A Real Conversation About What Prayer Changes

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If you’ve wondered whether prayer really matters in everyday life, this episode is for you. This conversation offers an honest look at why prayer can feel hard, what it changes, and how to take a real next step without pretending.

Why prayer can feel slow, silent, or confusing
What prayer changes even when your situation stays hard
How to begin again with honesty instead of pressure

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I know that the whole point of prayer is relationship. I'm constantly asking God for doing things, but I'm not asking for the change in my heart. If I'm honest with myself, I'm not when I'm praying like that, I'm not entering into relationship. Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Light in Life podcast. I'm your host, Liza, here today with Pastor Tim.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Hi, Liza.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

How's it going?

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Good, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Good. I am not over this idea of talking about styling you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

For should a pastor have a stylist?

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Let us know in the comments because I think that could be a fun little bit worth exploring.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

We were talking about fashion and how someone basically told me I looked older and outdated than I am, and it was a devastating blow to me.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

So they said you look like a millennial.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

They did. And I'm a Gen Z.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

And you're a Gen Z.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

And I'm proud of it. Some people might not be, but I'm proud to be a Gen Z.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

And you tell me that I look like a millennial. That means to me that I'm wearing earrings that like don't fit my face shape. And I'm which is really specific. I know I'm aware of that. Or that I'm wearing pants that are like too tight and have a gap between the shoe and the That's what millennial means? I think so. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

I'm just thinking of like isn't it like funny glasses too?

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Quirky.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

It's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Quirky.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

But today I'm in my baggy jeans. Like I'm supposed to look cool and laid back, and you're supposed to tell me that.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Well, you I was gonna say that.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Stop. I'm blushing. You mean it? I think anyway. Tim said that he doesn't have fashion, and I was explaining that that's not something that you can obtain. It's almost like what is it in Buddhism where they reach enlightenment?

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Total enlightenment.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yeah, the way that you were saying I don't have fashion is like you're acting like it's a state of being that you can achieve.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Anyway, today we're talking about it.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

All right. You want me to tie it in?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Yeah, yeah, tie it in.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Today we're talking about prayer.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

And uh perfect.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

I can't wait to see this.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

You want to see how I tie this in? Come on. Um so here's the thing. Like you watch pastors, of course, like some some people would know some feeds like Preachers in Sneakers or some other feeds that you can watch pastor fashion. And it actually is scary because yeah, do passion do pastors have stylists and things like that. Oh, 100%. Do they actually like brand manager stylists?

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

And uh pastors, uh good friends of mine, um, you know, uh sometimes I've I see them on stage or I'm with them, and I'm like, I don't even know where someone buys a thing like that. Like I'm so far out of the country, like I don't know where that comes from. And you look great, like you're awesome, like this is exciting, and it's it's it's kind of like an expression of who you are, and it's like I'm with you, but I honestly don't even know what you're wearing. Like I don't even know what where do you go for something like that. But here's how you tie it in.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

Um you know I don't know if this is gonna tie it in or not.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Try it. Take the sentence and see where it goes.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

But you see um pastors who are uh drawing a lot of people who are able to share the gospel with lots of lots of masses. You think, well, what unlocked that? And uh is it their fashion? Is it their stylist? I was walking with uh pastor Pastor Greg, and like we're redoing the parking lot at the church.

SPEAKER_03 3:53

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

And I was honestly like, Greg, I don't want to be an I don't want to be a fool here. But there's part of me that's like, I hope that this repaving of the parking lot attracts people releases a revival of the Presbyterian Church. Because there is, it's like, what is gonna unlock? You know, what what little thing is gonna unlock and suddenly everybody's gonna feel comfortable and right about things, and they're just gonna be open to the gospel, and the kingdom's gonna come down, and everybody you know, and uh you just get silly about this stuff. And the truth is um that we get a little bit silly about prayer. Like, am I praying in the right way?

