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SINCERITYAnd the last part of our memory verse today from Psalm 145, mentionsto call upon God in “truth”. Our prayers have to be done in sincerity,so that too is something we need to think about as we talk to God.CONCLUSIONAs I was mulling over this thought that prayer is always available, I gotto thinking about those who don’t know Christ as Savior. They don’thave that daily one on one communication with God.Frankly, I couldn’t live without knowing prayer was available for me.How sad it would be not to have a daily prayer life. I rely on it so much.It gives me strength. It alleviates my worries. Talking to God on a dailybasis helps me so much in so many ways.Easy access to the Lord in prayer excites me. I hope just this thoughtwill encourage all of us in our quest of Loving to Talk to God.EXTRA CHALLENGE:Page12Read Hebrews chapter 11 today. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

DAY # 4BIBLE MEMORY CHALLENGEPrayer & TemptationFebruary 4, 2022THOUGHT FOR TODAYToday we are going to talk alittle bit about the relation ofprayer to temptation.Our thought for today is,Prayer keeps us fromtemptation.Prayer has the ability to keep usfrom straying from the rightpath.DAY # 4 MEMORY VERSEPage13Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.Matthew 26:41 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

PRAYER KEEPS US FROM TEMPTATIONI chose this verse about prayer and temptation because it shows us howweak our flesh is, even in a thing as mundane as sleep.This verse comes from a passage in the Bible where Jesus is praying inthe Garden of Gethsemane. This was right after Jesus had shared a mealwith his disciples. We have come to refer to that as, The Last Supper.This was the time that Jesus was praying for God’s will. Jesus knew Hisdeath was imminent. His disciple, Judas, already had plans to betrayJesus with a kiss.Jesus had taken a few of his disciples with him where He prayed. It wasPeter, James and John (Matthew 26:37, Mark 14:33)Jesus told them to “watch with me” (Matthew 26:38) and “watch andpray” (Matthew 26:41).Jesus had just shared with these men how sorrowful He was before Hewent a little further to pray. Jesus shared what a troubled state He wasin at that very moment. He wanted those disciples to be there for Him,but the flesh got the better of them and they fell asleep. And if you readthe whole passage, they fell asleep more than once.PageThat’s how powerless we are when it comes to our bodies and to theflesh. It wins when we aren’t vigilant.14POWERLESS WITHOUT PRAYER 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

So, it stands to reason if we have trouble with something like beingdrawn to sleep, then how hard will it be to avoid real sin and thetemptation of it?Doing right or wrong seems like it would be easy. Right? Well, it’s notalways! Sometimes it’s a big struggle. We need prayer to help us. Whenwe come face to face with a real battle of the mind and flesh and areteetering on which path we shall choose, prayer can be a such powerfultool.TEMPTATION IS A BATTLETemptation is a battle, and we must prepare for it. You can put rulesfor yourself and safeguards in your life to keep you from sinning, butprayer is a powerful way to avoid temptation.Even The Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus gave as a model of prayer for us,includes praying for avoiding temptation.And lead us not into temptation, butdeliver us from evil Matthew 6:13 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.comPagePrayer can ground us and shield us from a lot of things if we would justrely on it more.15Do you remember the first verse we learned in this Memory Challenge?“Praying always ” Ephesians 6:18. It was right there with the Armor ofGod.

CONCLUSIONWe need the power of prayer to help us avoid temptation. There are somany things we can bring into our prayer life. We can ask for physicaland spiritual things. We can pray for other people. We can praise God.Lots of things. But praying to avoid temptation should be a part of ourdaily prayer life and the first thing we engage in when temptation comesknocking.Page16Prayer can help us avoid hurting other people or even ourselves. It canhelp us avoid making so many mistakes. It can help us stay out of awhole heap of trouble. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

