{"id":280416,"date":"2023-10-18T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T13:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/pray-big-paul-miller\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:06:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T19:06:42","slug":"pray-big-paul-miller","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/pray-big-paul-miller\/","title":{"rendered":"Pray Big: Paul Miller"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hope in a discouraging world: It&#8217;s hard to come by. But bestselling author Paul Miller knows one habit \u2013prayer\u2014can catapult life beyond imagination. Don&#8217;t settle for a powerless faith. Find out how to pray big.<\/p>\n<p><strong fetchpriority=\"high\"><em>It&#8217;s one thing to learn to be dependent individually, but when you begin to learn to pray together and think of the family; when a family can begin to pray together, or the parts of the family\u2014when I can close a conversation off with one of my kids, \u201cHey, can we just pray together about this?\u201d Or where you&#8217;d turn conversations into short prayer times, where prayer begins to seep into all the structures and the fabric of how you do life as a family together, that&#8217;s when the Spirit begins to work in amazing ways. &#8212; Paul Miller<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hope in a discouraging world: It&#8217;s hard to come by. But bestselling author Paul Miller knows one habit \u2013prayer\u2014can catapult life beyond imagination. Don&#8217;t settle for a powerless faith. Find out how to pray big. It&#8217;s one thing to learn to be dependent &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47000,"featured_media":280866,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/traffic.omny.fm\/d\/clips\/cbd16f10-ac60-4f09-b4df-b15400ce35aa\/33aaac7e-3581-4e21-a3df-b154011ba58c\/21e63ae0-6cff-48f1-8d7c-b154011d7742\/audio.mp3","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:32:55","filesize":"30.17M","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"2023-10-18 09:15:00","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2228],"podcast_series":[8688],"cwp_profile":[3340],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-280416","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-pray-big","podcast_series-pray-big-paul-miller","cwp_profile-paul-miller","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/04\/image-scaled.jpg?w=1024","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/280416\/pray-big-paul-miller","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/280416\/pray-big-paul-miller","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"fVNODE36g4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/pray-big-paul-miller\/\">Pray Big: Paul Miller<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/pray-big-paul-miller\/embed\/#?secret=fVNODE36g4\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Pray Big: Paul Miller&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"fVNODE36g4\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"spectra_custom_meta":{"secondline_imported_guid":["MS-012757"],"audio_file":["https:\/\/traffic.omny.fm\/d\/clips\/cbd16f10-ac60-4f09-b4df-b15400ce35aa\/33aaac7e-3581-4e21-a3df-b154011ba58c\/21e63ae0-6cff-48f1-8d7c-b154011d7742\/audio.mp3"],"duration":["00:32:55"],"filesize":["30.17M"],"_thumbnail_id":["280866"],"show_notes":["<p>Connect with Paul Miller at <a href=\"http:\/\/seejesus.net\/\">seejesus.net<\/a> or on Instagram <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/seeingjesus\/\">@seeingjesus<\/a><br \/>\nGet Paul's book, <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product\/a-praying-church-becoming-a-people-of-hope-in-a-discouraging-world\/\">A Praying Church<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.seejesus.net\/products\/a-praying-life-video-study\">Take a prayer course by Paul Miller<\/a><br \/>\nCheck out <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/guest\/paul-miller\">more episodes from Paul Miller<\/a><br \/>\nFind resources from this podcast at <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product-category\/radio-resources\/\">shop.familylife.com<\/a>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/Products.aspx?categoryid=130\">See resources from our past podcasts.<\/a><br \/>\nFind more content and resources on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/app\/\">FamilyLife's app<\/a>!<br \/>\nHelp others find FamilyLife. Leave a review on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303\">Apple Podcast<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm?si=d6dfa8d2415f4750\">Spotify<\/a>.<br \/>\nCheck out all the FamilyLife podcasts on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/familylife-podcast-network\/\">FamilyLife Podcast Network<\/a><\/p>\n"],"transcript_url":["https:\/\/transcript.familylife.com\/fl2023-10-18.pdf"],"transcript_content":["<p>FamilyLife Today\u00ae National Radio Version (time edited) Transcript<\/p>\n<p>References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete.<\/p>\n<p>Pray Big<\/p>\n<p>Guest:Paul Miller<\/p>\n<p>From the series:Pray Big (Day 3 of 3)<\/p>\n<p>Air date:October 18, 2023<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Hey, before we dive into today\u2019s episode, we want to invite you to an exclusive Art of Marriage\u00ae preview event on November 1st.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, you heard that right. FamilyLife\u00ae is releasing an all-new version of our flagship marriage study, The Art of Marriage. You\u2019ll get previews of the sessions, exclusive marriage teachings, and [you\u2019ll] hear from us as well as other teachers. You can sign up in the show notes or on FamilyLife.com\/ComingSoon.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: We hope you\u2019ll join us.<\/p>\n<p>[Studio]<\/p>\n<p>Paul: How did we become prayerless as a church over the last 50 years?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: There\u2019s a great question.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I think it is just our self-sufficiency. Money does what prayer does, but you are in control, and it does it faster, and you don\u2019t need God\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n<p>Shelby: Welcome to FamilyLife Today, where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most. I\u2019m Shelby Abbott, and your hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson. You can find us at FamilyLifeToday.com.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: This is FamilyLife Today!<\/p>\n<p>You are a prayer warrior.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Why do you say that?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Nobody prays like you.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Oh, I don\u2019t feel like that at all.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: You pray in the morning; you pray at our bed every night before we go to sleep. You walk up to strangers in airports and lay your hand on their shoulder and say, \u201cCan I pray for you?\u201d I\u2019m not kidding.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It is awesome. I\u2019m intimidated, in a good way.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Oh, you\u2019ve never said that.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I feel like I\u2019m walking around with Jesus. You\u2019re just such a\u2014I love it. I love it.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: It\u2019s because I\u2019m so desperate. I feel so broken; I can\u2019t do anything in and of myself, and I need Jesus for it. But I also think it started when our kids were little, and I felt like, \u201cI can\u2019t do this.\u201d So, I would be praying, as Paul said, \u201cPray without ceasing.\u201d I\u2019d think, \u201cOh, that\u2019s why. When you\u2019re desperate, you begin praying without ceasing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, you do. You really do, and it inspires me to do the same thing. I think we have another prayer warrior in the studio today.