44.076 --> 00:12:45.897
It gives them an opportunity to receive Christ.

167
00:12:46.637 --> 00:12:48.357
Well, it does, and it's such a hard thing.

168
00:12:48.478 --> 00:12:56.981
And I'm even personally, Jim and I are walking through a season where our youngest son, on fire for Jesus, got very hurt by the church.

169
00:12:57.778 --> 00:12:58.378
and walked away.

170
00:12:59.018 --> 00:13:00.259
And we are now praying every day.

171
00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:02.040
We're not worried, we know he's gonna come back.

172
00:13:02.140 --> 00:13:11.443
But the path is hard and we realize it's because of Christians not connecting what they say to who they are and what they do.

173
00:13:12.003 --> 00:13:14.444
And that's where the enemy comes in.

174
00:13:14.944 --> 00:13:17.125
Oh, does he wanna steal, kill and destroy?

175
00:13:17.145 --> 00:13:21.446
And the best way to do it is to have one Christian treat another Christian poorly.

176
00:13:21.746 --> 00:13:23.087
What a perfect plan.

177
00:13:23.707 --> 00:13:25.468
And we fall for it all the time.

178
00:13:26.188 --> 00:13:30.749
So I know the only thing that keeps me in line is praying together every day.

179
00:13:31.349 --> 00:13:38.031
If I don't pray, if I don't see God start the day, end the day, I could be one of those people to hurt someone.

180
00:13:38.571 --> 00:13:50.154
And maybe I have, and I don't want to, but I need him desperately to keep me in a place where I can show who he is and not try to do what I want to do.

181
00:13:50.294 --> 00:13:51.034
It's hard.

182
00:13:51.974 --> 00:14:02.642
You know, it's interesting how you and Jim have been so faithful to create community because it's the very thing that your son's needing.

183
00:14:02.782 --> 00:14:08.225
He's needing to know that that community where it's love and acceptance of who you are.

184
00:14:09.306 --> 00:14:10.287
were imperfect.

185
00:14:10.547 --> 00:14:16.513
And I think I've been judged recently about someone said, well, you just expect everybody to be perfect, and you expect to be perfect.

186
00:14:16.793 --> 00:14:22.778
And I thought, well, Lord, forgive me if that's what they perceived that I was like.

187
00:14:23.198 --> 00:14:24.279
There's always grace.

188
00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:27.462
I know I need it, so I want to extend it to one another.

189
00:14:27.482 --> 00:14:29.244
And I think that...

190
00:14:29.884 --> 00:14:40.348
We as believers, the older I get, I'm realizing I need to be, stop if I have a quick judgment and stop and like, Lord, that's my prayer point for someone.

191
00:14:41.089 --> 00:14:46.411
Is turning it around as an opportunity to pray for Lord, whatever they're walking through.

192
00:14:46.471 --> 00:14:47.491
I don't know their whole story.

193
00:14:47.832 --> 00:14:48.572
I don't need to.

194
00:14:48.732 --> 00:14:55.615
But Father can comfort them, strengthen them, empower them to know your love and your mercies are there for them.

195
00:14:56.660 --> 00:14:59.945
Oh my gosh, Cheryl, we have so many conversations about that.

196
00:15:00.446 --> 00:15:06.654
What we have, what we've found for ourselves is if we're not curious, why did that person say that?

197
00:15:07.055 --> 00:15:08.036
What are they going through?

198
00:15:08.337 --> 00:15:12.182
What can I do to understand them better and not take things personally?

199
00:15:12.981 --> 00:15:16.543
If we can just be curious, then we don't become judgmental.

200
00:15:17.223 --> 00:15:22.787
I think we become judgmental when we decide that's who they are, that's what they've done, how dare they do that to me.

201
00:15:23.287 --> 00:15:31.832
But if someone says something hard to us or they treat us badly, I want my first response to be, wow, I wonder what they're going through.

202
00:15:32.172 --> 00:15:33.413
I wonder why they would do that.

203
00:15:33.953 --> 00:15:40.817
Lord, help me to know, help me understand how I can respond so that they can become free.

204
00:15:41.297 --> 00:15:44.360
that they can see that what they're doing hurts other people.

205
00:15:44.940 --> 00:15:52.426
And that it's completely separate from me and more of bringing God down to heal the relationship or to heal the heart of that person.

206
00:15:53.067 --> 00:15:54.988
And it's only in prayer.

207
00:15:55.489 --> 00:15:58.491
Everything I keep figuring out, it only comes from prayer.

208
00:15:58.892 --> 00:15:59.152
Amen.

209
00:16:00.073 --> 00:16:19.265
Yeah, you know, that's such a powerful message, that by itself, because the enemy uses a division amongst us as believers to divide so, because he knows united God can do mighty things through prayer and that community that we're talking about.

210
00:16:19.946 --> 00:16:25.569
So it's more mindful for every one of us to be quick to release, to forgive if there's a hurt.

211
00:16:26.670 --> 00:16:31.331
And trust the Lord, like whatever they're walking through, bless them, encourage them.

212
00:16:32.631 --> 00:16:33.151
Oh, my gosh.

213
00:16:33.672 --> 00:16:40.113
If I could, I'll tell you a quick story about how prayer physically changed us, physically changed us.

214
00:16:40.913 --> 00:16:48.995
When my oldest son, who's now 35 and healthy and amazing and loves Jesus, when he was eight, he got a brain tumor.

