← The Grove Podcast
The Grove Podcast
Obedience that Lead's to God's Will :: Priscilla Shirer
00:43:20
In this Grove episode, Shelley Giglio sits down with author and speaker, Priscilla Shirer, to talk about raising a generation anchored in God’s Word, living surrendered in every season, and choosing courage over comfort. Priscilla shares how God uses both the big moments and the hidden ones to shape us for His purposes.
Loading summary
Transcript91 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hey, it's Christian Stanfill from Passion, and we are so excited to hit the road this summer with our friends Taya and Levi Lusko. These nights of worship are going to be so special, and we believe God has something unique in store for each city and each of us. Head over to passionmusic.com to get your tickets and we'll see you soon.
- [00:26]
B
Hi, friends. Welcome back to the Grove Podcast. It's Franchesca Price here, and today we get to listen in as Shelley Giglio sits down with speaker, author, actress, wife and mother, Priscilla Shirer. Priscilla is a force for the kingdom of God, and we know you'll walk away from this conversation both encouraged and challenged. In your walk with Jesus, Shelly and Priscilla talk about what God is doing in this generation, what it means to speak God's truth over our kids and over ourselves, and how to live a life that's fully surrendered to him, not just in the big moments on stage, but in the hidden, everyday places no one sees. Let's jump in to today's episode.
- [01:08]
C
Well, thanks for being with us today. It means the world to me that you would say yes. Sorry we had to postpone once. It's okay.
- [01:14]
D
Sorry.
- [01:15]
C
But I'm always happy just to have a conversation with you. Our people love you so much.
- [01:21]
D
Oh, my gosh.
- [01:22]
C
I feel like that's true everywhere but for Passion City, the Grove girls. There's something about Priscilla that's just outstanding to all of us. And so for us, just to converse with you and just to talk about what God's doing in your life will mean so much to us. So thank you.
- [01:37]
D
I love it. Thank you. Any opportunity to chat with you makes me very happy.
- [01:42]
C
So we just were together at Passion for a hot moment. You were able to come, which I love. We had Passion in Dallas this year and it was a little more convenient for you and your family. Obviously, that time of year is such a crunch time of year for everyone, but for you to be in there with your boys and to experience what God is doing in and through Passion, just together. Just talk about that for a second and what that felt like. And you've been a part of Passion for a while, but it just. There was something about you sitting down in front of me with Jerry, with the boys, with just. It was powerful moment to take in for me. So talk about it from your perspective. Had to be so for you as well.
- [02:27]
D
Yeah, it felt completely overwhelming in all the best ways to be able to be there. The last time I got an opportunity to be there was in 2018. And so that's a long time ago. Six, seven years ago. Yeah. So walking in there again, I remember the feeling. It's just an overwhelming feeling of awe is the only way I can really put it. When you see all of these individuals, but all of these individuals that are in that season of life that is such a formidable stage of life, and they're all gathered together and watching them worship, unashamedly watching them with their Bibles open in their laps so that they can hear what it is that God says, knowing that they know why they came, they know they didn't come for just a little, you know, sort of rah, rah. They dare to see what it is that God has to say. And they're sitting on the edge of their seat to hear a word from him. There's something incredibly invigorating about that, personally, to sit there and watch it. And then, like you said, to have two of my sons were able to be there, to have them in the space with me so that they can see these are your people, that there are other people like you boys, who we pray are going to make good choices, who are going to walk in wisdom, who are going to determine that their life might be counterculture and it's okay. You're not alone. That's right. And I think that's what passion sort of reminds me. Everybody present about that is. In that season of life, you are not alone. You might feel like the oddball on your campus or in your sphere, on your high school. On your high school campus. But look around you, there are others like you. So be encouraged.
- [04:04]
C
What a beautiful thing. Well, you were able to stand for a moment and encourage people to sort of rise to the potential that's within them.
- [04:14]
D
Yeah.
- [04:15]
C
It was one of the most powerful few minutes I think, that I've been a part of in a minute. And I was reading your book, which I love this book, I surrender all. Such a special, special offering, I think, to the Lord. But in it, you have a part where you talk about what you say over your sons.
- [04:33]
D
Oh, yeah.
- [04:35]
C
And I felt like we were all sort of your sons and daughters in that moment at Passion where you stood up and just called us higher. You just said that there's so much more than what we might be currently experiencing. Talk about that and what you've taught them to say. Over themselves, believe over themselves, receive over themselves, so that they can therefore live out of who they are.