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I do, too.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Paul Miller is back. The book we\u2019re going to talk about today is A Praying Church.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: It\u2019s so good.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Oh, it\u2019s awesome, and it isn\u2019t just about church. It\u2019s about prayer, husbands, dads, moms, and wives.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Families.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: But Paul, you are a prayer warrior. Would you agree?<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I would say, like Ann was saying, it\u2019s because you\u2019re aware of your weakness.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: It\u2019s \u201cI can\u2019t do life on my own,\u201d which is Jesus of Nazareth. You can actually put the two parts of Jesus\u2019 interior life together. On the interior, you have the Gospel of John, where He continually says, \u201cI can\u2019t do anything without my Father.\u201d And then, what that looks like on the outside is the Gospel of Luke, which is His life of prayer.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, even the fact that before He picked His disciples, he spent the night.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We read that and think, \u201cHe prayed all night? How can you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It sounds like you do that.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: No, I don\u2019t pray all night, but if I ate too much, and I\u2019m up in the middle of the night\u2014[laughter]\u2014it\u2019s not that. It\u2019s flesh making space for the Spirit to work.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Your subtitle\u2014I mentioned it last time\u2014 is Becoming a People of Hope in a Discouraging World. You mentioned at the end of our last episode how important prayer is in the world we\u2019re living in right now. Wealth, discouragement\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Chaos.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Chaos. Again, it\u2019s always been that way. It isn\u2019t like it\u2019s something new, but it feels heightened in our day; maybe because [with] the internet, everything\u2019s right in front of us. News across the world, the second it happens we hear about it. We\u2019ve grown up in decades before where it was hours or maybe days before we heard things. A shooting in a school somewhere now is right in front of us, so it feels like the world is spinning out of control.<\/p>\n<p>You wrote a book that says, \u201cOkay, if the world is discouraging, how can we be people of hope?\u201d How does prayer fit in that?<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Well, maybe just go back a step and say, \u201cHow did we become prayerless as a church over the last fifty years?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave: There\u2019s a great question.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I think it is just our self-sufficiency and our relative wealth. Money does what prayer does, but you are in control, and it does it faster, and you don\u2019t need God\u2019s permission. All of that leads to us just relying on management, and just the busyness, the noise of our culture. You take almost every aspect of American culture, and it just kills the spirit of prayer.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I remember watching an interview with a woman who was from the Middle East, became a follower of Jesus, was persecuted over there, almost killed. Her dream was to come to the United States to live, to get away from the persecution, and after she had been here a year, she said to her husband, \u201cI need to move back.\u201d He said, \u201cWhy would you say that?\u201d She said, \u201cBecause I\u2019m falling asleep here. The American church has fallen asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: That\u2019s exactly, I think, what you\u2019re just saying; our self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: It\u2019s one thing to learn to be dependent individually, but when you begin to learn to pray together and think of the family; when a family can begin to pray together, or the parts of the family\u2014when I can close a conversation off with one of my kids, \u201cHey, can we just pray together about this?\u201d Or where you\u2019d turn conversations into short prayer times, where prayer begins to seep into all the structures and the fabric of how you do life as a family together, that\u2019s when the Spirit begins to work in amazing ways.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: As you say that, I would encourage listeners: I remember saying to our kids, \u201cLet\u2019s pray,\u201d when they were in high school or middle school, and they give me the groan, like \u201cUggggghhhh.\u201d I would become discouraged, and then I would think, \u201cShould I not pray? Do they think I\u2019m dumb?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: So, I would encourage you as a listener, if you\u2019re saying to your family, \u201cLet\u2019s pray,\u201d pray anyway. And if your kids are going through difficult times, we want to rescue them out of their difficulties, and yet when our kids are in difficulty, they would come to me and say, \u201cMom, will you pray for me?\u201d So, I don\u2019t think we should be fearful when they\u2019re going through difficulty, because that generally drives us to our knees.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes. You really have to have the right goals as a family. Paul the Apostle has two metrics for the church. They are all over his writing, and they are faith and love. They are real metrics for Paul. He measures them; he talks about them; he prays for them. They\u2019re the only things I want with our kids.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t care what school they get into; I don\u2019t care how much money they make. All those things as a parent have to die. You need the fire of Jesus to clean that out, you know what I mean? Because none of that lasts. They\u2019ll just end up being mean and fighting one another, and they\u2019ll re-enact Cain and Abel. [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I wasn\u2019t sure what you said about\u2014I\u2019ve seen it in our family, the dependence.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We become independent. Again, there\u2019s nothing wrong with wealth and having nice things. Living in this country is great.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes, yes, yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: But think about this\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Ann: We were going to Africa on a mission trip, four of us, with our family. Our other kids were in college. I think we had to raise $15,000.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: No, I know exactly what it was.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Oh, you do? What was it? Oh, that\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It was $3000 times four of us, so Ann and I and our two middle-school [boys]. I\u2019ll never forget, Paul. I went into their room the night before I was going to preach the next morning. We had to have the money turned in on Monday, and this is Saturday night. I got on my knees at their bed, and I said, \u201cGuess what, guys? I have to be honest. We\u2019re not going to Africa. We don\u2019t have the money. We need $12,000, and we have zero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I think we had some.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I think we had a couple hundred. I\u2019ll never forget, I preached that next morning at church, and Carl Crimmins came up. I\u2019ll never forget his name. He walks up and says, \u201cHey, man. How\u2019s it going raising money for the Africa trip?\u201d I say, \u201cWell, have to be honest with you, Carl. I told my sons last night we\u2019re probably not going.