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to the people. Life

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why Capella University's Flex Path Learning format lets

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if something comes up. Imagine

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how a flexible education can make a difference

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for you at capella.edu. Hey

0:47

friends and welcome to the Happy Hour with

0:49

Jamie Ivey podcast. I'm your host Jamie and I'm

0:51

so glad you're here. Each week on this

0:53

show I invite a friend to join me

0:55

and we chat about the big things in life,

0:58

the little things in life and everything in

1:00

between. Hey

1:10

friends this is Jason Talley the audio engineer

1:13

for the Happy Hour. Jamie recently released a

1:15

statement on Instagram that she is stepping away

1:17

from podcasting for a while. As

1:19

a team we have decided to air the six conversations

1:21

that were already recorded. We decided to do this for

1:23

a couple of reasons. First we want to honor the

1:25

guests, we want to honor the projects that they have

1:27

worked on and we also really want to honor the

1:29

stories that they're sharing. If this is your first time

1:31

to listen to the Happy Hour or you've been with

1:33

Jamie since the beginning, thank you. You're

1:35

the reason this community really is so great.

1:39

We want you to keep having your own Happy Hour with your

1:41

friends, reading new and exciting books and finding

1:43

new things that you're loving all the time.

1:46

And on behalf of Jamie and the whole team, we love you. Hi

1:51

Priscilla welcome back to the Happy Hour. Hello,

1:53

thank you for having me. Really

1:55

a joy to have you and I

1:58

feel like we're both in this. summer

2:01

mode with bigger kids and

2:03

I think that we should

2:05

spend just the first couple of minutes encouraging

2:08

those young mamas because do

2:10

you remember summer with

2:12

the young babies? Yes, girl. Yes, absolutely.

2:14

It's a whole situation, isn't it? It

2:17

is a whole situation. Like I

2:19

know like your niece, Keris, I love

2:21

following her because she just does amazing

2:23

things and she's in this little

2:26

kid mode. Okay, what is your encouragement and

2:28

I'm gonna think of mine too. What is

2:30

your encouragement to these mamas in

2:33

the summer with the little kids and

2:35

maybe even let's do this. Maybe you're you're

2:38

you're just got this new rhythm. Your kids are there.

2:40

They're they're in the house all day. What's your encouragement?

2:43

Be as flexible as possible. Relax and

2:45

be flexible. That's so good. If you

2:47

I feel like sometimes because we do

2:49

have all of us in our minds

2:51

a picture of the way we think

2:54

the season should go or the day should

2:56

go for example and if you're too rigid

2:58

with that then everything becomes a frustration

3:00

when it shifts and shifting

3:03

is the name of the game. It's the

3:05

reality. It's what's going to happen. So if

3:07

you go into the day with loose goals

3:09

whether it's priorities about how clean the house

3:12

is gonna be or the schedule that you

3:14

hope to keep up or what you hope

3:16

to achieve with your kids in terms of

3:18

continuing education in the summer all those great

3:20

things hold it all loosely and

3:22

then just relax and go with the flow.

3:24

Your kids will be fine and so will

3:26

you. I love that so much and I

3:28

look back on my younger self and I could

3:31

have used those words. You say continuing education. My

3:33

kids will probably laugh about this for years. Every

3:35

summer I would go to the bookstore and I'd

3:37

buy those notebooks like summer learning and then

3:40

the end and I would say guys you've just been 30

3:42

minutes on these before you can do anything else you know

3:44

and then at the end of the summer I get them

3:46

or no it wasn't the end of the summer. Recently we're

3:48

making up the Goodwill bags like y'all clean out your rooms.

3:51

They all brought stacks of these books

3:53

not even a work done in them Priscilla. I

3:56

don't know how they were sitting there lying to

3:58

their mama's face but they were just just

4:00

looking at the pages, just lying.

