Praying God's Word with Brenda Rice: Prayers for Hope, Favour and Peace

Judith Kambia Obatusa - JKO welcomes Brenda Rice to share her inspiring journey with prayer.  Brenda opens up about overcoming thyroid cancer and supporting her son through addiction, highlighting the transformative power of prayer in her life. She shares meaningful prayers and uplifting scriptures for women facing life's challenges.

If you need hope, favour, and peace in the trenches of life, this episode offers inspiration and strength through the healing power of prayer. 

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Music Credit: https://indiefy.me/wanted-carter

Transcript

JKO: [00:00:00] Welcome to this episode of Messy Can't Stop Her. I'm your host Judith Kambia Obatusa, JKO. On today's episode, I am so blessed to be hosting my sister Brenda Rice, and I've known her for many years. She was the leader of a prayer group I was part of when I was in Windsor, and that prayer group came out of experience, and she's going to tell us how that came about And why it was important to start prayer. So I just want to welcome you here, Brenda. Thank you so much for honoring us with your presence. 

Brenda: Thank you very much Judith for inviting me and asking me. 

JKO: So Brenda is going to tell us just a tiny bit about what prayer is to her. And she's also going to shower us with prayers. So if you're a woman in the trenches of [00:01:00] life, this moment is for you. So Brenda, please tell us a little bit about why you started a prayer group I happen to be part of Parkwood Church, Windsor. 

Brenda: Well, my journey started about probably 20 years ago when I had thyroid cancer. And I do believe the Lord was preparing me at that time for, for bigger situations in my life. So that brought me closer to the Lord, um, praying more. But I always felt that I had a place in my heart for prayer. I have aunts that are prayer warriors and a mom that was a prayer warrior and I just remember when my children were young, I remember ironing and thinking, Lord God, when I have more time, number one, I want to pray more. I just always had that desire in my heart. So then about 12 years ago, our son became addicted to drugs [00:02:00] and it was at that time I was in a small group and we were doing a lesson on prayer and a couple of us ladies got together and we said, We don't want any more Bible lessons. We don't want any more sermons.

We just had a craving for an opportunity just to gather. And pray. There was very little taught. It was just an opportunity for a woman to come and just spend time in the Lord's presence. It was either audible or sometimes just very quiet. We shared communion every week as well. And I remember where we were standing, Judith, when you came to me after the alpha course, and you said to me in the foyer, “I just want more prayer in my life. I just want more prayer.” And at the time you knew nothing about the prayer meeting I was holding on Friday nights. I invited you and out you came and you were such a center of our meetings for many years. 

So that's basically the [00:03:00] journey with our son in addiction. It was something that was integral. It just was everything I needed to get through the days, the weeks, the moments. And ever since then, prayer has just been so much a part of my life. It gives me direction, hope, wisdom. It's everything. 

JKO: Thank you so much. So I have a question. You said you didn't want more Bible study. You didn't want more talk. You wanted prayer. Why? Why was prayer what you felt you needed at the time? I don't know. What did it mean? What does, what does prayer mean when you compare it to listening to God's word and reading the Bible's difference? 

Brenda: It's just that time of intimacy with the Lord. It's very, very intimate when you're in his presence. Whether you're with other believers or by yourself, it's just an intimacy and his presence I feel is [00:04:00] experienced more when you're in prayer than if you're listening to, to a Bible study or sitting in church on Sunday, you know, worship can bring you into his presence of course, but I just wanted more prayer time where you're just soaking in his presence and just soaking in what he wants to say to you and whispering your needs to him as well.

JKO: That's so wonderful. Thank you so much, Brenda. When we think about, oh, when I worship God, like me, worship is my thing, but then just the idea of soaking in his presence while whispering your own needs to him. So this moment, uh, Brenda, I'd love to invite you to shower us with scriptures as you pray over women who are listening.

Many of the women that listen to this episodes are going through really tough times in life, but some they don't [00:05:00] even believe in this God that we, we say we are praying to. So I'd love you to speak into that a little bit as you begin to hear the scripture and shower us with prayer. The floor is yours.

Brenda: Thank you, Judith. So ladies, just take a deep breath and exhale and just realize that these moments are for the Lord. Amen. Set yourself apart from the issues of the day, set yourself apart, ladies, from the responsibilities and the agendas and the schedules that are always so pressing. And just give the Lord this little bit of time, just do your best to focus specifically on Him and His word And in prayer, so I just want to start with Psalms 139 verse 23 and [00:06:00] 24, it says, God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart, examine me through and through, find out everything that may be hidden within me, put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any pain, path of pain that I'm walking on or walking through And lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way, the path that brings me back to you. So Lord Jesus, we invite you into our midst, Holy Spirit, be with us for these next moments, minutes. Lord Jesus, we just ask you to be in our midst and we invite you, Holy Spirit. And Lord Jesus, we present ourselves. To you, right here, right now, we consecrate to you our spirit, our soul, our [00:07:00] body, our heart, our mind, and our will show us Lord where the distress is, where it is coming from. We consecrate these prayers to you wash us with your blood again. Wash us and cleanse us and renew us. Holy spirit. Like, only you can come and restore our union with the father and son come and feel these prayers of ours today. Amen. Philippians 4 verse 6 from the Passion Translation says, Don't be pulled in different directions Or worried about a thing, but be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your face field requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life. 

So Lord God, we come to you and we just do our best to not be pulled in different directions. Lord, especially at this [00:08:00] time of prayer. We just wanna focus on what you have to say to us. And Lord Jesus, as we pray, and as we gather, we also listen. We listen to what you want to say to us, O God. It's not just about us speaking our needs, but we're here to listen to you and what you want to say. So open our minds and our ears to, to what you are saying to all of us women today.