\u201d He said, \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I said, \u201cYou know we need 12 grand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cOh, you\u2019re going. Open your mail.\u201d I said, \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d He said, \u201cYou sent me the letter. I sent you a check.\u201d I said, \u201cWell, thanks, Bud, but we need 12 grand.\u201d He said, \u201cYou\u2019re going.\u201d Carl gave us $12,000!<\/p>\n<p>Paul: That\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Our boys probably will never forget that moment.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes, that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Because God answered. You talk about it in your book: big prayers; pray big.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes. Let me flip that, though, and think of \u201cpray small.\u201d Sometimes when your faith is weary, it\u2019s just good to do these sweet, little prayers. I was out to breakfast with one of my sons and their family and their three little kids. Seth handed me\u2014I think we had gotten them little toys, like Slinkys. It got tangled in one minute, and Andrew is pretty good. I said, \u201cAndrew, here, can you untangle this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew couldn\u2019t untangle it, so I said, \u201cSeth, let\u2019s pray.\u201d So, I prayed that we could untangle the Slinky. This prayer did not have much faith in it, because I had 50 years of failure. [Laughter] The thought came to me out of the blue, \u201cJust grab a good part of the Slinky and keep turning it.\u201d I did it, and I couldn\u2019t even look down I was so fearful, because you just never untangle Slinkys. And it untangled. I handed it to Seth. It was like, \u201cOh, wow! God hears me!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I love that, that God cares about the little things.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Because He loves us, the things that we care about, He cares about.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: You know what? Why not ask? Whether it\u2019s a little thing, or as you write in the book, a big thing. What do you mean by \u201cpray big?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes. If that same power that raised Jesus from the dead\u2014which is Spiritual power, which is the capital S\u2014if God continually wants to reenact the resurrection in our lives, then you can pray in context of the power. It\u2019s kind of like dumping a massive engine into a little go-cart. Build a bigger car. [Laughter] Pray big, you know what I mean?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Oddly enough, I do my biggest praying big when I\u2019m at my weakest, because why not? It\u2019s like your back is to the wall, your weakness, your inability, and whatever it is. It opens the door to whatever God might do. Your imagination\u2014if you develop a life of prayer, your imagination grows. Your sense of expectation grows. You begin to think, \u201cWhy not?\u201d and then you begin to act big.<\/p>\n<p>So, it\u2019s really believing that\u2019s behind it. The problem with our prayerless, if I had to say one big word, is unbelief.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: It makes me think of Matthew 21 when \u201cJesus answered and said to them, \u2018Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, \u2018Be taken up and cast into the sea,\u2019 it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.\u2019\u201d Most of us read that and think, \u201cWhat does that mean, Paul?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: What I love to do with that text in our prayer seminars is, I love to read those texts and say, \u201cOkay, come on, honestly, what is your reaction to that?\u201d I\u2019m trying to pull out cynicism.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I will say, \u201cNow, what does a child\u2014if you read that to a child\u2014from a Christian home, a five- or six-year-old child, what will they say? They will not be cynical. They will simply say, \u2018Ask\u2019.\u201d Obviously, there are footnotes to it, but we tend to make the footnotes big, broad headlines, and the headline is, \u201cAsk, and He\u2019ll Do Beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Can I tell a quick story on this? I think what keeps people from praying is, they don\u2019t realize the story complexion to how God answers. The Gospel is a story, and the Spirit is crafting stories in our lives. It actually goes back to Kim, but Kim, who has autism, would wake up at four a.m. and pace upstairs. She would get out of bed and flip on the hallway light, and run back to bed, stay in bed for five minutes, run to the hallway, flip off the light. This would just cycle.<\/p>\n<p>I could just tune it out, you know what I mean? I\u2019m a guy! You just flip it off, head under your pillow, you\u2019re good. Jill would tell Kim to get back in bed. It was a floor away, and a couple doors, so she had to tell pretty loudly, so she\u2019d yell at Kim. It was kind of like the Flintstones where you\u2014[Laughter]<\/p>\n<p>Then when we would have devotions, Jill would go down on the first floor. I would have my devotions on the second floor. This was years ago before we were praying together. Kim would start pacing. Jill would hear her, and she would yell at me to yell at Kim. It wasn\u2019t really like a really spiritual time.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Sounds like a great devotion.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: This was during your prayer time?<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes, really; this was during our prayer time. I do like to point out that I was more of the assistant yeller, but\u2014[Laughter]\u2014one morning, I said, \u201cYou know what? I should go up and pray with Kim,\u201d for no other reason than I was halfway through writing a book on prayer. [Laughter] So anyway, I go up and pray with Kim. I just put my hands on her, nothing deeply spiritual. I just prayed that God would quiet her heart, because I could just feel her body kind of shaking underneath the covers.<\/p>\n<p>Something happened, not in Kim, but in me, and I didn\u2019t hear anything. The prayer was all of ten seconds, and then I went downstairs. I knew something at the end of that prayer that I hadn\u2019t known when I started the prayer. It was that I had underestimated Kim\u2019s ability to grow spiritually and to own her own behavior. I recognized the Spirit\u2019s fire. I knew it immediately. I was convicted by it. I said, \u201cYou know, I have to put time,\u201d and this thought grew.<\/p>\n<p>So, I would go up about once a week and pray with Kim, and then in March of the next year\u2014the middle of March, I could tell you the day\u2014her pacing stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Oh!<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I started having devotions with Kim, and we would read the Bible together, and then she would pray on her speech computer, and I would do the dishes. I kept thinking, \u201cYou know, I really should sit down with her while she\u2019s praying and honor her praying, and not just do devotions.\u201d I sat down, and her prayers just blossomed. Thanksgiving poured out.<\/p>\n<p>Then I thought, \u201cI\u2019m going to stop teaching. I\u2019m going to stop writing books. I\u2019m going to stop all my outward\u2014all my new material writing, because I need to train Kim.\u201d So, I told that to our church. I was the center of the Sunday School program. I said, \u201cI\u2019m dropping out. We\u2019re just dumping her in Sunday School, and she\u2019s not learning.\u201d They found an empty room next to the furnace room in the basement, and I and another kid we picked up\u2014I began to teach them.<\/p>\n<p>The last little thing: my wife, then, after I\u2019d been doing this for about a year and a half, said, \u201cYou know, I think I could take your curriculum, your Bible studies, and rewrite them for adults with intellectual disabilities.\u201d So, she did that.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We just saw them.