Made to Pray Podcast

When God's Word Becomes Your PrayerWhat if spending time in God's Word became more than something we check off our daily to-do list? What if Scripture became so rooted in our hearts that it naturally shaped our thoughts, strengthened our faith, and even became the words we pray?In this episode of Made to Pray, Karrilee and Lori talk about the beauty and power of getting God's Word into our everyday lives. Whether you've been reading the Bible for years or you're trying to rebuild a consistent habit, there's an invitation here to start where you are and let Scripture become part of who you are.We're talking about practical ways to engage with the Bible—listening to Scripture, reading it aloud, memorizing verses, worshiping through Scripture-based music, and even writing notes and prayers in the margins of our Bibles.Karrilee shares how a prayer written in her Bible more than 25 years ago still reminds her to pray for someone today, and together we reflect on how God's Word has a way of rising to the surface when we need truth, encouragement, or direction.Then we move from talking about praying Scripture to actually doing it!Together, we read and pray through Psalm 84, asking God to deepen our hunger for His presence, strengthen us through difficult seasons, and remind us that our truest home is found in Him.Whether you're walking through a dry valley, longing for a fresh encounter with God, or simply wanting to grow deeper in your relationship with Him, we hope this conversation encourages you to open your Bible, slow down, and let His Word lead you into prayer.Because time spent in God's Word is never wasted.📖 Scriptures to Spend Time With This WeekPsalm 84 — Our main passage this week! Read it slowly, pray through it, and consider reading it in more than one translation.Psalm 119:11 — Hiding God's Word in our hearts.Psalm 119:105 — His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.2 Timothy 1:7 — Remembering God's truth when fear tries to take hold.Psalm 23:4 — Trusting God's presence as we walk through difficult valleys.A little invitation for this week: Open your Bible to Psalm 84. Read a few verses aloud, pause, and turn what you're reading into a personal prayer. There's no formula and no pressure to get it perfect. Simply make room for God to meet you in His Word.💜 We're so glad you're here!At Made to Pray, we believe prayer doesn't have to be complicated. We're simply two friends learning to walk with Jesus, listen for His voice, and make room for His presence in our everyday lives.Each week, we talk a little... and then we pray!If this episode encouraged you, we'd love for you to follow or subscribe, share it with a friend, and join us again next week.Let's keep making room for more of Him. 💜

Have you ever reached the point where you’re tired of trying to figure out the right thing to pray?You’ve prayed. You’ve believed. You’ve quoted Scripture. You’ve tried to have faith, tried to be patient, tried not to grow weary—and yet some of the things you’ve been praying for still haven’t changed.Sometimes we reach a place where we realize:More than we need God to answer our prayers, we need God Himself.This week on Made to Pray, we’re making room for a fresh encounter with Him.Not something we can manufacture.Not another formula to follow.Not another thing we need to work harder to make happen.We’re simply praying:God, interrupt us.Interrupt our routines.Interrupt our striving.Interrupt the endless scrolling.Meet us in our homes, our cars, our workplaces, our worship, our conversations, and the ordinary moments of our days.Remind us that You are right here—closer than our breath.Karrilee shares Isaiah 30:18–21, a passage she has been reading and praying throughout the week. It gives us such a beautiful picture of the God we’re crying out to: the God who is gracious, who hears our cry, who meets us even in seasons of adversity, and who promises to guide us with the words: “This is the way, walk in it.”We also talk honestly about trust—especially when the waiting has been long.What do we do with the parts of ourselves that know God is good…and are still struggling to believe it?How do we recognize the lies that quietly creep into our thoughts and replace them quickly with truth?What would happen if we prayed out loud, read Scripture out loud, and filled the atmosphere around us with the truth of God’s Word?And what if we stopped looking only for God to encounter us in some dramatic moment and began watching for Him everywhere?In Scripture. In worship. In conversations. In nature. Through another person. While doing the laundry. Even while we’re mindlessly scrolling.Because God doesn’t only want us to know about Him. He wants us to know Him. To trust Him. To recognize His voice. To experience the love of a good Father. To be reminded that He is real, He is near, He sees us, and He cares about what concerns us.So this week, we’re praying for encounters.We’re asking God to surprise us. To correct us. To encourage us. To heal the places where trust has been wounded. To silence the skeptic in us long enough for us to lean in. To show us which way to go. To reorder our priorities. To awaken our hunger for His Word. And to remind us again that we don’t only want to have encounters with God—we want to become people through whom others encounter Him, too.Maybe the prayer for this week is simply:“God, I need You. More than an answer, more than a breakthrough, more than anything You can do for me—I need You. Make room in me for a fresh encounter with You.”Come pray with us. 💜📖 Scriptures to Spend Time With This Week:Isaiah 30:18–21 — God is gracious, He hears our cry, and He promises to guide us: “This is the way, walk in it.”Proverbs 3:5–6 — Trust in the Lord with all your heart rather than leaning on your own understanding.Jeremiah 33:3 — Call to God and He will answer and show us things we do not know.Psalm 46:10 — “Be still, and know that I am God.”Psalm 42:1–2 — A soul that thirsts and longs for the living God.Psalm 84:1–2 — A heart that yearns for the dwelling place and presence of God.✨ Made to Pray is a Christian podcast where we have honest conversations that lead you back to God through biblical encouragement, practical faith, and prayer.🎧 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you never miss a new episode each week.💜 If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who may need the reminder this week:God is near. He hears you. And you can make room for Him right where you are.