- [05:02]
D
Yeah.
- [05:02]
C
It's powerful.
- [05:04]
D
I was so glad to be able to and grateful that you let me have that moment with those incredible men and women that were in the room. But I'll tell you, that sort of affirmation, for lack of a better word, that I have spoken over my sons, I want to tell you where that came from. It really came from, in hindsight, the fact that I realized my parents, in a very unofficial way, were doing that. So I. I just got in trouble a lot growing up. I was the kid that, you know, maybe they have all these qualities that are going to work well in adulthood, but while they're teenagers, it just looks like rebellion. It's a little rough. Yeah. Like, it might turn into leadership, but right now it just looks like rebellion. That was me. I'm the one that kept my parents sort of just like, oh, man, we turned out right. Yeah. And my dad in particular, both of them. But I will never forget my dad in particular, when I would have to be disciplined. Like, I was in trouble, you know, there was no skirting over the discipline. There was no skirting over the consequences. But I remember my dad would always also ask the question or make me think about the fact that the thing that I was being disciplined for, like, Priscilla, do you realize that embedded within this, there is something that shimmers with. With God's sovereignty in your life? Like he gave you this gift of communications, if you will actually yield that to the Lord. Do you realize that could be the very thing God uses for his glory?
- [06:26]
C
Powerful.
- [06:27]
D
Oh, yeah. Because I'd be getting in trouble for my mouth all the time. Talking out of turn. Talking disrespectfully, talking when the teacher said I shouldn't be talking, just all. And I would be disciplined for it. But my dad would also say, what if God gave you a gift of communication and that's part of what you're supposed to be doing with your life? So I realized all those years later that. That his ability to take a negative thing that I was using. Well, a thing I was using negatively or inappropriately in the moment, and to place affirmation and spiritual context around that sort of shifted the way maybe my whole life would have gone. So I brought that into my parenting and just decided, let me just be real intentional about that. So since the boys were very little, I had basically said the same thing over them pretty much every day. They can quote it back to me. Most of the time through their growing up, they've quoted it back to me sort of like with their eyes rolled, like, oh, my gosh, can we just hurry this up so we can move on with our life? I can see them now. Yeah, I get it. It hasn't been like. They've been like, oh, thank you, Mother, for sharing this with me. Let us receive today what the Lord says. No, they're like, hurry up. And I would still make them stand there. And the fact that they could start quoting bits and pieces back to me through the years, even though they were just doing it to hurry me up, that made me realize it was starting to form the soundtrack of their identity. They at least knew it was in there. Now they're going to have to make choices that line up with it. So there's no promises that these statements we say to ourselves about our identity in Christ or that we say to our children, that that's going to make them be that. I'm just hoping they will hear. You are a man of integrity, character, and honesty, and you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. You will put on the full armor of God so that you can stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. You are the head, you are not the tail. You are above, you are not beneath. You are a leader, you are not a follow. And the Holy Spirit of God is in your life to equip you for every good work that he has called you to. It's been some version of that right there as long as my children have been alive. And I am hopeful that as they continue to grow, they will hear it ringing in their head when Mom's not around, dad is not around, it's just them and the Holy Spirit convicting them and challenging them about what relationship to be in or not be in, what room to be in or not be in, that they will hear, you're a man of integrity, character, and honesty, and then ask themselves, is what I'm about to do, does it line up with that identity or not? And then that they'll have the courage to make decisions that line up with who God says they are.
- [09:15]
C
I mean, girl, if nobody hears anything but that today, because, let's be honest, so many of our parents may not have given us that opportunity to really align ourselves with who God says we are. So even as adults today, listening to those words and those becoming a mantra over your life, that is a powerful, powerful way to live. And I'm with you. It only works if we align our decisions with who we are, right? So we can proclaim all day long, this is, this is, this is, this is. But we can't really see it matter unless we decide to let our decisions Be aligned with who God says that we are. But what a powerful thing for your kids and what a powerful thing for us. At Passion, you didn't give those exact statements, but when you stood up and said what you have said over them, but also said it over 18 to 25 year olds who are standing in a place who, I do believe many of them have great parents who have prayed enormous amounts, amazing prayers over their life and they are the fruit of their parents prayers. But. And there's so many in there who have no leadership spiritually in their family whatsoever and have really never heard God say over them what's true of them. And so that moment was so powerful for all of us. It was just beautiful. So thank you, thank you to your kids for, I think, growing into that. When I watch you do podcasts with your son, when I listen to what you guys talk about, I mean, I've been in your home when they were much smaller and I think about the way God is honoring those prayers that you've sown into their lives and I just thank God for it. I truly do talk about this generation because they're unusual. And I can remember you and I going to lunch, it's been a few years back now and sitting at a table and talking about who will come behind us, who will take up the mantle of leadership that we feel like God has anointed us for in these days, for whatever time period he allows us to be a part of that. Sure, but who's coming? Where are they? Why can't we see them? What's going to happen? Who are we going to pass it to? I remember just having these very real conversations with you of concern of, Lord, I know you're doing something, but what is it and where are they? And obviously you're not my generation. You're 20 years younger than me, but who was 20 years younger than me?