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: We created a Bethesda Ministry. Hundreds and hundreds of kids now with intellectual disabilities across America are doing these Bethesda studies. So, prayer is like a little seed that goes in the ground, and God delights in it, and then He does something beyond all that we can ask or imagine. It was pray small, and God does big and beyond all that we can ask or imagine.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Talking to you the last three sessions about this, I just want to say to a husband, a wife, a mom, or a dad who\u2019s saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do\u201d: pray. \u201cI\u2019m losing my marriage. I\u2019m losing my feelings for my husband.\u201d Pray. \u201cMy son walked away, my daughter\u2014\u201d Again, Paul, we don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I know.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: And all the other things we do are good\u2014get to a marriage conference, get to church, get to a therapist. Those are all wonderful. And if we pray, we pray one day and we quit, or two days, or three days. No. Be persistent. You said, \u201cPatience, persistence, and watch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We\u2019re talking about this, and we\u2019re encouraging husbands and moms and dads to pray. Let\u2019s pray. Paul, you start it. I\u2019ll end it.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Father, I pray that You would send Your Spirit into the families across America, and to the husbands and the wives and all the messed up, broken relationships that so many listeners are dealing with. I pray that You would send a spirit of prayer, which is the praying Spirit of Jesus. I pray that once again, the church would become a praying temple, a house of prayer. We are the Body of Christ. Would we become the praying Body? And people would see You do beyond all that we can ask or even imagine.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: And Lord, I pray for the listeners that are just struggling. They\u2019re wondering, \u201cDoes this even work?\u201d Father, I pray that You would show them that You love them, that You hear them, that You see them, and that You\u2019re more concerned about their kids and their welfare or their marriages. Lord, You care more about that, so Father I pray for protection over these families from the enemy, from the culture.<\/p>\n<p>I pray that You would put a hedge around their homes and their hearts, Father; that we would cling to You, that we would love You. And Lord, for those that feel like, \u201cI don\u2019t have time to pray,\u201d You\u2019re always here. We think all the time, so may our thoughts become prayers, our worries become prayers, that then You would guard our hearts and minds in You, Jesus. As You say, \u201cIf you\u2019re anxious, come to Me.\u201d So, Lord, I pray blessing upon these families.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: And Lord, we\u2019ve talked about praying small and praying big. I know often I hesitate because I have little faith; not big faith, but little faith. And yet You say all we need is faith of a mustard seed, tiny faith. I know there\u2019s a husband that\u2019s like me, or a wife that just doesn\u2019t know. I pray You\u2019d give them mustard seed faith to pray right now and say, \u201cGod, heal my marriage, and start with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lord, it\u2019s such a great reminder that Paul gave us today, and in his book, that when we pray, the Spirit of God is released, and Jesus is magnified in power. The power of God is made known in us and through us, and we\u2019re asking for the power of God to change us and change our marriages and change our families and change this nation. And it starts with us. So, \u201cGod, change me\u201d so that we can have an impact right where you\u2019ve put us in our neighborhood and that can impact the world.<\/p>\n<p>We ask You for a revival that starts in the fire in my own heart, that You do as a result of us asking You to do it. We love You, and we pray in Your Son\u2019s Name, Jesus. Amen.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Amen.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: So, what are your thoughts after talking to Paul Miller?<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I\u2019m so inspired! Are you?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, that\u2019s what I was going to say. I didn\u2019t know what you were thinking. Literally, God was speaking to me through him to inspire me to be a praying husband. I\u2019m not saying we don\u2019t pray.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes, we do pray.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: But I\u2019m often sort of apathetic, letting you lead, and you are a prayer warrior, and I\u2019m following. I\u2019m thinking, \u201cQuit that!\u201d I\u2019m going to step up. That\u2019s what I felt like.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I think in our family, as our kids were growing up, I would feel like everybody\u2019s rolling their eyes when I would say, \u201cLet\u2019s pray.\u201d And it just reminded me, you can never pray enough. Pray without ceasing. Pray all day about everything.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We said it in the interview, but if you want to see God change your marriage, pray.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: If you want to see God change you, pray.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not saying don\u2019t act on it as well, but it was just a reminder [that] God works through prayer. It doesn\u2019t guarantee you\u2019re going to get everything you want, but if you want a different life, there are a lot of things you can do, and they\u2019re all important, but the most important thing you can do, I think, is get on your knees today and ask God. Talk to God about it and, like he said, be patient, be persistent, and then watch.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I know so many of you do pray. I have an ask for you that are listening, and for your friends. Will you pray for FamilyLife? Become our partners in prayer, because we want to change the world.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes. Pray that God would use FamilyLife and FamilyLife Today to literally lead people to Jesus. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, and we need you to be partners with us in asking God to do that, because He will.<\/p>\n<p>Shelby: I\u2019m Shelby Abbott, and you\u2019ve been listening to Dave and Ann Wilson with Paul Miller on FamilyLife Today. I\u2019d love that, too, what Ann was talking about. Would you partner with us in prayer so that people will come to know Jesus? As we\u2019ve heard, prayer ignites the power of God Himself, so your prayers don\u2019t go unheard by our King. There is so much spiritual treasure to be found when you mine it in prayer. I loved our time today. I loved hearing from Dave and Ann Wilson and Paul Miller himself.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s written a book called A Praying Church: Becoming a People of Hope in a Discouraging World. We\u2019re living in a discouraging world, so this book is going to be our gift to you when you partner with us financially. You can partner in prayer, and partner with us financially as well. We want to give you a copy of Paul\u2019s book when you do.<\/p>\n<p>How does that happen? Well, you can go online to FamilyLifeToday.com, or you can give us a call with your donation at 800-358-6329; again, that number is 800- \u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word \u201cTODAY.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How do you navigate tough times and find hope in the midst of life\u2019s trials? It\u2019s a common question and a common experience amongst Christians. Tomorrow, Dave and Ann Wilson are going to be in the studio with Eric and Erikah Rivera to talk about just that. We hope you\u2019ll join us.