4:03

But it's okay, it's okay. I know, I think

4:06

about summer too, and man, with me having kids

4:08

that are older now, that I just

4:10

don't see them as much. I mean, you know what

4:12

it's like, I've got these big kids. I treasure the

4:14

moment that I pull in the driveway and all their

4:16

cars are here. I'm like, they're all here. I just

4:18

say, man, I look back. I would have treasured more

4:20

had I known how fast it was gonna go, and

4:23

that feels so trite to say, as like a mom

4:25

looking back, I think we could say that about our

4:27

whole lives though, with every relationship. But

4:29

it is, I love your advice, take a slope. Like you and

4:31

I were talking about before we started recording, I have a

4:33

freshman in high school, and so I've

4:35

got this one here, and I am

4:38

still calling, there are a couple women in my life who

4:40

are like 10 years ahead of me, and

4:42

I'm still calling them to get to clarify when

4:44

I'm in seasons where we're struggling with something or

4:46

we're coming towards the summer, and I feel like

4:48

it's too much time wasted. We should be being

4:51

more deliberate and intentional, just to get encouragement that

4:53

it's okay. It's gonna be okay, just take a

4:55

deep breath. So here I am with two kids

4:57

in college and one in high school, and I'm

5:00

still having to have a sounding board of

5:02

encouragement. So for those of you that have

5:04

young kids or you've got teenagers, whatever, or

5:06

young adult kids, whatever stage you're in, it's

5:08

okay to still need to call somebody and

5:11

say, now what? Now what am I doing

5:13

and how does this work? We

5:15

all need encouragement all along the way. I love

5:17

that, you think we'd get to the last one and be

5:19

like, oh, I got this, no. I feel like I don't

5:21

know what I'm doing. Every kid's different, first of all. Totally.

5:24

So I just wanna hear from you, and

5:27

you're a Bible study teacher, you've

5:29

grown up in the church. In

5:31

fact, I just finished reading Philip

5:33

Yancey's book, his memoir, Let

5:36

There Be Light or All The Light or something like that,

5:38

and he mentions your dad in that book, and so I'm

5:40

like, I just loved reading it. I'm like, oh,

5:42

I'm gonna talk to Priscilla soon. You've grown up

5:44

around the church your whole life, and I really would

5:46

just love to hear from you. What is your story

5:48

of encountering Jesus? When did you have that kind of

5:51

moment where you thought to yourself, I'm

5:53

gonna follow this guy who lived 2,000 years

5:55

ago, and I believe this to be true. Yes,

5:58

well, as I think. anybody can

6:00

attest to, there are different stages

6:03

of that, that there are different encounters that you

6:05

have in different seasons of life that

6:07

kind of sober you up and help you to realize

6:10

that God's calling you to more or to

6:12

deeper depths with Him. The first one that

6:14

I can remember is being probably

6:16

around 11 or 12 years old at

6:18

church. I have been in the same

6:20

church that I grew up in my whole life, great Bible

6:22

teaching church. By the time I was 11 or 12, I

6:25

knew a pretty good amount

6:28

of scripture, just, you know, sword drills. You know,

6:30

I could win the sword drills and raise

6:32

my hand in class and answer some questions about Jonah

6:34

and Gideon and the Red Sea and all that. But

6:37

I remember being in church one Sunday and the church

6:39

was small enough at the time where we could have

6:41

testimony service. Now, I don't know, Jamie, if you know

6:43

what I mean when I say testimony service, I'm talking

6:46

about old school sister so-and-so shuffling

6:48

up to the microphone and saying, first, giving

6:50

honor to God, who is the head of

6:52

my life, you know, and she

6:54

would do all of the pleasantries and then give

6:57

testimony of how some way

6:59

God moved miraculously in her finances or her

7:01

health or with her children or in her

7:04

marriage. And I remember going

7:07

through testimony service at least once a month when

7:09

our church was smaller, but on that

7:11

day, whoever gave the testimony that day,

7:13

I don't remember the details of it,

7:15

but I remember thinking in that moment,

7:17

wait a minute, how does she

7:19

hear the voice of God like that? How

7:22

did she experience God so practically like

7:24

that? And maybe it was the

7:26

stage of life I was in just maturing a

7:28

little bit and matriculating into teenage years that it

7:30

occurred to me that everything I knew was

7:32

irrelevant if I wasn't experiencing it. If

7:35

I didn't hear, if there was a disconnect,

7:37

it made me feel like there was a

7:39

disconnect. Even though I celebrated with the rest

7:41

of the church about the miracle God had

7:43

done in her life, it also created a

7:46

little bit of attention within me that, wait

7:48

a minute, she's experiencing this God

7:50

of the Bible and it created a

7:52

hunger in me. It wet my appetite

7:54

that there has to be something more

7:56

than just knowing this stuff. And

7:58

that's one of the first. Now

8:01

I know Holy Spirit encounters I

8:03

had where the Lord used the testimony

8:05

of somebody else to really

8:07

light a fire in me for

8:09

wanting to experience this God of the

8:11

scriptures. And it kind of set me on an

8:13

entire different trajectory and path about what it meant

8:15

to walk with God and know God. Net

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people. Life

8:39

doesn't have a pause button. That's

8:41

why Capella University's FlexPath learning format lets

8:44

you set your own deadlines and adjust

8:46

them if something comes up. Imagine

8:48

how a flexible education can make a difference

8:50

for you at capella.edu. I

8:56

love that so much because a lot of

8:58

people have the same kind of story as

9:01

yours. I've just never remember a day I

9:03

wasn't in church. I grew up

9:05

in the church as well. It took a different path

9:07

than you did, but I do remember always

9:10

being in church. I mean Wednesday night supper. I

9:13

sometimes think, I wish we had

9:15

Wednesday night supper still. When I remember when my kids

9:17

were little, I would have given anything to know I

9:19

was going to get a meal on Wednesday night. But

9:22

I grew up in the church 100% like that

9:24

as well. I do remember my

9:26

encounter was later in college, but

9:28

I think it is so

9:31

impressive to me. It's

9:34

so true of God's word of what it does to us is that

9:36

you were 11, 12. You've been around

9:38

scripture your whole life. You had been hearing it.

