Shadowing Practice: pray to God for open doors - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello, beautiful, amazing people.
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It's been a while since we've recorded a podcast, but I wanted to just share something
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that I feel the Lord has just been so sweet to teach me about over the last, like honestly, couple of years.
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What I wanna encourage all of us to do is to pray for open doors.
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A couple of years ago, I was getting prayed over by a friend and this friend is very prophetic.
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So what does it mean to be prophetic?
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It means that basically you have a gift of being able to
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really just like hear from the Holy Spirit and encourage
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and equip and empower people with the words that you hear from the Holy Spirit.
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It will never be going against what the word of God says and it won't be bringing like discouragement to your life.
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Like I know some people are like, oh, I got a prophetic word and it freaked me out.
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Basically made me like really scared.
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Also mind you, you're going to hear planes.
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You're going to hear probably sirens.
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Like guys, I'm in the middle of my living room.
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I'm not a studio.
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I don't really want to be in a studio.
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Um, I just want to talk from my heart in my living room.
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So let's just talk.
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But if you hear stuff, you hear stuff and that is okay all right so
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if someone is saying something
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that is a prophetic word to you where it is from god
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but it makes you freak out makes you afraid it makes you discouraged
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it goes against scripture like just toss it out okay
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but for me this friend had a really good track record of praying over me
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and speaking prophetic words over me that always resonated like literally always resonated.
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And he's just very, very tapped in to what the spirit is saying.
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So a couple of years back, he prayed over me that I would see the numbers two,
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two, two, and it would be a sign that I'm walking through open doors.
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He said, it's not weird angel numbers.
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It's Isaiah 22, 22 is what comes to mind.
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And this is the scripture that I'm going to read for us today.
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That is going to encourage all of us, myself included.
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Okay.
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Isaiah 22, 22.
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Let me just find Isaiah.
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There she is.
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Okay.
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And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David.
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He shall open and none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open.
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So he prays this over me a couple years ago
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and he's like this means open doors
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and keys like you're gonna start walking through open doors
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that God has for you and what happened shortly after he prayed
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that for me was I ended up moving to California and like every single door that was meant to open was opening.
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Like it was so stupid easy for me to move out here.
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Like it was so wild because even at the time I was seeing two, two, two everywhere during this move.
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Like even when I was in California, I kept seeing two, two, twos and I was like,
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okay, I feel like not to be all like mystical or whatever,
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but like, I feel like God is leading me to an open door and that is moving to California, even though it's terrifying.
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And I'm moving within like two weeks notice, but I'm just going to go in faith because I believe
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that the Lord's going to go before me and he's going to back me.
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Over the last couple of years, the Lord has been so kind to show me those numbers
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when it's like a door that I'm walking through or an opportunity
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that he is presenting in front of me and I get
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so encouraged when I see all these two two twos like during a time
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when I'm sensing an open door
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but I want to speak to y 'all today about like
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if you kind of feel like you're in a season where you're just really discouraged
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because it feels like maybe every door
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that you're trying to open is is just locked
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and you feel like even the doors
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that you try to keep open are shutting on you like you almost sense
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that god is like shutting doors in your life
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and i really want to just speak life into the person who's feeling discouraged maybe
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you're looking at ever everyone else in your life
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and you're looking on social media and you're seeing God open doors for other people, but for you, you're like,
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I feel like I don't have any opportunity.
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I feel like every door is shut in my face.
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Maybe you just literally feel like you're in this dark hallway where there's all these doors
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that are shut around you and you just feel like you're stuck in this hallway and you're ready to obey the Lord.
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You're ready to do what he wants you to do.
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You want to walk through doors that are only open to you, right?
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You want to have opportunities and exciting things to step into, but maybe you just feel like you're like stuck in this stinking dark hallway.
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Here's the thing.
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I want to first just empathize.
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The last couple of years, yes, I've walked through doors that the Lord was leading me to,
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but I have also tried to open doors that were not physically opening to me.
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I have tried to knock down doors that God never had intended for me to try to walk through.
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Like I have been frustrated and cried on my knees when doors have shut in my face.
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I remember even like there was this one time, even upon moving to California, I thought that there was this door that was open to me.
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I'm not going to be specific about it, but I just kept trying to open it and like it wasn't fully opening.
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And like, there was no confirmation that it was for me.
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It was actually, it had to do with the guy.
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So the day that I realized that the guy was actually pursuing someone else, I was so floored.
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Cause I'm like, wait, I thought that this was an open door, but like when I look back,
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there really wasn't much evidence to show and like much confirmation from the Lord
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that like it was even from God because nothing was happening.
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It was not smooth.
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It was not easy.