<\/p>\n<p>On behalf of Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m Shelby Abbott. We will see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.<\/p>\n<p>FamilyLife Today is a donor-supported production of FamilyLife\u00ae, a Cru\u00ae Ministry.<\/p>\n<p>Helping you pursue the relationships that matter most.<\/p>\n<p>We are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2023 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n"],"_edit_lock":["1746558420:47000"],"_g_feedback_shortcode_70174c62af5c909e76a154e0f9dc56121b6cfda1":["\n\t\t\t\t[contact-field label=\"Name\" type=\"name\"  required=\"true\" \/]\n\t\t\t\t[contact-field label=\"Email\" type=\"email\" required=\"true\" \/]\n\t\t\t\t[contact-field label=\"Website\" type=\"url\" \/]\n\t\t\t\t[contact-field label=\"Message\" type=\"textarea\" \/]"],"_g_feedback_shortcode_atts_70174c62af5c909e76a154e0f9dc56121b6cfda1":["a:17:{s:2:\"to\";s:29:\"margaret.coyle@familylife.com\";s:7:\"subject\";s:51:\"[FamilyLife - A Cru Ministry] Pray Big: Paul Miller\";s:12:\"show_subject\";s:2:\"no\";s:6:\"widget\";i:0;s:14:\"block_template\";N;s:19:\"block_template_part\";N;s:2:\"id\";i:280416;s:18:\"submit_button_text\";s:6:\"Submit\";s:14:\"customThankyou\";s:0:\"\";s:21:\"customThankyouHeading\";s:26:\"Your message has been sent\";s:21:\"customThankyouMessage\";s:30:\"Thank you for your submission!\";s:22:\"customThankyouRedirect\";s:0:\"\";s:10:\"jetpackCRM\";b:1;s:9:\"className\";N;s:9:\"postToUrl\";N;s:14:\"salesforceData\";N;s:12:\"hiddenFields\";N;}"],"_edit_last":["47000"],"theme_header_position":["Sticky"],"post_header_is_sticky":["default"],"is_header_overlay":["0"],"episode_type":["audio"],"date_recorded":["2023-10-18 09:15:00"],"enclosure":["https:\/\/traffic.omny.fm\/d\/clips\/cbd16f10-ac60-4f09-b4df-b15400ce35aa\/33aaac7e-3581-4e21-a3df-b154011ba58c\/21e63ae0-6cff-48f1-8d7c-b154011d7742\/audio.mp3"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-280416.css"],"_uag_js_file_name":["uag-js-280416.js"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/04\/image-scaled.jpg",1024,1024,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Margaret","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/margaret-coylefamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Hope in a discouraging world: It's hard to come by. But bestselling author Paul Miller knows one habit \u2013prayer\u2014can catapult life beyond imagination. Don't settle for a powerless faith. Find out how to pray big. It's one thing to learn to be dependent ...","meta_box":{"show_notes":"<p>Connect with Paul Miller at <a href=\"http:\/\/seejesus.net\/\">seejesus.net<\/a> or on Instagram <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/seeingjesus\/\">@seeingjesus<\/a><br \/>\nGet Paul's book, <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product\/a-praying-church-becoming-a-people-of-hope-in-a-discouraging-world\/\">A Praying Church<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.seejesus.net\/products\/a-praying-life-video-study\">Take a prayer course by Paul Miller<\/a><br \/>\nCheck out <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/guest\/paul-miller\">more episodes from Paul Miller<\/a><br \/>\nFind resources from this podcast at <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product-category\/radio-resources\/\">shop.familylife.com<\/a>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/Products.aspx?categoryid=130\">See resources from our past podcasts.<\/a><br \/>\nFind more content and resources on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/app\/\">FamilyLife's app<\/a>!<br \/>\nHelp others find FamilyLife. Leave a review on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303\">Apple Podcast<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm?si=d6dfa8d2415f4750\">Spotify<\/a>.<br \/>\nCheck out all the FamilyLife podcasts on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/familylife-podcast-network\/\">FamilyLife Podcast Network<\/a><\/p>\n","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylife.com\/fl2023-10-18.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>FamilyLife Today\u00ae National Radio Version (time edited) Transcript<\/p>\n<p>References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete.<\/p>\n<p>Pray Big<\/p>\n<p>Guest:Paul Miller<\/p>\n<p>From the series:Pray Big (Day 3 of 3)<\/p>\n<p>Air date:October 18, 2023<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Hey, before we dive into today\u2019s episode, we want to invite you to an exclusive Art of Marriage\u00ae preview event on November 1st.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, you heard that right. FamilyLife\u00ae is releasing an all-new version of our flagship marriage study, The Art of Marriage. You\u2019ll get previews of the sessions, exclusive marriage teachings, and [you\u2019ll] hear from us as well as other teachers. You can sign up in the show notes or on FamilyLife.com\/ComingSoon.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: We hope you\u2019ll join us.<\/p>\n<p>[Studio]<\/p>\n<p>Paul: How did we become prayerless as a church over the last 50 years?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: There\u2019s a great question.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I think it is just our self-sufficiency. Money does what prayer does, but you are in control, and it does it faster, and you don\u2019t need God\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n<p>Shelby: Welcome to FamilyLife Today, where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most. I\u2019m Shelby Abbott, and your hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson. You can find us at FamilyLifeToday.com.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: This is FamilyLife Today!<\/p>\n<p>You are a prayer warrior.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Why do you say that?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Nobody prays like you.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Oh, I don\u2019t feel like that at all.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: You pray in the morning; you pray at our bed every night before we go to sleep. You walk up to strangers in airports and lay your hand on their shoulder and say, \u201cCan I pray for you?\u201d I\u2019m not kidding.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It is awesome. I\u2019m intimidated, in a good way.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Oh, you\u2019ve never said that.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I feel like I\u2019m walking around with Jesus. You\u2019re just such a\u2014I love it. I love it.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: It\u2019s because I\u2019m so desperate. I feel so broken; I can\u2019t do anything in and of myself, and I need Jesus for it. But I also think it started when our kids were little, and I felt like, \u201cI can\u2019t do this.\u201d So, I would be praying, as Paul said, \u201cPray without ceasing.\u201d I\u2019d think, \u201cOh, that\u2019s why. When you\u2019re desperate, you begin praying without ceasing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, you do. You really do, and it inspires me to do the same thing. I think we have another prayer warrior in the studio today.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I do, too.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Paul Miller is back. The book we\u2019re going to talk about today is A Praying Church.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: It\u2019s so good.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Oh, it\u2019s awesome, and it isn\u2019t just about church. It\u2019s about prayer, husbands, dads, moms, and wives.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Families.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: But Paul, you are a prayer warrior. Would you agree?<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I would say, like Ann was saying, it\u2019s because you\u2019re aware of your weakness.