0:06

Welcome to Hanging Out With Jesus

0:08

podcast , where we build

0:10

up the broken heart , the captives

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of anxieties , prisoners

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of fear and the

0:17

faint of heart to help you

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declutter your mind by

0:21

bringing you inspiration , interviews

0:24

and information on how

0:26

to break free . Hi

0:30

, I'm LaVita Brooks , author , bible

0:32

teacher , founder of the Me

0:34

Project Academy and your

0:37

host . Thanks for supporting this

0:39

ministry and rating and commenting

0:41

on the blog or whatever

0:43

podcast platform you are

0:45

listening , because it makes this feel

0:48

more like a conversation . If

0:51

this is your first time listening , in welcome

0:54

. This is episode

0:57

94 . Six more

0:59

episode , saints , till we make

1:01

100 . Woo , oh

1:04

, that's a big sign I have a lot

1:06

to share . So let's get started

1:08

talking about fasting and prayer

1:10

and choices . Remember

1:13

to put these dates on your

1:15

calendar Now . February 7th

1:17

was World Read

1:20

Allow Day . That's where you read

1:23

aloud a short story or your favorite

1:25

children's story to someone

1:27

special . Well , if

1:30

you didn't do it , that's okay , but

1:32

if you can do it sometime

1:34

during February , that

1:37

will be a memorable experience

1:39

for you . And don't forget

1:41

February 12th . Uploaded

1:43

pic to hashtag

1:45

library shelf

1:48

day . That's

1:50

library shelf S-H-E-L-F-A-D

1:53

A picture of you

1:57

know , like your favorite books , or a book

1:59

of the lie , or a bunch of books in the library

2:01

, but just a unique picture

2:04

of books on the

2:06

shelf . You

2:08

know , as believers in Christ , let's

2:10

show off our books . You know

2:12

what I'm saying . Let's show off our Christian books . That's

2:15

February 12th . Now don't forget

2:18

to register on my website

2:20

or through the newsletter for

2:24

Facing the Unknown Bible

2:26

Class , which begins March 1st

2:28

from 6.30 to 8 . And

2:31

it will be every Friday

2:33

until the end of March

2:36

. We're going to go from March 1st

2:38

to I think it's March 29th it

2:40

will be the last Friday . So

2:43

sign up for that on my

2:46

website or the newsletter . So

2:48

if you don't get the newsletter , this

2:50

will be a perfect time for you to do

2:53

so . Now

2:55

. Come walk

2:57

with me where we intentionally

3:00

and daily hang

3:03

out with Jesus . Let's

3:05

pray Amen

3:08

, lord , father

3:12

and I . God , help

3:14

us to commit not only

3:16

our work but

3:19

our words and our time

3:21

to you with the

3:23

right voters . In

3:25

Jesus' name , I pray

3:28

Amen , amen , saints

3:31

, I feel so rushed , like I have

3:33

to get this episode done , and

3:36

and it's all because I

3:39

didn't do what I was supposed to do . I

3:43

was so wrapped up in my

3:45

fasting and prayer and trying to get

3:47

gas on the podcast

3:49

until I missed that

3:53

my first February podcast

3:56

is me talking with you . This

4:00

is insane . The thing

4:02

I want to share is

4:06

about fasting and prayer , and

4:08

it's not so much to

4:12

force you , to get you to do it , but

4:15

it's to let you

4:17

know what

4:21

I've experienced and

4:23

in hopes that my

4:26

experience can inspire

4:28

you to

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have your experience with

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God . You see , god

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has made each and every one

4:38

of us unique . We

4:41

have a unique conversation

4:43

with the Lord . We have a unique

4:46

relationship with the Lord . Mine

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isn't the same as yours , yours isn't

4:51

the same as mine or his or hers

4:54

, but our

4:56

God is the same . He

4:58

wants to talk with us

5:01

. We want to talk

5:03

to Him , but he wants to

5:05

talk with us , and he's

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always talking

5:09

, but we're

5:11

not always listening . I'm

5:15

hoping that what I'm sharing today will

5:17

inspire you

5:19

to begin to listen

5:22

, take some time to fast

5:25

and pray . So

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, saints , fasting and prayer is not just