DAY # 5BIBLE MEMORY CHALLENGEPrayer & BoldnessFebruary 5, 2022THOUGHT FOR TODAYEach day I have a thought forus to mull over to go along witheach verse. Today it is,Prayer can be donewith boldness.To me, that’s so exciting thatour prayer life can be done issuch a strong and fearless way!DAY # 5 MEMORY VERSE17Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, thatwe may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 2022 Julia BettencourtPageHebrews 4:16www.juliabettencourt.com

PRAYER CAN BE DONE WITH BOLDNESSToday we are going to talk just a bit about boldness in prayer. I’m notsure if you noticed, but I mentioned this verse on DAY #3, of ourMemory Challenge when we were discussing easy access to prayer.As Christians, we have the right to walk right in and communicate withour Lord. We are His children.MEMBER OF THE FAMILY OF GODDon’t you hate it when you get that awful error when you go to sign into an app or a webpage and it says, “incorrect passcode”? It will tell youthat you may need to “sign up for a new account” or “you must be amember to access”. If you can’t figure it out, you may eventually haveto have them send a new password link.I’m so glad that doesn’t happen with prayer. If we have accepted Christ,we are a “member”! We are a member of the family of God. God’schildren will always have the right access code to prayer. Just onethought and we are with our Lord in prayer. No sign-ins required.Hallelujah!We are the V.I.P. We are part of a Royal Priesthood. We have privilegeswhen it comes to prayer. 2022 Julia BettencourtPage18The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,that we are the children of God: Romans 8:16www.juliabettencourt.com

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him whohath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1 Peter 2:9We don’t have to worry about “incorrect passcode” errors or not beingpermitted when we go to the Lord in prayer. The door is always open!We have the right to enter, and we can do it boldly.EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO PRAYERThink of it as being in an exclusive club. You get all the benefits and allof the privileges!We can have boldness to ask for forgiveness. We can have boldness topray for others. We can have boldness to pray for ourselves. We canhave boldness to even ask for things that may seem outrageous or whatothers may consider “not likely”. Remember, our prayers can make figtrees obey and mountains move as we talked about in DAY #2 of ourMemory Challenge regarding our faith.And above anything we ask in prayer, we can have boldness to just dropour burdens at the feet of Jesus and leave them there. And we can justwalk away from those burdens in boldness.PageI mean, it’s great that we can have boldness as we enter prayer, but ohhow powerful walking away in boldness after talking to the Lord can be.19UNFLINCHING WALK-AWAYS 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

You know! We can walk away like the hero at the end of a movie withthe fire or explosions behind him. He’s got that unflinching face andjust walks away with confidence that the bad guys are taken care of, andthe chaos is behind him.Those scenes should be a part of our daily life as children of God. Wecan walk away from our burdens after leaving them at the feet of Jesus,knowing they are taken care of by the King of Kings.Bold, cool, confident, powerful, strong, resolved, and unflinching walkaways are what we Christians do best when we leave our burdens at thefeet of Jesus in prayer.IMPLICIT TRUSTAnd do you know one of the reasons why we can have all the boldnessto come before the Lord in prayer? It’s because we can trust Himimplicitly with our cares and concerns. We have confidence in Him, sothat bolsters our boldness.And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we askany thing according to his will, he heareth us: 1 John 5:14PageI am so glad I can talk to the Lord and tell Him all about my worries,cares, and share my feelings with Him.20CONCLUSION 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

I can share my wants and desires because I know He will listen and takeany requests I have and do the best for me with them that He can.I can go to the Lord boldly because I have the right to pray to Him, butalso because I have confidence in Him. And I can breathe more easilywhen I have given my burdens over to the Lord.Page21Knowing I can go to prayer in boldness definitely makes Loving toTalk to God something I want to work at more. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

DAY # 6BIBLE MEMORY CHALLENGEPrayer & DedicationFebruary 6, 2022THOUGHT FOR TODAYToday our thought to think about in relation to our memory verse is,Prayer takes dedication.Prayer takes dedication.DAY # 6 MEMORY VERSEAnd in the morning, risingup a great while before day,he went out, and departedinto a solitary place, andthere prayed.Page22Mark 1:35 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

