Carlie K.: 0:00

Hello, hello. We're back for another episode of the Praying Couple podcast. I'm Carly.

SPEAKER_01: 0:07

And I'm Mike Kirchovolt.

Carlie K.: 0:09

And we're so grateful to be here with you today. So today we're gonna be praying for developing strong spiritual discernment.

SPEAKER_01: 0:19

Yes.

Carlie K.: 0:20

Noticed we use the word strong, the adjective strong, in front of spiritual discernment. Because we think it's very important that not only do you have discernment, but that it be strong. Um, Mike, you know that discernment is really important in in life, in our relationship with Jesus, but also in marriage, parenting, everything, right?

SPEAKER_01: 0:41

Yes.

Carlie K.: 0:41

So can you share a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01: 0:44

Yes, well, you know, definitely for you and I, Carly, we without God's discernment, we couldn't even last five minutes. Oh my gosh. After we said I do, you know, we definitely needed some discernment going. And and and, you know, we need it for everything, especially, you know, as we've gone through things in life, trusting God with finances, uh, going to to war, me physically going to war, us having our kids, and just staying strong. We needed the discernment because in a lot of situations we were we were in a situation where we never experienced whatever that was.

SPEAKER_02: 1:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:23

And we needed God's discernment to get us through and to have the victory in him.

SPEAKER_02: 1:28

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_01: 1:29

This kind of reminds me of King David. When he was fighting Goliath, King Saul gave him his armor and his weapons, and he said, Here, I'm gonna give you everything I have. He was a teenage boy, so imagine how big the armor was and everything. He gave him his armor, but David had the discernment to say, you know what, I'm not using what you have, I'm using what God has already proven through me that would work, which was the slingshot and the stones. So David is a clear example. He used that discernment in that situation, fighting somebody that was two or three times his size and had way more experience than him. He used discernment to get through the battle.

Carlie K.: 2:13

That's really good because sometimes what we have in our hand is more than enough, and the enemy tempts us with things that seem to be better or maybe have performed for someone else, but someone else is not fighting our battles.

SPEAKER_02: 2:25

That's right.

Carlie K.: 2:25

God's fighting them through us, and we need to do what he says. So I love that. Okay, well, without any further ado, let's pray.

SPEAKER_01: 2:33

All right, Father God, I pray for your people for spiritual discernment to block out all the lives of Satan and demonic spirits.

SPEAKER_02: 2:43

Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_01: 2:44

There are so many things going on in this earth, and God, we need, as your people, we need your discernment to continually hear your voice, to do what's set before us, to continually speak forth your word over the situation. God, I also pray, God, for for your people, for spiritual discernment to not be led forth by our emotions or use logic, but to be led forth by the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_02: 3:13

Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_01: 3:14

Help us, God, to know that we are obeying you, that we are following the Holy Spirit. No matter what it feels like. Because there's gonna be times where things don't feel like it's right, but it is right because you said it. And your word does not return to you void.

SPEAKER_02: 3:28

Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_01: 3:29

God, I also pray for spiritual discernment for your people to apply your wisdom. We need wisdom every day to face the things that is set before us. We can't live off of yesterday. We can't live off of the successes, we can't dwell on the failures, but God, we need your wisdom today to get through what is set before us. We need that daily bread, we need that assurance in the Holy Spirit and from the Holy Spirit to know that whatever that we are facing, you have placed something greater in us, which is you, to overcome the lives of the enemy and the lives that this worldly system tries to tell us to be bound by. Yes, we thank you for a strong discernment. And we ask this, Father, in Jesus' name.

Carlie K.: 4:16

Yes, God. I just ask right now for removal of any distractions, any distractions sent by the enemy that would cause our discernment to be off. Yes. I ask that you would reveal any sin in our lives, God, or any other thing that is unpleasing to you, any idols, anything that is getting in the way of us hearing the voice of Holy Spirit, so that we can clearly discern what is of you and what is not of you. I ask for a fresh understanding of what strong discernment looks like. Perhaps some people have never even experienced strong discernment. I pray today in the name of Jesus that everyone hearing this prayer, praying along with us right now, would have a fresh understanding and a fresh experience of strong spiritual discernment. I thank you, Father God, that with your discernment, hallelujah, we are able to judge the thoughts and intents of our own heart. I thank you that your word is alive and active. And as it activates things within us, it also pulls up, it sifts the sin. It pulls up sin. It pulls out the things, it extracts things that are unholy and ungodly and unpleasing to you. I thank you that your discernment gives us the ability, Father, to walk uprightly, to walk boldly and proud in the calling that you've called us to. You've called us sons and daughters. You love us, Father. I thank you for the spiritual discernment to understand that I love you because you loved me first. Yes. That is a spiritual discernment. And I thank you that you've given that to me. And I thank you, Father God, that there are so many people today who are in need of understanding.