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: It\u2019s \u201cI can\u2019t do life on my own,\u201d which is Jesus of Nazareth. You can actually put the two parts of Jesus\u2019 interior life together. On the interior, you have the Gospel of John, where He continually says, \u201cI can\u2019t do anything without my Father.\u201d And then, what that looks like on the outside is the Gospel of Luke, which is His life of prayer.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, even the fact that before He picked His disciples, he spent the night.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We read that and think, \u201cHe prayed all night? How can you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It sounds like you do that.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: No, I don\u2019t pray all night, but if I ate too much, and I\u2019m up in the middle of the night\u2014[laughter]\u2014it\u2019s not that. It\u2019s flesh making space for the Spirit to work.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Your subtitle\u2014I mentioned it last time\u2014 is Becoming a People of Hope in a Discouraging World. You mentioned at the end of our last episode how important prayer is in the world we\u2019re living in right now. Wealth, discouragement\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Chaos.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Chaos. Again, it\u2019s always been that way. It isn\u2019t like it\u2019s something new, but it feels heightened in our day; maybe because [with] the internet, everything\u2019s right in front of us. News across the world, the second it happens we hear about it. We\u2019ve grown up in decades before where it was hours or maybe days before we heard things. A shooting in a school somewhere now is right in front of us, so it feels like the world is spinning out of control.<\/p>\n<p>You wrote a book that says, \u201cOkay, if the world is discouraging, how can we be people of hope?\u201d How does prayer fit in that?<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Well, maybe just go back a step and say, \u201cHow did we become prayerless as a church over the last fifty years?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave: There\u2019s a great question.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I think it is just our self-sufficiency and our relative wealth. Money does what prayer does, but you are in control, and it does it faster, and you don\u2019t need God\u2019s permission. All of that leads to us just relying on management, and just the busyness, the noise of our culture. You take almost every aspect of American culture, and it just kills the spirit of prayer.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I remember watching an interview with a woman who was from the Middle East, became a follower of Jesus, was persecuted over there, almost killed. Her dream was to come to the United States to live, to get away from the persecution, and after she had been here a year, she said to her husband, \u201cI need to move back.\u201d He said, \u201cWhy would you say that?\u201d She said, \u201cBecause I\u2019m falling asleep here. The American church has fallen asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: That\u2019s exactly, I think, what you\u2019re just saying; our self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: It\u2019s one thing to learn to be dependent individually, but when you begin to learn to pray together and think of the family; when a family can begin to pray together, or the parts of the family\u2014when I can close a conversation off with one of my kids, \u201cHey, can we just pray together about this?\u201d Or where you\u2019d turn conversations into short prayer times, where prayer begins to seep into all the structures and the fabric of how you do life as a family together, that\u2019s when the Spirit begins to work in amazing ways.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: As you say that, I would encourage listeners: I remember saying to our kids, \u201cLet\u2019s pray,\u201d when they were in high school or middle school, and they give me the groan, like \u201cUggggghhhh.\u201d I would become discouraged, and then I would think, \u201cShould I not pray? Do they think I\u2019m dumb?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: So, I would encourage you as a listener, if you\u2019re saying to your family, \u201cLet\u2019s pray,\u201d pray anyway. And if your kids are going through difficult times, we want to rescue them out of their difficulties, and yet when our kids are in difficulty, they would come to me and say, \u201cMom, will you pray for me?\u201d So, I don\u2019t think we should be fearful when they\u2019re going through difficulty, because that generally drives us to our knees.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes. You really have to have the right goals as a family. Paul the Apostle has two metrics for the church. They are all over his writing, and they are faith and love. They are real metrics for Paul. He measures them; he talks about them; he prays for them. They\u2019re the only things I want with our kids.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t care what school they get into; I don\u2019t care how much money they make. All those things as a parent have to die. You need the fire of Jesus to clean that out, you know what I mean? Because none of that lasts. They\u2019ll just end up being mean and fighting one another, and they\u2019ll re-enact Cain and Abel. [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I wasn\u2019t sure what you said about\u2014I\u2019ve seen it in our family, the dependence.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We become independent. Again, there\u2019s nothing wrong with wealth and having nice things. Living in this country is great.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes, yes, yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: But think about this\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Ann: We were going to Africa on a mission trip, four of us, with our family. Our other kids were in college. I think we had to raise $15,000.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: No, I know exactly what it was.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Oh, you do? What was it? Oh, that\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It was $3000 times four of us, so Ann and I and our two middle-school [boys]. I\u2019ll never forget, Paul. I went into their room the night before I was going to preach the next morning. We had to have the money turned in on Monday, and this is Saturday night. I got on my knees at their bed, and I said, \u201cGuess what, guys? I have to be honest. We\u2019re not going to Africa. We don\u2019t have the money. We need $12,000, and we have zero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I think we had some.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I think we had a couple hundred. I\u2019ll never forget, I preached that next morning at church, and Carl Crimmins came up. I\u2019ll never forget his name. He walks up and says, \u201cHey, man. How\u2019s it going raising money for the Africa trip?\u201d I say, \u201cWell, have to be honest with you, Carl. I told my sons last night we\u2019re probably not going.\u201d He said, \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I said, \u201cYou know we need 12 grand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cOh, you\u2019re going. Open your mail.\u201d I said, \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d He said, \u201cYou sent me the letter. I sent you a check.\u201d I said, \u201cWell, thanks, Bud, but we need 12 grand.\u201d He said, \u201cYou\u2019re going.\u201d Carl gave us $12,000!<\/p>\n<p>Paul: That\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Our boys probably will never forget that moment.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes, that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Because God answered. You talk about it in your book: big prayers; pray big.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes. Let me flip that, though, and think of \u201cpray small.