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I was like trying to knock down a door that was just not opening to me.
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So I was very discouraged when I realized he was pursuing someone else, but then I was like, okay, that's just not my dang door.
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You know, here's what I wanna encourage all of us with, a couple of things, a couple of practical steps,
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a couple of things to encourage us as we go about our lives, right?
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And as we pursue the Lord in our lives
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and focus on doing his will to the best of our ability something that will literally change your entire life.
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Like I am telling you, your life will never be the same if you do this, okay?
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You do this.
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Pray for open doors.
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It is that simple.
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What does that look like?
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Ashley, what do you mean?
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God, lead me to open doors in my life.
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God, I feel like there's not a single dang door for me to walk through.
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Lead me to the open doors that only you have for me to walk through.
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Diligently pray that God would open doors in your life for you to walk through.
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And then pray that you would have the eyes to see
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when they are open to you like that you would be completely clocked
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when they are open to you so that you don't miss it right
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if you want to amplify that if you want to even be very 100 positive
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that this prayer is going to get answered i need you to
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fast and pray i know that that is not what you wanted to hear I know it.
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I literally know it.
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But I need you to fast and pray.
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I've been reading a book about fasting and there's something about fasting and praying where it's like your prayer,
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yes, it's still reaching heaven, but there's, it was like described as like an atomic bomb, which is so aggressive.
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It's like a powerful weapon.
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So when you fast and you pray, it's like a literal weapon to the kingdom of darkness
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that is trying to kind of get in the way and intercede in God's plan for your life.
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Like we are in a war
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and there are two forces coming at us every single day good
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and evil but when you fast and
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when you pray like your prayers are amplified
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and God always does something wild in my life whenever I fast
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and pray and
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so it's not fun to like maybe do a sunup to sundown where you're just doing water black coffee
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and you're praying hey god open doors i pray
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that you would lead me to open doors
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this year lead me to open doors this month lead me to open doors this fall like ask god
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and look and then
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and fast and whenever you get hungry
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and you're fast pray pray for open doors i think fasting is even more powerful
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when you're only praying for like one to two things and like every time you get hungry,
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you just intercede on that like one or two things.
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I feel like that's so powerful because it's so specific and specific prayers get specific answers.
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So yeah, I encourage you to fast and pray that God would open doors.
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It's so simple, but it will actually make the world of a difference.
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And I encourage you to not fast social media or chat, GBT, fast food, like don't eat food and pray.
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bottom line pray pray pray
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and every time you get hungry every time you get tired every time you want to just be so frustrated
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because you haven't eaten in two days pray pray say god
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i need you to open doors i need
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you to show me what to do i need you to lead me to the opportunities
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that you have for me because i don't know what i'm doing
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and i need you to make it obvious lord because i don't know what I'm doing.
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I need help.
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Okay.
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That's going to be you.
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Number two, look for the open doors.
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So not only are you to pray and fast for open doors, but diligently seek out God opening doors for you.
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This is the scripture that keeps coming to mind.
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Okay.
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So Matthew, I love the Lord.
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Matthew 7 Matthew 7 7 ask and it will be given to you seek
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and you will find you ready for this one
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knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives
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and the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
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So the thing about open doors, the thing about doors is like, sometimes you gotta knock.
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Like sometimes the Lord is really kind to just open the door and he's like screaming at you, like run through that door, girl.
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But other times he wants you to step out in faith and knock to see if it opens.
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The thing about that man's a couple of years ago, I knocked I was persistent and I knocked then I saw
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that after I knocked the door shut the door was not opening the door wasn't the door didn't even shut
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because it wasn't even open to begin with in the last recent months
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I think I've been sharing on my vlogs about how I've been praying for open doors
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and God in his kindness has been leading me to doors for me to knock on I want to be so vulnerable.
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I know so many of y 'all are like, stop talking about dating.
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Here's the truth.
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I'm 28 years old.
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I'm a grown woman.
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And it's very top of mind for me dating right now.
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Like it just is.
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I'm, I'm in my era of dating.
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So it is going to be what I talk about
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and how I refer to some things because it's just so relevant for me right now.
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I'm going to try to find other examples though.
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So with dating and guys, there are doors that the Lord has revealed to me the last couple of months, whether I meet them somewhere,
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whether they're a mutual friend or whatever.
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Okay.
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When you physically talk to a guy or when you make eye contact with a guy, that is like you low -key knocking on that door.
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You're knocking.
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You're seeing if it opens, right?
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And for some of these moments for me, this last couple of months, the door did not open.
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Okay.
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The door did not open.
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It didn't.
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It didn't go anywhere.
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It just, but I knocked, I knocked.