- [11:47]
D
You just exaggerated that gap maybe slightly. You made really big, maybe not a lot. A lot. 20 years.
- [11:54]
C
I feel like we're seeing now totally in this next generation what we have asked the Lord for and prayed for for a long time. I really can't hardly take it in. And when I'm in Passion or moments like that where we're gathered together, I am overwhelmed by the thought of students taking God up on what he says that he will be to them and do for them and walking in the power of his authority in their life. And I just, it completely undoes me. So let's talk about that full circle moment of seeing God come through in Some ways in this generation.
- [12:34]
D
Absolutely. I was sitting with some friends last night at dinner. We were having a very similar conversation that what we're seeing now is this resurgence of a generation of young people who are realizing oh actually the motivational speeches, the self help, the sort of rah rah insight that I've been gathering for so many years has sounded great and it's been helpful but I actually still don't know what the Bible says. Right. And they are now wanting to know the hunger. Now I'm seeing just sort of rise back up to the surface is back to. But what did God actually say? What is it that, that how has my life been transformed from the inside out? Because God's spirit lives in me. I mean I'm so grateful for all of the practical applicational again ways that tools I've been given to help me to realize my purpose and all of that. That's great. But also I need to know about the fear of God. I need to know how to read my Bible. I need to know how the Holy Spirit speaks to me and convicts and challenges so that I can hear his direction. That fundamental foundational stuff that is truth from the scriptures. I'm seeing a hunger for that now more than I have even a decade ago.
- [13:49]
C
Yes.
- [13:50]
D
And I'm seeing people in their 20s and 30s choose churches. The church they're going to plant themselves in not based on yes, community matters, but they're primary goal now is not necessarily the cultural temperature of the church. It's is are they teaching truth at that church? Do they open the Bible at that church?
- [14:11]
C
Yes.
- [14:12]
D
Do I need a copy of the scriptures at this church? Am I going to hear my their opinion or am I actually going to learn the Bible here?
- [14:18]
C
That's so great.
- [14:20]
D
And man, the fact that that is the hunger is amazing. It's fantastic that we're going back to the the scriptures as a primary need that people are recognizing in their lives.
- [14:33]
C
Yeah. Because you and I both know that that's the only thing that transforms us. People's opinions as good as they are people's, you know, opportunity to be encouragement to us is a gift. Like you said, it's not a bad thing. It is a good thing to have. But to live solely off of that will not satisfy us. We know that the word of God is the only thing that will bring satisfaction to our lives and bring true purpose and understand to what God has for us. And I love that people just will not be quenched by anything less. They're figuring out this is awesome. But it's not enough and it's driving them to the word of God. You know, we did a Jesus Bible several years ago. I think it was like 10 or 12 years ago. And we had always kind of resisted. We'd had a lot of opportunities from NIV and you know, ESV and all the people. Let's do a Bible together. Let's do a passion Bible. And we always had a hesitation because I never really wanted passion to be promoted in the same word as Bible.
- [15:40]
D
Yeah, yeah.
- [15:41]
C
I'm like, passion is something God has gifted to us to carry. It's a stewardship that I pray to God that we've done well carrying. But it and the word of God in the same frame feels, feels to me like, let's just elevate the word of God and let's just elevate so. So interestingly, several years after that, somebody approached us and said, we have a vision for doing something called a Jesus Bible where we can see how Jesus is evident in every single part of Scripture, how he is evident in the Old Testament, how he is evident in the New Testament, how his prevalence through Scripture is what really binds the whole book together. And we were like, we're in.
- [16:27]
D
Yeah, yeah. If you put Jesus and Bible on the same phrase, I'm in.