9:41

You were doing the sword drills. Your dad was

9:43

a pastor. Your family was involved. You

9:45

still can go, I remember when I heard

9:47

somebody share their testimony, what it did for

9:49

me. It makes me think Priscilla

9:51

about how many times God's word is just

9:53

like that. Paul starts almost

9:55

every letter like, here I am a sinner, the worst of

9:58

these. Let me tell you about Jesus. And

10:00

we will be saying, we'll know each other by the way that

10:02

we love each other. And so I love

10:04

that so much. I'd love to hear as you grew

10:06

up in the church and you had this encounter where

10:08

you realized this is this woman's story and this is

10:10

what it's gonna look like. Do you remember when you

10:12

decided, and I could be stepping ahead

10:15

of here of other encounters you've had with the Lord, but

10:17

you've committed your life to serving him. You've committed your

10:19

life to full-time ministry. Do you remember what that journey

10:21

looked like for you of saying, you know what, I

10:23

really do believe that this is gonna be a calling

10:25

that God's put on my life? Yeah,

10:28

and I will answer that and let me preface that

10:30

too by saying I had my

10:32

ups and downs in faith, even though at 12,

10:34

I can remember having some, you know, 13, 14,

10:36

some sobering moments with the Lord. You know, I

10:38

got to college and just, I

10:40

don't even recognize that person. I mean,

10:43

just foolish, just walking in a way

10:45

that was completely out of alignment with

10:47

the scriptures, not honoring

10:49

God. And there were lots of sobering moments there

10:51

where I can almost remember the Holy Spirit waking

10:53

me up out of my sleep. It

10:56

was almost like he was sitting right there trying

10:59

to wake me up out of my spiritual slumber

11:01

and my bad choices. So the

11:03

hound of heaven would not let me go even when

11:05

I was trying to, and I'm so grateful for that. But

11:08

as I went through college, I

11:11

interned at a Christian radio station. I went

11:13

to school for broadcast. I'm sorry, I'm

11:15

gonna interrupt you because I just have a question I need to know.

11:18

Talk about this season in college. What

11:21

was an encounter like for you when

11:24

you said, I no longer want to

11:26

live this foolish lifestyle. I no longer

11:28

want to walk in the ways of

11:30

my fleshly desires. What made

11:32

that, and then I want to hear the college and the

11:34

radio broadcasting. What made that switch for you? Well,

11:37

I'll tell you the first thing that comes to my

11:39

mind. There was a relationship that I was in, you

11:43

know, that stupid kind of love where you're

11:45

just doing dumb stuff, but you're feeling it in

11:47

your soul. Like you're like, this is my person

11:49

and you're just kind of going with it. And

11:53

I remember when that guy broke my heart,

11:55

when he decided he did not want to

11:57

be in a relationship with me and we had gone around and

11:59

around. around for quite a while. It

12:02

was tumultuous and hard and whatever. And

12:04

I remember being devastated. I

12:06

mean, at the lowest of the low.

12:08

And I was driving one day somewhere

12:11

and there have been a handful of

12:13

times in my life that the Holy Spirit has spoken

12:15

so clearly to me. It was not audible, but he's

12:17

spoken so clearly to me that it was almost like

12:19

he was sitting in the next seat. And this is

12:21

one of those times I pulled over off to the side

12:23

of the route road because I was crying so hard. I

12:26

could not see the road in front of me. And I

12:28

thought I need to pull over. So I'm

12:30

at a very low point and I'm sitting there sobbing

12:32

with my head in my hands. And I heard the

12:34

Holy Spirit say to me, he

12:37

does not want you and

12:39

you still want to be with him. I

12:42

want you. Why won't you just

12:44

be with me? We'll never

12:46

forget it. It was one of

12:49

those moments where the Lord just kind of

12:51

smacked me across the head and said, I

12:53

am here. I've got you.

12:55

Come walk with me. I

12:57

won't devastate you like this. And

13:00

again, I was probably 20 and

13:03

here I am headed into my 50th year

13:05

and it's still as sobering

13:07

a reminder to me now as it was to

13:09

me then. It makes me, we'll

13:12

talk about this later about your new book coming out. It

13:14

makes me think about that. Like, am I going to surrender

13:16

everything to follow you, Lord? Okay. So you have

13:18

these sobering moments, the Holy Spirit, you've got to pull

13:21

over. You're crying. I love it so much. What

13:24

did it look like for you to decide to go into full-time ministry?