215
00:16:49.755 --> 00:16:54.437
It was the size of an orange in the back of his head and the doctors told us we could lose him.

216
00:16:55.078 --> 00:17:00.680
It was such a sudden, just horrible experience.

217
00:17:01.661 --> 00:17:10.004
We called up friends, we told them the situation we were in, we went to the hospital, we had to make decisions about surgery and about what to do.

218
00:17:12.852 --> 00:17:15.653
The Sunday before the Monday morning surgery.

219
00:17:16.154 --> 00:17:17.755
It happened to be Super Bowl Sunday.

220
00:17:17.775 --> 00:17:18.675
I'll never forget this.

221
00:17:19.596 --> 00:17:20.896
And Jim and I were home.

222
00:17:20.936 --> 00:17:22.717
My sister was at the hospital with Christopher.

223
00:17:22.757 --> 00:17:23.318
And we were home.

224
00:17:23.338 --> 00:17:25.819
We just had to take a shower and kind of pull ourselves together.

225
00:17:26.439 --> 00:17:27.860
And we were not doing very well.

226
00:17:28.020 --> 00:17:28.800
We were struggling.

227
00:17:29.501 --> 00:17:30.421
And I'm in the room.

228
00:17:30.481 --> 00:17:33.603
And I'm trying to just get myself to go, come on, Lord.

229
00:17:33.663 --> 00:17:35.584
I've got to believe that we're going to be okay.

230
00:17:36.064 --> 00:17:39.026
Jim was in the dining room, kind of sitting at the dining room table.

231
00:17:40.226 --> 00:17:41.027
And suddenly...

232
00:17:42.024 --> 00:17:49.427
Something lifted and I physically felt like, you know what, regardless of what happens, we're gonna be okay.

233
00:17:49.887 --> 00:17:51.028
God is faithful.

234
00:17:51.548 --> 00:17:53.128
He knows what we're going through.

235
00:17:53.188 --> 00:17:55.149
He's allowing this for some reason.

236
00:17:55.229 --> 00:17:57.150
Why should I take on the burden of it?

237
00:17:57.550 --> 00:17:58.330
He knows.

238
00:17:58.991 --> 00:18:00.951
So I walked out to the kitchen to tell Jim.

239
00:18:01.372 --> 00:18:08.154
And as I walked in, I just looked up at the clock and it said 11 a.m. And I just remembered that, exactly 11 a.m. And I said, you know what?

240
00:18:08.994 --> 00:18:10.095
I think we're gonna be okay.

241
00:18:10.840 --> 00:18:13.181
And he looked at me, he goes, me too.

242
00:18:14.222 --> 00:18:19.904
I feel like regardless of what happens, our son is God's, our life is his.

243
00:18:20.484 --> 00:18:22.425
We gotta trust in him and just keep going.

244
00:18:22.946 --> 00:18:26.527
So we said, okay, let's get ourselves together and go back to the hospital.

245
00:18:27.007 --> 00:18:27.688
We went back.

246
00:18:29.349 --> 00:18:34.251
Three days later, after the surgery, where everything went okay, it was miraculous.

247
00:18:35.171 --> 00:18:36.312
A friend of ours said to us,

248
00:18:37.294 --> 00:18:40.896
You know, I'm really excited to be a part of the process of what you've gone through.

249
00:18:41.336 --> 00:18:42.377
And I said, what do you mean?

250
00:18:43.037 --> 00:18:52.263
He said, Sunday morning, at 11 a.m., 12 of us got together and prayed for Christopher.

251
00:18:53.578 --> 00:18:54.919
They missed the Super Bowl.

252
00:18:56.140 --> 00:18:58.701
And they got together and they just prayed for him.

253
00:18:59.141 --> 00:19:02.443
And 11 o'clock, Jim and I physically changed.

254
00:19:03.304 --> 00:19:11.169
And at that moment, I said, no one will ever convince me that prayer is not the most powerful thing on the planet.

255
00:19:12.339 --> 00:19:12.679
Amen.

256
00:19:13.780 --> 00:19:27.950
You know, it's so beautiful when you realize the goodness of God, that when someone feels an unction to stop and pray, and that they follow through with that, that there's such, like, we're tapping into heaven.

257
00:19:28.030 --> 00:19:32.934
There's like a portal opens, and the Lord begins to respond to those prayers.

258
00:19:33.294 --> 00:19:36.676
It's the most, I think if we ever realize that,

259
00:19:37.819 --> 00:19:47.838
What we are doing when we just speak something out to the Lord, that he truly says he leans down and he listens, and then he responds.

260
00:19:48.820 --> 00:19:49.542
It's that simple.

261
00:19:50.676 --> 00:19:51.996
It is, whether we know it or not.

262
00:19:52.176 --> 00:19:55.497
He responds and he does what's best.

263
00:19:56.617 --> 00:19:58.978
Jim and I read an amazing book called Imagine Heaven.

264
00:19:59.018 --> 00:20:02.839
It's about near-death experiences written by a wonderful Christian guy named John Burke.

265
00:20:03.339 --> 00:20:07.680
And one of the stories is a man who is in the hospital.

266
00:20:08.820 --> 00:20:09.441
He died.

267
00:20:09.461 --> 00:20:12.241
He has this near-death experience.

268
00:20:13.181 --> 00:20:16.482
He's in heaven and he's not really convinced of God.

