 This is going to be a great sister to sister. There's a question like this. What role does prayer play in your life? Ooh, good question. And if I could rewind my life, would I change anything? Not this show. Not this show, stay tuned. Welcome to sister to sister. You have joined an exciting group of women today and we bring questions that you send us and we bring the answers from the Bible and from our heart. And we're so excited because we have Tiffany Gilbert with us today, Tiffany. Welcome, sitting in for flow. And I know that you will have no trouble getting a word in edgewise. Matter of fact, a matter of fact, I would like to start with you. And that way you're in. Okay, good. She's totally in. Now you send us questions and we appreciate that so much. And someone wrote to us, what role does prayer play in your life? Tiff. I mean, it is vital. It's my lifeline. I mean, I can't do it without prayer. You know, one of the scriptures that came to mind immediately was Matthew 633, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then all these other things shall be added. I think sometimes we have it backwards. I think we want all these other things and then we seek his kingdom, but it doesn't work that way. You know, there's order to it. You know, I know for me, there's times where I've forgotten or you know, you get too busy sometimes. And there is a major difference. I can tell, I need, you know, he's the source of my strength. He's my lifeline. I need him. It's everything. It's everything. That's right. Who else has for me? What role does prayer play? Well, that's how I find my keys and my glasses every day. That's true. So that's the role. Now I feel like I say this all the time. Right now my parenting stage, since I have young adult children now, is this stage of prayer. Not that I didn't pray all through parenting, but right now it's that taking a step back from being involved in their decision making and being involved in that day to day and helping them stay alive. And it's really just, I feel very powerless a lot of times and God gives us that power through prayer. That's right. That's good. Roxy, what do you have? Well, you know what influences me is the fact, what does it mean to God? And the scripture says in revelations that our prayers are like incense before the Lord. And it says in revelations, I think it's eight, that our prayers, he saves all our prayers. It's the golden altar and he sends them forth. So they are special to God and it is a sweet aroma. And who was Jesus? He was that sweet aroma. He is that sweet aroma in our lives that we give back to God. Now, do I sometimes pray out of desperation? I guess every morning I wake up and Lord, help me, help me. And then you get past that and you read the scripture and realize you're lifting up something to God that he saves and it says all the saints prayers. So be encouraged. Right, right, right. What do you have in? I think about two models of prayer. Jesus, our main model would often go away to spend time with the Father. He would leave the disciples, he would walk away from the crowds. And so as a role model, in order for you to live life, it has to be where you are in communication with God. I mean, you have to talk to him. And that's how you build a relationship is you talk and then you listen, you talk, then you listen. And then there's also the model of corporate prayer like in the Acts church. When they were all in a room and they were all together and they were praying and then the Holy Spirit filled the room, the very room that they were in. So honestly, I've become addicted to corporate prayer as well. I know, you know, during 2020, our church said we're gonna pray every day, every morning at 8 a.m. in life or online. And we've kept that up for several years. And so now, like those days that we have off, it's like, I just feel like I think I'm addicted to corporate prayer. I love what Tiffany said how she starts her days with prayer. And I love how you say about the corporate prayer. And I love how, I love what everyone says, but I do wanna say that prayer is part of all of us. But I also love, there's a song, old song, whenever two or more of you are gathered in my name. So two or more. Does he hear us more? I'm not sure, but I'm gonna say, yes. That's what I love. I like that. Everybody, we're all praying. I like it. I like it. It came to your mind. That came to my mind. That little song. Yes, that's right. So this question is really good too. It's similar. And Corey, I'm coming to you because you look so beautiful. How do we grow in our love for the Lord? Well, the first thing I thought of is being in God's word. And I was just having this discussion with my one daughter who is just, she's just really in love with the Lord right now. And she's just had a really big change in her life. And it's just so exciting to see that in your children. And she just got baptized. She did just get baptized. That's awesome. And it's just, that's the greatest joy in your life as a parent to see that in your child. And I was talking to her about how I feel so blessed to have grown up in the word and to have been able to go to Christian school. I mean, I was basically educated in the word from preschool all the way through college. I was in Christian education for, what is that, 18 years of my life. I was just drenched in the word of God. And there's so much scripture about that and just memorizing his word. And so many scriptures that just come to mind. And one that comes to mind is if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And then to go along with that, thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. And I learned that in the King James Version because that's the version that