FEARLESS A New Way to pray THE BARRICK FAMILY ANDY, LINDA, JEN AND JOSH Table of contents

03 EMBRACE THE CURE

07 ENTER THE THRONE ROOM

13 MAKE IT PERSONAL

19 STOP BEGGING AND START PRAISING

24 TRUST GOD FOR SOMETHING GREATER

PUBLISHED BY HOPE OUT LOUD © 2020 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS IN THIS PUBLICATION ARE FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® COPYRIGHT © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA, INC.® USED BY PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE. Introduction

“Fear not” is the most repeated command in the Bible. Perhaps because God knew we would struggle more with fear than any other emotion. Fear comes in many different forms: fear of the unknown, fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of not being enough, fear of dying, fear of disease and suffering. The list could go on and on. Fear can be paralyzing and it keeps us from experiencing the blessings God has for us every day.

Our bodies weren’t intended to carry the burden of fear and anxiety. In fact, 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (NKJV). However, with the Covid-19 pandemic, anxiety has increased in almost all of us as we watch the news and see more people dying all over the world. Covid-19 has impacted our day to day lives with social distancing, isolation, increase of unemployment and fears of economic decline. The good news is that if you or someone you know is suffering from fear and anxiety, there’s hope.

Many times, fear and anxiety are situational, or related to seasons of life or circumstances beyond our control. We are not psychologists, nor are we advocating that you just “will” yourself to feel better. We believe in pursuing medical, professional help and trying natural, biblical, holistic methods. Getting counseling is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness. Always remember that God sees you and He loves you so much. He is walking beside you holding your hand and He will guide you one day at a time.

We are a family, just like you, who found ourselves in a crisis we could not control and reached out to God for help in our most desperate circumstances. What He did and continues to do for us is nothing short of miraculous. He reached down and restored our hope. He gives us strength to face each new day. We want to share our journey with you to encourage you that no matter what you are facing right now, help and healing are possible. You can have hope again!

You don’t have to walk through this season of fear and anxiety alone. Let us walk with you! We may not know what you are going through, but we know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed by uncertainty. We know you are going to need someone to journey with you. We’re praying that Romans 15:13 becomes your new normal in the next few days:

May 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.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 2 Embrace the Cure

Our 15-year-old daughter Jen wasn’t Our whole world turned expected to live through the night. Her brain activity was the same as a dead person; she upside down in 2006 lay unconscious in a coma for five weeks. To this day, she suffers from a severe traumatic when our family was hit brain injury that has changed almost everything about her life - her memory, her by a drunk driver. motor skills, her eyesight, her abilities, her We were a normal family riding home friendships, her personality and, surprisingly, together in our minivan one Sunday night just her prayers. a mile from our house when a man ran us over going 80 miles an hour in a full-sized When Jen first emerged from a coma and pickup truck. The impact was so great, our began the long, difficult recovery of learning to van was crushed beyond recognition. We talk and walk and eat again, our prayer was never even saw him coming. urgent and singular: “God, please heal our daughter.Restore her quality of life!” I prayed All four of us were critically injured and it day and night. I screamed it. I cried it. I evacuated to different hospitals in different whispered it in the night. To me, this meant cities. My husband Andy and I were getting Jen back to her old life, back to high separated and wouldn’t see each other for school and sports and normal activities. almost three weeks.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 3 Jen prayed day and night as well. Because her new personality made her completely uninhibited, she said everything she thought out loud. This meant she prayed out loud. We began to notice something different about Jen’s prayers. She never once asked God to heal her. In fact, she never asked God for anything. When she prayed it sounded like she was literally sitting at the feet of Jesus. She’d say things like, “Daddy, I don’t want to miss one thing you have for me today!” Her whole countenance would be glowing and it seemed as if she was listening and having a two-way conversation with God. That’s when I first began to realize that I was missing something about prayer that Jen seemed to be encountering.

The best way we know how to describe what happened to Jen is that her body and mind were broken, but her spirit was alive and whole. Because her flesh was so weak, her spiritual nature was accentuated. Before she could recognize most of her family members by name, she started praying out loud for hours, having these intimate conversations with God where she appeared to be receiving her daily agenda, strength and joy right from the throne room of heaven! I didn’t know what to think at first. This didn’t fit into my limited experience with prayer where you ask God for something and He either says “yes” or “no.” It had never dawned on me that there was so much more to prayer than anything I had ever experienced before.

You may not have been run over by a drunk driver, but chances are, something has run you over or wrecked your “normal.” Our hope and prayer is that God will use our family’s experiences to expand your view of who He is and open your eyes to new possibilities that are greater than you could ever imagine because of your pain and suffering. God never wastes a tear or a trial. If you are suffering from fear and anxiety right now, God’s intent is not to harm you, but to prepare a way for you to know Him in ways you never could when life was normal.

