So what's going on, everybody?

Hey, guys, we're back.

We are back.

Back again.

And now guess who's back.

Tell a friend.

I had to continue with the Tell a friend because we are still doing the whole, like, trying to get.

Get it to spread and trying to get to that whole 100 and 100 by.

By March of next year, you know, or the end of the year, really, so that we can plan for March of next year.

Yeah.

For our 250th episode that chall still alive and well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so, yeah, spread the message.

Yeah.

But we're excited because this is episode 9 of our 12 part series on spiritual warfare.

Yep.

We just completed the Armor of God where we actually take you piece by piece by piece by piece.

And if you have missed it, start at the beginning.

It's worth going back and just checking that out.

If you haven't missed it, well, then buckle up because here's where the rubber meets the road.

And things get.

The rubber meets the road.

Get tough.

Right?

Here's the tough part is today.

And today we are talking about the.

Power of prayer and intercession.

Yes.

So.

And you think, oh, that's easy.

That's easy to do.

You'd say that, right?

It's easy on paper.

Guess what?

That's the hard part.

And we will dig into that here in just a few.

So welcome to the truth response.

Sam.

You know what?

I think I'm gonna pray this episode.

I think it's a good idea.

I think it is.

I think so.

You're giving me really weird looks right now.

I'm working on it.

Oh, my goodness.

All right, Father, thank you for today and thank you for the ability to do what we are doing.

Thank you for the ability to put our message out there, our teaching out there, our thoughts out there, and you will guide them to people's hearts and in their minds and in their lives.

And Father, we thank you because we are just vessels then of your power.

And we want you to do that, Lord.

We want you to take over these things, make them yours in ways that just glorify your name and your kingdom.

So do that today, Lord, especially as we talk about praying, we talk about intercession.

Lord, help us to do that in a way that is responsible and helpful for all those who are going to reach out to you.

And it's in your powerful name of Jesus that we do pray.

Amen.

All right.

I was thinking about doing it, seeing if I could.

You're going to do a hat over your headphones?

I was going to try, but I don't think.

I don't think that's going to work.

That's not going to work.

It looks goofy, I'll tell you that much.

Do you guys see this right now?

And when your eyebrows went up, the hat moved.

You were like a Muppet.

Yeah, sometimes I feel like Fosse.

Right?

Waka, waka, waka, waka.

Although not quite as funny as him, but maybe not just as funny looking.

Yeah.

So welcome back to the Spiritual Warfare series.

Like we said, this is episode nine.

We are talking about the power of prayer and intercession today.

What is intercession, you might ask?

Well, that's praying for someone else.

That's what it is.

So you got praying for yourself, praying for things, praying for other people.

That's what we're talking about today.

And if you have been following along, you'll know that we broke down the parts of the armor of God which can be found in Ephesians 6.

So if you haven't read it, please do so.

And if you have, then I hope that you got a lot of things out of that.

But today, yes, prayer and intercession.

And the icebreaker question, who is one person in your life whose prayers have made a huge difference for you?

My mother.

Oh, that's an easy one.

Yeah.

But check this out.

What's up?

So my mom, obviously, like most moms, whenever you get married, starts praying for the grandkid, Right.

To come along.

Yeah.

Because they want to be a grandparent.

Well, she found out that Lizzie was pregnant and so she started praying that it would be a girl and it would be a redheaded girl.

Okay.

And lo and behold, that's exactly what we had.

Yep.

So someone whose prayers completely changed my entire existence.

My mother's your mother.

Because I got a red headed daughter.

And I'm convinced that it was because God was giving my mother what she wanted in prayer.

I've seen that happen.

So for me, I mean, my mom would be, I'll tell you what, if my mom, I know she's been praying for me forever, but she is also, honestly, she was one of the biggest voices of getting me to pray.

So I can't tell you how many times over my life that she was like, did you pray about it?

Pray about it?

Do these things?

Pray, pray, pray.

She told me to pray so much throughout my life.

So if there was a voice of you need to pray in your life, it was definitely my mom.

So she can get credit for that.

Another person.

I'm right all the time.

And it's very hard to find a.

Person who's on the same wavelength.

What are you listening to?

I have totally failed you guys.

I was trying to pull up our YouTube.

He was playing with it.

But another person who has.

Like, my wife, actually knowing that my wife has been in my corner, has been really powerful.

Oh, yeah.

So, dude, God has done some crazy things through my wife.

Yeah.

And her prayer.

But I.

Even at one point, it goes back and forth, always have different guys.

But I was at a. I remember a day where I had this group of men that I was doing Bible study and life with, and I was having a pretty bad day, and I just reached out to him, I said, guys, I need prayer.

I need.

This is how I am.

I need it.

And I felt like things changed so quickly that day, you know, and those are kind of examples of just like what it was to have people interceding for you in those ways.

But, yeah, it was awesome.

Definitely awesome.

Did you find what you are looking for?

Give me a second.

I will get there.

Oh, my goodness.

Okay.

So it's not on YouTube that.

That's why I can't find it.

So if you go back to January of 2024.

Yeah.

I started doing this.

Yep.

On our Spotify.

Yeah.

Or anywhere else that podcasts are at besides YouTube.

We did a whole series on prayer.

That's right.

So if you haven't listened to that, like, listen to this.

But then go back and listen to that.

Because we broke it down.

Like, we took four weeks to really discuss different parts of prayer.

And I think it was 2024, wasn't it?

Yeah.

It would have had to be.

Yeah.

If I was involved.

Yes.

And I was.

Yeah.

Because Nick.

Nick and you.

And me and Lizzie were part of the fasting episode.

Yeah.

Where it was the two of you versus the two of us.

And it was.

It was an argument.

It was.

The whole episode was worth listening to, though, because then you can.

There's some good points on both sides.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah.

Finger wagging and arrow.

Yeah, no, it was good.

So, yeah, go back.

So go back and listen to that.

Sorry.

I know that was a lot just to say, go back and listen to that.

But I was trying to figure out where it was to give you guys a good idea.

So pre YouTube, though.

Yeah, it was.

We weren't recording on YouTube yet.

That was.

What?

I don't know.

When we started doing that about midway, it was like, June, was it?

Yeah.

Interesting.

So, yeah, there you go.

So what is prayer and why Is it essential in spiritual warfare?

Well, you might think that's obvious, right?

Praying Matt needs to speak clear.

Hey, praying is.

Struggles with words.

Praying is so important and we hear about it all the time.

So I guess it would make sense that it would be in spiritual warfare.

But.

But why, Derek?

Well, because it's our biggest tool, man.

It is a big tool.

Communication with the one who created everything that is and was and is to come.

Yeah.

Now, for those of you who have been up to date, and if you're not, then you're going to want to go back.

We did, like I said earlier, we did break down the different parts of the armor, but the last episode that we put in, we were talking about the sword of the armor, which is the word of God.

And one of the things that we wanted to.

That we emphasized in that episode was that it is really important to understand the Word of God and to speak the word of God now.

And part of that is also reading it so that you can speak it.

Now, that's an amazing thing when it comes to the weapon of the Word of God.

But when it comes to communicating with God, that's a wonderful way that he communicates with us is through His Word.

But prayer is how we can ultimately communicate to him, and it completes the cycle of the relationship of communication.

So it's an amazing thing.

It's an amazing tool.

And if you find yourself in spiritual warfare, you want to be able to communicate with the guy that's got your back.

Yep.

So, yeah, super important.

Ephesians 6:18.

Continuing on with that armor of God passage, talks about pray at all times in the Spirit.

Stop there for a second.

Pray at all times in the Spirit.

Right.

The Spirit that dwells in us with all prayer and supplication.

What does supplication mean?

Supplication?

Yeah.

What's supplication?

We see it, we hear it.

What's it mean?

It's all prayer and supplication.

All things that you need.

Want.

I mean, right?

I don't know.

You don't know.

That's what I mean.

Supplication, man.

Let's.

Let's look it up.

You're gonna.

He's typing supplication into the search thing right now.

Okay.

You ready for this?

Yes.

I mean, we're just being real here, right?

Definition of supplication.

And this is here.

I'll find one from.

I'll find one Oxford.

Switching mind frames for a second there just.

It's the action of asking or begging for something.

Earnestly and humbly.

Yeah.

Things you want, need.

Okay.

But it's, it's asking specifically, earnestly or humbly?

Yes, all.

All supplication, man.

Okay, okay.

All right, all right.

So we're.

Now we know what that is.

All right.

Finishing that.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance.

Making supplication.

See, second time for all the saints.

All right.

We need to be praying earnestly and humbly for our situations and for each other's.

Yep.

Right.

That is the intercession part is earnest, humble prayer for someone else.

A 10 second prayer short answer could be.

Actually.

Yeah, it could.

Honestly, God knows your heart and sometimes just to please God, help when he knows the meaning behind it.

And our God is a God of sacrifice.

Right.

He wants us to sacrifice.

And you know, if you're doing something incredibly important and you pause for 10 seconds to pray for something that is a sacrifice, I would give you that.

Yeah.

I mean if you stop all of what you're doing and make that the important thing.

Yeah, that is important.

Now I'm just gonna, I'm gonna just right out the gate with this and be like, are y' all like me and spending more time watching TV than you are praying?

I mean, seriously, shots.

Let's list the battle like me, right?

I'm using my own.

Are you playing video games more than you're in prayer length of time?

Right.

I mean, are we doing other things that are enjoyment more than we are praying?

Because it says to do all things in prayer and supplication.

Right.

Earnestly, humbly seeking God to step in and intervene in everything that we do.

Guess it would be weird to, or feel weird to ask God to step in during a video game.

Well, I'm not even thinking about that.

That's good too, right?

Like, you know, God shield me from the things that I'm not supposed to gain from this, but also let me learn something big from it.

Like even something as simple as that can alter the way that we do things.

Right?

But I'm not even talking about that.

I'm talking length of time.

It is nothing for me to sit down and watch four hours worth of TV.

Yeah, that means.

But 20 minutes on my knees, bro, that feels like an eternity.

It can means like I'm not doing it enough right now.

That doesn't mean I don't pray throughout the day.

And I'm not in communication with.

What I'm saying is like, why am I not being intentional about the number one thing that we are told to do that Combats things asking for God to intervene.

It's easy to take your eyes off.

Of it, I guess it's easy to become nonchalant.

Yeah.

Content.

Yeah, yeah.

Not complacent.

Not content.

Complacent.

Either way.

Well, content.

Content is a good thing.

Content can be a good thing.

Well, content means I'm okay with where I.

Where I am, but it's.

Content can be a bad thing where you get to a certain amount.

If you were to use it for a certain amount of understanding of the Bible, you're like, I'm content with that.

And then you stop reaching anymore.

But see, I think complacency, though, is where you are at a point of contentment that you then disregard.

That becomes complacent.

I mean, they go hand in hand.

So anyway, I know you're trying to dismiss this.

It says semantics, but it's not.

Did I say that?

You changed subject.

He's putting words in my mouth.

He changed subject.

I didn't change the subject.

You did.

You were shifting on.

I mean, it is.

It's a hard thing.

How am.

I mean, you came out with guns blazing there.

Well, yeah, dude, like, seriously, like I told you, it's the hardest thing, right?

And I said this is the hardest part of it so far.

You can always pray more.

Always pray more.

However, could.

But I'm talking about that intent, right?

Like, are we intentionally setting aside time?

Yeah.

And I'm not saying all of you aren't.

I'm not saying that at all.

I'm talking about me.

Right.

Like, I struggle sometimes to a lot of times to set aside extra time.

Not just my regular daily times to pray, but like times in which I just humble myself.

Yeah, but.

And take long periods of prayer.

But the humbling yourself is important.

Like, because praying a lot.

And we can all pray more.

But however, like, before you ask that question, we kind of touched on something that's important, which is make sure that your, you know, your heart's in it.

Like, that you're really genuinely there.

Yeah.

Intentionally.

Yeah.

Because we talked about even the simplest of prayers.

Right.

Of just.

It's a few words before you loaded the cannons.

But yeah, I mean, it can be something short.

It can be something that's very long.

Sometimes it's actually great to find yourself in a rhythm of just being in prayer and seeing where prayers go.

In my own life, I've definitely felt times where I was praying and I just kept going.

I'm like, well, I'm going to pray for this person now.

And I'm going to pray for that person.

I just let people just keep coming to mind and talk to God about those things.

And it's kind of.

It's interesting.

You know, you got the time, you might as well do it.

You know, it's so easy for us to disregard that and fill it with something else.

That's true.

That is definitely true.

The only reason you don't have time is because you're not willing to create it, too.

In some cases.

Yeah.

No, in all cases.

In all cases, the only reason you don't have time to do anything, it's because you're not willing to create time to do it.

That's for working out.

Like, that's a lot of people's excuse.

Well, I don't have time to work out.

Well, no, you're not willing to create time to work out.

You don't want to do it.

Take sacrifice.

Right.

What I mean is that oftentimes we want to be more proactive than reactive when it comes to prayer.

I mean, obviously a lot of prayer is reactive.

I mean, most of us, we could probably go through all the prayers we ever prayed in our lives and realized that a lot of them are reactive to a situation.

But Jesus was proactive.

He would go.

I mean, before he was crucified, he went to the garden to pray.

Before things went down, he would pray.

He would get prayed up first, which was.

He prayed during.

I mean, when he was hanging on the cross, he definitely had some prayers, but he was proactive in his prayer life, which is something that sometimes we miss out on the most, I think.

Yeah.

You know, it's very easy to remember to pray reactively to things, and it's really hard to remember to pray proactively.

And proactively way more important.

Oh, yeah.

And in my.

It's.

It's way more important because if you're not prayed up, you're gonna get caught off guard and.

And then it becomes reactive.

Right.

It is a large part.

It's a reaction instead of.

Instead of being reactionary, we should just be able to take action instead of having to react.

Yeah.

Like, we should.

We should be ready.

And part of being ready is being prayed up ahead of time.

Yeah.

I mean, all of us.

I mean, I don't know anybody that can't get better at this.

Oh, absolutely.

I was meaning the more time, though.

Like, I know some people pray a lot, but becoming surgical, like we talked about with the sword.

Right.

Like, becoming surgical with your prayers is an important thing too, I think.

And that's something that takes a long time to fine tune.

I believe so.

Yeah, but, yeah, but it's important.

It's communicating with God.

It's in partnership.

It's in the relationship with God.

Like I said earlier, you know, he's speaking to us through his word.

Number one way.

Number one way we talk to him is through prayer.

Prayer connects us in a way to our Commander in Chief, not President of the United States, but the guy that actually runs it all, the guy above every nation, every tribe, every people, and it connects us to him.

You know, if you're looking to find out direction from God, discernment from him, whatever it is you're trying to seek God's will, prayer is an excellent place to not only start, but to really.

Spend a lot of time in consistently be.

Yeah, it's a place to consistently be.

The Bible says pray without ceasing.

You know, I mean, if you're giving up every situation and moment of your life to God, like He's, Your path is going to be guided.

I promise, I promise you'll be able to see God moving in your Life.

And not 2020, but as you're doing it, if you're, if you are praying as you go.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

What, how could, how does consistent prayer then shift the way you approach your daily life and challenges?

Well, like I said before, like if you're in for me anyways, and it's true for everybody, if you're praying ahead of time, right.

If you're staying in communication with God about things, when things happen, you are far more likely to be not shattered by it.

Not surprised now, is it always the case?

Obviously not.

I mean, things come out of the blue that are devastating at times, but even then, like your heart position is going to be in a so much better place to receive whatever that news is, to receive whatever that struggle is.

Like I'm talking bad things, bad things coming your way.

You are so much more ready to see what God has in the midst of the bad because he knows the plans.

Right.

I know we take that a little too much, in my opinion, out of context and apply it to us.

But it's true that God does know the plans he has for each and every one of us.

And when we're walking with him, it's not for bad.

He takes the evil and the bad and turns it to good.

Right.

He uses it for good.

And so if we are prayed up ahead of time, if we are constantly trying to just talk and communicate and pour into and be poured into God, like when those things Happen.

It's like, all right, God, this is tough.

What you got?

Well, I mean, I think one of the things that consistent prayer in my life has done is it brings God into more of my life.

Even little situations like I, you know, I will, when I get excited about something, I'll talk to him about it.

It could be something momentary.

I thank him if I find a good parking spot, I like, you know, like whatever it is, you know, I tried to remember to bring him into just every different aspect of my life, whether it is reactionary or proactive, where it's like, okay, this is where I'm at, this is what's going on.

Or I think this is, I need to go into this.

Let's get ready.

We spent an entire Sunday with the youth group last Sunday going and preparing for our trip so that we could get our hearts in the right place and such.

Now by the time this episode goes out, that'll be two Sundays ago.

But yeah, we spent an entire Sunday just praying and trying to set our minds right ahead of time.

I talked a lot to the children, to the students about trying to get themselves into a place in their hearts where they were going to be open for the God to be moving and to help him clear things out of the way and all the things we want to do proactively so that we can walk into the high school trip which by the time this is out again, it will be done and over with.

So hopefully it was incredible.

But we pray that God meets us there.

I did that going into seminary.

Actually I was so nervous about seminary that I was like, lord, this is my Jordan river.

You need to meet me there.

I'm going to get swept away.

I'm glad he did.

I did way better than I ever thought I would.

And I think God had a lot of part to do with that.

He taught me a lot while I was going through my lessons that I strongly felt like he met me there in different ways, even amongst my ridiculousnesses and all the things that I brought that would possibly get in my way just to kind of be like, alright, so this is what's up.

This is where I'm going.

This is where I feel like you're taking me.

So let's go.

The, the biggest thing I learned in Bible college was that I don't know everything.

I don't know well, I don't know.

I don't know everything and that's okay.

And that those things, that, that together is very important.

Like that I don't know everything.

I don't know all the answers to all of this.

Like, I don't, but that's okay.

It's a part of the journey.

It's a part of life that God wants to be teaching you.

He doesn't want you to know everything all of a sudden, or else he would have just given you that.

Yeah.

He wants you to learn and to grow and to walk through life that way.

Another thing that consistent prayer has done in my life is it has allowed for my prayers to grow and change.

I've used the example of when my daughter was sick before about how my prayers changed, because when she first started getting sick, it was, God, let me have it, you know, just, I'll take it, you know?

And also.

Well, probably that was actually the second iteration of prayers.

The first one was, God, please just heal her.

Right?

And then it was like, all right, God, I'll trade.

I'll be sick in her place.

Tried to barter.

Right.

And it eventually shifted over time to, all right, God, what do you have for us in this one?

Yeah.

And it was incredible to see how consistent prayer, because of the same thing over time, shaped how my wife and I pray.

And that's another great, great example of how consistent prayer shifts the way we approach daily life and challenges is that.

Well, I mean, the role of prayer in spiritual warfare, I mean, number one thing, is that prayer activates, empowers the armor of God that we went through.

I mean, basically, when you're acknowledging God in that way, he is the one that gives power to everything.

So that keeps the truth, the righteousness, the faith gives power to the word of God.

Everything in it is empowered by acknowledging God and praying to him.

And so that's like, one of the first things you're realizing.

You're in the battle and you are connecting yourself to the ultimate.

I mean, really, the ultimate.

Yeah.

I found my.

I said the ultimate.

I was going somewhere, and I realized, nope, that's good enough.

Yeah, that's perfect.

It's the ultimate.

Yeah.

So, wow.

Yeah, that was cool moment.

Yeah.

But not only does it empower, it strengthens and aligns us in the right way.

So, you know, as we talk about, we've talked about in many weeks past what it is to put on each part of the armor and what it represents, and what did that mean for us?

If you want your faith to be strengthened, prayer is going to strengthen it.

If you want to help get yourself in the right mind frame and shake off the things, it's kind of like going to the chiropractor if you want to get in line, then prayer is a way to get that way.

It's such an amazing tool to shake off everything else that's distracting us and get us connected to that ultimate again.

Yeah.

I mean, it's.

It's wild how quickly that that puts all those.

It kind of.

We talked about on the one day when it comes to the shield, how they link together.

It links all the armor together.

Yeah.

You know.

You know, right now, like I said, this is coming out afterwards.

But I've been telling people, pray a hedge of protection over everything because, you know, of all the things that are going on that are positive, I'm trying to be proactive.

I don't want to find myself behind the eight ball when the enemy attacks.

I want people to help pray ahead of time so that we can fend those things off and continue to move forward in a positive direction.

Prayer also, as you said, which I thought was great because you kind of jumped ahead a little bit.

But prayer grants discernment and spiritual insight as your prayers change because the situation hadn't quite changed.

Right.

But you continue to pray into them, which then changed you.

You got different discernment, different insights into the situation, into how you're praying, and you started to align yourself better with me, perhaps with what God was needing you to be in that situation.

Perhaps.

Sure.

Yeah.

Colossians 1:9.

And there's a lot of scripture reference and in today's stuff we're going through.

And so some of it we'll read, some of it will probably just give you the reference.

But Colossians 1:9 says, for this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, like, discernment, spiritual insight.

Praying for others in that and praying for ourselves to have that is super important.

It helps growth happen.

It helps that renewing of our mind so that transformation happens.

Yeah.

And I've had.

What's interesting is not everybody has had this as an experience.

But for me, there's been times where I've been in prayer, and that's when an actual conversation starts between myself and God where, you know, he's answering me as I'm praying and explaining things to me.

And it doesn't happen all the time.

I wish it did.

That would be amazing.

I'd love to have that, you know, on speed dial.

But there have been times where I've been in prayer with him, and then he's like, it's this.

Or, you know, whatever it's been that he said.

And it's.

That is amazing when he can.

You're there.

Like, this is where I'm at.

This is what I'm thinking.

He's like, all right, think about it this way.

Oh, wow, okay, well, then I want to do this then, you know, and it's really interesting, but it's wild when it happens.

I wish everybody could because it would definitely, I think, strengthen everybody.

Yep.

But, yeah, I mean, talking about being able to get new discernment and spiritual insights, when you open those lines of communication, he can communicate back.

And let me tell you, that happens even more often whenever you've got a core group who are praying for each other as well.

Like, not only are you praying for you, but you're also praying for others, and they're praying for you.

Like, the words they speak to you even will.

Will be discerned and inspired, you know, and it will give you insight into the things that need to change or whatnot.

Like, and the more that you're praying for them and they're praying for you, like, it's crazy how much you allow God to shape you in the things that you don't necessarily want to accept and change, you know what I mean?

Through that.

So our ultimate, obviously, model for this is going to be Jesus himself.

Jesus modeled prayer and spiritual battles.

I kind of brought it up earlier, but one of my favorite things to think about is that Garden of Gethsemane where he knew what was coming.

He knew Judas is bringing soldiers, the guards to come get him.

And, you know, the clock is running out.

And, you know, he was.

I mean, you can tell he was man.

Was it weighing on him?

Yes, it was.

I mean, Bible records, blood in the sweat, which is a high anxiety medical thing that we can see now.

I mean, he was definitely the human part of him was feeling it.

I mean, and so in all that, I mean, he's just praying this is going to happen.

This and you know what it is to stand there and pray in the face of possible coming events or just anything you're walking into.

How many times did he take himself away to pray and spend time aligning himself with the Father so that he was moving in the right directions?

It's one of the things that, for anyone that's seen the show, the Chosen, one of the things I think they do right is often the character Jesus in the show, played by Jonathan Roumie.

They'll have him looking up a lot as if to acknowledging the Father constantly throughout his day and throughout the things he's doing.

And I think that's just right.

I think that Jesus was very aware of that and wanted to make sure he was aligned with his true nature as possible throughout the day.

And, you know, to subdue the flesh, so to speak.

And I mean, he felt it.

That's evident.

But I mean, he also, I mean, Jesus, we know that he walked in our shoes.

He felt what it was to have fear.

He felt what it is to be sad.

We know that he cried.

We know that he was upset.

We knew that he got angry.

And we know that there's things that he went through, our emotions.

He knows what it's like to be rejected.

He knows what it's like to be celebrated.

The guy has been through it.

And not just rejected, but rejected by people that were close to him.

Yeah.

And I'm not even talking about Judas.

I'm talking about friends.

Yeah.

You know, that he grew up with, you know, friends, parents, his neighborhood kids.

Neighborhood rejected.

Neighborhood rejected.

Yeah.

So.

So the.

The Garden of Gethsemane prayer.

Right.

Is Luke 22:39 through 46.

This is one of them.

We're not going to read, but it's a lot.

I'll give it to you.

It's Luke 20:39 through 46.

So if you want to go back, check that out.

Yeah.

It's so good.

And so.

And then going back to what you said, I mean, we have our example, but intercession is so important.

Yeah.

And part of that, by the way, is being okay.

You need to get to your point.

You need to ask for help sometimes.

It's not a bad thing.

Seriously.

I know that.

Especially for guys.

Sometimes it feels weird to reach out.

I don't know what it is about society, about we can do it ourselves.

It's okay to say, could you pray for me on this?

It's okay to acknowledge that you need these things.

I think it's a step further than that, even.

I think that we need to do it.

We have to do it.

Not as a requirement, but we really need to be doing it.

I mean, the scripture here, it points that point out, and that's James 5:16.

It says, therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Right.

And that that's a healing for.

Not necessarily just physical, but all of it.

Healing.

Healing is something that is a reconnect and reconciling thing that is important.

And the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

So.

But pray for each other.

Confess it to each other.

There's something.

There's something really amazing about knowing that there are people that have your back in prayer.

Yeah.

You know, like we talked about our moms.

Like, it's great to know that moms are praying you up.

It's amazing to know your wife's praying for you.

But when you know that there's, I mean, guys, if you have a group of guys that's got by your back in prayer, it's one thing to have a guys that will show up, that'll show up when stuff's hitting the fan.

You're like, this guy's gonna come no matter what.

But the guys that are just going to cover you in prayer.

I have friends.

I don't even know if they realize how much I cover them in prayer.

But it's an amazing feeling.

And I know it's that way for women too.

To know that there are people who are just.

The best way that they know that they can be loving on you and your friend is to talk to God about you.

Let me tell you something.

This goes back to a little bit of last week's sword, but it's important, I think here too, is that when you have people that are praying for you and they're earnestly seeking God supplication, they're gonna say things that you're not gonna like.

In some cases, no, it's gonna happen inevitably.

Right?

There's something that's gonna be said that you're not gonna like.

But is God speaking to you through them?

And that is an important part of our growth as believers is that these people that are praying for you, that are earnestly seeking God on your behalf, when God says something through them, sometimes the truth hurts.

And we need to be praying for them so that we know that when the Lord speaks through them, we can take that and they are saying it in love.

I think if you have somebody that you know is a godly person, and I don't mean perfect, I just mean somebody who is seeking the Lord in their life and you know that that's true about them, pray for them.

Because there may come a day where the Lord decides to use them to speak to you.

And it may not be something that you want to confront, but the Lord is telling them that it's time.

And.

And man, if you are praying for them, your heart will be changed for them.

Like it will be ready.

Your heart will be ready to receive words from them.

If you're actively earnestly seeking God for That person.

It's incredible what a close knit group of people.

The guys, if you're a guy, girls, if you're a girl, can do.

When you're praying for each other earnestly, it's crazy what God does through that.

So just throwing that out there, just pray for people that you know are in your life that are praying for you.

And those who you don't know if they're praying for you, be praying for those people.

Right.

So what is the time that you could feel like a tangible strength or breakthrough because of a prayer, whether it was yours or someone else's?

Well, I don't know if I talked about this on here.

A couple of weeks ago, I was playing DD online with our Christian buddies.

We have a Christian group that got together to play online.

We're all over the country and there's five or six of us, seven of us.

My wife is one of them, one of the people on it as well.

A buddy of ours who had received the call to be a senior pastor at a church.

They were packing and getting ready and all of that, and his wife's foot started swelling out of nowhere and was in intense pain.

And he just, in the middle of D and D, he put a message out there on discord to us and said, hey, you know, if you guys don't mind praying for.

Or maybe he said it out loud.

I don't remember one of the two.

He was like, hey, just pray for my wife because, you know, this is what's going on.

And I remember I took a moment and I've been trying to do this more intentionally lately.

I just took that moment right then and there to just seek God in that, you know, and pray for it.

And I kid you not, an hour later he came back and was like, dude, it's.

The swelling is completely gone.

No pain.

It's as though it had never happened.

And it was like, whoa.

Like not, not as in surprise, but like, whoa, you know, like it was so cool.

So as far as tangible goes, I mean that's something that happened like month ago or less.

Like, and it was.

Well, I guess it was at least a month ago now, but it's so cool.

Such a, such a cool thing to get to see God show up right there, right then, you know, like, it was so awesome.

So.

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah, like it.

That's really cool.

So I think one of the things I want to mention for me, something that I feel strengthened by.

So, you know, in the church here, I preach from time to time and Something that I really have enjoyed is before, before anybody gets here.

Normally before any of the regular church gets here, the elders will pray over the person that's preaching.

And I really have come to appreciate that time.

And it does kind of feel strengthening.

It does like to know that we're all coming together and we're trying to make sure that things are right and God's in it.

That is amazingly powerful to have people that just want God to be experienced by people hearing whatever message he's going to help.

Because like as a, as a preacher, like I'll prepare a message and it's inevitable that something's gonna change.

Yeah.

And I love that.

Leave the room for the spirit, you know, for God to come in and go, alright, you need to say it this way.

You might want to add this on.

And it's pretty awesome.

And it might happen with one service and then not the other.

Which is another cool thing that Nick and I talk about from time to time.

You might feel I need to say this on first service, but then, nope, you're not saying that in the second service.

We try not to question that.

And that's how God wanted it.

For some reason, somebody in that service needed to hear that and someone didn't need to hear it in the other one.

It's wild how that kind of works.

But I do really love it when people are coming together to pray over something like that.

I think that's good.

Yeah, I think that would be.

I'll just stick with that one.

But that one, I think it's really powerful that we do that.

I think so too.

I think that.

And that's an example of interceding not as much for the person preaching, but for the congregation that's coming to hear the message that God is going to bring it.

It's really good intercession there too.

It's a great example.

Yeah.

And so there's different types of prayer that Paul mentions.

So you have adoration, which is.

That's something that.

When Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer, as we call it, Our father in heaven, holy is your name.

There's some adoration in that.

You, God is praising God for who he is, you know, in our lives.

I love when we can go and go, God, you're just so amazing.

God, you did it again.

God, you are just.

Thank you for being you and you know, praising him because, you know, something that I said in a sermon and I was, I went back and listened.

I don't listen to a lot of my sermons after I've given them because how big a critic I am to myself.

But I said something in the Prodigal Son sermon that I did a few weeks back and I really liked it when it comes to oh, man.

Or is that for me, I don't know.

But, oh, no.

I was saying, thank God that our flawedness basically doesn't affect his righteousness, you know, that he stays righteous even though.

Yeah.

And.

Yeah.

Oh man.

Just the, the adoration I felt as I listened even to the words coming out of my own mouth.

Yeah.

I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's.

That's so, so good.

It's.

It's true.

Like, it's so great that he's God no matter who we are.

Yeah, it's so good.

Yeah.

So adoration.

You can get a lot of that in Psalm 103.

It's a good verse for that, if anybody's taking notes.

Chapter?

Yeah, Psalm 103.

What did I say?

Verse.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, that's great.

It's all verse.

But confession, that's really good for clearing spiritual blockages.

You know, go in there and be like, lord, it could be confessing all kinds of things.

Could be doing something you've done wrong, confessing how you feel, which some people don't think about that.

We hear confession.

We often think about like something we did wrong, something we messed up with.

But sometimes you got to confess where you're at and be real with God.

God, this is.

I can't do this on my own.

God, I'm so not okay right now.

You know, and just not holding back is.

I think that's important completely.

But, yeah, sometimes going, God, alright, yep, I messed up again.

A lot of people are like, yeah, I asked, you know, I confessed and I asked for forgiveness, you know, and that covers me throughout.

And it's like, yeah, kinda.

I mean, it does.

But it's like Scripture also tells us in like 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

It's an ongoing thing.

Like, it's a, It's a regular deal.

It's a relationship.

Like when it, when it is.

When you just take the approach of, eh, I did that.

That's a religion.

Right?

That's not.

It misses the mark.

Right?

That misses the mark entirely.

But it's an ongoing relationship.

When you're married, you don't say, I'm sorry the first time you do something wrong.

And then she just knows you're sorry.

Right.

I mean, she may think, yeah, you're pretty sorry, but she doesn't just assume that you are apologetic or take on the emotions and the.

The healing of the apology for all future things.

Right.

Like, no, a relationship requires ongoing communication.

Right.

And that's what we're talking about right now is prayer.

Right.

Is communication.

And so part of that is, hey, God dang, I screwed up and you know it.

And I only.

I can only move on with you.

With you stepping in.

In the middle of this, like.

And so it's a part of the relationship.

Yeah.

If you.

If you think of it as, I've confessed my sins once, I'm good.

That's.

That's just the same as saying, I apologized to my wife the first time we had a spat.

And that covers all of the spats after that.

Right.

Like, okay, see how that goes over with your wife.

Yeah.

So, I mean, and a good one for that first.

First John 1:9 is a good verse for that.

The next step goes right along with adoration, actually, is also Thanksgiving.

You know, I can.

It's.

Everybody's got something to be thankful for.

God, actually, that's one of the things I tell my students if we're going to do a prayer circle and I'm going to ask everybody to give.

Everybody's got at least something.

Everybody's got at least something to be thankful for.

It could be the air in your lungs.

Let's go.

And that's true, you know, just the Thanksgiving of God.

Thank you for being loving me, even though I didn't deserve it.

Thank you for saving me, even though I shouldn't have been.

You know, like, it's.

There's so much, you know, thanks for being there for me again.

Or maybe it's as simple as, hey, thanks for the great parking spot.

But, yeah, you know, it's everything, you know, have a good day.

It's something to be thankful for.

Great food, actually, you know, it's funny is that I watched.

I've been excited because they're getting ready to bring back the cartoon King of the Hill.

And I watched it, you know, when it was out previously, and I went back and I was watching a couple old episodes.

There's this one episode I laughed pretty hard because Hank Hill, the main character, the episode starts, he's trying to cook steaks, and they're not very good steaks.

And so he gets a other steak, a better steak, and he says it's the best steak he's ever had.

Then he goes, peggy, I think we need to say grace again.

Like, it was that good.

Like, he's.

You know.

That's a thankfulness.

I loved that so much.

That's a thankfulness.

Like.

No, this is so good.

I want to thank Jesus again for this.

Like, I've already said grace, but let's do it again.

And Paul in Philippians 4:6, which.

Yeah.

Last.

Was it last in everything?

Yeah.

Right.

So, like, last episode, I think we talked about Philippians also.

We talked about it definitely in one of the last couple episodes.

Yeah.

But this is just before the famous verse.

Right.

4:13.

But it says, do not be anxious about anything.

But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

That means your kid's sick.

Real sick.

You present that request with Thanksgiving.

Well, because you have some.

That's tough.

I'll tell you what.

If you're.

I want to give you guys a little.

This is a little.

We'll call it cheat code.

Okay.

In situations like that, I understand that it's hard to feel thankful in your hearts if you have nothing else to be thankful for when you go to pray God for something like that.

If you're.

If it's.

Your kid's sick, if it's.

Or anything else that's really bad going on, that.

I'll tell you one thing you can absolutely be thankful for.

You can be thankful that you have someone like God that you can go to and talk to him about that.

That you can go and ask him about that.

He gave you a direct line.

Don't forget that part.

That's.

And it's.

People do it all the time.

You can be thankful, if nothing else, that you can go to him about this.

Honestly, thank you, God, for listening to my prayer.

Yeah.

Ask anyone.

I'll tell you what, that'll hit hardest for people who feel like at times they don't have anyone to talk to.

I can tell you that.

But yes.

Yes.

Thanksgiving.

So important.

Supplication.

Asking for needs.

Yep.

Which comes Philippians 4:6.

Philippians 4:6.

Yes.

Same thing, man.

Prayer petition.

Thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Your requests with everything.

You want to get down there, get serious about it.

Right.

Humbly and serious.

Right.

The humble and serious.

And then.

So you got adoration, confession, Thanksgiving, supplication, Intercession.

Back to the intercession.

First Timothy 2:1 instructs Christians to pray for all people.

Let's get to it.

Praying.

I Urge.

Urge.

All right.

So Paul, talking to Timothy.

I.

Urge.

Urge is a big, strong word.

It's a short word.

But it's a strong word.

I urge then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peacefully and quiet.

Peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

So what he's saying is like, I urge you first and foremost that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people.

That means you need to be praying for people.

Not just you, but for others.

You need to be praying for others and Bible.

Actually, you can find everyone to pray for in the Bible, including your enemies.

We're told to pray for our enemies as well.

I suggest you pray for my enemies too.

Praying in the Spirit would be the last one.

And what is that?

So that is allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and empower our prayers.

Romans 8, 26 and 27 is a good one for that, but I'm gonna read it.

Go ahead.

In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness, we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for, for us through wordless groans.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit.

Because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.

I got something for that.

Because, like, and this is not.

This is not all encompassing.

This is just one iteration of.

Because we see that, you know that through wordless groans, right?

The Spirit intercedes through wordless groans.

One iteration of that.

We were talking about this the other night, and it was so good.

It was a really cool revelation.

Was that, like, if you've ever been in a group and someone's praying and you find yourself go, mmm, that is the spirit moving in you.

I can feel right now, dude.

Like, it's one of those things where it's like, that's the Spirit saying, huh.

My wife does that a lot.

I mean, but it's one of those things, like, when you do it.

Because it almost happens, like, I don't know, it happens to me, like, uncontrollably.

Like, I just.

Like, yeah, that.

I'm right there with that, you know?

Like, that is some.

But it's like out of nowhere, you know?

And it's like that.

That is just one iteration of the Spirit interceding through wordless groans on somebody's behalf.

That's a cool little side note.

But if you've ever experienced that, you know now what that's talking about to a little, little degree at least in that.

So what type of prayer do you feel most drawn To.

And which one do you want to grow in?

Well, I can tell you.

So for me, adoration, confession, Thanksgiving, supplication, intercession.

I feel like I do them all very similar amounts.

So I'm not sure which one's the absolute most, but I would say there's probably somewhat similar.

The one that I know that I would love to grow in more is more praying in the Spirit.

Yeah, that's my answer for that, too.

And I think that comes with spending more time, like, consistent time in prayer, like, larger amounts of time.

I think that you'll experience that more when you just deepen that.

You know what I mean?

When you're in those depths of.

I don't have anything left to say, so the Spirit has to intercede on my behalf for that.

Well, I mean, if we're talking about practical ways to strengthen our prayer life, then what is a way that we can be more consistent?

Well, sculpt that time.

Sculpt it.

You know, something Kevin does.

Shout out, Kevin.

Something Kevin does, and I think it's great.

And is that he sets times, like, five timers throughout the day to stop and pray and, like.

And he'll tell you, like, when it.

When it goes off, he's just gonna stop, take a few moments.

If that's.

If he's with other people, he'll just take a few moments, pray a short prayer, and then carry on.

If he's not.

Sometimes he'll pray for longer, whatever.

But it's.

When the timer goes off, he stops what he's doing and he prays.

And one of those things that you see that in other religious practices, but you don't see that as much with Christians during doing that actively.

And I think it's a cool way to practice being consistent.

I've done things in the past where.

Either with churches or groups or whatever, where we've all set, like, a specific.

Time to pray together at the same time, no matter where we're at.

Yeah, yeah.

So we'll set an alarm for.

And sometimes it feels like an oddball time, but it's one that's specifically for our group people.

So we're synchronizing our prayer watches, so to speak.

Yeah, we can get together.

That's actually really cool to do it that way because you know that, I mean, you guys don't have to be together to pray together, and that's something good.

But, yeah, setting that for a consistent time.

Getting yourself into a good rhythm can be difficult.

And disciplining yourself to.

Like I said, if you're one of those people that loves getting up early.

Maybe that's part of your day is getting up, starting it with prayer and maybe reading your Bible early.

Yeah.

The example we have Here is Daniel 6, 10.

Now, when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem three times a day.

He got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God.

There's Thanksgiving, right?

Yeah, there's Thanksgiving.

It's not just New Testament.

It's been happening for the whole time.

Just as he had done before, he took three times a day and he made a focus of it.

Yeah, yeah, we talked about this in the last episode.

But praying Scripture as you're reading it and adding scripture into your prayers, like I said last episode, I think one of the ways you'll probably hear that a lot, some of you might respond to this.

You have.

You'll hear people that when they have people together, they'll say, hey, well, you said when two or more are together in your name, you're with them.

That's bringing scripture right into your prayer.

And it is powerful to be able to actually bring more into it, especially different situations.

If you go back to the last episode, you'll know that there's times where we're talking about, you want to have different scriptures for different times.

But being able to do that with your prayer life is awesome.

It kind of empowers your prayers in a different way.

Another thing that you can do is a prayer journal.

For some people, that's really helpful.

I've done it from time to time.

I'm not consistent with prayer journals.

My grandfather was incredibly consistent with his journals.

He had boxes of them.

I wish I'd have kept more of them, actually.

I really do.

The reason.

The reason a lot of people do that is so that they can keep track of, you know, when they started praying for something, and then whenever it got answered in a way that they saw it, you know, and it's really kind of cool.

It's a cool thing to be like, yo, I prayed for that.

And now I'm seeing you move in that.

Whether that's a no, a yes, a why, you know, whatever.

Like, one of the things that it's.

It's easier to then go back and look at that if you're journaling it.

Yeah.

One of the ways that my wife and I really love is with.

When it comes to prayer is with worship and music.

My wife loves singing.

I'll sing when I'm by myself in my Car.

But she will sing all the time and she's got an amazing voice that I wish she would share with the world more.

But she, she loves to sing and praise the Lord in that way and pray that way.

I love having like, kind of like a Christian instrumental or almost like a meditation music as I pray.

It helps sometimes me get.

Keep blocking out some my intrusive thoughts or the world around me so I can really get into my prayers.

I end up actually that's something I love doing in free time.

I have no doubt now once again, when this episode comes out, I'll be post trip, but I'm getting ready to go on that trip with high schoolers and it's a week long and it's a lot of stuff going on.

And last year I found myself taking time away and putting my headphones in and doing a little bit of that from time to time throughout the days.

And I have no doubt that I'm going to be doing the exact same thing where I need to kind of realign myself.

And I found it very helpful.

It's just for me, I mean, if you're one that really responds musically to things like if a good soundtrack moves you and emotional, then this could be something that's really beneficial to you to where finding the right rhythms and music and tones helps you kind of get rid of the rest of the world and really just hone in on God in the Spirit is amazing.

Yeah.

Colossians 3:16 is the.

Is the passage we have for this one.

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit.

Singing to God with gratitude, thanksgiving in your hearts.

Yeah.

You know, actually, I'll tell you what, when it comes to music like songs, I'll tell you a song that, that's out there right now.

It's been out for a long time.

But Oceans, the song Oceans.

Wait, Feet May Fail.

That one.

Yeah.

Okay.

There's two oceans.

Just asking.

Yeah, that one's so.

It'll say oceans where feet may fail.

Yeah, that one's really powerful.

Yeah.

And then there's a Holy Spirit song.

You're welcome here.

Those two songs are just so beautiful and I think the message in them is so wonderful.

And when it comes to prayer, praying and getting your head in a good space, I think those two songs have been at the top of my list for.

I don't know, man, maybe a decade.

Yeah.

If not more.

I don't know.

I can't remember when exactly they came out.

But I just love them.

I just absolutely love them.

Yeah.

There's two that you can look up right there.

The Ocean song and the Holy Spirit song.

Those are so good.

Yeah.

So we skipped over one, and we probably skipped over it because we've talked about it a lot, but I can't drive it home enough.

And that is praying with others.

Oh, yeah.

Small groups, partners.

Matthew 18, 19, 20 says, Again, truly, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.

So, like a.

A.

It's hard enough to get people to agree on anything, but whenever people are seeking the Lord together, the Lord starts showing them his will and grants whatever they ask.

Yeah.

There's power in prayer.

There's power in prayer in groups.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, praying with others is great.

And God, I mean, I brought the verse up, but where two or more are gathered in my name, you know, he's there.

And there's something about that, too.

Fasting is part of prayer as well.

Yeah.

You know, and we.

Back to that series we did on prayer.

We talked about that.

But I want to say we're not going to argue about it this episode, but I will read Matthew 6, 16, 18 just to give it.

Give.

Give it with that.

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting.

Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father who is unseen, and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's good.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

I already talked about one of my practical tools that I use, because I use.

I use music a lot, actually.

Yeah.

And we honestly, like, this whole, like, nothing that we say now.

I don't think anything could be new.

No.

We've been talking about this.

The whole look.

It's way more simple.

Yeah.

Than what people make it out to be.

Yeah.

It's.

It's not.

It's not complicated.

It is complex.

Right.

Like, there's a lot to it.

We complicate.

But we do.

We complicate it so much, we get in our own ways.

And so, like, honestly, if you have a specific thing that you're like, hey, how do I handle this or hey, would this be an okay thing to be doing?

Would this help yo send us a message.

Yeah.

And we'll talk about, we'll add it to our Q&As.

Right.

Like, we'll talk about that stuff.

Like, we love that.

Yeah.

Q and A.

But honestly, you've heard us for the last nine weeks.

Yep.

Say, read your Bible, pray, pray.

Be in fellowship with others.

Yeah.

Like we're saying a lot of the same stuff.

It's, it's, there's, it's not.

It's simple.

It is simple.

It's not easy.

Right.

Okay.

So what?

Neither is making cookies from scratch.

Right.

It's simple, but it's not necessarily easy to do it well.

Right.

So it is simple though.

Don't over complicate it.

I mean, Jesus came to fishermen for a reason, right?

Yeah.

And the angels came to shepherds for a reason.

Right.

Like, it's not complicated.

It's simple.

And don't allow Satan to get you into a place where you're getting in your own way.

All right.

Like, let's keep it simple and start by prayer.

Reading your scripture and getting together with others that are like minded in your faith.

Honestly, like prayer is.

And just going back to prayer.

Right.

It's essential to activate, maintain and empower all the armor of God.

That's why we've said it in all of the episodes.

I mean, it's simply put, it's the number one way that we are able to communicate with God.

Yeah.

Because even without having access to scripture, because there's people in the world that don't, like, God will speak to you in your prayers.

Yeah.

So seriously, it is vital.

Yeah.

Prayer is essential to activate, maintain and empower all of God's armor.

Prayer keeps us spiritually alert, discerning and connected to God and others.

Yeah.

So boom, next week, next week, episode 10.

We are talking about living victoriously in Christ.

How to apply all the armor daily and walk in consistent victory.

Yeah.

The victory part.

Can't wait to talk about that.

Right?

Right.

Okay, so final thoughts, go.

Final thoughts.

Whatever method it is that you can find to help you get into a more consistent and more fruitful prayer life.

Whatever method it is, whatever way it is, do it, talk to him.

If you are like me and music is going to help you get there, great.

But if you are one that says that can set the alarm and whatever it is, get it done.

Just do it, do it.

You need to do it.

Yeah.

People have said, I'll do whatever it takes up to just before sinning in order to do it.

Or like David said, I'll become even more undignified than this when I'm praising the Lord.

Yeah, no, I echo that.

That's great.

So, yeah, that's the question, right?

The question is, what is one small step that you can take to strengthen your prayer life this week?

What is one small step that you can take to strengthen your prayer life this week?

What's that thing?

Is it the setting the alarms?

Is it the listening to music?

What is the small step that you can do?

Yeah, yeah.

And for those who love to read, I love my readers and I love all of you anyway, but that.

Just for those who are going to be reading along with us, obviously we've been through Ephesians 6.

At this point, we were at Ephesians 6:18.

But also along this week, read Colossians 4:2.

Actually, the whole chapter of Colossians 4 is probably good, but go ahead and read Colossians 4: 2.

And then once again, I gotta.

We gotta have to throw the call back to Philippians chapter four.

Such a powerful verse when it comes to prayer.

Powerful verse again about getting your head in the right space.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I would say definitely read all of Philippians, at least all of Philippians 4, in context and see what the greater picture is.

Because it's so much bigger than we end up putting it.

Sometimes I feel like it's almost a downgrade whenever we only use it for the this or that or whatever.

Like it's so much bigger than that.

So check that out.

Also, I've been doing some listening reading.

I've been listening to audiobooks, right.

Because I don't like to actually do the reading because I'm slow, but when I listen to them, it's been great.

And so we've been talking about simple.

Yeah.

Mere Christianity and Mere Christianity.

Mere Christianity by C.S.

lewis.

It's so good.

It really is.

It simplifies everything.

Right?

And there's the whole, like, he's not taking sides on certain things intentionally, but, like, just getting to the roots of what Christianity is.

It's so good.

If you like to read.

If you like to listen to books, check out mere Christianity by C.S.

lewis.

It is amazing.

It's so good.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

Don't forget to like.

Yeah.

Subscribe.

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Need them.

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And share.

Beg you for them.

Not sunny.

And share.

I'm talking like share as in give freely to others.

This amazing guest.

And I want to.

I want to point out too, like, for those of you who have been sharing, it's, we've noticed, like, it's, it's there's people that are now consistently watching or there's one person consistently giving, which is awesome too.

And I, I'm pretty sure it all started from one of you guys sharing it with somebody else.

So we thank you for that, man.

I pray that my prayer for you guys is that God is using this to strengthen your guys lives so that you can speak into other people's lives so that God is known and worshiped.

That is my prayer for this and for you guys.

So thank you for joining us today and God bless.