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
THE PLUGGED IN PRAYER LIFE: Power Up: Connecting to God's Spiritual Grid
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Have you ever wondered why some prayers seem electrified with divine power while others feel like words disappearing into thin air? The answer might be simpler than you think.
Drawing on a fascinating historical parallel, this episode takes us back to the early 1900s when American homes first gained access to electricity. Just as families had to make a deliberate choice to connect to the power grid, we too must decide whether to truly "power up" our prayer lives by plugging into God's unlimited mighty power.
James 5:16 reveals the stunning truth that "the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." This isn't because our words themselves generate power, but because we're connecting directly to the Creator who spoke stars into existence and raised Jesus from the dead. Prayer isn't powerful because of what we say – it's powerful because of who we're talking to.
This episode marks the beginning of the "Plugged In Prayer Life" series, which uses pivotal moments in American history to illuminate spiritual truths about connecting with God. We explore how scripture repeatedly promises that God "gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." These aren't empty spiritual platitudes but invitations to stop relying on our limited human capabilities and instead tap into divine power.
Whether you're feeling spiritually drained, standing in darkness despite being near the grid, or simply wanting to experience more of God's transformative power, this conversation offers practical insights for making that vital connection. The same way electricity revolutionized daily life a century ago, prayer can revolutionize your life today – affecting not just your present circumstances but eternity itself.
Ready to move beyond merely speaking words and truly power up your prayer life? Listen now, then check out the coordinating "Power Up" conversation guide to "Seek Him Speak Him."
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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
The Power Grid Analogy
Speaker 1For most of history, the phrase plugged in hasn't meant anything because the very concept of plugging into power is a relatively recent invention. So imagine that it's the early 1900s. You're standing in your kitchen. There's not a hum, not a flicker, not a swoosh, it's quiet and it's dark. You've heard stories about electric lights in big cities, maybe even read about people turning on a switch and watching a room flood with brightness. You've heard about, well, the street lamps that are lighting up big cities like New York, but your home it still runs on firelight and oil lamps. You're still boiling water over wood. You're still in the dark.
Speaker 1That was reality for most American families just over a century ago. Even though electricity was a growing reality in cities, it hadn't made its way into everyday homes yet. The power grid existed, but it was only beginning to reach neighborhoods and farms and rural towns. By the 1920s, just one in three homes had electric power. Thankfully, by about the 1930s, thanks to some national initiatives, more and more families began to have the opportunity to decide will we connect, will we power up? Thing is, when they did, when they flipped the switch and experienced electricity for the first time, everything changed.
Introducing the Plugged In Prayer Life
Speaker 1That picture, friend, is such a powerful analogy for what it means to live a life of powerful prayer. You see, god's power is real. It's not theory, it's not a fairy tale. It's a spiritual reality that has the ability to light up our lives, shift our circumstances, tear down strongholds and see the impossible become reality. But here's the thing Just like those early homes, we have to make the choice to connect, and we connect with God through prayer, and that's what this collection of conversations is all about. Hi, my name is Tasha Williams. I'm the founder and the executive director of the Family Disciple Me ministry, and I must tell you that these conversations are near and dear to my heart, and I am just thrilled to be able to invite you into these. I call this series the Plugged in Prayer Life. And well, we have seven conversations in this series, so we've got a ways to go. So why don't we get started with this first conversation? Power up right now.
Speaker 2Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. You are in the right place to be equipped, challenged and blessed in Jesus' name. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so today, let this podcast episode encourage you to seek Him, speak Him.
Speaker 1Welcome to the very first conversation in the Plugged In Prayer Life series, where we begin by flipping the switch on a powerful truth. Today we're diving into what it really means to power up in prayer and to guide us. We're going to anchor our conversation in a verse that you could say it's as electrifying as it is encouraging. James, chapter 5, verse 16, part B, says the prayer of a righteous person has great power. As it is working Now, I don't know about you.
God's Promises of Strength
Speaker 1But I've read that verse so many times over the years, I've taught it, I've memorized it, I've prayed through it. But it hit me in a new way when I began to think about that word power. You see, prayer isn't powerful because of what we say. Prayer is powerful because of who we're talking to. The source is what gives it its power. The electricity in our homes isn't powerful because of our homes. It's powerful because of the power grid that supplies that electricity. That's the huge choice and opportunity that families and homeowners and hounds had about a century ago. They got to choose whether they would power up and connect to the power source. And in such a similar way, when you and I pray, we're not just whispering into the void, we are plugging into the creator of the universe, the one whose power spoke stars into existence and who raised Jesus from the dead. He is the source of power that we're talking to. And that power, well, it's not just for super spiritual people or ministry professionals or the religious elites. No, james, chapter 5, verse 16, says that power. It belongs to the righteous person, that is, someone who's been made right with God. So if you've given your life to Jesus, that means you, that means your prayers are powerful as they are working. So let me ask you this have you been living like you're plugged into that kind of power, or are you standing near the power grid but still living in the dark? Now let me be clear. Living a quote plugged-in prayer life doesn't mean we always feel strong or get everything we ask for, but it means we're connected to the only power that completely, entirely and truly transforms. It means we're not running on our own energy anymore. It means we're plugging into the power grid.