13:27

Well it was a journey in the sense that

13:29

I didn't realize I was doing it until it

13:31

was happening. There was never a plan or a

13:33

strategy or I'm going into full-time ministry

13:36

kind of decision moment. There

13:38

were doors that the Lord was opening and other

13:40

doors he was closing. I went to

13:42

school for broadcast journalism. I wanted to be

13:44

a news anchor. That was my plan. I

13:46

had already planned it out. I was going

13:48

to graduate and then I was going to

13:50

go to Podont, Nevada where you start so

13:52

that you can build this broadcast journalism career.

13:56

All along the way, to make a long story short, there

13:59

were little calls. that I would get starting around

14:01

the age of 1920. A call

14:04

would come in every now and then for me to

14:06

just come and lead a small women's Bible study. So

14:08

I would show up and do that. My

14:11

cousin, for example, moved from Maryland to come

14:13

to Southern Methodist University, which is right here

14:15

down the street here in Dallas

14:17

from where we live. She couldn't find a Bible study.

14:20

So she called me and said, hey, would you just

14:22

come over and do a twice-a-month study

14:24

for me and my friends? Well, I did that for

14:26

five years. I was just showing up to help my

14:29

cousin and her little eight friends. Sometimes

14:31

there'd be four of us, sometimes there'd be 10 of

14:33

us, never more than 10 in those five years. I

14:35

did not even know then even

14:38

the study for that, the thoughts about what

14:40

illustrations could I put with these words that

14:43

I want to share to help these 10

14:45

young girls grow in their relationship with the

14:47

Lord. Those years

14:49

were the framework for a whole ministry that

14:51

I didn't even know would be the entire

14:54

assignment for my life. So

14:56

that was the door that was open for ministry. I

14:58

just did that. And then from that, there would be

15:01

little calls for me to come and do that with

15:03

another group. And I just did that. And

15:05

to make a long story short, the calls to

15:07

do that in some form or fashion never stopped

15:09

coming. And that was 25 years ago. Meanwhile,

15:12

the doors to do television and broadcast

15:14

journalism were firmly closing, firmly closing, which

15:17

felt devastating at the time. As a

15:19

young 20-something coming out of college, I

15:21

was like, we're going to be on

15:24

an upward mobility here with this career

15:26

choice. But the doors just

15:28

kept closing. And the insecurity I felt

15:30

at the time because of

15:33

those doors closing was staggering. But

15:35

now I see clearly that it

15:37

was the Lord shutting doors, opening

15:39

others. And as I surrendered to

15:41

just what was in front of me to

15:44

do everything from writing, I would have never

15:46

written any book had the opportunity

15:49

not presented itself to me. And someone encouraged

15:51

me, no, this message needs to be on

15:53

paper, but I'm not a writer. I never

15:55

did good in English class. I was like,

15:57

that doesn't matter. Just let's just put it.

16:00

this message on paper. It was

16:02

going through doors. I didn't even think I had the capabilities

16:04

or qualifications to walk through, but it was what

16:07

the Lord was putting in front of me to

16:09

do. It was what was in my hands to

16:11

do. And honestly, for 25 years,

16:13

the only way I can confidently say that

16:17

I'm in full-time ministry is because I

16:19

guess since after 25 years, I've just

16:21

been doing things that are involved in

16:24

ministry. That means I'm full-time ministry, but

16:26

it's just been following the Lord to do

16:28

the next thing. It

16:31

feels like the Lord was like, I'm

16:33

going to sneak a fast one on her. I'm going

16:35

to close some doors and open some

16:37

doors. Before she knows it, here she is. It

16:39

just feels like he got it. It was just

16:41

like, I'm going to get her where I need

16:43

to get her. It's

16:47

funny because you said you're going into your

16:49

50th year. And I'm hearing you

16:52

talk about how you would have never planned to do

16:54

what you're doing now. You didn't plan to write a

16:56

book. You're like, I wasn't good in English. I can't

16:58

do this. I had all these other plans. And here

17:00

you are. You're in a movie that comes out in

17:02

the fall. And I'm confident that

17:04

10 years ago, I don't know when you were

17:06

in your first movie, but I'm confident 10, 15

17:08

years ago, someone saying, Priscilla

17:10

has a movie coming out would have been like, that's

17:12

not in the cards. What?

17:15

What are you even talking about? What

17:18

are you even talking about? But this is just the

17:20

path that God has led you on. And I can't

17:22

help but think back to that 11, 12 year old

17:24

girl, Priscilla, hearing that woman's testimony about how God had

17:26

been faithful to her. And here you

17:28

are all these years been just walking that out.