269
00:20:16.802 --> 00:20:19.423
When he died, he was not a proclaimed Christian.

270
00:20:20.434 --> 00:20:24.259
But he's there going, this is all about love.

271
00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:25.261
This is amazing.

272
00:20:25.721 --> 00:20:32.370
And then he started seeing what he thought were meteors shooting up, up beside him.

273
00:20:32.571 --> 00:20:34.994
And he looked, he goes, what is that?

274
00:20:36.035 --> 00:20:36.736
And he said,

275
00:20:37.953 --> 00:20:47.323
The person who was talking to him, that I believe was Jesus, said to him, those are the prayers of your family and friends going up right now.

276
00:20:47.904 --> 00:20:55.672
They're so, they love you so much that those are going right up to God and everyone is being heard and answered.

277
00:20:55.832 --> 00:20:59.056
And I'm like, whoa, that's amazing.

278
00:20:59.415 --> 00:20:59.855
Wow.

279
00:21:00.436 --> 00:21:01.497
It's so incredible.

280
00:21:01.757 --> 00:21:12.509
And, you know, I think it's interesting, too, of how God is always, even in the little places, you know, both of us, we've been praying for something for a long time.

281
00:21:12.649 --> 00:21:20.557
You know, for the prodigal, for, you know, the ministries that God's called us into, that we're passionate about.

282
00:21:21.358 --> 00:21:28.924
And I think sometimes the longer waits are where we need the Lord just to encourage us in the little places.

283
00:21:29.104 --> 00:21:31.166
Like he's attending to our prayers.

284
00:21:31.206 --> 00:21:32.627
He's laying the foundations.

285
00:21:32.647 --> 00:21:37.071
He's opening up the provision ahead for what God called you to do.

286
00:21:38.332 --> 00:21:41.575
And I think in those moments is like be faithful.

287
00:21:42.255 --> 00:21:43.616
Continue in his word.

288
00:21:43.977 --> 00:21:46.859
Continue with what he last told you to do.

289
00:21:47.099 --> 00:21:50.322
If that's the last thing we do, right, is what's the last thing he told us?

290
00:21:51.694 --> 00:21:52.296
That's it.

291
00:21:52.817 --> 00:21:58.290
And obey and follow and be open to his miraculous ways.

292
00:21:58.751 --> 00:22:00.516
He's the only being able.

293
00:22:01.905 --> 00:22:04.146
on the planet who turns things into good.

294
00:22:04.806 --> 00:22:06.826
That's part of his job as God.

295
00:22:07.266 --> 00:22:08.767
He turns things into good.

296
00:22:08.787 --> 00:22:11.127
So who are we to decide, oh, that's a curse.

297
00:22:11.247 --> 00:22:12.107
Oh, that's a blessing.

298
00:22:12.728 --> 00:22:13.508
We don't know.

299
00:22:13.648 --> 00:22:17.609
We get to walk with him in this unbelievable adventure.

300
00:22:18.009 --> 00:22:23.030
And regardless of what it is that's happening, we believe he is turning it into good.

301
00:22:23.780 --> 00:22:24.120
Amen.

302
00:22:24.760 --> 00:22:25.361
That's so good.

303
00:22:26.141 --> 00:22:28.582
Your mission field was very strategic.

304
00:22:28.902 --> 00:22:34.225
Just like when you think about missionaries in general, they're called to a certain location.

305
00:22:35.408 --> 00:22:52.742
And I don't know if anybody really fully understands that the Hollywood Prayer Network is the mission field, that you were placed and positioned to be the missionary, to be that love of Christ demonstrated in daily opportunities.

306
00:22:52.762 --> 00:22:58.426
I mean, the networking that you and your husband both do nonstop.

307
00:22:58.446 --> 00:23:01.148
Like, you've helped my son as an actor and a producer.

308
00:23:01.208 --> 00:23:03.210
You've helped connect him to different people.

309
00:23:03.870 --> 00:23:09.592
I've loved getting to meet different people from the network, you know, from global.

310
00:23:09.772 --> 00:23:11.532
Like, I've prayed with some of them.

311
00:23:11.572 --> 00:23:12.373
It's been so fun.

312
00:23:12.513 --> 00:23:14.093
It's kind of hard when it's in the German time.

313
00:23:14.133 --> 00:23:15.434
I'm like, okay, wait a minute.

314
00:23:15.454 --> 00:23:18.134
Last time we did this, like, wait a minute, we had the wrong time zone?

315
00:23:18.235 --> 00:23:19.435
Oh, wait, this is not Karen's.

316
00:23:19.875 --> 00:23:24.016
I'm going to have to be up even later to connect with Germany.

317
00:23:24.056 --> 00:23:25.037
I'm like, it's okay.

318
00:23:26.217 --> 00:23:40.258
But the point of the prayer and how we are able to see God's hand from different people that you've connected, that is, only God could have allowed this to happen.

319
00:23:41.640 --> 00:24:08.948
only God and I was convinced years ago that you know I think the only reason why God has this on this planet is for relationship first with him and then with other people and if we understand that the depth, the beauty, the richness of meeting other people, praying with other people, connecting with other people, seeing the world gets bigger and bigger the more people we meet and talk to that strengthens our relationship with God because

320
00:24:09.888 --> 00:24:35.725
we not only need him desperately but we need his people we can't do it alone and you are incredible how you just lovingly quietly faithfully talk to people who then fall in love with you i can't tell you the number of people in our prayer network they're like cheryl is incredible and it's because you literally care you really want to connect with people and if we could have that attitude and just

321
00:24:36.806 --> 00:24:38.107
Who should I talk to today, Lord?

