Mar 21, 2022
Kimberly Hobbs
Welcome to empowering lives with purpose. And I'm your host,
Kimberly Hobbs. I'm the founder of Women world leaders. And we are
just so happy that you are here today and I'd love to welcome our
guest, Candace Kirkpatrick. Welcome, Candace.
Candace Kirkpatrick
Hello there. Thanks for having me, Kimberly, I'm happy to be
here.
Kimberly Hobbs
And we are so happy that you've joined us. And ladies, we are happy
to all come together and for a greater purpose. Our purpose here
with these podcast series is to encourage you, strengthen you and
empower you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So a verse that I
always love to open up with is Ephesians 210, talking about us
being God's masterpiece, because each one of us are his
masterpiece. But today I want to open with our verse from women,
world leaders, which is right there. Ephesians 320, unto him, who's
able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask or imagine,
according to the power that's at work within us. And we truly
believe ladies that when you allow that power of the Holy Spirit to
work within each and every one of you, God is going to do
exceedingly, abundantly above what you can imagine in your life. So
to start off, today, I want to share a little bit about our guest,
Candace, she is first and foremost a Christ follower. And she is a
wife, a mom, she loves to serve Jesus in her calling, which is
acting, she's an actress. So as a well known actress in film, and
television, Candice has a story behind it all, where she is now in
what she is doing in her industry, and how she is here on this
podcast to encourage each and every one of you. That's what we're
all about is encouraging, right? And we do that by sharing our
stories. And God has given us each a story. We believe that with
all of our heart, so what is your story? And hopefully you'll be
thinking about that today. As Candace shares a little bit about her
story. Her parents were divorced at a young age, she was only like
four. And they dropped her at nursery school where she began acting
in the first grade. And she loved it so much. She continued acting
all throughout school, and she graduated high school valedictorian
of her whole class. Then she received a full ride on to college,
where she studied the arts. And she got received a bachelor's and a
master's while at college, and also graduated valedictorian of her
college. And that's an achievement. Candace. That's amazing. We are
so happy to have you. Man, she started attending top acting
schools. She got an agent, she moved to New York, where she started
doing different things with her career. She's done shows abroad in
London. And she's really, she's received recurring acting parts on
soap operas. And all of this, she's done as her faith and walk in
Christ continued to grow. So in her love of this industry, some of
her acting brought her to various parts. And I wanted to start here
and let Candace open up about this. All of the sudden change that
God was speaking to her in her life through receiving some of these
parts that she was auditioning for. So Candace, please share with
us a little bit about that.
Candace Kirkpatrick
Hi, okay, great. Um, after I got my master's, I was at one program
for my Bachelor's a different program for my master's, where I did
years of Sanford Meisner training. Then I moved to New York got the
agent, like you said, and I was doing a lot of work off Broadway
and traveling around the world doing shows, including London, as
you said, as well as Ukraine. And then I was getting small parts
and TV and film these little bitty recurring roles, nothing
substantial. But when I came back from my show in London, that is
when I started getting more larger roles. And one of them my agent
had set me up for a role that had come from Toronto. And it was a
huge success in Toronto. And he said, you know, they'd like to see
you do take over one of the roles, and I went and saw it. And it
was offensive. And I can't say anything nice about it. And so I
spoke with my agent and said, I'm sorry, I can't do that. And he's
like, Oh, you need to it's very successful. It's very popular. And
I said, Have you seen it? And he said, No, I haven't. And I said,
please see it. And then he said, You need to separate your religion
from your work, oh, boy hurt. And I said, What you go see it, and
then we'll discuss it. But that didn't go over very well, then I
was also getting some roles, and now in larger roles in TV, and
film. And I didn't even know my character, I didn't have a problem
with the the character I was portraying the message that the
audience would take away what you know, I didn't agree with. And,
again, I went to my agent, and he was like, Well, if you won't do
it, we'll get somebody who will somebody else who will. So at one
point, I honestly thought, oh, I should go ahead and do this. And
then I can take that money and use it for something that would
honor the Lord. And the Lord spoke to me very clearly, to obey is
better than sacrifice and in your can, in your case, Candace, to
obey is better than compromise. I don't want you to compromise.
Obedience, which is interesting, that word obedience, because I
hope I come back to it at the end. Because that's something you
know, just radical obedience. So I just laid this script before the
Lord and I was like, Lord, I want to honor you, I want my life to
honor you. And so some of the things that I was looking at, in that
I was reading that before I had just thought was brilliant writing.
Now, it was, um, I'm causing this tension in my in my spirit.
Because I saw this as even though you could say, I mean, there are
a lot of incredible writers. But unless you know who you're
grounded in, in the bore, what comes out May not be edifying, and
will not be building up of anyone or giving you a message of hope.
And so that is when I seriously, I met with pastors and others to
say, Okay, I need Godly counsel right now. Because, as you said, I
had I started acting when I was three before I even got into first
grade. And then I had done that my entire life for, you know,
through middle school, elementary school, high school, college
graduates. So to say, Lord, are you calling me away from this? And
that is when he surrounded me with some prayer warriors.
Kimberly Hobbs
Wow. Well, that that's huge. Because you are at a point in your
life where you are like, Okay, do I sacrifice, the love of my life,
what I was doing, to walk away, like you said, and not compromise
in this, you know, World of this career that I've built, and then
follow after God's heart. And so I'm sure that struggle was there,
and you needed women to surround you and pray for you and, and
others. So, so you did you, you sacrificed, and you became a mom,
you raised a family, you started doing some things through these
this 20 year journey of moving away from your career at this point
for just a little bit, although I think you're going to share with
us some of the things that happened through those 20 years, which
are pretty cool. So let's go there.
Candace Kirkpatrick
All right. Well, I am sure much counsel, as I said, from pastors,
as well, as I had, I was leading some women's prayer, prayer
ministries and Bible studies. As I was praying about exiting this
industry, and two women that I was very close with came over almost
every day to pray with me that I would just delight myself in the
Lord that I would love what he had for me, and then I would trust
him. And so I was newly married at the time, so I invested in my
marriage, we decided worried about having a family, I didn't want
anyone raising my family as you stated, you know, I was four when
my parents got divorced. And we went between back and forth between
our parents. So I wanted to make sure that I was intentional in my
children's lives that no one else was raising them. And so during
that time, I just continued to pray, Lord, use me however you wish
to use me. So I continue to teach. I think I have taught Bible for
more than two decades, I was leading prayer ministries within their
schools. And I was writing and directing place for searches, as
well as like, I did this huge, musical, as well as play for
churches. And I was also directing their vacation bible school
during the summer and helping write scripts or rewrite scripts and
direct for that God was
Kimberly Hobbs
still giving you those, those desires of your heart to play them
out. But it was just in a different role right now, because you
were now a wife and a mom. And so you had the best of both worlds
being able to do this, but doing it as a wife and a mom, but I
think that's beautiful.
Candace Kirkpatrick
Yeah. And, and also, I do think it's important. I mean, you know,
when he says, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when
he's old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22, six, Amen. Yes.
And so I think, to get the word in the child is important. Mm hmm.
And I, and I think to, for kids to have a love for the Lord. They
can't be just do's and don'ts, Do this, don't do this, don't do
this. But when you open up the world to them, like to me, when I
read the Bible, it leaps off the page, I just invade everything. It
is a live action adventure. And so when you are doing that, and
you're presenting these writing scripts, or something where you're
bringing the Bible to life, then you're opening up a world for
them, to hopefully fall madly in love with the Lord and with His
Word. And that was, My desire is that not just my own children, but
children at their schools, because I was directing for their
schools as well, and for the churches and stuff like that, that
they have this love for God. So
Kimberly Hobbs
I love that about you, Candace, you are passionate about pouring
into others through what you do. And you found that way to do it
while you were raising your children because of the importance of
pouring in. And one of the ways I know you are very passionate
about studying in the Word, and being a mom in teaching your
children about this. But another area that you are passionate in,
in why you are where you are today, walking with the Lord talking
with the Lord, is because of the importance of prayer in your life,
Candace. And because of that importance, I know that somebody's
near and dear to you in the movie, the War Room, which, again, you
had your ties in with that movie, but you, you developed your own
prayer room, in your home. And I thought, wow, this is really neat,
where you go to that prayer room on a regular basis, you
communicate with the Lord, you have two sides of this closet set
up. So I wanted you to share with the women right now the
importance of prayer in our life and why it brings us on to what we
can do for the Lord, how we can serve Him if we're in communication
with him.
Candace Kirkpatrick
Yes. My prayer closet is extremely important to me. And I need to I
really want to clarify this. I have been a prayer warrior for as
long as I can remember, it's it's breathing to me, I want to be in
constant communion with the Lord. Because as Peter said, where else
where we go, Lord, for you alone have the word of life. So there's
nowhere else I can go. But a tragedy happened in my family in 2018.
And it just sent me level on the floor before the Lord. And I mean,
you know, I couldn't even draw breath it was and so I can't even
describe it. And then I realized, you know, I was not just praying
for exams and friendships and you know, for my kids and safety and
protection, I was praying on a far deeper level. Okay. And when you
mentioned the War Room, I was not a part of that film at all. But I
have done. I'm doing a TV pilot with Karen Abercrombie, who is
plays Miss Claire of the War Room. So she is an incredible, amazing
woman. And I need to share that she is more fiery more passionate
in real life than she is in that film. So that just gives you an
idea what she is like she's phenomenal. And her passion for the
Lord is line love it.
Kimberly Hobbs
I love it. I just have to share this because now that you brought
that up in women, world leaders, we in our Facebook group every day
we write empowering words to encourage and strengthen the women.
And I have shown Miss Karen Abercrombie, who what is her name and
the move is Clara, this Clara. I have played that that stint in the
kitchen over and over I put it on women world leaders, because when
when I get riled up and I'm writing, you know, and I'm passionate
about something I'm saying and I'm like we are going to prayer over
this or we're doing this, I put that clip on the bottom. And it
just inspires the lady. So I'm tickled just like
Candace Kirkpatrick
you should know she's more passionate than that character. Oh my
goodness. And so randomly, she just calls me to send me love, love,
love, love, love, love, love, love, love. So anyway, I love that
I'm blessed because of her. But anyway, because that movie prompted
me with this tragedy to make a prayer closet. And that's what I
did. So I shared I don't have a luxury have a very small closet. I
didn't like take out all my clothes. I just moved everything over.
And I have two walls. One is praying how God views work. And there
are hundreds of scriptures hundreds of how important work is to
God. You know, the he has created work in advance for us to do you
know, he has already got it. And I don't want to miss what he's
called me into. You know what I mean? Right? All these things lined
up and he's already purposed for it. I want to be Lord, I'm here.
I'm here. willing vessel use me use me right here. But then my
other side is praying for loved ones. Last ones, unsaved ones,
families with going through health issues, cancer, tragedies,
death, rebellious children, divorces everything. And so I have each
side, plastered with scriptures like almost from the floor to two
thirds of the wall. That's beautiful. And then I have ticker tapes
running. One is a prayer request and one is a praises. And then
I've got about 10 or 15 books in there devotionals that I do along
with my Bible. And I journal I want to promote this here. I'm
promoting you see this. And in pew. This is a guided discipline in
prayer. Because it helps you because a lot of people don't know,
like, where do I start? I'm overwhelmed. You know? This is like,
I'm just sharing it because it's the Lord's placed on me. What are
the circumstances? It says, what are the circumstances? What just
happened? And so this is, what are the lies the enemy is telling
me? That's the second part. The third one is How am I feeling about
this? There's an index with 200 500 I'm feeling this because a lot
of times you may be feeling like 50 different ways. This is how I'm
feeling. Okay. And then it says, And this is what Jesus says about
it. And the Holy Spirit just download scripture. And I just like
this is what Jesus says about it. This is what Jesus says about it.
And this is what he says about it. And then on the other side is
adoration, confession, thanksgiving supper, supplication, the axe
prayer thing. Yep.
Those are all important parts of prayer. And
they are in my prayer closet with me. Because I cannot go operate in my flesh in a world that is broken. I so much want to be filled by His Spirit, armored up like in Ephesians six that I have on the full armor of God. So that when I go into a situation I am Lord, You are speaking through me you will use me and then I will just be an instrument for your glory. Because ladies about me, I gotta constantly remind myself remove myself. Get him and he cares About every single person I encounter, whether that person is walking with him or not. He cares. So how can I be his arms and feet and light and joy? And love? If I'm not staying? You know, he says, I am the vine, you are the branch Remain in me and you will bear much fruit but apart from me, you will do nothing. That's right. I want to be I want to be making a lot of fruit. Man, girl, am I gonna happen if I am tethered by him anchor in the vine. And so I spend a lot of time because there's so many things I can't fix them solve. And I'm like, Lord, alright, you got to take care of it. And I'm gonna rest in you, but I got to be prayed up. So
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. And that. That's my point. You know, communication with God
is key ladies key. And we all need to have that place where we know
that we're going to go to the Lord every day. It's not just when
problems come that you go to Him in prayer. No, you develop that
relationship, and you pray continuously. And if it means taking a
designated area where you walk by in your house every day and say,
I need to get in that room. I haven't been in there all day.
Because we shouldn't let a day go by that we're not praying and
communicating to our Heavenly Father. That is how he's going to
speak to us. That is how he's going to change our life. That is how
he's going to prepare us for the future for what he wants to do in
and through you. So please, ladies, make it a point to get this
prayer closet. Down. I go in my pantry every day. And I know it
sounds funny, but I have a walk in pantry. And I can go in there
and I can shut out the world. And because usually it's my kitchen
being my domain, but the pantry is that place where I shut the door
and block everything else out. And I just focus in there. And I go
to the Lord in prayer. And I talked to him. I was in there three
times already today. So it's corny ladies, right? It's important to
be in our prayer closet. So though, Candace, so through all of this
communication with the Lord in His 20 year journey, this is so
exciting to say that God brought you to now a new acting place. Now
you are in faith based only and you are a voice. God's given you a
voice to help tell stories to help others share their stories, and
you want to be His hands and His feet. And so like I said, God's
been preparing you it doesn't happen overnight. Ladies, it's a
constant daily walk with the Lord. And before you know it, you're
walking right into your beautiful purpose that God has prepared
just for you. So Candace share about that, you know, you're now
you're in faith base. I know we have to be closing up in a minute.
But it's like, here we are. So let's talk about now you're doing
what God has called you to for him?
Candace Kirkpatrick
Well, I pray that he's, I mean, he's still working on me, I you
know, He who began a good work and us well carried on to completion
until the day of Christ Jesus, that's Philippians, one, six, so
he's still working on me. There's prayers that he hasn't answered
yet. Or he's answering in some phenomenal way that I can't even
fathom, which I'm excited about to see how he's going to work. And
in 2018, he opened the door for me to go into faith based
entertainment. And I said to him, Lord, if you ever call me back
into this industry, may I honor you? And that's what, you know,
there are people who do not do secular work, and God uses them to
minister to people on those sets. Okay. So I look, I did look at
the content, I tried to look at the message I tried to see what is
the point that the writer is trying to get across what is the
director's intent, and I read up on it, and he's opened some doors
for me, that her clearly his, his not my doing, that had become
directly from him. And I you know, there's a saying, sometimes I
just smile and look up and go, Yeah, that was you. God knows you
God. And that's it. You know, because I go, Yeah, that was you. And
so he's to
Kimberly Hobbs
do it. Psalm. Psalm 18, verse 30, says, God's way is perfect. Yeah.
So maybe back 20 years ago, you were doing it the way of the world
but God's way is perfect. And now you're in faith based Godwin's
perfect. All the Lord's promises are true. Psalm 1830. Yes.
Candace Kirkpatrick
Well, I he, you know, I'm working on the faith based crime drama,
vindication. I have a recurring role on that, which is fun. It's
not like the normal dramatic roles I play. It's a quirky OCD
character. I love it. I got to do this TV pilot with Karen
Abercrombie of the War Room, and Cameron Arnett of overcomer.
Hopefully that'll get picked up. I'm supposed to be working on a
film called Love one another about racism and how we deal with it
in the church. So I'm thankful for that. But in the meantime, I
mean, I'm not I'm not anxious, I'm not nervous. I'm just like,
Lord, bring me to whatever you want to close doors, open doors. And
in the meantime, I wouldn't go back to praying. That's what I pray.
And I fled. I don't let the world in so much. If I'm not listening
to uplifting Christian music, I'm listening to my Bible app on, you
know, on my head, that I'm listening to women, faith based writers
who are encouraging, you know, your identity in Christ,
Kimberly Hobbs
and you're embracing everything that God has for you. And that's
what we need to do women is embrace everything that God has for us
keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, right? Yeah, it's a focus. It's
fixed on the Lord. How do you do that? You're in His Word. You're
talking to him. So yes, Candice. So we have to wrap it up. But I
just want you to give that encouragement right now to the woman
that's listening right now. What can you speak into her life, about
moving into all the fullness that God has for her?
Candace Kirkpatrick
Well, the first thing I would say, know that the Lord loves you,
intimately. He is intimately acquainted with you, He knows every
hair on your head, he has your name engraved on the palm of your
hands. So seek him before you turn on the television or anything
else. Go to his word before you call up a friend and want to
complain about something, go to him and say, Lord, you know how
that stung that hurt that bothered me. And just have him fill you
up with how tremendously he loves you and wants a relationship with
you. And then surround yourself with godly women who were chasing
after Jesus, and have a prayer ministry this morning with a group
of women. And I am in constant prayer. Like I have time phone calls
throughout the day that I pray with different women around the
world because we're in different time zones. People who are
pursuing Christ, because we live in a broken world, but we are be
the salt and light. And it's hard to be salt and light, if we're
not being constantly filled up with him. So at the same saturate
yourself in the world, pray, pour out your heart to Him, there's
nothing he doesn't know. Just pour out your heart to Him, He will
FILL you and give you tremendous joy in the midst of some very hard
circumstances. And if you if you need a buddy, call it somebody you
know, is a prayer warrior, who was following hard after Christ, to
say I need your help to lock arms with me. And we will go to battle
together. And that's what I want to encourage.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. And thank you for that encouragement, Candace. And just as
Candice connected with women, world leaders, we love that God
brought her to this amazing group of women. And that's why we're
here ladies is to be that help to you to reach out in all these
different areas. There's women walking through what you're walking
through, there's women that are here, just to be helped other
women. We're here as a as a way to help each other and in Canada,
so wonderfully, was led by the Lord to be here doing this podcast
right now as an encouragement to you. Maybe God has a story in your
life that you're going to share somehow, some way in, in our
magazine in a book that we're putting out, or whatever it may be.
But God has a way to use each and every one of you to do not doubt
that. If your old way of living is leaving you feeling spiritually
dull and dead inside, then it may be time for you to surrender
everything to Jesus, just like Candace did. She knew that time that
things were not going in this direction that her life was going
with the world. God didn't want that for her. So she surrendered.
And she changed her heart. And God gave her this passion to serve
others, and now she's doing it for him. And we are so grateful that
you shared. I wanted to share a scripture portion that I thought
was so cool. And kind of goes right along with what we're talking
about Canvas. It says our great desire is that you will keep on
loving others as long as life lasts in order to make certain that
what you hope for will come true, then you will not become
spiritually dull or indifferent. Instead, you We'll follow the
example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of
their faith and endurance. That's Hebrews 611 and 12. So in your
sphere of influence, ladies think about that. Candace is spheres of
influence became her husband and family and then those that God
connected her to at that time, and then he opened up her world. And
now she's doing all of this faith based way of reaching the loss
for Jesus. So whatever your gift that God has given you, it may not
look like canvases, it's your own. A verse that I heard Candace
share in a past podcast that I wanted to share too, is Colossians
317, which says, Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it for His
glory. So we just want to share that with you as well and encourage
you with whatever you're doing, just make sure you're doing it for
the Lord Jesus Christ with the right heart and the right content.
So in closing, I just want to share with you all that we have a
magazine that just launched recently, it's a monthly magazine. And
if you are looking for extra encouragement, and just a word from
the Lord, there's scriptures in here, this is put out by women,
it's called voice of truth, which comes out every month, and put
out by women, all kinds of wonderful nuggets inside that will
inspire you encourage you in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can
receive your free monthly copy by going to women world leaders.com.
And there you can go to the Contact Us section, and put all your
information in and we will be happy to start sending you your copy
of voice of Truth magazine. Ladies, you can also join us on our
Facebook group where we interact and comments. And it is a private
group. So just ask to be invited in. Also we have the website,
women world leaders.com, where if you need prayer, or if you need
another woman to come along beside you, we can help you with that.
So just put in a prayer request. And we have tools there ladies. So
these are open and available to each and every one of you, wherever
you are. We just love you. We want to help you and from his heart
to yours. We are women moral leaders, Candace Kirkpatrick, I thank
you so much for being here. And you can find Candice Kirkpatrick at
what is your website?