#153: Emma and Jenna: A Call to Pray
This is a fun and practical conversation about prayer with two incredible women of God.
If you want to know how to start a revival, listen to these prayer warriors as they lead the church into what God has next!
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EP. 153
Tony: [00:00:00] Hey everybody. Welcome back to the reclamation podcast, where our goal is to help you reclaim good practice. For faith and life I'm Tony. And today is episode 1 53 of the podcasts where I sit down with two incredible women of God, Emma and Gemma. Now Emma and Jenna have an awesome story about prayer, about the power of prayer, about how it changed everything in their lives.
I think you're going to love to hear about the way in which they pray, how they use scripture to pray and how easy it is for all of us. To start being prayer warriors as well. Remember, our goal here is through intentional dialogue to help you move closer to Christ. So I pray myself for you that this conversation will help move you nudge you, get you a little bit closer to Jesus so that you can live out your faith in a more [00:01:00] complete and full.
As always the reclamation podcast is part of the spirit and truth podcast network. For more information about spirit and truth, you can find us@spiritandtruth.life. If you found this episode to be intriguing or you enjoyed it, or there's somebody, the highest compliment you can give us is to share this episode with a friend or leave a rating and review on iTunes or Spotify.
I read all of the reviews and I'm incredibly thankful for the entire reclamation. So now without any further ado, here's my conversation with two incredible prayer warriors, Emma and Jenna. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm excited today to have two dear friends with me, some prayer warriors, women of God Xtrordinair, Emma and Jenna.
Ladies. Thank you so much for joining this morning. It is such a pleasure to be with you here on the podcast.
Emma: It is an honor to be here.
Tony: Jenna, let's start with you. Give us a little bit of your [00:02:00] story and. How you kind of ended up becoming this prayer warrior for, for my listeners who don't know I'm a part of the spirit and truth podcast network, and recently at our spirit and truth conference, this incredible story was told about you two ladies and how you've kind of come around this lifestyle of prayer.
And so I'm wondering if you could maybe just start Jenna with a little bit of background and then what, what prompted you to get into this prayer?
Jenna: Yeah. So I started coming to Stillwater in fifth grade. And from there I was always hungry for more of the Lord. I always wanted to know more. I always wanted to be as close as I could to him.
I was always intrigued with hearing from the father and like people would always say The Lord said this to me or this happened, and the Lord said this, and I was so intrigued by like, I want to hear the voice of the guide. Like that's awesome. And so from a young age, I was always intrigued by just knowing the Lord.
[00:03:00] And it just been a journey of continuing, like to grow closer to him and no more. And obviously from fifth grade to now has been a long time. But really starting the prayer room. My heartbeat for prayer actually started in college when I was at Indiana Wesleyan university, my first two years, and me and some other friends that were older than me started praying every night and this little closet and the chapel.
And we would just intercede for our school. Every night at eight o'clock, we would all gather in this little room, we would play. Someone would play guitar. And we would just pray an hour. We would, and we all prayed together about interceding for different things happening in the school for the students, for the professors.
And the heartbeat was to know what was on the father's heart for our school and to agree with him. And so that, that is when I really started all like, this is awesome. I love this. This is we should always have a prayer room. And so then stuff happened and. Basically M and I found ourselves on a mission trip [00:04:00] this past summer.
And from there, I felt the invitation again, to start a prayer room at the church. I kind of was like, why don't churches have prayer rooms? And that should be a thing. Like who's praying for the church. And so basically from there, we felt the invitation to just come and pray and delight with the Lord and Just start asking him what he wants to see at the church.
What is what's happening? Give us eyes to see and ears to hear and just delighting with him. That was kind of, I was kind of the start and where we are now with my heartbeat for prayer.
Tony: That's awesome. Emma, what about you now for those of you that don't know, Emma and I have the privilege of working on the same team together at spirit and truth she's she makes our operation go.
So we're super thankful for Emma. We'd be in big trouble without her, but could you share a little bit about your heartbeat for prayer and how that was all developed?
Emma: Yeah, absolutely. Like Jenna. I started coming to Stillwater when I was in fourth grade. And I'm just a few years younger than her. [00:05:00] And so we kind of grew up in the same youth group and Bible studies we would go to together.
And we led a few classes together for fifth and sixth grade girls when we were a little bit older. And so we kind of grew up talking about and discussing prayer and. And our heartbeat for the church and really like what our calls are and that whole thing. And through high school a little bit, we kind of parted ways because she went off to college and I was still in school.
I'm at home. And I found myself in a really, really dry season for, I would say probably about a year to a year or a year and a half. I was just in a really dry season with a lot of hardships in my life. But coming out of that hard season this past summer, we were invited to go on this [00:06:00] mission trip.
And so I should've have said it was very last minute. It was actually two or three weeks before the. Okay, sure. A week before I like to give it a little buffer. I kinda kid don't remember that much, but so a week before this trip is scheduled to leave Michelle, she invites us, which is the youth leader as Stillwater.
She invites us to go on this trip to be chaperones and we're thinking. We're still teenagers. Like this is not okay, but.