- [16:32]
C
That is something we would love to be a part of. So we were able to, you know, write highlights in the margins and emphasize certain characteristics of Jesus in other parts of scripture that people might not be, where they don't just go to the New Testament and read the narrative of his life, but they can go back to the Old Testament and see the prophecies and how the they are fulfilled in the New Testament. The shadows and all the delicate ways that God was scripting this from the very start and it was such a privilege to be a part of. But the beautiful thing about it, and my point is we're selling more of em today than we've ever sold before in our lives. The scriptures cannot stay on the shelves. People are. As soon as we release a new one, now it has a brown cover. It's not that we're not changing the content. Obviously Scripture is scripture and the only things we've added to it, I pray, are helpful to that and not in any way taking away from it. So it's not that the Jesus Bible is all that special. It's that people want the word of God and that they are going down shelves, they are looking on Amazon, they are trying to read and figure out which one and that they're moving in a way. And you know, there was a generation. Do you remember the living Bible when that came out, the big fat green?
- [17:46]
D
You were younger than me, so it
- [17:47]
C
might not have been, but in my world, that was a whole thing because it was the living Bible. So, you know, as a student, you could really read and understand it. That was the goal of it. Whatever, whatever. And I remember thinking, this is amazing. I'm so grateful to have this. And I kept seeing it everywhere with all these different people and thinking, how cool is that? And then today to see the Jesus Bible and Bibles like it all over in people's hands, to go into passion and see 45,000 students with the Bible in their hand. I mean, praise God.
- [18:18]
D
This is a new day. Praise God for it. It's fantastic.
- [18:23]
C
Awesome. Well, I wanna talk to you because part of your book that you wrote a while back talks about people leaving on the table things that God's offered us. It talks about Christians who are satisfied with so much less than what God actually has given us the opportunity to live in. And you titled the book I Surrender all because it's. It does have to do with our ability to take God up on, I think the opportunity to live fully in the grace of God in our lives. I love it so much. You and I have so much in common. I think, as it relates to really surrendering our lives to the Lord in a way that is the outcomes are different than we would have expected. I don't even understand how God has used my life. I never would have proposed that this would be how he would want to take me and use me. I think same for you in so many ways. But the act of surrender was the same. The outcome of where God's taken us, completely different, unique to us. But the act of surrender, of saying to God, you are worthy of my trust and belief, the same. So talk a little bit for all of us who are at a point of trying to understand how to trust God enough to give him things that scare us. Yeah, yeah. To really put our lives fully into his hands. Talk about that.
- [19:48]
D
Well, the main thing that comes to my mind, even as you're saying that, is that it's so important for me and you to realize and for anybody listening to realize that's following Christ, that this is an ongoing thing for the rest of our lives. It's not like this moment of surrender and then we just sort of live the rest of our lives. No. Every day we're taking up our cross. Lord, what is it that you require of Me today or in this season of ministry, or in my marriage or with my children or whatever. Lord, what is it that you're asking me to lay down so that I can be in line with what you need this season? What kind of empty. How do I need to empty myself so I can be a vessel that you can utilize in this season? And that's one of the things that I'm realizing as I talk to people that are decades older than me. Not you, Shelly. I'm talking about people that are actually decades. Let's go with the decades. That's true. But there's a woman in my life, I call her Aunt Jo. She's not my real aunt, but might as well be. She's known me since I was 3. She's 83, and I still talk to her. And her whole conversation in her relationship with the Lord is how she's still saying, lord, what is it that you require of me today? How can I honor you today? How can I make it so that my spiritual ears are still sensitive to your voice today? How do I make you smile today? And I'm just sitting here thinking, oh, my goodness. This is a lifelong journey of surrender, of constantly turning our hands upward and asking the Lord how we can best honor him. So I think that's important, too, that people realize it is a part of spiritual growth. That is the sanctification process of the rest of our lives. And we're all still doing it, and it's okay.
- [21:27]
C
Yeah, I think it should be encouraging and not discouraging, right?
- [21:31]
D
Totally.
- [21:32]
C
That at 83, we have the opportunity to still do that is a miracle, truly.