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But then for other doors, I knocked and the door opened
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and I got to know some really cool people in the last couple of months because I knocked, right?
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They were open doors that the Lord was like,
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you know what, I'm opening this door for you because there's something here that I have for you.
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Yeah, I just wanna be honest.
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I've been praying and fasting over the last couple of months just like
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that the Lord would lead me to doors like open doors for me to date
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and get to know more about myself get to know more about
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people and what I'm looking for in a spouse
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and I've been praying for open doors
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but I also was praying hey God lead me to the ultimate open door
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which is my husband so I don't know if that's going to happen
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but I wanted to just preface that that's like such a powerful prayer to pray Okay.
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But you can pray that.
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Like you can pray these prayers.
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You can pray like, God, lead me to open doors for job interviews.
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Like I want to have job interviews and I wanna have opportunities.
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Lead me to open doors for friends, Lord.
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I wanna make good friends.
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You could be praying this in friendships.
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You could be like, all right, God, lead me to, okay, are you for real?
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Okay, I think this is gonna work.
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my foot was falling asleep i was sitting on my feet and my foot was falling asleep
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it's still asleep oh my gosh re -gloss time i love this gloss from tower 28 like
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she is old faithful you just don't think about tower 28 in their glosses usually but like she's old faithful.
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I'll be with her for a couple of years.
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Honestly, you can do this with friends.
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God lead me to open doors with friendships.
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I'm so lonely.
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I don't have any friends.
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Lord, lead me to open doors with friendships.
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Make it obvious when you're opening the door, but God, I pray you would lead me to my ultimate open door with friend,
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with a friendship where she could be like my best friend.
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She could be like my go -to like pray these prayers, right?
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Be very specific with the Lord.
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I think what it looks like to knock is like, if you think about a door, you have to first see the door, right?
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You have to first notice that the door is there, okay?
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And then you knock to see if it opens.
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I think with opportunities in life, you have to first notice that it's there.
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And so praying that God would give you eyes to notice opportunities
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that you can knock on and like doors you can knock on, I think is also so beautiful because think about it with like friends.
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Say you're praying that God would open doors with friendships in your life.
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And then you're like out at church and you just sense, you're like, huh, I noticed that girl over there.
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She looks like she's not with anyone.
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She's like, I don't know, she seems very warm.
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Okay, I'm gonna go knock on that door and I'm gonna go see if she'd wanna be my friend basically.
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And all you do, like with guys, it's like give some eye contact, maybe like say like how'd you get here okay with friends
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you can be like hey oh my gosh like love your top
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or like be genuine about it be like hey like this is
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so cool you're at church like do you come here
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i don't know just like say whatever's on your heart honestly like there's nothing wrong to say
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when you're like asking the lord to give you the words
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but then like if home homegirl is super rude and like doesn't really reciprocate,
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okay, that's not an open door, right?
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But if she is a sister and she is like so sweet off the cuff and you guys vibe,
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that could be an open door, you know?
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But you had to first knock.
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It wasn't just going to happen with you just like standing there watching her right
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so I think God is super gracious sometimes with the doors
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that like are literally meant for us where he will make it
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so stupid obvious that we need to walk through
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and we need to knock and we need to give it a go
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but it is so powerful to first fast and pray this is why I encourage us to fast and pray
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before we even get into this journey, because it's like almost giving us security when we do see the opportunities.
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Like for me and dating, I'm just gonna bring it back to my own lore right now, this year.
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At the beginning of this year, I literally was praying from like January to April.
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Actually, no, I was praying around like starting in December through April.
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And I was praying and fasting diligently diligently about my dating life,
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like diligently, because it's just an area where it's been confusing for me.
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It's been like in the past couple of years, a little dry, you know?
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And I just was like, I need God in this area.
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Like if I'm going to see any growth in this area, that's looked like a barren wasteland.
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Like I need to fast.
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I need to pray.
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And I need to, I need to pray diligently into this area.
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So I was fasting and praying that God would open doors, right?
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That he would open doors with guys that were safe, that he wanted me to get to know, for me to learn more about myself,
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for me to learn more about what I need and a partner, and ultimately that he would lead me to my kingdom husband, right?
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So I'm praying and I'm fasting over this.
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So recently, in the last couple of months, as I've been stepping out and seeing opportunities to meet good guys,
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I have so much confidence in knocking on the door
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because I know that I did the hard work and the heavy lifting of fasting and praying first.
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Like I walk into these situations with these guys with so much stinking confidence because I'm like,
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I have literally starved myself praying over this area of my life, asking that God would have his way.
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So I have nothing to fear with going up to this guy or with, you know, putting myself out there in this way.