SPEAKER_00 4:29

There he goes, look at that.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Come on. I want to unlock the key, I want to get, I want to, I want to do it right so that uh God does what I want him to do. Am I praying in the right manner, the right fashion to make my prayer work and be effective so that so that when I pray, I actually feel like I'm getting the return on my investment with prayer. Right? Did I get there?

SPEAKER_01 4:54

I thought you got there. Tell me. I wasn't sure where it was going, but you landed the plane for sure. I think, you know, we've talked about this in this podcast multiple times, where it's like, okay, if God is all knowing and he knows what's gonna happen anyway, why pray?

SPEAKER_04 5:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

And sorry, I'm not over the fashion thing. I just I need to say one more thing. Good. I'm imagining you losing people in the crowd. Like you're like, oh, I'm losing them, I'm losing them. You go backstage and you just like go into an alter ego outfit change, you come out with like a chain wallet, maybe some eyeliner. Right. Really just like, really just change the vibe up on the congregation and see how they react. And then you you pray and they're like super locked in on the words that you're saying because they can't stop thinking about what you're wearing. Anyway, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

The $300 print team that's tied around the.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

I gotta go back for a second. Okay. Anyway, um, I think what's funny about prayer in my mind is it's constantly, it feels like I'm constantly asking for things. And I know that the whole point of prayer is relationship.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

When you say things like, Am I praying right? Am I saying the right words? That's going through my head constantly because I'm constantly asking God for doing things, but I'm not asking for the change in my heart. I'm not asking for discernment. It's more of like, God help me make more money. God, you know, give me this, this, this. Like help all my dreams come true.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

And I can say it in a more, you know, loving way, like, Lord, pour out your favor on me.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Indeed, yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

But if I'm honest with myself, I'm not when I'm praying like that, I'm not entering into relationship.

SPEAKER_04 6:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

So what what are some tangible ways to feel like prayer's not pointless? Because it's not. But at the same time, like God is all knowing. Why pray? You know, we brought we brought this up multiple times.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Yeah. I mean, and everything that you're so it's a relationship. So the the greatest picture of prayer, I think it comes from uh for me, I think it comes from Richard Foster, where he says, prayer is just crawling up into the lap of your father and telling him what's on your heart. And so if you can imagine that sort of relationship, I'm just gonna crawl up, I'm gonna spend some time just crawling up into the lap of my father and saying, Here's what hurts, here's where my heart is, here's what I wish would happen, like here's here's what I see, here's here's how I am. And all you're gonna feel is the father's love for you in a deepening relationship.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

That's per that's Yeah, that is Chef's kiss.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

That is Chef's kiss. Beautiful picture of prayer. And if I can enter prayer that way and think about it that way, um, then uh I feel like that then um all of these questions of is it working? Am I getting my return on investment? Uh am I am I doing it the right way to leverage God into what I want? Is God responsive to my prayers? A lot a whole lot of that just disappears into the mist because you realize this is about relationship. And that's what Jesus won. He won for us. I want you to have a relationship with God the Father. I want you to pray, my Father who is in heaven, my Abba who is in feather. My I want you to pray intimately and crawl up into the lap of the Father and tell him your heart. Everything we do with the Lord in that relationship, we want to do with reverence, like Lord, I love you. I want to do what you want me to do, and I want to do this in a way that honors you. So there's you don't you also just don't want to be flippant about a conversation with the Lord of the universe. But what do you mean by that? Um I think um God deserves reverence and honor. Sure. Okay. So um if it if I am gonna pray, you know, when I pray, I do want to pray uh from a place of I recognize who you are. Like you are my Father in heaven, you are the Lord God Almighty. So I do love that pattern of prayer uh that that is um the mnemonic acts. I think it's a mnemonic. What's the word I'm thinking of? But ACTS, you know, is this it it's there's a word, but you're looking at I'm a deer in headlights right now.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

You gotta save me. I can't save you.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

But adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. And supplication is the one that no one knows that is. That means asking for what you want. So, but beginning, begin your prayer with adoration. I mean, just beg I I try to enter prayer with that, Lord, you are. Lord, you are holy, Lord, you are magnificent, Lord, your creation is beautiful. Um, I love you, Lord. Like we do in worship. We always begin with uh let's go to the Lord. He is holy and good, he is righteous and just, he is faithful and true. Who is God? Adore God first, and then recognize I'm in your presence. I want to I want to be open about my sinfulness, Lord. Please help me. Starve me out of vice, feed me in virtue, forgive my sins, and thanksgiving, gratitude, Lord, just before I go into my needs, just thank you for these things that are in my life, these blessings, and then and then go into the shopping list of I would really like to have a new car.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Right. Right I would love for a cop to not pull me over for my expired tags.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

You know, I heard you got pulled over, and it did feel like it was. It was a little bit unjust.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

It was unjust. I was going seven over, which I recognize is still speeding.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

See, I want to say to the College Springs Police Department, we honor you and we thank you for your service. And thank God that you pulled this lady over.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Yeah, I have a real danger to society.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Danger to society. Somebody had to stop her.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Yeah, please. Um But it's so funny that it's such a universal idea that prayer can feel pointless to anyone. Isn't that funny? Like, I've never met someone who's never experienced that, which I think is a beautiful thing. Like, we're all in this together in um in relationship with one another, in relationship with Christ. We all experience, you know, very real human fleshly desires or doubts, or you know, you name it, uh, we experience it. So why does it feel so like when we know other people experience this struggle of like, am I check, check, is this thing on? You know, like you you hear me up there? Yeah, Lord.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Um my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Yeah, why does it feel so lonely when we know that other people feel that too? Is it just a comparison thing? Like I think, you know, you're a pastor, you have it all together. Your um your prayer life must be much better than mine because you're not getting pulled over the way I am. You know, like I look at life, I'm like, wow, am I just this unlucky, or does God just not hear me?

SPEAKER_02 12:49

Yeah, if you want a sober moment, like we all go through those those spells where, oh, it prayer? Well, how does prayer feel? It feels like crawling up into the lap of my father and I feel his hug all around me. And then you say, Well, how does prayer feel right now? Prayer feels like if I'm still a toddler, it feels like I've been shut in my room and told to go to bed, and you know, I'm alone and in the dark, you know, but I'm still praying, still crying out to the Lord. And we all go through those seasons of this feels really fruitful and rich and intimate. This feels really empty and cold and non-responsive. And uh so you say, like, oh, pastor's got it all together. Imagine being in a place of ministry leadership, because we all go through this. Like, oh my goodness, how do I?

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Okay.

unknown 13:38

I know.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

But um, yes, those seasons when it feels like I'm not feeling like there's somebody on the other end of the line. What do we do through those seasons? Because those are growth seasons, those are like the roots growing down deeper in the winter when there's no fruit on the tree. That sort of season of um and so what we choose in those moments is as critical as what we choose in the moments that feel really uh intimate and and joyful. And choosing uh to find this is where without becoming like thoughtlessly rote and religious, like to have patterns of prayer that you can rely on when you're not feeling it is a real gift. And even picking up, I've had seasons where, you know what? I don't know what to pray. I'm gonna pray the Psalms, I'm gonna pray Psalm 40, I'm gonna pray, um, or I'm gonna pick up uh there's a book called Um Uh In the Valley of the Oh gosh. It's a it's a book of Puritan prayers.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

You've brought this up before, I think.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Have I? It's like, let me just grab that. And uh or John Bailey's Diary of Private Prayer. It's a prayer for the morning and the evening of every day of the month. And he was a great Presbyterian minister and theologian, and and they're beautiful, beautiful prayers. And so the church, the gift of church is that you're not going through it alone. And everybody knows what it's like to be in that spot. And so you don't have to pray your own prayers. You can pray the prayers of your neighbor, you can pray the prayers of your brother or sister in Christ, and offer those to the Lord and lean on their prayers when you can't pray yourself. But man, the key, I believe, really, is in those seasons to to just try to keep praying.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Mm-hmm. I it's funny that you bring up the you know, praying is like crawling up into your father's lap. The same sense when when you're saying like creating a pattern even when you don't have it in you is so important because it helps you stick to it.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

We were talking earlier about how sometimes I'll be in bed, like praying, and I'm dozing off, or I'm thinking about something else, and then I'm like, oh yeah, I'm praying, go back to it.