When bad things happen, our first reaction as humans is to look for a way to fix it. If we are sick, we look for a cure. My husband Andy struggled in ways I couldn’t comprehend because as a father and protector, he couldn’t do anything to fix our daughter. Even still, we have no idea what her future holds or if she will ever live independently.

I remember coming home for the first time after the car wreck. After three months of being in the hospital and then recovering at Andy’s parents’ one level home, Andy said, “I just want to see our house again. I want to walk through our front door.”

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 4 We couldn’t walk because both of us were still in wheelchairs, so we hobbled through the front door and crawled on our hands and knees up the steps to our daughter’s bedroom. What we found on a sticky note next to her bed was nothing short of miraculous. Keep in mind that at this point, we didn’t know if Jen would ever wake up from her coma and be able to talk to us again, so to find a note written in her handwriting was an overwhelming sweet sorrow and joy all at once. It was a message of hope. It was proof that God had been preparing Jen for this season of life. It was as if God Himself parted heaven and reached down to remind us He was still there.

Written in her handwriting on a hot pink sticky note on the nightstand next to her bed were these words:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7

The last verses Jen had memorized before her accident were God’s cure for fear and anxiety. Do you want to be fearless? It’s found in Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious!” Have you ever tried telling yourself to stop being anxious when you were overcome with fear? How did that work out for you? You can’t just stop something harmful without replacing it with something helpful. That’s why the verse continues to explain that the cure to stop being anxious is to start praying: Do not be anxious...but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God…

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 5 What About Unanswered Prayers?

This is where many people give up because you tried praying before and it didn’t work for you. One of the greatest barriers to faith and hope is the disappointment of unanswered prayers. Have you ever prayed for something that you didn’t get? I’m talking the kind of praying where you got on your knees and poured out your heart to God, summoning all the faith you had in this world, and you got nothing. Your spouse still walked out. Your house went into foreclosure. Your loved one did not get better. You did not get the answer you wanted, or maybe any answer for that matter.

How did that make you feel? I imagine you felt confused and a little disillusioned that a God who is powerful and loving seemed not to care about what was so important to you. Maybe that caused you to distance yourself from Him. I’m not shaming or blaming you because, as humans, we are designed to run away from things that hurt us to find refuge in safe places. I know I do. Sometimes it is very easy to assume wrong things about God based on our personal circumstances.

Maybe when you didn’t get what you asked for, you started to wonder if something was wrong with you. Perhaps you felt as if you didn’t have enough faith. Maybe you said the words wrong. Or, maybe you have felt like your prayers go unanswered because you aren’t worthy. You’ve made too many mistakes. You have a messy past. Why would a holy God grant you what you’ve asked for when you haven’t been good enough?

Perhaps the disappointment of unanswered prayers is so deeply painful that you’ve given up on prayer altogether or even on God Himself. You’re afraid to pray one more prayer because you’re just not sure you can handle the rejection of being let down again.

If you can relate to any of these feelings, I’m so glad you picked up this book because Ihave felt what you’ve felt and I have been where you’ve been. What if I could convince you that there is another way to pray than what you’ve been trying? What if I could show you from God’s word that there is so much more to prayer than what you’ve been asking for?

You see, if you read the rest of the cure, you discover a secret, the same secret God started teaching us through our daughter Jen. God didn’t say, “Stop being anxious, and start praying so I can give you what you asked for.” God said, “Instead of being anxious, try praying, so I can give you PEACE.”

I’d love to help you discover a new way to pray - God’s way, the way He intended. I believe God’s greatest gifts like love, joy, peace and hope are available to you anywhere and anytime through prayer. No matter what you say or don’t say, no matter what you do or don’t do, God has not forgotten you! He has not turned His back on you. He is not indifferent to you. Prayer is not the problem. Prayer is the cure!

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 6 Enter the Throne Room

Never underestimate the power of your When life gets hard, it’s prayers. Prayer transcends time and space! Prayer is crying out to the Creator of heaven easy for fear and anxiety and earth, the One who spoke the whole world into existence and the One who has to consume our power over disease and over the winds and the waves. Nothing is impossible for God! The thoughts. problem comes when God doesn’t answer our Fear is a powerful emotion and can be prayers the way we want Him to. paralyzing. It’s important to STOP, take a deep breath and remind ourselves that we Whatever your disappointment, fear, are not helpless, we have a powerful weapon inadequacy or exhaustion with prayer is, I’m called prayer. Jen learned at brain therapy asking you to lay it aside and open your mind that your brain believes what you say out and heart to a new way to pray - God’s way. loud. Next time an anxious thought enters In order to do this, you’re going to have to set your mind, try saying: “I am FEARLESS aside some misunderstandings about how because God Himself lives in me!” and why we pray.

