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Our co-hosts, Karrilee & Lori, believe that all of us are made to pray! They are both passionate about prayer and believe it is a lifestyle & it should be our first response, not our last resort! In this podcast, they will talk about prayer, and then they'll actually pray! Sometimes it will be just the two of them, but sometimes they will invite a special guest to the podcast to share a teaching or testimony as well as to join in with them in prayer! So whether you are an intercessor and are passionate about prayer already - or just curious about what prayer looks and sounds like and how to start a conversation with God... we invite you to come along with us on this journey of prayer! Listen, Lean In, and Pray Along!
Karrilee (00:01)
Hey friends, you have found the Made to Pray podcast where we talk a little and then we pray. I'm your co-host, Karrilee. And I'm Lori. And we welcome you back this week. We hope you had a good week last week. We hope you enjoyed the episode and β shared it with anyone who you thought it might be a blessing. β we have been talking. And the direction we're gonna go today is β a little different because listen.
For you longtime listeners, you'll remember we used to come prepared with a theme or a topic because God would tell us. But there's been a long season where we've just kind of been, okay, Lord, whatever, whatever you want. β and and this that's still how it is. But I was praying this morning. I was telling Lori before I even got out of bed and just asking him β what he wanted us to talk about.
And and two things came to mind. We won't tackle them both, but maybe next week we'll get into the other topic. β Lori and I talked about both of them off mic this morning already, but one of them was just continuing to lean into the reality that we come into agreement with a lot of things that are not God's will, that are not God's voice, that are not
what he would say and we just β unconsciously, subconsciously come into agreement with it. And God's just continually talking to me about the power of breaking those agreements. And so I think we'll maybe tackle that next week. if if he reminds us. But β I think that's really important. And my prayer
I told Lori has just been in the last few weeks. So I don't even need to know what they are. Just if there's been agreements that I've made with the enemy, β that bind me to him that are like a legal contract that gives him access, I want those broken in the name of Jesus. And so β we will pray more into that next week. So tune in for that. This week, the other thing that he β
that he pointed out to me or that he spoke to me this morning was β I just heard him say the phrase when I asked what he wanted us to focus on. β I heard I heard the phrase the celebration of discipline. And my flesh was immediately like, you want us to talk about fasting and holiness and righteousness. Those are all heavy and hard things. I don't really want to talk about that. I want to keep it light and encouraging. And I felt like
He just said, no, when you try to make those disciplines a practice or or when you try to β I don't remember how he said it, I'm gonna misquote it now. Not that it's direct quote, but basically he he said when you try to put those disciplines into practice in your own flesh, you make it religious and β
I'm asking you to make my presence a priority and that will deepen your relationship. And that's really kind of what we're gonna focus on. β there is a book that was released in the late 70s β called The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. And β I was telling Lori we read it probably 30 years ago. The church we were attending, the whole church was really going through it, and we had read it, and I I
on in all honesty, I probably just paged through it. I don't know that I read it completely. β I think I was probably a new mom at the time and I didn't have bandwidth to sit down and read a book that was that, but the overview of it, I mean, I read through it enough. β and my husband did it, I think, as a men's group. So we talked about it in our β home and we talked about it at church as we were going through it as a as a church.
But it's really good. And I had forgotten about it. I had forgotten really the the basis of it. So we're gonna kind of go through. He breaks it the disciplines. There's 12 of them that he covers in the book. He divides them up into three different categories. And so we'll kind of go over that a little bit briefly, not in depth, β on this podcast and pray into that.
Discipline. Discipline. We don't live a very I don't I'll speak for me. I don't live a very disciplined life. I'm a very I'm a great routine girl. And I there are areas of my life that I am disciplined in, but β there are areas that where there's room for improvement. But again, this
This book and this episode is not about putting heavy burdens on you and giving you a list of things to do and not do. That's not what the that's not what the heart of the book written by Foster is about. And that's not, I don't think, the heart of what God was wanting this episode to be about. It was a continuation of what we've already been talking about. It's a continuation of making God a priority.
And inviting him into our everyday life and living a life that looks like Jesus, which is always easier said than done, but it's not as hard as we tend to make it when we are really following his lead. He does he does β make it easier than our flesh wants to believe. So we'll we'll we'll dig into that. Did you want to share something before we get to No, I
β I just think like you're saying the discipline of it the thought that just came into my mind is β when they talk about like you do something for twenty one days it's a habit or β I was thinking about β I just walked to half a marathon a couple a week ago. But I didn't give myself a lot of time to prepare for it β when I decided to to do it, but I was just thinking about in the realms of
discipline how also β it's plays in with the mindset. Like how we and I just remember too because the day that I did the walk here he sent me a thing and said you could do hard things. And β I I was thinking about that like
The discipline part of things, like we always tell her, I can't do that, or that's too hard, or β but when you discipline yourself to do something, then it can also become a habit and it's not that hard after a while. Because like and I just like in the example, like you know, five miles isn't that hard now. Like when you've pushed yourself on a on a process to do it to get to thirteen.
β five isn't as hard as even eight. You know what I mean? Like like like the thing that seemed hard at one point isn't as hard after you've been consistent in it for a little while. Right. β you have the stamina to do it, you have the ability to do it. Right. And but the thing of it was is that in the preparation training part I never got to thirteen miles of training before.
at one time. Right. Before the thing. And at the end of it my feet were like, β we don't really like you right now, you know. Right. And then I had some blisters that I had to recover from that were not pleasant. But I was thinking like but the mindset is like, Well you're done, so be done. Right. But then it's like, well you've gained this ground so Right.
keep going. Keep stepping some. Yeah. You know? Yeah. But I was just thinking like the discipline of talking yourself through situations. β and even like today it comes to my mind the conversation with Karri had to listen to me ramble of the craziness in my thoughts of this last week. But β the discipline of
consistency or or trusting if I show up right in some form, right? Yeah. Is grace is is gonna meet us in that place. Yeah. And I think of it just comes in my mind too, like and I β I I will refer to parenting a lot of times too, but when you discipline in parenting and you're consistent in it, right? And you believe in what you're
disciplining. Right. Then pretty soon there's a reward and the fruit and they just know. Exactly. And I wonder like, is that kind of the thing? Like if we discipline ourselves in something and we 'cause we know it's right or because it's something that the Holy Spirit's convicting in of us, if we just obey that discipline then there's then you're gonna walk in the fruit of it consistently. Right. Right. It makes me think of that. Like
Does the fruit just become the reward and the consistency at the end of the discipline? Yeah. Yeah. Well, we think yeah, we think it like in terms of parenting or even just just being human. Like we think of discipline and our flesh like r reels against it, like we don't like it. No thanks. We don't we don't want to be disciplined. We don't want we don't want somebody, we don't want to be in trouble. We don't want to, you know, so like like I was saying, when I first woke up this morning and he said that, I'm thinking.
We're gonna have to talk about fasting and holiness and what you can do and what you can't do. And and that's just that's that's not the heart of God for that's not my job. My job is not to tell you those things, that's the Holy Spirit's job, and he's better at it than I am. So the Holy Spirit can do all those things. My job in being disciplined and letting him discipline me is that he gets to make me more like Jesus. And so
in the moment, right? It w in the midst of being disciplined, it doesn't always feel good. But like Lori said, the fruit of it is always worth it. And it's for our best, right? Like when you're a parent and you discipline your kid, you know that they don't understand it in the in the moment and they don't they don't get it. But they're gonna learn a better way and they're gonna be grateful for it in the end. I mean, you know, our kids are both adults now and I think they have both come back to us and said thank you.
For raising me right. Thank you for putting boundaries around me. Thank you for saying no when everyone else's moms were saying yes. Like, thank you for for that because they can see now the wisdom in it. And we're the same way. We're his kids. And he does discipline us, but he also gives us free choice. And so β part of this episode is just like giving him access, right? We're giving him permission to come in. We've prayed it.
For the last several weeks, like Lord search me and know me, come in and and you know, correct me where I'm off. Like we want that. But these disciplines that this that the book talks about are β like I said, they're divided into three categories. There's inward practices that shape our inner lives, there's outward practices that change how we live in the world, and then there's corporate practices that help us grow together as the
capital C church. β so we'll just I'll just briefly kind of talk about each one. Like I won't, like I said, this won't be in depth. It's don't worry. We're not going to do a long study on it. β I think we will in the show notes create like there's there'll be a download that you can click on so you can kind of dig further in it on your own time if you would like to. β I would encourage you to do that. But the the inward disciplines β there are four
And they focus on our relationship with God and the transformation of our inner lives. So the first one is meditation, β learning to become still enough to pay attention to God. We talk about this a lot in the podcast. β on the podcast, we talk about it a lot about how we we're gonna spend time with the Lord. We're gonna be quiet, we're gonna give him room to speak. Like this is all parts of reditate meditation.
different ways on how you can practice it. You can read a short passage of scripture slowly, β several times, notice a word or a phrase that stands out. You can ask God what it reveals, what He's trying to speak to you, and just carry it throughout your day. β I mean that's just a very simple, easy way to practice meditation. The second discipline is prayer, which you know obviously we
We don't need to spend a lot of time on that because that's what this whole podcast is about. β but it's moving beyond prayer as a religious obligation into an ongoing relationship with God. So we're we're all about that. It can include intercession, confession, listening prayer, practicing gratitude, praying for others, all of those things. β and it just starts with having that β honest conversation with God that we talk about all the time.
He can handle your questions, he can handle your emotions, he can handle your frustration or anger or confusion, like he can handle whatever it is you're you're dealing with. Like just be honest with him about it. He can handle it. He's not gonna be offended, he's not gonna be surprised, β but he wants that conversation to happen.
β and then the third one is fasting, which is just creating space for God by setting something else aside. β it can be food, it can be coffee if you're brave, it can be β you know, no TV, it can be, you know, social media, it can it can be whatever β fits your abilities. β it can start small, it can be, you know.
twenty four hours, it could be a week, it could be if you're brave forty days. I think I've only fasted not food, but I think I've only done a forty day fast a couple of times. It's been a long time. This I was telling Lori, I I'm β fasting is one of the things I need to get back into a a normal round. Like I do it once in a while, but not as often as I used to. And I think God's kind of calling me back to some of that. So that is a good practice. β
And then the fourth one is study, β which is just allowing truth to reshape not only what we know but how we live. So like spending time, like not just like we talk about on the podcast, not just reading a verse and checking it off and moving on, but like really looking into the original language of what the words meant, asking him again, like if there's a word that stands out, do a word study on that, like dig it, dig into it, see what it.
Where it shows up in other verses and cross-references and and really spend time. It doesn't have to be an hour. You can study for 10 minutes and still, you know, it's it's beneficial and it opens your mind and your heart up to see the word β in more clarity and understanding. And β there's times, like I've said, in there's seasons where I was really I would do that really consistently.
Also, I was involved in churches that had Bible studies. It's been a while since I've done a Bible study in a group, which I I, you know, I I encourage, but I haven't done one myself for a while, to be honest. So β study is the is the fourth one in the the last one in the first category. So do you have any thoughts on those four β meditation, prayer, fasting, or study?
Like are those disciplines that you
practice consistently or is there anything that stands out in those groupings?
I just well, I think, you know, like you talked about how against seasons, I think some of them have been stronger than others. Yeah. β
I really do think that God is calling more of us to fast. Because it's just a place of consecration of denying our flesh. Right. And β I think we're honest in this hour to deny our flesh is not as easy. And the thought that comes to my mind with that is that and we've talked a lot about, you know, just the pressures and the things that are going on in life, right? The weariness, the heaviness, but I think that
we find comfort in things that we enjoy like food or things that we like. And β but the but the denying our flesh β especially in fasting I think opens our spirit right to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. And I always feel like when I'm fasting
There's a different sensitivity. Yes, for sure. β there can be. There I mean when you remember that you're not just skipping a meal or not drinking coffee, but you're replacing the the time that you would be doing that with time with God. Mm-hmm. Right. And I think like when you're fasting and you're mindful of like I'm hungry. Right. Right. And then you're like, No, I'm gonna I'm denying my flesh. And then you kind of start having this conversation or internal conversation.
Right. But the Lord like, No, I'm not gonna cave or no, I'm not gonna eat that or it never fails. Like when you're gonna fast and somebody's like, here, have this, I brought you that and you're like, the devil is a liar. β or hey, let's go to coffee. Somebody, you know, like you never and you're like, you start your fast in the family, We're gonna have a family gathering and we're gonna have this, this and this can Your favorite meal. We're gonna have your favorite
And you're like, okay, well maybe I'll postpone it and start it, you know. Right. And there's always there's gonna always be because you know, the enemy obviously he must know that there is power. Yes. when when you consecrate yourself to the Lord. But I think it I think that it opens the sensitivity β to the Holy Spirit in the room, like I want to deny my flesh because I I want to hear you. Yeah. β
I feel like I've really been kind of being challenged in the meditation part of it to and like you said, to sit and be quiet. Mm-hmm. Man, guys, our minds are really busy. They're real busy. And they do not shut off very well. Right. And I was telling Carrie I think it was a couple of weeks ago. There's just a lot going on in our world right now and then a lot of it is mental and emotional stuff. Some you can
Fix something you can't fix. Right. But I'm like, and then to throw menopause in on top of it, I'm like, I feel like this is not very nice. Okay. But I say that to say your girl's brain's struggling. And then when you try to quiet it and be like, let's just sit in the silence with the Lord. You're like,
And then now you can sit there and you're like, my gosh, I just my I was not here. You know, like your thoughts are like all over. β and so I think I think like that thing is because β the scripture that goes to my mind is in the stillness in the quiet, I'm there. Yeah. The stillness and the quiet is really hard in our culture right now. Right. Right. Because these little square things that are in our hands all the time. Yeah.
They are a distraction to the still and the quiet. Yeah. And you know, like you look at these things like that and the still in the quiet is a discipline because we don't do it anymore. We have noise everywhere. Everywhere. Yeah. Like how many Bluetooths do you have? There's a speaker in your bedroom, there's a speaker in your car, there's a speaker in your bathroom. Yeah. You know, the TV's on, β the music's on.
A podcast is on, right? Somebody's calling you. Yeah. β like silence is rare. Let's just be real, right? And so like when we try to sit in the still, in the quiet in and ask the Lord to come into that space, β I think it's a discipline. It takes time because we're out of practice. Right.
The more you practice, the faster you can get there. But if you're at a practice, man, it's gonna be I told my husband, I think it was a couple of weeks ago, I'm like, Maybe I just need to go find like a Catholic church or something and just see if the doors open and just like what would it like to go in and sit? Because that used to be a practice, right? Right, right. β and I'm not Catholic. β
But I've never really been to very many Catholic things. A couple of years ago I went to a what do you call it? A dedication, like child dedication. Right, yeah. β and then I went to a funeral. And to go to a Catholic funeral that is being done in Spanish and you have no idea what they're saying, but you're just watching what they're doing. Right. Like I know that there's significance to what they're doing, but I d didn't understand it.
and in in the but what I was gonna say is when I see people go into the Catholic Church for an event, there is a reverence and a respect for the sacredness maybe of that space. But many of the people that I saw outside of that building that go in I'm like it's
It's wildly different. Right, right. But what I just thought is there's it was the time that I've been in there, it's very quiet. Yeah. It's very still. The acoustics in there are beautiful. β but it's the sacredness of the space. Right. Right. So like if we come to the to sit in the quiet, yeah, we believe that this is a sacred place that the Lord would come and speak, right? Right, right.
But the discipline. Yeah. To find that space and quiet ourselves is not that easy. Yeah. Well, and like I talked about last week when we were talking about the you know, prayer meetings and like to go somewhere because we can do this at home.
But like we said, all the distractions and then you got the laundry and you can just change the dishwasher over and you can, you know, there's so many things that pull for your attention. But to go somewhere, whether it is like a church sanctuary or for a drive out to a park or for, you know, to go somewhere with the purpose of I'm gonna go be quiet somewhere that's quiet. β there's there's something holy about that that God will meet you.
So for me to answer that like the I need the discipline. Yeah. Of meditation. To meditate like with the quiet. Yeah. Not music. Right. You know, just to sit in the silence and say, Holy Spirit, speak to me. Yeah. But that is but I honestly feel like it is harder and harder to be disciplined.
Right. Because we are reactive people. Right. Right now. I mean turn off your notifications. You can you can you can delete your apps from your phone and they'll save it in the cloud.
Whatever that means. And then you could re-download it. You know what mean? Like over the weekend, I'm just gonna turn off all the notifications. You know, I did that last weekend and it was like that was kind of nice. The phone was notifications. I know you don't. And it's you don't do yeah, you're great. β I ha I get will be a lot of it. I use my phone a lot for work. So a lot of my notifications have to be on during the week. But β during the weekend I don't necessarily work. And so and you know, there's just there are ways that you can
I don't know, leave your phone at home. Remember the olden days? If you were gone, you just weren't they couldn't get a hold of you? I think about that often, like how did we ever manage? Right. We managed much better than we do today, that's for sure. But you had to be intentional. Right. Yeah. To communicate with people or go see them or you know.
Yeah. Even though you had to get on the phone and call somebody, you were still talking to them voice to voice. It wasn't how many times you read a text message and be like, Well, they sound like they're mad or that they were short or I don't and you're speculating all this internal emotion because you don't know. Ascribing intent. Yeah. Yeah, that's like but the the discipline word right now is one of
I think great challenge because
Yeah. I mean there are people who are very good at disciplines. I and I admire them. β
But like you said, it can become a ritual, it can become β your identity. I'm disciplined in this, you know, but β if we have like you're saying the motivation to discipline ourselves in play of those categories where we feel like the Lord is calling us, right, β then it's unto relationship. Yeah. Because we've been talking about prayer and
the importance of prayer and his presence, well that's all relationship. Right. Because you will choose to be in rooms with those whose presence you enjoy. Yeah. Yeah. And I think like, you know, are we honest with ourselves like that we enjoy his presence or in or being in pursuit of it. β
And I think that there are seasons, if we're honest with ourselves, it's more of a discipline. But if we discipline ourselves, like if I do these things, then I I'm going to gain relationship with him. Right. Which is crucial. Yeah. Right. Yeah. You know, it's crucial anytime. But I think to get back to practicing the presence, because the other thing that I think that I have been convicted of.
Are there so many voices? Like there are so many β messages, TV shows, podcasts. Yeah. yep. But I am relying, and this is happening, I believe, in the mega churches, is people are living off of what somebody else prepared. Yeah. And listening to it and thinking that.
That solidifies their relationship with the Lord and it does not right because it's individual. And you can't live, I can't live, Susan. I can't live off of Karril's manna. Right. To sustain me for the longevity of my relationship with the Lord. I have to find that place of his presence in the Holy Spirit in my life to sustain me, to live a life of godliness and holiness and purity. β
in the places of what is in our current world in the adversities. But I really believe that there are a lot of people that are going to church week by week, relying on what the pastor said and not opening their Bibles during the week or not going to the place of prayer on their own. And that is not going to sustain us. Yeah. Because what happens when that's not available? The discipline is if I
glean from the resources to better learn how to pursue his presence or to consecrate my life or to study the word, then I'm gonna I'm gonna bear fruit. Right. Right? Because it says he that abides in me will bear much fruit. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, that's good. And β I just had this analogy this week about the blood.
And I'm just gonna share it with you really quick. β I have some red point maples that aren't growing in my backyard. which is a whole other story, but β but they're turning red right now. They're not red for very long, yeah, right? Right. But they're really pretty when they are. β but it was a reminding me of the blood of Jesus and how powerful the blood is.
β And if it's but when we're bleeding this is the analogy that came to mind is if it's coming out of us, it's not good. Because we can't live without blood, right? Yeah. So if it's coming out, we have we have to β we have to stop it because we can't live without it. But when it's circulating on the inside of us, it gives a it gives life, it's a purifying system, it it
kinda it brings oxygen. and I was thinking that that's how the blood of Jesus is. It cleanses us, it saves us, it heals us, it covers us. And I was just saying I sense how much we need the power of the blood of Jesus and how we need him to step into situations that we cannot fix and help us mentally and emotionally process the pains, the disappointments, the confusions when we can't make sense of it, you know, he
He gives us a mental reset. But this this came to my mind when you were talking about that because when we talk about the blood of Jesus that saved us and cleansed us, but these systems that you're talking about, fasting, it's kind of like it made me think of it, it's kind of like the purifying system. Right. You know, right. That the the blood of Jesus that saved us, cleansed us, heals us. we talk about the power of the blood, right? We're covered by the blood.
Healed by the blood, or saved by the blood, the sacrificing blood. Like Jesus, when he shed his blood on Calvary, he physically didn't remain. He he it was life, right? In the miracle, obviously we know that. But I was thinking of that in the realms of the discipline of β the blood of the power of the blood of Jesus, but this is kind of like we're asking him in these.
these characteristics that you're talking about of meditation, prayer, study. We're asking him to purify our system. Yeah. You know. Yeah. That your oxygen, your blood, yeah, in us, in these systems, it heal it purifies us, it heals us, it helps us think differently, it helps us see differently. And it was just that analogy like I can't live.
when the blood is coming out, but when it's on the inside doing what it's supposed to do, right? I'm gonna live. Yeah. And I'm gonna be whole. Yeah, exactly. β I think like that's the power of that analogy is that these systems and these disciplines β transform us from the inside out. We're doing them externally, but they're changing us internally. Right.
Right. Yeah, those that's that's great. That's a great segue to the next section. Th this first section was the β the inward disciplines. And β and yeah, that's all stuff that's doing inward work in us that will change β what we believe and how we how we see things and how we act. And then these next four we'll go over faster.
But these next four are the outward disciplines, β and they're the four practices that take the inner spiritual formation into our everyday choices, our relationships, and our interactions with the world. So the first one is simplicity, living free from the constant pursuit of more. Whew. β one of the things that says how how to put it into practice is ask yourself whether.
your spending reflects your deepest values. β it said you can declare declutter one area of your home and consider what truly serves you. β practice generosity without needing recognition, limit advertising, shopping, or comparison that fuels discontent and make ruin your schedule for the people and practices that matter most. β I think living a life of simplicity is
Count countercultural for sure, but it's what we're all longing for, honestly. β it it's just it's really good. β the next one is solitude, learning to be alone with God without being ruled by loneliness or distraction. We've kind of talked about that already. β practicing solitude is is important. We've talked about it recently on the podcast in the last few episodes, taking a quiet walk.
without headphones, without your phone, just being quiet, drinking in nature, talking with God. β you know, schedule a a time to be quiet before a busy day. β you know, we've talked about making a coffee date with God and meeting him β with just a a Bible and a journal, being quiet β kind of goes along with meditation, but it's just really practicing that β that
time that you set aside to be with him, not to get, you know, in meditation we're we're meditating on something that's feeding us truth. But solitude is just really spending that time with him. β they overlap a lot, but but they're they are two different things. β I said solitude helps us discover whether we're comfortable being with God and ourselves when the noise finally stops.
We need to practice solitude. the next one is submission, releasing the need to have our own way. That is a big one. β and then service, β just looking for ways to love others through practical, humble action, whether it's you know, if you're involved in a church, it's doing ministry, β if you're involved in a church or you aren't, it's serving your family, β your co-workers, your your
business, your neighbors, β however he would lead you to serve. you know, could be volunteering, it could be just β taking care of somebody, it could be, I mean, it could be a a million different ways you can serve, but it's putting those practices, those four practices, β those disciplines into practice. So again, simplicity, β
solitude, submission, and service are the outward disciplines that the that that the book covers that we think β you know β and not that there's an order or you have to go in order but if you d if you practice the inner ones the outer ones are easier right that's kind of the way it goes so for me
I I feel like β my husband and I are pretty good at keeping our lives pretty β pretty simple. and β solitude is not a hard thing for me. I'm an I'm I'm a little introverted. I know you guys won't be surprised. β submission is not as hard in this season, but there are definitely seasons where that's been a struggle. β
You know, and then service is is there's always more there's always needs around us. There's always more we could do. So for me, when it comes to service, it's like, Lord, am I doing what you want me to do? Because if you're trying to fill all the needs, you're gonna get burnt out and overwhelmed. But it's like, Lord, in this season at this time, who do you want me to serve? Like what do you want it to look like? You know. β
And and and that changes. I think in in our the way I'm wired, if I say yes to something, I think I used to assume it was forever. Like I'm just gonna do this for the rest of my life because I love doing this and God told me to do this and but he moves us in seasons. And so β I have to remind myself of that and go, Okay, in this season, Lord, where do you want me to serve? What do you want me to do? Who do you wanna be a a priority and a focus in my life to make sure they're taking care of like
And ask him and he will tell you.
Are there any anything that stands out? I just think for me it's β the serve. Yeah. I just I feel like I'm in a season where I need God to show me where I can serve more. Yeah. Better. β
Because I think sometimes, you know, the enemy just when there's bombardment of situations in your own life, β when you can do something for somebody else, it eases that and
I think that that one is is speaking to me β in this season is I need to find places or the Lord to open places where I can serve. Yeah. Yeah. And find him in that place. And then the third part, the corporate disciplines. β it says the final four disciplines emphasize spiritual formation within community.
Christianity is not meant to be lived only in private. We also grow through honesty, shared worship, discernment, and joy. So the last four disciplines are confession, bringing our failures into the light so we can receive forgiveness and experience restoration, β worship, β turning our attention toward God for who he is, not merely for what he can give us, guidance.
Learning to discern God's direction with the help of the Holy Spirit and a faithful community and celebration. Learning to live with joy because God is good. β and I love that it ends with that one, of course, because we could all use we could all use an an infusion of joy, right? β but the these last four are crucial and to be real real.
We only have a church community right now. And so it feels harder to put these into practice. β like I've I can do each of these on my own, but that is really not what this book is telling us. This book is telling us we need community, which we're a broken record and we say it all the time. And I have commu I mean, we have community. It's not that we're lone ranger Christians and we don't have people that we're accountable to and that we're growing with, but an active
church community has been missing for a while, β in my life, I will say. β
So that's that's I'm just being honest, but corporate worship is important and I've been missing that. β I can put on worship music all day, every day in my house and I do a lot. β but there's just something different when you're in a room with people, β like we talked about the prayer meeting last week. β guidance, I there's people who speak into my life who if I'm struggling with something, I can I can call and ask for them to pray and and you know, see if God gives them a word or
confirm something he's already spoken to me. β I do have community for that. β and I think celebration is just a lot of it is is β sharing testimonies, which we've talked about a lot on on the podcast in the last few, well, a long time, but especially the last few weeks it seems like, just or months even, β there's something that stirs up in us when we hear testimonies.
And I think Lori and I talked about it off mic even today. Like I think we we need those. We need to hear those. We need to share those. We need to remind ourselves of our own testimonies. β because we forget, because the the noise is loud and the distractions are real and the enemy is good at his job, and we forget the wins that we've already had. β and we and we get to celebrate that that he does it.
He still does it. He's still doing miracles. He's still answering prayers. He's still opening doors. He's still doing that. And when we're still waiting for it to happen in our life, we can rejoice when we hear it happened in somebody else's life. And so there's so much power and celebration that comes with testimonies. I think that is a key of what he is he's stirring us up to again. when I was talking when I was reading about confession.
It reminded me, I don't know the name of the book, but there was a book out I don't know several years ago β that one of our friends' churches was going through and it was a book on confession and they encouraged you to pair up in groups of two or three and meet like weekly to confess your sins one to another. And my daughter who my daughter who's a who's a grown-up was like, no thank you.
That sounds awful. Because how uncomfortable. But when you have relationship where you're like, I mean, not that you want to dig through and pick yourself apart just to think of something, but we all do sin and to keep that short account that we've talked about and to be able to confess and ask for prayer. And, you know, listen, I'm struggling with this area. Like those are the kind of relationships that grow your walk with the Lord and bind you together. And so, β
You know, I think like I said, I'm pretty good at keeping a short account and and confessing before the Lord, but I'm not in a tight community where we practice that. And that's I mean, I think that is we would benef our wal our relationships with the Lord would benefit and it would strengthen our relationships with each other. I think of Jenny Allen who talks about, you know, being confessing your sins with one another with a small group of people that you
do life with long term and the importance of like, listen, when you're struggling, we're all struggling. So let's just talk about it and be real real, you know. β I don't know that there's a lot of communities that do that, but the ones that do are tight, you know, they they
they're interconnected and they're growing together and there's something beautiful about that.
Yeah. I think those whole four points are really crut critical right now. Yeah. And I think a lot of people are missing them. I think so too. I think there's a just a hard I mean
We're gonna be real real. Why not? Let's just stop wearing masks and talk on it. We're gonna be real real here. Brace yourselves if you think people are gathering in crowded rooms. Yeah. And are lonely. Yeah. How we've been doing it isn't working. And I which is why a lot of us hasn't been doing. I'm gonna say it out loud from the back.
We gather in dark rooms of smoke and fog.
You can't see people's faces, you can't discern why did Jesus say, I am the light of the world, right? Yeah. The light shines bright. Right. Yeah. But I think the real real of that is that people are gathering in large rooms looking for these things, but they're not finding them. Right. Right. Because we need to turn on the light.
and see people's faces and make spaces. I'm not gonna come to someone in the dark that I don't know and confess my sins. Right. Hi, you don't know me, but my sins are you're not gonna do that. Right. You know, and how many of us are hiding sins in these places because we're convicted or we don't wanna do it but
We need help. β there are very but that whole segment I think goes back to the place where what church should be, what community should look like, and we're all longing for it because there are more people that are longing for that that don't have it. Right. β than what is really happening and
I said to you earlier, I think it was, you know, β I will reward you what is done in secret, you know, I will reward openly. Right, right. But if we are in places where we have community and we're all in pursuit of that, β then then the Lord can come into the open spaces, right? And make himself known. And people people need it. But I think
It is heartbreaking to me the masses that are gathering in thousands and we're not better. Right. Our homes are not better, our marriages are not better, our kids are not better, our communities are not better. And I think these are the places that if we were really honest about these disciplines and all of our lives, if these were happening, our corporate would be better. Right. Yeah.
Because one father would see another father struggle or one mother or you know. My home is praying for your home because I see you, I hear you. β
I just think that there's I mean, that could be a whole nother day conversation, but I think that part is we're longing for that. Yeah. Because I also think of this this just comes to my mind too, but like we talk about the disciples, right? And Jesus thought that doesn't he knew them. Right. He knew them. He knew what they were gonna do and what he knew when they were lying. He knew he knew them.
Yeah. And when people are known, their responses are different. Right. Right? Right. And we're a pursuit of knowing him. Yeah. And being known by him. And when we know him and know yeah, when we know him and are known by him, the relationship looks different. Right. And I think the bottom line is that people want relationships that look different. Yeah.
Yeah, because because what the world has to offer turns out doesn't satisfy. Well, and the world says it's all about me. Right. And but how many times β because what does it say the Bible says it is more blessed to give than receive? Mm-hmm. That the you know, and you can go back again to the parenting analogy. When your kid is
Behaving well and doing things and you get to give them a gift, how big of a reward it is is it to see the delight or the excitement? Or when you get to give a gift to somebody that you love that was never expecting it, like there is delight in that. Right. Right. I was telling Carrie too, we're talking earlier, but you know, the a scripture that β I'm in the world but I'm not of it. Mm-hmm. and I think that so much of our Christian life.
We've tried to save the world enough to have both. But it says you're in the world but you're not of it, you know. Right. That you're of a different kind. Right. And I always say we're of the world, but we're not in it. We look like the world, but we wanna we wanna say we're different, but yeah, we we've got it backwards. So I think that there's just a lot.
We're we're where we've never been. Yeah. It's a new day. But we're in need of him in a way we never needed him. Right, right. And the enemy has watered the black and white and made grey real bright. Right. But grey is murky in a lot of ways and it it doesn't bring clarity. Right. And I think that that is where
We're longing for for the clarity of who he is. And that if we can't change anything, we can begin by changing our relationship with him, that we are clear on who he is. Right, exactly. β the scripture that also I can't think of the address of it, but follow me as I follow Christ. Yeah. That is that phrase has been running through my mind because
if I'm honest in the disillusionment and the things that have are around me that are not how I thought they would be or what I wanted, but I'm trying to follow and I'm like, Lord, if my actions would speak louder than my words, if what I do β daily would be following you, that if anybody saw it, they would recognize that it's you. Like that is my pursuit because I can't give an answer
right now I feel like to the craziness that is around. And even in the Christian world, I've followed the Lord my whole life. β but never did I think that there would be this much β confusion or disunity or that it would look like it was I used to always say that scripture that even the very elect would be deceived. And I used to think, how could that be? Well it's more pr it's more recognizable now than ever. Right. Yeah. β and so like I don't want to be deceived.
I want to know him. I want to know that still small voice quicker than anything else. That is a yes, do this, a no, don't don't do that. Speak this, don't speak that. You know, go here, don't go there. Pray this, don't pray that. You know, just that inner knowing. And if we had that discipline with the Holy Spirit, β
You know, and I've just been asking them like co pilot, Yeah, sit in the seat, sit in the room, sit in the car. I need help. Right. You know? Right. β and I think that the that the talk of these things of the discipline
If we would if we would find our pla our if would find ourselves in these places.
Yeah. Yeah. If we could be mindful of putting these into practice, not to take each one, each twelve discipline and like make it a heavy burden and like make rules and a list of things for us to do, but to but to intentionally β try to put them into practice. Ask God to help us know how to put them into practice on a consistent basis.
β it it will transform our life and it will change the way we interact with the world around us and it will strengthen our walk with him and it will it will make us more like Jesus, which is the goal and the call like we talked about earlier. That's that's really the call. β so again the inward disciplines transform us their meditation, prayer
fasting and study. The outward disciplines help us to live differently. It's simplicity, solitude, submission, and service. And the corporate disciplines help us to grow together. That's confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. So we're gonna pray just in general over these disciplines that whichever one, β maybe in each category or maybe just overall,
We're gonna pray that if there's one or two that the Holy Spirit wants you, the listener, and Lori and I, but what individually wants us to wants us to put into practice that he will highlight that as we pray. and and again, I'll we'll put something, I'm not sure what it will be yet, but we'll put something in the show notes that you can click on that will kind of remind you of what these disciplines are and kind of give you some.
some outline of what you can do to put them into practice. But we just really β I just really feel like one of the reasons the Lord brought this to mind is because we've been talking about how we I mean we're just acknowledging how chaotic and loud the the world is right now and β how connected things appear and yet we are disconnected and isolated and β
undisciplined and and we've been talking about the need to get back to the basics, to get back to β you know being intentional, being face to face with people, praying together, reading the word, like all of these, all of these things are the things that we did not naturally but they were they were part of what
we put into practice as new Christians, right? And and and the Bible says, return to your first love. And listen, a lot of these things were part of the first love season where where we fell in love with Jesus and we started to get hungry for the word and we started to see β that he really had the power to save us and to change us and to change the world around us. And we have grown weary in our
doing good. We have grown weary in the waits of answered prayers, in in the waiting and the weightiness of answered prayers. and now is the time. Like as as we've talked about, β the season is shifting and I've I do believe that things are getting getting ready to get abundantly better. β and if you think being disciplined is hard in hard times.
It'll be harder in the good times because we'll be so busy, which is great. But to make these disciplines part of our priorities, part of our lifestyle will keep us close to him no matter what's going on on the outside, good or bad, easy or hard. β if we can put these into practice, our relationship will him with him will grow stronger and deeper, and more fruitful, which is, you know.
what we want. We want to see the fruit of our discipline. We want to see the fruit of our lives, where where we are more β more and more like Jesus and more and more of a light to the world around us and that we walk with the authority and the grace and the love that He has for those β who don't know him. Like we want to live in a way that causes us to stand out, not because of us, but because of Him.
And so we're gonna pray for you, we're gonna pray for us, that God would really highlight some of these disciplines that are priority. and and that we will be able to kind of put these into practice over the next few weeks, few months and and see. And we we'll be able to look back and testify that we're we're closer with the Lord now than we were a few months ago because we've been doing these things. So
Pray with us.
Thank you, Jesus. Holy Spirit, we just take a moment. We just take a moment. We know this is a lot more talking than we usually do, but we don't want to rush. We don't want to rush you, Lord. We're grateful for the way you move us. We're grateful for the way you speak to us. We're grateful for the way you
Remind us of truths and remind us of things that will help us, Lord, that you are the helper and that you have given us these tools to use to grow in our relationship with you, to be stronger, to be strengthened and encouraged, to be an encouragement to those around us. Lord, we look at these lists of disciplines and many of them feel normal.
And part of our life already, which we're so grateful for that. Some of them feel like I don't even know what that is, or do I even practice that? So, Holy Spirit, you know each individual heart of each individual listener, and you know what discipline they need to focus on in this season of their life with all they have going on. So we pray, Holy Spirit, that you would highlight one or two.
that they can focus on over these next few weeks and really pray about and and put into practice and see how you bless their desire to be more like you, how you bless their time set aside to spend with you, how you bless their intention of wanting to live a more disciplined life so that they will reflect you better.
Jesus, we just thank you.
thought just comes into my mind, you know, there's cycles and rhythms. Yes. That have reasons in life. And we just pray, Lord, that you would highlight
the disciplines that are part of the seasons and the rhythms of our life right now. Yes. Lord that you would highlight to each one of us what is the what is the discipline, what is the practice that you're highlighting that you have something for us to learn, to glean, to be strengthened in. Lord, we
again I think of when it says, you know, that parents train up a child in the way they should go or that the rod of correction, it's for their good. It's because we love them. And it says, you know, if you will not depart from it, they will not depart from it. You know, they will when they are old, they will remain. And God, I there is there's reasons. Thank you Lord. For disciplines. It's for our safety. It's for our protection. It's for our growth. It's for
The generation that follows us. It's for legacy. Lord, there it affects not only us, but those around us. And so Lord, we just pray that you would give us β the pictures that you would highlight to us where you're speaking to us. What is what is the rhythm? What is the discipline that is gonna bear fruit in our life? where are we gonna allow you to prune us? β
And I think of fall as we're in the season of fall, it's where you prune things and cut things back and for it to rest over winter so that in spring it can harvest β and it can bear fruit. And so, Holy Spirit, I pray that you would give us the picture of pruning in our life. And what do we need to prune away that we can rest with you, that we can hibernate in places of
meditation or fasting or whatever that you're highlighting β that we will have rest and recovery and wisdom so that we can bear fruit thank you in the season that you intend for it to bear fruit god and you know one thing that I is coming to my mind right now is Lord so many of us are carrying
weights or things that are triggers or that recycle or that the enemy is having a heyday in. And God has said in your word that some of these don't come out by prayer and fasting. And I pray, Lord, that this would be a season that fasting or con consecration or meditation would break off the cycles that have entrapped us for years or decades. Thank you, Lord. That it would be true freedom.
And again I think of the scriptures that says he who the sun sets free is indeed free. Indeed means for sure, without a doubt, without question. And God, I I pray that these disciplines in our life will bring a freedom that is indeed for sure, without question, a thank you, Father. Transition in our life that will reveal to us who you are, your character, your heart for us, that you would help us to see how much you love us.
where we have not been able to in the past, even. God, I pray, β Lord, that these rhythms and these disciplines, God, that we would just believe that β when we're uncomfortable, it's going to be unto our our growth, into our harvest. And I I think of it even in exercise when you push your muscles and you strain them and they're sore and they hurt. But in the next season when they're stronger, they're gonna carry you better. They're gonna give you better endurance.
And so, God, I just ask that you would give us a picture that these disciplines are going to install endurance in us to be able to run the race and to run it well and to carry others on the path and encourage others. And when we ourselves are strengthened, we can help strengthen others. When we ourselves come through and are healed, God, we can help others. And so I just thank you today, God. Thank you, Jesus. β that we would see this season.
And we would lean into it and we would say yes to it. God, we would say yes to your disciplines. We would say yes to your β to your processes of healing and transformation because we believe, God, that it will bring rest, that it'll bring revelation, that it will bring harvest, that it'll bear fruit, that it will it'll continue into legacy. And so, God, we just we ask that you would meet us in these places.
That you would give us a grace. And this morning the scripture that I read was in Psalms 1832, and it says it is God who arms us with strength and keeps my way secure. God, I pray today that you would arm us with strength. That you would arm us with the strength to say yes. That you would arm us with the strength to lean in to these disciplines, God, to lean in to these places, God. And that we would know that this will keep our way secure.
This will keep us on the path of righteousness. This will keep us on the path to presence, to pursuit. God, we pray that you would arm us with strength today. Thank you to be obedient. Because you said obedient is better than sacrifice. Yes, Lord. So God, we pray that you would arm us with strength to lean into these disciplines, to obey you, to trust you, and that you would make our way secure. Yes. We thank you that you are.
Our safety, you are trustworthy. So we just lean into you today, God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.
Praise your Father, we thank you that you that you are calling us deeper.
Holy Spirit, we we say yes. We say yes to the invitation to know you deeper, to know you more, to be known by you. We say yes to the invitation to pursue you.
Lord, our heart longs to know you more. Our heart longs to be sensitive to your presence. Lord, there are times and seasons in the past where we have known that you are there in the room with us. And there are times and seasons where we are trusting that you are in the room with us. We pray, Lord, that those things would intertwine and overlap, that we would be aware of your presence, that we would encounter.
your presence and carry it with us. Lord, we ask that as you stir us up and stir up a hunger in us for more prayer, for more meditation and study, for more discipline in all of these areas, for more times of worship, for more times of solitude, for more times of service. Lord, that you would lead and guide us into each and every one of these disciplines so that we could bear fruit and be more like you.
Lord, we pray that β that you would stir up testimonies. Lord, we continue to pray for testimonies to come forth, Lord God, that you would remind us of our own, that you would remind us of others, that you would put the power of testimonies in our algorithm, Lord, that we would accidentally see them, that we would hear them, that we would share them, Lord, that that it would increase our faith and encourage our hearts, Lord.
That we would celebrate, that the discipline of celebration would be that we would be joyful as we hear what God is doing. Lord, we thank you that you just keep giving the visual of dominoes, that it's almost time for the dominoes to fall. And Lord, we just pray that that there would be such a discipline of celebration when that happens, that you would prepare our hearts for it, that you would stir up hope for it.
That you would position us exactly where you want us to be. Lord, we thank you that you are speaking to us, that you have never stopped speaking. Sometimes we expect you to speak with words and you show us pictures, or you put songs in front of us, or you speak to us in ways that we're not anticipating. But Lord, we thank you that you are always speaking, that it is never your desire -- You
Do not give us the silent treatment. It is never your desire to feel far off and to and to cause us to wonder where you are. You are always right here with us. And so, Holy Spirit, we ask that you would stir up our hope for that, our belief for that, and our anticipation of that. And we ask that you would cause us to encounter your presence β as we press in to these disciplines.
As we purpose in our heart to make you a priority, we would find that you are already waiting for us to meet with us, to speak with us, to reveal truth to us, to course correct us and discipline us when it's necessary. And Lord, we thank you that you don't leave us where we are, but you know the plans you have for us. You know we can do hard things. And sometimes you call us to them.
But there is always growth and fruit that comes through those seasons. So Lord, we just trust you. We put our trust and our hope and our faith in you and in you alone. We can't do it. We talked about it a few episodes ago, Lord. We've come to the conclusion that we can't do it. We can't fix it. We can't do it on our own. Even if we thought we could, Lord, we don't want to. We don't want to anymore. We want to do it with you.
We want whatever it is that you have planned for us, Lord. We say yes to it and we say yes to do it with you. So, Holy Spirit, awaken the dreams that you planted in us years ago. Stir up the harvest, Lord God, that we've prayed for for years. We pray that you would re-awaken the hopes and the dreams that you put in us, Lord. We ask that you would open the doors. Thank you for this season of open doors.
We ask you would open the doors and make it clear for us to step through. We thank you, Lord, that you desire to speak to us even more than we desire for you to speak. You desire for our ears to be tuned to your voice, Lord, that we are your sheep and we know your voice. And so we ask for the good shepherd to say our name. Lord, I pray that this week that each of us would hear you speak our name.
That you would remind us of our namesake and what it means and who you created us to be, that you would speak into us through these disciplines our very identity, that we would accept and believe what you say about us, that we would come into agreement with what you say about us and who you say we are. And more than anything, you say that we are your beloved. And so, Holy Spirit.
We're so grateful for the great romance. We're so grateful for the way you woo us and pursue us and love us. And we ask that as we put these disciplines into place, that we would find ourselves in this divine romance with you. Thank you. Thank you for the way you love us. Thank Jesus. For the way you call us and set us apart. Thank you for the way you redeem us.
And empower us and pour out blessings and giftings in us and through us, Lord. We say yes to all that you have for us in this season. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. We'll be blessed this week. β read through the show notes, find the link, share this if it's will be a blessing to somebody else next week. If we remember, we're gonna talk about breaking some of those agreements that we've made in the past and coming into agreement with what he says. We'll we'll lean more into that next week. So be blessed. We'll be back. Have a great week. Bye.