Have you ever realized that somewhere along the way, you stopped expecting God to move?You still believe. You still pray. You still read your Bible. You still love God.But maybe prayer has started to feel more like routine than anticipation.Maybe you’ve prayed the same prayers for so long that you’ve quietly stopped expecting an answer.Maybe life has worn you down, and instead of walking with the Holy Spirit, you’ve slipped into simply trying to keep everything going in your own strength.We understand.This week on Made to Pray, we’re talking—and mostly praying—about moving from weariness back to expectancy.In Ephesians 3, Paul prays that believers would be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. And maybe that kind of strengthening doesn’t always look like becoming tougher, braver, or more capable.Maybe sometimes it looks like unclenching our fists.Leaning back.Trusting God again.Remembering that we were never meant to fight every current in our own strength.Lori shares a beautiful story about her grandmother praying through her family name by name—and the legacy of prayer one generation can leave for the generations that follow.We talk about what happens when disappointment, waiting, self-reliance, and the ordinary routines of life slowly turn down our spiritual expectancy.And we come back to a simple invitation:Do it again.You prayed before? Pray again.You hoped before? Hope again.You tried before? Move again.You haven’t heard God lately? Ask again.Because the answer to weariness isn’t necessarily trying harder.It’s allowing the Holy Spirit to strengthen us again.In this episode, we pray for God to:• break off weariness and replace it with anticipation• strengthen us by His Spirit• reawaken our hunger for His presence and His Word• teach us to recognize and respond to the Holy Spirit• stir up prayer for our families, communities, and the people He puts on our hearts• renew our trust when circumstances feel uncertain• remind us that unanswered prayer is not unheard prayer• give us courage to begin moving again• awaken fresh testimony, hope, and expectancyMaybe you’ve been surviving more than expecting lately.Maybe you’ve grown tired of waiting.Maybe you’re wondering whether that prayer you’ve prayed again and again is ever going to be answered.Come pray with us.Lord, break off the weariness and replace it with anticipation. Strengthen us by Your Spirit. Teach us to trust You again—and help us expect You to move.📖 Scriptures to Spend Time With This WeekEphesians 3:16–19 — Paul’s prayer that we would be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in our inner being and rooted and grounded in love.Psalm 23 — Our Shepherd leads us beside still waters and restores our souls. We don’t have to spend our lives fighting the current alone.Hebrews 11:1 — Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen.Romans 8:28 — Even when we cannot see the whole picture, we can trust that God is at work.Revelation 12:11 — A reminder of the power of testimony and why telling the stories of what God has done matters.✨ Made to Pray is a Christian podcast where we have honest conversations that lead you back to God through biblical encouragement, practical faith, and prayer.🎧 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you never miss a new episode each week.💜 If this episode encouraged you, would you consider sharing it with a friend? You never know who might need this conversation today.