17:30

And your testimony is someone's listening to that as

17:32

well. So I'm grateful for you sharing about your

17:34

encounters with the Lord. And I want to talk

17:36

about this movie that you're in that comes out

17:38

in the fall. And you actually have a book

17:40

that comes out too, called I Surrender All. I

17:42

alluded to it earlier. Tell

17:45

me what drew you to this movie. Because I'm

17:47

confident that someone sent you

17:50

some information about it. Hey, would you be interested

17:52

in what drew you to this movie particular, that

17:55

comes out in August? Well, the Kindred

17:57

brothers are like my actual physical. biological

18:01

brothers at this point. We are just

18:03

family. I have such an

18:05

appreciation for their integrity and

18:09

their desire to edify the body of Christ with these

18:11

films. These films like War

18:13

Room or Courageous or Facing the Giants,

18:15

they're not like stepping stones because they're

18:17

trying to start now making other things.

18:19

This is their ministry. They are

18:22

basically preachers disguised as filmmakers. They

18:24

wanna do everything they can to

18:26

be unapologetic about the singularity of

18:28

Jesus Christ to edify God's people.

18:30

And they're hoping that in a

18:32

cinema or in a theater, there will

18:35

be people that would never pick up a book or

18:37

a Bible study that might be drawn to Jesus because

18:39

they're sitting over hot, buttery popcorn with a soda in

18:41

their hand. And the Holy Spirit just sort

18:43

of smacks them in the face. So because

18:45

I know their heart for ministry, and

18:49

in fact, they're the ones that got me on this

18:51

train to begin with because they were at War Room

18:54

and they called me about doing that film.

18:56

And I said no originally because we've all

18:59

seen a movie before that

19:01

could have been good, except for one person that thought

19:03

they could act, couldn't act. And

19:06

I was like, y'all, are y'all serious? And

19:08

I actually texted them the names of several

19:11

African-American actresses that

19:13

I thought, y'all, these people are actresses. They can

19:15

do this, and they can do it well. And

19:18

they just were adamant. They like Priscilla, we

19:21

just have been prayerful while we've been writing.

19:23

And the Lord keeps bringing you to our mind. Would you at

19:25

least read the script and

19:28

see, and we think if you pray about it and read

19:30

the script, you're gonna see it isn't just a movie, it

19:32

is ministry. And of course now in

19:34

hindsight, as we know, War Room was straight ministry,

19:36

you know, just in that through a different medium.

19:38

And it's the same thing with The Forge. It

19:41

is about discipleship. That's the crux

19:43

of the whole movie. It is

19:45

unapologetic about bringing forth this idea

19:48

that has been lost a little bit

19:50

at the church, particularly in the Western

19:52

church culture where mega churches, at least

19:54

in decades gone by, in recent decades,

19:57

the goal has been bigger. But

19:59

with. Christ model through the church, there's

20:01

nothing wrong or through the scriptures, there's

20:03

nothing wrong with having something that's big.

20:05

But the crux of the

20:07

church was always community, fellowship, 12 following

20:10

closely with Jesus, and then these three

20:13

that he had even more intimate relationship.

20:15

And discipleship in the scriptures wasn't

20:18

when Jesus used the term, he

20:20

was using the term because it would have already

20:22

been familiar with people in the first century. Disciples

20:24

are what people were called

20:26

that were trying to

20:28

infiltrate the Jewish culture with Greek

20:30

thought, Plato and Aristotle and all

20:33

these people, they would have disciples,

20:35

which were basically like apprentices. They

20:37

weren't just their students that they taught once

20:39

a week for two hours on a Sunday.

20:41

These folks would leave everything to

20:43

follow the master so that they

20:45

could, their whole life could be

20:47

impacted by this teacher. So

20:50

when Jesus looked at the 12 disciples and said, come

20:52

follow me and be my disciple, these

20:54

12 knew exactly what he meant. You

20:56

are leaving everything as you've known it, not

20:58

just the spiritual sacred part of your life,

21:01

the religious part. No, the way you think

21:03

about your finances, the way you mother father

21:05

your children, the way that you interact

21:08

with other people, your politics, your

21:10

perspective on governance, all

21:12

of that's going to shift because an

21:14

entirely different way of living. Well, in

21:17

this movie, you see a young boy

21:19

and he needs and has

21:21

some men that show up in his

21:23

life and basically say, come and follow

21:26

me as I follow Christ. Let me

21:28

show you what it's like to get

21:30

your whole life restructured and

21:32

reordered. And it's told in a very

21:34

practical way, a single mother of a

21:37

young boy who's missing a father figure.

21:39

And this mother's praying that some man

21:41

will come in her

21:43

son's life and help to give

21:46

him some momentum for living, some

21:48

focus, some direction. And

21:50

I love the way the script is written because

21:52

as you'll see, when you see the movie, it's

21:54

not a pastor, it's a

21:57

businessman. He's just doing his job and

21:59

doing it with with excellence, but his

22:01

eyes are always open to see what

22:04

employees the Lord entrusts to him for

22:06

the purpose of pouring into their lives.