SPEAKER_02: 5:58

Yes.

Carlie K.: 5:59

And without spiritual discernment, there is no understanding because there's so many voices out there that are competing for attention, our attention, getting us off of the focus of you. So, God, we just thank you for strong spiritual discernment in marriages everywhere. We thank you that you are giving us discernment as it relates to our covenant, whether it's ministering to our spouse, ministering to our children, whether it is carrying out whatever you've asked us to do, whether it is the anointing that you've given us, God, to be able to discern, oh gosh, if I do this, it's going to water down the assignment or the anointing that God's given me. I thank you that discernment leads us to your still waters. It leads us into your peace. I thank you that discernment gives us the ability to uncover the trap of the enemy and to remove it and ultimately to destroy it.

SPEAKER_01: 6:52

Hallelujah.

Carlie K.: 6:53

We praise you, Father, for the gift of discernment. I just ask that your people would go wholeheartedly after it. Yes. That we would not waste any opportunity to discern your will because the days are evil. But you are holy, God. You are righteous and you are within us and you are around us, God. And we thank you so much that we can call on you and know that you are there.

SPEAKER_02: 7:17

Yes.

Carlie K.: 7:18

You are there right with us. You've never left us, even though we may feel like it. I thank you that, like Mike prayed earlier, the discernment to move beyond emotions.

SPEAKER_02: 7:27

Yes.

Carlie K.: 7:27

To move beyond emotions, to lay aside that sin that so easily entangles, and for some of us, it's emotions. And I thank you, God, that you've given us that gift of discernment to say, you know what? No, I'm not gonna stand for this emotional breakdown again. The enemy has me in a cycle. I'm discerning right now in the name of Jesus that this is not of God. And I'm gonna take the appropriate actions to remove it.

SPEAKER_02: 7:50

Hallelujah.

Carlie K.: 7:50

Thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you for the gift of marriage. Thank you for the gift of family, of love, of forgiveness, of grace, of mercy, of peace. Thank you for the gift of joy. Thank you for the gift of divine health. Thank you for the gift of divine just divine provision for every area of our life. God, you are so good.

SPEAKER_01: 8:11

Hallelujah. So good. We thank you.

Carlie K.: 8:14

God, we just thank you for all of these amazing things in your holy and precious Son Jesus' name. Amen. We're so grateful again that you guys have joined us. You know, one of the things that I love about this podcast, you know, Mike and I, we have been praying together for for well over two decades. And we say that only to kind of give the foundational aspect of why God is calling us to do this. You know, when God first said, Oh yeah, you guys should just pray, and and you know, he gave us some specific instructions surrounding that, like just kind of not to go, because Mike and I, I'm gonna be real with y'all, we will pray for an entire day. Okay, so that's that's not what this is here. But the Lord just said it's important that there are people that are unable to connect with their spouse. There are people that feel like they're unable to connect with me. The prayers of a righteous man and woman, right? We know that's plural, um, just for people, but the prayers of God's righteous people avail much. That means that they break through, that they stand on the enemy's head and they crush him beneath their feet. I love that God is saying, listen, all you gotta do is pray. Pray for somebody today. I'm gonna encourage you to pray for somebody today because as we're releasing these prayers in obedience to God and in faith in the one we know who saved us, as we do this, we know that it's to activate something in you. That's right. It is to activate you because you are called to pray.

SPEAKER_01: 9:41

That's right.

Carlie K.: 9:42

So we just want to leave you with these three words pray, pray, pray. Okay? Make that your priority in your daily life and all that you do, because you will meet God every single time. He will be there with you, and you will experience him in new and exciting ways every single time.

SPEAKER_02: 10:01

Hallelujah.

Carlie K.: 10:02

All right. Well, we love you guys, and we'll talk to you soon. God bless.

SPEAKER_02: 10:07

Bye bye.