Praying in the Spirit: Your Ultimate Shield Against Temptation

Summary

In today's episode, Tiffany Fletcher and Tamara Anderson discuss the profound significance of prayer as articulated in Ephesians 6:18, which underscores the imperative to "pray in the Spirit." This notion extends far beyond mere ritual; it is an invitation to engage in a dynamic communion with the Divine, a means by which we are fortified against the vicissitudes of life. Together, we explore the intricate relationship between prayer and the armor of God, expounding on how genuine supplication acts as a shield, empowering us to navigate the adversities we encounter. We shall also delve into the transformative power of the Spirit in our prayers, as it guides our expressions of need and intercession, particularly in moments when our own words falter. Join us as we unravel these spiritual truths with warmth, introspection, and perhaps a dash of levity, for it is through this exploration that we collectively discover the strength and solace that prayer bestows upon our lives.

Show Notes

The conversation between Tiffany Fletcher and Tamara Anderson delves into the profound implications of Ephesians 6:18, highlighting the imperative nature of prayer in the life of a believer. They elucidate how prayer functions as an essential armor against spiritual adversaries, much akin to the metaphorical armor described in the preceding verses. The discussion begins with the recognition that, in the most trying moments, Jesus Himself emphasized the necessity of prayer, as evidenced in His pleas at Gethsemane. Here, Tiffany reflects on the duality of our human condition: while our spirits may yearn for communion with the divine, our flesh often succumbs to weariness. This poignant truth, she posits, serves as a reminder that prayer should not merely be an afterthought but a continuous dialogue with God, providing strength and guidance through life's myriad challenges.

Tamara interjects with the notion that prayer, particularly when conducted 'in the Spirit,' serves as a conduit for divine assistance. They explore the role of supplication in prayer, emphasizing that even in our moments of deepest despair or confusion, the Spirit intercedes for us, translating our unuttered emotions into requests that resonate with the divine. For instance, Tamara recounts how she often finds herself in situations where words elude her, yet she knows that the Spirit is at work within her, articulating her heart's desires to God. This compelling narrative invites listeners to consider their own prayer practices and to embrace the power of prayer not just as a ritual, but as an empowering force that connects us with God and fortifies us against temptation.

Furthermore, the episode highlights the importance of recognizing the adversary's tactics to discourage prayer, as Tiffany articulates the insidious whispers that suggest our prayers are futile. Here, they underscore the theological truth that prayer is foundational to our spiritual armor, as it enables us to wield the 'sword of the Spirit' effectively. They draw connections between prayer and the broader theme of repentance, illustrating how turning to God in prayer can aid us in overcoming personal shortcomings and temptations. By the episode's conclusion, listeners are left with a profound understanding of prayer's multifaceted role in their spiritual lives, encouraged to cultivate a habit of continuous communication with the Lord, thereby inviting His presence into every aspect of their daily existence.

Takeaways

• Prayer serves as a formidable shield, equipping us to confront the adversities we face daily.
• Incorporating prayer into our lives allows us to connect with the divine and seek guidance in our trials.
• The act of praying in the Spirit transcends mere words, enabling us to articulate our deepest emotions.
• Understanding prayer as a vital component of our spiritual armor highlights its indispensable role in our faith journey.
• Engaging in regular supplication invites divine intervention, fortifying our resolve against temptation and despair.
• Prayer is not merely a ritual; it is a profound dialogue that fosters a deeper relationship with God.

Hosts & Guests

Tiffany Fletcher @tiffnyfletcher

Tiffany is a member of our Women Warriors of Light advisory board. She is an author, wife, mother and an example of faith & courage. Through her life experiences she shares hope in coming from a place of darkness to light and love. You can find her on social media @tiffanyfletcher or on her blog: motherhadasecret.blogspot.com

Tamara K. Anderson @tamarakanderson

Tamara, founder of Women Warriors of Light, is a dynamic speaker, award winning author, and a podcaster. She is driven by her Christian faith to inspire faith in Jesus Christ. Alongside her husband, Justin, she navigates the joys and challenges of parenting four children with autism, ADHD, and mental health hurdles. You can find out more about Tamara on her website: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/ 

Transcript

Tiffany Fletcher

00:00:00.720 - 00:00:10.700

How is prayer connected to the armor of light? And how can it protect us against the adversary? Stay tuned because that's what we're going to talk about in today's episode.