- [21:37]
D
And the fact that we're wrestling, the fact that there are gonna come seasons or things that we sense the Spirit requiring us to release or restrain or whatever, and the fact that we're wrestling, number one, is proof that the Holy Spirit is there. Like, we still live in the flesh. So your body still wants to be placated, Your flesh still wants to be placated, Particularly when the thing on the line is not an issue between. It's not a sin issue. It's not black and white. It's just the Lord saying, I need you to. This thing has begun to take first place. I need you to make sure I'm in first place. And it's a gray area. It's not sin. It's just the Lord saying, you know, I'm not first right here. And, man, your flesh is going to struggle against that. And that means there is encouragement in that, because that means the Holy Spirit is present enough in your life that a struggle even exists. Right. Because a lot of people, there is no struggle. They're not thinking about what the Holy Spirit's requiring of them or asking of them. They don't even recognize that conviction. But when you do, that means the Lord is calling you higher. He's inviting you deeper. He's preparing a table before you, if we'll take him up on that offer. So recognize that that struggle actually is a sign of God working in your life. And then. Yeah. Be honest with the Lord about the struggle. I have to be okay, Lord. I don't really want to. I don't really wanna give you this.
- [23:00]
C
Give you this. Yeah. I don't. Yeah, you mentioned, I think, something very powerful. And we should talk about it for a second. Because so much of it isn't black and white. It's preference, it's comfortability. It is. I know how to operate in this less, and I don't know how to give God the opportunity to give me more. I can't surrender something that I feel comfortable in. I. It's not even sin. It's just I'm placated by my comfort. And I just feel like the Lord is constantly asking me, this might be your preference. Okay. For instance, for me, I'm a homebody. I love to be home. I love home. I'm good at being home. I know how to be home. And yet at the same time, God has asked me to go, so what am I gonna pick? Am I gonna pick my preference and my comfortability of, you know, I'm a homebody and I really love. And I don't mind building. I can, as long as I'm right here doing it. Or am I gonna take him up on his offer to be enough for me when I lay that down and prefer whatever he has for me? So that would be one of my things that's a constant. Lord, I hear you. I know you're saying go. It's hard for me, but I want to obey you worse than I want to be comfortable.
- [24:21]
D
Yeah.
- [24:22]
C
I want obedience to be honest, the mantra over my life, she obeyed God and she left every consequence to him.
- [24:32]
D
And I'll give you the same illustration on the opposite side that the Lord in some instances, has said to you to go when you've not wanted to. And there have been times the Lord has impressed upon me to this day.
- [24:44]
C
Wow.
- [24:45]
D
Yeah, there have been. And you know this about me. I think that there have been so many things that I have said no to that I have Declined that other people thought were incredible invitations and opportunities. And why would you not do that? Because there's a stay. There's a. Nope. Stay home. Nope. Stay local. No. You don't have to participate in all the things and do all the things.
- [25:09]
C
I love it.
- [25:10]
D
One of the biggest times that I saw that in my life, which, which really felt sacrificial to me at the, at the time was after I filmed War room, which was 10 years ago. Now that I filmed that movie.
- [25:23]
C
That's so crazy. That's been 10 years.
- [25:26]
D
Isn't that crazy? Time is like flipping yes. And this was a part of our life and ministry. That was the biggest surprise. Like, I'm not an actress. I'm not a skilled actress.
- [25:38]
C
Like it's just didn't know it yet. Yeah. Well, your gifting is apparent to all of us now.
- [25:46]
D
Well, listen, I'm grateful that the Lord did something with that because it was one of those things that it's like, okay, Lord, I'm very fearful about this. I feel very intimidated and insecure about it. But it feels like you're giving our family an opportunity to do ministry in a way that's so outside of our box. So we did that and I'm glad we did it. Was it. There are so many things attached to a project like that that you don't. You can't fully calculate how it's going to impact you and your family, particularly if it does well. You can't if it does well like War Room did. The main thing I'm getting to is there is an anonymity that is lost for Jerry that was overwhelming. My husband is a very private person, a very, you know, behind the scenes person. In his mind, the way that it impacted him, he would. It would have not been his preference for us to ever do a film ever again.
- [26:41]
C
Yeah.
