300 | Is Prayer a Lead Generation Strategy? with Janet Brinck

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Prayer isn't a substitute for the work. But the work was never meant to happen without prayer.

Is prayer a lead generation strategy? It's a question that sounds simple on the surface, but it opens the door to a much deeper conversation about faith, work, stewardship, and the purpose of business. In this episode, Garrett, Janet, and Cole wrestle with the tension many Christian entrepreneurs feel: If God is sovereign, what role do our effort, discipline, and strategy actually play?

Rather than offering easy answers, the conversation explores the biblical balance between trusting God completely while faithfully using the gifts, opportunities, and wisdom He has already provided. The hosts discuss why prayer should never become a substitute for action, but also why relentless hustle without dependence on God inevitably leads to pride, anxiety, and misplaced identity. Throughout the discussion, they challenge the idea that prayer is a formula for getting more clients and instead present it as a means of surrendering our ambitions, aligning our hearts with God's will, and allowing Him to reshape our motives. 

The conversation also dives into practical questions every agent faces. Should you pray specifically for listings and buyers? How do you know whether you're pursuing success for God's glory or your own? What does it look like to faithfully work when you aren't seeing results? Why does God call us to persistence when He already knows the outcome? These questions lead to a thoughtful discussion about stewardship, obedience, and the mystery of God's sovereignty alongside human responsibility. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Prayer is not your business strategy—it is your posture. Prayer isn't designed to replace faithful work but to continually surrender your plans, motives, and ambitions to God. 
• Faith and action were never meant to compete. Throughout Scripture, God calls His people to pray faithfully while also stewarding the opportunities, talents, and responsibilities He's entrusted to them. 
• God gave you both a heart and a mind. Trusting the Lord doesn't mean refusing to make decisions or waiting indefinitely for perfect clarity. He also expects us to use wisdom, discernment, and the rational abilities He created us with. 
• The condition of your heart matters as much as the condition of your business. Before asking God for more clients, it's worth asking why you want them. Prayer often reveals whether our ambition is rooted in service or self. 
• God is more interested in your surrender than your success. A growing business means very little if it comes at the expense of intimacy with Christ or obedience to His calling. 
• You can't copy someone else's calling. Every agent has different gifts, personalities, and opportunities. Instead of imitating another person's strategy, seek the unique way God has equipped you to serve others. 
• Persistence is part of faithfulness. Farmers don't dig up seeds every day to check their progress. Likewise, faithful agents continue planting, serving, and following up—even before they see the harvest. 
• You control the input, not the outcome. We plant, water, and faithfully work. God alone produces the growth. That truth frees us from both pride when business is booming and despair when it isn't. 
• Prayer reshapes us before it changes our circumstances. The greatest work God often does through prayer isn't increasing our business—it's increasing our trust, refining our character, and aligning our desires with His will. 

Prayer without effort can become presumption. Effort without prayer can become pride.

ONE PRACTICAL STEP

Before you start your workday tomorrow, spend five minutes praying one simple prayer:

"Lord, show me who You want me to serve today. Give me the wisdom to recognize the opportunities You've placed in front of me, the courage to act on them, and the humility to trust You with the results."

Then get to work. Make the calls. Send the messages. Follow up with people. Trust that your responsibility is faithfulness—the outcome belongs to God.

CONNECT WITH JANET:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Janet.Brinck.Realtor
Website - https://www.thesaltyagent.com/

Need help winning at work without losing at life? I'm here for you!

📖 Get the FREE E-Book — The Faithful Agent ebook is my gift to you; it's full of biblical truths about your calling, reflection questions, and practical steps to win at work without losing at life. Download it here: https://www.garrettmaroon.com/faithfulagentebook

📱 Want to talk business? Shoot me an email: garrett@garrettmaroon.com

Transcript

When you're trying to make a decision and you're trying to figure out what makes sense or whatever the

scenario is, it's like, I'm just praying on it. I'm praying on and praying on, which is amazing. But we have

to be reminded, hey, but the Lord also gave you a rational brain, which you should use, right? He didn't

just give you a heart to only pray. He also gave you a heart to get up and do. He gave you a rational brain

that can look through what your opportunities are and then pick one. Today's topic is about, uh, we tease

it out. Last time Janet was here is lead is prayer a lead generation strategy? Which is a spicy topic. I'm

excited for the conversation we're going to have, but as always, let's start with some dad jokes. Mr. Cole,

you are dad now. Times four. So what do you have for me, buddy? Give me something good. Well, since

we were struggling with, uh, you know, technology and zooms or whatever we call this streamyard, you

know, I tried to attend a zoom meeting this past week about mirrors, but I just couldn't see myself doing

it. I like. I think that's good. Okay. That was smooth transition. What do you guys got? Good. Uh, do you

have one, Janet I do. Oh, amazing. All right, give it to me. Um, why? Why do we know Moses made off?