\u201d Sometimes when your faith is weary, it\u2019s just good to do these sweet, little prayers. I was out to breakfast with one of my sons and their family and their three little kids. Seth handed me\u2014I think we had gotten them little toys, like Slinkys. It got tangled in one minute, and Andrew is pretty good. I said, \u201cAndrew, here, can you untangle this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew couldn\u2019t untangle it, so I said, \u201cSeth, let\u2019s pray.\u201d So, I prayed that we could untangle the Slinky. This prayer did not have much faith in it, because I had 50 years of failure. [Laughter] The thought came to me out of the blue, \u201cJust grab a good part of the Slinky and keep turning it.\u201d I did it, and I couldn\u2019t even look down I was so fearful, because you just never untangle Slinkys. And it untangled. I handed it to Seth. It was like, \u201cOh, wow! God hears me!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I love that, that God cares about the little things.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Because He loves us, the things that we care about, He cares about.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: You know what? Why not ask? Whether it\u2019s a little thing, or as you write in the book, a big thing. What do you mean by \u201cpray big?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes. If that same power that raised Jesus from the dead\u2014which is Spiritual power, which is the capital S\u2014if God continually wants to reenact the resurrection in our lives, then you can pray in context of the power. It\u2019s kind of like dumping a massive engine into a little go-cart. Build a bigger car. [Laughter] Pray big, you know what I mean?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Oddly enough, I do my biggest praying big when I\u2019m at my weakest, because why not? It\u2019s like your back is to the wall, your weakness, your inability, and whatever it is. It opens the door to whatever God might do. Your imagination\u2014if you develop a life of prayer, your imagination grows. Your sense of expectation grows. You begin to think, \u201cWhy not?\u201d and then you begin to act big.<\/p>\n<p>So, it\u2019s really believing that\u2019s behind it. The problem with our prayerless, if I had to say one big word, is unbelief.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: It makes me think of Matthew 21 when \u201cJesus answered and said to them, \u2018Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, \u2018Be taken up and cast into the sea,\u2019 it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.\u2019\u201d Most of us read that and think, \u201cWhat does that mean, Paul?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: What I love to do with that text in our prayer seminars is, I love to read those texts and say, \u201cOkay, come on, honestly, what is your reaction to that?\u201d I\u2019m trying to pull out cynicism.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I will say, \u201cNow, what does a child\u2014if you read that to a child\u2014from a Christian home, a five- or six-year-old child, what will they say? They will not be cynical. They will simply say, \u2018Ask\u2019.\u201d Obviously, there are footnotes to it, but we tend to make the footnotes big, broad headlines, and the headline is, \u201cAsk, and He\u2019ll Do Beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Can I tell a quick story on this? I think what keeps people from praying is, they don\u2019t realize the story complexion to how God answers. The Gospel is a story, and the Spirit is crafting stories in our lives. It actually goes back to Kim, but Kim, who has autism, would wake up at four a.m. and pace upstairs. She would get out of bed and flip on the hallway light, and run back to bed, stay in bed for five minutes, run to the hallway, flip off the light. This would just cycle.<\/p>\n<p>I could just tune it out, you know what I mean? I\u2019m a guy! You just flip it off, head under your pillow, you\u2019re good. Jill would tell Kim to get back in bed. It was a floor away, and a couple doors, so she had to tell pretty loudly, so she\u2019d yell at Kim. It was kind of like the Flintstones where you\u2014[Laughter]<\/p>\n<p>Then when we would have devotions, Jill would go down on the first floor. I would have my devotions on the second floor. This was years ago before we were praying together. Kim would start pacing. Jill would hear her, and she would yell at me to yell at Kim. It wasn\u2019t really like a really spiritual time.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Sounds like a great devotion.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: This was during your prayer time?<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes, really; this was during our prayer time. I do like to point out that I was more of the assistant yeller, but\u2014[Laughter]\u2014one morning, I said, \u201cYou know what? I should go up and pray with Kim,\u201d for no other reason than I was halfway through writing a book on prayer. [Laughter] So anyway, I go up and pray with Kim. I just put my hands on her, nothing deeply spiritual. I just prayed that God would quiet her heart, because I could just feel her body kind of shaking underneath the covers.<\/p>\n<p>Something happened, not in Kim, but in me, and I didn\u2019t hear anything. The prayer was all of ten seconds, and then I went downstairs. I knew something at the end of that prayer that I hadn\u2019t known when I started the prayer. It was that I had underestimated Kim\u2019s ability to grow spiritually and to own her own behavior. I recognized the Spirit\u2019s fire. I knew it immediately. I was convicted by it. I said, \u201cYou know, I have to put time,\u201d and this thought grew.<\/p>\n<p>So, I would go up about once a week and pray with Kim, and then in March of the next year\u2014the middle of March, I could tell you the day\u2014her pacing stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Oh!<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I started having devotions with Kim, and we would read the Bible together, and then she would pray on her speech computer, and I would do the dishes. I kept thinking, \u201cYou know, I really should sit down with her while she\u2019s praying and honor her praying, and not just do devotions.\u201d I sat down, and her prayers just blossomed. Thanksgiving poured out.<\/p>\n<p>Then I thought, \u201cI\u2019m going to stop teaching. I\u2019m going to stop writing books. I\u2019m going to stop all my outward\u2014all my new material writing, because I need to train Kim.\u201d So, I told that to our church. I was the center of the Sunday School program. I said, \u201cI\u2019m dropping out. We\u2019re just dumping her in Sunday School, and she\u2019s not learning.\u201d They found an empty room next to the furnace room in the basement, and I and another kid we picked up\u2014I began to teach them.<\/p>\n<p>The last little thing: my wife, then, after I\u2019d been doing this for about a year and a half, said, \u201cYou know, I think I could take your curriculum, your Bible studies, and rewrite them for adults with intellectual disabilities.\u201d So, she did that.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We just saw them.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: We created a Bethesda Ministry. Hundreds and hundreds of kids now with intellectual disabilities across America are doing these Bethesda studies. So, prayer is like a little seed that goes in the ground, and God delights in it, and then He does something beyond all that we can ask or imagine. It was pray small, and God does big and beyond all that we can ask or imagine.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Talking to you the last three sessions about this, I just want to say to a husband, a wife, a mom, or a dad who\u2019s saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do\u201d: pray. \u201cI\u2019m losing my marriage. I\u2019m losing my feelings for my husband.\u201d Pray. \u201cMy son walked away, my daughter\u2014\u201d Again, Paul, we don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: I know.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: And all the other things we do are good\u2014get to a marriage conference, get to church, get to a therapist. Those are all wonderful. And if we pray, we pray one day and we quit, or two days, or three days. No. Be persistent. You said, \u201cPatience, persistence, and watch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We\u2019re talking about this, and we\u2019re encouraging husbands and moms and dads to pray. Let\u2019s pray. Paul, you start it. I\u2019ll end it.<\/p>\n<p>Paul: Father, I pray that You would send Your Spirit into the families across America, and to the husbands and the wives and all the messed up, broken relationships that so many listeners are dealing with. I pray that You would send a spirit of prayer, which is the praying Spirit of Jesus. I pray that once again, the church would become a praying temple, a house of prayer. We are the Body of Christ. Would we become the praying Body? And people would see You do beyond all that we can ask or even imagine.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: And Lord, I pray for the listeners that are just struggling. They\u2019re wondering, \u201cDoes this even work?\u201d Father, I pray that You would show them that You love them, that You hear them, that You see them, and that You\u2019re more concerned about their kids and their welfare or their marriages. Lord, You care more about that, so Father I pray for protection over these families from the enemy, from the culture.<\/p>\n<p>I pray that You would put a hedge around their homes and their hearts, Father; that we would cling to You, that we would love You. And Lord, for those that feel like, \u201cI don\u2019t have time to pray,\u201d You\u2019re always here. We think all the time, so may our thoughts become prayers, our worries become prayers, that then You would guard our hearts and minds in You, Jesus. As You say, \u201cIf you\u2019re anxious, come to Me.\u201d So, Lord, I pray blessing upon these families.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: And Lord, we\u2019ve talked about praying small and praying big. I know often I hesitate because I have little faith; not big faith, but little faith. And yet You say all we need is faith of a mustard seed, tiny faith. I know there\u2019s a husband that\u2019s like me, or a wife that just doesn\u2019t know. I pray You\u2019d give them mustard seed faith to pray right now and say, \u201cGod, heal my marriage, and start with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lord, it\u2019s such a great reminder that Paul gave us today, and in his book, that when we pray, the Spirit of God is released, and Jesus is magnified in power. The power of God is made known in us and through us, and we\u2019re asking for the power of God to change us and change our marriages and change our families and change this nation. And it starts with us. So, \u201cGod, change me\u201d so that we can have an impact right where you\u2019ve put us in our neighborhood and that can impact the world.<\/p>\n<p>We ask You for a revival that starts in the fire in my own heart, that You do as a result of us asking You to do it. We love You, and we pray in Your Son\u2019s Name, Jesus. Amen.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Amen.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: So, what are your thoughts after talking to Paul Miller?<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I\u2019m so inspired! Are you?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, that\u2019s what I was going to say. I didn\u2019t know what you were thinking. Literally, God was speaking to me through him to inspire me to be a praying husband. I\u2019m not saying we don\u2019t pray.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes, we do pray.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: But I\u2019m often sort of apathetic, letting you lead, and you are a prayer warrior, and I\u2019m following. I\u2019m thinking, \u201cQuit that!\u201d I\u2019m going to step up. That\u2019s what I felt like.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I think in our family, as our kids were growing up, I would feel like everybody\u2019s rolling their eyes when I would say, \u201cLet\u2019s pray.\u201d And it just reminded me, you can never pray enough. Pray without ceasing. Pray all day about everything.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: We said it in the interview, but if you want to see God change your marriage, pray.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: If you want to see God change you, pray.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not saying don\u2019t act on it as well, but it was just a reminder [that] God works through prayer. It doesn\u2019t guarantee you\u2019re going to get everything you want, but if you want a different life, there are a lot of things you can do, and they\u2019re all important, but the most important thing you can do, I think, is get on your knees today and ask God. Talk to God about it and, like he said, be patient, be persistent, and then watch.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I know so many of you do pray. I have an ask for you that are listening, and for your friends. Will you pray for FamilyLife? Become our partners in prayer, because we want to change the world.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes. Pray that God would use FamilyLife and FamilyLife Today to literally lead people to Jesus. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, and we need you to be partners with us in asking God to do that, because He will.<\/p>\n<p>Shelby: I\u2019m Shelby Abbott, and you\u2019ve been listening to Dave and Ann Wilson with Paul Miller on FamilyLife Today. I\u2019d love that, too, what Ann was talking about. Would you partner with us in prayer so that people will come to know Jesus? As we\u2019ve heard, prayer ignites the power of God Himself, so your prayers don\u2019t go unheard by our King. There is so much spiritual treasure to be found when you mine it in prayer. I loved our time today. I loved hearing from Dave and Ann Wilson and Paul Miller himself.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s written a book called A Praying Church: Becoming a People of Hope in a Discouraging World. We\u2019re living in a discouraging world, so this book is going to be our gift to you when you partner with us financially. You can partner in prayer, and partner with us financially as well. We want to give you a copy of Paul\u2019s book when you do.<\/p>\n<p>How does that happen? Well, you can go online to FamilyLifeToday.com, or you can give us a call with your donation at 800-358-6329; again, that number is 800- \u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word \u201cTODAY.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How do you navigate tough times and find hope in the midst of life\u2019s trials? It\u2019s a common question and a common experience amongst Christians. Tomorrow, Dave and Ann Wilson are going to be in the studio with Eric and Erikah Rivera to talk about just that. We hope you\u2019ll join us.<\/p>\n<p>On behalf of Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m Shelby Abbott. We will see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.<\/p>\n<p>FamilyLife Today is a donor-supported production of FamilyLife\u00ae, a Cru\u00ae Ministry.<\/p>\n<p>Helping you pursue the relationships that matter most.<\/p>\n<p>We are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2023 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","theme_header_position":"Sticky","post_header_is_sticky":"default","is_header_overlay":"0"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/280416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47000"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280416"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=280416"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=280416"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=280416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}