When Faith Gets Overcomplicated | Ep. 141

Do you feel like your walk with God has become more complicated than it needs to be? In this episode, we talk about returning to the simple practices that help you stay connected to Christ when life feels busy and overwhelming. Anchored in Deuteronomy 8 and Matthew 4, we explore what it means to be spiritually nourished and why prayer, Scripture, and community still matter. If you've been feeling disconnected, distracted, or stuck in a cycle of starting over, this conversation will help you refocus on what matters most.

👉 Listen to a related episode: Why Consistency Matters More Than Intensity | Ep. 131

Transcript

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Return To The Basics

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is episode 141, and I'm your host, LaToya, and this is Equip the Next, where you get equipped to lead, disciple, and move the mission forward. So, are you ready to return to the basics? You don't want to miss this. I've been really enjoying this series. I pray that you are as well as we return back. We get those rhythms back. You know what I'm saying? Finding our way back. It's so important. It is the summertime. I get it. Travel, all that kind of stuff, events. And sometimes we forget about those rhythms. And then when life slows down, it's like we have to start all over again. And it's okay to start all over again. But I'm here to encourage you. Let's start all over again now. Why wait? Why wait till it gets cold outside and you have nothing to do, right? Okay. So anyway, listen, if you are new, welcome to the Equip the Next podcast. I'm so glad you are here. If you are returning, thank you so much. Um, greatly appreciated. Feel free to follow, share, subscribe, you know, all that stuff. It really does help the ministry to reach more people. Um, and so it's greatly appreciated if you can do that. Again, if you are new, I forgot to mention this. I have a bonus episode on the equip method. It's just um another study Bible method that you can use if you are trying to develop rhythms. Maybe you are new to studying the Bible. I would also encourage you to get that Bible study guardrail, which is linked somewhere in the show notes. Um, feel free to download that. It's completely free. It's a one-page guide or guardrail to help you to study the Bible um with confidence. That's the goal. So, anywho, returning back, return

Stop Making Faith So Complicated

SPEAKER_00 2:24

back. How do we do that? What does that look like? Um, today I want to focus on you know, really rediscovering the simple practices that sustain spiritual life. Because we overcomplicate things. Yes, we do. Don't lie, we all overcomplicate things, and it doesn't have to be overcomplicated, it's just a matter of developing small little habits, and those small habits become big habits. So ask yourself this question: have I complicated what God intended to be simple? I'm waiting. Because if I it listen, I know I have, okay? I have many a time, and I probably do right now, okay? I'm just saying, we have a tendency to just really overcomplicate things. So ask yourself that question. Have you complicated what God intended to be simple? Having a real relationship with him? Don't you hate it when you have like you're in a relationship with someone and it's like so difficult? You know, you have all these rules and limitations, you know, can't laugh, can't smile, that kind of stuff, you know what I'm saying? It's very frustrating. Now you should have boundaries. I mean, people might say that my stuff is a little complicated, but hey, you should have boundaries. But I'm I'm talking about basic common sense boundaries versus overcomplicating boundaries. You know what I'm saying? I think we can kind of agree on this a little bit, I hope. Uh