PRAYER TAKES DEDICATIONIn this verse, the “he” it is referring to is Jesus. This is another one ofthose passages where Jesus is traveling with His disciples. On this day,our verse says Jesus rose early to pray.Sometimes that is what it takes to get something done. It takesdedication. It takes a few extra steps. It takes a little planning. It takesa little forethought.MUCH IS REQUIREDThat is what our prayer life requires. Sure, we can pray in quickmoments. We can pray when in serious situations. We can pray in thosetimes of need. But we have to learn to have a constant and continualprayer life. We have to make it an integral part of our daily lives. Wehave to work at it!There are so many things we add to our daily calendars. Prayer shouldbe on our list somewhere or we may forget about it.Page23Think about all the apps we open on our phones just in one day. It maybe things like our bank app, the weather app, or social media apps. Itmay be shopping apps. It could be texting and messaging apps. It couldbe anything, but the point is, we take the time to place our fingers on it,click and see what’s going on, shop, scroll, text, and other things. Wehave to place our hands on prayer during our daily routine as well. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

A BIG PAYOFFA dedicated prayer life will help us so much. It will draw us closer toGod. It will help us to be able to express our wants and desires. It willhelp us plead for the souls of family and friends. It will help us with ouranxieties. So many benefits of having a dedication to prayer!Just setting a daily time for prayer helps me. I usually get up early whenmy husband goes to work and when he leaves is when I have my Biblereading and prayer time. I may pray at other times of the day, butknowing that regular chat time with the Lord is waiting for me in themornings is something that is really special to me.A SOLITARY PLACEWe all need that alone time with the Lord. Part of our memory versesays Jesus went to a “solitary place” when He prayed. So, at times, evenJesus needed His alone time to pray.PageThings that have helped me be more dedicated to prayer are just usingsimple things. I change them up here and there when I feel like I needa boost to my prayer life. Here are several to try.24And I think about how my morning prayer time probably helps anybodyaround me too, because when I grab that time early it helps adjust myattitude for the day. Yep! I tend to be nicer once I’ve had my prayertime. Chatting with the Lord has a tendency to calm me and also lift meup as I head into my day. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

CHANGING UP YOUR PRAYER TIME Choose a specific time (or try a new time if your usual time isn’t working).Choose a specific quiet place (or try someplace new if you are in a rut).Make a prayer journal.Make a prayer list.Record prayer request dates and answered dates.Intermingle prayer with Bible reading.Study verses on prayer in the Bible.Find and study the prayers of biblical characters.Pray aloud from time to time.Pray in different positions from time to time (sitting, standing, on yourknees). Use your hands differently during prayer (lift them, clasp them, cover yourface). Sing a song of praise during your prayer time. Find specific people with specific needs for which to pray for a limited time.CONCLUSIONPageWe all know that in relationships alone it is the little things that makethe difference. Big, grand, but rare gestures, don’t usually accomplishso much. Our prayer lives are a part of our relationship to the Lord.We have to hone in on little changes to our prayer life in order to makeit a dedicated part of our lives. We have to take those extra little steps25Sometimes giving just a little bit more thought to anything can make abig difference. I encourage you to try a few little changes and see whata huge difference it can make in your prayer life. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

to make sure prayer happens throughout our week. We have to showsome dedication to our communication with the Lord.Page26That dedication is going to help us on our journey to Loving to Talkto God on a continual basis. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

DAY # 7BIBLE MEMORY CHALLENGEPrayer & ConversationFebruary 7, 2022THOUGHT FOR TODAYToday’s thought to go along withour memory verse is,Prayer is a two-wayconversation.The totality of prayer isn’t just ustalking to God, but allowing God totalk to us through His Word andthe working of the Holy Spirit.DAY # 7 MEMORY VERSECall unto me, and I will answer thee,and shew thee great and mighty things,which thou knowest not.Page27Jeremiah 33:3 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

PRAYER IS A TWO-WAY CONVERSATIONYep! At least two parties are involved when it comes to realconversations. One-way conversations aren’t really conversations at all.They fall more into the speech, monologue, discourse, or even a diatriberealm. They aren’t conversations. Conversations are sharing betweentwo people or more.Ever looked up the meaning of “conversation”?: an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people: the act of talking in an informalway.“Conversation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, ctionary/conversation. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022I love the thought that prayer can be an informal conversation with myLord. Sure, He is a great and mighty God, but He is also a Friend.A TWO-WAY CONVERSATIONI was thinking about how we keep conversations with friends going andour conversations meaningful. Here are four things that came to mymind.Respect the other person(s).Call them by name.Make time to talk to them.Share your feelings.Page28 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

I think that I should remember to do these things in my conversationswith the Lord as well.RESPECT THE OTHER PERSON(S)Respect in any relationship is a good start to good communication.God shows us respect. He makes us His children. He takes time forus. He leaves us His Word for guidance. He gave us the Holy Spirit forguidance. He even gives us freewill.When friends chatter, you must have respect for each other, or yourconversations sometimes don’t end up so nice. Especially when you arehurt or upset about something. You must have respect for the otherperson, or you may say something you will regret.I think just taking that moment to remember Who God is and what Hehas done for us brings that respect for Him into focus as we go to Himin prayer. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.comPageI love it when people call me by name. I try to call people by name whenI can. Sometimes it puts them at ease or makes them feel you rememberthem, or even makes them feel you know who they are. I have found,especially working in women’s ministry groups so long, that we havesome women that look at calling them by name as something specialbecause they just don’t have many or any people in their lives that payany attention to them. So, I try to do some name calling (and not thebad kind).29CALL THEM BY NAME

I think about how well God knows me. He knows the very number ofhairs on my head (Matthew 10:30). He says I’m more value thansparrows (Luke 12:7).Jesus mentions “Our Father” when He teaches how to pray in Matthew6:9-13.After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father whichart in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Matthew 6:9God has so many names. Try using them in your prayer conversations.Wonderful, Counselor, The Almighty God, Prince of Peace, Jesus,Friend, and so on. Get personal! Maybe even take the time to do astudy on the names of God and what they mean. It will bless your heart.MAKE TIME TO TALK TO THEMPageLike I mentioned yesterday in DAY #6, of our Bible Challenge, prayertakes dedication. Prayer isn’t always convenient. We may have to getup early, stay up late, miss a tv program, or perhaps stop scrolling ourphone for a little bit. We plan what we will wear, where we will eatlunch, what we will have for dinner, and many other things. Makingtime for prayer must get more priority in our lives.30When we love and care for people, we want to spend time with them.Talking to them becomes a desire that we have. 2022 Julia Bettencourtwww.juliabettencourt.com

God takes the time to listen to us. God took the time to have His Wordrecorded for us. God took the time to send His Son to die for our sins.We surely can take time out of our day to talk to Him. We make timefor so many other things. If prayer is important to us, we will find thetime for it.SHARE YOUR FEELINGSWhen we are having conversations with friends, it is all about sharing.If they are close friends, we feel that freedom to share our feelings andwhat is on our hearts. Our close friends want to know our joys, oursorrows, our desires, and even our dislikes.God is the same way. He wants to know what is on our heart. He wantsto know what we really think. He wants us to share that with Him inprayer.PageIf you look at our memory verse, we know God wants us to share withHim. He says to “call” and He will “answer”. And He doesn’tjust answer, but does it in great and mighty ways.31God shares His feelings for us all throughout the Bible. He shares Hislove and His concerns for us. He even shares likes and dislikes in HisWord. We will never truly understand and know God, but when weread the Bible, we begin to understand God and His ways a little more.We begin to know His thoughts a little more.

Jesus had a lesson in all this for His disciples. The disciples were astonished at how fast the fig tree died. This happened right before their eyes. They were all talking about how they were amazed, when Jesus answers them in verse 21. Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye