Episode Summary: God Prompts (Mary’s Prayer)

Podcast: Elevation with Steven Furtick
Date: December 14, 2025
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick, Elevation Church
Guests: Graham Furtick (his son), Evan (Graham’s friend), Jonathan (church member)

Overview

This episode, titled God Prompts (Mary’s Prayer), centers on the power and posture of obedience to God's promptings, using the story of Mary at the wedding in Cana (John 2) as a guiding framework. Pastor Steven Furtick weaves biblical insights, personal stories, and church life moments to highlight two main truths: God provides for us, and God prompts us. The conversation challenges listeners to shift from treating God transactionally—like ChatGPT, simply making requests—to a posture of surrendered obedience, ready to act on God’s guidance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Moments: Posture of Gratitude & Trust

• Graham introduces the episode (02:23), expressing thanks for God’s faithfulness over the past year and a refusal to live in fear:

  “…The storm came but my house stood because it was built on the rock… I could complain but I won’t. Thank you Lord. I could be afraid. But I refuse. I have faith. I trust in God.” (02:33, Graham)

• Collective prayer for blessing (03:01), invoking scriptural names of God as Provider, Banner, and Peace.

2. Generosity Stories: Living God’s Prompts

• Provision for a church planter: Steven shares how God prompted him to give a very specific amount ($55,000) to a pastor starting a new church—which exactly matched a prophetic dream that pastor had months prior (06:15–09:00).

  “Sometimes God will prompt your heart in order to provide for somebody in a way you can’t predict.” (09:00, Steven)

• Personal story of "fatherly provision": On a date with his wife Holly, Steven feels compelled to check his son Graham’s location, unexpectedly sees him at a nearby restaurant, and after greeting Graham and his friends, pays for their meal. This acted as a real-time illustration of God’s timing and a father’s provision.

  “He puts the money on the table and he walked away… Were we just talking about a father providing for his children? …We just thought it was really cool that we got an in real life illustration…” (14:40, Evan)

3. Sermon Focus: God Provides, But Also Prompts

• Central Text: John 2:1–11, Mary at the wedding in Cana.

  • Mary notices a need (“They have no more wine”) and tells the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.” (11:15)
  • Steven re-frames this as "Mary’s Prayer": a model for us to follow God’s promptings, not just offer our own agendas.

• Contrast: Treating God as Father vs. ChatGPT
  Steven uses the analogy of ChatGPT to critique a “prompt-based” prayer life where we reduce God to a transaction machine:

  “Sometimes we treat God more like our phone than our father… We prompt God like we prompt ChatGPT.” (20:39–22:25, Steven) “Our prayer life is pretty much just us prompting God.” (22:27, Steven)

• Surrendering to God’s Prompt: The biblical examples (feeding the 5,000, Abraham’s calling, Moses and Pharaoh) all reinforce the idea:

  “God is the prompter. Not you, not me. We don’t get to tell Jesus who to send away… God is not your phone. He is your Father. You don’t give the commands. He does.” (25:14–25:37, Steven)

4. The Heart of Giving: Stewardship, Not Ownership

• Steven admits he’s never felt he’s “doing God a favor” by giving or serving—every act is a response to God’s gift and prompting (27:24–27:58):

  “If you never do anything else for me, just your salvation is enough. You provide for me and you prompt me. I don’t prompt you.” (27:56, Steven)

• Mary’s Model:
  Instead of telling God what to do (“May my word to you be fulfilled”), Mary models:

  “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” (38:15–39:10, referencing Luke 1:37–38)

5. Obedience Leads to Unexpected Outcomes

• Graham’s Bible study story:
  Graham starts small, leading a Bible study in the playroom, which sometimes draws only a handful of youth but, through patience and obedience to God’s prompting, grows into larger gatherings, sparking a movement through the church’s youth ministry (31:30–36:14).

  “When God prompts you with something, He will give you a small prompt with a big purpose.” (33:00, Steven)

• Current Impact:
  What began as a small act of obedience ("a prompt") now sees hundreds of young people gathering weekly at Elevation, a testament to small, faithful steps birthing community transformation.

6. Personal Application and Challenge:

• The episode ends by inviting listeners to:

  1. Ask God for a word for the coming year (e.g., “light”, “stirred”, “provider”)
  2. Pray Mary’s prayer: “Do whatever He tells you.”
  3. Be open to being prompted—whether in generosity, relationships, service, or deeper trust

  “How long have we been trying to get God to do what we want Him to do? But have we asked Him, God, out of all the gifts you’ve given me… what do you want me to do?” (37:33, Steven)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On God’s Provision:

  “God provides for me…in the strangest of places. If it takes Him bringing water from a rock in the wilderness, God provides for me. If it takes Him sending a shepherd with a stone to bring down a giant…God provides for me.” (17:54, Steven)

• On Treating God Like ChatGPT:

  “You don’t prompt God. God prompts me.” (23:16, Graham & Steven)

  “We don’t get to tell God what to do, even with our own lives. God is not your phone. He is your Father. You don’t give the commands. He does.” (25:28–25:37, Graham & Steven)

• On Small Beginnings & Promptings:

  “When God prompts you with something, He will give you a small prompt with a big purpose.” (33:00, Steven)

• On Surrender and Trust:

  “May your word, God, to me be fulfilled, not just whatever I think I want you to do, but what you want to do through my life.” (43:16, Steven)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:23 — Graham’s opening thanksgiving and declaration of faith
• 03:01 — Communal prayer for blessing and provision
• 06:15–09:00 — Steven’s story of being prompted to give $55,000
• 09:58–14:50 — Story of Steven surprising Graham and his friends; Evan’s testimony of God’s fatherly timing
• 17:54 — Steven declares God’s ability to provide in unexpected ways
• 20:39–22:25 — Analogy: Prayer as prompting God vs. ChatGPT; surrendering control
• 23:16–26:25 — God prompts us, not the reverse; biblical examples (Jesus, Abraham, Moses)
• 27:24–27:58 — Humility in giving, teaching, serving
• 31:30–36:14 — Graham’s Bible study: obedience, small beginnings, and exponential blessing
• 38:15–39:10 — Mary’s prayer of surrender (Luke 1:37–38)
• 41:27–43:30 — Pick your word for the year, being "blessed to be a blessing," and personal/family testimony

Application for Listeners

• Move away from a transactional faith—God is not an “AI assistant” responding to our every prompt, but a loving Father guiding and providing as we surrender our plans.
• Trust that obedience to even the smallest nudge from God can have ripple effects far beyond what’s visible right now.
• In moments of need, or in considering generosity or service, pray not “God, do what I want,” but “Do whatever He tells you.”
• Prepare for God to surprise you with provision and purpose in unexpected ways and places.

Final Blessing:

“God is about to blow our mind. And it starts with the prompting… What is God prompting you to do?” (39:10, Steven)

[End of Content Summary]