we kind of learned. But it's just being drenched in the word and just knowing, it's literally called the word of God. And the more time we spend in the word, the more you fall in love with just who God is. Because his character is revealed in that. And it's living. It's living. It is, it is. I would say too, how do we grow in our love for the Lord? It's meditating on how much he loves you. It's not, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. That's part of it. But what if you switch that and like, he loves me. He loves me. And it's not that the scripture, it's not that we loved him. It's that he loved us. And that's like, cause it's not about our works and I hope I do this to make him love me and I hope he loves me. And I think I messed up today and shame, guilt and oppression. And it's like, wait, he loves me. He loves me. It makes you come up higher to his love. It's like his love reaches you and pulls you up out of the pit and risks you. I just hope they hear us. I just want you to hear what we're saying. I want you to understand. You must have read my notes here. I read your notes. Because first John four says, God first loved us. So we grow in God's love by understanding his love for us. And then Roman says, let me just get it cause you asked me last time. Romans five says, God demonstrates. How do we know he loves us? Because Christ died for our sins when we were still sinners. Are you gonna do anything for someone that hurts you? Are you gonna do anything for someone who has sinned, who has done you wrong, that is evil? That's who we were before he saved us. And while we were like that, the scripture says God sent his son to die for us. If we just meditate on that and what all of that means, we can understand, begin to understand the love of God as my sister says. Tiff, I need you. Yeah, well, I think this is great ministry, you know, for people. And you mentioned time in his word. And in addition to that, I thought about time in his presence. I remember there are times, especially when I really got serious with the Lord around my 20s. And I began to have massive encounters with the Lord. And I began to just soak in his presence. And he would just, in my bedroom, in my bedroom. Yeah, I just think the people need, they need to understand this. I mean, we're all really strong Christians. And some of you who are watching might not understand what we're saying. So you were in your bedroom. Yeah, I mean, I was in my bedroom and it doesn't have to be in the church. It doesn't have to be in a, you know, religious facility. He'll meet you right in your home. You know, and I remember I wanted so much of the Lord. And I would get down and I would lay prostrate on my floor. And he would just fill me up. And out of that, there began a hunger for more of him. Just a greater thirst for more of him. I remember even leaving church. And all I wanted to do was get back into the presence of God. I feel like a cry right now. Yeah. But that's it. But they need to hear this, Tiffany. Okay, so lay on the floor is the idea. I mean, I'm just saying. I like that. I like that. Yeah, and you know, I think too, what happened was I experienced just a touch of eternity during that time because I would be there for two, three hours, but it would feel like I was there for 20 minutes. I mean, there's a reason that God says get on your knees for sure. Get on your knees. I do think people don't have trouble feeling the love of God. I do think that's a real thing. And I think I challenge people to just talk to God, be real. It doesn't have to be certain words or certain phrases. Open the word. You know, it just, I challenge people to do that. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to challenge God, to say, God, I don't feel your love. Where are you? Yeah. Wherever you are. You don't have to change your life. You don't have to make things right before you do that. But you don't have to, you don't have to fix yourself before you talk to God. You don't have to fix everything before you look in the word. God will meet you where you are. I like it all. I really like it all. There is an enemy. He's out to pull you away from the loving father. Like we can't be like ignorant of Satan's devices who he wants to kill. He wants to steal that relationship with you and God. He wants to distract you. He wants to take you away from. So we need to be aware and really press in to God. You don't always feel it. And how that happens is thoughts. See, it's in your mind. You know, we'll hear these fiery darts from the devil to our mind, so it's your thoughts. But I do want to do this last question here before we go to break, because it's really good and you sent it, so I want to do it. And you wrote to us, well, how am I supposed to, this is a little bit different. How am I supposed to show respect for my husband? So those of you who are watching, you send us these. Hello, Amy. Oh, Amy, your husband's the pastor. What have you got? After all of the eye rolls that just happened. Respect, show respect. None of us did volunteer for this. Yeah, nobody volunteered. I want you all to know that I volunteered to help. True confessions. OK, you know how we kind of compliment each other today? It's quite beautiful. We look like the beautiful Easter egg rainbow. I think that is a way that we show respect for our husband. We compliment him. We come alongside of him not to tear down, but to build up. We're not here to be his mom. We're not here to be his greatest critic. We're also not here to play games. But is there a way that through honor that is, I'm making a big, you're a big deal in my life. And without you in my life, something significant has shaken. I love the scripture and Ephesians in the message, out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent one another. Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. So honestly, when I'm dealing with my husband, number one, I'm thinking he's God's son. Number two, he's my mother-in-law's son. Number three, he's the greatest gift and treasure in my life. And number four, I'm going to stand before Jesus one day and give an account for every word and action, including in my relationship. Not that there's not trouble. Not there's not disagreement. But the idea is that that's not where we live. Yes. And I like Proverbs 31 that says, and it goes right along with that, the heart of her husband trusts her. What do you do when you're not around your husband? Are you doing, it says in there, she does well at her job. She takes care of her children well. She transacts business well. She speaks well of him at the gate when he is sitting there. So there are so many things, it's not just pampering him, that's not it. Respect is doing those things to God, for God and for our other fellow sisters, man, women, whatever, out of respect. What do you do when they're not around? Do you honor them when they're not around? I think it's elevating that relationship above other relationships. Not God, but all other relationships, you are elevating that relationship above others, above your children, above your friendships, above all that. And so those other things will come when you do that. When you're with your friends, you're not bad-mouthing your husband because you've elevated that relationship above those friendships. So you don't feel this need to bad-mouth your husband because you've elevated that relationship. Yeah, that's good, that's good. We have to have- Yeah, I love the compliment piece. I mean, I can look back on us and I can see all the different ways that we compliment each other. If there's an area where he's not maybe strong in and I am, we just kind of mesh well. But in addition to that, just encourage, uplift, deposit, and let him lead. Let him lead. Let's lead. He's really big. Yeah, yeah. And Amy has always said, and I love this because I'm a cheerleader too. And Amy will say, I am my husband's biggest cheerleader. And so you write this question to us and we really appreciate it and we try to share our heart about how we handle the situations of life. So you stay right there. We'll be right back with lots more Sister to Sister. Welcome back to Sister to Sister. Have you noticed how colorful we are today? We don't plan these things. During the break, we look at each other and we say, oh my goodness, you look beautiful. You look beautiful. You look beautiful. So we do that for you. We do that for you. And we have these questions for you too. And we don't plan it. No, we don't. We never know. We never know. But Roxanne was talking about the proverbs woman. But listen to this proverbs. And it's 14 years old. But listen to this proverbs. And it's 14 one. And it says, oh boy, a wise woman builds her house. But with her own hands, the foolish one tears it down. I don't know that scripture. But you wrote to us, what are some practical ways that a woman can build her house? Oh my goodness, my mother would say this scripture to me quite often. Really? Yes. And she's with me again today. Praise the Lord after her medical issues. You know, I've got to say this. I've done both, true confessions. We all are mouths or words or actions. I want to point to one lady in the Bible. Because I don't know after I read this, I came to my mind, Jezebel. We think of Jezebel tearing down kingdoms and destroying. It was during the time of Elijah and Elisha. What did she first do? She was deceitful. She looked for her own way. Her husband liked a field, a neighbor's field. So she said, oh, I'm gonna connive and get that field. She's conniving. She's deceitful. She's seeking her own way. She's boasting about it. She threatens people. So in your home, the place where you feel most free to be yourself, you're doing those things. And you don't realize it in your words and your actions. Are you tearing down your children? You're saying you're no good. Are you telling them, oh, I want you to make A's. Oh, I want you to do this. Are you living your life through your children or your husband instead of living your own life, walking towards your own calling and not trying to push them along or create an atmosphere where it looks like success, but it's destroying. Oh my gosh, that was so good. I love the scripture so much. I honestly think about it all the time. A wise woman builds her house. Like think about that. We're building something. We're building a life. We're building a marriage. We're building children. We're building a home. We're building a church. We're building something. Building takes time. It takes resources. It takes, you have to have a plan. You can't build without a plan. You gotta count the cost. So this, when you're building your life, this is not the time where you just say whatever you want, whatever the hell you want, whatever the hell you wanna say and blah, blah, blah. And just lose it all the time. You're literally destroying the foundation and the building that you're trying to build. This is a time to be like what the Bible says. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. And I believe if you could do one thing as a woman in your home is to fear God. Walk in an awe and a reverence of God. And then all these little things, being shrewd, being wise, being prudent, being loving, being kind, hopefully we'll be involved in that one thing. I'm gonna walk in the fear of the Lord. Wow. That's so good. So really good. She feels the Lord. I know. Well, I'm gonna go to this last question though because I really wanna get to it. And here's what it is. I don't know how anyone else feels. You wrote, thanks, you said, if you could rewind your life, is there anything you would change, rewinding your life? You know, for me, I look back and I think if I had a more solid understanding of my value. From when you were young? Yes. Yeah. Well, because I wouldn't have looked back and I do believe that God is a Romans 8, 28 God. But I would not have made, it made some poor decisions based upon my lack of understanding of my value and who God created me to be. That's so good. Tiffany. What do you girls have? Would you rewind, Corey? I mean, yeah, there's definitely things I would have made different choices of but you know, I look at my life now and I'm so grateful for the things I have and I wouldn't want to have missed out on what I have now. And you never know, you know, the whole butterfly effect thing. Wait. Like when you make one, we make one decision how it affects like the other things that happen in your life. So, you know, there's like poor decisions you made in the past. And it's like, how did I, how would that affect what I am doing now? You know? And so I wouldn't want to have missed out on the good things that I have now. So I'm, there's lessons learned in the bad things too. So it's just like, but there are things I would have changed for sure. One thing is that I wished that I had gone to law school and I would have been an attorney. Because I feel like I'm a mentor. I wish I had a mentor like that. Wow. I am amazing. Yes, you would have. Yeah. You know, there's a show called The Goldbergs and the mom always says, I could have been a lawyer. And that's what I always say. But I think my regret in parenting is that I stepped in too much with my kids when they were younger. And so I always give this advice to younger parents is like stop stepping in and fixing everything for them. They need to learn the lessons of natural consequences when they are younger, when the consequences are small. So I, that's my biggest regret as a parent when they were younger. Right. Do you rewind? Not often, but I have a list here since this question came up. But not too much. So stay tuned. No, I'm just gonna give one thing. You know, it's funny about the law school issue because you could still go back to night school. Maybe that's in your plan, but you are an advocate for the Lord. You know, and there are things. God has these twists and turns. I didn't plan it. I was going to the gospel administration and he turned my life. And that's another story. But a couple of things and this is gonna get real practical. My physical life. I wish I took better care of my body. And as you get up there in years, you realize that not that anything is medically wrong with me, but you know, you're in the word so much. You're reading, you're praying and so on. And yet you're not exercising the physical body as well. So, you know, Flo likes to say that balance. Get that balance in your life young. Take time even if it's 10 minutes. Now I walk about 10, 15 minutes a day now or at least four or five days. So, I'm trying to bring that balance back in my life. The second thing is I'm a kind of person out of sight, out of mind. My old friends I don't keep in touch with. And sometimes I miss them so dearly, but too afraid to contact them like, you haven't talked to them in 20 years. What is wrong with you? You know, send a note, send a text, whatever. And I don't do that. I'm caught up in the daily living, the job, the work, the family, and you know, keep the old friends too. Well, I'm hoping, maybe they're watching and you know, Roxy wants to talk to you, but I'm not gonna rewind today because I don't look in the rear view mirror. I just look straight ahead. We'll be right back. We're gonna wrap up this show. Those were some great questions today, but I kind of had on my heart just to tell you my answer to that last question. If you could change one thing, if you could go back and rewind, what would that be? Because it might be your situation today. I wish, number one, I would not have opened the door to anxiety in my life. I would not go back and change situations that have happened in my life because literally those have shaped me and made me, but I personally made the decision to open the door to anxiety and to take that care upon myself and it affected my physical body in different ways. And another thing is I would not have let strife in my life. I would have said a big no to any strife in my life or my business or church or family. So maybe that's you today, but we always like to end with a scripture. Let's go to the word of God, which is brilliant for today, James 516. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and it is effective. I love what it says in the Amplified that the earnest, heartfelt, continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available and is dynamic in its working. Here's the bottom line. You gotta get with God. You've gotta have a personal relationship with the Lord. Like today is your day. Don't go another day just playing games, wondering if you're right with God. Just start talking to him. Start working with him, walking with him, talking with him, giving all of your cares to him, talking about your visions and dreams to him, giving him your whole heart and your whole life. Whoo! Well, and I love that. And if you watched the show, you saw that Tiffany prayed and laid on the floor. So you could do that too. We also end with this scripture and it's so good too. As iron sharpens iron, so does the countenance of a man or a woman. And in my case, these sisters sharpen the other. You see, the things that come out of their hearts make me a much better Kathy. See you next time.