Tony: But you're 18 and 20 at this point. 18 and 19? 17 to 19?
Emma: No, I was 18. Yeah. 18.
Jenna: I was 20.
Tony: Okay.
Jenna: Yeah. So we were like adults graduated. We, we were, it was valid.
Emma: It was valid, but you know, [00:07:00] especially we felt very young.
Jenna: Exactly this time being an official leader in a youth group.
Emma: But we totally just jumped in like dived into that deep end because she called us and herbal. She called Jenna. Yeah.
Jenna: I been talking to her, well, mind you, we were invited to go on a mission trip months, months before, like when they were actually planning it, but we didn't really have a desire to go.
We weren't really here at Stillwater at all. And we were like, oh, that's great. You guys are going, but you know, we're good. And I just kept hearing that. Talk about the mission trip, every like how much? And I, one day texted I'm like, do you remember where we go on mission trips? Like how fun that was, where you like barely shower for a week.
And you're just like all fun. And you just like, do the Lord's at work for a week or whatever. You're like slap high. Yeah. It's holy spirit hangover, all the things. And we were like, wow, that was awesome. So I had this idea. I'm like, what if we go? Like, what if we go this year? And so I talked to Michelle about it and she was like, [00:08:00] I would love for you guys came so a week before I call Emma.
And I said, I thought, I thought she would say no. Cause she, she was like working all the time. She wouldn't never take off work. It was crazy. And I was like, what are your thoughts on going on the mission trip this year? This is what I've heard so far. I've heard the Lord's going to do awesome stuff. I heard that it's going to be like totally awesome.
What do you think? And she was like, let's go and. Did we actually pray about it going? Not really, but the Lord just said go, we just like, right.
Emma: Let's just go, honestly, it was just this gut reaction. Yeah. It was just an automatic. Yeah, we're going to go. And so we packed a bag that week, literally.
Jenna: And when it was, we actually have people funded us too.
Like we didn't even have to pay. She was able to get. Funds for us to not even have to pay the whole way, which was awesome.
Emma: Yeah. But so at that point in time, it was actually a really big God thing that we were both able to go because I [00:09:00] was working a job 40 hours a week and not really having a lot of free time on my hands.
And I was already scheduled to be gone two weeks after the mission trip. So it was just a really huge. Opportunity for me to take off a week before you know, the trip. So we go on this trip.
Tony: Can I ask a question first? Yeah. So. At this point, you're, you're in a really dry season. Jenna is using words like I'm hearing from the Lord already.
So the question I wanted to ask was about when, when did it become normal language for you guys to hear from God? Because I think that there are a lot of people listening right now who don't hear from God regularly. And so w w what was the shift. Emma, we'll start with you. What was the shift from you when you started hearing from the Lord?
Like, [00:10:00] and using that language specifically, like, oh, there's a fundamental shift that the God of all creation is talking to me. And then Jenna kind of same question for you. W when did that, when did that shift for you? Because I think there, there are a lot of people who want to hear from God and yet they don't, or they feel like they don't.
Emma: Yeah, I got a question. Yeah, that is a good question. And I'm going to have, I have to say that there was a season in my life where I would be able to say, I think that God might be saying XYZ, or I kind of sense this feeling or this like thought process. And so that would be the first season. And then I'm trying to think of it.
I don't remember a specific moment, but I think that every time that I would see God work in miraculous ways or experience deep healing of my own, [00:11:00] or even on this past mission trip, being around a family who you could be open about. Here's what I think I'm hearing.
Tony: Well, you guys have a church family there, right?
Emma: Yes, a spiritual family who has people older than me and wiser than me who have been hearing from the Lord longer than we have. And so it was really important that I, in that atmosphere I was being checked constantly. Does this sounds like it aligns with the father's character? Does it align with the word?
Is this really true? Is this my own thoughts or is this God's thoughts? And so it was, I would say it was in spiritual family and in community of believers that I was able to say confidently, now that I hear from the Lord, because of all of the foundational, like [00:12:00] let's align this with truth. Let's see if it matches the character of God.
I mean, it was constant. Let's check this like together and there was no shame in that. And sometimes I missed it. You know what I mean? So I would say probably within the past few years, it is in close spiritual family talking about the voice of God that I've learned to listen to him most. Yeah.
Jenna: I would agree a hundred percent.
I think what, what really shifted for me was. When I mentioned a little bit ago about being in the prayer room with some people from college who were older than me, who were a couple of years older than me had way more experience in prayer and tearing from the Lord than me. And like during that time, I didn't, I wasn't always the first, I was not the first person to pray.
I didn't always pray anything. Cause I was just kind of learning from them and how they were doing this. But I started to realize. When they would say something and I'd be like, oh yeah, I can [00:13:00] agree with that. I can witness to that. I was sending the same thing. That's when I started to realize like, oh wait, like I hear from the Lord too.
And then through my own like personal prayer and just starting to journal and ask questions to the Lord and see, and listen, and be silent. I think all of those things combined helped shift for me that, and then again with spiritual family and being able to ask questions like this is what I think the Lord is saying and learning to just test it out of like, is this right?
And then like sometimes you just have to go for it and see if it was the Lord or not. And the more I did that, the more I was able to be sure of like, this is how I hear the Lord. And also being open to he speaks in different ways and is that's awesome.
Emma: Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good point because Jenna hears from the Lord very differently than I hear from the Lord and we pray together often.
Tony: Oh, okay. So, so tell me about that. Like, cause somebody right now is going, what, there's two ways to hear from the Lord. [00:14:00] There is somebody who's like mowing their grass or on the elliptical going their mind is now blown. So let's, I'm gonna, I'm going to push us a little bit more practical in the sense of how does Jenny hear from the Lord and how is that different than Emma hears from the Lord?
Jenna: Okay. For me, I noticed it as a thought in my head. That is something that I wouldn't think. And so if it's a question I asked the Lord of like
Tony: I don't know. Should you take a new job at Stillwater?
Jenna: Yeah. And so, and for that is even asking for a sign, like, okay, what do I need to know this? So I'm going to say Lord.
And so what I did for that was I literally, I said, Lord, this is a big thing. I need to know what I need to do. If this is your will like let the apartment guy call this week and I'll know it's you. And that's exactly what happened. Was hours later, the apartment guy called me and said the apartment was ready.
And so things like that where it's like, you can ask the Lord for specific, like, show me what this looks like. And maybe that comes from another person who just like, says to you, Hey, [00:15:00] whatever. But mostly for me, it is hearing a thought in my head. That's not my own voice, but it also has developed a lot from learning the word and Allowing the Lord to speak in my language, in the biblical language and knowing that like, okay, that's biblical what I just heard.
And so that's probably God or what I just heard was not biblical. So that's not the Lord. That's a really good way to test it. And also for me, what's really helped is journaling and joint journaling, the voice of God. And so journaling, like what I say, what I'm about my prayers. Leaving room for the Lord to speak journaling.
What I, what I think I'm hearing from my Lord, and then being able to go back to that and be like, yep, that was definitely the Lord. And so practicing that, I think it's like a muscle where you practice listening and hearing that over time, it gets stronger and stronger and stronger, and you're able to have even greater discernment.
Tony: What does it look like for you?
Emma: So personally, the. [00:16:00] The Lord gives me a lot of images in my mind. And sometimes they are very metaphorical. So I'm trying to think about, okay, I have an example. So Jen and I were praying one morning and we were talking about the church and how God the father loves the church.
And. I got this image in my head of God, the father, and he was sitting on like a preschool coat, you know, like those, when you do like show and tell. So we were all sitting on this carpet and God, the father was holding. Jesus on his lap, like as a fee, as a toddler. Yeah. And so all of the little kids were going around and sharing like their stuff or their toothbrush, or, you know, like whatever little kids bring in to show Intel.[00:17:00]
And then it, it got around to, to godfather and. Was holding his son like so proudly. And he was like, this is my son, Jesus. And then basically shared the gospel. And so out of this vision this image that, that God gave me, and I kind of forget what we were talking about today. I kind of want to say it was just about.
The community and and the church and how God loves every part of the church.
Jenna: And what came about that was each person on that carpet was so intrigued with what was happening. That there was no comparison of like, oh crap, my toy wasn't good enough or stuff like that. But I think what I want to mention here, What's so cool about praying together and learning how to in practicing, praying together is as Emma was explained, as I could see exactly my spot on the carpet, and I was seeing the same thing she was, and I was like, do you see that the cup, the carpet is like circles and it's colored?
And she was like, absolutely. Like, it was like, [00:18:00] we were at the lowest showing. It's the same image. And as you pray together, you. There's a lot of unity in that.
Emma: Yeah. And so the way that we kind of walked through, like, okay, well, what does this image mean? Because practically. Right. And so for us, this was a beautiful moment where the Lord was trying to show us how he felt about his children.
And so that could be about if each person represented a different church in our community, or if each person represented a different ministry within our church, or if each person represented a actual person within our church, you know what I mean? God made it very broad, but also very specific that Jesus was there just as much for me as he was for Jenna and just as much for Jenna as he was for the whole church.
And so it was glimpses of the father's heart. And he just happened to show that to me through this [00:19:00] image.
Tony: I love that. And I, I, I love the idea of praying in unity and the intimacy that you two share in that prayer time, I think is probably something that most Christians desire or, or should be praying about in their own life.
Right. Do I have a person in my life who I can share weird visions of kindergarten carpet with, so, okay. Okay. So the next logical question is. What the heck happened on the mission trip that like, because after the mission trip, you both drastically changed your life and we need to get to that part of the story, but w like, did you guys go there and like somebody drug, you guys are well, like what happens to like shift your entire life?
Emma: Yeah, honestly.
Jenna: The question of the year.
Emma: That is the question of the year. On the way to the mission trip, Jen and I [00:20:00] drove in a car separate from all of the teams, praise the Lord. And we were just able to kind of talk about where we were at. This is our first time seeing each other after. It had been a little while because of school and it was an internship.
Jenna: I was, yeah.