22:08

And this young boy's life is completely

22:11

changed because one businessman takes his post

22:13

in the marketplace seriously as a disciple

22:15

leader. NetCredit

22:19

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22:32

approval. Learn more at netcredit.com/partner. NetCredit. Credit to

22:34

the people. Life

22:36

doesn't have a pause button. That's

22:38

why Capella University's Flex Path learning format

22:40

lets you set your own deadlines and

22:43

adjust them if something comes up. Imagine

22:45

how flexible education can make a

22:47

difference for you at capella.edu. I

22:53

love that so much and I'm sure as a

22:55

mom to boys, I have boys as well. Even

22:58

as you're telling me the scene

23:00

and how it's playing out and the people taking in,

23:02

that's what Erin and I have prayed for our kids,

23:04

all of them, we've got her as well. It's like,

23:06

would you bring people in their life, just walk alongside

23:09

them and just walk with them and people

23:11

who are further along in their faith to do

23:13

that. And I think that that

23:16

is so important. This is, prayer is

23:18

in this movie as well as it's been in the

23:21

war room. That was the big theme of it and

23:23

that's been an important thing. And side note, I don't know if I

23:25

ever told you this, when Alina, who's

23:27

also in that movie with you, when her and

23:29

I went on a trip together

23:32

in Africa, I'm telling you, everybody

23:34

knew who she was. And I was like, what

23:38

is up with the war room? Everybody. Jamie,

23:41

and let me tell you something. One

23:43

of the, there were many things Jerry and I

23:45

prayed about before we did War Room, before we

23:47

did a movie, because the idea of it was

23:49

so outlandish to us. And

23:51

one of the factors that was

23:54

our final kicker to say yes and to

23:56

do it was that Alex

23:58

Kendrick said to me, writer and director

24:01

of that film, he said to me,

24:03

Priscilla, if you spoke somewhere to a

24:05

thousand people every weekend from

24:07

today until the day that you go

24:09

to heaven, you will not reach

24:12

as many people as a movie will. And

24:15

I remember when he said that to me, it

24:17

occurred to me the weightiness of these movies,

24:19

that they go into places like you mentioned

24:22

being in Africa or I remember being in

24:24

Israel after the movie came out and you

24:26

know there are tour groups from all over

24:28

the world in Israel and I remember this

24:30

group of women from from India coming up

24:33

to me in Israel and just

24:35

weeping, there were probably a hundred of them

24:37

standing around me just weeping not because of

24:39

me but because they were trying to communicate

24:41

in their language to me the impact that

24:44

this movie had had on them in salvaging

24:47

their marriages and helping them to prioritize

24:49

prayer. And I just thought to myself

24:52

in what world would I have ever

24:54

had the opportunity to minister to these

24:56

women? So to your point, these movies

24:58

go so far and wide in a

25:00

way that is exponential to what we

25:02

could do if we individually were present

25:05

in these spaces every weekend

25:07

for the rest of our lives. Unbelievable. I

25:09

just remember being like, Alina,

25:11

this is crazy.

25:14

We're speaking of prayer. You know, it's so

25:17

fundamental in our lives as Christians and it's in

25:19

the war room and it's in this movie. What

25:22

did you learn from this movie about prayer?

25:24

I mean, especially as a mama maybe even?

25:27

Yes. Mostly,

25:30

and this sounds so fundamental,

25:32

but mostly that it matters

25:35

that we are praying for the

25:37

other people the Lord will entrust

25:39

our children to and vice versa.

25:42

That as you mentioned, I'm a mom of three boys

25:44

and now that they've gotten older, I see it more

25:46

clearly that there are coaches

25:49

of teams that these boys are on at

25:51

these universities that they're going to or the

25:53

coaches they have on their high school campus.

