Jesus Wants to Reward You - Matthew S2E4

Summary

Episode Summary: "Jesus Wants to Reward You" – Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin (Matthew S2E4)

Main Theme Overview:
This episode is a deep dive into Matthew 6:1–18, where Jesus teaches about secret spiritual practices: giving, prayer, and fasting. Pastor Joby Martin and his guests explore the heart behind these disciplines, the concept of spiritual "reward," and the motives that drive believers in their relationship with God. They reflect on the dangers of practicing faith as a performance for others and discuss how true intimacy with God is cultivated in secret.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Doctrine of Secrecy" and Spiritual Reward

Timestamps: 00:53–04:29

• The episode starts with light-hearted references to worship songs about the “secret place,” segues into Bob Sorge’s book “Secrets of the Secret Place,” and discusses the lack of a formal “doctrine of secrecy” in Christian teaching.
• Pastor Joby highlights Matthew 6:1 as the thematic thesis: “Don’t practice your righteousness before others.”
• Quote [02:04], Pastor Joby:
  “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.” – (citing C.S. Lewis)
• Insight: Evangelicals have moved away from language about “rewards” due to abuses in prosperity preaching, yet Jesus insists there is real reward in intimacy with God, not merely earthly gain.

2. The Motive Behind Righteous Acts

Timestamps: 04:29–13:19

• The conversation explores approval-seeking in religious life, noting that everyone craves approval—if not universally, then at least from “someone.”
• Examples from Pastor Joby’s family and team members illustrate different wiring for seeking praise or anonymity.
• Exploration of Pharisaic behavior: Examples given of Pharisees performing acts for attention, such as loudly dropping coins or flashy prayers.
• Quote [11:18], Pastor Joby:
  “The Pharisees ... are leveraging religious activities ... to put God in their debt and impress people with their religiosity. And Jesus is like, that ain’t it.”

3. Hypocrisy and Heart-level Faith

Timestamps: 11:55–14:21

• Jesus uses “hypocrite” to describe those who make faith a performance – literally, stage actors in ancient Greek.
• The group reflects on how God is never fooled by appearances, even when people are.
• Discussion on judging motives:
  “Assigning motives is one of the most dangerous things on the planet.” – Pastor Joby [13:19]
• The difficulty of reading others’ motives is noted, stressing that love and one-on-one care is necessary when correction is needed.

4. Teaching on Giving: Tithes, Offerings, and Gifts

Timestamps: 14:21–19:30

• Pastor Joby gives clear distinctions:
  • Tithe: The first and best 10%, brought to the local church as belonging to the Lord.
  • Offerings: Above and beyond, directed toward gospel-centered initiatives.
  • Gifts/Alms: Spontaneous, Spirit-led giving to meet needs as prompted.
• Quote [18:49], Pastor Joby: “I would challenge you this lint [Lent] season to put some folding money in your pocket ... and be on the lookout to give it away.”

5. The Idolatry of Money & Perspectives on Wealth

Timestamps: 19:30–26:08

• Discussion of cultural taboos around money in the church, both the prosperity and the “poverty gospel.”
• Stories show how upbringing shapes attitudes toward money, generosity, and the opinions of others.
• Conversation about distorted theologies pulled out of context, such as "don’t let the left hand know what the right is doing," and how these are often self-serving.

6. Approaches to Prayer: Authenticity vs. Performance

Timestamps: 26:08–38:35

• Warnings against turning prayer and other disciplines into performances; real prayer is for God, not the crowd.
• Reflection on Jesus’ model prayer (the Lord’s Prayer) as both a pattern and a practice.
• Quote [29:24], Pastor Joby:
  “God sees you. You. And in this case, in the secret, goes, good job. That’s it. What else could you ever want?”
• Confession from Pastor Joby: He admits conviction about not leading the church deeply enough in prayer, wanting to move from supplemental to fundamental prayer culture:
  “What was fundamental to the early church has become like supplemental to today’s church.” [33:59]

7. Practical Steps for a Secret Prayer Life

Timestamps: 44:51–51:16

• Encouragement to set a consistent time and place for prayer.
• Use scripture as the starting point (“start with the words that began in heaven”).
• Start prayer with the Lord’s Prayer, mix both brief and extended times of prayer (analogy to texting and face-to-face time in marriage).
• Prayer involves both talking to God and listening/receiving.

8. Listening Prayer, Wise Counsel, and Discernment

Timestamps: 51:16–53:40

• The group discusses learning to listen for God’s voice, discerning God’s nudges, and balancing these with confirmation from scripture and community.

9. On Fasting: Purpose, Challenge, and Mystery

Timestamps: 53:40–59:33

• Jesus assumes his followers will fast; the challenge is both how to fast and whether people are willing to do hard things at all.
• Fasting is secret, but its discomfort is meant to remind us of deeper hunger for God.
• Prayer and fasting are part of a profound spiritual mystery: “Right in the middle of this cosmic mystery, he puts you and me.” [56:49]
• Fasting develops spiritual resilience: “You tell your flesh no to food... and then you just translate that to every other temptation in your life.” [58:15]

10. Lenten Application: Giving, Prayer, Fasting

Timestamps: 59:33–61:58

• Practical invitation for listeners to participate in Lenten practices of generosity, prayer, and fasting in preparation for Easter.
• The goal is for hearts to be ready to celebrate the resurrection, living a lifestyle of reward rooted in intimacy with Christ.
• Quote [60:49], Pastor Joby:
  “There is a rewards program.”

11. Final Encouragements

Timestamps: 61:09–62:20

• “If God answered all your prayers from the past week, what would be different?” – A challenge to pray boldly and regularly for significant things.
• Call to corporate prayer at local campuses.
• Closing prayer centered on glorifying God and seeking his will.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• [02:04] Joby Martin: “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.” (C.S. Lewis)
• [11:18] Joby Martin: “The Pharisees ... are leveraging religious activities ... to put God in their debt and impress people with their religiosity. And Jesus is like, that ain’t it.”
• [13:19] Joby Martin: “Assigning motives is one of the most dangerous things on the planet.”
• [18:49] Joby Martin: “I would challenge you this lint [Lent] season to put some folding money in your pocket ... and be on the lookout to give it away.”
• [29:24] Joby Martin: “God sees you. You. And in this case, in the secret, goes, good job. That’s it. What else could you ever want?”
• [33:59] Joby Martin: “What was fundamental to the early church has become like supplemental to today’s church.”
• [60:49] Joby Martin: “There is a rewards program.”

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:53 — Introduction to secrecy in the spiritual life
• 02:04 — "Unblushing promises of reward" (C.S. Lewis)
• 11:18 — Pharisees and performance religion
• 13:19 — The danger of assigning motives
• 14:39 — The categories of giving (tithes, offerings, gifts)
• 29:24 — The true reward: being seen by God
• 33:59 — Prayer as church foundation
• 44:51 — Practical advice on growing in prayer
• 53:40 — Fasting as means of spiritual discipline
• 60:49 — Living a life that pursues God’s “rewards”

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Applied Takeaways

• Secret life with God matters most; outward acts are to flow from inward intimacy.
• Check motives: Do righteousness for God, not for man’s applause.
• Freely receive and give: Practical advice for giving, prayer, and fasting; making them regular and heart-driven.
• God’s reward is Himself: Experiencing the presence, fruit, and affirmation of God is the promised reward.
• Lent preparation: Engage in increased generosity, prayer, and fasting to prepare for Easter and cultivate deeper intimacy with Christ.

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Tone:
Warm, candid, pastoral, sometimes humorous, and deeply practical — true to the conversational spirit and teaching style of Pastor Joby Martin and The Church of Eleven22.

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For listeners and non-listeners alike, this episode offers both theological clarity and usable advice for a richer, more authentic relationship with Jesus—one that seeks God’s reward in the hidden places.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin. The Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we're praying this message helps you deepen your relationship with him. Now let's dive in.

[B]

All right, here we go, gents. In the secret, in the quiet place.

[C]

Bro, you're bringing it back. Like that's comment on the YouTubes. If you know that song. That's their elevens. Huh?

[B]

With the note when it was for the title of this was in the Secret. And I just think that song immediately.

[C]

Classic, bro. That's 96.

[B]

Yeah. I was waiting for it tonight. We didn't go there.

[C]

Have you ever read Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge?

[B]

I haven't heard a video by Bob Sorghi, but I've never.

[C]

The video with his voice where it changed. Pretty wild.

[B]

Yeah. So we're talking about secret things, and I know you like to talk about this. I do. I couldn't find a book, though, or like a doctrine of the. The doctrine of secrecy. I couldn't find, like, it as a thing, so we're going to get into that, too. All right.

[D]

You should write it.

[C]

I'm working on it, yeah.

[B]

Oh, good.

[C]

Ten years from now, a little bit. I feel like that's one you release after you die.

[D]

Really?

[C]

Like Secrets of the Secret Place. That's Bob Sorge's book. But it's like. I don't know. It's like you write a book on the doctrine of secrecy and publish it.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It's kind of weird, you know, when

[B]

it comes out, just don't tell anybody.

[D]

Like wearing your humble badge.

[B]

Right, Right. Yeah. The verse. The first verse of chapter six, I think, is the thesis for the section. Am I right in saying that? When he says, don't practice your righteousness

[D]

in front of us, somebody said in the sermon tonight.

[B]

And then. And then you mentioned reward. And this is a quote we know, but I'll read it again. If we consider the unblushing promises of reward in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

[C]

C.S.

[D]

lewis, Clive Staples.

[B]

So talk about that repetition of reward. Because it comes up so much just in this section.

[D]

Yeah. You got to go a little deeper. That everyone agrees that you should repent of your wretchedness, even if you're not a believer. Whatever you think is bad, everybody thinks you should turn away from bad. Right. But the gospel requires that we repent of our religious righteousness. That's what he's getting to these are good things. Giving to the needy, praying and fasting are good things that God has given us. But when you treat the means as an end, it becomes a bad thing. And that's what was happening with the Pharisees and that's what happens in the human heart, that we just have this gross, look at me, relentless bug in our ear. And the moment you do that, God's like, congratulations, that's what you get out of that is you won the approval of man. And Jesus is trying to get this down into the heart level that the reward is him. I do think there has been so much, so much gross heretical prosperity preaching out there that Bible believing evangelicals have run away from the reward word. And there is a reward. Jesus has a rewards program and it's him. And the results of what you get when you get him, like if the fruit of the Spirit is a reward, I mean, that really is it. Like the more I abide in him and he abides in me, then he begins to produce things like patience, that's a reward. But praying awesome prayers in front of people and you're not actually praying at that point, you're preaching. Then you think that the means is the end and that that's what Jesus is getting at. I think. And I'm just, honestly, I just read my own mail tonight. A lot of personal conviction, especially on the praying part.

[B]

There's a. So you said approval of man. There, there are certain personality types that are more prone to want the approval of man. Maybe, but don't you think that that's everybody? And, and why is that?

[D]

I think we're different. The enemy knows how to come after us, you know, because there's a lot of people that would just love to be left alone. You know, they, they really aren't seeking. I'm, I'm married to one. And me, me and her made one that honestly. Okay, so today he's going to lose his reward now, but whatever. J.P. spent the day working at church and all he did was put the chairs together somewhere at Central. And so he's swinging through to go home as I'm about to go out. And I'm like, what did you do today? And he's like, I just put together chairs and, and then he doesn't know what I'm preaching. And I wasn't planning on using this. And he said, that's my favorite thing to do. I like to work where nobody sees it and somebody just comes in and they got a chair to sit in. And they can do their job. So he is honestly wired that way. Now there's a thousand other handles that the enemy is trying to grab onto. But so not everybody has that kind of approval button like that. Gretchen is very much the same way she was. She led worship for 10 years. It, it actually people are trying to encourage her when they say, oh, we miss you singing. And she despises really, she. It feels like pressure. Even when she was. She came to me one time and she was like, I feel like I'm supposed to leave worship for a season, but could I. Is there a way that I could do it and not like not be on the stage? I'm like, no, you can't do that. She wouldn't remember that Blues Traveler song where he's behind the curtain playing Y. She wanted to do some version of that. So her struggle is not let me be in front of people so I can get some applause. It's the other way. She writes a bunch of devotionals now and she's asking if we can not put her name on it. I'm like, no, we're not going to do that. And I think and for those two, it's, it's, it's a genuine thing the way they are wired.

[C]

You know, I've always had this idea of. And maybe we'll do it at some point in the right context. But it's like a worship service that I've always wanted to be a part of. And some of it's rooted in my own. How I can just get. I just get weird in my own head. In some of the same ways is to like set a cross on a stage and then all these Christ exalting scriptures on the stage and the band and the preachers all behind everybody. Oh yeah, we're all just looking at it. So you don't see any humans.

[D]

Orthodox kind of does that, you know,

[C]

it's just I've always thought of. I've always thought that'd be a cool environment to be in.

[D]

Well, you got a few weekends you could do it. I am definitely the other way. It's, it's. I get so much encouragement that it like I, I will, I don't know, I get a ton of encouragement. So it's easy when you get a ton of encouragement to like be able to like all thanks and, and divert it. But when I look at the group picture, I look at me, you know, I like to be thanked and that is a, that could be the same thing.

[C]

No doubt your question about the approval of man Is I on that one? I think there's some. Some. There are category of people who are looking for anyone's approval. And so they're looking all different kinds of places and they just want anybody's approval. And they'll do all kinds of things. Tell lies and manipulate and. Yeah, make stuff up. And they're just anybody to reinforce anything that remotely resembles a positive emotion. They're just trying to get anybody's approval. I think there's some people who. Who are that way. I think there's other people and a lot more people fall into the category of they're after someone's approval. It's not anyone's, but it's someone's. And I think there's some lights and shadows there. I don't know that it's always right and wrong. I think people's approval can get all. Can get in the place that only God should be. That point. It is wrong. It's idolatry. But, like, I don't think it's wrong for me to want to live my life or to want to do things and. And my wife approve of those things. You know what I mean?

[B]

And it.

[C]

And see it as honoring to her and see it as, you know, a benefit and acknowledge it even. And so you know how it is. It's like just because we're talking about preaching or whatever, you could get up and Preach and get 999. Thank you, God used it. Praise God. But that one from that one person, that wife or that person you really respect, it just weighs 10 times more. And that person's opinion can often get out of balance in our life and take a seat that it shouldn't. No question.

[D]

Yeah, there's this old phrase, hated or loved just not ignored. That's kind of me. I kind of. There's a lot of people. I do not want their approval. Like, I like when I get mean emails if they don't believe the Bible and they like what I'm saying, you know, to take a really hot topic, like on sexual immorality or gender or something like that, you know, or money. And I know what I'm teaching is the truth of the Word and they're trying to fight me on tithing. I love that they get all mad because they're just greedy. Whether either they're greedy in their sexuality or they're greedy with their money. And I'm like, oh, good, I ticked off the right crowd. Now that can go bad too. And then back to the wife thing, bro. The problem would be if you're doing manipulative things to win her approval for you. That's the difference. Like you're not actually cleaning the dishes because you love her and you're serving her, but you're just trying to prove a point, you know, or you're trying to get what you want. That, that's what's. I mean, the Pharisees, that's what they were doing. They're leveraging religious activities that were intended to be spiritual disciplines to help, you know, God better. And they're essentially trying to put God in their debt and impress people with their religiosity. And Jesus is like, that ain't it.

[C]

Yeah. They would do stuff like, you know, Jesus tells the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee and it's like the, the Pharisee stands up and it's like, I thank you God, that I'm not like this tax collector.

[D]

You know, I give what a prayer.

[C]

I fast every day and I, you know, I tithe or I fast twice a week and I tithe and I, you know, yada, yada, yada. And he's loud and boastful. And then there's also the like giving example in the temple where they would give, there were like these brass horns on the wall and they, and the Pharisees would bring in as much change as possible and they would drop it one coin at a time against this brass horn. It'd be like, clang, clang, clink, clink, clink, clink, clang. And so they would get in this competition of who's like making more noise

[D]

with the change that's blowing the trumpet.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. And so that's the stuff that Jes talking about. Like, what are you doing, man?

[B]

It's funny you said, Pastor Joby, that Jesus is saying, don't make it a performance like the Pharisees. It needs to come from the heart for your father's approval. He uses that word hypocrite. That literally means stage actor.

[D]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it literally means two faced. Yeah, it's. Actors would put on a mask and pretend like they're somebody that they're not actually. Yeah, that's what a hypocrite is.

[B]

Yeah. And if you've. We've all seen a movie or something where there was a misunderstanding or a manipulation of somebody's acting, but other. Another person thought it was real. And then how, you know, mind blowing it is when you find out the truth. So can you imagine God's perspective? You know, when it's like you're Just acting.

[D]

Well, yeah, yeah. But we are easily tricked. He never is, you know.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, it's, it's fast forwarding a little bit to future topic. But I thought about judging too, because you said the motive is what matters the most. That you could do the same thing, two in with two different motives. And according to God, it's going to mean two different things, you know, and so is the right response from us to just say, well, God's going to judge and we don't know because we can't read people's motives or should we try to understand their motives in some way, like in, in our relationships with each other.

[D]

Assigning motives is one of the most dangerous things on the planet. No question. There's lots of commands about how we are to, if you don't like the word judge, that we are to love somebody enough to point out places where they are not listening to the good shepherd, but they're going the way of the enemy and that's going to lead to death and destruction and so motives there. If I'm trying to judge you because I think I'm better than you, then God's like, well, if that's the standard by which you judge, then that's the standard by which I'll judge you. That's what Jesus means. That's what the Bible says when it says judge, lest not you be judged. But if I love you enough and I'm trying to help you walk in the fullness of life that Christ has for you, these are different things. This is why you should. I mean, one on one is always the best way. There's so many times where I have confronted a brother or sister and then I got more of the story and I'm like, oh, I didn't know that. Like, that's a big difference, you know?

[B]

Right.

[D]

I mean, seriously.

[B]

Right? Yeah. Context matters. Well, so the, the categories are giving, praying and fasting and talk a little bit more. Because that differentiation between ties, offerings and gifts is probably really, really instructive to

[C]

a lot of people.

[D]

Yeah. Now, I've had four people in the last week ask me about bringing their first and best. They want to, they want to do right, according to the Bible, with the money God has called them to steward. And they just. People rarely teach on this anymore. First and foremost, I would say God's not a legalist. So if you're a cheerful giver and you're doing the best with the information you have, I think he's going to high five you in heaven. Okay. But there are Three different categories in the Old and New Testament of giving. There's tithing, and the tithe belongs to the Lord. Tithe literally in Hebrew means tenth. But if you read the context of everywhere it's talked about, it is not just a tenth of your income. It is the first. So see the difference between Cain and Abel. Cain brought leftovers. Abel brought first. First fruits, offerings, okay? And that belongs to the Lord. This is why in Malachi, they're like, how shall we return to you? And he goes, quit robbing me, because you've got something in your pocket, supposed to be in the Lord. And the reason that you bring the tithe to the local church, it's not even about the church. It's because Jesus is the head of the church. So how do you bring something to Jesus? You bring it to him through the local church. This is his body. That's the tithe. The first and best. Also, we have just made a decision. Every dollar that comes in, we bring at least a tent. For us, it's a little bit higher. Just because you do this long enough, you can't stop at 10. You got to keep going. So it needs to be a priority, it needs to be a practice, and it needs to be progressive. Okay? So regardless of where, if it's birthday money or if it's for me, if it's book money or if it's my paycheck or even our tax return, whatever comes in. And then I know somebody might be like, yeah, but didn't you tithe on that once? I'm just not going to stand before the Lord. And if he's like, you gave too much, but that's on me, my fault. Right? So that goes to the local church. Then there's a group called Offerings. This is above and beyond the tithe. You can't actually bring an offering if you're not tithing. Okay. This would be gospel giving above and beyond what you're doing through the local church. For us, this is like sponsoring Compassion Kids Support Missionaries. We support a bunch of. A bunch of ministries, you know, that are. That are gospel giving. And gospel giving is not just charity. There's good things that aren't gospel things. Okay, then over and above that are gifts. This is. You keep a little bit, just a little powder dry as the Lord prompts you. That might be. Bless a family. That might be. Give to somebody that ask. That might be. You're at an event and they're raising money, like, all right, we're going to throw in on that. That's what A gift is in the first century it was called alms. And this is particularly on the gift to the needy. What Jesus is talking about later, he's going to talk about, he's going to tie together storing up treasures in heaven and anxiety and how trusting God with your first and best is how the number one way to battle against the things that you're worried about. Because primarily what we worry about is we believe the lie of money. I'll be preaching this in the fall. We're going to put a circle around this one. Come back to it when we do the neighbors to nations thing. But the people that are asking, honestly the four people I got three emails and one person in the lobby man, they are coming with a humble and pure heart saying I want to do this right according to the New Testament. And so I'm saying, okay, so technically this is what it looks like. Your tithe comes to the local church. Offerings are above and beyond that to gospel things. And gifts are more like spirit led one time things. I would challenge you this lint season to put some folding money in your pocket. That is relative to your economic ability. So $5, $10, $20, $100, whatever. And be on the lookout to give it away. You'll pray about it like you've never prayed about anything. I'm every, you know, gas station, I walk in, I'm like, all right, are they in here? You know, and that's very different than the prescribed. I have pre decided this goes first to the Lord. Does that make sense? And I think, I think it's important. I probably pray. This is probably bad. I probably pray more about that hundred dollars a month than I do the tithe. And it's not even close in amount, but it's very. I'm trying to be sensitive to the spirit in my life and give it away.

[B]

Pastor Britt, you just talked recently about a professor who said never talk about money or comfort food. That's right, yeah.

[C]

When I was in college.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And like if you pastor a church and you want people to like you, there's two things you should just never talk about. Should never talk about comfort food and you should never talk about money. And in the context we were talking about how this is our all staff meeting at church and we were just talking about how you have a relationship to money. You're in a relationship with money and everybody is. And you didn't. Your habits and your spending and the preference and priority that it has in your life. The amount of time you spend worrying about it. You have a world view in that relationship. And it was. You learned that at least half of that, if not all of it, you learned from other people's behaviors. You learned it from popular culture. You learned it from your parents, both good and bad, and really understanding the relationship that you have to money, how you came to have that view. What were the formative experiences in your life that taught you the purpose of money and got, you know, the role that God would play in regards to money and if that was even a category that you would have ever learned. So I just told the story about when I was a kid, my dad was a pastor. And you didn't grow up around church. This. This story won't make a ton of sense probably, but if you grew up around church, you probably understand what I'm saying. My dad, his second cousin friend, owned a. A dealership and gave him a really good deal on a truck. So my dad rolls in one Sunday, pastors this Southern Baptist church, and all the whispers just start, you know, because they had a poverty gospel, which can be just as dangerous as a prosperity gospel.

[D]

Yeah, the gospel needs no adjective.

[C]

That's right. And the goal there, the philosophy of that church was very much we give money and past. So pastors do ministry and. And the pastors work for us. And that was very much the philosophy. And my dad was so shaken by people's response that he. He took it back. And that was a really formative experience for me because it taught me, probably unintentionally, but it taught me people's opinions of how you spend money matter. And you have to. And that is a. Something that you have to really value or build your life around. I mean, even now, I. I'll have whatever my wife and I go out to dinner. I'd be telling you about it. You're my friend who trusts me and only wants good things for me. There's something in me that wants to defend or explain how I was able to go and eat dinner at this place. And it's because I grew up in a poverty gospel.

[D]

Pastor Brit, I know you. I love you. You're my dude. You have a hard time receiving a blessing.

[B]

Amen.

[D]

You really do, you know, I mean, there. Dude, you kill it around here. And I try to do things, and you. You have a hard time, especially if it comes around anything, anything that. That you like. It's like you're like, oh, I don't know if I. I don't know. And obviously you can take it too far the other way. And so many pastors have man fleeced the sheep to get some stuff they want, and that is not good. But the other extreme ain't good either. You know, I mean, it comes down to that. We have this twisted view of who God is, and he's not a good dad. Loves to give good gifts to his kids, for sure. And you're very generous. You're very generous. And we have a board of elders that oversee all the things to make sure that we're in alignment and all that. And none of them work for us, so we can't. There's nothing we could do. I don't. You know, it's not like the staff or the elders, and you guys all vote, you know, say it's okay, but you actually work for me, so you have to. We don't do that.

[C]

That's right.

[D]

We have all lay elders, and they don't. There's nothing I could do to make them say okay. But it. It is a thing. It's something you got to, like, get down into. And I get it. I mean, you know, it's the same thing. Like the cars we drive. What's weird about this stuff? Gretchen drives a Ford from Bozard Ford, and I drive a GMC from Nismith Chevrolet. We if. And nobody says a word because it's affording a Chevrolet. Affording gmc. Right. We could sell those cars. Spend half as much on a luxury vehicle and the name of it has a ring to it. And the whispers will be all over the place. It's a crazy world.

[C]

It's a crazy world.

[D]

It's a crazy world. Here's what I've also found out. When it comes to how much a pastor makes and all that sort of stuff, no matter what it is, there's always three little bears, for sure. There's always a group of people that think, well, you're suffering for the Lord. God bless you for giving up all the opportunities financially that you could, with your smart brain, could have made. I have those group of people. There's another group of people, like, what? And you're a pastor and you get to eat a steak. You know what I mean? It is like Jesus only ate fish. You know, that kind of thing. And then there's some people like, yeah, that's about right. That seems like it's right. And so you'll never be able to please people.

[B]

Right.

[C]

It just goes to show how insidious the idol of mammon money is, is that we have such strong, harsh opinions around it. And they're all, All. Almost all largely uninformed and they're all from a distance and they're all rooted. Like this is a great text of how we can take a text out of context and we can turn it into something that it's not. And so this is. Verse has been quoted to me more times than I can count related to tithing.

[D]

Left hand doesn't know the right hand. A lot of card.

[C]

The, the left hand shouldn't know what the right hand is doing. I'm like, that's not. He's not talking about local church giving.

[D]

He's.

[C]

He's talking about giving to the needy.

[D]

Right.

[C]

And not doing it to be seen doing it. This is the context of. But people can take that little verse and turn it into a whole theology. That's just way out of context.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, and it can. It very me. And also oftentimes that theology can be very self serving.

[D]

That happens a lot. In the passage about praying. There are church there. I've heard people say, you can't stand and pray because it says when you pray, you must not be like hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray. So if you're not kneeling, it doesn't count. That's a fact.

[C]

What do you do with the Bible verse that said Paul says, I want men to stand and raise holy hands.

[D]

Right. Okay. I've also heard in the Revelation where you cannot have food at church. You cannot have food at church because in Corinthians when they were doing the Lord's supper, he said, you need to eat at home. So they built a separate building called a fellowship hall. So the food can happen there, but the food cannot happen in church. These are people that don't know the Bible.

[B]

Wow.

[D]

It's very important. This is, this is why also you. I don't think you don't have to have a degree to preach the Bible. I'm not saying that. But if you don't know what the Bible meant when it was first written, then you might not be able to teach it today. Or you'll end up with weird stuff like that.

[B]

One of the things we've been watching at our house is this competition that Mr. Beast is doing. And I know these people aren't like the best of friends, even though they act like they are. But it is wild how somebody will apparently five minutes earlier say, I love you guys, I'll never betray you. I'll never roll, ride or die. And they get up on this little thing or he says, all right, and starts ticking this number higher and higher and higher. And they're just like, boom, I'm out for money. And they'll take the money.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It is crazy, the power that it can have. I mean, they're. They're strangers, but good grief.

[D]

Yeah. The lie of money. I'll talk about this a lot more in the fall, and I just made this up, but I like it. The lie is money says, if you love me, I'll love you back. And you believe it. And love in the Bible is about provision and protection. And that's what it says now. I'll provide for you for all the things you want, and I will protect you. And it just doesn't have the ability to do either.

[B]

This goes back to that Christian hedonism idea, you know, like the reward. Like, who are you pursuing reward from? And if you're pursu. If you believe that lie from money, you're saying this money will. Will reward me. It'll give me what I want. It'll give me the happiness I'm looking for.

[D]

Yeah. And it just can't.

[C]

One of the things that I think in verse four stands out is, and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you. And God sees both your action and your intention. And I think that's always such a. I mean, such a welcome reminder that there's nowhere that you can go in your heart that's beyond the eye of God and that he sees you. And if you know the full measure of the gospel, he sees you. He sees your heart, and he wants you like God wants to reward you, like he does.

[D]

That is the reward.

[C]

It's amazing.

[D]

God sees you. You. And in this case, in the secret goes, good job. That's it. What else could you ever want?

[C]

I've been thinking a lot about this lately.

[D]

The.

[C]

All you need in order to begin to understand the gospel is need. An awareness of your need is what we mean.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Because the question is like, do you need God? Is almost a silly question in the sense that the answer is yes. You know, you're sitting on a rock that's spinning a thousand miles an hour on an axis, floating through space, circling the sun. Right. Let's just say you need God more than you could ever fathom. So you need him. I think the. The real question is, do you want him? And that's what's the behaviors of the secret place? Answer that question. Do you want him? He clearly wants you.

[D]

Right.

[C]

He sees you. He has come after you. The question is, do you want him? I think that's. That's such the heart of even the beware of practicing your righteousness. It's what do you want? Do you want to be noticed or do you know that you are seen?

[B]

And I love that you kept repeating that, Pastor Joby, like you said, basically, congratulations, that's what you got. Only problem is God's not happy.

[D]

Right?

[B]

You know, what a huge understatement. You know, and that's the point when he, when he talks about prayer and he gives the two groups. Is there more you can extrapolate from the two categories of people? Because he says the hypocrites are trying to be seen and impress other people. And then the heaping up of empty phrases is from the Gentiles. Those sound like two, two categories of people.

[D]

The Greek word there is Babel. So they were so like if you go back to Elijah facing down the 850 prophets and the thing that they were doing, their God was not answering them because their God does not have eyes or ears. And they thought if we're louder, if we cut ourselves, if we increase in passion, then maybe we can convince him. Somehow that kind of demonic idol worshiping activity got brought into the synagogues where people, if they weren't trying to impress the person, they thought they could impress God and get him to do what they wanted. And it's a lack of understanding of who God is. He already knows everything. Now we are to pray persistently. Yeah, but I think in today's, I mean, kind of where this, the application can be a little bit tough today is unless you're in a group of like super churchy people, you're not going to get a lot of praise for being like the person that prays the longest with the biggest words. I think there's another category of people that just don't even pray. And most of us fall into that, like, we're not praying. Father in heaven, hallowed be your name kind of prayers. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. God, would you just ring me out on this planet to make it look more like what it's going to be like with you in eternity kind of prayers? We just praying. Weak sauce kind of. I don't even know if they're actually prayers, you know, and then I'm very convicted in this because I don't think I've led our church well to be a good, to be a praying church. I'm serious. We're the most generous church. We're, we're, we're a worshiping church. We're a Bible church, We're a serving church. But you can just See it in the, in the things that you can measure. When we call for prayer meeting, nobody shows up and it's terrifying. So when I look through Luke and Acts, prayer is just all over it, all over it. And what was, what was fundamental to the early church has become like supplemental to today's church. That prayer meetings are just like, if you ain't got nothing else to do or you're hyper spiritual, then you might go to that. And I want us to be a praying church and you know, confession, man, I was at prayer time this week all mad because nobody was there. And I was, and I was, I was like, lord, what's wrong with these people? And I just, a long time ago I heard a Craig Groeschel sermon where he says, good leaders don't say my people won't. They say I have not led my people to. And that's, that's what I thought of. And I'm going to attribute that to God. And he just was like, they're right where you let him to be, man. And I'm just confessing that I've got to up my prayer game if I want our church to. Because as goes the leader, goes the flock. And, and then you know how when you get into desperate situations, man, you pray like a deer panty for water. Well, I don't want the Lord to have to take us into desperate places to know our desperation for him. And if you think about Jesus's life, okay, so the last thing, he prays on the cross. Well, of course you would. If I was getting crucified, I'd probably, I'd pray too. And he's in the garden and he prays with such intensity. Okay, well if I thought I was going to die tomorrow, I would pray with intensity too. But when everything's going good, like he just fed the 5,000 things are cooking, man. That's when I don't feel the urgency of prayer. And he says, y' all get in the boat and go over there, I'm going up on the mountain, I gotta pray. So it, he understood his dependence on the Father in the good times and the bad all the time. This was not like a need based thing. This was like a I need him all the time thing.

[C]

I wonder, I wonder. I'm probably over reading into it or just theologically imagining implication. But the hypocrites and the Gentiles, like I wonder what would have happened or what happened when the Gentiles got around the Pharisees praying their hypocritical prayers, you know what I mean, like the. Do you think the Gentiles were confused? Do you think I understood any of the words?

[D]

Yeah, I think they were like, sniff

[C]

the inauthenticity of it.

[D]

They're probably like, wow, God loves them way more than he loves us.

[C]

They felt not good enough or they felt not smart enough.

[D]

I don't even know what that means. It must be deep. Yeah, I mean, you know, especially early on. I don't give that much. This. Our people are really gracious. Let me just say that I started the sermon that way, and I mean every word of it. This is the best group of people to preach to, no question on the planet. Okay. But I mean, we can be enamored with new information and confusing things and associate that with some sort of deep preaching. And I think it was kind of like that, you know, for sure. Like people get up there and explain the nephilim and you're like, oh, God, this is so deep. What does this have to do with anything in my life right now? And then you hear another sermon and it's so clear, and you think, I think I already knew that stuff. In every letter that Paul writes except Galatians, he says, let me remind you of something. And that's B. That's the Bible. So it was obviously carried along by the Spirit.

[C]

I've always found it fascinating when Jesus says, and when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, and he gives some. Gives some instruction, and then he goes into the Lord's Prayer. And it takes, I don't know, 25 seconds, 30 seconds to pray the Lord's Prayer. And he's. I think there is a part of him that's literally saying, pray this. And so when you said, tonight I start my prayers often with the Lord's Prayer, I think that's a great. That's a great. Descriptively and prescriptively. But I think he's also pointing to greater realities in the Lord's Prayer of the topics, the areas whereby intercession and prayer is made manifest in a powerful way. Like he's trying to open. Open the curtain. You if with his words. And. And I've. I've just always found it. I've. I've just always found it fascinating when Jesus says. He's talking about, forgive us our trespassers as we've forgiven those who have trespassed against us, or our debt or our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. You know that when Jesus teaches us how to pray that it's it's super pointed in. In both a protective and combative way. Does that make sense?

[D]

I mean, maybe this. Maybe this is where Piper gets the life is war. That's not all it is. But it is all it is. At least that. And we have treated prayer not like a wartime walkie talkie to call in reinforcements from the heavenlies on the front line, but we. We're calling up for the butler to bring us more comforts in the den. For sure. This is the. Like he ends it. What a way to end. It's about spiritual warfare. Like the evil ones trying to kill me. Lord, help and leave me not into temptation.

[B]

Is there any more you can say, Pastor, about the verse 15, 14 and 15? Because how it's worded makes it sound like it's conditional to our action, you

[D]

know, like, yeah, this is where you let the Bible always be commentary unto itself. It is. I don't think forgiveness is a prerequisite for you receiving it, but it is absolute evidence that you have. But you're right. The way it's translated right here in the esv, it looks. It looks like an. In order to receive forgiveness, you must offer forgiveness.

[B]

But you explained like, it just means forgiving people.

[D]

Forgive people.

[B]

Right.

[D]

And if you've not. This isn't good English, but whatever. If you ain't giving it, maybe because you ain't got it.

[C]

It's always important to draw the distinction between forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration. Correct people get very confused. Correct forgiveness is that I something I have to wake up and choose over and over and over again. I. And it's a remembering as much as it's anything. Once you. For once you say, I'm going to forgive this person. The battle is to remember that you have forgiven. Forgiven them.

[D]

You cancel the debt.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

That they owe you.

[B]

I love that you use that because it. It to me is the perfect description of this person doesn't owe me anything anymore. Like the debt language is perfect and well, yeah.

[D]

And Jesus uses it in Matthew 18.

[C]

That's where we're going to get right.

[D]

But reconciliation requires two. It also requires repentance. And there it's probably a really good time for like boundary discussions on what is safe or healthy. But we should pursue it as far as as it is up to me. I live at peace with all men. So if every time we get together, you're gonna hit me, we can't be reconciled. I will forgive you, should forgive you. But I'm not going to continuously put myself in that situation because you didn't do Your part. So Paul was not reconciled with everybody. Now we've been given the ministry of reconciliation. But first and foremost that meant because we, as a traitorous race, have been reconciled unto God, we should, on behalf of Jesus, beg people to be reconciled, and we should do what we can do to be reconciled. But that does not necessarily mean that you will be. If there's not repentance, there's not a change in direction, a change of mind on both parties. And so God is not asking you to put yourself back in an abusive situation. And even if you're abused, you are commanded to forgive because we abused Jesus and he forgave us. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you will ever be reconciled to that relationship.

[C]

On the we talked about boundaries last week or two weeks ago, I can't remember. And one of the things that I was thinking about in what are the differences in boundaries that you would draw in relationship to boundaries with someone else who claims to be a Christian or boundaries with a non Christian?

[D]

Yeah, I think the boundaries, non Christian is you, primarily when they say unchristian.

[C]

That's the name of a book, by the way. But it's late, guys.

[B]

It's a unchristian person.

[C]

Yeah, I'm dumber than I look, guys.

[B]

I'm sorry.

[C]

And I look pretty dumb.

[D]

So I think it's Matthew 18. If your brother sins against you. So the first question you have to ask, ask is, is this my brother? And if he's not, then you're primarily having an evangelism conversation, and that's where that lives. Before you can ever have a fellowship kind of reconciliation, that's where that lives. And then your expectations between a Christian and a non Christian should be different. Your expectations with a non Christian are just kind of like sociological norms. You know what I mean? You're not going to mistreat me and stuff, but I get it. You have not claimed Jesus as your Lord. You're your own Lord. So you are going to live by the ways of this world. The enemy is in charge. And the flesh, the passions of your flesh, are going to rule your life. So I should not be surprised when you act that way. Now, that doesn't mean that with every believer just because they've been forgiven of all their sin, that we have to be in fellowship with them. You know, I mean, I do. To love your neighbor as yourself. There. There is some. There's this idea that how can I. Like, if somebody is just an absolute vampire and just sucks the life out of me all the time, then how Could I possibly have anything to pour out if I continuously put myself in that circumstance? Now, even with that, though, God may call you specifically to a really hard place, you know, and you better do what he tells you to do. But healthy relationships are a vital part of what it means to be in the body of Christ.

[B]

Did you have an answer to your own question?

[C]

No. No, he said it. I mean, I just think that's. There are different ways to think about it in regards to. Is someone a follower of Jesus or aren't they a follower of Jesus? And Jesus explains all this, you know, and boundaries. You put them up for a lot of different reasons.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And so there's a lot of people that theologically we would not agree on many secondary issues at all. We probably would agree on most primary issues, but we're good friends and can encourage one another and can edify. And then there's other people that I would theologically agree with down the line, you know, point after point after point after point. But they are like, they're energy vampires. They're like, just unhappy. From my perspective, they're just unhappy people. And they're not. Their life ain't heading in the direction that I feel like God wants my life to go.

[D]

Correct.

[C]

And so that's a different kind of boundary. And I just don't think there should be any guilt or shame in that. Like, also, you know, you know what I mean? Like, you're not trying to be mean or crude or no, no backbiting or anything like that, but you got to point your life in the direction that God's trying to lead you based on how God's wired you.

[B]

So anyway, Pastor Debbie, you talked about what it means to go into your room, and then you made a brief comment about there's different kinds of prayer. You should, you should have a place. You should do pray with people. You should pray different places. So I want to talk a little bit about that because I think everybody feels like they should be better at praying, myself included. Like, I wish I. It was. Was more consistent or. Or more intentional or whatever. So what are some practical. Say somebody's listening and they feel convicted too. They're like, ah. And it can't just be like, do better. You know, like, what's, what's the step to go to for how to grow in this area?

[D]

You know, consistency is key. I would highly encourage you. I mean, you could. You should pray all the time. Pray continually is. The Bible says that. But to have a specific time and a place to go, it will help the rest of your body. It's kind of like a Pavlovian experience. If you've got a place and you've got a time and you've got a bit of a routine to just go be with the Lord. I almost always have my Bible when I'm praying. I heard JD one time say, if you want to guarantee your prayers are heard in heaven, start with the words that began in heaven. So I mentioned I pray the Lord's Prayer. I'm a little bit of, like a diesel engine when it comes to my time with the Lord. I kind of need a little warmup period, you know, So I will recite the Lord's Prayer and there's some psalms. Sometimes I kind of go through what begins to happen for me. I do the same thing with sermon prep, by the way. Like, there's a few places I sit on purpose. There's two albums that I listen to all the time. It's like, when I do that, I'm like, if I'm sitting in that spot and that music's playing, it's like my brain goes, oh, we're writing sermons. That's what we're doing now, you know? And the same thing with prayer. I would highly encourage you to give the Lord the first part of your

[C]

day,

[D]

Even if it's 25 seconds worth of prayer time that you would give him the first. Before you look at your screen, before you do whatever, the first thing you would do would be to go to him in prayer. And then I also think it's not every prayer time's not the same. So I have certain days of the week, like my sermon prep days. There are hours dedicated to just Bible study and prayer. And then there's other times where, man, my day is packed from beginning to end and I don't have, like, a good chunk of time. And there's a lot of little quick prayers in there, and that both of those are good. I think about it like my communication with Gretchen. Today's my 26th anniversary. The last two nights we. We went out both nights. We spent a lot of time together, face to face hours together, and then sometimes we send a bunch of texts to each other. Both of those things are key, that kind of communication. If all we ever did was send a little quick text, that wouldn't be good. But if the only time we ever went face to face and talked is at best once a week when we went on date night, that wouldn't be good either. So it's a combination of those things. And I think that translates to prayer life pretty good.

[B]

I love what you said. You don't want to have strong thumbs, but a weak faith.

[D]

Yeah, well, we gotta preach. There's a lot of that these days.

[B]

Too much growing, not enough praying.

[D]

And it's not a. It's not a. I need. I need time myself. I'm a needy person, so I couldn't just, like, say the Lord's Prayer and then be like, okay, I'm all set. I need long times to read some verses and hear from the Lord that way. And I'm also thinking about, like, direction of our church or. And then sometimes when I pray. If you could. If you just transcribed it, it'd be terrible. You know, my prayer would just be like, all right, Lord, my kids. And then I'll just. I don't know. I don't know what you call it.

[B]

Groaning too deep for words.

[D]

I'm just, like, thinking about them, listening. If the Lord gives me a nudge in their direction, you know what I mean? I might. I'll throw up some specific things that they're, you know, going right now. But I'm a little bit like, lord, you already know everything, so I can't inform you of anything right now. But what do you need to inform me of right now? And I want to be attentive to that. And I don't hear that quick and

[B]

holding them up before the Lord, being like, let's just. Let's just be here with this person's name or this person's life or this person's situation right between us.

[D]

I also, since I write most of my sermons on Mondays, I pray over my calendar every week. So, I mean, it's just very practical. I just get my calendar out, and I just. I'm like, you know, all right, Tuesday, I have this meeting, and I just kind of pray about it, and I do. And then it kind of helps my mind get right about what I got coming up this week. I'm praying for the people in it, and I'm just. It's kind of like that. I'm like, lord, I mean, you know, it's like the first work day of the week, and this is the work I have this week. And so I'm just kind of bringing it before you, saying, here it is, Lord, I want to dedicate this all to you, all these meetings, and this time that I've got to film these podcasts and write these daily blades and whatever, and I just kind of. Just real, you know, just sort of lay it before the Lord, and that's helpful for me.

[B]

One of the things that I only recently have grown. Grown. Started to grow in is. Is like, the listening part of prayer, you know? So I think I grew up thinking prayer is talking to God. That was the definition that I heard. And it's like, you talk to God, maybe you're immature. You talk to him about what you want and need, and then you grow a little bit and you talk to him about who he is or what's been written in the scripture and all this stuff. But actually there's just communion with him and listening and receiving from him, like what you just said. What do you want to tell me about this? And listening, like, that's really important. I think a lot of people miss that.

[D]

Dude. Peter went up on a building by himself and had a vision from God in a personal prayer time, and it changed his whole life, changed everything. I mean, he's up in. And by the time you get to Acts 15 and they're having the Jerusalem Council about what it takes to be a Christian. And it was that personal prayer time that changed everything, where God gave him the vision of a sheet with all the different animals. He says, rise up, kill, and eat. And he's like, just like, there are no unclean animals. There's no unclean people. The gospel's for everybody. That was a personal prayer time, man. So it matters. And we're obsessed with, like, people telling them what to do. And a part of the reason false prophets rule and reign is because people's prayer life sucks.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Because if you were dialed into what the good shepherd speaks to his sheep, the voice of a stranger, they will not follow.

[B]

Right. And some people freak out about hearing from the Lord. But that's only a problem if you don't know how to check it against Scripture. Right. Because if you hear something weird and you don't know that it's weird, that's gonna be weird.

[D]

Yeah, I get it. You know, I pray and have ideas, right? And I'm like, well, I mean, did I just make that up? Is that God? You know?

[B]

Right.

[D]

And that's why our community matters a lot. I mean, you know, testing and discerning. Yeah, yeah.

[C]

It usually involves wise counsel.

[D]

Right. And so, I mean, bro, we're about to march into neighbors to nations. That was a prayer time for me. I'm like, I think this is the direction God wants our church to go. And then I pray about it real hard. Listen, bring it before a bunch of elders and pastors and say, here's where I think we're Going. And if everybody's like, that's not even biblical, then I'm like, okay, my bad. Let me rethink.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And then he ends this section with fasting. And it made me think of a. I mean, you. You made the comment earlier, and that was going to be my question. Do you think people struggle more with how to fast or they just don't do it? Like, because he said he's assuming they're gonna fast, and he said do it this way.

[D]

You know, honestly, I don't know who I said that heard say this the first time, but it's like a board game, man.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

There's some people that can't enjoy the board game because they're just making sure everybody else plays by the rules. And then there's some people that just are total rule breakers. And, you know, fasting is a means to an end. It's amazing the. The mental gymnastics that I've heard for why people aren't going to fast. Okay, then just don't do it. But there's a bunch of stuff that will or won't happen based on your obedience to fast or not. You know,

[B]

do you think people don't believe that? Like, is that a twisted view of God's sovereignty? Like, well, doesn't matter, or fatalism?

[D]

Or, you know, it's just disobedience.

[B]

Right.

[D]

And it's hard. People don't like hard things.

[C]

That's modalism. Patrick, remember that video? I do the. It's interesting with fasting, because it is such a secret place thing. I mean, he goes. He doubles down on the secret place side of it of like, wash your face and do not make a thing about this.

[D]

Do not complain about it.

[C]

However, part of the point of it is that the hunger pains would remind you that you're hungry for something greater and that your body, its natural chemical makeup and response would remind you of the greater things and would push you deeper and deeper into your dependency on the Lord. And oftentimes, because there is discomfort associated with it, we're so wired for comfort that we think it's not working right. And that's half the point, is that you're putting your body in a position by which it can say no to the things of this world that can never truly fully satisfy so that you can say yes to the Father. And so fasting is one of those things that there's just so much power to it. And anybody who would deny that power or maybe just misunderstand it, like, there's a part of prayer we talk about this a lot at the different retreats that we lead. But there's a part of prayer that it is just a supernatural mystery that the Father who's outside of the outside of time, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the one who was and is and is to come. And Jesus, in Colossians 1, it says he holds all things together. And so time and gravity, as we experience it chronologically is actually being held together in the sun, like Jesus is holding it together. So Jesus doesn't experience gravity in his ascended state in the way that you and I do. Like, he's beyond and outside of all that. And because he sees it all beginning to end and preordained it, it is all going to come to pass in the way that he preordained it. There's no question. There's nowhere else you can go in Scripture. And yet somehow, inside of time, as we experience it, the Holy Spirit is at work inside of time, which is being held together in the Son, which is going to be wrapped up together with a bow and given to the Father in the fullness of time. The Holy Spirit's at work in time, bringing about the sovereign will of God. And right in the middle of this cosmic mystery, he puts you in Me. And the Spirit of God burdens our heart, and he burdens our heart, and we bring that thing to God. And we ask and we seek and we knock and he gives. And then inside of time, as we experience it, if we didn't ask, seek, and knock, then that gift won't be opened in the way. And I certainly won't be a beneficiary of the joy of that gift being open and brought about in the fullness of time.

[D]

And so he says, you have not because you asked not. And God is sovereign, so why pray? Because he told you to, dummy. You know he told you to.

[C]

What do you want?

[B]

Yeah, it definitely is a mind bender.

[D]

I think a part of fasting, too, is God is trying to give you little baby steps to give you victory over your flesh. So think about this. You tell your flesh no to food, which it has to have to live. But you're saying, man, don't live on bread alone, okay? And so you get hungry and you go, no, I'm not obeying you. I'm obeying God. And then you just translate that to every other temptation in your life. Your sexual desires begin to tell you what it has to have. And you go, no, I'm not doing what you say. I'm Doing what he says. And I know I can do this because I did it without food for a while. Or you think you. Whatever the thing is, you know.

[B]

Yeah, that's a good point.

[D]

You need some comp. You think you need some comfort and your flesh is screaming out and you go, no, no, I've got some victory in this.

[B]

Yeah. I think my own. My worst struggle with fasting is that I get like, I can't think straight if I'm super hungry. And I'm just like, I'm supposed to pray. And it's very hard to, like, concentrate. You. The worst part for me. Well, we're almost out of time here, but can we just end by talking just some practical. Like, we're in the season of Lent. It's preparation for Easter. There's. We're asking people for prayer and fasting.

[D]

And I think you should add giving to that. Not you. I think we. The early church did. They would. It was a time of extra generosity, prayer and fasting based on. I guess it was rooted right here.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And you should do that. You should lean in to prepare your heart to celebrate the resurrected Christ. And the reason, I think, is because money. So that's giving attention, we want it. And comfort just rule us.

[B]

Right.

[D]

And so what we're going to do is we're going to be more generous than normal. We're going to lean into prayer and we're going to tell our flesh no so that our hearts will be ready to celebrate the resurrection.

[B]

That's good. And you. And you said that, you said lean in until Easter kind of, you know, like. And if we believe the promises of reward in giving, then it is a perfect preparation for that celebration.

[D]

Yeah. And then the people that want to continuously live a life of reward will continue to participate in spiritual disciplines of giving and praying and fasting.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

There is a rewards program.

[B]

Anything else you'd add?

[C]

No, I mean, I think in. In the Easter preparation and when you're fasting, praying for revival and praying for the return of Christ, these are two things that God is into.

[D]

And

[C]

that if our hearts are set on those things. Why does Revival Terry ask the great evangelist Leonard Ravenhill, why does Revival Terry. Because God's people don't pray. That's why. And the return of Christ, may that be our ultimate aim and our ultimate want and ultimate desire is to see the King.

[B]

It is very convicting. You asked it recently, Pastor Joby. The. If God answered all your prayers from the past week, what would be different? And so it's a good goal to have, like make some regular prayers. Just big old, big old prayers, you know. Well, close out Pastor Joby and yeah.

[D]

And I would encourage you this Wednesday 6 to 8 or 12 to 1, get to a local campus for prayer time.

[C]

Amen.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, we love you. Hallowed be your name. God. May, may our lives bring glory to you and Lord, may your kingdom come, may your will be done and may you use us however you wish to make that happen. We pray it in Jesus name. Amen.

[C]

Thank you for listening to the podcast the End.

[D]

You nailed it.

[A]

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