Intro/Outro

00:00:12.480 - 00:00:48.850

Welcome to Bible Women in Bathrobes, the podcast where faith meets comfort.

Join us Tuesday morning as the gals from Women warriors of Light and their guests don bathrobes and dive into the inspiring stories of women in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ. From Esther's bravery to the Sermon on the Mount, we explore it all with warmth, laughter, sisterhood, and maybe even a few sleepy eyed moments.

Tune in live or at your leisure as we learn lessons from scripture which empower women today.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:00:54.110 - 00:01:06.220

Welcome to Bible Women in Bathrobes. I'm your host, Tiffany Fletcher, and I'm so happy that you're here with me to join with me today is our founder, Tamara Anderson. How are you, Tamara?

Tamara K Anderson

00:01:06.380 - 00:01:08.280

I'm doing well, thank you.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:01:08.660 - 00:02:57.250

Good. I'm so excited that it's just you and me today. We get to talk about prayer and, and the importance of it and, and really how it can protect us.

I wanted to start off today with a scripture that's found in Mark. It's found in Mark, chapter 14, verse 38. And it says this. Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. I first of all love this scripture because it is Jesus's words when he was in the most crucial battle of his life in the garden of Gethsemane.

And at that time his disciples were sleeping, if you remember, and they. He asked them to watch for him for just a time. And they, their bodies were tired, they were weak because they probably had had a long day.

They had, they had just had the sacrament and they just were exhausted. And so these words that he spoke to them as, as he said, he said, the flesh is. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

He clearly knew what that meant, right? Like even in his own body, it was weakened because of what he was going through.

So in this moment, in this moment of his most, deepest, hardest suffering, the thing that he wanted to tell us was that we needed to pray. We needed to pray always that we may overcome the adversary.

Tamara, why do you think that this was the most important thing, the message that the Savior wanted to say? I mean, we don't know his thoughts, but, but why do you think that was that prayer is what he wanted to focus on in his time of need?

Tamara K Anderson

00:02:58.030 - 00:05:08.860

Oh, well, if prayer is what got Jesus through the Garden of Gethsemane, then Prayer is what is going to get us through the hardest points of our life.

I, I love these verses that we're going to talk about today with regards to helping strengthen us and protect us and empower us against the temptations and forces of the adversary. I think a couple of episodes ago we talked about the importance of having God's word, scripture, the power of scriptures.

And I, I think it's not by accident that also in these verses in Ephesians, I'm just going to back it up with what, what you were saying. So we've talked about all these amazing pieces of armor, the shield of faith, helmet of salvation, loins, gird about with truth, all these things.

And then the very next verse he says in verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. So he's saying, put all these pieces of armor on and pray. Pray always.

And I love that because that, I think it's doing all these things and coupling it with prayer. Prayer is what got Jesus through the garden. It's what's going to get us through life.

It's what's going to help us and strengthen us to accomplish all that we need to for good. It really is. So I'm thankful for the Savior's example in this. We can always look to Him.

And I also think that as we pray, we're coupling ourselves, we're yoking ourselves with God and we're saying, I'm not fighting this battle alone because by myself I'm too weak, but I can battle it with you.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:05:10.170 - 00:08:40.510

That is so beautiful. There's so many good things that you said in that and so many things that, that thoughts are going through my mind.

I, I love that scripture in Ephesians and I wanted to talk about that for a minute how you, you know, we talked about the sword of the Spirit and if you read. So as a writer, I love grammar.

Like when I was in college, my grammar teacher said that he never given, gave an A to anyone in grammar, but he gave one to me.

And he told me it was my, it was my mission in life to come back and take his job because I was the only one that was as you know, as like good at grammar and loved grammar as much as I did. Right. And so thankfully I never became a grammar like guru, but I still love, I love looking at what grammar means.

