Experiencing God’s Presence Through Prayer (with Jennifer Jackson) - Episode 11
I know I always say it, but friends, I’m so excited to share this guest and episode with you! Spoiler alert: we talk about prayer. I think prayer is a component of our walk with God that many of us feel insecure about, so I’m thankful Jennifer and I were able to have a conversation surrounding it!
Jennifer Jackson has such a passion for supporting women in their journey with Jesus. She has served in many ministry roles over the past 30 years, including international missions, children’s ministry, and women’s ministry. She and her husband Doyle live in Columbus, Ohio, and she loves mentoring women by helping them discover what God is offering them.
In this episode, we talk about how we experience God’s presence in prayer. How to pray, where to pray, when to pray, what keeps us from prayer, and more. Jennifer spoke to many seasons of life during our conversation and encouraged us in such grace-filled ways. I know you’ll end your time listening feeling equipped in your prayer life!
My Key Takeaways
1) Prayer is just talking to God. I love how Jennifer said, “We know how to talk!” Our relationship with God is just that—relational—and we can talk to Him anytime, anywhere.
2) There is no detail too small for God. A common misconception among believers is that our prayers are too small, and God is too busy. Matthew 10:29 says that God even sees every sparrow. He’s not too busy and He wants to hear from us!
3) A "no" now doesn’t mean a "no" later. What do we do when we feel like our prayers aren’t being answered? I am so thankful for Jennifer’s encouragement, and even her own experiences she shared, for a tenacious prayer life. We can keep praying and keep coming to the Lord. He can handle our most unedited thoughts and feelings, and we are safe and welcome with Him.
4) Pray in community. There is a power that comes from praying with others. Find a prayer partner, or a prayer group. Like Jennifer said, “If you’re not in one, lead one.” I know I’ve never walked away discouraged from praying in community.
5) Enter His gates with thanksgiving. Psalm 100:4 reads, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” I loved Jennifer’s encouragement to make a practice of thanking the Lord in prayer. His presence will come so powerfully.
Resources Related or Mentioned
- The Kneeling Christian
- The Passion Translation
- Jennifer's Website
- Wandering Wilde's Bible Study Journals
- Connect with Wandering Wilde on Facebook and Instagram
Where I've Been Wandering
Today’s Where I’m Wandering is a little bit different, but truly reminded me of what we strive for here at Wandering Wilde. We want to encourage you to spend time in the presence of God every single day, whatever that looks like! And today, for me, it looked like this:
I had spent time in my daily study of His Word, and didn’t necessarily “feel” this overwhelming presence of God with me. However, as I was eating lunch my smartwatch buzzed. It notified me of the verse of the day, as it does every day. The verse it showed me this time was Psalm 37:4. I ended up taking some time to read through all of Psalm 37, and these three verses stuck out to me.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. (Psalm 37:3-5)
You see, I’ve been in a new season lately. I’m now back at home full-time with my kids and school is out for the summer. Adjusting to a new routine and having patience has honestly been a struggle for me. The night before I had woken up in the middle of the night completely stressed out, and finally just prayed, “Lord, I need You to come and help me.”
Those verses that showed up on my watch, and ultimately in my Bible, were a sweet note from God. His invitation to me is to delight in Him!
After we delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts! Not just for our own gain, but as a natural occurrence of delight in Him, He will align our desires to His desires. I know His desire is for me to be a patient mom. And so He invites me to be formed into His patient image as a result of my time with Him, not by me muscling an attitude or habit. Oh, such grace there.
Today I am thankful for a kitchen table, a smartwatch, and His unexpected presence. Delight in Him, friends. He delights in you.
Help Us Spread the Word
We want this to be an honest, encouraging, and inspirational resource to remind you that you're not alone, that you truly can grow closer to God each day, and that you have all you need to be transformed by the Word. We'd love for you to help us tell other women about it! You can do that in 2 ways:
1) If you listen on Apple Podcasts, please take a moment to leave a review! That's such a big help to us.
2) Send the link to this episode to a couple friends or family members that should hear it. I hope it even launches some good conversations!
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Again, thank you for listening and we'll be back with Episode 12 in just a couple weeks!