Oh. Hebrews. It. Come on. Okay. What is that from, like, two decades ago? Oh, look, look. Now we got

the clap effect. Uh, that was good. Janet, I am gonna rewind that. I've never read before, so I have no idea

how this is going to go. Um, little Philip was walking home in the rain with his mother following Sunday

worship. It finally stopped raining as they rounded the corner, where, to their surprise and delight,

appeared a vivid double rainbow in the sky. Doesn't it look like an artist painted this rainbow? His

mother exclaimed, I bet God painted this just for you. Yes, replied Philip. God did it, and he did it left

handed. Confused, his mother asked him, what makes you say God did this with his left hand? Well, said

Philip, we learned in Sunday School that Jesus sits on God's right hand. Come on, Cole. That's all right.

There we go. I think I'm honestly too tired to even track that one. I'm like, wait. His name was Phillip, or

it was too long. It was too long, he said on his hand. For a guy who just had his fourth baby, I'm just

visualizing. I'm like, wait, does it matter if I do my left hand or my right hand with a rainbow? That's

awesome. God, sitting on his right hand, not on, but okay. Anyways, come on guys, I'm thinking of like

Roy G. Biv. I'm like all of a sudden this is like V Roy Roy double Roy G Biv. Our double rainbow is a

real thing. Double rainbow all the way across the sky. Are those real though? Oh yeah I saw one like a

week ago. You guys have never seen a double rainbow? No, no, no, that's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah. That's

amazing. I think if I knew how to work StreamYard, I could, like, pull one up and then show it. But I'm

not going to do that right now. Okay. So let's dive into our topic. Is prayer a lead generation strategy? I'm

going to have you guys each go I want your initial thought. And then we're going to start to dive in. I've

got some scripture that we can add in as well should we need to add in some uh, but want your initial

thoughts. So, uh, let's let Cole go first. Well, no way. Janet was the one who was super excited last

episode. She said, I have so many thoughts that I want to share. And then you said, don't let let her go. I

know I was thinking about it and I'm like, I really only have like one thought, but why don't you share

that thought with us, Janet? We'll let you go first. So initial thoughts and what I mean by that is, is prayer

lead generation strategy. I'm looking for not just yes or no, but I'm looking for yes because. Right. And

then we're going to dive into and start to unpack. What does that actually look like for a faithful agent.

Right. Uh, someone who in any business owner. Right, who's following the Lord in their business. So,

Janet, yes or no, is prayer a lead generation strategy and why? So the reason I got so excited last time was

because I had had a conversation in, um, with an agent who we were talking about where their business

came from, and she was just like, mine just comes from prayer. And I was kind of like, you know, and

there's this there's a challenge with that. There's a there's a tension for me with the question in and of

itself because I'm like, yeah, but you know, I mean, first of all, like prayer for me is a relationship withGod, right? And, um, I know throughout the Bible it says, like, you don't have because you don't ask and

like, believe in you. She'll receipt and all the stuff. Right. But the conversation I got into with this agent

is, um. If you're just sitting in prayer, praying for leads and praying for sellers and praying for buyers,

um. Faith without works is dead, right? Like it goes back to that. You're waiting on God, and God's

waiting on you. That's how I feel about it. And so even breaking it down with her, it was like, even if you

think your business just comes from prayer. If if you if you're actually doing business, there's some action

in there on your part. You just haven't put that together. So you would say yes with an asterisks. I, I don't

know that my answer would be yes. I mean, because I don't I don't know that I would. Well, hold it there.

Hold it there because that's interesting. We'll come back to that. What do you think, buddy? Yes or no, I

don't know. I, I lean towards no I think is fairly generation strategy. I would say no. I would say check

the motives. Um, because to me it's like, okay, Lord Jesus, give me a buyer. Okay. Well, why do I want

to buy her? Okay. So I can sell a house. Okay. So why is that super important to me? Um, and it feels a

little icky when I think about it, but I think the question should. There's a couple things. Is, should you

pray for more? Business is like one of the underlying questions in that. And then why do I want more

business? Um, and so that's why I think it's a, it's a motive check. And I think if we, if we turn it a little

bit and say, um. Should we surrender lead generation as a strategy and pray instead? What should I

mean? What's what's your response to that? Should we surrender lead generation and pray instead? Yeah,

like if the question was should prayer be your only lead generation strategy? I think all of us would say

absolutely not. Right? Right. It's like, can it be a I think the word strategy maybe is throw. What's what's

throwing me off. Right. Like, none of us are trying to use Jesus as a strategy. And if you are like, repent

and don't do that. I had a I had a buddy in. He wasn't a buddy. I didn't like him, actually. But anyway, I, I

shouldn't lie on the podcast. Was it, uh, it's this guy that I knew in college. Yeah. Like, what's his name?