5:29

for when you're having bad times

5:31

or you're not

5:35

in control of what's going on in your life

5:37

. It's also for

5:40

the good times . Yeah , we serve

5:42

a good God we too

5:44

, no matter what problems

5:46

or situations we're in . Guess

5:49

who's hanging in there with us ? Guess

5:51

who's giving us ways of escape

5:53

. Let me just share what

5:56

I did for 2024

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. First of all , I started

6:01

fasting on

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January 7th to January

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27th because I always

6:07

do it with

6:10

Pastor Jensen

6:12

Franklin in his church . So

6:14

I started with that and

6:16

in the process of doing that

6:18

, I learned about Aphor

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Street Baptist Church in Virginia . Pastor

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John no , I'm sorry , his name

6:28

is Pastor Howard John

6:30

Wesley he

6:34

was doing one also , but it was for

6:36

the 22nd to the 11th

6:38

, so I'm still , you know

6:40

, still doing it . Anyway

6:44

, I was fasting from

6:46

sugar and not complaining

6:49

, two things

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that have seemed to be

6:53

detrimental to me for

6:56

the last 10 , 10

6:59

, 10 months . I

7:01

needed to stop complaining and

7:03

y'all , I'm a sugar hauler and

7:05

my purpose is I'm looking

7:07

for restoration in my body , I'm

7:10

looking for a deeper relationship

7:12

with God and I want to be more

7:14

sensitive to the leading

7:17

of the Holy Spirit . So

7:20

that's why

7:22

my purpose , why

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I'm fasting and also what

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I'm fasting from . There's

7:30

some things that I've learned and there's

7:32

some things that I'm working on

7:34

doing . That is fasting and

7:36

praying time . One

7:39

of the things that well

7:41

, there's three things that I've learned . That

7:46

is really more than three , but there's three that I'm

7:48

going to talk about that

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I've learned , and one is

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the importance of my

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tongue and the words that

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I say . And the second

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thing is I

8:02

need to focus on the here and now . You

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see , it's not about the

8:07

future right now . The future's gonna come

8:10

, it's gonna come , it's gonna have its own

8:12

time and it'll be here when it's supposed

8:14

to be . But

8:17

right now I'm

8:20

podcasting and

8:22

I'm enjoying this moment

8:25

. But if I

8:27

sit here and think about what

8:30

I have to do afterwards or

8:32

how soon

8:34

I can get it to my own place

8:36

and have my

8:39

podcast room just the way

8:41

I want it , y'all

8:43

I miss the enjoyment that

8:45

I'm having right now . Sit

8:48

here talking with you

8:50

, this

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is fun , this is enjoyment

8:54

. This

8:58

is you and I , in Christ , talking

9:02

and

9:05

just enjoying the moment . This

9:08

is the here and now . And

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I've also learned during this time

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the power of gratitude

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through healing . Yup

9:20

, like

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I said , I kept complaining . So

9:24

if

9:26

all you do is complain , that

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brings you down . Gratitude

9:32

builds you up . I

9:34

mean , there were moments

9:37

when I couldn't figure out what

9:40

I was thankful for . I

9:42

couldn't even figure out , well , what did God do for

9:44

me today ? Because

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I've been complaining so much . It