SPEAKER_04 16:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

And I remember a Catholic nun in growing up in school said something really meaningful to me about that exact experience because I was feeling really guilty. I'm like, sister, I keep dozing off in prayer. Like, I cannot, I can't get it right. I I try and then I feel really guilty about it, and then my prayer is like about being sorry that I can't stay focused in prayer. She was like, if you ask any parent what one of the sweetest moments they have with their children is, is watching them fall asleep.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

That's sweet.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

And I just thought, wow, that is so healing to me because the intent was there. But God even if I don't get it right, he's still watching over me, he still loves me. And it is like similar to crawling up in his lap and telling him everything. It's reciprocated in that he's watching me fall asleep.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

What a sweet little picture.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

I was at a grad party and a friend in the church, he was he had a baby on his shoulder, and it was his uh I think it was his cousin's um his cousin's baby. I don't know what that relation that means. He's like an uncle, kind of like an uncle. And um but the baby's falling asleep on his shoulder. And having been a father four, you know, four times with my four kids, I remember that feeling of how sweet it is when your baby falls asleep on your shoulder. And I just saw the baby falling asleep on his shoulder, and I thought, what an honor that is that he's uncle, but the baby's so comfortable, so at home, so safe. He's literally falling asleep on his shoulder in the middle of the party. And yeah, that's that's a great picture of how God loves us. Like if you fall asleep in prayer, or you're you know, he's yeah, he's he's not mad. He's just it's a relationship.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Yeah, and he knows he I mean, he knows all the things that are going on in my life. Yeah, he's God.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

So you've had seasons, I think, where what do you think about praying these other people's prayers, like praying ancient prayers or reciting prayers?

SPEAKER_01 18:20

I think they're beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Personally. Because I mean, same with like the Lord's Prayer, Jesus that's Jesus teaching us how to pray.

SPEAKER_04 18:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

And it's, you know, acknowledging that you're in heaven, you're higher than I am. It's saying thank you. It's I mean, it's it's a beautiful prayer. If you speak it in layman's terms, like sometimes I'll I'll turn it around and be like, God, you are so much higher than me.

SPEAKER_04 18:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

Like your name is so holy. And if I word it that way, it helps me relate to Jesus and the disciples a little bit more because if I just recite, sometimes I'm not actually comprehending what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_04 19:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

But there is one prayer in particular, and our last podcast episode, we were talking about avoidance or conflict. One prayer in particular that keeps coming up for me is the serenity prayer. Have you heard of it?

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

It's like, God help me accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. And I feel like in day-to-day struggles, like that is so applicable in your friendships, in your workplace, in your relationships. Um because really at the end of the day, like we are human and we fall victim to our own flesh, our own desires, and that clouds my judgment, that clouds my wisdom. That I mean, I cower and don't change things that I can. Um and so I don't know, I think prayers written by other people help my prayer life because it it's teaching me how to pray, or it's giving words to thoughts that I have that I haven't yet known how to put words to.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

Yeah, yeah, that's great. Because we there we've been in this in this swing of um uh I mean generationally, of prayer should be conversational. I agree. So prayer should be conversational. The it that can swing all the way to just like you're saying, like the only thing I have to pray is like what occurs to me. And there's I know there's so much more that I need to learn in my prayer life. And so um, if my whole prayer life is just that kind of like um uh, you know, buddy Jesus kind of prayer life, like uh Lord, I just you know, Lord, I just I just I Lord, I just you know I mean like yeah, it's so small. And it's all it's so small and so narrow. And so there's now this widening of like, wow, I want to pray all the prayers. I want to pray a prayer, yeah. Like I want to pray prayers from the liturgy of the third century church. You know, I want to pray the prayers of Thomas Cranmer from the you know the the Reformation.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

And how cool.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

And how cool, and and like, whoa, I didn't think about that. And um, and I want to incorporate the prayers of the of the community of faith because I can see wow, that's helping me to pray things that I didn't even think about to pray about.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

And so how do you bring those things into your life? But at the same time, to not be back in that posture of if you recite this prayer eighteen times, uh, then you're good. You know?

