Hi, and welcome to the Five Word Prayers Daily, a five day a week, daily devotional where we share the word, prayers, and our heart.

I'm Lisa Whittle, and I welcome you to just five minutes with me, which I trust and pray will be five minutes well spent.

I want to talk about something today. I hope and pray will not only be interesting, but also a great teaching tool for us because it's a subject I've

personally not heard, talked about very often, but it's something I've certainly heard us express

concern about. And it's that of spiritual manipulation. More specifically, what to look for in

someone who claims to be a spiritual authority, but we're concerned might be leading

maybe us astray. And also, I think we should, as always, take a look at ourselves that we might

make sure we are purely leading others correctly towards Christ. It's going to be a lot of God

wisdom for this topic. So say a quick prayer with me, will you? And then let's talk.

My husband and I have a mentor named Monty. He's someone I've written about many times.

And he's someone about 10 years older than we are and in a season ahead of us in life,

which by the way, that's what I would recommend for you if you're seeking out a mentor, get somebody that's maybe a season ahead of you in life.

Monty has been in ministry many years with two grown kids and now he has grandkids. And he's helped

us maneuver many things, including the loss of a job, closing a church that we started, issues with

our children, and things within our marriage, and just all kinds of things. One of the things

Monty said to me one time really struck me because he not only is extremely wise, obviously,

but he is also very skilled verbally and smart strategically. And he said

this to me. He said, Lisa, I have to be very careful because I know I can outwit and out talk

about nine out of ten people who I sit with in a room. And because of that, I am even more responsible for how I use my abilities

to persuade or sway them. Now, listen, he didn't say that in an arrogant way. He said that actually

in a very humble way and in a very discerning and intuitive way from the Lord of being very careful with those gifts and abilities,

understanding that he had to be very responsible with them before the Lord.

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