And so when you read that scripture about the Spirit, which is the word of God, if you look at that verse, there is a semicolon there, a semicolon. And because you know the dictionary says it's so much better than I do. I want to share what a semicolon is or what a colon is.

A colon, sorry, not a semicolon, a colon.

A colon in a sentence is used to introduce a list, explanation, or elaboration that follows a complete thought, essentially signaling that what comes after it is directly related to the preceding statement. Statement. It indicates that the information following the colon is further clarification or detail about what came before it. Isn't that beautiful?

So you were right. When you think about putting on the armor of God, like that colon means that there's more to it.

Like, a lot of times we just stop at that one verse and we're like, okay, we've got all the weapons on. But, but in this verse he said, Paul's saying, no, this is probably the most important part.

This is what comes after and is directly related to what's before. Because all of those things that we put on, they're ineffective if we don't pray and call down the powers of heaven to use them correctly.

Because it is not the armor and the weapons that shield and protect us. It's Jesus. And if we don't invite him in, he's not going to be able to come when we need him.

Because it, like Jesus is never going to force himself on anyone. We see that in the Scriptures. He invites people to come to him. Come to me, right? Please come to me. He will never force himself.

And so it is up to us to invite him in. And that is what prayer does. It's powerful and it is. You're right. It yokes us to him in such a way that that those, that.

That armor that we're putting on becomes a true shield and protection for us. And that sword, that word, the spirit, sword of the spirit, becomes an actual weapon because we are yielding it with him.

Because Christ plus anything equals wholeness.

So those things that we need in our life, yes, the armor is wonderful and it's beautiful, but without the Spirit and our Savior to move us forward in it, we're not going to be able to. To utilize it in the way it's meant to, where you're meant to utilize it. And that is why prayer is foundational to everything else.

So do you have any thoughts on that, Tamara?

Tamara K Anderson

00:08:41.010 - 00:13:33.270

No, I 100% agree. And I think it's interesting that he invites us to pray always now, always. Granted, we are not always praying.

What I think he means here is involve me in all aspects of your life. I think that's what the invitation is. Here.

And there are times throughout my day when all of a sudden I'll be facing a certain challenge and I don't know how to do it. And I'm like, oh, dear Lord, help me with this. Because I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. Having a crisis here at work, or I'm having.

This child really needs help, and I don't know how to help them. That we can call down and say, hey, I need some help right now. So. But I also like the word supplication in the Spirit.

Sometimes, especially when we are grieving or tired or gone through something so hard or traumatic or something like that, sometimes they're just. Aren't words. They're just like. You're just sitting there and. And all you have is just all of these emotions in. Inside of you.

And sometimes it's hard to even. I mean, there's been times when I'm like, dear God, I don't even know what to say. I don't know where to even begin.

I'm feeling so many things right now, it's hard for me to even convey that. And that's where the verse in Romans really, I think, comes into play.

It's, you know, we've been talking about in Ephesians, it says praying in supplication of the Spirit. But this is how the Spirit helps us convey how. What we need and how we feel to God. These verses are just so. So tender to me.

Romans 8, 26 and 27, it says, likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for, for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intersection intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

And so I love this because it's saying that the Spirit, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit can help us in our infirmities or in our challenges, our trials, our griefs, our sorrows. The Spirit knows. And intercession, that's a word that we kind of don't use a lot.

And so I actually looked it up in the dictionary kind of like you did, and I love it says intercession is the action of intervening on behalf of another, pleading for another person, or a prayer to God on behalf of another. So it's almost like when you pray in the Spirit, you're saying, God Have. Have your spirit plead for me.

So sometimes when you don't know what to say, God's spirit, when you're praying in the Spirit, I don't know what to say, but here's my feelings. And the Spirit will convey, you know, those thoughts and emotions and how I'm doing to God. And I just love that, that it's pleading for me.

And I can totally see the Savior almost in this role of an advocate for me in my times of need. Pleading, pleading. Bless my daughter Tamara. You know, bless her and strengthen her. She's going through a really hard time right now.

And so I love those verses and that image of praying in the Spirit and why we need the Spirit when we pray. And I'll be honest, I don't always have the spirit, like, 100%, like, strong.