My name sounded like meth, but it was more normal. Uh, and it was a guy, so I think you know what I

mean, Jeff. Okay. Anyways, you know, it's like trying to say meth, but you don't have any teeth. Uh, let's

not talk about meth anyway. So, um. So this guy in college and he I think he was it was probably his

junior year, was my sophomore year. And I remember he would talk all the time. Man, I just needed to

meet a girl. I needed to get married, like be engaged before I get out of college. And so I would say,

okay, dude, but you got to get out and like, do something. You got to go meet somebody. And he was

hardcore set on know if the Lord wants me to be married and get engaged before I leave college, he will

bring a girl to my house. Right. We lived in a house together. He will bring a girl to this house. She will

knock on the door and be like. I'm supposed to be your wife and I. You know you can't say about the

Lord. You can't say, well, no, he can't do that because he can do whatever you want. But you can say

that's not how this normally works, right? It's the same some of the same conversation as the buyer who's

like, I'm going to give a really bad offer, but if the Lord wants me to have it, I'll get it. And you're like, I

mean, that's true, but you also gotta play by the rules that he set up, right? You got to actually create a

good offer. You can't just hope and sit there and do nothing. So I do think that should prayer be part of

our lead generation, I think the answer is yes. Yes, that's a better question. I love that question. Yeah,

there is a requirement of submitting ourselves to the Lord and trusting in his provision. So absolutely, I

think we should be prayerful about our business and that the Lord would bring people to our boat, that he

wants to be in our boat. I think that's absolutely not. Not just should be part of it. I think that's a

requirement, right? As a believer that that we would lay that down. But I liked your question, Cole,

which is do we how do we check our motives in that? Right. Why are we asking for more business?

What is the heart condition. Because I don't I don't want and I think all of us agree. I don't want anyone

thinking, oh, I'm just going to go pray. And the Lord, you know, Jesus is going to be my Pez dispenser,

right? Or my vending machine. I'm going to put a prayer in. He's going to give me business back. Likethat's not how this works. You could be super prayerful and have a really hard year. Doesn't mean he's

not going to provide right. But prayer is not like all of a sudden I'm going to be prosperous just because I

pray. So how do we become aware of those motives? How do we check those things? You know, what

would your response be? And feel free to like, jump in with what you were thinking of too. And we can

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All right. Back to the show. I think for me, it just it comes down to like, how much time am I spending

with God in general, right? Like, I mean. Seek first the kingdom, not seek first the business. It's like. So

the relationship goes back to the relationship with him, and then it's almost like you, you know, you do

get to a point where if your heart is pure and your motives are clean and you really are seeking like to

align your will with his and to, you know, glorify him and do kingdom work, then you actually can ask

for for stuff. Right? And it's it's one thing that I was thinking, Garrett, when you were talking about your

friend meth or what sounds like meth sounds like meth is um, I was I'm reading, not reading. I'm like,

sort of reading, um, the the prayer circle. You know what I'm talking about. I, um, I've heard of it. Yeah.

Patterson. And it's about this, like, guy Nana, who draws a circle in the sand and stands in that circle and

prays until it rains there in the middle of a drought. And then, like, it starts, like just, um, sprinkling a

little bit and he says, no, God, that's not that's not the rain I asked for. I need like, sufficient rain. And

then it starts like pouring and lightning and he's like, no, no, no, I didn't want that type of rain. I need,

like, a steady. It was like he was very specific in his prayer. And the point was like asking God for like,

very specific prayers. And so part of me is like, wow. Like, did the girl show up at the house? Because,

like, he believed like that, that is the way that it would happen. Yeah. Um, and so it didn't, by the way,

that didn't actually happen. Yeah. I just told him it could. Like, the Lord can do whatever he wants, but.

Yeah. Yeah. So could. Yeah, yeah. One thing that I don't know, I was talking with my seven year old, I

think it was last night or the night before, and, um, she, she was trying to still understand how Jesus

comes inside of her heart and makes her better. Um, and my, you know, I think of the verse in the Old

Testament, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it? And then on

the flip side of that is Jesus comes inside and like, takes that ugly, you know, heart and then radically

changes it. And I think that if we are thinking about, hey, how do we how do we change our motives?