- [26:41]
D
But the ministry side of it, he could not discount the people that would have never come to passion, would never open a Bible, would never read a book, book that I've written or do a Bible study. But they will sit in a movie theater. Millions of people from different religions, different walks of life, who we've met everywhere in shopping malls and grocery stores who have asked us to pray for them, who very clearly don't know Jesus. They're maybe dressed in garb that lets them know, lets us know they're of a completely different religion or they don't even speak our language. But they wanted us to pray for them. Jerry could not discount that. And my, my point in saying that is I remember Writing down in my journal, Lord, I had so much fun doing that. It shocked me how much creative fun I had in doing a project that's so outside of my box, but also the ministry impact. But Lord, if I have to lay that down and never do it again, if that's the one time you've given us the opportunity to do it and I lay that down, I'd love to be able to do it again, Lord, because it was fun. And what an opportunity to reach people outside of the my usual box. But if I have to lay it down to honor my marriage and to not put my family in an uncomfortable position, I'm willing to do that. Wow. And I remember saying that sort of with tears rolling down my face, only because for me, it had just been a fun experience. I loved the reach of it, but I recognized the Lord wouldn't ask me to do something that puts my own husband and my children in a position that doesn't work for our family dynamic.
- [28:09]
C
Oh, you're preaching now. That is so powerful.
- [28:11]
D
Yeah. So there are times when what the Lord is saying is go. When it's uncomfortable. There are times when the Lord's going to say, no, stay. That bigger is not always better, that he's not always calling us to breadth and more. And I'm getting off on a little soapbox here. But one of my concerns has been, Shelly, that as social media has given us the privilege and the joy to do ministry in broad ways, the flip side of that is those who are coming up underneath us that feel a calling and compelling towards ministry, if they're not careful, they'll just look at the people they're following on their social media feed and think ministry's supposed to look like this, right? That there has to be platform attached to it or followers attached to it or breadth attached to it. That is not the goal dangerous that having a stylist or well lit photos or it looking a certain way and having a certain aesthetic has nothing to do with whether or not your ministry is honoring God. Now you can use it as a tool, enjoy yourself, use it it in a way to reach people. But when this becomes sort of the reason why we're accepting an opportunity or the reason why we're being compelled to do something, then we've actually missed the goal, which is, Lord, what, what have you called me to do? Is it that I'm supposed to be having coffee with two women that you want me to disciple for the next five years? And that's the ministry you've called me to and nobody on social media ever knows, ever know. And it has nothing to do with a platform or lights and cameras. But it is the ministry you've called me to, I'm hoping that allow the breadth of what we've seen in some people's ministries to water down the beauty of just being obedient in the small spaces that God is calling all of us.
- [29:51]
C
That is so good and so true. And, you know, so much of that stuff never makes social media as it shouldn't. I mean, I don't want to sit at a table with women to be taking our picture of look as us spending time together with the Lord. That shouldn't be on social media, in my opinion. Psychology, that's private thing. But I think that's what makes up the public moments. If God had just put me at passion with all the people and I had never walked through becoming the person that he invited me to be, then people would have been, I think, less enthralled by what God's done through us. Yeah, it wouldn't feel real to them. And people are pretty discerning. You know, we miss it sometimes. And we've all been shocked by plenty of things in ministry that were so disappointing. Things that we. I'm like, I was around that person. I never would have thought that about their life. So we've all had those moments. But I think as a general rule, we're pretty discerning about the things that feel authentic and that don't feel like a show. This isn't just people aren't just parading around to make something of themselves. This really is about God. I mean, I think we have that by the Holy Spirit in us to be discerning about those things. And I think about the difference in my life if somebody had seen me on a stage or you on a stage and all these years later and not known about the dark room where God was making us, not known about the hours and hours you spent raising three incredible boys. There was no one taking your picture as you poured out your life into your family. There was no one putting that on a magazine cover and saying, look at Priscilla, she is awesome. But I know, because I know you, that that formed you with God in a way that cannot be replaced. So that when I see you in war room, I can truly celebrate what I see in you. And the way God is using your giftedness and using your anointing and like you said, redeeming some of those things with your character, that younger years, you know, he's using that stuff that Your dad was trying to see a glimmer of hope in way back in the day. And it's authenticated by the life that you've lived behind the scenes.
- [32:08]
D
Praise the Lord.
- [32:09]
C
So thank you for being that kind of person. Oh, thank you.
- [32:12]
D
I appreciate you saying that. That means a lot coming from you because I know, you know, you and I have talked so much about integrity and how it matters and having character and going the long haul just because faithful in what God has called us to do. And I was thinking as you said that that one of the seasons of our ministry that I realized in hindsight was probably the most formative and important for me was when I was in my early 20s, I had a cousin that moved from the east coast to go to college at Southern Methodist University, smu. So she's down the street from us, where we live and she was trying to find a little Bible study group or discipleship and she couldn't. So she called me one day. She's about five years, six years younger than me. She called me and said, hey, would you be willing to come over here and just sit with me and some friends fairly regularly, twice a month maybe and do a little Bible study, a little discipleship? I ended up doing that for five years.
- [33:06]
C
I love it so much.
- [33:08]
D
There were never any more than eight women that came to that. I had no idea at that point that ministry was a full time calling. I had no aspirations for full time ministry. I had gone to college for something different. It didn't occur to me that those quiet years, the Lord was actually training me. He was disciplining me in the study of His Word. I had to think of illustrations to help these eight women maybe understand the principle I was going to share with them. There were paragraphs that I wrote down. I had no idea later would become the forming for whole chapters of books that you could have never told me. I'm not, I'm not a writer like, you know, I didn't know I'd write books here. There were little chapters I had saved or little paragraphs rather I had saved little insights. I'd saved little thoughts. In those five years of discipling those eight women that, to your point, were not on magazine covers. There was no social media at the time.
- [34:04]
C
Nobody clapped for you when you left.
- [34:06]
D
No, it was just me showing up to do that Bible study. I wish I would have been more faithful with it even. I wish I would have paid more attention to it. I wish I would have dove in deeper and invested myself more fully because I Didn't realize then this was part of the training ground for what the Lord had in the future. And I should have been more intentional and invested. So I say that for anybody who feels like they're sort of in this space right now. The reality is you do not even recognize. You won't recognize until hindsight that these were the seeds you were planting in a harvest you're going to sit in later. So plant them, suckers. I mean, give it.
- [34:46]
C
Yeah.
- [34:47]
D
Tend them well, cultivate them well. They're part of the story.
- [34:50]
C
Yeah. I think that's the beautiful thing that just years gives you the opportunity to tell people, you know, and people ask me all the time, how do you stay? How are you still? It feels to me like you still love God. I'm like, yeah, more than ever. And I think the reason is because I did. Without knowing how those things mattered. Somehow, by the Holy Spirit, I did have insight into this isn't season that matters. And I stood behind. You know, I didn't even go on a stage until maybe 2020.
- [35:24]
D
Yeah.
- [35:24]
C
You know, I'm 61 years old. That's a long time to not be on a stage. But I knew what God was cultivating in me was so valuable. Not just that he would use it for somebody else's opportunity, but that he would make me into the person that he desired for me to be. And Louie was preaching this last week, and he was talking about the story of Joshua again, and how the people all went into the promised land and looked around and said, no, too many obstacles, too many herds of people that are way bigger than us, and too many things, even though the land is flowing with milk and honey, we can't do it. And how Joshua and Caleb came back and said, we. We believe we should do it. And how long that season took for them to actually, once Moses died, enter the promised land. And part of the insight that he drew from it was a statement that will stick with me for a long time. And the statement was that Christians spent a lot of time praying for the Holy Spirit to give them clarity. I just need to understand better. Is this something I'm supposed to take? Is this something I'm not supposed to take? Are these people we can overcome? Are these people too big for us? Is this God? I just. I need clarity. I just need clarity. And the statement he made was, maybe you don't need clarity, but what you actually need is courage to go take and possess the land that God has given you the opportunity to take.
- [36:54]
D
Yeah.
- [36:54]
C
And that statement, without knowing how it's
- [36:57]
D
all gonna work out.
- [36:58]
C
I have no idea how it's gonna play out. I just have a promise. I just know that God said, I'm giving it to you if you're gonna give it to me. That's awesome. But the only way it's gonna make a difference in my life is if I take possession of it.
- [37:14]
D
Yeah.
- [37:15]
C
Because he can offer all day long. He can say, that land is yours and I've opened up the territory and it's yours to take, but unless we take it, it doesn't belong to us.
- [37:24]
D
Absolutely. Absolutely.
- [37:26]
C
So maybe we don't need more clarity. Maybe we need courage.
- [37:30]
D
Absolutely. And here's what keeps coming to my mind as you're saying that. I love this conversation so much, but courage to just do the next thing. Like, we're always praying, lord, clarity, Lord, show me your will for my life. What we really mean is, lord, would you show me the next 20 years? Like, I want the vision for how this is all gonna be mapped out.
- [37:50]
C
I wanna know how it's gonna play out. That's what gives me comfort.
