Podcast Summary
Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Episode: Give Time To Prayer, Part Four | Nancy Dufresne | Jesus the Healer Broadcast
Date: August 20, 2020
Host: Nancy Dufresne
Episode Overview
This episode continues Nancy Dufresne’s teaching on prioritizing and protecting time for prayer, underlining its central role in the life of a believer and especially in effective ministry. Drawing from Acts 6 and several personal and historical anecdotes, Nancy illustrates how distractions—even legitimate ones—can derail spiritual effectiveness, hinder the flow of revelation and anointing, and potentially cost others the help they need from God.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Strife, Distractions, and Spiritual Effectiveness
- Context: Acts 6:1 - Early Church faces increase and the ensuing distraction of ethnic strife.
- Main Insight: Increase and blessing in the church often coincide with opportunities for strife or distraction. It's crucial not to let natural differences distract from spiritual progress.
- Quote: “We don’t get destroyed by what the world gets distracted by. … We are one in Him.” (02:40)
- Consequences of Strife: Strife and offense “shut down increase” (03:30).
2. The Priority of Prayer and the Word for Leaders
- Acts 6:2-4: The apostles chose not to be pulled into legitimate but secondary ministry duties (serving tables), opting instead to devote themselves to “prayer and the ministry of the Word.”
- Warning to Leaders: Delegation is not an excuse for laziness or indulgence in hobbies; it’s to preserve focus on spiritual responsibilities.
- Quote: “They were devoting themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. They weren’t devoting themselves to hobbies.” (06:10)
- Distraction’s Cost: “Distractions are expensive. It can cost us a lot and it can cost congregation members a lot.” (13:08)
3. The Necessity of Revelation and the Anointing
- Revelation & Faith: Without revelation, people cannot receive from God or move past obstacles.
- Citing Dad Hagin’s testimony: Healing only manifested when revelation from the Word was received and acted upon (09:30).
- Quote: “You can't believe beyond actual knowledge...you have to be taught and instructed on it, or you're not going to be able to receive what belongs to you.” — Nancy, referencing dad Hagin (10:40)
- Encouragement vs. Revelation: Encouragement is beneficial but insufficient without fresh revelation from God’s Word.
4. Delayed Preparation and Its Risks
- Smith Wigglesworth Quote: “Sometimes people wait too late to try to get faith.”
- Interpretation: The Word works, but wrong thinking or lack of preparation can cause unnecessary delays or losses (15:26-17:31).
- Dad Hagin’s Example: His slow-moving disease allowed him time to receive revelation—many don’t have that luxury.
5. Skillful Fellowship Affects Others
- Kathryn Kuhlman Reference: Her walk with God made it easier for others to receive from Him.
- "Kathryn Kuhlman's fellowship with God...made it easy for others to receive their miracle." — Demas Shakarian (19:10)
- Responsibility of Leadership: “The lives of others depend on me hearing from God.” — Pastor Ed Dufresne (20:31)
6. Recognizing and Responding to the Leading of the Holy Spirit
- Holy Spirit's Cues: Small promptings (like a flash of a name) require sensitivity and can be easy to miss without time in prayer.
- Analogy: “That’s much like the Holy Ghost. He’ll just flash up something real quick—just a name will flash up...” (26:37)
- Personal Stories of Missed Promptings:
- Cousin’s Passing: Name came up, but Nancy reminisced instead of praying; later learned her cousin died unexpectedly (28:50-33:30).
- Minister’s Emergency: Another minister set aside a prayer burden for an office emergency, then learned of a family tragedy (34:05-36:40).
- School Teacher: Relived old classroom struggles instead of praying—a week later, heard of the teacher’s tragic death (39:30-42:00).
- Lesson: “Do something to become skillful. Spend more time in the spirit… so that we don’t miss those cues because they are so, so important.” (34:08, 43:10)
7. Building Testimonies of Obedience in Prayer
- Successes in Prayer: Times when she did respond—praying in the Spirit led to a vision of a fatal car accident with a pastor (46:00-53:50).
- Intercession Outcome: After taking authority in prayer, the affected pastor survived a devastating wreck with only minor injuries, shocking the emergency team.
- Quote: “God shows us these things so that we’ll use our authority, because we’re the ones with the authority on the earth to deal with things.” (50:58)
8. Encouragement: Cultivating a Skillfulness in the Spirit
- Not a Special Privilege: Such promptings come by spending time in prayer, not by one's ministry title.
- Challenge to Listeners: “God is looking for somebody who is sensitive and skillful and perceptive when He’s looking for someone to labor with Him, to bring about change and rescue…” (54:18)
- Closing Prayer: A call to commit to greater skillfulness in prayer and a yieldedness to the Holy Ghost.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “We don’t get destroyed by what the world gets distracted by. … We are one in Him.” (02:40, Nancy Dufresne)
- “They were devoting themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. They weren’t devoting themselves to hobbies.” (06:10, Nancy Dufresne)
- “Distractions are expensive. It can cost us a lot and it can cost congregation members a lot.” (13:08, Nancy Dufresne)
- “You can't believe beyond actual knowledge...” (10:40, quoting Dad Hagin)
- “Sometimes people wait too late to try to get faith.” (15:26, Smith Wigglesworth, quoted by Nancy)
- “Kathryn Kuhlman’s fellowship with God…made it easy for others to receive their miracle.” (19:10, Demas Shakarian, quoted by Nancy)
- “The lives of others depend on me hearing from God.” (20:31, Pastor Ed Dufresne)
- “That’s much like the Holy Ghost. He’ll just flash up something real quick—just a name will flash up…” (26:37, Nancy Dufresne)
- “God shows us these things so that we’ll use our authority, because we’re the ones with the authority on the earth to deal with things.” (50:58, Nancy Dufresne)
Key Timestamps
| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:40 | Acts 6 and threat of ethnic strife in the early church | | 03:30 | Strife’s impact on spiritual increase | | 06:10 | Apostles’ choice—prayer and the Word vs. legitimate distractions | | 13:08 | The costliness of distractions | | 15:26 | Smith Wigglesworth on waiting “too late” for faith | | 19:10 | Kathryn Kuhlman and ministering out of skillful fellowship | | 20:31 | “The lives of others depend on me hearing from God.” | | 26:37 | Recognizing brief cues and promptings from the Holy Spirit | | 28:50–33:30| Personal story—missing the Spirit’s prompting regarding a family member | | 34:05–36:40| Fellow minister misses a burden of prayer and family tragedy follows | | 39:30–42:00| Another story—missing the Spirit’s nudge about a former teacher | | 46:00–53:50| Obeyed prompting: vision, intercession, and the miraculous car wreck rescue| | 54:18 | Encouragement—becoming skillful, God’s desire for partnership in prayer |
Takeaway & Tone
Pastor Nancy’s tone is pastoral, honest, and urgent—encouraging both ministers and lay believers to “cut away distractions,” prioritize time with God, and become “skillful” in recognizing and obeying the Spirit’s promptings. The episode blends scriptural teaching, profound personal wisdom, and heartfelt appeals for a more sensitive, effective prayer life, echoing the conviction that our preparation in the Spirit can make eternal differences for ourselves and others.
Final Challenge:
“Take time, spend time, give time, cut away distractions, see what needs to be changed so that you can give the time to developing spiritually.” (57:10)