322
00:24:38.167 --> 00:24:39.867
Who should I pray for today?

323
00:24:41.408 --> 00:24:44.629
Who can you use me to encourage today?

324
00:24:45.309 --> 00:24:48.230
And I just find that so exciting.

325
00:24:48.350 --> 00:24:58.773
And to walk with you from two different states in the country, to know our hearts are the same, and then to realize we are forever friends.

326
00:24:59.194 --> 00:24:59.474
Amen.

327
00:24:59.574 --> 00:25:00.554
This is it forever.

328
00:25:00.794 --> 00:25:03.577
We get to keep doing this and never stop.

329
00:25:03.938 --> 00:25:12.707
And that's why I think Christians feel so connected, is that we know we've got this bond of Jesus that will keep us together forever.

330
00:25:13.629 --> 00:25:16.031
And again, I go back to prayer.

331
00:25:16.091 --> 00:25:20.857
When you pray and ask God to use you, he brings you other people along the way.

332
00:25:21.538 --> 00:25:21.838
Amen.

333
00:25:22.598 --> 00:25:28.440
You know, that's what I wanted to even highlight here, too, is the avenues in which you've used.

334
00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:31.642
And one of those, too, is the book that you wrote.

335
00:25:32.482 --> 00:25:36.323
And I love this because it's the Hollywood Jesus and you.

336
00:25:36.763 --> 00:25:38.724
And I love how you broke it down.

337
00:25:38.924 --> 00:25:40.465
And the other part about this.

338
00:25:41.585 --> 00:25:52.220
I think at one point you gifted me this book, is the connection with the YouVersion app that people could also connect with this devotional.

339
00:25:53.837 --> 00:25:56.238
Oh, it was the craziest thing.

340
00:25:56.358 --> 00:25:59.159
A board member of mine was friends with someone at YouVersion.

341
00:25:59.619 --> 00:26:04.280
And he he said, can I kind of just pitch maybe to get people to be praying for Hollywood?

342
00:26:04.300 --> 00:26:05.460
And I go, whatever.

343
00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:13.863
OK, he he talked to his friend and his friend said, we have so many devotionals and none of them tie in Hollywood.

344
00:26:14.443 --> 00:26:15.783
And so we said, go ahead and do it.

345
00:26:15.883 --> 00:26:19.644
And so we put it on YouVersion before we ever thought to write the book.

346
00:26:20.284 --> 00:26:25.605
And like 300,000 people started reading this devotional.

347
00:26:25.985 --> 00:26:29.406
And so they said, you have to put it in hard copy form.

348
00:26:29.986 --> 00:26:30.866
So we did that.

349
00:26:30.966 --> 00:26:34.687
And I'm so excited how the two connect because you can have it tangibly.

350
00:26:34.987 --> 00:26:35.127
Yes.

351
00:26:35.147 --> 00:26:37.068
But then you can pull it up digitally as well.

352
00:26:37.168 --> 00:26:38.448
And I'm really grateful for that.

353
00:26:38.528 --> 00:26:39.309
And I've done both.

354
00:26:41.051 --> 00:26:42.472
I've done some of the plans.

355
00:26:42.532 --> 00:26:52.403
So if you go out to, we'll have it in our show notes, it's going out to YouVersion and downloading the different devotionals that they can walk through.

356
00:26:53.164 --> 00:26:53.965
That's really good.

357
00:26:54.485 --> 00:26:59.851
But I also want to let people know how they can connect with you to get their own copy of this.

358
00:27:00.151 --> 00:27:02.132
And also get more than one copy.

359
00:27:02.172 --> 00:27:09.494
So when you're walking through it, I would suggest people use this as do it with another friend or even your spouse.

360
00:27:11.154 --> 00:27:12.354
Oh, I love that.

361
00:27:12.515 --> 00:27:15.715
And it's based on a week.

362
00:27:15.875 --> 00:27:17.216
Each week is a different topic.

363
00:27:18.097 --> 00:27:24.099
jealousy, love, fear, community, any topic for that week.

364
00:27:24.219 --> 00:27:30.762
And then once or twice that week, a specific prayer on how to pray for Hollywood and tying that into that topic.

365
00:27:31.062 --> 00:27:34.463
So we have it on our website, hollywoodprayernetwork.org.

366
00:27:34.923 --> 00:27:41.206
And you can just click on the homepage and it'll, how do we get the resources?

367
00:27:41.966 --> 00:27:43.027
And it's also listed,

368
00:27:44.347 --> 00:27:45.207
on our giving page.

369
00:27:45.668 --> 00:27:47.168
And we love to give that book.

370
00:27:47.689 --> 00:27:55.572
It's a donation, nonprofit donation to the ministry, and we will send it to you and be so encouraged by it, I hope.

371
00:27:56.293 --> 00:27:58.394
And we also, you can go to YouVersion, yeah.

372
00:27:58.574 --> 00:27:59.554
And you can go to Amazon.

373
00:27:59.574 --> 00:28:00.935
There are different ways to get it that way.

374
00:28:00.955 --> 00:28:02.996
But we love to hear from people on the website.