Emma: So we were pretty much spending a good chunk of time, just catching up about what's going on, but then we dove really head-on into, how are we doing spiritually? Let's be honest about the questions that we're asking God. And just, yeah, so our spiritual wellness and then also. What are our intentions for this trip and what are our expectations from the Lord?
And so through that conversation, we established one that at least I was struggling very hard with faith in general. And not necessarily in this like, [00:21:00] God, where are you? Are God? Like, what are you doing? But it was in this. Got I have questions about you. Yeah. I want to believe, but help me in my unbelief.
Jenna: Yeah. That's, that's where I was. I was, it's a longer story of W where I was in, where I'm at now. But and even from the story I shared about college earlier to where college was when I ended up switching. But I was in this like space where I had a lot of theological questions about the Lord.
Sure. A lot of doubts about even charismatic kind of stuff. I had a lot of just like, I want to know the real thing and I want to know the truth because. Before college, I was like a sponge and would believe everything that anybody said about the Lord. Cause I was like, assuming that they knew more than me.
And then I had this point in college where I had a false teacher and that was very crazy [00:22:00] in a lot of ways. And that was when I first, first really tested about my face of like, what do I actually believe about God? And what do I actually believe about script? And so that raised a lot of like distance between me and God that raised a lot of questions and dis distrust with the church even.
And so for me, I was like, I need to know the real thing. I need to know the truth. I need to know the Lord personally again and again. And so we were both in this, like in different ways, both in this like season of like, we just need another truth and we need to know the real thing. Yeah.
Emma: And so literally what we did was write down in a notebook, got here's what we need from you.
And we need you to show up and we need undeniable just like proof. Yeah. And we need to hear your voice and we need to know literally what we wrote down was we need to see the real thing. And then that would. It [00:23:00] was a full week of our spiritual family, living in a cabin together, cooking meals together and having bonfires and playing games and doing service work and pulling weeds in like 175 degree weather.
And so it was all of these mundane moments and also a lot of intense. Spiritually potent yeah. Moments.
Jenna: Yeah. And a lot of it. I want to just put this note in here, the leadership that was not just, we went last minute on the trip, but the leadership, the other part of the team had been praying for this trip for months.
And the Lord had specifically shown them where to go specifically, showed them what to do. So there was a lot of prayer wrapped up in this trip. A lot of openness to the Lord, a lot of like our teams need you Lord come and have your way. And so we, I wanted to get that preface preface that our leadership and our spiritual family [00:24:00] team had a lot of prep into this trip, prayer fasting.
And so I believe that's also why it was so impactful for a lot of people.
Emma: Absolutely. Especially because.
Tony: Well, I was going to ask this, but you finish your thought first, Emma.
Emma: Especially because. All of the prayers that they sowed into, it gave room for God to get our attention. So even on the leadership team, I was being served by them because of the amount of prayer and work that they put into it at the beginning and God getting our attention was the thing that shifted everything.
Tony: So I, I can imagine that there's somebody listening right now. Maybe they're driving in their car and they. They have prayed to the Lord in earnest for the Lord to show them something. And right now, as I listen to you guys talk, it feels like you're batting a thousand. Like why? Like the Lord [00:25:00] always shows up when you guys pray and it was drastic life change stuff, but like, I'm wondering if you could give a word about Like that that's a big test that you guys made on that mission trip.
And I feel like I know some people who have prayed similar prayers and then they didn't feel like the Lord showed up. What, what do we, what do we do when God doesn't answer our firsts? Hey guys, just pausing this conversation with Emma and Jenna, to remind you to check out spirit and truth.life. There's lots of opportunities to connect, including our business leaders.
If you're a Christian business leader and you want to get connected to like-minded leaders so that you can grow in faith and in business, check us out spirit and truth dot. Also this entire podcast is funded by the generosity of the givers at spirit and truth. So if you want to become a monthly partner at spirit and truth to help support podcasts like this, and others go to spirit and truth.life/give and start today.[00:26:00]
Now let's finish up our conversation with Emma and Jenna. Keep praying.
Jenna: Hearing and surround yourself with people that are praying and people that are hearing from the Lord and people that are serious spiritual family, like surround yourself. Oftentimes when I feel dry or I'm like, I feel confused. I feel chaotic inside. I can't hear the Lord. I can't discern. Right. And I get there, pray with Emma or I get into prayer with my spiritual family.
Something clicks in a line. So. Surrounding yourself with your spiritual family, continuing to read the word. Cause that's also hearing from the Lord is reading the Bible and keep praying, keep seeking.
Emma: Yeah. I was going to say the exact same thing. Spiritual family is fertile ground to plant yourself in when you feel like just a seed, you know what I'm, you know what I'm saying?
Like. There's that story about when [00:27:00] Elizabeth sees Mary and the baby leaps in her stomach before they had even greeted each other. And my point in bringing that up is something in our spirit leaps for joy. When another person. Is it seeing victory in the Lord. And so there have been times even between Jenna and I, where I'm hearing from the Lord.
So, so intimately and Jenna has a lot of questions. And then there are times when Jenna has a lot of questions. No. When, when I have a lot of questions and Jenna is hearing from the Lord, so specifically, and in same thing with. When I'm having great victories with the Lord and she's not, or I'm not.
