This week, Dr. Angie Ruark and I focused on how to build a life around women praying powerfully. Want your own sisterhood of warrior women who pray? Keep reading now for Dr. Angie’s wisdom! Or click on the podcast to hear her thoughts in her own voice.
Last week, I plied Angie Ruark with tons of questions about her personal life. (If you missed her story last week, click here.) She shared about praying great women into your family.
Vouching for Spiritual Women
I included Angie’s book in our series on inspiring devotional books because I find Angie’s life and family inspiring. But just as important, I can personally vouch for many of the women who contributed chapters to her book. They are women I know and respect.
Once you get your kids raised and out the door, a marvelous thing happens. You suddenly have so much more energy to do the things you always dreamed of doing. Many of the women in Angie’s book have been doing great things all along. Only now they have time to write about what they’ve learned in the process.
Resourcefulness and Supporting Each Other
First, Angie took lessons out of one woman’s life to inspire us to be resourceful women like Lydia, beautifully described in the Bible.
“So, here was a successful businesswoman in a major city in Macedonia, who was serving God—yet she had not heard the Gospel,” writes Angie in her book Spiritual Warrior Women: Pray. “I imagine as a successful businesswoman, especially in the trade of costly goods, Lydia knew how to bargain. She would know when to speak and when to listen. She would know when to throw in something to seal a deal.”
Don’t all women relate to being resourceful? Think of how many times in life we don’t have what we need. We have to look around the house and grab something and make it do.
“It speaks to her resourcefulness, but also how she recognized the value of the Gospel these men preached. She knew it was priceless,” Angie adds in her book speaking to the way Lydia persuaded Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke to stay in her home. Not long after, we read of a church established in her home.
As talented, professional women who manage home, work, and community commitments we can relate to Lydia’s approach to life. She’s a great example of accomplishing great things and trusting Jesus in the process, according to Angie.
Women Trusting and Helping Each Other
Nowhere is resourcefulness more important than in appreciating the human resources God sends our way. We simply must support others in the things God calls them to accomplish, particularly other women since we best understand their challenges.
Angie devoted half her book to the stories and wisdom she gathered from her friends. I’ve prayed with many of these women myself and I can tell you, they know what they are talking about. To me, they are examples of the way God uses modern people to accomplish His plans.
Sisters Are Already There
If you’re wondering where to find women like that, they may already be in your life. Angie knows first hand what it’s like to suddenly realize you already know the women you need.
“That’s kind of how this whole book, the whole Sisterhood of Prayer Warriors kinda came about. Because I knew all these women,” she reports. She pondered the qualities and stories she needed for her book and listed women she knew. A surprising thing happened. “It would hit me that they had that gift or that powerful testimony. And they were already in my life and I just hadn’t realized it.”
I’ve noticed the same thing. When I had moments when I couldn’t see God moving, I would notice there were women in my life to speak the words I needed. Most of the time it’s about noticing who God has already brought into your life.
Generational Effects of Prayer
For a gal who raised boys only, the mother-daughter dynamic permeates Angie’s life—and her book.
For instance, because her son married such a good woman, Angie is related to three contributing writers in her book, Linda Dill, Susan Ellsworth, and Autumn Ruark.
They are grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter. (If you missed our interview with Susan Ellsworth, click here. For more about the ministry, Linda Dill and her husband Pastor James now spearhead, click here.)
Another mother daughter duo contributed their stories and wisdom, Pat Self and Heather Stoner.
Angie dedicated the book to her mom, who “gained eternal victory just before this book was completed.”
Passing the Baton
Then, in a final mother-daughter moment, I received my copy of Angie’s book from Grace English’s daughter, Sarah. She was so proud of her mother’s chapter she couldn’t wait to share it. Sarah is a wonderful example of a young woman poised to continue accomplishing great things. (To find my interview with Dr. Grace English, click here.)
In these families, we see the sisterhood of praying warrior women running beside the next generation, even before they pass the baton. It makes me so happy to see daughters picking up where their mom’s influence has taken them.
“It’s quite an honor for me to help these women have somewhere to share their wonderful, powerful stories and testimonies,” says Angie, “I take that very seriously.”
Not a Platform: A Catapult
Like Angie, God wants to use us all to amplify the many good messages He inspires.
For instance, when we began Fireside Talk Radio, we turned to social media advisors to help us build a platform. We had no idea God was building a catapult!
God knew it. But we didn’t! I dreaded starting the show all by myself. How dumb is that? As I asked my friends to join me on-air, I discovered I knew many courageous people with heroic stories. Most of them dd not have time, energy, or interest in building an internet platform.