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I have literally nothing to lose because God is already in this area.
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So like whatever happens, I'm Gucci, like I'm set.
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So I would not even be phased when like I'd, you know, introduce myself to someone and like be flirty and like nothing happened.
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I would not be phased because I'm like, I literally fasted and prayed for months about this area.
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If it's not opening with this door, if it's not opening with this guy, then it's not supposed to open.
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But then I would have a lot of confidence
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when here I am fasting and praying over this area of my life and then God is like swinging the doors open,
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wide open with a guy that I'm interested in.
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It's like, okay, I'm paying attention to that because I have diligently prayed, God, open every door that's for me, shut every door that's not,
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specifically in this area of my life, dating, shut the doors with the guys I'm not supposed to talk to,
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open the doors with the guys that I'm supposed to talk to, and the ultimate guy I'm meant to be with.
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So it gives me so much freedom to just knock.
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I just knock.
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Like if it doesn't work out, it's like, oh, well, at least I knocked.
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It's powerful to begin with fasting and praying
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and then it's powerful to try and knock on the doors that the Lord leads you to knock on.
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It's like just so simple.
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Another thing that we have to accept is if God is shutting a door that's not for us,
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that we would let him shut the dang door.
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I think there's been a lot of times where I have literally, like God has been so kind
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and gracious to me to shut doors in my life with opportunities or people or things that I thought were for me.
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And he literally, he's trying to shut it because it's not right for me anymore.
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It's just not right.
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Even for the other person, it's not right for the opportunity.
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Maybe the room has served its time and he's trying to shut the door
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but me I I think that I know better
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so I'm like basically holding the door open with one arm
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and then the other arm is placed on the the wall where the door's supposed to shut
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and I'm like not letting God shut the door because I think
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that I know what's best like because I think
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that I know better than God in those times
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when I am trying to keep a door open that the Lord is trying to shut, I feel frustrated.
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I feel discouraged.
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I feel like I'm forcing things.
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I feel like I'm trying to make something happen.
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That's just simply not happening.
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It just brings frustration.
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There's like not a grace for it.
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There's not an ease and a flow for it.
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If you can humble yourself and let God shut those doors,
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it might look like you're in a hallway for a bit where nothing's opening to you
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and nothing's happening and it just feels like there's no opportunity for you
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but it's only for a moment before God can lead you to the next door you can't go through
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that next door if you are holding on to the old door.
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You can't.
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And what's difficult is when God shuts these doors, we're then left in like a hallway where there's no doors open to us.
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And we're like, okay, well, I should have just stayed in that one because now I'm not in any doors.
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Now nothing's happening.
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But you have to hold on.
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You have to pray.
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You have to fast and pray that God will lead you to new open doors into the new season,
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the next season of your life that he wants you to walk through.
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and then you go.
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Think about this with friends.
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Say God's shutting doors on friendships in your life.
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I hear this a lot and I've had this happen in my own life
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and it literally sucks because you don't think that some doors are going to close with friends.
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You think that they're going to stay open forever with friends.
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And so when they shut and when you sense that God's trying to shut these doors, you can be like, uh -uh, no way.
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She's my girl.
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absolutely not Lord I don't want this but God is trying to shut it when you let God shut the door
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it's not immediate that you have all these new friends it's not immediate
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that you see all these open doors for friendships it's quite possible
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that you're in this hallway for a little bit where you just have to wait
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and this is when you fast and this is when you pray
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and this is when you seek the Lord and ask him to have his way in your life.
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When you're waiting in that hallway, it can feel really dark.
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It can feel really lonely.
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It can feel like you need to go back, but you need to stay in the dang pocket.
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Like you need to stay there long enough.
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You need to pray.
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You need to fast.
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You need to pray long enough until the Lord opens those new doors.
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Like don't stop praying until your prayer is answered, my girl.
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Do not let up.
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God loves persistence.
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Persistently pray over one area of your life and then watch God move miraculously in that area.
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Might not happen overnight, but it will happen eventually.
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You're in that hallway for a little bit and it honestly sucks.
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You're in that space where there's nothing happening and you left behind what was old, but nothing new has come yet.
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So you're just like, what is going on?
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but this is the time you have to hold on.
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This is the time that you have to seek the Lord and humble yourself under the Lord and say,
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God, I will walk through the doors that you have opened for me.
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I'm not gonna try to make my own opportunities.
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Like you better show me the way.
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You better lead me because I don't know what I'm doing.
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I love praying that prayer.
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I'm like, God, I literally have no idea what I'm doing.
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Like you gotta show me.