Like, we're not going I don't think we're going to change our motives. Right? We've got this ugly sin

nature inside of us. And so I have found that the desires of my heart can really quickly and really easilychange. And so if we're talking about prayer and a lead generation. Prayer and lead generation together. I

think a lot of times the stickier I feel and the uglier I feel, the less I have, the less I desire for prayer to be

a part of my business and prayer to be involved with my clients. But then when I realize, hey, I'm going

to surrender this, I need to, you know, go back to Jesus. And then I start praying for my clients. I'm like,

oh my gosh, the reason I felt funky towards my business or felt funky towards my client is because the

lack of Jesus and the lack, therefore the lack of prayer in my business. And I think it's just an overflow,

because what I have found when I surrender and when I start praying for my clients, all of a sudden it's

it's a positive aspect towards change. And I start either doing the things that I should also be doing in my

business, um, or have that mindset changed because like, Jesus is actually changing my heart and

therefore changing my actions. Mm. Yeah. You're shaking your head. Yeah. It was like the the saying

pray like everything depends on him. But work like everything depends on you. Um, and yeah, I mean,

the the more that I'm in relationship with with him, the more I just trust. Right? And, um, you know,

Garrett and I were having this. I'm in a really weird place, you guys. I always say that, but I just am

always in a weird place, like spiritual growth. And, like, I just go down these rabbit holes, um, like,

nothing else matters. Like it? Like, at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. Um, and you know,

when, when I'm in a really, you know, solid place spiritually, um. I just have that understanding and it's

one of those things like, whereas if you're not even relating it to God, it's like when you don't care about

something, that's when it happens, right? But like when you're when I'm in a place where I just trust that,

you know, God is my source, right? He's the source for everything. The real estate deals are just a

channel, right? And so, like, if the real estate deals go away, he's going to provide some other way. And

I'm just like, open to that. I'm like, is that not what you want me to do? Right. Like, I'm just here to align.

Like reporting for duty. Let me know what you want me to do. Yeah, I think I mean, we're not going to,

you know, we're not going to get to the depth of the theology of this, but, you know, it comes back, I

think, to the question of just prayer actually changed the mind of the Lord. And I would say, no prayer is

meant to be a submission to the will of the Lord. Right now, people will disagree on that. That's totally

okay. But when I look at it, I think of we take our cues from the people that we've seen in Scripture,

right? Think of Paul. Uh, Paul, you know, of any actual human, uh, was probably the most prolific prayer

that has ever existed on earth, obviously apart from Christ. Um, and yet, what was he doing? He was an

excellent tent maker. He was very good at the work that he did. If if we could just pray, then Paul

probably would have just prayed and everyone would have been saved. Right. Well, you know, it

reminds me sort of of when I have. Friends or people have challenged me. When you're trying to make a

decision and you're trying to figure out what makes sense or whatever the scenario is. It's like, I'm just

praying on it. I'm praying on and praying on, which is amazing. But we have to be reminded, hey, but the

Lord also gave you a rational brain, which you should use, right? He didn't just give you a heart to only

pray, he also gave you a heart to get up and do. He gave you a rational brain that can look through what

your opportunities are and then pick one, right. It's not literally sitting there all day and waiting. And so,

uh, you know something you said, Janet, and you'll appreciate this. I've heard it said sleep like a

Calvinist. Work like an Arminian. Right. Our Calvinist is, you know, we believe in this nation election.

We're not going to go into that today. That that would be really fun for me. Uh, whereas Arminian

believes in free will. Right. So, like, you sleep like a Calvinist, like everything's good. The Lord already

ordained it. You get up and you work like nothing's ordained. You got to figure that out, right? And so I

think that none of us understand what, like how my effort affects the outcome. Right? None of us fully

understand because I also can't build a house without the Lord. Right. The Lord's going to determine

what that house looks like. And so I think it's a very confusing place for us to understand it.

Acknowledging that prayer is is a requirement. Jesus told us to pray. Therefore we will pray, right? Whatdoes that look like? Maybe that's another question. And you know, I don't always fully know. Cole, has

there been times in your business where you have. Felt like maybe you've gotten your feet in front of the

Lord, and so you just had to, like, pause and pray and lay it down, or you're sitting there like nothing's

working. And it's just, Lord, I don't know what to do. Please help me. You know. And then he shows up.

He's been there the whole time. But like, he reveals that he's there. Have you had moments like that in

your career? Yeah, definitely. All the above. And like, I use the word surrender because that's a really

hard thing to do because most business owners are control freaks. Um, and so we've got this element of

pride that we have to overcome and say, hey, Lord, like, this is, this is my business. This is your business.

