The ProLife Team Podcast | Episode 2 with Lori Devillez | SMS Texts and Prayer

Summary of Episode:

In the Pro-Life Team Podcast, Jacob Barr talks with Lori Devillez about how important prayer is when working with people, especially those who donate to their cause. Lori shares a special way she connects with people: she sends them a text message asking how she can pray for them. This isn’t about asking for money but about really caring for others. She tells a story about how a prayer she shared was exactly what her friend needed.

Lori talks about the last person she sent such a message to, a friend named Ruth. She tries to reach out to at least three people every day to let them know she cares and is praying for them. She has found that when she does this, people often want to pray for her too. This helps build a big, caring community.

Lori emphasizes that wisdom is really important in her prayers, and she often includes words from the Bible in her prayers because she believes they are powerful. She also talks about being ready and aware, like the Bible says, to be a good example of Jesus’ love.

The conversation also covers how Lori handles prayer in her daily life, even with the challenges of a busy schedule and many distractions. She talks about making time to listen to what God wants to tell her.

The podcast ends with Lori praying for the listeners and emphasizing that living a life full of prayer and love is important. Jacob appreciates Lori’s thoughts and thinks they can help other leaders and their teams to build stronger relationships and a better prayer life.

Podcast Trasncript:

The transcript was automatically generated and may contain errors.

Jacob Barr :

Hi, welcome to the pro-life Team Podcast. I’m Jacob Barr and I’m here with Lori. And we are excited to talk to you today about this idea that Lori introduced or shared a couple of years ago about how she would reach out to a donor and with a simple text asking how may I pray for you today? And I just found that to be, you know, this beautiful small detail and a way to connect with donors and I just want to so Lori, tell me your thoughts on, you know, what motivated you to do this, what the results have been tell me your thoughts on these texts that you send and like what fruit has come from this or tell us. Yeah, tell us the story of texting and asking how you may pray for someone today.

Lori Devillez :

Ok well, Jacob, it’s so good to be with you. Thank you so much for this opportunity just to get to share some of my thoughts on, I think, the foundation of prayer and everything that we do for me. Everything is based upon the example of Jesus and his example for everything that he did was about building relationships. And for me, connecting with a donor it’s not about, you know, sometimes people research how much could this donor give or this, that or the other. I don’t really. I don’t even take the time for that i take the time for praying through the people that God would bring to mind that. He would want me to reach out to and build the relationship with them people, you’ve heard the phrase people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. And I like adding two words after that about them. People, especially in the world that we’re in now, high anxiety, very angry, so uncertain. That if we reach out and we don’t want anything, it’s just about letting people know that you care whatever it is and it’s not a it’s just my heart. Whether they give or not, I want them to know somebody cares. And if somebody thought about them today and somebody prayed for them today, i spoke with a friend yesterday she really needed someone to talk with. And the scripture that kept coming to my mind was we don’t put our light under a bushel, we under a Bush we put it up on the hill for people to see. And when I shared that, she stopped and she said, how did you know that my word for this year was shine? I didn’t know, but God did. And that was the word she needed to hear that yesterday, that day. So if we’re in prayer. And we’re truly seeking the Lord for everything but also for who to reach out to and how to love and what to share. You know as she was sharing with me things going on, I was praying. Lord, what is the best response give me wisdom and listening to her and I think that’s what’s so important people expect texts of needing some something done or something or whatever. But if you just text and say. I just thought of you today, just wanted you to know how much you mean to me and I’m praying for you something very simple, it moves people and to really be genuine about it, it’s staying in that attitude of love as you know, we know the greatest of these is love and the greatest among you will be a servant and to serve we must be in love. That’s just the way I see things.

Jacob Barr :

Who is the last person that you sent a text like this to? That you that you remember at least.

Lori Devillez :

Oh, let’s see. You know, I’ve actually been thinking of a dear friend of ours, Ruth, with the International Life Services, and I sent her one and it was just good to hear back from her and you know, I didn’t know things going on in her life, but just being able to connect and share, she’s one every day. I try to at least think of at least three people to reach out to each day. Just to let them know that I care that I’m praying and that they mean something to me.

Jacob Barr :

Oh, that’s wonderful. That’s and it and it feels like that’s a good, a good desire or discipline to try and reach out and just to try and, you know, yeah, find out how, you know, find out what someone’s needs are. By doing this, have you found that people reciprocate and will sort of mimic or mirror what you’re doing and maybe respond back with how they may pray for you?