Preview of Future Conversations
Speaker 1You say, well, that's kind of an interesting way to think about it. Well, it is, friend, it is Listen to what God's word says about his amazing power. God's word says be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. That's Ephesians 6, verse 10. And then the Psalms say the Lord gives strength to his people and Isaiah proclaims God gives strength to the weary and he increases the power of the weak. I don't know about you, but I need that power in my life right now. Really, I need it all the time. But he gives power to the weak, he gives strength to the people who don't have strength. I need that kind of power in my life. Do you? Colossians tells us that we can be strengthened with all power according to God's glorious might. Friend, not just a little power, not just an on and off supply of power, not power that comes through a rolling power grid, timing no, the power of God that doesn't change, that's always there. These are amazing promises with which we can power up our prayer lives and that, my friend, is the heart of this first conversation. God's power is real, his power is available and we access His power, according to James, chapter 5, verse 16, through prayer. Now, this conversation, it's just the beginning.
Speaker 1In this series, in the Plugged In Prayer Life conversations, we're going to walk through six more discipleship conversations. Each of these uses a moment in American history to help us understand the spiritual truth about prayer. I love history, so I think this is kind of fascinating. But here's where we're going. We're starting here with power up, and that is connecting to God's power.
Speaker 1Our second conversation is plug in. Did you know there was a moment in time when somebody invented the electrical outlet? But I never thought about that before studying this. And then we're going to talk about call, understanding, the invitation that God gives us to cry out to him. And then we're going to talk about listening, learning to hear his voice and what he wants to say to us in response to conversations with him. We're going to talk about watching for his answers to prayer, remembering, building a life of spiritual memory and testimony. And then we're going to conclude this collection of conversations with talking about imagine, imagine what God still is going to do in your life, he who does exceedingly, abundantly more than what we can ask or think, according to his power that works within us and that brings us all the way back to this first conversation.
Call to Connect with God's Power
Speaker 1You see, prayer is just words until we realize what prayer truly is. It's the way that we plug in and connect with the greatest of powers, and that is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the God of gods, the creator of the universe, the Alpha and the Omega, and he invites us. He invites us to talk to him and he says when you will come to me, when you will talk to me, when you will cry out and pray to me, I will listen, I will respond and you will see great power working in and through your life. I need that truth. I don't know about you. I need his power today. I need his power more in this moment than I ever have before in my life. I don't know if that's ever going to change, that I have enough power, that I have enough strength, but the reality is I don't have to rely on my own strength, and neither do you. We get to go to the source. We get to power up with our Lord, god Almighty.
Speaker 1So in this collection of conversations, I encourage you lean in, listen to the podcast episode and then from there go to the accompanying conversation guide and spend some time going through that conversation guide. Every conversation is in the family disciple me format, starts with seek him and then ask three questions what, why and how, and then it concludes with speak him, because we believe it's not just about what you personally get or what I personally get in my devotions or spending time with God. It's then about what we turn around and we give to someone else in Jesus' name. We call that seek him, speak him, and you'll find that in every one of our discipleship conversations. I encourage you to spend some time going through this series. Let it encourage your heart, let it inspire you, let it help you begin to engage conversation with somebody else. Maybe you lead your child or your grandchild or a roommate or somebody in your life, a friend.
Speaker 1Everything that we do in our walks with the Lord can be something that we share with somebody else. So today, well, as we think about powering up, let me ask you Are you connected to God's power through prayer? Have you been relying on your own strength, or are you drawing close and powering up with His strength? The same way that electricity changed everyday life 100 years ago, well, prayer can change our lives today, and, thing is, it affects not just now, it affects eternity.
Speaker 1So when I think about that, it makes me want to well, power up again, spending more time with the Lord, because His word promises the prayer of a righteous person has great power, as it's working, and I'm going to take him up on that and find out, and I hope that you will too. Thanks for joining me in this first conversation in the Plugged In Prayer Life series. In our next episode, we're going to talk about what it means to plug in, and I'll introduce you to a man whose 1904 invention literally changed every building you've ever walked into Until then. Stay plugged in, friend. God bless you Be encouraged.
Speaker 2Thanks for joining us in this podcast episode. Be sure to check out the Coordinating Conversation Guide. The heart of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to meet with God in our own lives. Then make Him known to those he's entrusted to us. You can go to familydisciplemeorg for more information about our ministry. God bless you, friend. Now go seek Him, speak Him.