Um, one thing that I've actually always had a fear of is that, um, that I will be doing the right things in the

wrong name and say. And we'll just be like, ah, I'm distracting you. And it's working really well, and

here's a lot of business. And, uh, I'll look up and be like, oh my gosh, the Lord is blessing me. But I

haven't been walking with the Lord the whole time. Um, that's been like a giant fear of mine since I

started. Um, I don't know if you've ever if you've ever thought that, you know, because those of us who

have. Started small and then grown really quickly. And then, you know, you've got this ebb and flow

always right. But I remember like when I was before, I really grew really quickly. I'm like, well, what if

what if I'm not following the Lord? Like, what if I'm and I actually, Janet was there. I was like having

this little panic attack at was it the faithful agent when we had pizza? And I'm like, I don't know if this is

what I'm supposed to do with the yeah, years of my life. And, you know, I'm really successful all of a

sudden. And it was like, calm down. You just need to trust in the Lord and give it to him. And that's so

funny. I'm having a flashback. That's awesome. You guys didn't invite me to pizza, though, so that makes

me. You were busy running a conference, dude. Okay, okay. Got it, got it. Oh, that was drawn out. That

was way too long. Yeah, I need to test these next time before we get on. I'll do that next time. Uh, no, I

mean, I love that buddy, and I and I think. And I want to hear from you, too, Janet. I think that there's

definitely, uh, I we all agree that and and tell me if I'm wrong. I think we all agree that prayer can't be

your only lead generation strategy, right? Prayer is not a strategy. Prayer is a submission. And so maybe

the question in itself is wrong, right? However, prayer is also highly effective. Prayer without prayer

while doing nothing. You know, uh, let's let's use an example of, of Tim Tebow, right? Tim Tebow, who

is so handsome, right, Janet? Tim Tebow, who probably the greatest he's passed anything probably the

greatest college football. I know what he looks like right now. Oh, oh oh my God, even I know what he

looks. I'll pop it up on here. How do I do that I don't know, we'll do that another time. Anyways, uh,

probably the greatest college football player arguably of all time. Uh, wasn't amazing as a pro anyways.

The guy who does Tebow. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It looks kind of like cold. So anyway, so, uh, uh, here's

some Tebow. Tebow? Uh, I don't know what his prayer life is, but if he was a prolific player, he wouldn't

have been a prolific passer. He had to get out and get in the gym and do the work. He had a practice, his

throws. He had to learn his playbook. He had to do all of those things. And it's like that, combined with

his heart, to honor the Lord and submit to the Lord and then pursue excellence in what the opportunity

was. That's what led him to what he was. Right. So there is no example that I'm aware of where someone

sat there physically did nothing other than pray, which is, you know, doing something but physically did

nothing. And yet all the things that the Lord had for them came about like, that's just we've never seen,

you know, maybe you guys have examples of that, but that just doesn't happen. Yeah. Go ahead. Well, I

wanted to share this verse two that I was thinking about earlier. Uh, first Corinthians three six says I

planted. So this is Paul talking, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Yeah, I was sitting

there thinking to like, it doesn't even really matter if he just wasn't equipped in the first place to be that

person. Like, you know, it's like if you're born and you're five foot two and you really three year three

and you really want to be, you know, an NBA player. Yeah. Um, you can pray all you want, but it's it'sprobably not going to happen. Right. And so like, even though, you know, Tim Tebow was clearly

equipped and yes, he had to go to the gym and everything. But if if God never gave him the the gifts or

equipped him in the first place, all the prayer in the world wouldn't, wouldn't matter. Which is interesting

because I was going to circle back and sort of not argue, but um, question as I just got off this, um, call

earlier with James Hotaling, which he did do, and we were talking about persistence. And so we were

talking about how often it says, um, the word persistence and in the Bible and, Um, you know, for us to

continually keep asking, you know, God, when you said earlier, God never changes his mind. I was like,

well, then why are why are we called to be persistent like a child like God? Will you? You know, and it

just made me think about like, is that? And I know you don't want to or I'm sure you do want to go down

a theological problem. Oh, I'm ready for this. I've been thinking about this, too. But what I. But these are

the things that keep me up at night. So I would like some answers. Yeah. Garrett, you. Well, I mean, how

did Jesus teach us to pray, right? Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom

come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, right like. And

forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us our trespasses. Um. It is, uh, a

command that prayer is a requirement. What is that prayer, though? That prayer is a submission and an

asking of the father. You know, uh, we all have a lot of kids, right? Um. When my son or my kids wake

up in the morning, they have to ask daddy for breakfast, right? My three year old Zoe, every time, like,

get her up. And she's like, daddy, what's breakfast? I need breakfast like, baby, you just woke up. Give

daddy a second. You know, there's been a lot going on. Whatever. She wouldn't have it. I would give it to

her anyways. Right? Because I'm trying to be a good dad, just as the Lord would. But she must ask. It's a

it's an act of submission. It's an act of recognition that in our home, mommy and daddy are the ones that