375
00:28:03.796 --> 00:28:07.918
I know people go to that other side, but I would really encourage you.

376
00:28:08.118 --> 00:28:20.165
I want people to network, get directly in contact with you at Hollywood Prayer Network, because I want you to see all the different avenues of how you can be an ongoing support and praying.

377
00:28:21.203 --> 00:28:29.826
You know, when we pray, what we've talked about, Karen, is the opportunity that what we can do is connect and to pray along with you.

378
00:28:30.246 --> 00:28:48.391
Matter of fact, every Friday, my time zone, it's 2 o'clock, but you have an hour of purposeful, strategic ways in which you pray for each other, and then you pray for the different specific things that are going on in Hollywood to make us aware what's happening today.

379
00:28:48.871 --> 00:28:53.213
Especially a lot of times, a lot of people are needing work and we're lacking it.

380
00:28:53.893 --> 00:29:03.256
But it's staying in touch with how to purposely know the strategies of the Lord to pray for God to manifest Himself in the lives there.

381
00:29:04.722 --> 00:29:07.144
Oh, it means so much to have you on that prayer call.

382
00:29:07.224 --> 00:29:08.664
Every Friday we've done this six years.

383
00:29:08.684 --> 00:29:11.426
We started with COVID, a good thing that came out of COVID.

384
00:29:12.307 --> 00:29:14.628
Every Friday for an hour, people from all over the world.

385
00:29:15.248 --> 00:29:17.590
And we just get to be together.

386
00:29:17.610 --> 00:29:22.473
I've never felt the community on Zoom as much as I do on this Friday prayer call.

387
00:29:22.513 --> 00:29:24.334
I just get so excited to see everybody.

388
00:29:24.854 --> 00:29:36.242
We also have one on one prayer partnerships where if you're a creative person, you can get an intercessor outside of the industry to pray for you as their media missionary.

389
00:29:36.763 --> 00:29:43.568
If you're an intercessor and you want to pray for somebody in Hollywood or in the global entertainment industry, we match you.

390
00:29:44.048 --> 00:29:51.098
through our prayer partnerships so that we want every Christian in the arts and entertainment industry to be prayed for by somebody.

391
00:29:51.158 --> 00:29:52.560
And we need more intercessors.

392
00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:54.423
We have a lot of people wanting prayer.

393
00:29:54.883 --> 00:29:57.447
We've gotta find more people that are willing to be prayers.

394
00:29:57.908 --> 00:29:59.950
We also have a parents prayer team.

395
00:30:00.471 --> 00:30:10.378
where every week one of our volunteers sends out a whole email list of parents praying for their child or their grown child in the entertainment industry.

396
00:30:10.819 --> 00:30:14.521
And we pray together for each other as parents lifting up our children.

397
00:30:15.182 --> 00:30:17.804
And then we have a kids and teen prayer calendar.

398
00:30:18.204 --> 00:30:37.134
Every month it's updated where kids, youth pastors, families, parents can pray for the people that their kids are watching or listening to on Nickelodeon, on all the kids cartoon networks, on the anything that deals with kids and have them praying.

399
00:30:37.154 --> 00:30:40.256
So they're not just mass consuming, but they're praying.

400
00:30:40.956 --> 00:30:43.757
And we have our prayer call sheet.

401
00:30:43.817 --> 00:30:51.720
Every two weeks, we send out an email how to be praying with inside information about Hollywood, the people, the projects, what's happening here.

402
00:30:52.260 --> 00:30:57.162
We think everything we can possibly think of to get people praying in any way that they can.

403
00:30:57.890 --> 00:31:02.791
You know, you're very creative, too, because, like, I do the chapter in the Tulsa area.

404
00:31:03.031 --> 00:31:07.552
And so there's also different chapters on, like, Facebook communities.

405
00:31:07.813 --> 00:31:17.275
So you have multiple ways where you're trying to connect small groups, but then the global connection with you directly on the Fridays.

406
00:31:17.475 --> 00:31:21.176
And then there's the directors also meet once a month.

407
00:31:21.556 --> 00:31:24.942
online as well and seeing what's going on amongst them.

408
00:31:25.162 --> 00:31:31.753
So I've talked to people in Australia and several other countries.

409
00:31:32.754 --> 00:31:33.295
Norway.

410
00:31:33.315 --> 00:31:34.757
Norway and Ireland.

411
00:31:35.198 --> 00:31:35.799
Yeah.

412
00:31:36.740 --> 00:31:38.842
London, it's amazing.

413
00:31:38.962 --> 00:31:39.342
Yes.

414
00:31:39.542 --> 00:31:39.802
Yes.

415
00:31:40.042 --> 00:31:43.325
And it's like you get to have friends from all over.

416
00:31:43.885 --> 00:31:49.029
And it's such a joy that we can hear what God's doing, encourage them.

417
00:31:49.229 --> 00:31:54.632
When we had one gentleman out of Florida was praying for the Chosen series and having opportunities.

418
00:31:55.193 --> 00:31:56.734
So we would just encourage each other.

419
00:31:56.774 --> 00:31:57.434
Okay, let's pray.

420
00:31:57.474 --> 00:31:58.735
He's still going out.

421
00:31:58.815 --> 00:32:03.118
And the Lord's using him just to be present while they're filming.

422
00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:05.260
I love all that creative way.