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And then in his grace and in his kindness, when he opens those doors, when he shows you those opportunities,
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opportunities when it's there's an ease and a flow
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and the new friendship that he leads you to
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and the in the new dating relationship
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that he leads you to in the new job or career path
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that just so easily opens up for you like when he does
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that it is such a joy it is it is such a gift
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and you just get to bask in that gift
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because you're like wow god i remember how hard it was for you to shut
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that door and I remember how lonely it felt for me to be in
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that in -between but praise God that you are a God
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that doesn't leave things looking bad for long like he just doesn't don't stop praying for open doors
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if you're fasting
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and praying literally sometimes I pray I'm like God
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I would rather die than to be than to not be
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in your will like I would rather die than to not know what
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that I need to do next than to be doing something that I'm not supposed to be doing, Lord.
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Like I wanna be in the center of your will.
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So I will not eat so I can be in the center of your will.
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I will keep praying so I can be in the center of your will.
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I will let the door shut so I can be in the center of your will.
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Like, would we just submit to the Lord if we humble ourselves, we say, God, I don't know what's best for me.
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You know what's best for me and I'm going to let you lead, there is such a freedom that comes from that and from that posture.
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I love you guys.
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This was a fun little podcast.
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I'm very grateful that there was no construction happening and that there weren't a ton of planes happening around me.
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Make sure you subscribe to this podcast.
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Do we call this a podcast?
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I think it is a podcast because I'm not in a studio, but I am still speaking about something for a long time.
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So I feel like this still is a sweet to the soul podcast.
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Make sure you subscribe.
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Make sure you comment something that encouraged you from this message.
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Isaiah 22, 22.
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I pray you start seeing two, two, two, two as well.
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Not in angel numbers, weird way, but in a way where you're getting confirmation from the Lord
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that you are on the right path and you are following his open doors.
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Love you guys so much and just remember Jesus loves you more.
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Oh, let me pray.
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God, would you open doors for your sweet, sweet servant?
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God, they are going through it.
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They are feeling discouraged.
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They are feeling disheartened, Lord.
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And would you just open the doors that no man can shut?
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And if there are doors that they think that are open in their lives that are not from you, God, would you shut them so graciously,
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God, so they can be in the center of your will, Lord.
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We love you.
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We pray this in your name.
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Amen.
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love you guys see y 'all in the next pod
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “pray to God for open doors”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: door, pray, lord, shut, praying. This video has 411 sentences and 4927 words to shadow. The speech runs for 29:09. The speaker talks at a natural 169 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pray verb | /pɹeɪ/ | To direct words, thoughts, or one's attention to a deity or any higher being, for the sake of adoration, thanks, petition for help, etc. |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| encourage verb | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. |
| prayer noun | /pɹɛɚ/ | A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity. |
| friendship noun | /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/ | The condition of being friends. |
| hallway noun | /ˈhɔlˌweɪ/ | A corridor in a building that connects rooms. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| discourage verb | /dɪsˈkɝɪd͡ʒ/ | To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject. |
| hungry adjective | /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
| asleep adjective | /əˈsliːp/ | In a state of sleep; also, broadly, resting. |
| pursue verb | /pɚˈsu/ | To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase. |
| lonely adjective | /ˈloʊnli/ | Unhappy due to feeling isolated from contact with other people. |
| humble adjective | /ˈhʌmbəl/ | Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming. |
| confirmation noun | /ˌkɑn.fəɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/ | An official indicator that things will happen as planned. |
| scripture noun | /ˈskɹɪpt͡ʃɚ/ | A sacred writing or holy book. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| walk through verb | To explain (something) to (someone), step by step. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| knock down verb | To hit or knock (something or someone), intentionally or accidentally, so that it falls. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. |
| leave behind verb | To abandon. |
| let up verb | To cease or stop. |
| look back verb | To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Also mind you, you're going to hear planes.
- You're going to hear probably sirens.
- I don't really want to be in a studio.
- Ashley, what do you mean?
- Do we call this a podcast?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been reading · I've been sharing · has been leading |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | It's been · has just been · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was meant · is just locked · is shut |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | bomb, which is · everyone who asks · one who seeks |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 151 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: faithful /ˈfeɪθ.fl̩/, smooth /smuːð/, empathize /ˈɛmpəˌθaɪz/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, confirmation /ˌkɑn.fəɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, gracious /ˈɡɹeɪʃəs/, shortly /ˈʃɔɹtli/
- Long words — get the stress right: confirmation /ˌkɑn.fəɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, diligently /ˈdɪlɪd͡ʒ(ə)ntli/, miraculously /məˈɹækjələsli/, reciprocate /ɹɪˈsɪpɹəˌkeɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like pray, knock, encourage.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.