9:51

wasn't until I sat there and I

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said you're not getting up

9:56

until God

9:58

done , blessed you do something . He

10:00

done , blessed , got something

10:03

. And that's

10:05

when I started saying well , I'm

10:09

breathing , I

10:11

can walk from the front of the

10:13

room to the back , go to the room with without

10:16

a cane or a stick . I can

10:18

laugh if I wanted . I

10:20

mean , I just started just coming up

10:22

with stuff and then it dawned

10:24

on me and

10:28

this is funny , I know it's

10:30

funny , but it dawned on

10:32

me that the

10:35

Lord had blessed me with

10:37

finances to pay

10:40

for the repairs on

10:43

my car . Y'all

10:45

, my car is a 2005 . I

10:52

call her Grayson and

10:54

we're still here . I

10:58

pray for her restoration too , you hear me . But

11:03

the Lord blessed

11:05

that I had the money to get the repairs . I

11:07

didn't tell y'all how I was on

11:10

95 . Car was just , there was number of smoke in the

11:12

back window and

11:15

on the side window . I

11:19

pulled that car , oh what

11:22

? And car was with me , and

11:24

that's a big thing

11:27

, yeah . But

11:29

the little thing was somebody

11:31

had sent me money and

11:34

it was enough to take care of the car , and

11:36

I've forgotten about that . I've

11:39

forgotten about it , I've

11:41

forgotten about it . I

11:44

put the money on something else , which

11:46

meant I had enough

11:48

money left over to pay for the

11:50

car . Yeah , you said . You said , ah

11:53

, do you ? But I was

11:55

complaining that I had any money

11:57

until the money was there

11:59

. Y'all the

12:02

power of gratitude while

12:05

you're healing or while you're going through

12:07

. I'm learning to

12:09

be thankful for just everything

12:12

the food that

12:14

I eat . My aunt can cook

12:16

, y'all , she can cook . I'm just being

12:18

thankful for it

12:20

all and

12:23

it is lifting me up . It's

12:27

lifting me up Now

12:30

. What I'm working on is

12:33

rebuilding this temple , this

12:35

body . I'm

12:38

learning to surrender to God

12:40

. I'm

12:42

learning to do things scare

12:45

when God's confirmed things

12:47

to me . I'm

12:49

learning to listen and not complain . You

12:53

see , I want to be able to hear

12:55

the Holy Spirit and

12:57

move , but

13:03

sometimes what

13:05

I hear is scary . Well

13:08

, sometimes what my heart

13:11

is saying go , go , go , and

13:13

my gut is saying do , do , do . It's

13:16

scary , it

13:19

is scary , I

13:21

don't want to do it . So

13:24

I do the avoidance thing . You know , I

13:26

put something else in this place . I pretend

13:29

like I didn't hear it . I'll push it

13:31

aside . I'm

13:34

tired of doing that . I

13:37

just want to do what the Lord has

13:39

called me to do . Do

13:42

you feel me ? Are you at that

13:44

point in your life ? What

13:47

you just want to do what

13:50

God called you to do , and you just

13:52

want to be who

13:55

God has called you to be . Are

13:58

you there ? That's

14:02

a place of rest

14:04

, that's a place of

14:06

comfort

14:09

. I

14:11

find you that the more

14:13

grateful I am , the

14:17

easier it is for

14:20

me to let things go , because

14:22

I realize that on

14:25

the other side of that complaining , on

14:29

the other side of that ungratefulness

14:32

, god's got

14:34

this awesome blessing , just

14:36

sitting there waiting for him , and

14:39

I want it , I want it

14:42

, I want it , I want it , I want it , I

14:44

want it , I want it , I want it , I want

14:47

it , I want it , I

14:51

want it for me , don't

14:54

you ? I

14:57

mean , think about it . We're

15:01

each been sent to this earth for

15:03

a mission . When

15:08

I hear for all the

15:10

enjoyment , complete

15:13

a task , and I'm

15:15

telling you , when

15:17

you complete the task , the

15:20

enjoyment is in there , it

15:23

is in there . You

15:25

just gotta ask the Lord what

15:27

it is you want me to tell . And

15:29

I keep telling myself this , and

15:33

it seems like it's foreign

15:35

. But , saints

15:37

, it's true , I've

15:39

seen it , I have

15:42