Lori Devillez :

Yes, yeah, it’s really interesting because people do they they’re blown away that, you know, you don’t need or want anything, but also then they it makes them want to then reciprocate back and it’s really neat. ’cause what I see is we’re building a huge family, right? Everyone that I meet, I don’t believe there’s an accident in meeting them. God always has purpose in everything, and so it takes the body of Christ to do what we need to do. It takes all of us and that’s why I was sharing in another workshop I was getting to share. There is no need for competition because we all need each other. And so if we look at it that way. So when I hear and listen to somebody who maybe has a dream or a vision or wants to accomplish something, I’m not looking at, oh, I want to do better or whatever i’m looking at what do I have, what resources do I have that I can then lend to them to help them accomplish their goal or their vision so that we come together and become part of the same body of Christ.

Jacob Barr :

So would you mind sharing what you know, some of the things that you asked for prayer from the person who reciprocated and said, you know, how may I pray for you? Like what was, what would be an example of one of the things that you know, you responded with and asked for and you know and does that connect with like, you know, is it primarily like, is it personal or is it connected to the center or is that sort of sometimes the same? What is? How did you respond back was the last time some reciprocated.

Lori Devillez :

Well, I’ll tell you what the most. One of the best ways people can pray for me, and I am always asking for prayer, is for wisdom. The scriptures tell us that if we lack wisdom, then we should ask, and especially now but in the work that we do, I believe it’s out of the normal comfort zone anyway. And now that we’ve added another level in the world that we’re in. We need wisdom. We need knowledge we need understanding. And as we get the wisdom knowledge and understanding and you know as the scriptures tell us especially in proverbs though it costs all you have get understanding and it’s really just for the day right. I mean we’re we need to plan. But he also tells us one day at a time, so we don’t over plan or over because then that’s when the anxiety can come in and he’s tells us not to be anxious for anything. And so just wisdom for today. And as I go out, I see myself going out into my mission field that I pray and ask God, help me to see with your eyes, help me to hear with your ears. People are wanting somebody just to listen, just to understand where they are and if we will do that, even meeting with a lot of pastors. Even asking them how can I pray for you? It always comes back with a lot of times just wisdom, just understanding where we are in this day and how to help people and share the love of Jesus.

Jacob Barr :

Wow, I love it so when it comes to this kind gesture and connecting with people and trying to like well, essentially connecting at A very friendly and spiritual and really just a very, you know, an intimate level by, you know, trying to show love and care through a desire to pray for them. How has God worked through this gesture and through this through this exercise or discipline of praying for other people and then you know and asking them like how would you say you know how is God showed you know showed up in this in this space and then and also like you know like for example you know have you have you received you know do these you know does this text turn into like a long dialogue and do you hear from people of you know follow up you know related prayer requests and does God you know when the prayer is answered do you hear feedback from these people and like how does how does this play out in some of the you know the best scenarios.

Lori Devillez :

Yes, i think it plays out really well because we become family. It’s really neat. I think it’s important that we create a safe environment for people.

Jacob Barr :

Just meeting with a pastor the other day, he was sharing from his heart and he needed someone just to share with and it was just neat because he kept saying now this stays in this room and I kept saying I know nothing so.

Lori Devillez :

But it would it gave him a safe environment to share his heart, where especially with pastors, it’s very hard to find releases right outlets to for the things that they carry. I think being genuine and really caring, it builds a huge family network. If people really know that you’re serious about praying for them, and many times when they give a prayer request, I’ll just stop right then and pray instead of saying OK, I’ll pray for you, no, let’s pray now and just start praying And the most powerful prayers i believe God hears our prayers, but. When we can pray His Word back to Him, He says, put me in remembrance of my Word and for us to know the scriptures and use those scriptures i learned that in spiritual warfare training to know the scriptures well enough, and for me even to memorize them enough, that when situations come, I know which scripture to use it’s kind of like having your weapons in your arsenal there and you know which ones to use. At a certain time, you know, when Jesus was tempted, after the fast that he did for 40 days, he didn’t throw out just any scripture he used the scripture that identified with that situation. And so when I know the scriptures and then I turn around and pray for people using those scriptures, God says his word does not return void so whatever we’ve sent out for asking God to do by His word, we know he will accomplish it. And so that gives us the confidence also when we’re praying for people and with people. It’s interesting, One person I was texting, she texts back that she needed prayer. And then i just said I’d be happy to pray and then she was telling me all about these issues with her mother and I shared with her, You know, the most powerful thing you can do for this situation and for your mother is to pray for her. And she just went off. Well, I’m the one that needs prayer she doesn’t need prayer kind of thing and I said no to help you and to help her. The best thing you can do is pray for her anyway, we got down to the real issue and that is she let me know. She didn’t know how to pray and it scared her. And so I was able then to explain to her prayer is just like talking like you and I are doing just talking, but being strategic in our words because the scripture tells us there’s power. We bring life or we bring death just by our words and so knowing what words will bring life or what words will tell, tear down and bring death are very important and how we use our words is there that’s also very important. So being strategic to always for me, my heart is to always bring life, to speak life and to bring hope and to bring encouragement and. You know, people in our world are so busy. So, and for me, I’m just trying to simplify i don’t need to be at every meeting. I don’t need to be i don’t. I at one time in my life, I thought I did, but now I realize I don’t because i only need to be where God wants me to be. He’ll work through everything.