And she is. So I say that because spiritual family is a place where we can [00:28:00] celebrate each other. Encourage each other, speak into the dry seasons of each other. And then it's also a place where after you come out of that season, you're able to speak to the next person and say, listen, I've been there. I know exactly what you're experiencing.
And so I would say right now is that if anyone is listening and they are going through a season where they can't hear the Lord or. They have so many questions or they just want the real thing, man, surround yourself with people with that same desire and set a time, set a place and show up and seek the Lord, whether that be through prayer, whether that be through reading, whether that be through worship be intentional and.
Be strong and be courageous and keep approaching the Lord and say, God, I want you, God, I need you. And it's [00:29:00] in that humility and in that brokenness and weariness that he meets us right there. And then it's undeniable.
Jenna: Yeah. That's awesome. That's good. I also want to just add one thing about spiritual family is be honest.
Like if I. I am feeling like I can't hear the Lord. If I'm feeling some type of way, I'm not going to be like, oh, I'm not going to be like, if I'm praying with Emma and she's hearing something and I'm not like, we're going to be honest about like, oh, I didn't hear that. But whatever. And so you don't have to like muster up this like spiritual mask about how, if you're hearing from the Lord or not, or if this is happening or whatever, just be really honest about where you're at.
And When we say it's family, that's more than just like a Sunday morning church. That's like an every day of the week, our people that we're interacting with. And so, yeah, that's, that's scary.
Tony: So the next thing that you guys did when you got back from [00:30:00] the mission trip was basically changed everything.
Now you were in, you were in a season of life where you could do that. With a minimal impact on other people, right? Are you guys were we're kind of, I mean, you're, you're young and flexible. That helps, but, but I am curious about how God led you to a place of margin so that you could experience him more intimate.
Emma: Sure. So coming home from the mission trip, I was probably scheduled 40 hours a week. The next, like, as soon as I got home and on the way home.
Jenna: That's also a good conversation on the way home. We actually went back to our list and made another list of from this trip. What do we need to do now?
Emma: Yeah, that's true.
That's exactly true. That's right. Yeah. An action list of now that we've experienced this, now that [00:31:00] we have, you know, we've tasted the real thing, we've seen the real thing. What do we do now? I think we both, it was kind of like this, like, I'm scared to say this out loud because I'm going to have to make so much sacrifice.
So I was really wrestling with staying at this job or quitting this job and. You know, people had spoken into me for months, Miu you to get out of this job. You need to move on and go to somewhere else. You could find at the time. Right? I was, I was a waitress and anyone in the food industry knows that you can get stuck somewhere.
Tony: Holy ground either.
Emma: No, that's not the word that I would use to describe it.
Tony: There's nothing wrong with it, but like, it's just good to know. Right? Like it's just, yeah.
Emma: Yeah, it is. It's just, [00:32:00] it was a season of life for me. That's all I have to say, but I felt so I knew the people there. I was good at my job and I had been there for so long that it felt so hard to leave that place.
And also I would be unemployed and two likes that. I made a decision to put in my two weeks and honestly, did I know what my life was going to look like after that? No, absolutely not. But I did know that I could not come back from this trip. And live the same life that I was living, or even be in the same external circumstances that I was living in because I knew that my external, it impacts my internal.
And so whatever I had to do to surround myself with the spiritual family that we've been talking about and make room in my life for [00:33:00] God to shape my schedule, the way that. Really needed to be shaped in the season. I was going to do that. And so for me, that looks like quitting my job. Yeah.
Jenna: So for me so I was at Indiana Wesleyan university studying community development.
I was there for two years on campus and Maryanne and I had some. I hadn't met my favorite thing about the school was the people that I met and the friends I met. But I always wrestled with like that weird Christian culture. I really wrestled with what am I doing here? I always like, I never, I never gotten any leadership positions.
I don't know why. I just never felt like I wanted to be a part of leadership there. I'm not sure why. I was had a lot of questions about what am I doing with my life? Like, I'm I love what I was studying, but I'm like, what am I going to do with this? A lot of people always told me like, oh, pastor Jenna, pastor dinner.
But I was like, I don't know. I don't think about that. I don't know. Basically on the mission trip, I was like, [00:34:00] I hit this point where I was like, what am I doing? And where do I need to be? Because I don't know. And I either need to go back to my school in rise up, or I need. Figure something else out and I just need to be with it.
I just want to be where the Lord's at. I want to be where the favor of the Lord is at. And so I love my roommates. They are still awesome. And I still am in contact with them to this day. But I think I wrestled was for like three days, I was like earnestly praying about what do I do? I was already fully paid for the next semester.
I I had no intention on ever leaving. I was already scheduled all my classes. I already had a job there. I wasn't going to have another job when I went back. And basically I was like, Lord, what do I do? And I felt him say you have two good options. And one of them has my favor. And my whole thing was like, I want to be with the favor of the Lord, is that sure.
And that was on Stillwell. And that was [00:35:00] being a part of a spiritual family making margin to come and pray trusting that the Lord would show me where, what my purpose was and what my calling was and what I would do for a living. But I also knew my education wasn't over. I just had to be like, okay, what does this now look like if this is going to shift?