Oh, God, saturate us, saturate us with your Holy Spirit as we bring these requests before you. Oh, God, we thank you for your word. We love your word. Psalms 142 verse one and two, as we're all very familiar with this scripture as the deer pants for streams of water. So my soul pants for you, my God, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with my [00:09:00] God again? 

Lord God, we pray for an unsatisfiable desire for more of you, oh God. May we just be unquenchable in our thirst for you, oh Lord, the living water, Lord God, as our body needs the physical water, Lord, we need you, the living water to satisfy us, oh God, because you are the only one that will satisfy our soul pants for you, our soul pants for more of you, oh God. May we be excited and anxious when we know we can meet with you again. In prayer, and in your presence, O Lord.

When our son was in bondage, as I spoke out earlier, I opened up my Bible's concordance, and I highlighted all of the scriptures on hope. And I committed to reading one a day, until I read them all, and [00:10:00] I would just read one a day, and I would let that scripture verse just I would write it out and slip it in my pocket, and I would bring it out several times during the day and just read it over and over and over because I was depending on the Lord at that time to give me the hope that I needed to get through the day, the moment.

So, I just want to share a few of my favorite scriptures on hope, Hebrews 10, verse 23. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who has promised is faithful. Yes, Romans 15 13 made the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him. So that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Psalms 33 verse 22. [00:11:00] May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. So, Lord God for the woman listening today. Lord God, I know there's many situations where hope may seem like it's lost. That hope might feel like a past tense, like a past thought, because it's not for them anymore. But Lord God, I ask you to change that mindset. Lord God, whoever is listening right now, may they see you as the God of continual hope. No matter how difficult, No matter how difficult or impossible the situation may be pressing in, oh Lord, on every side, several situations, several difficulties, oh God, may we look to you as the God of our hope. May we look to you for strength [00:12:00] to carry through the next day, oh God. When troubles and difficulties get so hard that we should be crumbled in a corner, unable to function. Oh, Lord God, you give us the hope and the ability to get up and stand up and be the mothers and the wives and the friends and the encouragers that we need to be.

So we trust in you, oh God, the Lord of our hope, Lord God, just minister, minister hope to all the women in need right now, God, that are listening. Just give them a small glimpse of your hope. That is all they need to carry through, oh God.

John 14 verse 27 says, I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the [00:13:00] peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be afraid or trouble. Yes, Lord. You give us a peace. A peace that doesn't make sense. A peace when our situations and difficulties are so pressing. But you give us that peace, O Lord. We can't even explain it. It is an unexplainable peace. As the word says, it passes all understanding. It just doesn't make sense. But, Lord, you are the giver of peace. You are the giver of hope. So I just pray, oh Lord, that these women praying right now, oh God, that they will send you peace, that they will know that the only peace comes from you.

It's not going to come from any other resource in this world. Lord God, you are the giver of hope and you are the giver of peace and joy and all that [00:14:00] we need to sustain us, oh Lord. Thank you, Lord, for your peace.

And the last scripture I want to leave with you ladies today, I come across this scripture just recently. It's also in the Passion Translation, Luke 1. It's does great favor rests upon you, for you have believed every word spoken to you from the Lord. So ladies today, just know that great favor. Rest upon you, because you are seeking him.

He finds favor in you, ladies, you that seek in him. It says in Jeremiah, that when you seek me, you will find me when you seek me with all your heart. And we come seeking today, O Lord, we seek for the peace. We seek for that peace that passes all understanding. So as we have believed every spoken word in these prayers, O Lord, [00:15:00] and every scripture we have read, we say yes and amen to all of the scriptures.

Lord Jesus, pour favor on these women today. Hide them in your shelter of blessing. Cover them in your wings of protection. And grace.

So today I pray, O Lord, to cancel every mountain of setback these women may be experiencing. Every injustice, frustration, delay, financial difficulty, anxiety, depression, O God. We pray to cancel all of that in your name, we pray, O Lord. We speak to these mountains, O Lord, to be removed from the lives of these women. The Lord shall go before us and flatten every mountain, every obstacle within us. And we will give you all the praise and [00:16:00] all the glory and all the honor of God, because this is our testimony, you are our testimony. Oh, Lord, when we come out on the other side, we will give you all the praise and all the glory and all the honor and we will come out on the other side.

You have promised saddle or you are faithful to us. Yes. We will come out on the other side. As Romans 8, 28 says, it doesn't say that everything that happens is good, but it says, oh God, you can make good come of everything that happened. Yes, you can. You can make good come of every dire situation. You have done it before and you will do it again and again and again. You are faithful, oh Lord. You have always been safe and you will never stop my doors of opportunity swing wide open [00:17:00] and made divine connections align for advancement advancement in positions.

Okay, may God's peace, joy and abundance rule and reign in the lives and hearts of these women today are Jesus. We thank you. We thank you for the opportunity to be able to come to you to be able to come to you wherever we are at. Oh, Lord. and whisper a word that you will hear. We thank you, Lord Jesus. Bless each and every woman listening today, O Lord Jesus. We ask this in your name, we pray. Amen. 

JKO: Amen. We need to get you back here. 

Brenda: Oh, I would love that, Judith. 

JKO: This is beautiful. So beautiful. [00:18:00] Thank you so much. Thank you for asking me. My pleasure. It's our pleasure. We're so glad. We're so blessed, Brenda. Thank you for allowing God to use you this day as a conduit of his blessing to us. God, we thank you. Hallelujah. 

Yeah, ladies, so you heard all of that and if you would just take a moment to allow these words that have been spoken seep into your spirit. Sit back, replay it over again and over again until it becomes. ingrained into your very fiber of your being. When you do this, messy won't stop you. Thank you so much for listening. See you next time.