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Like Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Oh, I know, yeah. Like recite this prayer fifty times and you've paid for your wrongdoings.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Uh we don't want to go there.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Nope. Yeah, that's a whole nother conversation.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

But I I do think you bringing up like, oh, I want to pray this liturgy. Um have you ever read any of the liturgies from Every Moment Holy?

SPEAKER_02 22:17

I have.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

And it it's like prayers for when you're doing your laundry and prayers for when it's raining outside, or um a group gathering, the death of a dream, like when things don't go your way, and the death of a dream, that liturgy, if you guys have not heard it or read it, it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

Is that a whole different thing or is that in every moment?

SPEAKER_01 22:44

It's in every moment holy.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Prayers for the death of a dream. Yeah. And the occasion of a death of a dream.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Wow. And so like that was really helpful in a breakup because it's like I had a dream of marrying this person, or you know.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Right. And I think a lot of times looking at the people before us, the the prayers that they prayed, it's like, wow, my perspective, one, is so small. Two, thank you, because these people are putting words more eloquently and in a much more like straightforward way, because if it were up to me, I'd just groan all the time. Um and like I know God knows what those groans mean, but I literally come home and I'm like, ugh, like I just want to scream. And when I pray prayers like the death of a dream, I am reminded of like how beautiful it is to dream anyway. Like in the first place, and to pray for like the new dreams that are to come and to see, you know, what God has in store for me in one way or another, even though prayer feels pointless at times, I know that it's not falling on deaf ears. I know that God is listening, even if you know, He's not answering my prayers in the way that I expected them to or on my timeline. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

Where are your favorite do you so do you do you feel okay? It's probably different answers for different seasons, but that's okay. Where do you feel, you know, nearest to the Lord? Individual prayer, like small group prayer or big church prayer?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Uh I think probably in a close circle of people when we're all praying for and with one another.

SPEAKER_04 24:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Because it helps me remove myself from like my own needs constantly. Because that's not real relationship either. If I'm constantly take, take, take, ask, ask, ask.

SPEAKER_03 24:59

Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

If I can pour into my friends, like I feel like that helps my relationship with the Lord too, because I see and I'm trusting Him with their hearts and their needs.

SPEAKER_04 25:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Too. And so I I find that really beautiful and like a little glimpse of heaven when we're all praying together. I think alone is where I wander off in my own little head. So alone, my prayers, I think I feel closest to God when I'm writing down my prayers versus like Oh, okay. Yeah, because I can really look at it and see, like sometimes I don't even know what's coming out of my brain while I'm writing. And then I look back at it and I'm like, that was a nice prayer line. Good job. But I'm I know it's God speaking through me.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

And um Do you go back and look at past entries? I do the prayer journal.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

I do, and sometimes I'm like, wow, look how far he's brought me from this moment that felt like it felt like the world was crumbling in this moment, and now I feel like it's crumbling, but for different reasons.

SPEAKER_02 26:09

Yeah, like that part of the world's fine. And now over here.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

But how beautiful it, you know, is the human experience in that way.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

I don't know. What about you? Where do you feel most close to the Lord?

SPEAKER_02 26:22

Yeah. Um, I think the same. I think I think small group prayer is really big. Um when you're together with four or five, six people and you're sharing prayer concerns and you're praying for one another, there's an intimacy to that and um and a getting out of yourself, and it it makes the presence of the Lord feel more feel more real.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

I'm almost more I'm more emotional, I'm more in tune with you know, the needs of the group, the praises of the group.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

Um you see prayer answered.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

Someone comes around, like you're still thinking they're in a place like last time we were together, you were praying for this, and and they're like, Oh, that's totally over. Like the Lord answered that, or you know, this is how the Lord showed up. Like, what? That's awesome. It's incredible. Um yeah, I I like that too. But they're definitely so when I think of meaningful open prayer to the Lord, uh, there's the crawl up into your father's lap. The other image that's really important to me is from the movie Forest Gump.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

Oh, I can't wait where this comes this goes. What are you about to say?

SPEAKER_02 27:33

And it's not the box of chocolates.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

It's not the box of chocolates. Do you know the movie?

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Um, I haven't seen it since maybe middle school, and the more I think about it, why did my parents let me watch that in middle school? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Oh, I think you're fine in middle school watching it. You do? I'm with your parents on that one. 100%. Um so Lieutenant Dan.

unknown 27:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

You remember him?

SPEAKER_01 27:55

In the boat.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

In the in the boat.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

He's in the boat. He's lost his legs. He's now he's gone through all this, like my whole purpose in life, Lieutenant Dan's whole purpose in life was to die gloriously in battle. Forrest Gump saved his life, but he lost his legs. He feels useless, purposeless. His life is is uh a wreck. He's just he's now he's deep into alcohol and just all these bad things, right? And so then he I'm telling the whole story of Forrest Gump. I love it. So Forrest's like, well, I'm gonna get a shrimp boat. And he gets shrimp boat, right? And he he told Lieutenant Dan, you can come be the captain of my shrimp boat. And or Lieutenant Dan says, You know, Forrest, if you get a shrimp boat, I'll come, I'll come be your first mate. And so Forrest Cump wrote him a little letter and said, you know, I got anyway, Lieutenant Dan is out is out on the shrimp boat, right? And there's this great storm, and he crawls up the mast in the top of the mast, he's got no legs, straps himself to the top of the mast, there's lightning, there's thunder, there's wind, there's waves. Do you remember this scene? And he's just shouting at God, Is this all you got? Is this all you got? And um, and then the next scene is they've made it through the storm, everything's calm, and uh Lieutenant Dan Dan is jumping off the side of the boat and swimming under this beautiful sunset, and Forrest says, I think Lieutenant found Dan finally found his peace with the Lord. And and there is that picture, you should go back and watch that now.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Wait, why am I about to cry?

SPEAKER_02 29:26

We're about to cry. You're about to cry.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

That's really sweet.

SPEAKER_02 29:29

Because there's something in prayer that uh God wants us to get it all out. He wants us to let the laments out, he wants us to let the frustrations, the disappointments out, a prayer for the the loss of a dream, the prayer for a broken heart, the prayer for um just the shaking, the shaking the fist at God. God actually wants that. Please come and be honest with me. Rattle your shake your fist, you know? Tell me why it hurts. I He knows it hurts. And actually, peace with God is on the other side of sometimes of that kind of prayer of Lord, why? And we of course we have this pretty language in our our translations of the scripture, why is my soul unsettled within me? Um that's that is shake your fist at God and yell, Lord, is that all you got? Why are you making me go through this hard thing? Why is it so painful? You know? Shout, let it out. And and uh God wants that in our prayer lives too.

SPEAKER_01 30:33

Yeah, it's similar to a parent who's like, Why won't you tell like I know something's up with my kid? Yeah, why won't you tell me? Yeah, and they might even know what is going on with their kid, but they just want their kid to come to them. Yeah, that's beautiful. And I think that's a great place to end, is just know that your father loves you and he wants you to crawl up into his lap and be in relationship with you. So thank you guys so much for listening.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

So don't get a style guide. Don't get don't hire a stylist.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Don't hire a stylist.

SPEAKER_02 31:03

It's not gonna unlock the keys of the universe.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

It won't help you with prayer.

SPEAKER_02 31:06

And go watch Forrest Gump.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

That's a good sign. Should we have like a sign off handshake? I feel like we could. Right now? Yeah, maybe. Uh what are we thinking?

SPEAKER_03 31:16

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

That's it.