And so I decided to take some time off and After hearing, like very, just directly from the Lord of this is what to do somehow by the grace of God, I had the courage to do it. I don't really know. Now looking back, I'm like, that's crazy. Why did I ever, how did I ever do that? But it was literally the grace of God that mustered up the courage and strength to actually make that decision.
And so I was like, okay, who am I talked to first? So I talked to my. Well, before we talk to, before I talked to my parents, I came to church on Sunday. I got pastors, Jordan, Michelle, some other, other youth leaders that we were with on the team. And I just shared them to them. What was happening? And I said, can you please just pray for me?
And so [00:36:00] I remember after service that day they just came and we sat and actually the room we're in right now. And we just, they just prayed over me and so much confirmation from the Lord. Just pictures. They saw all this beautiful stuff. And so then from there, I just started all the different process I had to do of unenrolling.
I'm talking to my parents of getting refunds and all that kind of stuff. And, and then I ended up switching to the same university, but online. And so that was kind of the big switch for me was I knew I needed to be here in Dayton with a spiritual family. Praying for the church. And I had to trust the Lord that he would provide he would write my education.
He would provide and show me what my, like, what I was going to be doing in life, my purpose and calling and and financially that he would provide.
Tony: And so, yeah, what I appreciate about your stories that you can see some, some major kind of themes, right? Bade, [00:37:00] everything in prayer little steps. Lead to big actions and you're consistently taking them, right?
Like, so, so it's like, Hey, we're going to go to the Lord and prayer, and then we're going to move and we're going to go to the Lord and prayer and we're going to move and we're going to, and so now you know, pastor Matt tells a story about you guys being at the church for hours and hours and hours praying.
And you've talked about prayer closets and, and it's clear that prayer is the everything that you've built on. I also know that there are some people who like. The thought of praying is both scary and unnerving to them. Let alone praying for like hours at a time. So, so I'm just wondering if, if you could kind of give us a framework of how do you guys go to the Lord in prayer for so long?
What do you do when you're distracted? What about falling asleep? All the things that we hear about when we talk about prayer. Well, you know, how do you guys approach all of.
Emma: Yeah. Yeah. First and foremost, [00:38:00] life hack for eternity. Pray the Bible. I'm so serious, you know, we get so nervous about what am I going to say?
Is it going to be the right words? Am I on track? Am I not? Then there's this book sitting on the shelf collecting dust that has great prayers.
Jenna: Yes.
Emma: All of these. Awesome.
Tony: So give me an example of what I mean, when you say pray the Bible, does that mean you just open it up and read the words? What do I mean, what do you do?
Emma: So for example, for example, oh yeah. We pray for our pastors. Often. And one of the songs that we pray for them is Psalm 23. And if you're not familiar with Psalm 23, it's the Lord is my shepherd. I shout out one. He leads me beside still waters. You know that one. So, yeah. Yeah. So we just flipped [00:39:00] open the Bible and the Psalms are an amazing book to pray because it is.
A book of prayer. And so for some 23, let's say today, Jenna and I are going to sit down and we're going to pray for our pastors. And the majority of the time we would probably talk, we would do a check-in and say, Jenna, how are you doing? How is your soul? And then I would share how I'm doing. And then out of that, we would.
We could either pray for each other or we kind of make a list. Okay. What do we want to pray for today? What did we feel like is on the Lord's heart? And so we make a list, whether that be for the pastors or for Sunday services or for the youth group or, you know, we just make a, a list of.
Jenna: Practical things, things that that's going on this week that we need to pray for.
Emma: Yeah. And so let's say we're praying for the pastors and. We want to pray us on. So we would say if we're praying for [00:40:00] pastor Matt, we would say the Lord, you are his shepherd. And he's shown at one Lord this week. Would you make him lie down in green pastures? And would you lead him besides, so waters, Lord, would you restore his soul?
And then we would go on you know, lead him in paths of righteousness. And even if he feels like he is walking through the valley of the shadow of death, Makey fear, no evil because you are with him. And so out of that Psalm though, once we would end, we would build on it. If we hit the main points, God restore his soul, whatever is broken.
Would you restore it? Whether he feels like he is in the valley of the shadow of death, God, would you surround him with people who are fighting alongside of him and also God, would you reveal to him that you are with him and he should not feel fear in the midst of that? So that's life hack number one.
Yes.
Tony: Who taught you guys how to do that? Because most Christians don't know how to do that. Like to shift the words of the scripture around so [00:41:00] that it applies to a particular person, because as you said that I could say, oh, and then she just goes around and then you would change that for every pastor.
Right? Pastor Rob, pastor George, pastor, Michelle, whatever. Right? Like you would just go down the list of pastors and just not, you know, knock out a song for all of them.
Emma: I'm not going to be able to identify someone I'm, but I have experienced it before. So I know that I've heard Jordan do it before.
There was a guy that we ran into that yeah, it was before them, but there's a guy that we ran into and his name was Baylor and he was spent hours and hours and hours, I think, like 40 hours a week at height I hop, which is international hospital. Prayer. Yeah. Yeah. And. Poor pancakes or pancakes, depending on your preference.