are providing. Right? Because if Rachel decided one day to never go get groceries, we wouldn't have

groceries. If I decided one day to never work, we wouldn't have money to get groceries. Right? And so

it's a submission to say, hey, daddy, I need help. Daddy, can you do this for me? Hey, daddy, you know I

need new cleats for soccer. I need these things, right? Can you give those for me? And because I'm a

good dad, I want to do it. You guys want to jump in on that cold? Go. Oh, no no, no, Janet, you got. Oh,

okay, okay. But wait. Because, you know, I'm a mom. I have five kids, and my Mattocks never asked for

anything he doesn't like. Of course we feed him, we glue them, we do whatever. But like Chase, ask for

everything all the time. And so if you actually look at our like, Chase gets more stuff, Chase gets more

blessings because Chase is always the one like, can I, can I, can I? Is that what the Bible saying about

persistence though, right. And believing like, are there are there Christians who are just as faithful? If

faith and their heart and pureness is lined up side by side and it's the same? Is the one who asks? Like

Chase, the one who gets or or from the the dad perspective. Right. You're like, hey, you know, Zoe's

coming in and asking and you're like, hey, here's some avocado toast. Um, but a good dad with

depending upon Zoe's heart and how she's asking, you know, are you going to give her bacon and eggs

and home fries and coconut water with some orange juice? You know, that's such an Asheville breakfast.

No. Crunchy avocado toast is in Asheville. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Uh. It's fantastic. Yeah,

I mean, I so here's what I would say is the the difference. The dad analogy is a good one, but not a perfect

one. Right. Because I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know exactly what it is that Zoe needs. I

don't know everything going on with her. Right. Like, I know as much as I any human could, uh. And I

have to be provided for from the provider. Who is the Lord? Right. So the analogy breaks down to the

degree of, I don't know what is actually what is best for my kids all the time, I don't. Whereas the Lord,

who is infinite and wise, knows everything that's going to happen is fully aware of. You know, he's in the

past and he's in the present, and I don't know how any of that works. None of us do. But he's fully aware

of all of those things. And so and every decision he makes is for our good. Everything that he hasdecided is for our good. Uh, and so, you know, I can't as a dad, I can't operate that way. So maybe that

maybe that, you know, breaks down in that analogy. The reality is the, the prayers that we see example of

like, yeah, is it appropriate for us to go to the Lord and ask for him to do X, Y, and Z? Absolutely. It is.

Right. You even see Jesus in the garden. Lord, if it be your will that this cup pass me, may it pass me, but

not my will, but yours be done. It is both a request and then a submission, right to the will of the father.

And so I, I don't think, uh, you know, again, we could have a theology conversation, but you don't get to

a point where you see in any part of Scripture that the Lord hasn't already made up his mind, that he has.

You know, if you guys were writing a. Or we were writing a remember the what were they called the the,

uh, choose your own adventure novels. Those are like old school colts to young. Yeah. Oh, dude, I've

been using those with AI. My kids absolutely love it. That's. Pick your path. Choose your path. What is

that? Oh, yeah. The same thing you're talking about. Oh, okay. You can, like, put it in a prompt in

ChatGPT and be like, hey, you know, my daughter is struggling with this. Make her choose between path

A and path B, and then you can real time. They get to choose what path they go down and get those

consequences. That's super fun. Uh, anyways. But the only way you could actually have one of those

books is if you were already like, you could write one of those books. If you were already aware of what

the endings were going to be. Yeah, right. And so so that's the difference. Like, the Lord is fully aware of

what the ending is going to be. So yeah. Can we pray and change his mind? I don't think so. Can we both

ask because that's appropriate to ask of a good father that hey Lord, I would love for these things to be

true while we also are submissive, but not my will, but yours be done. I think that's the appropriate way

to do it. I would say, uh, persistence is absolutely important. There is a reality of persistence. But again, I

don't think persistence is not about us changing the Lord. It's about us being changed. Right? It is about

the consistency of submission coming back like, Lord, please bring this about, please bring this about.

