Episode 11 - The One Thing That Matters Most

What if the most important spiritual move you could make isn’t adding more to your routine but shifting your motive? We unpack a simple, disruptive truth at the heart of formation: God looks at the heart. From Samuel’s anointing of David to David’s own “one thing” in Psalm 27:4, we trace how desire for God—not performance—reshapes prayer, study, work, and rest. Along the way, we contrast two ways of praying: managing outcomes versus apprenticing ourselves to the Master with curiosity and trust.

We also draw a straight line to Jesus’ own compass in John 14: that the world would know He loves the Father. When love becomes the engine, obedience stops feeling heavy and starts flowing from intimacy. Practices like Bible study and solitude shift from boxes to check to spaces where we savor God’s presence. Even our downtime gets rethought; entertainment can be enjoyed without becoming our refuge, because our true rest is anchored in God.

If you’ve felt stuck in task-driven spirituality, you’ll find a practical starting point here: a five-minute stillness exercise designed to train attention and kindle delight. We share honest litmus tests for the soul, name the subtle ways control sneaks into prayer, and offer a gentler, richer way to live—where abiding bears fruit and the heart leads the hands. Listen, try the practice, and notice what changes when intimacy becomes your north star.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s hungry for more than hustle, and leave a review with one takeaway you’re putting into practice. Your notes help others discover the conversation and join us in the journey.

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome, listeners. My name's Scott, and we are excited that you are listening in with us today. Amy and I are having some conversations about the kingdom of God and you know what we're learning about how to be formed into the image of Christ and live according to Jesus' teachings. And so, Amy, talk a little bit about what all we've kind of covered so far.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Well, yeah, this is really important for what we're going to talk about today. So just a real quick review. We've kind of imagined what the kingdom of God is like can be now. And we've talked about the throne, who's sitting on the throne, making sure that it's not us. We've talked about repentance in terms of rethinking and changing what we think to align with what God would have us think. And we've also talked about changing our wants and our desires to align with gods. And how when we are doing all of this, the rules of the game change to love being a Trump. That everything is about love winning. So that kind of brings us to kind of this point that you and I got to realizing we've got something really important that we need to tap into before we move on.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

You know, we do. Last week, the uh we we used this, you know, little analogy of an extension cord. And if I had to kind of summarize what that was, it was really about abiding and recognizing that, you know, you know, maybe a modern day version of a, you know, recognizing uh John 15, I'm the vine, you're the branches. And apart from me, you know, you can do nothing. But God's plan is for us to produce a fruit. And I just the modern day version is maybe an extension cord. And I just kind of imagine last week's conversation to be on the the plug end where it goes into the receptacle. Like, how do we how do we connect with God? And I think that's really, in my mind, this is a little bit like abiding too. Like, what is the thing that God is most interested in in our lives? And I have found this and a couple of the verses that we're going to talk about today to be so valuable in my life. And again, not that I have things figured out, but just looking at what scripture teaches and what the Lord is pointing out through his word that invite me to consider and live life differently than I would if I were just still on my own throne, right? And and so if, you know, in imagining this conversation, I would like, I would say like this is the it. Like this is the one thing that is probably most important in each of our lives. And, you know, we see it, I think a number of different places in scripture, but particularly the first time that this really stood out to me in a clear way was when the nation of Israel, so this is first Samuel chapter 16, where in when Samuel is coming to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse, as the next king over Israel, right? The Lord says at one point, like, this is a man after my own heart. And in this passage, um, Amy, will you read 1 Samuel 16?

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Uh yeah, what verses do you want for next?

SPEAKER_01 4:03

This is verse 7. So the the setting is Samuel is standing before all of David's older brothers, and there's, you know, the oldest brother is tall and handsome and strong. And Samuel looks at him and he's like, Clearly, this is the next king over Israel. And this is the Lord's response, I believe it's verse seven.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Yes, it says, but the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance or his height, for I've rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outer appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

And so we go on to learn that it's the youngest son, the little shepherd boy that wasn't even standing there before Samuel, that became the anointed one that God had chosen. And, you know, so what motivates a person's heart and what is in their heart is the thing that the Lord weighs a man by, as scripture would say, right? That he weighs a man based on the motivations of his heart. And so what we see and what we recognize is that there's something clearly different that the Lord knows about us. I think we can even fool ourselves. You know, uh Proverbs teaches us all of man's ways seem innocent to him, but the Lord judges a man by the motivations of his heart. And so we see in Psalm 27, four, I think this is one of the clearest, you know, places that we can point to where we see the motivation and the interest of David's heart, where he says, you know, one thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek, that I may gaze upon the beauty of the Lord all the days of my life and to seek him in this temple. Psalm 27, 4. And like David's one thing, like his passion was to be close to, to connect with, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. Like it was the Lord Himself that was his interest, that was his heart. And I think that expression is an expression that the Lord looks at and says, This is a man that is interested in me more than anything else. That is a man after my own heart. Right. And so what motivates our heart, you know, the why behind what we do, what we, you know, behind whatever it is that we're doing is the thing that I think is most important about whatever it is we're doing. Right? Can you identify with that at all, Amy?

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Totally. You know what this really reminds me is that movie City Slickers. It's did you see that movie?

SPEAKER_01 6:51

I did. I like that movie. That was a long time ago.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

It's an old one. Isn't an old one probably, I don't know, when that came out, maybe in the 90s, but both over 50, so yes, we're sure around age. Yeah, but it's such a good movie. So Billy Crystal stars in it, and he's basically a guy kind of having a midlife crisis, not not knowing, you know, really if his life is mattered. You know, what is does he still want to be married? Like he does, but he's just like having that midlife crisis. So he goes out with some friends to a dude ranch, and they're actually there, he and his friends all live in the city. So this is like going out west and doing manly things, like bringing in the herd and the uh cattle rancher that's their he is like a true cowboy, is curly, curly, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

I remember.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

And so one day Billy Gristol and Curly are riding their horses, kind of just trotting along, having a conversation while they're bringing in the herd. And Billy Gristol is asking curly, curly, what is the secret of life? Curly says he holds up his his finger like the number one, and he says, It's this one thing. And Billy Crystal's like, oh, awesome, what is it? He said, No, you gotta you gotta figure it out. That's the one thing. Anyway, I anytime I hear some throwback to the one thing or the most important thing in life, I always think of city slickers at TV because it really is true. That's what we're talking about. Like this could be the one thing.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Yeah. So the one thing, you know, that I may gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, right? Be in his presence, see the Lord, be with the Lord. And and you know, what we've talked about in the last couple of weeks is being a disciple. What does it mean to be a disciple? Again, the language that I like to use is living to become like Jesus in every way possible, become like the one that we're following. And so we see this in in Jesus' expression, what he's saying. You know, I I just my mind just immediately went to I had to look at what verse, but it's it's John chapter 14, verse 31. So the very last verse in this, in this chapter where Jesus is saying, you know, the enemy is coming, but he has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the father. And so he's saying, the one thing for me is that I love the father and do exactly whatever the father's commanded, commanded of me. Right. So for Jesus, it is all about, just like you hear that echo of David's heart. Like for me, it is all about my love for the Father, my passion for the Father. And out of that passion for the Father, I do whatever it is he asked me to do because I'm so infatuated with him. Like, Amy, if you imagine that you had a five-year-old come over in the Christmas time and y'all were gonna bake cookies together. So, you know, you've got a five-year-old in your kitchen baking sugar cookies. And like this little, this little boy's job is gonna help you bake these cookies, but then decorate the cookies, right? So let's just imagine you've got these little sprinkles and you've got little icing that you can you can put on top of these sugar cookies. Like, I know you, I can imagine you just handing this kid this little icing dispenser to let him draw on a cookie and decorate a cookie, right? If you're if you're doing that, like there, I think there's two different ways to do it. One is to hand the kid the little icing dispenser and be curious of what it would be like, what he's thinking and what he's wanting to decorate, and loving the interest, you know, your interest in him of what he's thinking and what he wants to make, that you just watch and you're like, it's not about making this cookie perfect. It's about I want to see what he's interested in doing, and then watching him draw some lines, and you're like, okay, what is it that you're making? And he's like, Well, I'm making a smiley face, right? In his own little way. And your focus and your interest is on what this kid wants to create. That is a very different thing than what I think so often I fall into, and I'm sure other listeners probably fall into. Like when we come to the Lord in prayer, if prayer were the sugar cookie, it's like, okay, you're I'm really interested in telling him, okay, we need to make a smiley face. And like you're given clear directions, and you're putting your hand over his hand, and you're helping him create the eyes and the nose and the smiley face, the way you imagine it, versus him being the focus and letting him create the cookie, and then you discover what he's creating, right? Those are two different mindsets of working with this kid to create sugar cookies, fair. I think that so often it's easy for me to like come to God in prayer and like I'm putting my hand over his and I'm telling him how he needs to do things, and my focus is really on me and how I think things need to be done, versus of if he were Michelangelo and I were coming to be his apprentice, like I don't think I would be very quick to speak. I would be much more careful to watch and to try to learn how is it that you're holding the brush, and how is it that you're creating this masterpiece? Because you're the master, and I'm the one that's just honored to be here in your presence, and I want to learn from you, and I want whatever it is that you're doing in this moment to be the thing that I'm coming to join you in. Right? Does it make sense? You follow me in what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Yeah, yeah, I think you know, you and I have had many, many, many conversations over the years that almost always the conclusion is what matters in this situation is your heart. That's what I'm after. Like all of the other circumstances, you can talk about that, you can all these things, but ultimately the core issue is your heart.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

And and I think that's what everything goes back to. Like it's not about partnering with God to tell God what you think ought to be done, it's about delighting in him and just watching to see what he's doing and where he's going and being along for the ride.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah, that you know, if you're sitting in the room as an artist with Michelangelo, you're probably not gonna have a lot to say. You're gonna be really keen to listen and to be attentive to his every expression and his every move. And again, I think so many of us probably get so caught up in prayer that we find ourselves, you know, rolling in on a unicycle, juggling, you know, balls in front of the king of kings, and and then just, you know, kind of do our little skit and then roll right back out and never even looked at. We're so focused on the things that we're trying to juggle that we never even look at the king sitting on the throne. And maybe that's oftentimes what I've you know feel like prayer's been like for me. I'm just too busy or too distracted by the things that I miss the very opportunity for intimacy. And I think that's the it. That's the one thing that we're trying to point to, is like the the Lord's heart is for intimacy with us in relationship. And that invites me to a different type of motivation and a different heart than I think I often find myself in. One thing that I've said to people before is like, I think that maybe the one of the best, you know, litmus tests, one of the best questions to consider of where I how I'm doing spiritually or where I am in my spiritual journey is how hungry is my heart to just be with the Lord?

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Right. I think what I hear you saying to me, the word delight comes to mind. Like, is it not just spending time with God? Okay, it's it's we're supposed to have a quiet time, or we're supposed to read the Bible, or obeying as we're supposed to obey, it's just delighting in the Lord, like truly just enjoying him. And because of that, we do those things because it just delights us, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah, like you would find delight in watching this five-year-old decorate a cookie and be curious of what it is he's making, right? Right, versus trying to make the perfect cookie and having to put your hand over his in order for him to have the perfect cookie. Like, I think we all have a little bit too much focus on, and it's that nature of sin within us that to control, to be for this to go the way that I want it to go is is so much our our nature. And the Lord is inviting us, like I don't see this as a like a point of correction. Hopefully, you're hearing this as an opportunity and an invitation to see that, oh, the Lord desires something so much more for me in my journey and as I consider him than the list of things I need to bring before him. Like I used to have a prayer list, and there's nothing wrong with prayer lists, but like I've gotten away from prayer lists because it made it led me too much to be focused on what I needed to bring to God as though he wasn't aware of it. And it was my responsibility to make him aware of this and to tell him how things needed to go in accordance with how I imagined they needed to go on each of these different topics. And that's what prayer, you know, for a season looked like for me. And so that's begun to change. And I find myself now, you know, venturing out into what it's like to be able to sit with him, and some would call that, you know, a discipline of solitude, and not say anything, but just be mindful and attentive that he was there. And that's a you know a practice of discipline that we can talk more about in a later episode. But it comes from a a motivation in my heart where my heart is, I think, more attuned, and I got a long way to go, but my heart is more attuned to want to just connect with him and to see, you know, he's not not trying to make God the five-year-old, but he's the Michelangelo, you know. Right. And I'm just honored to even be here in the room and uh be in his presence. And I think that's the heart behind the passion that you see in David and that you hear echoed in Jesus. Like the Lord need the world needs to see that I love the Father, and that's it. And out of that love for the Father, I do whatever he asked me to do. But it's all based on an intimacy and a passion to be with him and to trust him and to join him in what he's doing.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Yeah, I think that's been a real bad item shift for me the last probably five or ten years, maybe, especially the past five to shift from Bible study and knowing a lot about God and feeling the need to learn and be prepared, always have an answer to just being with God, like, and that doesn't always look like reading the Bible or studying the Bible. Sometimes it's just sitting in the backyard listening to the birds sing and being just completely delighted by that the wonder that God created and cares for the birds and gave them all these different songs and you know, just and then you just find yourself being so full of gratitude and thanksgiving and you know, like that is enjoying God and delighting in Him. But it doesn't look like all the boxes that I created. For myself to think that that's what was pleasing God because truly it comes down to the heart. It is.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

And yeah, and we're all a work in progress. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Yeah. And sometimes when I'm studying, it is completely delighting in him. But other times when I'm studying, it's just because I feel like I need to get this done. You know, like it's more of a task.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

Right. You know, I think that there's some this is a great, you know, session to kind of be able to pull away from and have some self-reflection and really kind of consider. Okay, where am I? And how can, you know, we we we find no value in just looking at ourselves and saying, oh, I'm good, you know, yeah, completely identify. I don't need to consider this. Like we all need to slow down and learn to consider and and ask of the Lord, you know, what is it, the things, what are the things that are stirring in my heart that you want me to see and recognize? And so I think one of the questions that I would want to kind of wrap this up with is like, if, you know, your deepest motivation was to be with the Lord and to connect with Him, what things might change, right? How would what would change look like at work? What would it look like as a parent? What would it look like as you speak with other people or as you rest? Like I know at like the end of my day, a lot of times I just you know can't wait to go turn on Netflix and watch the next episode of the show that Rebecca and I may be watching. And like, not that there's anything wrong with that, but if that's what I am looking forward to to get to at the end of the day, that that's where, you know, being refueled or finding my energy or trying to find is my my escape, then I think the Lord's inviting something different, like that he is ultimately the place that we run to and that we find, you know, that we find we're it we're re-energized by, and that my heart is intimate to want to be with him. And that's not that we can't go watch Netflix. It's that we're not that our hearts are being motivated and we're really seeing him as the place of being the master, and our hearts are hungry for him. And I'm guilty of that. You know, I again it's a healthy litmus test of is my heart hungry with for the Lord, or I just ready for another distraction. So just I think we I think it would be good, Amy, to just kind of wrap this up as maybe a shorter session and give the listeners an opportunity to take five minutes, maybe that would normally be spent listening to us dialogue back and forth, and to take five minutes to just go sit and be still. And and being still does not mean being mindless, but let your mind be fixed on God. And so my my little exercise that I would want to encourage you all to go practice for five minutes is just kind of explain this real quickly. Amy, if if we went to the zoo, right, and you're at the zoo and we're standing in front of the lion exhibit, right? And you're standing there, you got this big fence between you and the lions, and you got your cell phone go off, would you be uncomfortable grabbing your cell phone and taking a step back to have the answer the call? You probably wouldn't, right? Like you would you'd pull out your phone, look at the text, you know, answer the phone call and not feel unsafe if you're at the zoo. But if you were on the other side of that fence and you were in the presence of the lion, and there was no protective fence between you and the lion, and your cell phone goes off, do you think you're going to pull it out of your pocket and look it to see what text you got?

SPEAKER_00 26:20

No.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

And so maybe take the next five minutes to consider yourself on the other side of the fence with God. That when you're when he's fully present and there aren't the things between us that typically distract us, I think we have a different focus and we can live life in a different manner because the Michelangelo is here, and I want to be mindful and attentive of whatever it is he's doing. Just like you would be mindful and attentive of whatever is happening, whatever that lion's doing, if you're walking around in his in his pen, right? And I think the Lord is inviting each of us to consider what is it that you want to show me? What is it that you want to do in my heart to make my heart more like yours, more like Jesus's, that I'm just overwhelmed with the one thing, and that is you. That is that you are present and that you are king and you're everything. And so take the next couple minutes, listener, and maybe just have that few moments with the Lord, recognizing that you're with him, he is fully present, and let everything be fixed on him.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

And the one thing that's so important for us is uh just like David at your like yes.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

I love it. So, all right, next week we're gonna dive into what comes out of all this and and what is it that the Lord has in store for us as we join him and what he's doing. So we look forward to seeing you guys next week. Have a great one, have a next great couple minutes with the Lord, and we trust that he speaks and and helps encourage your heart with a greater passion and fire for himself. Have a great week.