25:56

The impact those men are having on

25:58

my sons. is exponential for the good

26:00

of the bad. That is, they

26:02

don't place value on them. If they treat them like

26:04

they're not aware that they're even there

26:07

or that they don't have anything of value to

26:09

add to the team. My son, the

26:11

way he feels that is

26:13

significant, vice versa. If

26:15

there is a coach that is looking him in

26:17

the eyes and telling him he's worth the effort

26:20

and is challenging him about his character, I

26:22

could say the exact same thing and my

26:24

kids would barely hear it. But when their

26:27

coach tells them that or when someone else

26:29

that is in a position that my son

26:31

admires, looks at them and says the exact

26:33

same thing, man, the weight

26:36

that carries with my kid. So

26:38

I could not manipulate those

26:41

kinds of relationships. It's the Holy Spirit that puts

26:44

that together. Because I don't know where my kid

26:46

might end up in college with whatever sport they

26:48

play or whatever interest that they have. So me

26:50

praying in advance that the Lord will be lining

26:53

up the trajectory of this person's life with a

26:55

trajectory of my kid's life. The same

26:57

thing I'm praying for my son's wives who I don't

26:59

know, maybe I know them. I don't know if they're

27:01

in our lives at this point yet or not. But

27:04

for decades, I've been praying for this little

27:06

girl wherever she is, that the Lord will

27:08

be lining her life up and lining my

27:11

son's life up and the people who are

27:13

raising her. And as I raise my son,

27:15

that there is no, I

27:17

think sometimes we are undervaluing the

27:19

power of prayer to release to

27:21

the Holy Spirit. Number one,

27:24

because we can't carry the weight of

27:26

trying to organize all that. We would

27:28

exhaust ourselves and live steeped in complete

27:30

anxiety, trying to control our kids' lives.

27:32

Instead, we do what we can. And

27:35

then we prioritize prayer and we say, Lord,

27:37

you do what I can't. Line people up

27:39

at the right time and the right way

27:41

to say the right thing, to give the

27:44

right encouragement or challenge so that my son

27:46

or my daughter continues to grow in Christ

27:48

likeness. That's so good. I

27:50

remember when I was a young mom, really young,

27:52

maybe you only had one child. I

27:55

remember someone said to us, we

27:57

were friends with them and they had kids who were probably middle school or

27:59

high school. And they told us something

28:01

that didn't seem kind of made sense then it

28:03

makes total sense now They said when people love

28:05

your kids you love those people even more and

28:08

it's kind of what you're talking about the people

28:10

that are Pouring into our kids lives. We love

28:12

them. We wouldn't spend time with them. We want

28:14

to pray for them We want to help that

28:16

relationship grow. It's so very important. Okay, not only

28:18

do you have the Forge which is coming out

28:21

on August 23rd But

28:23

you also have a book a new book coming out

28:25

and you've written dozens upon dozens of books But you

28:28

have a book called surrender. I surrender

28:30

all it comes out the beginning of August August 6th Can you tell

28:32

me a little bit about this book and where it came from? Yeah,

28:35

it really does center in on the

28:37

subject matter of the film, which is

28:39

discipleship Again, as I mentioned

28:42

in the first century discipleship meant leaving

28:44

everything to follow the the master the

28:47

teacher And so with

28:49

Christ, you know it there are a lot of

28:51

believers There are a few

28:53

disciples And it's a

28:55

sobering thought for all of us like am

28:58

I a Christian prayerfully? So yes, I'm

29:00

a believer but the question really is

29:02

have I surrendered all are there

29:04

ambitions that I'm actually still holding on to

29:07

Are there entertainment choices that I

29:09

could sense the Holy Spirit asking me to

29:11

taper or to completely sever and actually I

29:14

ain't doing it I'm not interested in you

29:16

messing with all of those rooms in my

29:18

heart. They're relationships Dynamics that

29:20

I'm holding on to the comforts in

29:23

what ways have I actually not decided to

29:25

take up my cross and follow And

29:28

you know when when Christ gives the

29:30

disciple the disciples the definition of discipleship

29:32

when he says, you know If anyone

29:34

will choose to come after me He

29:36

will deny himself take up his cross

29:38

and follow me think of the weightiness

29:40

of those words and think of how

29:43

clearly they fly In the face of

29:45

the self-focused self-absorbed life of ease

29:48

and comfort That

29:50

we have portrayed as what it looks like to have

29:52

the favor of God on your life That's

29:54

not at all what Jesus said Jesus

29:56

said it looks like self-denial. It looks

29:59

like restraint It's going

30:01

to look like taking up a cross.

30:03

Crucifixion means something's got to die, that

30:05

we cannot serve our flesh and

30:07

be fully surrendered to Jesus. So

30:10

there's going to have to be

30:13

just a reminder and a sounding

30:15

board of what is Christ's definition

30:17

of discipleship, what definitions have we

30:20

created because they call our flesh

30:22

and placate our preferences. How

30:25

can we get back to Christ's definition? And

30:27

then in what ways will the Holy Spirit shine

30:29

on our life that we are not fully surrendered,

30:32

we're not fully following Jesus, so

30:34

that we can get in line with what

30:36

discipleship actually requires of us. And

30:39

we don't just do that because for His benefit, because

30:41

He deserves it, because He does. But

30:43

also because when we fully

30:45

follow Him, there's an abundance of

30:48

freedom, of victory, of

30:50

peace. Man, there's only so much peace

30:53

you can have when you're tethered to the things

30:55

of this world because they so disappoint you. They're

30:57

up and down. They work

30:59

one day, they don't work the next. But

31:01

when we don't put our hope in those things, they

31:04

give you a peace. You could take a

31:06

deep breath because your hope is not rooted

31:08

in them, but your hope

31:11

is completely tethered to something, someone

31:13

else who will never fail. I

31:17

love that and I feel that particularly in my life

31:19

right now and I'm grateful for that tetheredness to the

31:21

Lord and that peace you can have. Have

31:24

you read John Mark Comer's new book Practicing the Way?