Jacob Barr :

Oh, I love that I do.

Lori Devillez :

If I just focus on him and be strategic and how I even spend my time.

Jacob Barr :

So at my at my church one of the rhythms that we have is we have the kids come up in front of the church at the very beginning after we sing some songs they come up and every other week we have we ask some questions about the Lord’s Prayer and then as a body we essentially say the Lord’s Prayer as a group And but one of the questions that they will my one of the pastors here Pastor Mark will often ask the kids is praying easy or hard and essentially they’ve learned the right answer is yes you know it’s both. It’s easy. It’s it can be easy and it can be hard and we have a lot of questions like that you know we and it’s such an important piece. You know, the Lord’s Prayer is like a really good example of, you know, a beautiful, you know, structure of pieces that often are included in our prayers and like we build our prayers usually based off of the Lord’s Prayer or that, you know, the ideas and the depths of that example. And so that’s. Yeah so since. Yeah but someone says they don’t know how to pray, yeah, I would just say it is hard, but it’s also not as hard as you think yeah.

Lori Devillez :

That’s right.

Jacob Barr :

That’s right and yeah so and I love that you’re praying back scripture and let you know looking at Jesus’s example of you know fighting temptation with you know extreme like that’s spiritual warfare if you know that’s a that’s a very extreme example of Satan attacking Jesus with his best arsenal and Jesus fighting back with God’s word. That’s just a beautiful illustration of yeah again, another example of how to spiritual. You know, how to fight in the spiritual realm.

Lori Devillez :

Yes.

Jacob Barr :

And also you mentioned that you’re, you know, the idea of praying right now instead of praying later. And I think you mentioned before in a previous conversation that you often will like when you write the text back instead of just saying I’ll pray for you actually just like write out your prayer in that text i think that is probably very encouraging. Or what are your thoughts on you know what what do you think or what are your thoughts when someone responds that way to you with writing the prayer Alec, what how do you respond to that?

Lori Devillez :

Yes, it moves my heart to know that someone has taken the time to not only pray, but write out the prayer and send it to me and in a text it’s really nice ’cause if I start to get stretched or challenged or discouraged or whatever, I can go back to that text. And remind myself, no, wait a minute, no, there’s someone praying I’ll never forget i have a friend in Indiana that we work together with in the pregnancy center and when I moved to Texas, I was in a really difficult situation and actually the person was just standing over me screaming at the moment that the phone rang. And when I answered, it was my prayer warrior friend in Indiana. And she said, Are you OK? And I said, well, I couldn’t really answer at the moment, but she said you don’t even need to answer i just wanted to call to tell you for the last 45 minutes I’ve been praying for you. And she said you don’t have to say anything and you don’t even have to call me back, but just know the rest of the day I’ll be praying for you. And it got me through that difficult time. And I actually called her that night and we prayed together but. When you’re prompted to pray for someone, that’s the Holy Spirit moving. We may not know she didn’t know the situation I was in, but she was faithful enough to and obedient enough to pray God. That’s a powerful thing to do for someone. A lot of times people say, well, all I can do is pray well, really, the most powerful thing you can do is pray, because then you’re calling upon the God of the universe. To move either on your behalf or behalf of someone else and her call and her obedience that day got me through the day and God knows what we need and as I shared with our staff this week, what we’re in the work that we’re in, battling to help those day in and day out who are struggling with life. It’s a marathon it’s not a Sprint. And seeing it that way. And pacing ourselves correctly is very important. And just being rested and alert so that we do hear when the Lord moves for us to do something and we respond in the right way, in the right time it’s very important.

Jacob Barr :

Well i love yeah I just love your heart and how i look at you as being a very prayerful woman and as someone who prays often who encourages other people to pray and then you know finds that people reciprocate and also we’ll pray for you as we all need prayer and covet prayers and desire prayers to help us you know simply help us with spiritual warfare and to help us with just simply being closer to God’s heart. And so as we wrap this segment up, I I’d like to ask you one more question so this is for executive directors and our goal is to be a blessing to directors. If you were to say something to the average director, you know how might you recommend or provide insight on how this discipline could be you know should be. You know how they should adopt this discipline of praying and. Reaching out to donors and asking them how she may pray for them or asking board members or other team members to also take up this idea like which roles in the in the center might be you know in a good position to reach out to donors and ask how I’m how may I pray to how may I pray for you or you know I guess maybe they do you often reach out also like to your to your board members and with the same question like sounds like to me you reach out to anyone God leads you to reach out to more So when I went into this segment I was thinking this was for donors but really it sounds like it’s for your team of you know your circle of people that you’re connected with.

Lori Devillez :

Well, I believe it’s a lifestyle, right you just stay in an attitude of prayer. So wherever you go i was with my mom a couple weeks ago and we just went to a furniture store. And I just stayed in an attitude of prayer and my mom was just so amazed by all the things i mean, staff were coming, the manager came and we didn’t ask for any of this. But it’s amazing as we go in to the store we were praying for a specific bed for her and how all the things lined up for what she needed. And it was important for her to see. As we stay in an attitude of prayer, God truly does order our steps. But he’s not going to come and demand his way. So he looks for us to want to participate with him. And so for me, I’m going to do a follow up from that store visit to just write a letter to affirm all the things that every person did to basically serve my mother so it becomes an attitude of lifestyle really that we just stay in that attitude of prayer. And we’re always looking, you know, I asked my pastor one time when we started the center in downtown Austin, and warfare was so strong. And I asked him, he was in the Army, he was in the Vietnam War. And I asked him, how do you prepare for war, physical war? And one thing he that stood out to me that I’ve adopted is, he said you’re always aware. Always aware of your circumstances and isn’t that what the Scripture says to always be on alert, to always be on guard, to be prepared to give an accounting of the hope that we have. And I think when we become that mindset of a lifestyle, it naturally is just who we are. And you know, the scripture says God is love it doesn’t say he acts like love, he is love. And so it becomes our being to model him and so we become love and we become prayerful and we become like him we it becomes who we are. And I believe people. The scriptures tells us that as we lift the name of Jesus high, he draws all people, all men to himself as we live in that lifestyle of attitude, of prayer and staying in love and a walking in obedience. He moves like when we were in the furniture store, all these people were drawn to us it was not us. It was because we walked in with an attitude of prayer and that we were going to love and be kind. And as we did, we saw God move. And I believe every one of us will see that as we fall in line with him and walk in that attitude.

Jacob Barr :

Wow, that’s amazing. How much of your prayer life is on the listening or you know, listening for God’s quiet voice like how would you know, how does that play into your prayer life and what’s your experience with that like living in a busy city, living with A to do list and an email box and a phone and all these sort of, like distractions how? How do you also find time to listen or, you know, what does that look like?

Lori Devillez :

I think it’s purposeful. I’m learning more and more, especially in the last year. I think the year 2020 really impacted a lot of people to take a step back. We’re seeing people slowing down, more families doing more to things together. But I think for me, it’s me being purposeful.

Jacob Barr :

If I’m going to ask the Lord for something specific, and a lot of times it’s very simple things, Lord, I need to know where I put this that I can’t.

Lori Devillez :

Find you know, I do that a lot and but then I need to stop and listen for him to show me where it is instead of why I can’t find that Lord help me and then just go on. Well, no, I need to listen and every single time. Then I have the thought, oh, that’s right and I go and there it is. And when, I’m not quite sure. You know, we’ve had some difficult client cases these last few weeks and just having our staff come together and pray, Lord, we don’t know, you know, this person’s heart you know, this person’s situation far more than we do because we don’t know the full story we don’t know if we’re being told truth. God would you show us and it’s just so neat to see, even as a team, that God makes it very clear. What we are to do and we all come into agreement and that’s the other thing even with our board, when we get to decisions that need to be made or sometimes very difficult decisions, when we will stop and we will listen, we will pray and just be quiet and listen. He makes it very clear what we need to do.

Jacob Barr :

It’s just amazing that the way that it comes out for his glory and I think that’s yeah I think we’re called to pray but then the part that sometimes I feel like it’s harder to the hardest part for me is to be quiet and to listen and to like essentially make space in my mind for God’s voice to resonate. I feel like it’s really easy to keep thinking and to you know keep chattering in my head and to not into essentially you know overpower volume wise you know that still small quiet voice responding and so to me I feel like the easy part is to say what I what I need and what I want and it’s still a good discipline to do but I feel like that’s the easy side and then the hard side is to be quiet and to and to typically to remove or avoid distractions like, the distractions are super easy to fall into and it’s just hard to find that quiet space without distraction.

Lori Devillez :

That’s true. That’s true.

Jacob Barr :

Well, i think this was a will you will you wrap up our segments on this, you know prayerful topic and then we’ll go ahead and yeah find some closure on this piece.

Lori Devillez :

Ok. So we’ll just close in prayer then, Lord, yes, please. I thank you so much for the time that we’ve had just to discuss you and. Our conversations with you and your Word, Lord, I thank you that your word is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword i thank you for your promises, Lord. I thank you for the confidence we can have in the foundation of you. And Lord, I just pray, and I pray encouragement for everyone watching or listening to this, and that you would use it, Lord, to speak to hearts, to encourage hearts to bring. The foundation, if it’s necessary to bring vision, if it’s necessary, whatever is needed lord, I just thank you that as we call upon you, we know that we have the confidence as the scripture you reminded me of today, that we have the confidence that whatever you begin in US, you will complete. It’s not about us having to toil and strive to do things. But as we step in with you and you begin, whatever that work is in us, that you will complete it we give you thanks for that today, Lord in Jesus name amen.

Jacob Barr :

Amen so I’ve got one more question I want to ask when you’re dealing with a prayer request for your for your center or clinic and let let’s say it’s spiritual warfare, how do you communicate that to your, I mean how you know, I’m assuming you have a prayer team, but how big is your prayer team and how do you communicate with them and what does that look like as a as part of your pregnancy clinic?

Lori Devillez :

Well, we have several groups. We have our volunteer group, we have our staff, we have our Advisory Council, we have our board. So for me, it’s all the group. We’re all very prayerful minded. So all of those groups I can send one text out and I know people are praying and seriously, praying it’s not. Oh yeah, I’ll get to that later it’s oh, I need to stop right now and join in agreement with whatever the situation is to pray. That’s how we do it at our center it’s we know from the very foundation of our center, though, with seven years of prayer to even open that it. That is what is vital for us in our day-to-day everything that we do before anyone begins serving when they come in we stop and pray. If we have a zoom meeting or trainings, it’s about prayer and then we do the business we need to but prayer is 1st and it we’ve been in board meetings where? We weren’t sure which direction to go, even in the midst of our board meeting. We may have started with a prayer, but then we get into, well, we’re not sure we stop. We’ll stop our meeting and pray.

Jacob Barr :

It’s just everything is we are dependent upon the direction the Lord gives us when it comes to working with clients. How is prayer brought in and at what time or you know what’s you know along their journey.

Lori Devillez :

Yeah, I was. This is what I was sharing with my friend, ’cause she was like we were talking about, you know, well, is it religion or we’re not going to push religion down people, it for me it’s a relationship and so it’s a natural thing. I think it’s how it’s presented, like this client that we had, you know, was i don’t want this religion stuff, whatever but for me it was you know, we are faith-based And as we start our meeting, I’d like to lead us in prayer and she never fought us. And this was with our whole team. And as we went through trying to figure out how to best help, the Lord really made it clear on things we needed to say and what we needed to do even calling some places to verify which really exposed a lot of things cause truth was not being told to us so. But still staying in an attitude of love because that whole meeting and even at the end we closed in prayer and then I asked the client now are do you have any questions or is there anything you’d like to say and she said I don’t have any questions and you all are amazing. And we started out as I don’t want that religion, don’t you know. But as it was just part of who we are and it wasn’t pushed on, it was just that’s who we are. I don’t know what all God is doing in her heart, but I know she got truth. And if we can plant, you know, as the scripture says, we can maybe water, we may plant or whatever, but God will bring in the increase. We may have just planted truth with her it may not be with us that he brings in the brings her in at that this time. But I do know that during this time we are planting seed, we are giving truth. The Nuggets of truth as we speak through conversations, I’m looking for Nuggets of truth that I may not say chapter and verse, but I know the scripture is enough to speak it. And again, I have the promise that as I do, God will bring back it will it will not be void in what comes back. He will use it for good.

Jacob Barr :

Wow well, i appreciate your time lori, thank you for sharing these thoughts on prayer i think this is going to be a blessing and encouragement for executive directors and their and their and their teams. I think this is going to be a helpful piece and we can hopefully share this and get this out as an encouragement for you know as a as ways of working and you know, asking for, you know how may I pray for you today as a as a discipline and a tool and a an idea that I can help increase relationships, increase prayer life and reciprocate by growing people who want to reciprocate and start to pray for you and your team. I think this is a beautiful example of how to just how to how to live in that the idea of praying without ceasing this is a you know, praying all the time and making it part of like you know part of your daily life it’s just a beautiful example.

Lori Devillez :

Yes.

Jacob Barr :

Thank you, Lori.