And with me, every time I pray, there are a lot of little prayers that I. Sometimes I feel they hit the ceiling and bounce off. I don't know. But I know that God knows thoughts and intents of my heart because of these verses.

He knows what I'm thinking. He knows what I'm feeling.

And so the Spirit can take those prayers beyond the ceiling, even when maybe I don't have the power to get them beyond there.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:13:34.210 - 00:17:30.690

I feel you. I understand. Sometimes I think we do have those prayers. And sometimes we even feel like, what's the point of praying, right?

Like, sometimes we get that, well, what's the point? Because nothing's going to change. And I've realized in my own life that when I start feeling that feeling, I know it's the adversary, right?

Like the scriptures even say that, you know, the Spirit teaches people to pray, but Satan, he teaches people not to pray, right? He teaches. He does not want us to have that connection with our Heavenly Father. And so when I find those moments where I am, I don't.

I just feel angsty or just have this dark cloud of sorrow or, you know, anything hanging over me. I. The first thing that I pray for is I. Like we said it before, I cast Satan's influence out.

I just say, heavenly Father, please cast Satan's influence out and bind him. Keep him away from me so that.

And send your spirit and your angels to surround me so I can feel your love, your spirit, and I will know what words you need me to do to move forward. And then I find that that clears my mind. Like. And sometimes there really is a physical feeling of this just. Whoosh, gone, right? Like that.

That heaviness just gone. And then, like the light of love descending upon Me and just helping me realize, okay, I am here, and this is what you should pray for.

I need you to pray for this. These are some things that you can pray for for your children. These are some things you can pray for for your neighbors and for yourself. And. And.

And when I realized that I can.

I can cast Satan's voice out of my head and I can go to prayer and then really pray from my heart with the Spirit, those are the prayers that I walk away from, knowing that I've been heard, knowing that even if the answers don't come the way I want them to come, that I clearly know that God was there and that we had a conversation and that he is working on my behalf.

And if the things that I want to happen in my life aren't happening in my life, it's because it's not time yet, or it's because God's got a different direction for me, or. Or it's because there's lessons that I need to learn before God can give them to me. You know, in this, there's a scripture that.

That talks about the importance of receiving. You know, that we need to be in a place where we can receive those things.

And sometimes that means that we need to get ourselves in a place where this adversary is not messing with us and where we can fill the Spirit so then we are able to receive what God needs us to receive in that moment for our day. And I think, like. Like you said, pray always is really hard. You know, it's. It's one of those things that. And I don't think.

I mean, it would be impossible, especially for us as mothers, to pray all the time, every day, every minute. There's so many other things that we need to do with our life, right? And I don't think that he's meaning.

I think he means that we need to turn our heart to him, like prayer. So a lot of days I pray on the run, right? Like, I'm like, God, I've got to get somewhere. Please protect us. Please protect the car.

Please get us there safely, right? God, please help me. And praying on the run, sometimes that's really got what God wants us to do. Pray while we're doing the dishes. Pray while we're.

While we're driving the kids to school. Pray while we have a moment in the bathroom sometimes, right? Like, that's what he means. He means pray always and everywhere.

It's not just, yes, there are times when we should be formal so that we can be on our knees and really be quiet. And receive that revelation. But sometimes that's not always feasible. And so he's telling us, pray always means I'm okay with you.

Pray everywhere, wherever you go, forever and always. Just connect with me. Pray and I will be there. And that is the power of prayer in our lives.

Tamara K Anderson

00:17:31.950 - 00:18:51.840

Yeah, I love that. I love that.

When you were talking, it brought to mind that verse In John, chapter 14 of the role of the comforter or the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, right? And he says, this is Jesus talking to his disciples before he passed away.

Before he died, he said, the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.

And what I like about that verse is the Spirit can teach us and remind us of things. Like, if you're not sure what to do, pray, ask God, send his Spirit praying in the spirit, what should I do? What should I pray for?

What is my next step? I'm not sure how to handle this. But as we have the Spirit, we'll know what to pray for. We'll know what to do. We'll know what to say.