423
00:32:05.280 --> 00:32:05.840
And it really does.

424
00:32:06.555 --> 00:32:11.879
Yes, and it means something to each other to know that there's someone else on this Zoom who really appreciates what they're doing.

425
00:32:12.299 --> 00:32:26.189
The gentleman in Texas, he has five prayer groups around the globe praying specifically for the chosen, one in French, one in Spanish, and three in English in different places around the world praying for this.

426
00:32:26.830 --> 00:32:34.115
And for the other local chapter directors like you to be able to get to know about that, it just expands our territory.

427
00:32:34.688 --> 00:32:35.049
I agree.

428
00:32:35.370 --> 00:32:38.457
Now there's also one other thing we're missing is your app.

429
00:32:38.678 --> 00:32:39.660
Tell us about your app.

430
00:32:41.081 --> 00:32:46.643
Well, my dear right arm at the Hollywood Prayer Network, Calry, came on five years ago.

431
00:32:47.203 --> 00:32:52.485
And I had been wanting an app so badly, but it was unbelievably expensive.

432
00:32:52.705 --> 00:32:54.085
At the time, it was just crazy.

433
00:32:54.685 --> 00:32:56.926
And she said, Karen, we just need to pray.

434
00:32:57.126 --> 00:32:58.306
We need to pray to get an app.

435
00:32:58.386 --> 00:32:59.287
We need an app.

436
00:32:59.787 --> 00:33:07.749
So we started praying and suddenly, people were willing to come in and help us and the price went down and the scope got bigger.

437
00:33:08.329 --> 00:33:09.070
And we had,

438
00:33:10.430 --> 00:33:14.633
I think it's over two years ago now, we got the Hollywood Prayer Network app.

439
00:33:15.354 --> 00:33:19.957
Anybody across the globe can download it free on any app store.

440
00:33:20.678 --> 00:33:21.818
It gives all our events.

441
00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:23.400
It gives all our chapters.

442
00:33:23.580 --> 00:33:27.322
It gives all our resources, ways to pray, ways to connect.

443
00:33:27.963 --> 00:33:33.887
And it's been one of my greatest joys because people who reach out to me and say, I found you on an app.

444
00:33:33.947 --> 00:33:35.749
I'm like, oh, thank you, Lord.

445
00:33:35.829 --> 00:33:36.809
That's so exciting.

446
00:33:38.146 --> 00:33:44.930
You know, God has been so faithful with all the works for now 25 years you're celebrating this month.

447
00:33:45.991 --> 00:33:52.615
It's just amazing how God is continually placing a way for people to connect and learn.

448
00:33:53.696 --> 00:34:03.621
how they can be a part of praying and then see God's hand move in all individuals, but then things are going on in Hollywood.

449
00:34:03.881 --> 00:34:06.362
And that's where I love it because film's being done globally.

450
00:34:07.082 --> 00:34:16.667
And then the people that are involved with that, whether you're personally involved with film or you're just one of those people, like you said, that has a heart for intercession.

451
00:34:16.687 --> 00:34:18.988
It brings us all together.

452
00:34:19.708 --> 00:34:24.391
to where we can see God hand move and answer the prayers.

453
00:34:24.591 --> 00:34:32.517
To see when you put out the prayer requests for specific people, and then the celebrations when we see God moving.

454
00:34:33.137 --> 00:34:33.638
I love that.

455
00:34:34.857 --> 00:34:35.538
Oh, I love it.

456
00:34:35.578 --> 00:34:44.711
I thank you for bringing that up because there's still a lie of the enemy within the Christian world that Hollywood is hopeless, that just write it off.

457
00:34:45.111 --> 00:34:46.213
It's never going to change.

458
00:34:46.814 --> 00:34:49.618
And we're seeing as inside prayers

459
00:34:50.078 --> 00:34:51.819
that God is moving.

460
00:34:52.200 --> 00:34:54.081
There are things happening.

461
00:34:54.441 --> 00:35:07.390
Just the merger of faith-based films and secular films, and how now these studios have faith-based divisions, and how Christian production companies are making deals with secular studios.

462
00:35:09.411 --> 00:35:19.203
There's such a, just a melting together of the Christian world and the secular world here that we keep wanting to tell people, don't lose hope.

463
00:35:19.283 --> 00:35:20.345
Things are moving.

464
00:35:20.405 --> 00:35:21.867
God is moving here.

465
00:35:22.584 --> 00:35:22.924
Amen.

466
00:35:23.244 --> 00:35:32.029
Yeah, there's so many incredible things that happens, even since I've been involved with your ministry, to see the Lord opening doors, connecting them.

467
00:35:32.169 --> 00:35:40.393
Part of it is that connection that He's doing, that, you know, you marvel at God, what He does, but He's so faithful to His Word.

468
00:35:41.474 --> 00:35:42.114
Oh, gosh.

469
00:35:42.655 --> 00:35:44.996
And very creative, more than we could ever figure out.

470
00:35:45.376 --> 00:35:48.658
How did that person get with that person, and now they're connected?

471
00:35:49.138 --> 00:35:50.999
It's crazy, and we just have to show up.

472
00:35:52.631 --> 00:36:05.738
You know, as we're wrapping up, Karen, I would love for you just to talk to our audience and just share with your heart to encourage them to be faithful in prayer, to hear and obey what He calls you to do, and realize that God hears and He does respond to your prayers.