. I have left church

15:44

, thinking I'm going to back

15:49

to the house and at

15:51

the light I hear

15:53

turn left . So

15:56

I just turned left , we're

15:58

just going back

16:00

to house . But you know , turn left

16:02

. And before you know

16:05

it , I got to start a just

16:07

go to Denny's . So

16:10

I went to Denny's and guess

16:12

what ? I got to meet an

16:15

old friend . I'm

16:17

telling you it's like and

16:19

and and . That old friend , I

16:21

focused on the here and now

16:24

. I needed to hear what

16:26

she had to share and she

16:28

needed to share . What I

16:31

needed to hear . It was

16:33

like go

16:35

Jesus , go Jesus , go

16:37

Jesus . You know

16:40

, god was

16:42

again letting

16:44

me know he's got my back . God

16:48

does the same thing for you . You

16:52

, just like me , have

16:54

to surrender to

16:57

and to do things

16:59

scared . Saints

17:03

, I

17:06

hope my experiences are

17:08

helping you to to grow

17:10

, to grow

17:12

in Christ , and

17:15

to help you let go of

17:18

things that we

17:20

have told ourselves for

17:22

so long we needed

17:24

or we got

17:26

a hold on to or we have to control . When

17:30

your heart is broken , when

17:33

you feel like you're

17:36

imprisoned by fear , you

17:41

don't think that there is a way

17:43

out . All you do is feel the

17:46

hurt and the pain . All

17:48

you do is see what . You see . God

17:53

has got a plan for you . Take

17:57

some time to fast

18:00

and pray , take

18:03

some time to truly

18:05

be in His presence

18:08

, hear what he

18:10

has to say and

18:13

then do it . Do it

18:15

scared . Do

18:19

it with all the

18:23

you that is left in you . Sometimes

18:30

, when you have an anxiety and

18:35

you just feel like everything is

18:37

blocked , there's

18:40

nothing . There's

18:44

always this little light in

18:46

you . Always it's

18:48

flickering because you had Holy

18:50

Spirit Flickering . You

18:53

got to take that little light and

18:56

move forward , because

18:59

the moment you take

19:02

it , say that light gets bigger , it

19:05

gets bigger and then next you know

19:07

, it gets bigger and bigger . As you start

19:09

moving , god

19:12

is with us every step of the way . We

19:14

got to remember that we

19:17

don't journey alone . That's

19:20

why you and I are here right now . That's

19:23

why I say comment on my website

19:25

, comment on the platforms

19:28

that you listen to , come on

19:30

so that we can have a conversation

19:33

. You already know how to get

19:35

me at support at themeprojectacademycom

19:39

. Thank

19:42

you , lord . Thank you for this moment

19:44

in time , thank you for

19:46

the joy of

19:48

hanging out with the saints

19:51

and

19:53

for being in your presence . Help

19:56

us to let go of those things

19:58

that hinder

20:01

us from spending time with you and

20:04

help us to let go of the

20:06

control that we

20:09

seek and

20:14

we really need to just rest

20:16

in you . Teach

20:21

us , father , teach

20:25

us , father , god , to

20:27

not just be

20:30

who you call us to be and do

20:32

what you call us to do , but

20:37

also to enjoy hanging

20:40

out with you . This

20:43

is our prayer . Jesus name you

20:45

Amen , amen

20:48

, well

20:55

, thanks , I pray

20:57

that you are encouraged and

21:00

can make one of the Christ Jesus smile on

21:03

your face Papping

21:05

your step . So

21:08

thanks for listening . If you enjoyed

21:10

this episode , then please consider

21:12

subscribing to the podcast

21:14

rating and reviewing it . This

21:17

helps in moving it forward to

21:20

being heard by more

21:22

than you . Also , if you

21:24

haven't done so , get your free twice

21:26

a month newsletter to keep up with

21:28

new Lisa's podcast . I'm

21:30

going to start a book section in there for

21:32

the book lovers and

21:36

it will continue to have monthly activities

21:38

on how to live intentionally and

21:40

being a Christ and more

21:43

. All those and more can be found , including

21:45

my contact info on hanging

21:48

out with Jesus podcastcom

21:50

or the show notes . So

21:53

I will

22:08

see you next time .