That is the beauty of having God's spirit with us is when we don't know what to do. God's spirit can teach us what to do.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:18:52.430 - 00:22:01.000

Yeah, I love that. That is so true.

And having that is such a valuable gift in today's world, being able to have that spirit to help us know the truth from the lies and the direction and where we would go. I love the Lord's Prayer because he even outlines it in there.

He prays himself in Matthew, chapter 6, verse 13, he said, and lead us not into temptation, but. But deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

So even in the Lord's Prayer, he is using prayer as a shield and a protection, praying that God will deliver us from evil, right? He's like, pray that you can do that.

And we talked in the episode with Wendy about the importance of praying for angels to come and protect you and strengthen you. And that is the power of prayer. It really is a protection for me as a mom. I pray that Heavenly Father will send angels to places where I can't go.

Like my kids. They leave the home.

And the only thing that I can do as a mother, especially with several adult children now, is pray angels to be there with them so that they may have protection over them. And that is how we can use the power of prayer.

But Something else that I think is so important that we need to use prayer for is, is that we need to use it also to repent, right? Like, prayer is the means and the avenue that we can have in order to help ourselves turn back to Jesus.

Because that's really what repentance is, right? It's turning back.

And that is what the power of prayer does, is it helps us turn from thinking about things in our own head, in our own mind, in our own way, to turning it back to Jesus and then letting him solve the problems with us instead of just us solving them by ourselves. And, you know, it's very rare that he solves the problem for us and just does it for us, right?

But when we turn to him, he can solve the problem with us. And that's so important.

And, and the power of repentance is that, you know, when I was little, I used to think that repentance was just something that if I did the big things, I would repent, and I'd be like, okay, I'm sorry. You know, sorry, Heavenly Father. But what I've realized is it is a daily practice because I have daily imperfections. And if I.

When I pray for that repentance, there is power in that because it clears off all of the bad and it brings in the good, it brings in light, and it allows us. He says, for mine, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Like, it brings us back to a place of glory with him.

And in light, we're squarely standing in the light when we are in prayer with our Heavenly Father and when we are walking with Jesus. And I think that that's powerful. Repentance is such an important thing when it comes to prayer, and I'm so grateful for that opportunity.

What are some of your thoughts on repentance and prayer, Tamara?

Tamara K Anderson

00:22:02.300 - 00:23:31.170

Oh, you know, all of this has brought another powerful verse about prayer to my mind, and I think it's so, so beautiful. And so I would love to share it with you. It's In Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 16, and it says this.

Therefore, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And I love that, that we can come boldly to God and beg for mercy because none of us are perfect.

And I think that's one of the lies that the adversary whispers in our minds, is, oh, you've made too many mistakes. You can't even approach God in prayer anymore. You know, you're not worthy. But this verse right here knocks that lie out of the park, right?

If Satan's whispering that lie in your mind, use this verse. Hebrews 4:16. Let me therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. I'm coming boldly to the throne of grace. I am a sinner. I made a mistake again.

And I can pray to God for mercy and he will help me in my time of need. I mean, I think that is such a powerful principle to remember when, when Satan is whispering those lies in our mind.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:23:31.470 - 00:25:28.728

Yeah, that really is so, so powerful.

You know, I recently did a study on the difference between mercy and grace because a lot of people look at that and they think, oh, that is the same thing. Mercy and grace is the same thing. But there's actually a slight difference in both of them.

And mercy is what we aren't given, even though we deserve it, Right. It's something that God doesn't give us. He doesn't give us punishment even though we deserve punishment. That is his mercy. He takes that from us.

Grace is that when he does give us something that we don't deserve, so he gives us forgiveness.

If you think about the Prodigal Son, for example, in the Prodigal Son, when the Father came back, he showed him mercy by not making him a servant and not making him like, not making him feel bad for leaving.

But when it comes to grace, he showed him grace by giving him a robe and a feast and giving him things that he didn't actually deserve, but he received because of his love for him. And that's how it works with our Heavenly Father.