473
00:36:07.467 --> 00:36:26.484
Oh my gosh, I have so many stories in Hollywood of Christians who just prayed and through their prayers, they got to touch lives, they got to change sets, and they got to impact production companies, they got to watch people's lives just completely transform.

474
00:36:27.044 --> 00:36:30.688
And I'll tell you one wild story, a young man and actor,

475
00:36:31.288 --> 00:36:34.252
got hired to do a job on a vampire show.

476
00:36:34.492 --> 00:36:37.856
And he was very uncomfortable about being on a vampire show.

477
00:36:38.297 --> 00:36:40.539
So he called a couple of us and said, would you pray for me?

478
00:36:40.579 --> 00:36:42.622
I'm not even sure whether I should accept this or not.

479
00:36:43.122 --> 00:36:44.064
And we said, let's pray.

480
00:36:44.564 --> 00:36:46.867
And as we were praying, I thought, you know what, Lord?

481
00:36:47.307 --> 00:36:50.571
He can go somewhere that no other person can go.

482
00:36:51.232 --> 00:36:55.894
Who's going to get on a set and be able to pray for people and share their faith other than a Christian?

483
00:36:56.394 --> 00:36:59.455
And so if he says no, maybe he'd be missing an opportunity.

484
00:36:59.755 --> 00:37:01.075
So I just presented that to him.

485
00:37:01.236 --> 00:37:05.497
And I said, your role isn't compromising, is it?

486
00:37:05.517 --> 00:37:06.157
And he goes, no.

487
00:37:06.597 --> 00:37:10.819
I said, okay, then maybe you can go to a place that no one else can.

488
00:37:11.685 --> 00:37:14.629
And he's like, oh yeah, maybe so.

489
00:37:15.410 --> 00:37:21.579
So he got encouraged and another person said kind of the same thing really, and he took the job.

490
00:37:24.004 --> 00:37:37.991
for some reason the book of Revelation in his ear pods and went on the set listening to the book of Revelation saying I'm gonna fortify myself and I'm gonna go in there and just put the walls up to protect me.

491
00:37:38.691 --> 00:37:42.974
Well, he's sitting on the set, not interacting with anybody, listening to the book of Revelation.

492
00:37:43.594 --> 00:37:47.676
When another man walked up to him and said, excuse me.

493
00:37:47.696 --> 00:37:50.778
And he took out his ear pods and he goes, yeah, he goes,

494
00:37:51.865 --> 00:37:56.987
this is kind of a weird question, but do you know anything about the book of Revelation?"

495
00:37:57.608 --> 00:37:58.268
Wow.

496
00:37:58.528 --> 00:38:02.630
And he looked up and said, I'm listening to it right now.

497
00:38:02.750 --> 00:38:03.991
Why did you ask me that?

498
00:38:04.251 --> 00:38:07.012
He said, well, I'm going through a hard time.

499
00:38:07.152 --> 00:38:11.574
And he goes, somebody said to me that maybe I should listen to the book of Revelation.

500
00:38:11.674 --> 00:38:17.237
And he said, I was sitting here thinking about it and I looked over and I thought, maybe he knows.

501
00:38:18.260 --> 00:38:21.082
Well, my friend starts sharing his faith with him.

502
00:38:21.102 --> 00:38:26.667
This man had gone through this terrible breakup, heartbroken, to the point of almost suicidal.

503
00:38:27.607 --> 00:38:30.129
They built a relationship, they spent the whole day together.

504
00:38:30.810 --> 00:38:33.612
That week, he invited this man to come to church with him.

505
00:38:34.032 --> 00:38:35.173
He came to church with him.

506
00:38:35.894 --> 00:38:41.478
In like three weeks, he walked up with an altar call and became a Christian.

507
00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:45.882
And it was all because he just showed up and obeyed God.

508
00:38:46.342 --> 00:38:51.143
And I see answers to prayer like that almost every week.

509
00:38:51.223 --> 00:38:53.244
It's crazy what God is doing with prayer.

510
00:38:53.744 --> 00:38:56.025
We may not see the results immediately.

511
00:38:56.425 --> 00:39:04.287
We may not feel that God is listening, but we have to have such confidence in him that he gave us this incredible gift to pray.

512
00:39:04.827 --> 00:39:06.988
We get to tell him everything.

513
00:39:07.288 --> 00:39:11.649
We get to ask for things beyond what is honestly capable for us to do.

514
00:39:12.229 --> 00:39:14.650
And then we wait and we trust.

515
00:39:15.470 --> 00:39:17.753
And we learn that he is faithful.

516
00:39:18.113 --> 00:39:20.536
And we watch miracle after miracle.

517
00:39:20.917 --> 00:39:28.125
I've had so many answered prayers now, Cheryl, that Jim and I now every day pray, Lord, we want to either see a miracle today or be a part of a miracle today.

518
00:39:28.565 --> 00:39:31.589
Because that's how much we see the answers to prayer.

519
00:39:32.625 --> 00:39:34.506
Yeah, that's such an incredible story.

520
00:39:34.986 --> 00:39:41.809
It just reminds us that all we have to do is listen to that prompting of what the Holy Spirit is telling us to do.

521
00:39:42.289 --> 00:39:43.350
And then just walk in it.

522
00:39:44.070 --> 00:39:47.772
And, you know, I really want to encourage our listeners, too, is be mindful.