Tony: I like for and pancakes. So it's good. [00:42:00] Yeah. Yeah.
Emma: So he was the one that actually put the words to it. I think we had already started doing it a little bit, but I guess how smart that is. Yeah.
Jenna: I think I probably experienced that in the prayer when I was a part of in school. But I don't, again, like I must say, I can't identify a certain moment where this is what we were taught.
I think it would just somehow over time without language, we were doing it. And then eventually we got language for it and was able to do it even more. So. Also another thing is while we started the prayer room, we were also in care pastor training in that we learned a lot about prayer and how to pray with one another.
And so we would have class on Monday nights and we would come back like, let's practice that. Like, how do we pray in agreement over one another? And how do we like build on prayer? And so then we would just practice the things we were learning like before. And that was also very helpful.
Emma: I love the [00:43:00] way that you say that, like practicing prayer.
Because there is no shame in using that language of practicing prayer. And that's just another beautiful thing about spiritual family is that I'm able to say to Jenna, you know, I. I don't know what to say or I don't know how to approach the Lord right now. Would you help me? Would you identify the tools that I need right now to get back on track?
Spiritually?
Jenna: Yeah. I want to just add some more details into what our pro time looks like, because when we say like two to three hours or now, or whatever it is, the first role we had was there's no pressure. And so it's not like we have our eyes closed and we're about on our knees for three hours.
Praying. Like, it's not always what it looks like. It starts with like MSN checking in with one another catching up with whatever's going on in life. What's happening. What are how's our heart? What do we need to pray for this week? Probably starting with a [00:44:00] song or a worship song, and then praying from there and also listening.
So we, if we ask a question of like, Lord, what's on your heart for the church this week, What happened this past Sunday that we need to like, debrief about asking the Lord and taking time to just listen. And sometimes prayer is like a prayer slash conversation, prayers, house conversation. So sometimes I'm like praying something.
And then I check in with Emma of like, I think I'm seeing this, what do you think? And then we'll pray into that. And so it's like a very ebb and flow, which takes practice. We've been printing though for a long time, but it it's over time. It has built and become easier and more comfortable and more natural, but often it's like an ebb and flow.
Of prayer and of conversation and then of listening and of silent. It's just like this ebb and flow of yeah.
Emma: Yeah. That's really, that's true.
Tony: That's true. Yeah. I think one of the things I appreciate about that is that it kind of helps eliminate some of those cultural norms that says, you know, it has to be X or has to be Y.
[00:45:00] But what I really hear you saying is that kind of that first Thessalonians pray without ceasing, right? If your entire life. The intentional time is devoted to God. Then the whole, the whole time period becomes a prayer. Right? Is that, is that too far of a stretch?
Emma: No, that's absolutely true.
Jenna: I would say that's a hundred percent true.
Tony: So you guys have been doing this now for months and it's drastically changed every part of your life. I would love to hear and Emma, we'll start with you. I would love to hear. What you've learned about God in this time of, I mean, cause you guys have been putting intentional time into prayer, you know, four to seven days a week for the last year.
So what have you learned about God in that process? And then Jenna, same question to you.[00:46:00]
Emma: So I'm going to start that question in my personal life and end it with the church. So in my personal devotion with the Lord in this past year of really pursuing his presence, I have learned that he is the only one trustworthy to hold. My life, my heart, my emotions, my mind, my life. He's the only one trustworthy.
And the only one that has a whole of the answers. So I've learned to seek first him and how that is, should be our automatic response, because I have seen the way that seeking first and hearing from him for. Gives me so much more wisdom when I am called to make a decision and whatever regard that looks like.
And then secondly, what I've learned about God [00:47:00] as we've been praying for our pastors and praying for our ministries, I'm praying for the church is that one, he has a deep, deep love for his people. And as we have saw after the father and his heart, he gives us glimpses of what his heart is for his people.
And that's one of the major signs of fruit that I've seen in, in Jenna's life and my life and in the life of prayer that we have at our church is deeper hearts of compassion. Because as we seek after the father, he will show us and give us and teach us his heart of compassion. And so I would just say that I have learned how to well I have, I'm trying and continually walking in, seeing the church as he sees it.
And trusting that he is Lord over it all over every ministry, over [00:48:00] every part of the church, every over every part of the service. He is Lord over all of it. And so we should be seeking him about all of it. Yeah, that's good.
Jenna: That's really good. What have I learned about God through life of prayer?
I think the first thing that keeps coming to my mind is I've learned more about God's character that he, that, like Emma said, he truly is the only one trustworthy. I've learned more how to orient my whole life around prayer and how to orient, how to walk with him throughout the days and pray with him throughout the days, more than just the prayer room or whatever that looks like.
And I've learned and like MSI too, as we've, as I have prayed. And as I have made space for the Lord of my life, I have not only it. So I've learned more about God's character and then also able to see and know him [00:49:00] more like his, his heart for the church and the fruit of that, of like, Then my heart is changed for the heart of the church and for the pastors.
And I'm like the compassion that's so good. As I got the father loves the church, like this is his bride. And so I want to love the church like the Lord does.
Emma: And, and.
Jenna: Our, pastor's going to joke about how we get to see the inner sanctuary of God's heart. And as we pray and you just ask the Lord, show me what you think about worship estimate, like whatever that is. It's like, you learn how to, I think I've learned how to co-labor with the Lord more through prayer.
Because Jesus has already praying. He's already interceding for us. Right. And so a lot of it is just agreeing with what's already happening and agreeing with what God's already doing, what his heart already is for the church. And so I've learned how to, co-labor better with Jesus.
Emma: That's so good, especially because at the beginning of our, our prayer time, months, [00:50:00] and months and months ago, one of the phrases that we would use so often is God, show us your blueprints and give us backstage passes to what's going on.
And honestly, that's like a silly way of putting it, but truly that is something that I've learned is how to walk alongside when he's already doing. Learning, how do we partner with that? How do we agree with it and how do we act upon it? Or how do we not act.
Jenna: And another thing is like, I learned so much about how much the Lord delights in is so pleased with us and is so loves fine.
Like he's so fun. And like, it's like a delightful experience to come and pray. Like sometimes it's hard and it's heavy and like, Heavy stuff to pray about, but he liked the carpet time, like a preschool carpet time. Like that's so fun and delightful. And so he also loves laughter and delighting with him and resting and like being refreshed.
And [00:51:00] so it's like so joyful to pray. It's not this burden of like, oh crap. I gotta go to prayer again tomorrow morning. It's like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to see what the Lord's going to show us today. Like yeah. It's so joyful. And then like being able to your testimonies. Yeah. After like, cause the pastors meet on Tuesdays.
And so normally we pray for them on Mondays or Tuesday mornings. And then we get to hear how the meeting was and then we're like, that's what we prayed for.
And so seeing those kinds of things, like just makes your spirit leap with joy. It gives you the endurance, the joy to continue. And I think that's another thing. That's the, one of the biggest things I've learned is that praying is a delight and it's not pressure. It's not striving. It's just delighting with.
Tony: I love that. I love that. I love that. Man, such goodness here, where I could talk to you guys for hours, but I want to respect your time. I have one more question for you and, but before we get to it I know that some of my listeners might want to connect with you online. If there is a place or a space that where you share [00:52:00] anything.
I know Emma, you're working on a big project, a book project, and I think. No. I think what people hear as you guys talk about the Lord is an intimacy that they desire. And so it, it would make sense if people want to connect with you, where's the best place for them to do that. Emma, why don't you give us all the information first?
Emma: Yeah, I'll go ahead and start. So my Instagram is Emma dot Winchester with two RS. So it's E M M a dot Winchester, w I N C H E S T E. R that's my Instagram. That's probably the best way to reach me. I also have a Facebook and it's just Emma Winchester, but no promises that I check that as often as I do Instagram.
Tony: Right on.
And then you're also on the spirit and true team. So people can check out where you'll be at and places that you're praying on spirit and truth that life that's good. [00:53:00] Good, good, good gentlemen.
Jenna: Yes. I, my Instagram is Jenna with two A's dot F J E N N a a dot F. And I, you could find me there, nothing too cool on my Instagram, but.
I can hear you. I hear from you then. And I also am I actually, so now I now work at this as Stillwater church. If you ever call it the front desk or come in Monday through Thursday, that's real fight.
Tony: What I love about that is that both of you guys ended up serving in places because we couldn't keep you away.
And that's so good. It's so good. It's you know, I think it's a, it's a testimony to your faithfulness. Yeah. That's a beautiful thing. So, okay. Last question. I always love to ask people it's an advice question, except I get pull you back to a specific date and time. And so I, I would like to take you [00:54:00] back to the day before you left on the mission.
So I can imagine both of you kind of running around frantically packing and getting things ready. And what you didn't know then that, you know, now is that this trip was going to change your life forever. So if you could sit down in front of that younger version of yourself and pull up Nita knee and look that younger lady deepen the eyes what's the one piece of advice that you're getting.
Emma: I would say what my younger self would have needed to hear is this simple truth that. God is faithful to take the [00:55:00] lead.
Jenna: Yeah, I would say, that sacrifice and just doing something for the Lord is always worth it.
Emma: It's always worth it.
Jenna: My worries about my future or my job or whatever it was, I would say sacrifice and just making space for the Lord is always worth it. And he's always trustworthy and he will always be faithful.
Tony: Praise God. That's a good word. I think for all of us and. Ladies, I just deeply appreciate your commitment to prayer and your willingness to hop on here and chat with me and for being so vulnerable and sharing part of your life. So thank you guys so much for the work that you [00:56:00] do for the. Yeah, thank you.
Thank you. I told you guys what an incredible conversation. I'm so thankful for these ladies and their heart for the Lord. I love the way they talk about how it was kind of built in prayer and prayer is the foundation for everything without their heart. I know a lot of changes that happened in their life.
Wouldn't have wouldn't have otherwise taken place. Everything starts with prayer. I hope you have a great week. I hope you dive into prayer and remember, if you want to follow Jesus, you must be willing to move.