Why does it happen on day 18 instead of day six or whatever? I don't know, because for whatever reason,

he was using that as sanctification for us, right? To say, like, I'm going to wait, I'm going to wait. He's

going to keep making us wait. And for whatever reason, it's for our good. Romans eight tells us that,

right? So, you know, I think when we look at prayer in our business, uh, it would be inappropriate for us

to say, well, if I am just really good at praying the Lord is going to give me a bunch of deals, right? Like,

and I don't have to be good at whatever working at my database. Um, I don't need to do any of that. I

don't need to do social media like Cole does. Right? I don't need to have, you know, the influence the

way that Janet does or the team that Janet does. I can just sit here and pray the Lord might do that. But

what the Lord blesses is to get up and work. How many times the the examples in Scripture are about,

you know, being a farmer or the farmer doesn't just show up one day he's like, I forgot to plant the plants

in spring. I'm going to throw them all down. Now in summer I'm going to water them tonight, and

tomorrow they're going to be here. That's not how it works, right? And why does it work that way? I

don't know, that's just how the Lord created it. So anyways, I mean, there's a lot in there. I don't mean to

keep rambling. I want y'all's opinions, but, uh, that's how I would say Scripture would teach us about

prayer and the the importance and purpose of it. I think a lot of times, you know, agents are praying, you

know, that God will give them business or bless their business abundantly. And maybe they're, you

know, God's given them one tool. Right. When you're talking about me using my gifts and coal, using

social media or whatever, like some agents are trying to use, um, other people's gifts, right? That God

didn't really give them. And so if I don't have a good analogy, but like, if God gave you a backhoe, your

basketball analogy, right. Like if I just sat there and like, Lord, make me a basketball player, make me a

basketball player, I'll do the work. But I'm five, six and three quarters and but someone's six eight, right?

Like, am I praying and asking in pursuit of the right thing? Sorry, but yeah, you know, maybe the prayers

shouldn't be. Will you give me this business? Will you give me this business? It's, you know, God, showme how I'm supposed to do it, right? And it's more going into alignment with with him and the gifts that

he's given and how he would have us do it. I love that. So this is real time, y'all. So yesterday I had a

listening appointment and I followed this guy on social media. And I don't like his content. I think he's

kind of a but for lack of a better word, is his name meth that his name, not his name, not name. Let's give

him a shout out. I just I'm trying to stir the pot stirring him right now but but I, I but I follow this guy and

I really don't like him as an agent. But he, you know, he's like, these are the five questions that I ask

when I go on a listing appointment. And these are the only five questions that I ask. And I sell 400

houses every year. Whatever. Right. And so I'm like, you know what? I'm going to try this. And so I'm

pulling into I printed these five questions off, I'm pulling into my listing appointment. And like as I'm

pulling into the driveway, I kind of felt the Holy Spirit say, you don't like this guy. This guy is not a

believer and this is not who you are as an agent. Why are you taking these five questions and you're just

going to like, try it on this couple. Like, what if. What? What if this is not what you're supposed to do?

And so I'm like, you're right, I don't. This is not who I am. And I think that is super important. Uh, like

Janet was saying, is to figure out, like, who are you as an agent with and alongside the Lord. Prayer is a

big tool in helping you figure that out. Mm. Yeah. Quick question for you. Did you get into real estate to

create more freedom for yourself and for your family to live a more faith filled and purposeful life? Now,

if that is true, and I believe it probably is, let me ask you this question. Do you feel like you're having to

be on your phone almost around the clock, and do you feel like you ofttimes have to work weekends

when you'd rather be at church or with your family? Or do you feel like you're constantly chasing

attention on social media? Now, does all that feel like freedom? For many, it does not. The good news is

this the homeowner concierge is a simple platform that scales your referral relationships. It's not just

dependent upon the relationships that you have, but the referral relationships that your preferred vendors

have. Now, if you're interested again in having more referrals, so much that you don't have to live in

scarcity, you can live in abundance and you can have that freedom that you desired. I want you to go to

pro insight forward slash faithful. You know, like the Faithful Agent podcast that's pro faithful. You're

going to watch a quick video there. If what you see there resonates you're going to schedule some time

together. And I'll walk you through how we're helping real estate agents to again scale their referral

relationships and finally get the freedom that you desire. If the prayer strategy then is, Lord, show me

who I'm supposed to run into today, right? Make me in the pathway of the people you want me to be in,

right? Show me the work that you would have for me. And then if he. Doesn't, quote unquote, in the way

that you would expect. Get up and do something right. Like, you just, you know, it is this, uh, I'm reading

this book right now has nothing to do with this, but he calls it the, uh, it's the farm analogy now, I can't

remember. The rule of the farm is what he calls it, right? It's this idea that any farmer can't. He talks

about, like, if you're in college and you're like, oh my gosh, I gotta cram for this test. I forgot to study. I

haven't showed up all year, you know, whatever, which was my experience. Then maybe you do okay on

that. But then three years later when you need that information, guess what? You don't have it anymore.

He said farmers can't do that. Right? Again, same same analogy I used earlier, which is from him is like,

you can't show up in summer and be like, I should have planned in the spring. Oops, I'm gonna plant, I'm

going to water. They're going to be here tomorrow like that. That doesn't work right again. Why?

Because that's how the Lord created it. So the the reality is, I think, in my opinion, the most effective and

needed prayers as entrepreneurs is Lord, help me be persistent. Right to your point, Janet. Help me

persist in the the activity that you have for me even when I don't yet see fruit. Right? The the farmer that

has to plan. They don't know what's going on down below. They kind of plant, they kind of water those

seeds. They gotta, you know, I don't know, farmers do, but, you know, take care of it and they gotta be

persistent in it, even if they don't know what's going on. And who has determined the size of that yield.The Lord has already determined that. Who has determined how much rain is going to come, or if there's

going to be a drought where the Lord has already determined that, does that mean that that farmer can,

uh, skip his responsibility and not go put down seeds again and not go water? That no, he's got to do the

work right, like we are in charge of the input. He's the Lord of the output. And so prayer I think is a is a

redirection to okay, Lord, not my will but yours be done. This is what I would like to happen. I'm going

to do this just like Jesus said, if this would pass for me, Lord, please, but not my will, but yours be done.

Lord, this is what I'm going to do for this, and this is what I hope is going to happen, but not my will be

yours. Be done. You know, I think, too, sometimes we're not ready for what we're praying for. And so,

you know, we're called to be persistent. But like, I know that for a long time, you know, I was praying

for, you know, whether it be like a big business or I want to be in the top of this or, you know, like, well,

I wasn't praying for that, but that was my desire, you know, like, I was like, I want to do this. I want to do

that. And, you know, I feel like God was like, you're you're not ready for for that. And it wasn't until,

like, I got my relationship right with him and, and seeing him and, and different priorities that I feel like

God was like, okay, now maybe you're ready, you know? Um, and so if a lot of times you're spending

your time, um, frustrated with, you know, what you're doing, if you're only praying, then we've talked

about that, right? Like get into action. Um, but if you're spending your time praying and, um, you know, I

know a lot of agents are frustrated right now because the market is hard. But, you know, maybe, maybe

God is trying to get your attention in some other way. Because I know that's been my experience is he's

been like, you know what? Like, um, you've you've got to trust me in this. Or maybe, you know, he

wants you to be still with your family for a little bit. Or maybe it's a whole different direction. But I think

the point is like spending time in prayer. Not just for lead generation, but spending time in prayer, you

know, with him in general. Um, maybe it does lead you in a whole different direction. That's good. Well,

give us your final thought, buddy. I'll let you kind of take us out. Yeah. I've got one last thing I wanted to

say. Prayer without effort can become presumption. Effort without prayer can become pride. So as we

were wrapping up those. Those are the last two sentences I wanted to leave with. I'm going to repeat

them just because they're so good. Prayer without effort can become presumption. Effort without prayer

can become pride. Love it. It's good. Wait wait wait wait. I was going to lead us out. This hour. Good

contribution everybody. I feel like this man really got my heart pumping. I don't know what that means.

Uh, that's really good, buddy. Uh, the good thing is, since the podcast won't be live, Chailly could edit all

of that out. Okay, so, uh, say it one more time again, buddy prayer. Say it again. Prayer without effort can

become presumption. Effort without prayer can become pride. That's good, that's good. Um. Faithful

agents, obviously, we don't have all the answers, right? It's it's something that we navigate and try to

work through with us. This is one of the reasons why we have the podcast The Faithful Agent, The Salt

while we're doing the Gathering conference September 10th and 11th. Go to the salty Agent comm. Go

click on the conference button. Use the promo code Faithful or salt. I think either one of those will get

you a massive discount. It's because these are conversations that entrepreneurs in general, but for us, real

estate agents need to be having, and where else are we going to have them? And so I appreciate

everybody on this call. Uh, we don't have the right answers. My encouragement for all of you, which

we'd all agree on, is continue to seek the Lord. What is his will and plan and purpose for your life? Have

the conversation with agents locally in your market. Talk to your elders and the people in your small

group. Hey, I'm trying to figure out what part of my business should prayer play. Um, have those kinds of

conversations. Seek that out. Trust that the Lord is going to grant you that wisdom. And as always, if we

can support you in any way, we would love to do it. Come to the gathering, September 10th and 11th. Go

to the salty com. You'll be able to find all the information there. We'd love to see you there. Have these

conversations face to face. We love you guys and we will see you next week. Hey Christian again, I hopeyou enjoyed today's episode. If it resonated, would you take 30s and share it with another agent who's

also trying to grow their business without losing their faith, family, or peace? That's how this message

spreads. And if you haven't yet, hit that subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. I release new

ones each Thursday to help you build success that actually lasts. It genuinely fires me up knowing this

podcast is helping you pursue excellence to the glory of God, both at work and at home. I'll meet you

back here next week for another episode of The Faithful Agent.