523
00:39:48.672 --> 00:39:56.374
Wherever God calls any one of us to whatever territory, it is for us to take back the territory if it's not his.

524
00:39:56.994 --> 00:40:06.616
And so it's for us to be present, to pray, to be open to the Holy Spirit's leading us, and to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to show the love.

525
00:40:07.956 --> 00:40:10.076
You know, it doesn't matter where it's at.

526
00:40:10.176 --> 00:40:17.478
It's that he guides us in such a way that we are to mark someone else's life if that's what he told us to do.

527
00:40:19.398 --> 00:40:28.370
And do you know, I'm in an industry where the gods that we worship are literally the Emmy God, the Oscar God, the Grammy God.

528
00:40:29.292 --> 00:40:33.057
And what I find is those things are so empty.

529
00:40:33.257 --> 00:40:35.280
When I'm walking through a day...

530
00:40:35.600 --> 00:40:42.042
and the Lord uses me somehow to touch somebody's life, that's the greatest reward I can ever get.

531
00:40:42.322 --> 00:40:44.402
Nothing fills me up more than that.

532
00:40:44.823 --> 00:40:48.724
And we get to tell people that, oh, no, it's not about all the stuff.

533
00:40:48.764 --> 00:40:51.104
It's not about the rewards, the material things.

534
00:40:51.984 --> 00:40:55.265
It's about obeying God and watching him use us.

535
00:40:55.305 --> 00:40:58.546
He doesn't have to, but he chooses us.

536
00:40:59.006 --> 00:41:01.607
It's crazy and exciting and the best thing in the world.

537
00:41:02.565 --> 00:41:03.006
I agree.

538
00:41:03.506 --> 00:41:12.856
And so I just want to encourage those who are listening is to share this podcast so that other people can hear that things are happening.

539
00:41:13.277 --> 00:41:15.039
People's lives are being saved.

540
00:41:15.279 --> 00:41:16.961
They're coming back to the Lord.

541
00:41:17.001 --> 00:41:20.785
They're getting healed emotionally, maybe, and as physically.

542
00:41:21.546 --> 00:41:28.071
that we are seeing the hands of God constantly doing something on a global influence.

543
00:41:28.351 --> 00:41:33.014
And I would suggest to you is get connected to Hollywood Prayer Network.

544
00:41:33.394 --> 00:41:42.340
See how you begin to pray, but also how can you plant a seed into that ministry that will have a continual experience.

545
00:41:42.461 --> 00:41:47.024
Both my husband and I, we have supported Hollywood Prayer Network together,

546
00:41:47.564 --> 00:41:51.427
personally because we believe that they are making an impact.

547
00:41:51.447 --> 00:41:55.690
They are obeying what the Word of God calls us to do, to go into every place.

548
00:41:56.290 --> 00:42:05.837
And because of that, even iRefresh, we are also supporting their ministry because it's all about prayer and that we align with that.

549
00:42:06.017 --> 00:42:09.099
And their mission is very much in our heartbeat.

550
00:42:09.359 --> 00:42:14.923
It's following the voice of God and praying, believing God's going to change the hearts for His good.

551
00:42:16.387 --> 00:42:25.089
And I want to just jump in and say, your support, your belief in us, your generosity, you don't know how important that is.

552
00:42:25.469 --> 00:42:28.690
You can feel very alone in this world doing something that sounds crazy.

553
00:42:29.050 --> 00:42:31.551
And to have someone say, no, I believe in you.

554
00:42:31.991 --> 00:42:33.052
I'm going to support you.

555
00:42:33.092 --> 00:42:34.072
I'm going to pray for you.

556
00:42:34.612 --> 00:42:38.173
Cheryl, I will never, ever be able to express how much that means.

557
00:42:38.858 --> 00:42:39.638
Well, it's been a joy.

558
00:42:39.758 --> 00:42:41.739
I mean, there's a mutual benefit we have.

559
00:42:41.839 --> 00:42:48.721
I love when I've been able to go out there and meet with you and meet people, part of a Highwood Prayer Network, and to hear about the miracles.

560
00:42:48.781 --> 00:42:50.201
I've literally heard them myself.

561
00:42:51.001 --> 00:42:54.782
And I just, I know that God's continually doing something.

562
00:42:54.863 --> 00:43:03.645
And especially with what you're trusting the Lord for the next phase and the next mission that He's calling you into, that we all can have a part in.

563
00:43:04.045 --> 00:43:07.089
and influence by supporting Hollywood Prayer Network.

564
00:43:07.189 --> 00:43:17.941
So thank you so much for your obedience all these years to follow after and be faithful to that prayer and connecting so that the Lord can do mighty things.

565
00:43:19.543 --> 00:43:21.104
Oh, thank you so much.

566
00:43:21.145 --> 00:43:22.486
And blessings on you as well.

567
00:43:22.506 --> 00:43:24.048
Let's just keep showing up every day.

568
00:43:24.396 --> 00:43:24.776
Amen.

569
00:43:24.937 --> 00:43:25.537
Thank you, Karen.

570
00:43:25.838 --> 00:43:28.701
If this episode encouraged you, don't let it end here.

571
00:43:29.221 --> 00:43:35.128
Open your Bible, seek God's heart, and discover the life-changing power of His promises for yourself.

572
00:43:35.528 --> 00:43:39.673
Until next time, keep pursuing the God who changes everything.