- [37:53]
D
That's right. So we say, lord, show me your will. And we mean the next next 20 years. And he's just saying, if I could get you obey, to obey for the next 24 hours, like, what is it? I have a day. That is my will. If you do my will today. Yeah, you've got the stepping. Get enough courage to do what I've asked you to do today. The mundane details of today. Do that with all your might, as unto the Lord. And then, like you said, you look back and realize all of that was God's will. I was walking in God's will the whole time. And every disappointing part of it, every triumph, every struggle part, the hard part, the flat, stale part, all of that was part of the story God was telling. But I just needed enough courage to invest myself in what the next thing was and realize it was God's will all along.
- [38:44]
C
That's so beautiful. Pray for women today, because I know that they would love to hear you pray over them. And I just think for all of us, we would love to take a step toward full obedience to God.
- [38:54]
D
Yes.
- [38:55]
C
And today for us, you know, it might be the smallest thing. For me today, it is some very small things that I know are lingering that God has given me the opportunity to take him up on that. I just want courage to say, okay, God, I'm going to believe you for that today, and I'm going to put that in your hands. And I'm going to move forward today. So I feel like there are a lot of women who are in the same places today and let's just pray over them in Jesus name.
- [39:17]
D
Absolutely. Oh Lord, I thank you so much for the gift of your grace. That your grace not only sees each of us where we are, but sustains us where we are. So for every single one of us, Lord, who are in different seasons of life, some of us distraught and discouraged, disappointed, we feel disheveled, maybe in this season. Others of us in seasons where there are successes and joys and triumphs, some of us just stable. It's just good enough Lord, wherever we are in the journey, thank you that you see us.
- [39:49]
C
Thank you Lord.
- [39:50]
D
And that your grace is sufficient for that season. I pray that you would speak that over every single one of us. Your grace is sufficient. We are not lost on you. We haven't misplaced you. You haven't misplaced us. You know exactly what is happening in each of our hearts and minds and family dynamics and ministry dynamics and work dynamics. You know it all, you see it all. And you're your grace is sufficient. You will see us through this. You will walk with us every step of the way. You will never leave us nor forsake us. And Lord, I honor you for that today. It encourages me so much to know that your grace is sufficient for this season. I'm in. So I pray for every single one of my sisters under the sound of my voice, Lord, that you would give us courage for today, that you would give us the confidence that we need by your spirit to surrender to you for today, Lord, help us to hear your voice clearly, help your word to come alive to us today. Help us to know your character more fully, Father, and as we do, it will help form in us the courage that we need to completely surrender our all to you. Father, I pray against every scheme of the enemy that is meant to derail us from your path and your purpose that is making us think that it is not enough what we're doing or that we are not enough. Lord, I thank you that right now in Jesus name you are dispelling all insecurity, all demonic intimidation, all fear that is not from you, Father, so that we can walk in the courage that comes by your spirit, Lord. Lord, every space that we enter in, would you help us to remember that you've called us and commissioned us into that space for your purposes. I'm talking about every single encounter in the grocery store, every random interaction that we have, things that feel like an interruption to the schedule of our day, but are actually divine appointments for us to offer. That smile, that. That gift of encouragement, that word of wisdom, that little gift that allows us to be the answer to someone else's prayer, a prayer we didn't even know they prayed. But we get to be a vessel used for your glory in the regular rhythms of everyday living. I thank you, Father, that you've called and commissioned each of us, whether we're on a stage with a microphone in our hand, or whether we're just washing the dishes in our home, parenting our children, rubbing shoulders with our co workers or our classmates, that it is all for your glory and it is all ministry. Thank you that we are ministers of this grace and this gospel. We honor you, Father, with our whole lives. And we thank you, Father, for the days ahead that you are going to empower us to be your witnesses to the end of the earth. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
- [42:38]
B
I'm so grateful for Priscilla and Shelly and the way they pointed us back to Jesus, to his word, and to a life fully surrendered to him. If today stirs something in you, maybe a place you need to trust God or a simple step of obedience in front of you, I pray you'll have the courage to say yes. You don't have to see the next 20 years. You just have to trust him with your next step. You can keep up with Priscilla on her Instagram priscillashirer. If you want to stay up to date with all things the Grove, join us online@thegroveonline.com and follow along on Instagram at cctgrove. If you love this show, and we hope you do share this with a friend, leave a review or tag us on Social. Thanks for listening, Grove girls, we love you and we're praying that in every space you step into this week, your home, your job, your campus, you'll remember that you are called, commissioned and carried by the grace of God. We'll see you next time.