Podcast Summary: Hearing In Prayer

Speaker: Nancy Dufresne
Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Episode: Tuesday PM | Prayer Conference 2023
Date: April 10, 2023

Episode Overview

This session of the Dufresne Ministries Prayer Conference, led by Nancy Dufresne, is focused on the practice and understanding of prayer—particularly on hearing from God during prayer. The episode interweaves practical demonstrations of healing, testimonies of faith, teaching on spiritual discipline, and insights into the dynamic between the Spirit, the mind, and effective prayer.

Nancy shares stories of supernatural healing, discusses the biblical basis for cooperating with God and angels in healing ministry, and underscores the necessity of mental discipline during prayer times. The teaching is punctuated by memorable stories, audience prayer, and exhortations to walk in spiritual fullness in daily life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Purpose and Atmosphere of the Conference

• Focus on Prayer: The conference is set apart from other meetings (like camp meetings), with an explicit focus on teaching about and practicing prayer.
• Healing Ministry: There is an overlap with healing ministry due to the presence of tangible healing anointing, and Nancy directly ministers to attendees in need of healing.
  • Quote: “When you have a broadcast called Jesus the Healer, the sick take note.” (02:10)

2. Demonstration of Healing Ministry

• Live Ministry: Nancy invites individuals with physical afflictions (a fractured hand, a hip not healing post-surgery) to come forward and receive prayer for healing.
• Congregational Participation: The audience is encouraged to release faith and pray collectively for those receiving ministry.
  • Quote: “It matters to us that they receive what Jesus paid for.” (04:15)
• Teaching on Faith and Healing: Emphasizes that it is Jesus who performs the healing, while believers’ responsibility is simply to believe.
  • Quote: “How many of you know it’s not our job to get better? It’s our job to believe that He does the work.” (10:53)

3. Angels and Healing

• Personal Experiences: Nancy recounts several encounters involving angels assisting in the healing ministry—her late husband’s vision of 100 angels assigned to healing, and angelic activity during meetings overseas and after his passing.
  • Quote: “Those are 100 angels that have been dispatched to work with you in the healing ministry.” (21:00)
• Biblical Basis: Parallels are drawn to biblical events (like the angel at the pool of Bethesda), positioning angelic cooperation as scripturally established and vital to the ministry of healing.
  • Quote: “If you’ll be faithful with those 50, more will come. … Giving them permission to work is being faithful with them.” (25:28)

4. Testimony of Miraculous Healing

• Cancer Healing Testimony: Nancy shares the journey of a family member miraculously healed from stage IV cancer, connecting that to obedience in scheduling meetings and to the spiritual importance of following God’s timing and leading.
  • Quote: “The doctor said, ‘You got a miracle.’ Thank God. I believe in the power of God.” (32:00)
• Role of Daily Faith and the Word: The testimony illustrates the necessity of persistent faith and constant exposure to the Word through broadcasts like "Jesus the Healer."
  • Quote: “Every day, watched it every day, told people, everybody I knew, watch it, watch it, watch it. … That just kept pumping the word of God into me.” (35:20)

5. Teaching: Fullness of the Word and Spirit (Ephesians 6)

• Spiritual Fullness: Nancy unpacks Ephesians 6, explaining how “being strong in the Lord” equates to being full of the Word, and “the power of His might” refers to being full of the Holy Spirit.
  • Quote: “To be strong in the Lord is to be strong in the Word, to be strong in who you are in Him.” (44:10)
• Manifestations Follow Fullness: Miracles and divine manifestations are connected to the degree of spiritual fullness a believer maintains.
  • Quote: “Manifestations meet fullness. … When you get full, manifestations are right connected to that fullness.” (46:00)
• Spiritual Armor as Lifestyle: Rather than viewing the armor of God as occasional, it should be an everyday practice—faith and prayer are habitual, not just emergency responses.
  • Quote: “We use the shield of faith all the time, not just when demons show up. It’s just the way we conduct business.” (51:50)
• Authority and Faith: Authority is effective as a lifestyle, not in isolated moments of crisis.

6. Mental Discipline in Prayer

• Disciplining the Mind: A central teaching is the necessity to “quiet the mind” in order to best hear from God’s Spirit during prayer, especially when praying in tongues.
  • Quote: “Learn to quiet the mind. … If your mind is occupied just thinking about the grocery list, thinking about what that person said…while you’re praying in tongues, you’re missing the mark.” (01:06:00)
• Turning Toward the Spirit: Nancy uses her own correction from God as a teaching moment, sharing how the Spirit prompted her to “turn toward your spirit instead of your mind” in moments of spiritual significance.
  • Quote: “When are you going to start turning toward your spirit instead of your mind?” (01:13:25)

7. Practical Examples of Hearing from God

• Facing Financial Challenges: Nancy describes situations where she faced substantial financial deadlines and recounts how, by quieting her mind and praying in tongues, she received clear direction from the Holy Spirit.
  • Quote: “The helper is in there. … I didn’t have to form something up here. I had to hear.” (01:28:43)
• Wisdom is Given, Not Studied: She emphasizes that divine wisdom is imparted by the Spirit, not generated by human reasoning.
  • Quote: “Wisdom is not studied out, it’s given. … And it’s given by hearing the mind of God.” (01:31:15)

8. The Prayer Life: Growth and Skill

• No “Calling” to Prayer—It Is for All: While some seem more “skilled,” prayer is a command for every believer; increased skill comes from practice and faithfulness.
  • Quote: “No one’s called to prayer like a fivefold calling. … The more we give ourselves to these things, the more skillful we become.” (01:01:27)
• Staying Spirit-Focused: Persistent practice in tuning one’s attentiveness to the spirit rather than the mind yields greater spiritual results and an acute awareness of divine leading.

9. Prophetic Impartation and Exhortation (Prayer Time)

• Instructions During Corporate Prayer:
  • Before prayer, Nancy instructs listeners to focus on their spirit and practice “turning the mind under charge of your spirit.” (01:48:18)
  • Through prophetic prayer, she addresses those who are on unfruitful paths, exhorts course correction, and calls for repentance and return to the right way.
  • Prophetic word: “Get off that path. Get off that path. It will only lead to greater carnality. … There’s just nothing but heartbreak ahead on that path.” (01:57:44)
• Words of Knowledge & Correction:
  • Direct instructions are spoken over listeners, challenging them to align with the divine plan and not persist in ineffective or carnal methods.
  • Quote: “Don’t keep teaching that. That will cost you much. It will cost others much. But stand back up … in that place that you will answer for.” (01:58:38)
• Encouragement on the Mind’s Role:
  • Nancy likens being yielded to the Spirit to a hose carrying water: “The hose doesn’t say, ‘Where we going with this?’ … Don’t try to fill in the blanks with your mind.” (02:03:29)
  • She humorously reminds: “Tell your mind, you’re not the Holy Ghost.” (02:05:18)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:10] - Healing anointing discussed; ministry begins
• [10:53] - Faith is an open door; it is God who heals
• [21:00] - Testimony of angelic assignment in healing ministry
• [32:00] - Miraculous cancer healing testimony
• [44:10] - Teaching on Ephesians 6: Fullness of Word and Spirit
• [51:50] - The armor of God as lifestyle
• [01:06:00] - The necessity of mental discipline in prayer
• [01:13:25] - Personal story: Correction to turn toward the spirit
• [01:28:43] - Receiving guidance in financial challenges
• [01:31:15] - Wisdom is imparted from God
• [01:48:18] - Instructions to focus on the spirit as prayer begins
• [01:57:44] - Prophetic admonition during corporate prayer
• [02:05:18] - Exhortation: “Tell your mind, you’re not the Holy Ghost.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “When you have a broadcast called Jesus the Healer, the sick take note.” (02:10)
• “How many of you know it’s not our job to get better? It’s our job to believe that He does the work.” (10:53)
• “Manifestations meet fullness. … When you get full, manifestations are right connected to that fullness.” (46:00)
• “Learn to quiet the mind. … if your mind is occupied just thinking about the grocery list…you’re missing the mark.” (01:06:00)
• “Wisdom is not studied out, it’s given. … And it’s given by hearing the mind of God.” (01:31:15)
• “Tell your mind, you’re not the Holy Ghost.” (02:05:18)

Summary

Nancy Dufresne’s session at the Prayer Conference 2023 is an immersive teaching and demonstration on hearing from God in prayer. Through healing ministry, personal stories, and clear scriptural teaching, she calls listeners to practice spiritual fullness, mental discipline, and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. The episode is marked by tangible demonstrations of faith, urgent prophetic exhortations, and practical wisdom for living a Spirit-led life—summed up by her repeated emphasis that divine wisdom and direction are available to any believer who will quiet their mind, turn to their spirit, and simply listen.

“All I had to do was hear – hear the wisdom of God. Wisdom is the principal thing. Wisdom is not studied out, it’s given.” (01:31:13)