Podcast Summary: Honor The Word With Your Hunger

Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Episode: Honor The Word With Your Hunger | Debra Simons | Ladies Conference 2024 | Wednesday AM
Date: October 3, 2024
Speaker: Pastor Debra Simons
Host: Dufresne Ministries
Length: ~44 minutes

Overview

In this session from the 2024 Ladies Conference, Pastor Debra Simons ministers on maintaining spiritual hunger and honoring God's word above routine, comfort, or mere religious formality. Drawing from personal experiences and lessons learned under Dr. Dufresne’s mentorship, Pastor Simons delves into the necessity of consistent personal development, discerning the Spirit versus the soul, and practicing prayer in the Holy Ghost. The message is both a call to deeper commitment and a practical guide to staying aligned with God’s ongoing vision and supernatural power.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Coming Hungry and Expectant

(00:08 - 03:15)

• Pastor Simons opens by encouraging an open heart and an expectation for answers in every church service.
• “You have to come with an expectation. Some people don’t get answers because they don’t come with an expectation.” (00:40, Debra Simons)

2. Routine vs. Relationship: Don't Lose Your Appetite for the Word

(03:16 - 06:50)

• Warns against treating church and spiritual practice as repetitive, losing hunger and zest for the Word.
• “This is not religion, this is a relationship. So don’t get tired of coming to church...With your hunger, you can draw some things out and allow the Holy Spirit to do some things that, that will bless the people.” (04:10, Debra Simons)

3. Mingled Flow: Discernment Between Soul and Spirit

(06:51 - 10:25)

• Many Christians mix human reasoning and emotion with the Spirit, ending up confused and off course.
• “Most Christians live with a mingled flow. They mingle their own humanity…with the leading of the Spirit. And they end up in a wrong place. They don’t know how to separate the soul from the Spirit.” (06:57, Debra Simons)
• Emphasizes the need for practice in distinguishing God’s voice from one’s own thoughts.

4. Staying Grounded: Emphasis on the Word and Praying in the Spirit

(10:26 - 12:40)

• Reflects on the church culture of the 1980s, strong on praying in the Spirit.
• Laments current lack of emphasis and the dangers it presents—people drifting into error despite long years in church.
• “When you lose the emphasis, that’s gonna keep you in the path of truth. You’re gonna get into error.” (11:13, Debra Simons)

5. Personal Experience: The Priority of Spiritual Development

(12:41 - 19:57)

• Shares how serving and being outwardly faithful is not enough without inner development.
• “You cannot do that without a developing because you won’t stay up with God.” (14:56, Debra Simons)
• Recalls Dr. Dufresne's challenge: “You want a word? Read your Bible.” (16:41, recounting Dr. Dufresne)
• Dr. Dufresne insisted on two years of teaching the Word before moving in spiritual gifts, building a foundation.

6. The Necessity of Praying in the Holy Ghost (Tongues) for Sensitivity and Growth

(19:58 - 26:50)

• Shares a personal testimony of facing unpreparedness and only gaining clarity after months of daily praying in tongues.
• “If I were to reveal to you right now my plan for you, you would rebuke it as the devil. So you must be enlarged.” (22:53, recounting what God told her)
• “After three months of praying in the Holy Ghost every day, now God is telling me, this is where you need to drink from.” (24:50, Debra Simons)

7. Transformation vs. Conformity: Renewing the Mind is Ongoing

(26:51 - 30:32)

• Expounds Romans 12:1-2 – be “transformed, not conformed.” Staying up with God requires ongoing mind renewal.
• “Our job is to constantly be being transformed, not conformed…because the vision continues.” (27:31, Debra Simons)

8. Responsibility for Individual Development

(30:33 - 33:50)

• Spiritual leaders and prophets can provide words and encouragement, but it never replaces one’s own development.
• “That is no replacement for you developing yourself, knowing how to hear God, separating what comes to your mind.” (29:44, Debra Simons)
• Illustrates the risk of relying on the pastor or others: “When did God change his mind?” (31:20, Debra Simons, on people attributing opposing directions to God)

9. Embracing Correction and the Role of Church Community

(33:51 - 38:55)

• Shares her straightforward style: “You’re standing on the railroad tracks…the train is coming. You can’t hear it and you can’t see it. I’m gonna shove you. I’m shoving you. Cause I want to save your life.” (33:55, Debra Simons)
• Examples from church and school about the necessity of loving correction and honesty for genuine spiritual development.

10. The Power of Praying in Tongues—for Everyone

(38:56 - 41:30)

• Cites 1 Corinthians 14 and repeatedly stresses that praying in tongues is not just for ministers but for everyone—ushers, volunteers, every believer.
• Shares her husband’s testimony: “The biggest quality was…praying in the Holy Ghost...When you’re doing something for God, it’s spiritual and you can’t do it without being spiritual.” (39:44, recounting Johnny Simons’ words)
• “You can’t exchange what’s popular for what produces power.” (41:15, Debra Simons)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Expectation:
  “If you come to every service with your heart open and ready to receive an answer...He will give you an answer, but you have to come with an expectation.” (00:37, Debra Simons)

• On Routine:
  “Just because of the routine of doing something, you cannot lose appetite for it.” (03:38, Debra Simons)

• On Mingled Flow:
  “If it’s coming from your head, it’s not God. It’s gotta be coming up out of your spirit.” (07:28, Debra Simons)

• On Foundation:
  “You want a word? Read your Bible,” (16:41, Dr. Dufresne as quoted by Debra Simons)

• On Praying in the Holy Ghost:
  “I have brought you to the stream that is going to nourish you, and this stream will nourish you until you see Me face to face.” (24:50, quoting God’s word to her)

• On Power:
  “You can’t exchange what’s popular for what produces power.” (41:15, Debra Simons)

• On Correction:
  “You’re standing on the railroad tracks...the train is coming...I’m gonna shove you. Cause I want to save your life.” (33:55, Debra Simons)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:08 – Opening and theme introduction
• 03:16 – On routine and sustaining spiritual appetite
• 06:51 – Mingled flow: discerning soul from spirit
• 12:41 – Serving versus spiritual development
• 16:41 – Dr. Dufresne’s Bible challenge
• 19:58 – Testimony: Praying in the Spirit for clarity
• 26:51 – Romans 12, transformation, and mind renewal
• 30:33 – Need for individual spiritual responsibility
• 33:51 – Correction in church community
• 38:56 – Praying in tongues, testimony from her husband
• 41:15 – “You can’t exchange what’s popular for what produces power”
• 43:45 – Conclusion and transition back to ministry host

Conclusion: Staying Hungry and Honoring the Word

Pastor Debra Simons’ message is a passionate exhortation to never lose spiritual hunger, to pursue personal development in the Word and prayer, and to value spiritual foundations over mere routine or popularity. She reminds that transformation is ongoing and that honor for the Word, practiced by a disciplined life of prayer and renewal, will keep believers sensitive to—and moving with—God’s purpose.

"He intends for everything that he says to be done. But it has to be through yielded vessels, faithful and obedient, praying in the Spirit and listening and expect change to come." (Debra Simons, 29:13)

For further information, resources, and upcoming events, visit dufresneministries.org.