The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
In a world filled with a lot of talk, we want to have meaningful, biblical conversations with those God has entrusted to us. Join Tosha Williams and the Family Disciple Me ministry for Devotion Driven Discipleship conversation starters that will encourage you to "Seek Him Speak Him" in your own life.
Family Disciple Me is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Christian ministry dedicated to catalyzing Devotion Driven Discipleship in our own lives and homes as well as around the world.
For more information, visit familydiscipleme.org
The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
May You Pray for People Each Day! Convo #2 in our Annual "May You Pray" Conversation Series
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What great things are happening in someone else's life because YOU are praying for them? The Bible says, “Pray for each other. Do this so that God can heal you. Anyone who lives the way God wants can pray, and great things will happen” (James 5:16 ERV).
So... what great things are happening because YOU pray? This is a compelling question for all of us to consider, as we continue in our "May You Pray" series. Thing is, when someone matters to us, we should pray for them! In this podcast episode, we focus on who God wants us to pray and how He wants us to pray for them!
The Apostle Paul wrote, "Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:15-16 NIV). This month of "May You Pray" is a really great time to Seek the Lord about remembering to pray for those He has entrusted to us.
This episode goes along with a devotion driven discipleship conversation guide that can be found at May You Pray for People Each Day at familydiscipleme.org.
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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.
Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org
May You Pray for Others
Speaker 1I have a question for you what great things are happening in other people's lives because you are praying for them? Let's think hard about our answers to this question, because I believe our answers will show the tenacity, the power and the effectiveness of our prayers. The Bible says pray for each other. Do this so that God can heal you. Anyone who lives the way God wants can pray, and great things will happen. So what great things are happening in other people's lives because you're praying and I'm praying? This is such an important reminder to me to pray for those God has entrusted to me and to keep praying for them. That's what we're going to talk about in this episode as we continue through our May you Pray conversation guides. We began with May you Pray and start with praise. I love this reminder to bless God before I ask him to bless me, to honor him before I ask him to help me. But then now we move on to our next theme in may you pray, and in this conversation, we're discussing may you pray for people each day, which brings me back to the question what great things are happening in other people's lives because we are praying? As we're thinking about this, I'm going to play the intro. Then let's spend just a few minutes considering this topic together. A few minutes considering this topic together.
Speaker 1Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. Our goal is to catalyze devotion-driven discipleship in our own lives and relationships and then around the world. We do this through easily accessible biblical resources that help us meet with God and make Him known. We call this Seek Him, speak Him. You can find out more about this, our ministry and our resources at familydisciplemeorg. Hi, my name is Tasha Williams. I'm delighted to be on this journey with you, so let's spend this moment together, seeking God in His Word, about what he first has to say to us. As we focus on prayer in our May you Pray conversation guides, we start with praise for God, then we move on to praying for other people in our lives. May you pray for people each day.
Speaker 1Now, the whole of Ephesians, chapter 1, is such a beautiful prayer and we're just going to be picking and choosing pieces from that chapter as we go through these conversation guides. But right now I want to specifically highlight what the Apostle Paul wrote in verses 15 and 16. He said For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people. I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. The Apostle Paul cared so much about his friends in Ephesus. When he heard an update about their faith and their love, he didn't just make a mental note and move on, though. Instead, he wrote them this letter that we call Ephesians, and he prayed for them. What's more, as we'll see in this whole chapter and in fact, in the whole book of Ephesians, paul didn't just occasionally pray for them, he said he never stopped praying for them.
Speaker 1Now, I think we would all agree that we should pray and keep praying for other people, but I'll be honest with you. Sometimes I forget. Life is full. The schedule is busy, right. I know that's true for you as much as it is for me. We all have people who matter so deeply to us. We also encounter other people that God places in our lives and on our hearts that he wants us to intercede and pray for, but we hear about them, we think about them, we even talk to them, but then we move on with life without remembering to pray for them.
Speaker 1Did you know that it's a sin to only pray for yourself? Did you know that it's a sin to forget to pray for other people in your life. I know that may seem odd, but it's what we see taught and exemplified in Scripture. A godly leader in the Old Testament, whose name was Samuel, said to his people in 1 Samuel 12, verse 23, I would never sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. Samuel's desire to remember to pray for his people was so compelling that he considered it sinful to quit praying for them.
Speaker 1Now, that concept might give you a little pause. It certainly gives me some pause. So let's see what Jesus had to say about this. Have you ever noticed that in the Lord's Prayer, jesus taught us to pray not just for ourselves, but to pray in the plural. Listen to what he taught us to say Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. And then he goes on to tell us to pray. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Speaker 1Since this is so important for us to pray not just for ourselves, but for others, how do we remember to pray for other people that God's entrusted to us? What if, during May you Pray, we set aside certain times of the day that we pray for those that God's entrusted to us. Maybe we set an alarm for, say, 630 in the morning or 230 in the afternoon, and then, when that alarm goes off, it's a mental reminder to turn our thoughts toward God, to pray for the people he's called us to pray, for our thoughts toward God, to pray for the people he's called us to pray for. What if, during May you Pray, we actually take the time to write out a prayer list? I have a friend who, on a certain day each month, sends me a text and tells me about a specific prayer request that she's praying for my family. I am always so deeply challenged and encouraged by that.
Speaker 1What if we set a prayer watch time to pray with others? I know in this season of my life I have three days a week that I am meeting from 630 am to 7 to pray with other believers. Is it a challenge to get out of bed? Yes, sometimes it is, but it is always such a blessing to have those focused prayer times. And I should add those 630 to 7 am prayer times are virtually online through well, something like FaceTime or Google Meets. It's so easy these days to meet and pray with other believers.
Speaker 1What if, during May, you Pray as we focus on remembering to pray for other people? What if we reach out and ask for specific prayer requests from those people that God's put in our lives? What this looks like is different for each of us, right, but the thing is, may you pray for people each day, and as you do this and as I do this, here's the promise that we carry with us into this prayer challenge. The NIV version of James 5.16 says pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. I love the way that the NIV translates that verse, but this month I'm especially meditating on the way the ERV version translates this verse. That is the easy-to-read version says in James 5.16,. I love this promise so much and this Brings me back to the beginning question of this podcast. What great things are happening in other people's lives because you are praying? This question, this entire conversation, is such an important reminder to me personally to pray for those God has entrusted to me and to keep praying. What about you? I challenge you to spend some time with Jesus.
Speaker 1In this conversation guide that goes along with this podcast episode. I encourage you to seek Him about the theme scripture and go through the three questions what, why and how. What is God saying through this scripture? Why does it matter? How does God want me to respond to this truth? And then remember, devotion-driven discipleship starts with devotion that is seeking Him, but it always leads to discipleship that is speaking Him After you prayerfully meditate on and consider what God has to say to you through his word about this scripture, about this conversation, about this topic. Don't be silent about it. Share it with someone else, maybe your children, maybe your grandchildren, maybe your spouse or friend or roommate, maybe a small group you're leading, or with someone else that God has placed in your life.
Speaker 1Thing is, prayer is such an important way we can help others. Today, I challenge you keep your eyes open to see if there's someone that well, you can speak him by offering to pray for them along the way. If they say no, it's okay, move on. But if they say yes, you're going to have a wonderful opportunity to minister to someone else in Jesus' name. As we close, I want to pray over you, a blessing that God told the spiritual leaders in the Old Testament to pray over his people. And that prayer, that blessing, is this May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his countenance towards you and give you peace. Now go with God friend, live for Him, listen to His voice, seek Him and speak Him. May you pray for people each day. I'm praying for you Until next time.