They just wanted to share what they learned in hardship and offer hope to others. We soon discovered the joy of amplifying the encouragement God wants out there! (To sign up for our FREE weekly blogs, podcasts, and interviews, click here.)
Angie shares our philosophy of wanting to support other people in this process of getting positive messages to a world in need of them. We don’t want to do it alone. We want other people to succeed alongside us.
One Example of a Courageous Warrior Woman
For example, Grace English is a doctor who joined with many others to start a small clinic with major impact in our community. Bethesda Health Clinic brings together people of all backgrounds and churches of all denominations. We wish every community had a Bethesda.
God began to prompt Grace to talk about her abortion in pubic. She didn’t have to do it. Grace is loved and admired by everyone who knows her. Why risk her reputation? But she wanted to trust God with her most tender experience. She encouraged me to do the same.
A compassionate, effective conversation about abortion opened up in East Texas due to Grace’s courage and commitment. An organization, CARE, Christ-centered Abortion Recovery and Education, was born, helping hundreds of women, men, and families each year.
When Dr. Grace writes about healing in Angie’s book, she knows what she’s talking about.
“The trauma could be inflicted by others, or it could be from poor choices you have made in your past. Either way, the Lord doesn’t want you to live in that trauma, but instead has come to give you complete healing and freedom from it.” ~Dr. Grace English, Spiritual Warrior Woman: Pray, pg 205.
Spiritual Warrior Women
Like Grace, Angie’s life reflects wisdom from many amazing individual women, a broad spectrum of women God brought together in her book, for example.
“Putting Jesus first does everything. Whatever you have been through, whatever you are in, whatever’s coming, when you put all that in His hands, He’s gonna take that and make something wonderful out of it if you let Him,” affirms Angie.
A wonderful sisterhood of spiritual warrior women exists to serve each other, especially by praying it forward. We are excited about you, dear sister, and the good things God is accomplishing through your life!
May we pray together?
Dear good Father in heaven, we all need strong sisters. Thank You for the good women, the spiritual warrior women, You put in our lives. Bless us now, Father, so we love each other and unite around Your purpose. Help us catapult Your truth to others. Give us hearts to encourage each other. Bless our culture now dear Father as Your children turn to You for guidance. We love You. Thank You for giving us each other. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
We LOVE to hear from YOU!
When has God answered a prayer using a spiritual warrior woman? What is your favorite answer to prayer? Who do you turn to when you don’t know how to pray for yourself or your family?
New Adventures in Devotion
I am really excited about our recent interviews with two very spiritual ladies, Brooke Frick and Lindsey Bell.
If you missed the amazing Brooke Frick, here’s the link to her devotional book Hand’s Full. If you’re already diving into her book, congratulations! Isn’t it fun and inspiring?! If you want to subscribe to her blog, click here. I’m a fan!
If you or anyone you know needs to draw closer to God by emulating courageous Bible heroes, check out Lindsey Bell’s fabulous book, Unbeaten. I follow Lindsey here and I hope you will, too.
Also, Abba’s Answers, a devotional book of stories compiled by Deb Butterfield is available here. It includes the Compassion Story, the story of how David responded when I told him about my abortion.
Prayer requests:
Please continue to pray about our upcoming interview with the beautiful Sarah Van Hook. Sarah is so dear to my heart. I really admire her. I can’t wait to pass onto you what she will share about experiencing sexual abuse as a child. She is a pediatric child therapist now as an adult. We are in for invaluable information from this champion warrior woman. (Find her mom’s story and her wisdom on how to be Carried By Grace when you find out your child has been abused.)
PLEASE keep praying for Sarah now in advance of her interview. (We bind the enemy in Jesus’s name and we ask You, Good Father, to bless Sarah in every way.) Thank you for taking a minute to agree with me in prayer to unleash all God wants to do with Sarah’s powerful message.
As I always say, praying with you, my warrior-hearted sisters, makes me happy! What would I do WITHOUT YOU in a world that needs prayer so much!!! Keep praying!
Don’t Miss the Fun and Fabulous Sandra Beck!
In this very personal interview, Social Media Guru Sandra Beck asks me about my upcoming book, The Well: The Art of Drawing Out Authentic Conversations. She adds hilarious stuff to all conversations. To find more from Sandra, go to Motherhood Talk Radio. For our interview, click below.
Building Better Communication Between Partners Sandra Beck of Motherhood Talk Radio speaks with Cathy Krafve about her new book which highlights how couples can better communicate their needs- especially in these trying times that strain even the best of relationships.
If you would like to JOIN MY BOOK LAUNCH TEAM, just click here. And THANK YOU!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Cathy Krafve, Columnist, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and Christian Writer, invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks