Podcast Summary: Fresh Life Church – "The Prayer God Doesn’t Want to Answer"

Host: Pastor Levi Lusko
Date: October 13, 2025

Episode Overview

Pastor Levi Lusko dives deep into the story of Jabez from 1 Chronicles 4, exploring the concept of prayer that God is eager to answer, and flips the script on what most people believe about prayer, blessings, and life's limitations. He encourages listeners to rise above challenging circumstances, generational patterns, and the negative labels placed upon them, revealing that God's desire is to bless, not curse. The episode introduces a new teaching series: "The Best of Both Worlds," focusing on how prayer brings heaven's resources into earthly reality.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Feeling Behind and God’s Perspective

• Pastor Levi shares personal experience of feeling behind (missed summer vacation due to school changes) as a metaphor for how many feel "behind" in areas of life—relationships, career, faith, or family.
• Key Insight:
  • "In Jesus name, you are not stuck where you started." (05:29)
  • God knows your name, cares about your unique story, wants to bless and advance you, and prayer is the vehicle for this.

2. The Power and Purpose of Prayer

• Prayer is not about overcoming God’s reluctance, but accessing His willingness to bless.

  • Quote: “‘Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, it’s laying hold of God’s willingness.’” (George Mueller) (07:14)

• The “Best of Both Worlds” Series:

  • Earthly life vs. eternal reality; God calls us to live with one foot in heaven for the sake of being effective on earth.

3. In the World, Not Of the World

• Spiritual mindset:

  • Christians are called to be “in the world, but not of the world.”
  • Illustration: Levi’s "Jeep" analogy—enjoy being in it, not defined by it.
    • “I’m In a Jeep when I’m driving. But I’m not of the Jeep.” (15:27)

• Test of where your home is:

  • Death as the “acid test”—do you see yourself as leaving home or going home?
  • “If death is going to be something, you leave claw marks... you might very well be of the world. But if you’re simply in the world, you’re here on assignment.” (17:20)

4. Historical & Scriptural Foundation

• Jabez in the midst of Biblical “boring” genealogies:
  • 1 Chronicles 4 lists 2,000 names, but Jabez is highlighted for his honor and bold prayer.
  • "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers." (31:18)
• Every name matters to God—even the seemingly insignificant ones.

5. Breaking Free from the Past

• You don’t have to be what you are surrounded by:

  • Jabez lived differently, dared to pray big.

• You don’t have to be what you’ve been through:

  • Jabez means “pain”; his name was a curse, but he resisted that legacy.

  • “You have had lies, you’ve had limitations, you’ve had labels spoken over you every day of your life. And here’s what God is speaking over you: Loved. Called. Chosen. Anointed. More than a conqueror.” (57:03)

• Your past doesn’t dictate your destiny:

  • God specializes in “overturning generations of evil legacy in a moment.”

6. Choosing God’s Family & Spiritual Inheritance

• You don’t have to do life on your own:

  • Jabez found no support from family, so he called on the God of Israel.
  • Believers inherit a “new family tree”—connected through faith to the heroes of Hebrews 11.

• Community matters:

  • "You are loco if you're rolling solo, yo. You need some people. You need some encouragement. Those guys [Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego] were always in a small group..." (01:01:58)

7. What Is True Blessing?

• Blessing ≠ Wealth or Comfort
  • Blessing means “supernatural favor to live the life that God has destined for you.”
  • Not a guarantee of a pain-free life; it’s about presence and purpose.
  • Testimonies:
    • Nick Vujicic: Born without limbs, travels the world, shares hope—“God can use a man without arms and legs to be his hands and feet.” (01:11:50)
    • Joni Eareckson Tada: Quadriplegic who’s inspired millions:
      • “By saying no to the prayer I prayed, God has answered a prayer I didn’t even know I needed… a prayer for patience.” (01:16:43)

8. Pray Bold, Unselfish Prayers

• Jabez’s prayer was big and bold:

  • “Oh, that you would bless me indeed.” (01:23:12)

  • Hebrew “indeed” = 5 exclamation marks. It’s not greedy to ask for big blessings—it’s godly, so long as it’s to become a conduit for others.

  • “God does not operate from a zero sum mentality. A bigger slice of pie for you does not mean less pie for me. God has all the pie in the world.” (01:25:25)

  • “God wants you to pray big prayers. God wants you to pray that he would bless you indeed. Do you feel that?”

9. The Prayer God Doesn’t Want to Answer

• “God, would you curse this?”

  • Thoughtlessly uttering “God damn it” is ironically the most commonly prayed prayer, but it’s completely contrary to God’s heart.

  • “God’s main interest is blessing, and he’s looking for those who will be a conduit of it.” (01:33:12)

  • The challenge: Stop cursing, start inviting blessing.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On God’s knowledge and intention:

  • “He has your name written on the palm of his hand, has the amount of hairs on your head this morning, memorized and committed to memory. He knows you. He loves you. He wants to advance you.” (05:42)

• On the purpose of prayer:

  • “Every time we pray, we are interacting with God’s kingdom, with God’s resources, with God’s invisible presence. We’re able to interact with power from the next world. But guess what? It gets transferred to us—where? In this world.” (17:55)

• On breaking generational legacies:

  • “You’re not stuck where you started… You do not have to settle for the mediocrity that was modeled for you.” (44:20)

• On spiritual family:

  • “You want to talk about chromosomes? You want to talk about DNA? …How about Father, Son and Holy Spirit in me?” (01:02:28)

• On the real meaning of blessing:

  • “Don’t be stupid. I’m not talking about something as measly as stuff… What I’m talking about is supernatural favor that can empower you to do what you could never do on your own.” (01:10:05)

• On blessing vs. cursing:

  • “I wonder if sometimes God hears us damning things and cursing things and goes, ‘If you say so.’ Life and death, power of the tongue.” (01:34:45)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–06:50: Setting up the theme—feeling behind, missed opportunities, and God’s intention to move us forward
• 07:00–11:45: Purpose of prayer—tapping into God’s willingness; intro of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4)
• 12:30–19:30: Living “in the world but not of it,” illustrated by Jeep analogy and death as an “acid test”
• 22:00–30:00: Prayer as interaction with heavenly power; how believers live out “the best of both worlds”
• 31:00–37:00: Jabez’s stand-out life in a sea of mediocrity; importance of every name to God
• 44:00–57:50: Breaking free from surroundings and generational limitations; what you look for, you find (Proverbs 11:27)
• 57:00–01:04:00: Defining names, spiritual adoption, and choosing new godly destinies
• 01:04:30–01:10:30: What is true blessing? Examples of faithful Christians overcoming adversity
• 01:10:40–01:18:00: Testimonies: Nick Vujicic and Joni Eareckson Tada on living blessed lives amidst hardship
• 01:23:00–01:28:00: Praying big prayers; not limiting God; blessings as conduits for others
• 01:32:30–01:35:15: The “prayer God doesn’t want to answer”—cursing versus blessing; challenge to watch your words

Conclusion

Pastor Levi calls listeners to engage with bold, faith-filled prayer, believing that God wants to bless them not for selfish gain but to be a conduit of blessing to the world. He wraps with a strong warning against speaking curses over life’s moments and encourages everyone to instead participate in the "river" of God’s blessing through prayer, faith, and a willingness to break free from the past for a new spiritual legacy.

Call to Action: Prioritize prayer, pursue the blessing of God, refuse to limit yourself to your history or circumstances, and be careful with the words you speak—choose blessing over cursing.