Episode 18: Shifting Our Prayers

Feb 1

An interview with Terri Flannagan

Terri shares what it looks like to shift our prayers on a daily basis to God's will & God's way. In our time together we talk about the spiritual discipline of prayer and how it can look different in each of our lives.⁣

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The Seeds

Name: Terri Flannagan

Age: 36

Where do you call home: Charlotte, NC

Relationship Status: Married

Season of Work: Business Consultant, Co-Founder of Ember CLT

Hobbies: Netflix

Interesting Facts: Love having annual parties (Back to School & College Football Kick off.) Also, LOVE Justin Bieber.

Jesus Journey:

There is not a time in my life I don’t remember being a Jesus follower. I was raised in a family where church and relationship with Jesus was our top value and I am so grateful for the church I was raised in. My faith has grown deeper as I’ve gotten older, but I really grasped the gospel when I was 30 and walked through a hard story with my family. Life as I knew it was ripped away and I had to rebuild on a firm foundation that I had never experienced before. I now cling on to every word of the bible and have a bigger faith and trust that wasn’t there before experiencing hard circumstances.

The Branches

Why is it important to pray and what does your prayer life look like?

Prayer is worship and I believe that we forget that. We, as believers, forget so often that it is so much more than a conversation. Prayer is a way of life. Prayer is also tricky. If we aren’t careful, we begin to pray only for our needs and thank God only for the obvious things he has given us. Prayer also invites us to “Recount to Remember.” This is where we are reminded of the goodness of the Lord, the grace of the Lord, and the faithfulness of the Lord. It spurs us on to converse more with the Lord.

My prayer life shifts and changes during seasons and circumstances, which may not be a great thing. There are times when my life feels barely hanging on and prayer is where I feel closest to our Father. Sometimes I feel so seen and known by Jesus that I can’t help but continue to offer up my gratitude and praise.

PRAYER IS A POSTURE OF COMPLETE TRUST AND SURRENDER. Asking for him to enter is not giving up or waving a white flag. Lysa Terkherst says “Prayer should be what releases us from carrying the weight of outcomes”. That is a shift. Outcomes are how we feel God Loves us. Prayer allows us to RELEASE control.

Back in January 2020 we were discussing the importance of speaking out our prayers. What does that mean? Why is there power in audibly speaking out our prayers?

I actually think we get out of our heads when we speak our prayers out loud. They don’t have to be perfect. There isn’t any specific rhythm or formula. They can be anywhere or anytime. Speaking prayers out loud is laced throughout scripture and modeled for us all over it’s pages.

In the Old Testament we see God ask a handful of people, “Where are you?” He is asking them to respond...to acknowledge themselves. I believe he asks us the same with prayer - to say “HERE I AM.” In Exodus the word “Hineini” means a response to being called. We see throughout scripture God speaks in question form to his people. Every day he is asking us - “Where are you Terri?” “How is your heart?” “Tell me how you really are?” In the Old Testament we see so many of our heroes answer God when he calls (Adam, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah.)

Jesus taught us to pray. We are called to pray.

We also chatted about how our prayer life can look selfish. What are your thoughts on this?

This holds a lot of tension right? He asks us to share the desires of our hearts, yet He knows our dreams because He is the one who gave them to us! We have to let worry over what will happen with our hearts and our dream, be displaced and let Jesus take the center.

I do believe that when we are praying for our dreams we have to put a guard around our heart so that if we experience disappointment, people won’t have to pick us up off the floor. If I’m chasing after Jesus - I trust Him and know that the dreams are in His hands.

We have to pray for what we hope & dream, but also pray for protection over our hearts so our connection with God is not based on the outcomes of prayers.

What does intercessory prayer look like in your life?

1 Timothy 2:1 TPT - This is it! It gives us instruction for prayer. Pray with Gratitude - pray for all men - pray in all forms as you intercede with intense passion. Yes and Amen.

Intercessory Prayer holds back the curtain so they can experience Jesus. It is going to the throne on behalf of someone. It’s like my friend Taylor says…holding space. When we pray on other peoples behalf, it is literally holding up their arms so they can just feel Jesus near. It is allowing prayers to seep into their soul and penetrate their head and hearts.

This looks like praying for someone when you say you are going to pray for them. This is that feeling when you feel shaky and sweaty when you are with people who need you. It is the Holy Spirit prompting you to stop talking about it and pray!

You said, “the enemy does not have access to our head & our hearts.” If that’s so….then why does it FEEL like he does at times when things hit the fan?! As followers of Christ how do we combat this battle that goes on in our minds? Why is it important for us to remember that Satan does not have access to our heads & our hearts and ONLY GOD does?

WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN ACCESS to all the things - but we’ve got to armor up. Prayer is one element of it. Prayer is a weapon! And here’s the best part…prayer protects us AND fights for us. It does BOTH! What other kind of worldly weapon does both?

While Satan can not read our minds, he can influence our thoughts. We must put on the FULL ARMOR of God to protect ourselves from his SCHEMES. We have got to get out of our cute Christian bunkers...get out on the battle field, and start fighting. Prayer is a great place to start.

The Olive Tree

Olive Us was created for women to share their experiences and their "Only God" moments, so that we can remember we are connected through Christ and not alone. Why is this important?

This is God’s kindness!It is His kindness when he weaves stories together to bring to the Light something that needs to be even brighter in your face. This is sharing hurts and hangups. Joy and sorrow. We need our people to know our journey so that they can be reminded of what God is doing. When I am processing with Gospel centered women, they are always pointing back to living a Gospel centered life focused on God’s word.

Finish these statements:

God is.... KIND!!!

Chase Jesus over chasing dreams because... if it is from HIM it is FOR us.

"Olive Us" are better when........we allow Jesus to displace everything and stay at the center.