Podcast: Download (7.0MB)
Subscribe: RSS
Podcast (podcast-mp3): Download (5.1MB)
Subscribe: RSS
To Pray Like a Spiritual Veteran
Episode #670
10/6/2019
With Martha Kilpatrick and hosted by John Enslow
Special Guest: Jennifer Wentzel
This is the continuation of a series of podcasts started in Episode #668.
How exactly does a veteran of spiritual warfare pray? And is it possible for a new Christian to pray like a mature believer? The answers may surprise you!
Jennifer:
Well, I think your story so encourages me, John, because… I’m going to address this now. I know we put a note up on the podcast transcriptions. But worth noting that, you know, weeks ago when we did a podcast and I talked about my prayer experience with Jeffery Epstein and his sex trafficking and torrid, torrid life. Then he died or was killed or killed himself or something. He’s gone! He’s, he’s not walking this earth right now. And I don’t have kind of an open-shut victory like you have. I have the victory, you know, that his, his deeds began to come to light and are still coming to light. His not being here has not stopped the, the truth pouring out. It is pouring out and continues to. And I continue to pray that the darkness will come to the light where he is concerned. My prayer has not changed.
But I told Martha the, the morning after I, I heard about his death, I told her that I was so grateful that God had taken me through the entire way, had brought me to a place where I actually did pray for the salvation of Jeffery Epstein. Because if I had not, when I heard that he had died I don’t know how I would have felt. But I think even as vile and evil as, as he had chosen to be, it would have freaked me out really big time. It really would have! And I would have said, “Oh, no! Lord, did I pray his death in? Did I pray in anger? Was I cursing him instead?”
And you know what? He knows us down to the last molecule and so even though I don’t have my Scalise in terms of the, the clean ending, you know, for that situation… You have an open and shut for Steve Scalise for that incident, which I don’t have. But I have an open and shut even with my incident because God took me all the way through in my process so that on the other side of this, I have a completely clean conscience before God where this man was concerned.
And so I think, I think God will use any experience if we’ll just get in it with Him and just listen and just let Him pray what He wants to pray through us. It doesn’t matter, you know, I mean, you’re a veteran, you know? We’re not at the same places in our walk and there’s no problem. I’m also not counting. I’m not doing numbers. I’m not saying anything like that. But, John, you’re a battle-hardened veteran, you know. And I hear a story like this and I say, “I don’t care what stage I’m at, that’s where I’m going.” You know what I mean? And that’s, that’s what I want. I want God to be that free that He puts on my heart not just somebody who I’ve seen in the news or I found in hidden corners or something like that. I want Him to have the freedom to put on my heart somebody I’ve never heard of before in my life. And, and to pray with that kind of passion like Martha and the UPS man. Same thing! You know, that’s what I want and that’s where I’m going, that’s where He’s taking me. And so I have a lot of hope right now listening to this. I really do!
John:
Well, I, I, I can say that I’m a witness to you being a veteran as well. I’ve, I’ve watched you do it with countless things: people that have called and, and things that have happened in the ministry. Just basically I’ve, I’ve watched you pray for people and, and see changes. We talked about one, one lady today that you really, you know, invested in, in the Spirit and that God gave you a heart and it was not costless. It was costly. And you literally changed her entire countenance and entire way of interaction with, with this ministry and with you. It was, it was pretty dramatic, actually.
And I’ve seen that over and over again so you, you really are a veteran as well. And, you know, I, the Steve Scalise thing was, was kind of a, a dramatic, demonstrative expression of this prayer life, but you, you absolutely do dwell in and, and, function in the warrior mode.
I watch it. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen, you know, we had, we had prayer the other day and you brought, you brought the prayer that literally was the answer to the entire thing, which was phenomenal. I mean, and it, it was so on target and it was so amazingly God.
So you may say that I am a, a veteran and you just want to be there someday. I say pfffffflubbbbbbt! Because you are. You really are. I’ve, I’ve witnessed. I’ve witnessed, I’ve witnessed you do it at conferences. I’ve witnessed you do it even as a, a brand new baby Christian. You… I have seen you step up to the plate and bring a maturity beyond yourself because it was the life of Christ. So I, I, I say, “Yay, Jennifer! God got her!”
Martha:
I say amen to that, Jennifer. But I also know how much you’ve prayed for me. And how I have benefitted from it. So, yes indeed, you have a huge volume of… In your book of life in, in the heavens there are many stories. And… So you do know. That’s why you’re so appreciate it.
John:
You wouldn’t even care about it if you didn’t have it. You wouldn’t even have the desire for it if you didn’t have it. The reason why you have a hunger for it is because it’s not only your calling but it is… You have it. You, you have the, the interest because it is the expression of Christ in you. So, yeah, absolutely!
Jennifer:
Well then I hope that gives lots of people hope and not just me. Because if you heard this and you said, “Ooo, I want that. I want that kind of story, I want that kind of interaction with God” then John’s saying that you have that there because that is His life in you, and I wanna say, “Whoo hoo!”
But that’s just it. That’s just it. That’s… When it happens, when we cry with His tears and love with His love and turn when His heart turns, as Martha said, sometimes if it’s happening in our life we don’t recognize it because when you’re in the flow it’s not a you, it’s not a me versus Jesus, it’s a we. There is, there is a, a union there and I know it is not old me but I don’t necessarily recognize it in the moment that it is my new creation which is fully in union with Him. And so I don’t see it as being me. Does that make any sense? And that’s kind of, that’s kind of beautiful, too. That’s nice. I’ll find out about what was actually happening in my life on the other side. That’ll be a fun party! I’m okay with that.
But, you know that’s… John, with this, with this story I think, I think the thing that, that really amazes me is I didn’t see effort from you with it. I, you know, I didn’t hear you saying, “I’ve put an alarm in my phone to say, ‘Pray for Steve Scalise five times a day.’” And I, I don’t, I’ve nothing against that. You know if the Lord tells you that you need to set up prayer a couple times a day, He can tell you whatever He wants.
But when it’s Him, it’s not an effort. I know that. When He has the freedom to come in and love as He loves and turn whichever way He wants to go, so He can be praying in faith one moment and then praying with urgency the next moment and, you know? And it’s not an effort thing. I did not see effort with you, John, you know. And I didn’t hear effort the few times that you mentioned it while you were in process. It was never about, you know, “Aw man! I’ve got to remember to pray for that guy!” It was never that. That wasn’t what came out. It wasn’t, “Oh yeah, I should have.” Because when He puts it on your heart, it’s… Maybe it’s longer a you and a Him, it’s a you/Him. You were a ‘WE!’
To Pray Like a Spiritual Veteran – Episode #670 – Shulamite Podcast
How does a veteran of spiritual warfare pray? And what wisdom can we glean from their life experiences? These are great questions, but it turns out that even a new Christian can pray like a mature believer when they let Christ do all the praying in them!