We come to into his grace, his willingness to give all that he has to us, even though we don't deserve it because we're sinners, he's willing to. The throne of grace is a place where we receive those things, right? And then we obtain mercy, which is forgiveness.

And he know he doesn't punish us for the things that we've done because he is already, he's already paid the price, right? And he just gives it to us for that. Even though we deserve it, he doesn't give it to us.

And I just think that that's an important thing to, to understand and recognize when it comes to mers, mercy and grace, that they, they are very similar. But one is what God doesn't give us and one is what God does. And it's kind of a beautiful thing that way. Do you have any thoughts, Tamara?

Tamara K Anderson

00:25:28.904 - 00:25:51.746

Oh, I think both are beautiful principles. And I'm thankful for both mercy and grace because I need both in my life.

And I'm thankful that Jesus makes it possible for us to come boldly to the throne and beg and receive. Yeah.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:25:51.938 - 00:26:22.156

And we come boldly because we know Him. Right. We know his character, and we know that he loves us. And that is the most.

We are the most important thing to him because he laid down his life for us, and he's willing to give us whatever it is that will help us become more like Him. That's such a beautiful thing to think about. So I'm. I see that we are. We are close to time.

So, Tamara, what are some of your takeaways in today's work? From today.

Tamara K Anderson

00:26:22.308 - 00:27:34.760

Oh, my goodness. I loved a couple of things. I loved how you said, we can pray on the run. I kind of wrote that down here in my little notes because I love that idea.

But the other thought was how important it is to pray with the spirit. And perhaps sometimes we kneel down and we know we don't have God's spirit with us because we're angry or upset or whatever.

We have those negative emotions. And at moments like that, it's important to invite the spirit to be with us so that we will know what to say. We will know what to pray for.

Dear God, I'm feeling so angry right now, and I don't want to feel this way. Can you please help me get this out? Cast it out in the name of Jesus and.

And bring in your spirit to help heal me and make me whole and bring me peace and help me know what I need to pray for.

Because the Spirit can teach us what we need to pray for so we can move forward in our lives and not stay stuck in that spirit of anger or hatred or whatever.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:27:35.550 - 00:29:53.600

Yeah, I think that's beautiful. Yeah. For me, it's very similar. I love how the colon helps us remember that prayer is an important part of the armor of God without.

Makes everything else useless without the Savior walking with us. I also love the importance of understanding that that prayer is a powerful way for us to overcome evil in our lives.

Like when we are in those moments, like you said, where we are just angry and we are frustrated and we just don't want to move on. That's the very time when Satan is going to be like, don't pray, don't pray. But that is the actual time that we need to do it.

If we just recognized it more in our lives, that a lot of those thoughts that come are from him and we just nipped it in the bud and we just said a prayer and said heavenly Father, please cast Satan's influence out in the name of Jesus Christ and help me to have your spirit and your angels with me. That is simple prayer. We can pray on the run and it will help us so much in our life if we recognize it. That's the key.

Satan is really good about getting us to forget that it's as simple as a prayer, as simple as one prayer, casting him out in the name of Jesus Christ and praying for it, for the Spirit to be with us. And then in that moment, we can pray in the Spirit and it will make all of the difference for anything that we need moving forward.

So thank you so much for, for talking to me, talking with me about prayer today, Tamara. It's been such a great opportunity for us to just. I've learned, I've learned things that, that I'm going to apply to my life.

So if you are tuning in, I hope that you understand today the importance of prayer.

I hope you in your own life throughout this week that when you notice yourself getting frustrated, maybe say a little prayer, cast Satan's influence out, use the power of prayer to bring the spirit into your life and really pray in the spirit so that you can know what God would have you do this week and how he would have you move forward. That is my challenge to you is make sure that you are focused on prayer this week and we'll see you next week. Have a great week, everyone.

Intro/Outro

00:29:56.940 - 00:30:37.470

Thanks for tuning in to Bible Women and Bathrobes, hosted by Women warriors of Light. We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women or the teachings of the Savior Today with you.

If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word and don't forget to hit that that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood. Just a friendly reminder, all opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher and apply Bible teachings just like you are.

Until next time, stay faithful and may your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.