According to Ephesians 1:19-20, the same First of all, stop stressing about how you pray. power that raised Jesus from the dead, the Prayer is not just something you do. Allow me power of the Holy Spirit, lives inside all of us to take the pressure off of you. as believers.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 7 Prayer is not about doing more. Prayer is not about saying the right words or who has more faith. Prayer is about being in the presence of God and receiving power, joy, peace, perspective, guidance, courage and so many other unlimited gifts He has prepared for you each day.

Satan will do anything to keep you from praying. He knows that prayer unleashes God’s greatest gifts, so he tries to block your understanding of prayer. The enemy’s lie is to convince you that prayer is something you do, because if it’s something you do, then you have the potential to do it right or wrong. Your struggle may be with the entitlement that you’ve done it all right, so God owes it to you to come through. Or, your struggle may be with the condemnation that you’ve done it all wrong so God will never come through for you. STOP! Stop viewing prayer as something YOU DO. Prayer is more about what GOD DOES when you choose to put yourself in His presence.

Another huge misunderstanding we have about prayer is why we pray. Let’s face it; most of us view prayer as a list of requests. For years, my main reason for praying was to inform God of all the things my loved ones and I needed. I went to God with lists of requests. That’s why I prayed, because I needed God to do things for me. The focus was all about me, not Him.

When God answered “no” I’d feel disappointed, as if I deserved to get a “yes” each time. Over time, God revealed to me that He never gives me what I deserve. He gives me something greater - what I don’t deserve! Think about it. Do we really want to get what we deserve? Do we want wages? If so, then the wages we deserve are death and separation from God’s presence. God never gives wages. God doesn’t pay us anything; He only gives gifts. His word says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23).

I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want wages. I want gifts! You don’t have to work for gifts or earn them, you just receive them. That means changing the way I approach prayer from focusing on what I want and deserve and to focusing on who God is and what He gives. He gives gifts I would never think of asking for...

Understand Why We Pray

While Jesus lived on earth, He taught His followers how to pray. He even gave them a model prayer, what we sometimes call the Lord’s Prayer. But before He taught them what to say,He gave them some crucial advice about why we pray.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 8 You might have memorized the Lord’s prayer as a child, but some of us, myself included, never actually read the instructions Jesus gave right before He prayed that prayer which, I believe, unlocks one of the greatest untapped treasures about how prayer was meant to work. Before Jesus taught His followers how to pray, He said these very important words that should almost be labeled: READ BEFORE USING!!! This is what He said...

Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him (Matthew 6:8).

For starters, this is confusing, I know! Why should we pray if God already knows whatwe are going to ask for? Truth, He already knows what you are going to ask for in advance, but let’s look closer at Jesus’ words. He says, “Your Father knows exactly what you need…” This, dear friends, is why we pray, not because of what we think we need, but because of what God already knows we need.

Prayer is less about sending our requests up and more about receiving what God sends down. God wants to give us exactly what we need each day for our daily battles before we face them. Sometimes requests are what get us to His throne room, but He already saw those coming. What if we went to Him ahead of time to get exactly what He already knows we need each day? What if prayer was more about fueling our soul long term than getting a quick fix to our problems?

Think of the requesting part as our ideas, our words, based on our flawed experiences, and the receiving part as God’s ideas, God’s blessings based on His unfailing character. Who would you rather have leading the way, you and your limited perspective, or God and His unlimited resources? His gifts are not things that money can buy. They are not things you can earn. They are not things you can lose. They are far greater. They are gifts such as peace, joy, strength and wisdom that sustain us no matter what circumstances come our way

Gas-Tank Theology

I’m not saying you shouldn’t ask God for things. God Himself tells us to ask away andencourages us to ask big. In fact, I’m pretty sure He sets up circumstances in our lives that createthe need for us to run to Him and beg for help so we get close enough and linger long enough toreceive even greater than the things we think we need, which is...exactly what our heavenlyFather knows we need. We go into prayer with what we think we need, but we come out with somuch more than we could ever ask for or imagine.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 9 I used to think of prayer in terms of a stoplight. In fact, I still remember being in Sunday School coloring a picture of a traffic light with my red, yellow and green crayons. The teacher said something like, “Sometimes God answers yes (green), sometimes God answers no (red), and sometimes God says to wait (yellow).” The biggest problem with my stoplight theology was that all of the focus was on my requests and God’s answers, rather than on God Himself.

I didn’t know that there was something I could ask to receive with a guaranteed green light every time. Jesus said to “ask and you will receive” when you ask for His Spirit and the gifts He gives: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). What Jesus was teaching us was to be filled up with God’s supernatural power first and then see how that changes our daily needs.

As I have learned to ask for more of God and His gifts, I’ve exchanged my stoplight theology for a gas-tank theology. Prayer is more about my soul being refueled daily by being filled with God’s Spirit than it is about my requests. I go to God to get my fuel for the day and plug into His power. I just simply say, “Lord, fill me with Your peace and joy and fresh ideas to flood my soul.” Prayer is an exchange of power. I’m trading my power for God’s power. And it’s so much less exhausting to live this way.

My soul needs prayer. Much like a car needs gas, I need to be refueled. Sometimes I don’t even use words, I just fall on my face and use tears. Our souls aren’t earth-bound; they’re heaven- bound. That’s why we need to pray because our souls need it. They feed on prayer. Trials and fear and anxiety may bring us into the throne room but our souls keep us there. Our souls crave being there. When was the last time you just sat at Jesus’ feet and had your soul filled?

Come Boldly and Receive Mercy

In my darkest hours, I remember curling up in a big oversized chair in my living room. My family was hurting so badly, I didn’t even have words to pray. Most of my prayers were tears, crying out and begging God to cradle me in His everlasting arms to carry me through one more day. In one of those moments, I felt God impress a valuable truth on my heart. He reminded me of a verse and gave me an “ah-hah” moment. The verse He put into my mind was Hebrews 4:16:

Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most (NLT).

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 10 I realized that I could sit in that big chair and be depressed, overcome with fear and anxiety about my future, or I could sit in that same chair and be in His throne room. I could sit there wallowing in all the things God wasn’t doing for me, or I could sit there receiving all the gifts He had ready to give me. It was my choice: sitting in my depression or sitting in His throne room. It was time to choose His throne room.

Prayer is not a duty or a drudgery, it’s a privilege. Every time we pray, we are entering the throne room of God Almighty. Jesus left heaven and came into the world to make it possible for us to enter the throne room with confidence. Jesus knew you and I needed to be in the Holy of Holies daily. He left the throne room to die on the cross so you and I could go there! We’ve got to go there! He paid too high a price for us to miss it.

I can tell you this. When you’ve experienced being in the throne room of heaven, you don’t want to leave there. You can’t wait to get back there. It changes the way you view prayer. It’s absolutely exhilarating to enter the place where God reigns. I think this is what Jesus wanted us to experience. He was teaching us how to transcend our present troubles by exchanging our perspective for our Father’s heavenly vantage point. He was leading us to exchange our limited answers for the limitless power of our Creator.

Make It Yours

This book is about what to do while you are waiting for God to answer, maybe you think He is missing or that He doesn’t see you or care about you, when actually, He is inviting you to come closer through prayer. It’s so hard not to be anxious; that’s why we have to talk to God about everything. Prayer is not a “yes” or “no,” it’s a relationship where there is LESS of me and MORE of Him.

Would you be willing to give prayer a chance again? Would you be willing to try prayer God’s way? I challenge you to start each day with a simple prayer like this:

God, I believe You already know what I need today. I open my hands and heart to You. Please empty me of all my fears and fill me with Your gifts of hope, peace, joy, love, strength, wisdom, patience, contentment, and self -control... I don’t want to miss one plan You have for me today! Give me the courage to be fearless for You!

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 11 "God doesn't give wages. God doesn't pay us anything; He only gives gifts.” Make it Personal

If that’s you, it’s ok. Jesus modeled prayer for We were never meant to us, and He’s the best example you could ever find. Imagine sitting face to face with Jesus. do life alone. He looks into your eyes and says, “This is how you should pray…” He actually said One of the oldest tricks of our enemy is to those exact words while he was on earth and make us think that we are the only one going some of His disciples were smart enough to through what we are going through. write it down: Everything feels worse and bigger when you try to face it alone. That fact alone should be This, then, is how you should pray: enough to make us try prayer in desperate Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed times. be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in I’m surprised by the number of people who earth, as it is in heaven. tell me that they never pray out loud. I guess Give us this day our daily bread. because we long to be heard and understood, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our I’d think we’d all be shouting our prayers from debtors. the rooftops if we thought someone was And lead us not into temptation, but deliver listening. Then one day, a friend explained to us from evil: me, “Linda, the reason I don’t like to pray out For thine is the kingdom, and the power, loud is because I don’t know what to say.” and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 13 Pretend for a moment that you, like Jesus’ disciples, had never heard this prayer before. Put yourself in their shoes. The most common prayer that Jews recited 2,000+ years ago is known as the Shema, which is the Hebrew word for “hear” or “listen.” It’s a combination of three Old Testament passages recited in the morning and evening and, interestingly enough, it starts with the words, “Hear, O Israel,” implying that prayer is and was always meant to be at least partly an act of listening or receiving.

The remainder of the Shema emphasizes God’s highness and our command to live up to His standard. The very word used to address God with the capital L-O-R-D was “Yahweh,” which was considered so holy and forbidden that the average Jewish person was not allowed to speak it or even write it. The priests could write it leaving out the vowels (YHWH), but only after undergoing extensive purification rituals. In other words, this prayer that Jesus’ disciples would have been accustomed to rehearsing day and night, at least in some part, served to remind them that God and His laws were so untouchable and unattainable, you might spend your whole life trying to measure up and never get close.

Now comes Jesus on the scene. And in the first two words of His model prayer, He changes everything they had understood about God up unto this point in history. Jesus tells his followers, “This, then, is how you should pray…” and then He chooses to address God in a manner that had to shock them.

He didn’t say “O Holy, Magnificent, Untouchable, Unattainable God.” He didn’t say, “Dear One Whose Name We Are Not Allowed to Write or Recite.” He didn’t say, “My Father.” He says, “Our Father.”

Those two words were not accidental. I believe they were meant to change the way we communicated and related to God forever!

In two words, Jesus transformed prayer from a rigid ritual to something personal. Hegave us permission to talk to the Almighty, Untouchable, Holy God, as if we were part of thefamily. He was choosing to share His Father with us! He invited us to make His Father ourFather. He invited us to know Him intimately. In just two words, He offers us what many of us have never fully experienced the way we were intended to, a Father and a family.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 14

Part of the Family

Do you know why Jesus came to earth? He came to be “God with us.” He came so we could understand what His Father was like and so we could become part of His family. He came to do away with God as an untouchable, unreachable figurehead and make Him a personal, possible, intimate relationship. Someone we could talk to, reach out to, be welcomed and accepted by no matter where we had been or what we had done. That’s what family does. They are the place you want to be when you are in trouble. The first people you share your joys with. The first people you call when something big happens. The place you can be yourself. They are the ones who affirm you and guide you. The ones who point out your flaws and love you anyway. That’s what Jesus wanted His Father to be to you...your Father...your family!

One of the EMT’s, Kristi Vann, who helped save my daughter’s life the night of our accident has become a dear friend and support to our ministry and our family. One weekend, Kristi asked if she could take Jen home with her to her parents’ house in northern Virginia to have some fun on their lake. When Jen came back, we asked her where she had been and what she had done. Sometimes it’s difficult for Jen to remember new places and people. To our surprise, she went on and on about all the adventures she had had fishing and being on the lake.

When we asked her whose house she had stayed at, she replied confidently, “Mimi and Granddaddy’s.” Jen continued, “I don’t actually know their real names. I just called them Mimi and Granddaddy because that’s what they told me to call them. They said that I’m part of their family so I might as well act like it.”

In the very same way, Jesus wants to be so close to you that you feel like part of His family. He tells you to call His Father your Father. He doesn’t ever want you to be alone. He doesn’t want you to feel awkward or distant. He wants you to be comfortable coming to Him and talking to Him. Do you ever feel nervous or awkward when you pray? Have you ever worried about what words to say? Family doesn’t do that. Family is meant to be a place of security and complete acceptance where you can be real and raw and authentic.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 15 And Jesus didn’t just invite you to be family for the weekend or while you say your prayers. Jesus provided a way for you to be permanently adopted into His family. He died on the cross to provide a way for you to become a child of God. At the very moment He finished paying for your sins on the cross, the Bible tells us that the veil in the Temple that separated common people from entering the holy place where God dwelt was torn in two. This meant there was no more barrier to those who received His gift of salvation. We could come boldly, comfortably, like family, into the throne room of God.

That’s exactly what I witnessed my daughter Jen doing after her accident. The more I watched her and listened to her prayers, the more I wanted to talk to God like she did. Jen often calls God her “heavenly Daddy.” She is fearless because she has complete trust that her spiritual Father is good and He will always do what is best for her. We were sitting on the back porch together one day and I asked Jen, “Why do you like to call God “Daddy?”

She immediately exclaimed, “The word Daddy is security! It makes me feel free to run to Him. I know that my Daddy will always pick me up and hold me close in His everlasting arms.”

What Does Father Mean to You?

I realize that for some of us, the idea of a father may not conjure up positive memories or feelings. Human dads are capable of hurting us, betraying us and abandoning us in ways that can make it difficult to ever want to call anyone “father” ever again. If that is true for you, I’m so, so sorry. I can’t fully explain why you had to suffer things that God never intended anyone to suffer. What I do know is that God wants to erase the image of your failed earthly father and become everything you ever hoped and wished a father could be. He promises to never leave you or forsake you. He promises to provide for all of your needs. He thinks about you constantly and sings songs of joy over the very thought of you!

Your heavenly Father wants to be a safe place where you can run and have unconditional love and acceptance. Imagine running to your heavenly Father with the list of all the urgent things you need. He takes your list and sets it aside. He tells you that you don’t have to worry about that; He’s got it covered. Then, takes you by the hand and says,

“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you…Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned... Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you.’” (Isaiah 41:13; 43:1-4)

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 16 These are the things God longs for you to know. Things a perfect Father says to His beloved sons and daughters - you! There are so many things like this He has said over and over in His Word to you, but He’d love to communicate them directly to you through prayer.

Prayer from jen

Every time I hear Jen pray, I learn new things about the personal relationship God wants to have with me. This is what Jen prayed when I asked her to receive that God was her Father.

Our Father, When I call You “Daddy,” I can be myself, I can be vulnerable. I know that You accept me just as I am. I can be me! I don’t have to act like someone else. I run to You! Help me to hold nothing back from You today. Thank You that I can be with You anytime and anywhere through prayer. I am proud and honored to be Your child. I can’t believe the Creator of the world wants to talk to me! The words “Our Father” tell me that I am never alone. I have a Father who will never leave me and I have a family who will never abandon me. Wow! I’m adopted by the King of kings. It’s such an honor!

Make It Yours

Try starting your prayers this week with the words “Our Father…” Receive the gift of being His child and a member of His family. Ask Him to direct you to the places of Scripture where He can speak His love as a perfect Father over you.

Read Psalm 23. Write down all the things Our Father wants us to receive from Him in this passage.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 17 "Prayer is not a yes or a no, it’s a relationship where there is LESS of me and MORE of Him.” Stop Begging and Start Praising

One night, I was awake and begging God to One of the greatest fix all of Jen’s problems. I couldn’t even name them all because there were so many lessons I learned from unknowns. Then, God reminded me of what Jen was doing in the hospital. She was Jen was to stop begging praising God as if He had already healed her. She knew He was able and she believed that and start praising God He would. She would pray “Lord thank you for in advance for what He healing me and raising me up.” And she couldn’t even sit up. She would praise God for can do. hours and sing praise songs and be full of joy with no worries about tomorrow or her future. There have been many dark long nights over She would say “Lord, You are Holy, the years where I would wake up in a panic Righteous, Glorious, Triumphant... Lord, I and start worrying myself into a downward can’t even begin to fathom who You are… spiral, thinking of all the things I couldn’t fix You are my Healer, my Best Friend, my about Jen, our family, or our finances. Maybe Everything.” The list of praise would go on you have experienced the same thing. Once I and on and her face would glow. wake up in the night and my mind starts racing, I become so anxious that I can’t go So, as I am picturing Jen in the hospital back to sleep. praising God, I started singing a praise song in my bed.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 19 It wasn’t a sophisticated praise song, it was one I had learned as a child. “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do!” I even did the hand motions and hoped my husband wouldn’t wake up and think I was crazy. Then the most amazing thing happened; as I sang that children’s praise song, my heart stopped racing, my mind became calm and peaceful, and I fell asleep. That’s what happens when we stop begging and start praising!

We have learned more about the brain than we ever imagined we would. One of the things we learned during Jen’s recovery is that music is stored in a different part of our brain than our intellectual capacity. What this means is that when your mind is overcome with anxiety in the reasoning cortex of your brain, you can tap into the auditory cortex where music is stored to overcome your anxiety. That’s why Jen was able to sing along with praise songs when she couldn’t yet remember her brother’s name. God made our brains so fearfully and wonderfully to overcome obstacles and sustain us in the midst of trouble.

Another thing we learned was that we have over 40 thoughts per minute. That’s why you can be praying one second and worrying the next second. The trick is controlling your thoughts because you can only have one thought at a time, even though you have 40 each minute. I believe this is why praise music is so powerful. It’s very hard to battle for each and every thought. But when I am singing songs about the truth of who God is, I’m not only engaging a different part of my brain, I am capturing 4-5 minutes worth of thoughts with the truth about who God is rather than what might happen in the future that I can’t really control anyway. That’s at least 200 thoughts per song where I’m winning the battle in my brain!

Praise takes the focus off of your problems and puts it on the power of God. The next time you wake up in the middle of the night with anxious thoughts, try singing a praise song!

Praise God Before He Answers

Child-like faith is praising God before He answers. Last week when I was anxious about all of our speaking events canceling as a result of Covid-19, Jen reminded me: “Mom do you know who you are talking to when you pray? You are talking to the Great I AM! Just start praising Him for the new things He will do.” Jen praises God and then she trusts Him, no questions asked. When we choose to praise God, we exchange our anxieties and fear for God’s limitless power.

Did you know that when you write a praise list or a grateful list, it releases endorphins in your brain and helps you to physically feel better? Praising God changes your perspective and makes your heart happy. It is releasing your burden to the One who is in control. You stop mourning the things that will never be the same again and start celebrating the new things God has for you to do.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 20 Jesus taught us to pray...Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…” He was not teaching us reverence for God because God needs our respect. God does not need to be reminded of who He is; we need to be reminded of who He is. If you are willing to praise God and receive the majesty of who He is, it makes your problems seem a lot smaller. When you communicate face to face with the One who rules the world, the challenges of this world shrink in comparison to His great glory and grace. Make it a daily practice to praise the Great I AM.

The Posture of Praise

I personally believe that if you or I walked into the throne room of God, the Holy of Holies, we would do much more than honor God with our lips. I think our entire body would have a reaction. We don’t live in an era of kings and queens, so we aren’t accustomed to the concept of throne rooms, but I think if we were able to glimpse God’s holiness, we’d fall flat on our face. In fact, just ask Google to show you how many times in Scripture people fell flat on their face in the presence of God. I counted over 35 examples!

A few years before our car wreck, God had convicted me about my bodily posture in His presence. I felt like He wanted me to bow when I entered His throne room. Every morning, while I waited for the coffee to percolate, I got down on my knees and bowed my face to the ground and prayed this prayer:

“God, empty me of everything that is me (all of my fears and struggles) and fill me with everything that is You. Fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit.”

That’s it. I just got down flat on my face before Him and asked Him to fill me up with His power. I knew that as a believer in Jesus, I could never lose my salvation, but I had a choice every day if I was going to try and do things in my own strength or walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. I wanted God’s power in my life and I wanted to do things that lasted for eternity.

I didn’t realize at the time everything I was receiving from Him by doing this, but when the car wreck of our life happened, I was prepared with a strength I didn’t know I had. I believe I had been receiving more power and peace than I ever understood or imagined through this simple act of bowing daily. God was filling me and preparing me for His plan.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 21 There’s nothing magical about bowing, just like there is nothing magical about walking down an aisle at church. But, when you and I come face to face with the King of kings and Lord of lords, I do believe our body will reveal some kind of expression of what our heart is experiencing. We want our enemy to see that we are completely surrendered to God! It may be bowing, it may be lifting your hands, it may be laughing or crying, but it ought to be a physical and obvious change in us, a posture that gives God a sliver of the honor and glory He deserves!

When I get on my knees, I am physically demonstrating my heart giving up my desires and receiving God’s desires for me. It makes me feel like a small child who is completely trusting my heavenly Father to take me wherever I need to go. Some days I don’t feel like bowing, but I do it anyway. Other days, I can’t help but fall on my face because of something new God has revealed to me about Himself, and I just can’t wait to sing a praise song to Him.

The truth is...I started bowing when I prayed because I was exhausted. I was done trying to do things in my own strength as a mom and a wife and an employee. Have you ever been too tired to repeat one more day? That’s where I was. I did not want to live another day in my strength so I started bowing to show God I was serious about needing His help. I made it a habit. I did it daily because once I started, I did not want to stop. I was done trying to do life on my own. I bow because I only want to see my life from His perspective.

Make it yours

Make a commitment to bow before God once a day (or whatever physical posture of praise that He leads you to try). Ask Him to empty you of all that you are and fill you with His power!

Write a list of all your prayer requests and then praise God in ADVANCE for everything He is about to do!

Write a grateful list and see if your heart feels happier!

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 22 When we choose to praise God, we exchange our anxieties and fear for God’s limitless power. Trust God for Something Greater

Imagine you are a ladybug who landed on a We see the world from giant painting...You would only see one color in front of you, and you might not like that our limited perspective. particular color. But, if you could stand back and see the whole picture from the other side Most often, we rely on our vantage point of the room, you might see how beautiful the because we are the ones who have to live painting is. You might realize that the ugly through the pain and discomfort when things color you landed on was necessary to create don’t go our way. Let’s be honest, we don’t the final masterpiece! like to feel things that hurt! We run from them.

Why would we ever choose them, much less God looks at the canvas of our life from the pray for them? But, sweet friend, we only see vantage point of heaven. His view is so much a small piece of the big picture. We are more complete than our view. He knows thinking about our comfort. God is thinking exactly what “color” we need at this spot in about eternity. His perspective is so much our lives to make the whole picture turn out higher and wider than ours! right. He also knows that if He lets us change

the color right in front of us, we’d mess up the When I was a little girl, I remember hearing final masterpiece. an illustration that stuck with me for life. A teacher once said:

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Better than What You Asked For

The same is true with our prayer requests. God has greater gifts in store for you than you can even ask or imagine asking for. If He answered some of our prayers the way we hoped He would, or erased all of our problems today, we would miss some great and mighty things He had planned for us. Can you think of things you have asked for that would have been a mistake if God had given them to you at that time? Just think of the things you or your kids asked for ten years ago for Christmas? Do you still want those same things? No! So, why my friend, would we get so wounded that we are almost ready to walk away from God when He doesn’t give us the things we ask for? The real question is, do we trust Him to have something better in mind when He says “no” or when he delays?

Most of our solutions to our problems are earth-bound. God’s solutions are rooted in heaven. We lay requests before Him about our comfort while He is extending an invitation for us to play a role in His Kingdom. God has unlimited, eternal gifts to give us and we limit Him by asking Him for earthly things...a job promotion, a new house, safety, comfort. Please hear me, it’s not wrong to ask for those things. God cares about everything you care about. But if you look closely at how Jesus taught us to pray, He taught us to ask for heavenly things before we asked for earthly things. Jesus prayed, “Thy Kingdom come” several phrases before He requested, “Give us this day our daily bread....”

I’m constantly convicted by my daughter Jen and the eternal-focus of her prayer requests. Her brain injury causes her to be laser-focused on some things and miss other things. One of the things God chose for her was to erase her earthly cares and cause her to be hyper-focused on heavenly things. When she first came home from the hospital, she was in so much physical pain that Andy and I had to rub her feet to calm her and get her to sleep. I would pray over her begging God to ease her pain and heal her body. Jen would chime in and pray, “Father, did I fulfill all the plans you had for me to do today? Did I meet all of your expectations?”

I had never heard anyone pray like this before. Jen never asked about what she needed done; she only asked about what God needed done! She couldn’t even feed herself when she first started praying these kinds of prayers!

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 25 What we focus on expands. If we focus on God’s Kingdom, it will expand in us and through us. If we focus on our needs, our hurts, our disappointments, they too expand and often threaten to swallow us. Jesus knew what that felt like, to be so overwhelmed with the cares of this world that He sweat drops of blood. So He taught us to take care of our soul first. To live with eternity in mind. To pray Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done.

Do This or Something Greater

Here’s a few things I’d like to encourage you with while you wait on God to come through for you…

First of all, just because God is silent does not mean He is not moving. If you have been waiting for God to answer your prayer for a long time, He has not forgotten you. Just look at the coming of Jesus. For centuries God was active behind the scenes setting up just the right time for Jesus to come into the world. He is still the same God, capable of parting waters and parting history with your best interest in mind for all time. His silence does not deny His existence. It may actually enhance your desperation for more of Him.

Secondly, painful seasons do not mean that God has discarded you temporarily. Pain is more often God’s way of drawing us closer to Him and preparing us for His Kingdom. Jen often says, “If we didn’t have hardship, we’d forget to pray. We wouldn’t even be thinking about heaven.” I certainly wasn’t yearning for heaven before our accident the way I am now. My pain has created a greater expectation for eternity. My pain has also deepened the roots of my relationship with God. It has given me roots in heavenly promises, not just earthly solutions, which leads me to the third thing…

When God says “no,” it’s often because we asked too small. He has something greater in mind for us. After our accident, I wasted months begging God to get Jen back to normal. I wanted her to go back to high school and prom and sports and friends. God had something so much greater in mind!

One day after Jen had been praying, she started marching around the house exclaiming,“God told me I’m going to help people. I’m going to have a ministry to the world!” I remember thinking, “Jen, how are you going to help people? You can’t even get dressed by yourself!”

Today, Jen does have a ministry to the world. Our books have been translated into 6languages and our Hope Out Loud Bible studies and radio shows have impacted over 46 different countries! Thousands of people have experienced hope and life transformation because of Jen’s story.

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 26 Now imagine that God had answered my original prayer, restoring Jen back to normal,instead of doing something greater. Jen still can’t see good enough to drive. She can’t readwithout getting headaches. She still struggles with short-term memory loss and needs lots of naps. But she is impacting lives all over the world through a platform she would have never had if God had answered my first request to restore her “normal” quality of life.

We think we know what we need. But oftentimes, we’d settle for normal instead ofsupernatural. We’d settle for temporary fixes instead of spectacular! So I’ve learned to change my prayers from, “God do this (my big ask or whatever I want)” to:

“God, do this (whatever I’m asking), or SOMETHING GREATER.”

I refer to it as my “fearless” prayers. What I’m saying is that I trust God to know what I need more than I trust me to know what I need. I’m choosing to put my faith in what He wants more than what I want. This one simple shift in praying, has changed my life. It has helped me cope with all my fears and anxiety. I want it to change yours too!

WWW.HOPEOUTLOUD.COM PAGE 27 30 Day Challenge

WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO TRUST GOD AND START YOUR DAY BEING FEARLESS?

AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP, LAND ON YOUR KNEES AND BEGIN YOUR DAY IN GOD’S THRONE ROOM WITH THIS BOLD PRAYER:

Our Father, I believe You already know what I need today. Empty me of all that I am and fill me with ALL that YOU are.I praise You in advance for what You are about to do. Lord, I trust You to do this (whatever I’m asking), or SOMETHING GREATER!

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear (Isaiah 65:24) Other great resources

NEW FEARLESS NECKLACE

You can wear it in shower and it doesn’t tarnish!

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PRICELESS: 30-DAY DEVOTIONAL

Priceless is a fun and interactive devotional for young teen girls, ages 10 and up.

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Jen's prayer book

Jen gives us a glimpse of what we will have in heaven some day: an intimate, uninhibited, communication with the Lord of Lords!

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unbreakable

30-day devotional helping men learn to trust God again as He begins to heal your brokenness and use it for His glory.

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