What if the thing standing between you and a deeper encounter with God isn’t that He’s far away—but that life has trained you to move too quickly?We live in a culture of hurry. We rush, multitask, fill our calendars, check the box, and move on to the next thing. And sometimes that same hurry follows us right into our time with God.But encounter is slow and intentional.This week on Made to Pray, we’re continuing the conversation we began last week about repentance, surrender, and returning to the presence of God. Because sometimes redigging the wells means doing the work of removing what has blocked the flow—and then learning how to stay, wait, and linger again.We’re sharing some of our own encounters with God—the moments that marked us, changed us, redirected us, and became reminders we could return to later.Karrilee shares an unforgettable encounter that began with God repeatedly prompting her to read the book of Hosea. What she eventually discovered in Hosea 2:16 shifted the way she understood her relationship with God: He wasn’t simply calling her to obey Him as Master. He was inviting her into deeper intimacy.We also talk about:✨ Why encounters with God can become markers we return to throughout our lives✨ What it means to truly know God—not simply know about Him✨ Why we may need to create intentional space to linger in His presence✨ Recognizing and responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit✨ Remembering the places where God has met us before✨ The beautiful picture of the Shepherd leading His sheep beside still waters✨ Becoming sensitive again to the presence and voice of God✨ Asking God to reawaken our hunger for Him—not simply for what He can do for usAnd then, as always, we pray.We pray for fresh encounters with God. For interruptions from the Holy Spirit. For old testimonies to be remembered and new ones to be written. For hearts that are sensitive to His voice. And for the willingness to slow down long enough to recognize that He has been near all along.Maybe this week isn’t about adding another thing to your spiritual to-do list.Maybe it’s simply about making room.Sit a little longer.Open your Bible without rushing.Take yourself on a coffee date with God.Turn on the worship music that once stirred your heart.Remember the places where He has met you before.And pray:“Lord, make me desperate for You again.”Because we don’t just need more information about God.We need His presence.📖 Scriptures to Spend Time With This WeekHosea 2:16–20 — God’s invitation from merely relating to Him as Master into deeper covenant relationship and intimacy.Psalm 23 — The Shepherd who knows His sheep, leads them beside still waters, gives them a place to rest, and restores their souls.Psalm 24:1–10 — Clean hands, a pure heart, seeking the face of God, and opening the gates for the King of Glory.Jeremiah 1:5 — “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”—a reminder that God knew us before our days began.Matthew 11:28–30 — Jesus’ invitation to come to Him when we are weary and discover that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.✨ Made to Pray is a Christian podcast where we have honest conversations that lead you back to God through biblical encouragement, practical faith, and prayer.🎧 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you never miss a new episode each week.💜 If this episode encouraged you, would you consider sharing it with a friend? You never know who might need this conversation today.

What comes to mind when you hear the word repentance?For some of us, it may sound heavy—shame, condemnation, or a list of everything we've done wrong.But what if repentance is actually a gift?In this episode of Made to Pray, we're talking about the Day of Atonement, the practice of repentance, and the invitation to live with a clean heart and a short account with God.As Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement—approaches, we're looking at what this ancient biblical observance can remind us about reverence, surrender, holiness, forgiveness, and our need for God. As Christians, we aren't putting ourselves back under the law or suggesting that believers must observe Yom Kippur. Instead, we're remembering that Jesus fulfilled what the Day of Atonement pointed toward: He became the sacrifice, shed His blood for our sins, and made a way for us to draw near to God. And because Jesus already paid the price, repentance isn't about earning forgiveness.It's about receiving it.We talk honestly about how easy it can be to recognize the “big” sins while overlooking the quieter places where we've ignored a prompting, spoken carelessly, held onto an offense, relied on ourselves, or simply gotten a little off course. Sometimes keeping a short account with God means allowing the Holy Spirit to show us the small things before they become bigger things. And there's an important difference between conviction and condemnation.Condemnation attacks who you are and pushes you away from God.Conviction tells you the truth—and leads you toward the forgiveness, restoration, redemption, and security that are already available in Christ. So we're praying the words of Psalm 51:Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me.We're asking the Holy Spirit to search us, reveal anything that needs to be laid down, soften our hearts, and draw us closer to the presence of God. Yom Kippur begins at sundown on September 20, 2026, and ends at nightfall on September 21. If the Lord leads you, consider setting aside intentional time during this season to pray, fast, repent, forgive, and simply meet with Him. Not because you have to earn your way back to God.Jesus already made the way.Come with a humble heart. Lay it down. Receive His forgiveness. And experience again the freedom and joy of drawing near.Because repentance isn't an invitation to shame.It's an invitation to come closer.📖 Scriptures to Spend Time With This WeekPsalm 51:1–12 — A prayer of repentance: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”Leviticus 16 — The Day of Atonement and the biblical picture of atonement, cleansing, and sacrifice.Romans 3:23–26 — We have all fallen short, but we are justified freely by God's grace through the redemption of Jesus Christ.1 John 2:1–2 — Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.2 Chronicles 7:14 — Humble ourselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from our ways.The prayer at the end of this episode brings several of these truths together beautifully: asking for clean hands and a pure heart, receiving forgiveness, and choosing to live surrendered and ready to partner with what God is doing. ✨ Made to Pray is a Christian podcast where we have honest conversations that lead you back to God through biblical encouragement, practical faith, and prayer.🎧 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you never miss a new episode each week.💜 If this episode encouraged you, would you consider sharing it with a friend? You never know who might need this conversation today.Make room for real conversation with Him this week... invite Him to come closer, to search you and know you!Be blessed,~Karrilee & Lori~Made to Pray Podcast