What Really Feeds You Spiritually

SPEAKER_00 3:58

I wanted to point out um two passages. I brought this up earlier in a podcast episode, but I want to focus on this because it reminded me. Um, the topic that we talked about today reminded me of this. So I figured I would go back, and that is Deuteronomy 8.3. And of course, Jesus quotes this in Matthew 4.4, and that is on the bread. Right? And let me see if I can find it. It says, And he humbled you and let you hunger and led you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone. But man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. And you know, we see that Jesus quotes this um um in Matthew 4, 4. Living by bread alone. What does that what does that mean? We're talking about spiritual food. We're talking about spiritual food. So I want to ask you what feeds you or us spiritually? Because a lot of times we feed our flesh all day. We always feed our flesh. Social media, television, food. That's fat, you know, our our flesh is nice and hefty. But when it comes to spiritual food, we starve it because we live in a very chaotic world. If you even look maybe 10, 15 years ago, I'm really kind of telling my age, I guess. But 10-15 years ago, we didn't have all of these distractions. There were distractions, don't get me wrong, but boy, do we have distractions now. It is crazy, and with all of the noise, it's very hard to filter through the spiritual food. And so what feeds us spiritually? Prayer. Doesn't have to be a lengthy, long, detailed prayer. There are times for that, I'm not saying that, but stopping pausing just for a split second and praying, thanking the Lord. If you um are able to breathe, thank you, Lord. If you see a beautiful sky, skyline, thank you, Lord. I mean, just those simple things, but prayer also, just spending that time, that quality time with the Lord. I find that walking out in nature helps, or just when the world's quiet, like in the evening time, everybody's asleep and well rested, and it's just quiet. That's a great time for me. Some people get some alone time in their car. Just say a prayer. Prayer is so good and beneficial. What else feeds you spiritually? Well, the word, the Bible. It's not to be idolized, it's a tool that we use to know God, know his son. So this is great spiritual food. Fellowship is also very beneficial. I've been talking about this a lot. Fellowship, okay, fellowship looks different for different people. A lot of people only think that if they go to like a big megachurch, that's considered fellowship. But a lot of times, those huge churches, people really don't know each other like that. Like they have clicks. When I'm talking about fellowship, I'm talking about fellowshipping with your brother and sister in Christ, whether that is over a meal, um, you know, going out, going for coffee. I said it right, going for coffee, um, you know, going to a park. I don't know. Going to a Bible study, prayer meeting, a little bit more intimate, but you're fellowshipping. That means I know you and you know me. Maybe not all my business, but you know me. You know my name, you know a little bit about me. You're praying for me. I'm praying for you. Fellowship. True, genuine, pure, authentic, no strings attached. Fellowship. Those, and there's more, but I just listed three of the things that really feed you spiritually. That a lot of times when I talk to people, they desperately hunger for that. Most of them hunger for two things that I when I talk to people. It's not like people aren't praying, but it's the word and fellowship that they miss. I'm talking about people who go to big churches too. It's the word and the fellowship that they miss, that they long for. And this is the reason why we have podcasts and stuff like this, and I and I encourage people to reach out and and connect because this really is a great space to encourage you to study the word for yourself and fellowship.

Fellowship That Builds Trust Again

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Fellowship in your local church. Maybe you just need to be a part of a ministry within your church. You know, it doesn't have to be you don't have to be in the forefront. You can just like kind of sit in the back a little bit, but you know, just kind of meeting people and understanding that listen, church hurt is real. But don't let it get you to the point where you are not able to return to Christ. We need to make sure that and I'm gonna just say this, I didn't plan on this, but a lot of times we when people say church hurt, it's usually the whole entire body, and that's kind of unfair. Um, it might be a person in the church hurt you, a leader in the church hurt you, but does that that does not mean the entire body of the church is like that? And I just want to extend that olive branch and let you know that there's a lot of people that love you and aren't like that, but a lot of people are dealing with church hurt and they pull away from fellowship. And fellowship really holds you accountable, it strengthens your faith, you know, encourages you, all those kind of things. We need that, but we also need to understand boundaries as well. I think that helps in the future. When we're looking at this, we often look for new solutions, right? We're always looking for something new. Maybe, maybe I need to do a new thing. Maybe I need to get a new notebook. I like stationery, so sometimes I'm guilty of this. Maybe I need to change my scenery. Sometimes you do, but sometimes it's not that you need to look for something new, it's that you need to return to the thing you loved. I call it recalibrate. Sometimes I need to recalibrate, you know, I might get burnt out. I'm I'm low-key introverted. So I might get burnt out, and I just need to recalibrate. I don't need the a new solution. I just need to recalibrate and get back to the thing that that pulled me towards him. Spiritual nourishment comes from God's word, comes from prayer, comes from fellowship. We have to examine that and look and and really understand that the nourishment, yeah, you can get nourished by yourself to a certain degree, but it's important that that you understand that the word, that prayer and fellowship connect. They connect together. We have to also look at, you know, simple practices build strong foundations. Again, remember those little tiny habits, those small little habits, they build core foundations. You know, it's not a one slab brick that built a house, it's a it's a little brick. And then they got more bricks, and they come together and they build this home. So understanding that and understanding and connecting that faithfulness is often something that we grow into. It's ordinary, it's not bells and whistles and shiny things, it's just commitment, love, dedication. When we look at the Christ thread, we understand that bread is substance, and that we depend on him. And he's given us others to pray for us and to encourage us. He's given us the word. These are the things that are important, these are the things that matter. Forget about all the shiny bells and whistles and the cars and the nice things and you know, all that stuff. That's great, yeah. But that all fades.

Pick One Practice For This Week

SPEAKER_00 13:10

So I want you to choose one simple practice and commit to it this week. Whatever that is, one simple practice, something that worked. What worked for you? Um, I have a notebook where I write the things that feed me, the things that encourage me. What's that one thing that gets you back to, okay, I'm gonna open up my Bible. Or I'm gonna pray, or I'm gonna call that brother and sister in Christ and go out to lunch with them or whatever. Go for a walk. Whatever that is. Commit to that this week. Be blessed. Well, that's it for today. Thanks for listening to the Equit the Next podcast. If this episode blessed you, I'd appreciate it if you leave a review and share it with someone who can use a little encouragement. Now grow in God's word and lead boldly.