31:27

I have not and I cannot wait because I think

31:29

he is brilliant. Well,

31:31

it's about discipleship and be with Jesus,

31:33

become like Him, do as He did.

31:35

And I think that you will love

31:38

it. I'm going to get it immediately. I love all

31:40

his works. This was really, really good. He talks about

31:42

what it meant to be a rabbi and how they

31:44

had disciples. Everything you're saying, I'm like, Priscilla's going to

31:47

love this book. It's so good. Oh, yes.

31:50

It's so good. Well, I'm really excited about the movie

31:52

Full Disclosure when we're recording this. I have a screener

31:54

actually. I'm going to watch it tonight. I

31:57

told my kids, I'm like, tonight's movie, we're going to

31:59

watch it. new movie. I always feel

32:01

kind of cool when I get a screener. Oh, I

32:04

already know that I will. I already know. But I

32:06

know that what it feels like to have like your

32:08

work out there and someone's going to see it. It

32:10

can feel a little like nerve-wracking. But

32:13

I'm super excited about it. I love the way that

32:15

you're partnering with the Kindred Brothers to really do that

32:17

of really how do we get the

32:19

love of Jesus into a world that's just coming

32:21

to a movie theater. And I just think, sometimes

32:24

I just think, isn't it so cool? I think this

32:26

every time I do a podcast, isn't so cool that

32:28

it's 2024 and we get to talk about

32:30

Jesus on microphones on the internet and then put it in

32:33

the world and people listen to it. And I just said,

32:35

God, you're so kind for technology. Thank

32:37

you for technology. Yeah. Yes. Jamie, I think

32:39

about that all the time that who

32:42

knew when we were babies that the Lord

32:44

was intersecting our life and our skills, our

32:46

talents, our passion, the purpose that He entrusted

32:49

to you. Who knew that the Lord was

32:51

aligning that up with a season in technology

32:53

where you'd actually be able to utilize this

32:55

in this way. And I feel the same

32:57

thing about the Kindred Brothers. We're all the

32:59

same age. And I think the Lord was

33:01

giving these men insight, stories,

33:03

creating in them the desire to do

33:06

film, building that in them all these years.

33:08

Here I am in a totally different, we

33:11

didn't know each other at all till we

33:13

were well into our forties. And so He

33:15

and we coming up in different streams of

33:17

the church, different spectrums of life. And then

33:19

at the same time that the Lord is

33:21

putting on their heart, this story about African

33:23

American family with war room, they

33:25

need someone that looks just like me

33:27

to help fulfill that purpose. And

33:29

here's the Lord been doing that all along and He

33:31

knew making it. I mean, it's just like, she knows

33:33

and just if we're walking our path, doing what it

33:36

is that the Lord has told us to do, He's

33:38

taking care of all of the other stuff to put

33:40

you where you need to be to serve His purposes

33:42

and His King. It's so good. I often

33:45

wish I could see the future. I say this all

33:47

the time to God. I'm like, if you just tell

33:49

me what it's going to be like in five years,

33:51

I promise I'll follow you. I'll do everything you want.

33:53

Or we'll be scared to death if He tells us.

33:55

Or don't tell me. But I just keep going back

33:57

like God says, He's going to light up. right

34:00

in front of our path and that's all

34:02

we can do. And so Priscilla, I'm grateful

34:04

for you. I'm excited to watch this movie

34:06

tonight, so that'll be really exciting and excited

34:08

about your new book. Thanks for coming back

34:10

on the Happy Hour. Enjoy. Thank you for

34:12

having me, friend. The Happy Hour is produced

34:14

and hosted by myself, Jamie Ivey, with assistance

34:16

from Nicki Ogden and

34:23

Ashley Colwell. And the show is edited

34:25

by Jason Talley. NetCredit

34:30

is here to say yes. Because you're more than

34:33

a credit score. Apply in minutes and get a

34:35

decision as soon as the same day. Loans offered

34:37

by NetCredit are lending partner banks in service by

34:39

NetCredit. Applications subject to review and

34:41

approval. Learn more at netcredit.com/partners. NetCredit,

34:43

credit to the people. Life

34:48

doesn't have a pause button. That's

34:50

why Capella University's FlexPath Learning Format lets

34:52

you set your own deadlines and adjust

34:54

them if something comes up. Imagine

34:57

how a flexible education can make a difference

34:59

for you at www.ecapella.edu. capella.edu.