Adding To Your Faith

Trade Secondhand Faith For Firsthand Transformation

• Matt & Rachael Morrow • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Feeling spiritually busy but strangely unchanged? We’ve been there. This conversation lays out a practical, hopeful path to move from information overload to a durable walk with Jesus that actually bears fruit. Anchored in 2 Peter 1, we explore how adding goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love leads to a life that is never ineffective or unproductive in knowing Christ.

We talk candidly about the modern flood of Bible content and why even great teaching can’t substitute for firsthand engagement with Scripture. Personal study is where the Holy Spirit meets us, reshapes our desires, and turns insight into obedience. You’ll hear how daily time in the Word reveals God’s unchanging character, grows holiness from the inside out, and stretches our prayers beyond “me and my four” to God’s global purposes. Expect practical guidance on building simple systems, managing distractions, and nurturing habits like meditation and memorization—without relying on study guides or complex tools.

To make all of this doable, we introduce a workshop-style season: four simple, no-tools-needed methods to study the Bible for yourself. Each method ends in two things that change everything—discover a timeless truth about God, then craft a concrete application for your real life today. We’ll give you passages to practice, encourage you to pause the show until you’ve tried the exercise, and then compare notes together. Along the way, we’ll name and confront the deeper barrier beneath busyness: the quiet belief that we don’t need God as much as we need other things. Freedom starts with honesty, repentance, and a fresh dependence on his Word.

Ready to trade secondhand faith for firsthand transformation? Listen, pause, practice, and grow with us. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review so others can find the show.

A Promise Of Fruitful Faith

SPEAKER_01

Do you ever feel like your life just isn't as productive or effective as it should be? As followers of Jesus, we want our short time on earth to have eternal impact, but often we feel like we're falling short. The good news is that Scripture gives us a promise, a life that's never ineffective or unproductive in knowing Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 1, we're told to build on our faith, adding goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. As these qualities grow, they keep us fruitful and effective for God's kingdom. I'm Matt Morrow, and my wife Rachel and I have spent nearly 20 years teaching God's word and walking with people in every stage of faith. Our passion is to see lives permanently and radically transformed by Scripture applied. Adding to your faith is here to help you understand biblical truth, practice it daily, and grow to look more like Jesus. We're glad you're here. Let's walk this journey together.

SPEAKER_00

In this podcast,

Meet Matt And Rachel

SPEAKER_00

my husband Matt and I come alongside you to help you understand and apply biblical principles and then workshop those principles so that you can apply them to your life. So this is our very first episode. And, you know, one of the amazing things about living in a modern media age is that there is probably never been a time in human history when we have had access to more solid biblical teaching than we have right now. So between podcasts and YouTube channels and ebooks and audiobooks and all of those things, we literally carry around all of these resources with us at all times. And so we all probably have some of our very favorite Bible teachers that we like to listen to. So, Matt, why don't you tell us what are some of your favorites?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I mean, I really like listening to pastors who we've learned under over the years. So I I mean, I like listening to our own pastor right now at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, which is John Burchett. I like listening to the pastor who who taught at the church where we were for a couple of years when we lived in Birmingham, now more than 10 years ago. And that that was David Platt. Of course, there's a lot of resources available online for him as well. But I also like, well, when we visit places, I like like we visited Washington, D.C. and we and we attended Capitol Hill Baptist Church and and Dr. Mark Daver there. So we've literally only been there one time, but I've since listened

The Flood Of Bible Teaching Today

SPEAKER_01

to more of his Bible teaching um because it's just really good, strong biblical teaching. And and you know, you could just go on and on. But and of course we live together, so we know what each other listens to. I could tell you, I'm gonna ask you, but I could tell you who you listen to because when I walk in and out of the room, I hear it. But um, but who do you like listening to, Rachel? Who are some of your favorite Bible teachers?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I have a lot of favorite Bible teachers. And, you know, I think one of the things I've noticed is that I like at different seasons in my life, I have listened to probably different teachers. So um probably when my kids were little, I spent a lot of time listening to Adrian Rogers and Chuck Swindahl and Chip Ingram. Um, kind of went through a phase where I listened to a lot of um like Paul David Tripp and John Piper. Um of course I still um I still listen pretty faithfully to to our prior pastor, um Pastor Matt Mason, who's at the Church of Brook Hills now. So I listen to him very regularly. Um of course the Bible project is one that I like to watch a lot, so so I will listen to their podcast um and also watch their videos. Um, I like NT Wright's um answering audience questions. So I listen to his podcast quite a bit, and I don't get very far from Tim Keller's. There is not much, uh there's probably not a week that goes by that I don't listen to some David Platt and some Tim Keller um sometime during that week.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, you really you really hit on it. It's it's there's never been a time where there was so much access. I mean, there's access to some terrible biblical teaching too, but I mean, we've just named off off the top of our heads quite a few really great resources for just learning the truth of God's word and and understanding uh better what it means. And and I mean, there I I think if like if the apostle Paul had if he was doing his ministry today, he would definitely have a podcast, right? He I mean, he would be a podcast that would go for a really long time with one long sentence, right? Big long, but I mean he would he'd be using all these tools. These are good tools. He uh he would, others if they were available to them. So it's I mean, I think it's great that these

Consuming Content Vs. Wrestling With Scripture

SPEAKER_01

tools exist for today, but there are also some some sort of challenges with your daily walk that come with all of that access too, right?

SPEAKER_00

I think that there are, you know, I don't like I don't know that that the teaching today is better than it's ever been. I think it's just we can access more teaching than we've ever been able to access. And so because of that, we we can, and and some of us, myself included, do spend a lot of time listening to to really good Bible teachers um on a regular basis. But I think one of the challenges that can come from that is that we spend a lot of time listening, but we don't spend a lot of time really working and wrestling through something in the word like ourselves, kind of one-on-one with the Holy Spirit. Um, I also think that And we're made to do that.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, we're made to interact personally and intimately with the Word of God.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And you know, when you're listening, even if like the Holy Spirit kind of prompts something to kind of think about or it kind of hits you, yeah, it's moved on, right?

SPEAKER_01

Like the you don't have a moment to pause and because there's another great point being made. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And so um, so I do think that that we are missing out on some of that really kind of wrestling through things um with the Holy Spirit and then letting him shine that light in our hearts. Um, you know, there are also a lot of great Bible studies, um, and a lot of great teachers that that do kind of guided Bible study. And and those are are wonderful. I'm not taking away from those at all.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, we we use them a lot.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and and I love going, like I love participating in those. Um, but one of the things that I've seen kind of happening from that is that as people do that more often, they don't know how to do it for themselves. Um, so that if there's not a guide, if there's not a book, if there's not a video explaining what what they just read, it's really hard for them to dig in for themselves and and get those same types of things out of the word that they would get when they go to a Bible study.

SPEAKER_01

And so it's like muscles you don't use. They just those muscles get weaker.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um, I've said before to people that to me, those Bible studies are a lot like dining out, right? They're they're the things that you do sometimes. Um, you know, they're not your daily bread. Right. They can't be your daily bread. And so, you know, I do think we've kind of created in some ways a little bit of a gap where people feel like if they don't have a study that someone's put together for them, they don't know how to do the daily bread. They don't know how to eat every day. Um, they just kind of wait, wait for the the big restaurants.

SPEAKER_01

You know, that's a good analogy. It's a good picture. I I think that to me is one of the things that is kind of a big purpose of why why we decided to do this. And this is something that in in classes

A Working Podcast And Workshop Format

SPEAKER_01

that we've taught, people have have asked us if if we might sort of capture some of some of this instruction and do it in a way that is um that's just very practical. That's just let's let's workshop together. So, like even the format that we will be exploring, and we're gonna preview some of this today, but even the format that we'll be exploring in terms of of doing this work is gonna be a workshop format. So it's a little different probably than most podcasts that that you would listen to or I would listen to, because we're gonna we're gonna actually ask you, don't listen to the podcast. Like, don't go to that next episode until you have done the sort of made an attempt at least at the at the workshop that we're gonna be talking about on that on that episode of the podcast. So you you need to you need to wrestle with it yourself, and then we will talk with each other about how we have wrestled with it and kind of try to workshop some of that with people in in in various techniques for for how to interact with God's word.

SPEAKER_00

Right. And I think that's why we called it kind of a working podcast. Yeah. You know, a lot of podcasts you listen to, and that's the purpose of them is to glean and hear uh what they have to say. I think our prayer for this is that this would be us coming alongside people as they are working through these concepts or these principles, or or in this case, like studying the word as you're doing that for yourself.

2 Peter 1 And Spiritual Formation

SPEAKER_01

So so much of what of what defines a growing uh disciple's life uh in in being formed and in the likeness of Jesus Christ is about this this process of adding to your faith that that Peter writes about in 2 Peter 1. That's just taking brick by brick, block by block, these components of of our faith that we can add goodness and knowledge and perseverance and self-control and godliness and and all of the rest, bit by bit, and just continuing to add those attributes in increasing number. And in the course of doing that, we're we're transformed, we're shaped, we're we're formed into the likeness of Christ. And and a big part of that is spiritual discipline. So this kind of first, we'll call it a season, I guess, of this podcast is going to be about the spiritual discipline of personal intimacy with the word of God. It's it's doing exactly what we're talking about. When we get to the end of that, there may be an opportunity later to do, to do a season or series on on how to grow in your prayer life, how to how to really workshop that so that we can develop those things. And the whole point is to is to grow as a disciple and to have those uh those characteristics in us adding and growing, just as we're instructed in 2 Peter, because there's a great promise that comes with that.

SPEAKER_00

There is, right? I mean, the promise is that is how you are not ineffective in your faith.

SPEAKER_01

And who wants to be ineffective or unproductive?

SPEAKER_00

I, you know, our kids right now are really, I think, kind of working through like what does it look like to not waste your life and to use it for the kingdom? This is what it looks like is making sure that you are always adding, adding to, right? That you're growing in the Lord and and in your obedience and in your likeness to him. And if you're doing that, then then God's word promises you are you will not be ineffective in your faith.

Why Study Scripture Personally

SPEAKER_01

And you can take it to the bank.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, you can take it to the bank. It is ironclad, the promises of scripture. So so let's talk in this in this sort of preview of of this series a little bit about the the purpose of studying the word of God and and the benefits of studying the word of God. Again, we're not we're talking about something that's different than than um than hearing good biblical teaching or um exploring and uh and going deeper in some of those resources, which we strongly encourage people to do. We do it as well. We're talking about actually personally interacting with the word of God on your own without an intermediary, right there, you and the Lord and his word. So we're talking about the purposes of studying the word, the benefits of studying the word, the barriers that exist for people in studying the word of God. And then we can just kind of briefly talk a little bit about some of the some of the methodologies that we'll be exploring over the course of the next few weeks here together. So um, so let's start with just the most fundamental part, which is why why study the word of God at all? We if we do have all these resources and people can share these things, you know, what are the what are the reasons that we would study it for ourselves? I didn't go to seminary, you didn't either. Most people who are listening don't have the kind of training that someone who you might you might listen to uh on a podcast or or a YouTube channel or read a book might have. So, so why would we do this? What is the purpose of me studying the word or you studying the word or someone who's listening doing that?

SPEAKER_00

I think the the first and and primary purpose is that because through the word of God, we see the glory of God.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Right. I think that's the the primary purpose that God starts to grow, that we really start to see his goodness and his glory. Scripture from beginning to end is about Jesus. And in John 1.14, right, John writes, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Right? The glory from the Father, full of grace and truth. And if you're gonna see Jesus, if you're gonna see the glory of the Father full of grace and truth, you see it in his word.

SPEAKER_01

That is the overriding theme that the more time you spend personally in his word, the more time you spend personally just just studying and in deep intimacy

Holiness, Transformation, And Desire

SPEAKER_01

with his word, it is unavoidable that the overriding theme, the most important message of the whole thing, is that God alone is worthy of all glory and all honor and all praise in all ways. And and that is first, right? The glory of God is at the top of everything else. What other reasons for studying the word of God?

SPEAKER_00

You know, I I think one, you know God better, but then secondly, it also starts to show a mirror to yourself, and so you start to see kind of your your own self better, right? So you start being in the word is also the way that we grow in holiness. It's the way that we grow in Christ-likeness. Um, you know, Galatians 5, 16 says that if you live by the spirit, you won't gratify the sinful nature, right? That if we if we are putting ourselves in a place where we are are in the word of God and being shaped and formed by the word of God, then the byproduct of that is that we're not gonna gratify our flesh, that we're gonna walk in in step with the spirit. Um, we also can by knowing God's word, we hide it in our hearts, and that's how we avoid sin. Right? It helps us to say, you know, that if I've if I've got it in my heart, then I won't sin against the Lord because it's there for Him to bring to mind so that I recognize the sin and can avoid it or quickly repent.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Right. I sometimes both you're like me. Sometimes you're in it and you're like, oh gosh.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's I'm like like one of my most frequent prayers is Lord help me to quickly repent, quickly see my own sin and not not, you know, just live there.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And part of that is having God's word in your heart.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Right. You can't. I mean you can't do it without without God's word buried in your heart. And and and what I hear you say, especially when you talk about this holding up a mirror, right, to yourself. That's I mean, you if you are consumed with the glory of God as as described in his word and as as you know as it's as it's just played out in the pages of scripture, and you start to to um naturally be transformed or grow in holiness and christlikeness because of that, I guess I mean that means that we should be approaching God's word expecting to be changed. Like we should not approach God's word as sort of a a resource or a a tool or something that we can use pragmatically. We should approach God's

Knowing God’s Character Builds Trust

SPEAKER_01

word expecting it to to change us, to to radically transform us, that we're not okay the way we are. It's it requires the influence of his word to to change us.

SPEAKER_00

Right. And you know, I think you see that in in one, that God's word brings wisdom, right? The scriptures are clear that that if you want wisdom, wisdom comes from the Lord. Um, and it grows our desire to want to walk in step with the spirit. So that is how we do it. Tim Keller uses a really great example that I think about all the time, but it's the difference between confirmation, like conforming and transformation. And, you know, he talks about like a rubber ball, and you can take a rubber ball and squish it down and get it to fit.

SPEAKER_01

You can conform it.

SPEAKER_00

You can conform it, right? You can get it to fit into a space, but as soon as that space has any give in it, it bounces right back. It bounces right back to its original shape. And if we're not in God's word, then we're always trying to just conform. We're trying to take this rule or apply this good practice, or somebody said this, and we're like, oh, I'll try to do that for a little while. But we're not that's like Romans 12 talks about, right? Being transformed by the renewing of our mind, because that's where our desires change. That's where how we actually think change. And you know, we used to tell our kids, you can only fight your feelings for so long. Eventually, your feelings will win out, right? They'll boil over, they'll spill, you'll explode. Um transformation changes those thoughts that those feelings are based on. And so then your feelings change. And when your feelings change, right, when those thoughts have transformed what you want, what you desire is changing. Then then you are transformed. But when the constraints go away, the form holds.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's a great picture. Great, a great word picture for what we're talking about here. So so growing in holiness and Christ-likeness. Um that's what you're what you're describing is is this idea of growing in our desire to walk with the Spirit. Like the more time we spend in His Word, the more what we desire and what we want changes. And it's and to your point, it stays. It stays. So so one of the key purposes of

Unleashing The Holy Spirit In Study

SPEAKER_01

studying the Word of God is well, these are the these are the purposes. See the glory of God, grow in holiness and Christ-likeness. We also want to see the character of God, right? We want to see the character of God on full display. What do you mean? What do we mean when we say that?

SPEAKER_00

Right? I mean, like Psalm 19160 says, like, all of your words are true, righteous, like eternal law. Yeah. Right? They and as you are in God's word, I think you start to see that God's word is true. You start to understand its eternalness, that it doesn't change, it doesn't it doesn't move around with circumstance or with age, that that God's word stands forevermore. Um, and his laws are righteous, that that he is righteous, and so his laws and his decrees and what he calls us to are also righteous.

SPEAKER_01

As we as we become more familiar with the character of God and we see his character on display in the in the pages of scripture, we also come to Trust him more because it's because he is trustworthy. He's faithful. And so I even think about things like in in uh well we talk about sometimes in Second Peter where where there are promises. And those promises, you know, we can count on those because we know the character of God. We know that he never, ever breaks a promise. Now, there are many times where he gives a promise that also is conditioned, that there are things that that if you do this, then you can count on God to do this. Um, and not all of his promises are that way, but many of them are. But in every case, the more we know and recognize and are intimately familiar with the character of God as expressed on the pages of scripture, then it becomes it becomes easier to trust him. Easier to just to just maybe put uh put my own instinct or opinion off to the side and say, instead, I'm gonna trust him because I know his character.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Absolutely. Um, and it's I think one of the primary ways that you really unleash the power to do that,

Bigger Prayers Shaped By God’s Heart

SPEAKER_00

right? To to walk in that faith. Um, so you know, talk a little bit about that. Like how does God's word do that?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So one of the things that I know is is really um, gosh, one of the really, really powerful reasons to study God's word is that, is that studying God's word for yourself, you know, really pursuing that intimate personal um experience of his word unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit in your life like nothing else, like nothing else can. We know this because we know from scripture the the main function of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life is to uh to illuminate the truth of scripture, of God's word. This is not something we're capable of understanding in our flesh. We can't, we can't get it. We we can't track with it. And so it's only through the power of the Holy Spirit, which every believer has in them is given to us at salvation, it's only through that power that we can really um even hope to understand the mysteries of scripture. And so if we if we don't approach scripture for ourselves, if instead we are primarily experiencing it through an intermediary, through a good Bible teacher, through whatever else, we're essentially putting the Holy Spirit on the sidelines of our life instead of activating the Holy Spirit and saying, I need you. I can't do this without you, I can't understand any of this without you. And then to sense and feel and experience him working in your life, in your heart, in your mind to illuminate the truths of God's word, that's that's absolutely life-changing. It is absolutely life-changing. Um, there are times where you're in God's word and you actually sense that you're just sort of being pulled along.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That you're that I'm not even, I'm not even figuring this out for myself anymore. It's it's the Holy Spirit in me completely unleashed by just the sheer, the sheer humble act of obedience of opening the pages and saying,

Meditation, Memorization, And Application

SPEAKER_01

I'm in there and I'm just gonna trust you, Lord, to show me and teach me. And I mean, that's that's just pretty remarkable.

SPEAKER_00

Yep, it is, right? You say, Show me wonderful things in your word, right? Open my eyes and show me wonderful things in your word comes from the Psalms. So for our listeners, I would say when you think about right, having a bigger view of the glory of God, or you think about some of those things of growing in holiness and Christ-likeness. So um learning to walk in step with the Spirit, or um having God's word in your heart to avoid sin, or um growing your joy in the Lord just by knowing him and his heart and his and his character and his nature. Is it wisdom? Um, is it kind of your desire to be more like him, uh, to see his character, or is it kind of this desire in you to say, I need help, right? I need the power of the Holy Spirit to do this. So um, for our listeners, I would say think about those purposes and and ask the Lord to kind of show you like what is your heart's cry right now? Like out of those purposes, what what's the one that you feel like the Spirit's saying, that's the one that you need or that's what you're lacking? Um so spend some time thinking about that, and then thinking about how

Counting The Benefits Of Daily Study

SPEAKER_00

God's word accomplishes that.

SPEAKER_01

That's a good challenge. It's a great challenge for us. So just as we're preparing for the days ahead and the and the lessons ahead and the workshops that we're gonna be working through together, understanding the purposes of God's word and just asking, gosh, just asking for the Lord to show you more about these purposes and how, and and one of these, at least one of these, I know resonates with your heart to your point. It's your heart's cry. Look, there may be you there may be different times in your life where one or more of these is more at the top of the list for you. I mean, there may be times in your life where you just yearn and desire for the to see the full glory of God on full display, or to know him better more closely, to know his character better, or Lord, I just need a better picture into my own wickedness. I need to, I need to be changed. I need to, I mean, all these things are going on at all times, but there are there are times where where you may just desire, you're like, I want to feel the power of the Holy Spirit unleashed. I want to feel that. Like that's examine your heart. Yeah. Examine your heart's cry for that.

SPEAKER_00

Right. I mean, sometimes we just feel beat down and we need joy. Or, you know, sometimes we're we know we're struggling with a particular sin that just we can't, we can't seem to to beat, right? To get past.

SPEAKER_01

And so why do I keep fighting this?

SPEAKER_00

Right. And so we know that that one, we need God's word, but we also need the power of his spirit if if that's gonna happen. Those things are found by spending time daily in his word.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So these are the purposes. There's there are good reasons to be in the word of God, and there are also tremendous benefits that come from from just devoting ourselves to his word, to personal intimate involvement in his word. And let's talk about some of those benefits, the things that happen for us as a reward for this. There are many rewards to it. What about, what about just starting with personal change, right? That's a that's a big one. We say we want to, we should, we should approach God's word, planning to be changed. So that's

Barriers: Time And Seasons Of Life

SPEAKER_01

a benefit.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it certainly is a benefit, right? I mean, Hebrews 4.12 tells us that God's word is alive and it's active and it creates change, it divides spirit and soul, bone and marrow, right? It's it's it's the thing that judges our thoughts and our attitudes of the heart. So if we really want to be changed, we have, like we have to to hold up the mirror of God's word to our lives, to our hearts, and and just ask him, you know, what what are the things that that I'm reading here that don't really that are not reflected in my life? Um, or how do I see people stumbling here and I can connect with them and and see that same weakness in my heart? And so um, you know, I think as as we do that, kind of a secondary benefit of that is that we start to see that God's word is applicable for everything. Yeah. You know, that once we get in it and you start to see the things that he's teaching you, the things he's training you in, you see correction, right? You see all of those things starting to kind of come together and it really is applicable.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Right. If you're if you're looking for it, you can start to see those connections. And and if we're not reading for application, if we're not trying to connect it to our lives, then there will be no change.

SPEAKER_01

Right. So the first, so the first two benefits, personal change and the and just finding the application for God's word, those go, those are hand in hand. You can't have you can't have change without application.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Can't happen. You you can no you can get smarter, you can learn, you can learn a lot of information, but you your life won't be changed until you start to apply that that word to to your life. And I mean, the the maybe the most famous scripture on this is 2 Timothy 3, um, uh 16 and 17, where where we read all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable. Some some uh versions say useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. That's that's a description of application.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_01

That it's that the word is one, it's perfect because it's God breathed, but but it's useful. It's useful for all of these things. And when you describe these things as teaching and reproof and correction and training and righteousness for a purpose, so that we so that we as a as a Christ follower, as a disciple, will be it complete. We will be lacking nothing. We'll be the Bible says we'd be fully equipped for every good

Distractions And Protecting Your Focus

SPEAKER_01

work from this.

SPEAKER_00

Right, like we're ready for for whatever good work the Lord has for us. And that does not come apart from being in his word.

SPEAKER_01

There, I mean, there are no amount of good sermons that that we can hear that will do that for us. It can help, right? It does supplement, uh, but it but there are no amounts of of good Bible teaching that can substitute for time in the word if we want to be fully equipped for every good work, right?

SPEAKER_00

Or service, right? Or ministry or service. Right. We're just not gonna be equipped for it. There's no amount of ministry and service that you can give that's going to equip you for every good work if you're not in the word of God every day.

SPEAKER_01

Right. So personal change, God's word is applicable in all things. Other benefits include discernment. You want to talk a little bit about what that means? This is this is a a spiritual gift, but there's a sense in which we all have access to biblical discernment from just being in his word. You're gifted this way. Talk to us about what discernment is, what that means.

SPEAKER_00

Right. I mean, James tells us if one of you lacks wisdom, right, ask the Lord who gives without finding fault. So it, you know, I think a lot of times we want to know what does God have for me, or what are his plans, or how how do I know that I'm doing the right thing? And a lot of that discernment of even decisions for things that aren't in the Bible, right? Like which job should I take, or should I buy this car or that car? Um, some of those things are not laid out in scripture. Um, but as you get into the word, right, as as you understand God's heart and God's purposes and and you're growing and your your heart is more in line with his heart, then that discernment also starts to come. So we're able to better see how these day-to-day decisions and these other things fit into what God has called me to and the work that I do see laying before me. And so it it gives us that discernment to know how how we move forward or or which scriptures we should apply in this situation. Because sometimes, you know, it feels like there's one scripture that says this and one scripture that says that. And so how do I know what to do? And and being in the word and and kind of walking through that and allowing God to to shape us and form us through his word can really help us to walk in in wisdom with him.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, you you described something there that I think a lot of believers bump up against sometime, which is the idea that that, you know, if you just sort of cherry-pick different scriptures throughout the Bible, it's not hard to find scriptures that sound like they they don't agree, like sound like they're leading in different directions. Um, but that's but that's

Building Discipline And Simple Systems

SPEAKER_01

really the problem. The problem is that it's not the whole counsel of God, it's only by being in the word fully and and again practicing. So we're not just preaching to be in the word. We're gonna we're gonna practice workshops and techniques for how to do that that will make it easy because there are also there's complexity, which we'll get to in a minute. But but doing that allows us to, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be able to discern the whole counsel of God. So why do these do these two passages of scriptures, taken in isolation, feel like they might be contradictory to each other? We know God's word doesn't contradict itself. So what is it that's going on? What are the, you know, what's the context? What's the what's the bigger objective here? What's the what's the goal of the goal of this part of scripture? You know, what is it? Um, you only get that through personal, deep, intimate connection with the word of God.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_01

So personal change, application, discernment. This is this next one's a big one because I've noticed it too. The more you're in God's word, the bigger your prayers get. Talk about what we mean by that. Big prayers.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, uh big prayers. I think one of the the greatest benefits of being in God's word is the enrichment to your prayer life that being in God's word gives you. Um, because as you really start to see who God is and you see his heart, it changes how you pray. It it changes how you pray for yourself. You, you know, start praying bigger prayers, prayers for those things like growing in your joy and in your wisdom and in your desire to walk with the spirit and in your own holiness and Christ likeness. Um, it changes how you pray for others. It it gives you a view and a sometimes even a sympathy for people that you maybe wouldn't have on your own. Um, yeah, or and an understanding. Yeah. And so it changes how you how you pray for others. It gives you the ability

From Hearing To Doing: Applying Truth

SPEAKER_00

to pray for your enemies.

SPEAKER_01

Like we don't do in my own flesh.

SPEAKER_00

There's no way I can none of us can do that in our own flesh. But you know, when you're in God's word and you see you see those things playing out, you see God's heart, you see the response sometimes that people have, and and you see why God calls us away from that, it becomes easier to to do those things because you you do have some of that discernment. Um so I think you get big prayers. Um, then you also see God's just God's heart for building his kingdom for his own glory that he so deserves. And you see his heart for for the the lost sheep.

SPEAKER_01

And that becomes your heart. And it becomes your heart. My heart becomes patterned after his. Right. You still changes my prayer life.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, that he wants all nations to come to him, that he wants every tongue and every tribe and every person. And so it changes how you pray.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

You know, that there's there are people people who we love and who we don't want to say goodbye to and have lived long lives, or or maybe who are who are experiencing, in some cases, terminal or near terminal illnesses. And we understandably just pray for the Lord to spare them. Of course we do. We our heart is with him, we love them, we don't want to say goodbye, but they're gonna go to heaven, right? In the in the most extreme outcome, they're gonna be better off than any of us. And meanwhile, our our prayers are focused, not that not the again, that not that we can't or shouldn't pray for those things, but but our prayers can be bigger. Right. If our if our prayers are about the things of God, and they're only gonna be that way from really being deeply into his word and and our heart starting to sh to pattern itself after his heart.

SPEAKER_00

We um our former pastor, uh Dr. John Marshall, used to say, you know, that we pray for my four and no more.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, don't pray for me, my four, and no more.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, me, my four and no more. And that was so instructive to me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, but I didn't know what to do about it, right? I mean, and it at the time with it. Yes. But then at the time when when I would think about or even sit down to pray, the things that would come to mind were me and you know, kind of my immediate

The Hard Truth: Do We Believe We Need It

SPEAKER_00

circle.

SPEAKER_01

The people I'm closest to.

SPEAKER_00

And so I really like I had that kind of conviction, like, yeah, I should not be praying for me, my foreign no more. But how do I how do I change that? And it's really getting into God's word regularly that starts to that that starts to change that. And I experienced that. That's it.

SPEAKER_01

Over time you find yourself wanting eternal things that glorify God more than you want anything else. Yeah. More than you want anything else. So we know that the benefits of studying God's word include personal change. They include uh application, discernment, they make for bigger prayers. And then there's also meditation and memorization that are that are tremendous benefits that come from just spending time in the word. You can't memorize God's word or meditate on his word if you're not in it.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Right. And you know, at least for me, when I'm reading something in its context um or something stood out to me, it's a lot easier for me to commit that to memory than if I'm just picking verses I want to memorize.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's a great point. It's a great point. It's different.

SPEAKER_00

It's different. And I I really struggle with just picking verses off a list and saying, I'm gonna memorize this verse. Yeah. Um, but what I have found is that I don't struggle to memorize verses when God spoke to me through them. You know, when I'm like, I remember when he said to Job or when he said to, you know, um, those are what's going on when this when this happened that I'm that I'm trying to commit to memory. Yes. And so then those phrases or those verses, they stick and and then they become a lot easier to memorize.

SPEAKER_01

So we've talked about the purpose of being in God's word. We've talked about some of the benefits of being in God's word, and there are more, but these are but these are a few. Before we move on to the next, to the next section, um, I think one of the things we just I would encourage people to do is to say is just take a moment and consider for yourself how you would describe the benefits of being in God's word every single day. Like if someone, if someone asked you that question, how would you describe the benefits? You certainly can borrow what we've been talking about today. I think those are applicable to all of us. Um, but but being intentional enough to think through how would I how would I describe the benefits of being in the word? That's that's good not only for someone who might who might someday ask you or you might have a chance to explain it, but it's just good for you, good for me to just consciously and intentionally think through those benefits.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

So that's the the that's the good, that's the good news. So why in the world would we ever not be in God's word? What possible reason? I mean, surely every Christ follower is in God's word consistently all the time. You are, I am, everybody is, right? Always. You would think so. But that's not the case. It's not the case. Why? Because there are barriers. Yes, there are things that get in our way, and obviously our biggest barriers we have an enemy who wants to keep us out of.

A Cancer Story And Dependent Prayer

SPEAKER_01

that all if all these if all of these purposes and benefits are true and they are then if you're the enemy of our Lord you're definitely going to want us to have reasons to not be in the word. Right. But what are some of those things? Some of those barriers that just just come in the way and that and that for will for whatever reason prevent us from getting there.

SPEAKER_00

I don't you know I mean I it it seems so so simple and then it's also so hard. I mean I find myself asking myself regularly if the God of the universe has made himself available to me why would I not take advantage of that?

SPEAKER_01

How did I let a day get get by yeah and how did I let how did I let a few hours get by and there really is no no good answer.

SPEAKER_00

There's no good answer to that.

SPEAKER_01

But there are reasons.

SPEAKER_00

But there are reasons that I think sometimes we we feel like our time is already stretched really thin and we don't know where where we would put it yeah you know and so I think the time constraint um can be really hard for people and you know and I know in different seasons of life that that even that is hard. You know you try to set aside time in the morning but then the kids get up an hour earlier than they used to get up or um you know and so now that time that you had to yourself you no longer have to yourself or you used to do it before bed but now when you lay down you're so tired that you can't keep your eyes open while you're doing it. And so um I think just trying to find a time that works and and the flexibility to adjust those things. That's a big one too as as life or or as the day changes.

SPEAKER_01

So I think people people who are listening are are I think most I assume are mostly going to be Christians people who are Christ followers who know at least in their mind they know that that it's important to have time

Repentance, Honesty, And Renewal

SPEAKER_01

in the word and they're gonna they're gonna be saying the same thing you and I are thinking right now which is well okay but you have time for and we you know you can list off all the things you did find time to do with with your day and it's it's easy to say that and it in the end it still ends up being a barrier. It still ends up being a barrier. And yes I do fill my time with things that are less important and I and and that should be a source of conviction and repentance and we need to move away from that but but that is that is part of it. I will also say and you you mentioned the importance of adjusting um I critically important to have a a plan that you know and that you are committed to and in addition to that when things happen and you have on occasion to pivot away from that plan don't let it blow up your time with the word sacrifice something. It's okay it's okay to sacrifice something. I you know for years we've taught we've taught uh Bible uh with it with mostly adults in our church um and there are times there have been seasons of my life where the the the time commitments and the demands on my time during the course of the week professionally personally the kids are little all that stuff just make it really hard to um this is just in preparing lessons for this is not personal time of the word this is just preparing lessons for for the rest of the of the of the people who we're accountable to for God's word. And there are times where that means I'm not going to bed like that means I'm I'm up in the middle of the night working on on in God's word going deeper praying that he'll keep me awake praying that he will that he'll give me a presence of mind and and a readiness and alertness to uh to the movement of the Holy Spirit and and seeing and I don't recommend this as a plan you need to have a plan like a good plan but when when things happen I would just encourage us not don't let time be an excuse

The Plan: Four Simple Study Methods

SPEAKER_01

because some of the most powerful times I've seen the Lord move in my own study of the word have been in those moments where I knew I didn't have quote unquote didn't have time. Yeah right didn't have time but if you sacrifice for it I'm not I mean he'll give you the energy he'll give you the strength he'll give you the movement the power of the spirit he gives you all of that if you just give him an ounce of faithfulness. Just an ounce of faithfulness.

SPEAKER_00

I think it sometimes you know if you talk to people who are faithful tithers right they will say that once you take that step of faith then then it it really is amazing. God seems to kind of stretch the rest. And so the hole that you thought was going to be there doesn't end up materializing. He does it with time too and he does it with time too. And so that would be something that I would say just to encourage people that that I have experienced that you know when I when I really thought I didn't have time and I would pray about that and you know and spend some time in the word and in prayer and then something that should have taken me half a day to do took me three hours to do you know that like God is God is very faithful when we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

SPEAKER_01

Like he's he's faithful and promised that he's he will add all these things up to you.

SPEAKER_00

And so we can trust him with our time um and then I think like being willing to trust him with our time um is important. Sorry I lost the second thought I was going to have on that so maybe I'll come back to it.

SPEAKER_01

It's okay.

SPEAKER_00

Let's talk about distractions maybe that's a good time to talk about distractions distractions can be a barrier so many things competing for our attention right just the the the day-to-day routine think about I don't know I was just saying you stayed home with our kids when they were little and I have no idea how you had committed time in the word with those two uh maniacs running around our house I love them God bless them but they were if you just watch our old home videos they are so loud they are loud so loud so

Timeless Truths And Living Application

SPEAKER_00

so many distractions and we all have them how do you do it how do you how do you fight those distractions you know we all and the they change but we all have distractions and things demanding our time um kind of a funny story with the kids one of the things that that I learned um was that when I started doing dishes everybody disappeared so okay that's a matter of some conviction here but my Bible time for a long period of my life came after dinner when I was doing dishes because when I was in the kitchen doing dishes every everybody was gone for a while everybody gets quiet when there's work to be done. And so that actually became a really a really sweet time to to take a little bit of time um to read but mostly prayer to find kind of time to pray. So um you're welcome that wasn't so much when I did like my Bible study time but right um but that did come up become a really important part of my prayer time that I would pray while I did dishes because as believe it or not there weren't a lot of distractions um while I was doing that. So um but the other thing that I would say about that is pray about that. Yeah um that was something that that I was convicted and challenged to do um as a young woman and it was transformative to to really kind of put my schedule and the ways that I invest my time kind of before the Lord and ask him like what what if of this are you calling me to and what in this have I just kind of put on myself that I think is important.

SPEAKER_01

That's a really important time when it comes to the the barrier a really important uh counsel when it comes to the barrier of time uh is just putting putting your time before the Lord and saying Lord you are Lord of my schedule also.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. So

Iron Sharpens Iron: Practice Together

SPEAKER_00

and then knowing the things that distract you I mean like right now you can usually see them come. It's a lot of the same things right and I mean like right now I know that I cannot have my phone and my watch on when I do my Bible time. It'll ding or it'll vibrate or a notice will come up and and it's literally designed to distract you. And then I'm out of what I was doing and it's made to to suck your attention away from it. It is and so I know like I have to go put my phone away from wherever I'm gonna sit you know and the watch too. Yeah it's it's just gotta go away. And if it doesn't I will get distracted. Yeah you know I I I can't do my Bible time when the TV is on. I know that's a distraction for me. And so I've I've got to shut shut those things off so that I have that capacity, you know, the bandwidth to hear what the spirit is saying.

SPEAKER_01

So a big part of managing distractions is also just having a good plan. Now distractions will come in spite of your plan in many cases but but what you're describing is you know ahead of time some of the things that are distractions for you. So whether it's the phone or the or the watch or the TV or those things that you know from experience can be distractions for you. You make your plan to be in the word of God accounting for and removing as many of those distractions as you can um and that's a really important part of managing it as well. What about what about uh discipline just the discipline of being in the word I mean that can be a barrier too because some of us I mean we struggle with just being disciplined people.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah we do. And you know I think kind of all of that whole conversation kind of all goes together that discipline comes from practice right I mean habits are developed because eventually they move from our conscious mind to our subconscious mind. They're just what we start to do. And so we have we have to put our play ourselves in a place where we're developing the habit of being in the word of God. And it and we do that with everything. You know there's not a time in our life when we don't have to learn a new discipline we, you know you get a new medicine that you have to take well now you've got to figure out a new discipline to work that in. You get a new task assigned to you a work now you've got to figure out so we do that in you need a system in lots of areas of life and we shouldn't give less to our spiritual development. So think about a plan and a system and those reminders

Prepare Your Heart And Pray Forward

SPEAKER_00

um you know there are times when I've been trying to like learn myself some spiritual disciplines and I mean I would set post it notes up like remind myself to do this you know or put things in my car you know I mean just build systems for yeah just trying to build those reminders in to be like have you done this until it becomes part of your muscle memory until it becomes a habit.

SPEAKER_01

So the next barrier that we have on the list we we just have is hearing and applying but I just want to talk about this for just a minute. This is something that can be a real barrier to staying in the word is that if we don't have a a method or an approach to studying God's word that leads to application, then we won't be changed by God's word. And if we're not changed by God's word, you can't blame someone for eventually thinking, well why am I doing this? Like what am I doing here? And uh and so the the point is to be changed but if we read God's word and don't have a a method or an approach to finding that timeless truth and then applying that truth to our lives in a way that changes us, that forms us more in the likeness of Christ, then we're not going to see any progress. And if we don't see any progress eventually we're gonna stop doing it. I mean that's it's like exercising. If you if you went to exercise every single day and you were working you know felt like you were working really hard but you weren't seeing any progress eventually you get discouraged and you quit. But in but in reality there is a there is a way to to approach God's word that's not just hearing it that's not just reading it or seeing it but that is incorporating it into into life change yeah in a meaningful way. And that's that's really key to eliminating that barrier to to studying the word of God.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Because it's easy to read right I mean Jesus would say that to the Pharisees like have you not read or you read but you do not understand. And so you know there's a difference between reading and and really understanding to apply.

SPEAKER_01

In James it's be doers of the word not hearers only right um so we also sometimes can trick ourselves into thinking that we need something more than what we have like we like it we can create barriers for ourselves to the word by convincing ourselves that we need some sort of a formal study guide or some kind of of of um advanced help to get through God's word and and I'm just gonna say as many good advanced helps as there are as many good study guides as there are and I love them and we use them the the the idea that you need it that you have to have it that's just a lie from the enemy right you don't that's just something that would keep you out of God's word.

SPEAKER_00

You don't need that you have the Holy Spirit no and sometimes those aids keep you from wrestling through those things for yourself. Yeah right and that's how we learn is by making connections to like what we're reading and then to our own life our own experience our own thoughts um that's how like that is how we learn right that's how we learn anything and so if we shortcut that process then we're not we're not gonna get to that um you know we don't get to that place and then it becomes a barrier because then we don't do it because we don't have all the helps.

SPEAKER_01

So a substitute for that is I I understand how it can be intimidating to go into the word of God which is which is complicated and confusing and sometimes written in a different time and place and you can be a little intimidated by that. But the but the alternative is not to say I have to have a formal study or a teacher or something like that. The the alternative is to have some techniques and that's what we're going to spend some time with uh in the in the lessons ahead here. Just quickly one other this is kind of the the ultimate barrier really to being in the word to studying God's word and that is that if we're being honest about it, if we let these other distractions or other things keep us from being in the word distractions time discipline uh all of those things needing a formal study they're all really they're all really excuses, aren't they? I mean ultimately all of that is just if we're going to be honest, it means that somehow or another we don't believe we need it as much as we need other things. I mean that's a hard truth.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And we know it's true because when we are fully aware that we need God's word right when we're in crisis or when we're sick or right then we're right there. Then we're there right when when we're aware of our need we do it right we find the time we we lay the other things down um and so it I mean there is on some level we have to kind of we've got to I think confess and repent of our own pride that that when we feel like we can hold it all together and manage it we we don't make we don't do it because we don't really think we need it.

SPEAKER_01

So I I mean you know this I'll just share briefly with the with our listeners um a number of years ago we had a pretty significant health scare I had I had stage three melanoma which is the prognosis of the time was not very good for that by the grace of God we're here but but I remember at the time um well I was just my prayer life has never been better than it was during that time and that sounds almost flippant to say but it's true and not just for me but for others who uh who are experiencing these kinds of you know uh crises in their lives or whatever else they would they would ask they would ask me to pray and ask you to pray and so my point is just to say what you were saying before is I remember telling people at the time I'm I've heard people Christians say that they were thankful for having cancer having heart disease or some kind of a horrible thing happened to them. I'm like that can't be true. I mean it can't be true. I can understand uh seeing the silver lining in it I can understand you know but but like being thankful for I I get it the the gratitude is not for the disease the gratitude is for the daily hourly moment by moment present awareness of your utter and complete dependency on the Lord your utter and complete dependency on the Lord guess what we're always utterly and completely dependent on the Lord we're just not always aware of it.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Right and so that's the that's the whole the whole point here is that can be a barrier to studying the word is we're we're not we're just not alert to our utter and complete helplessness and dependence on him.

SPEAKER_00

And the irony is that the solution to that to better seeing our dependence and the glory of God is getting in his word.

SPEAKER_01

In his word and the more you're in it the more you see it and the more you're in it. Yes um so so as we as we sort of wrap up this part which is barriers to studying the word I would just encourage people to ask the Lord to show you why you don't carve out that time to be with him daily. You know what is it that's preventing you and and if if you don't know what to do about it or if you just don't want to do something about it enough to do that. And that's the kind of thing we're just going to ask you to pray over this week even before we get into some techniques for it as well.

SPEAKER_00

Finally and I know we're a little short on those are right I mean those are different questions right they are do you right do you want to you just don't know what to do yeah right or do you really in your heart of hearts not want to do it enough to make it change? Yeah right do you not think you need it enough otherwise why would you not if the God of the universe is going to make himself available to you why would you not take advantage of that?

SPEAKER_01

Right. And I mean if we're and we get we're talking to fellow believers here. So this is just this is just getting real about it. But if but if the answer to the question is that as much as I would never say this out loud and I may consciously think it but somewhere on some level if the answer is I must not believe that I need it as much as I need other things then I just want to encourage you as a just as a as a brother in Christ in the most loving way I know possible I just want to encourage you to to take that to the Lord and repent because that is not true. It's a lie that that um that you have been fed and and I I want to encourage you as a follower of Christ to just be honest with the Lord about that and confess it to him and ask him to cleanse you of that that's that's something that I have had to do and and I and I wish I could tell you that I don't think I'll ever have to do it again. But unfortunately the same sins keep creeping back in but I would just say confess it to the Lord he is good and faithful to redeem that he'll redeem it. But we have to be honest with him about it. We have to be honest about what those barriers are.

SPEAKER_00

But you know if you feel like I do want to do this I just really don't know how to get started.

SPEAKER_01

Then let's work together on that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah we want to work together on that um and so that's really I think what we'll do with the next You know, with kind of the next four podcasts on this topic is just to introduce a different method for studying God's word that doesn't require any special tools or resources, just you and your Bible and and the things that the Holy Spirit shows you. But we'll walk through kind of one that is like two statements and a question or two questions and a statement, whichever way you like to do it. Um, we'll walk through kind of a technique of of how to do that and practice that together. Um, one that we borrowed from from our pastor David Platt um from one of his secret churches on studying the word that's called From Their Home to Our Home. And it's um kind of some questions to ask to kind of take those biblical truths and things that you're reading in scripture and kind of learn how to transfer them to eternal truths and apply them to today. Um, another one we we also borrowed from um David Platt um is um something he called gospel threads, which is actually a method for sharing the gospel. Um, but I have found it also to be a really helpful way to study the word.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um so just kind of those questions to ask. And so we'll kind of walk through how to use the gospel threads as a as a Bible study method. Um, and then just some narratives, you know. I'm a good communication teacher. And so um, we talk about narratives and and the key things that all stories have. And so um just using some of those story questions to um learn how to kind of study narratives in scripture.

SPEAKER_01

So what you're gonna find, I think, is that these different techniques, these different methods, some of them are more or less uh uh useful with different kinds of literature in scripture, with different types of things. Some are gonna be more or or less useful to you just because of you. Just there's certain things that you're gonna find more useful to you. And so we want to, we want to practice multiple tools for Bibles. They're simple tools, they're not complicated, but multiple tools, multiple methods together. So when when Rachel says that we're talking about over the next four podcasts, she's talking about the next four, basically four weeks. So each of these is a week where you, you know, you can do it over whatever period of time you want to, but but there are there's going to be an overview of the method, an overview of the technique, and then six days of application. So there'll be a whole passage of scripture where we break it into six sections, and each of those sections you apply the technique, and then we will come together and talk about, and we'll do the study with you, we'll come together and talk about our application of that technique and where we got with it. And the goal of all of these in every case is to get to a place where every method ends with timeless truths and application. And just talk briefly about what a timeless truth is and then what application means. Uh Rachel, what do we mean when we say a timeless truth that we're trying to find in scripture?

SPEAKER_00

I think a timeless truth is um right. The purpose or or one the primary purpose of studying the word is so that we see the glory of God. Right. And understanding who God is, his nature, his character, his purposes, his will, his just his glory. That we his his glory is all over his word. And so each time you you enter a passage of scripture is just at the end to stop and say, How does this show me something that is true about God? Right? That's true about what he says about himself or what he says is true about me as a man or as a woman. What does he say is true about this situation, right? So And always true. And always true.

SPEAKER_01

So even though the story might have written been written 4,000, 5,000 years ago, there's something true in that story that will always be true, just as true today as it was then. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And we can Because it's true because it's rooted in the character and nature of God.

SPEAKER_01

Which is never changing.

SPEAKER_00

Which never changes. And so it the chal like kind of the challenge in each of these methods is to find that, right? To find what does this passage show you about the glory of God and the the truth of his character and nature that never changes. And then to say, okay, then if that is true, what does that mean for me?

SPEAKER_01

That's application.

SPEAKER_00

And that's the application, right? Because if we're not able to connect those dots to how I'm living and where I'm living and and what I do with it, then we don't ever change. And so we have to connect those dots to say, if this is true, if that is the character of God, if that is his nature, what does that mean for me and how I'm living right now today?

SPEAKER_01

So if this thing is true and this thing is true for all, for all time always, it's generally something about the character of God or the simpleness of man or something, something that is always evident, always true. What will what will I change in my life? What changes need to be made in me in response to that truth? Like, what is it that needs to change in how I live or how I react or how I love or work or relate to others or any of those things? Like, what is it that needs to change in me in response to this thing that is always and forever going to be true?

SPEAKER_00

Right. And so that's, I think, our plan is um, you know, to to walk through the technique to give you some scriptures to to practice that with. Um, but iron sharpens iron. And so the goal is that you will work through those scriptures with that technique on your own. And then as iron sharpens iron, find a group to do that with. Um, you know, if you have a group. If you don't have a group, then come back and listen to the podcast. And Matt and I will kind of walk through that technique and what what we got out of that scripture using that technique. Um, but we don't want you to do that instead of working through it yourself. Like the whole goal is to work through this yourself and then find people in your life that you can do this with and create your own community. And if if that's a barrier, then come back and do it with us.

SPEAKER_01

And you might get tired of us saying this, but as we start each each one of these programs, we're gonna remind you if you haven't done it yet, don't listen. Stop, stop, and go back and do it. We'll still be here. We're recording it ahead of time. It'll be here as long as you need to be. But go back, do the do the work, try, wrestle with it. Even if it's clunky and clumsy and awkward or whatever else, just do it anyway, and then we'll walk through kind of what what we've done, and you'll see similarities in what you've experienced to what we've experienced, and you'll see some things that are different. And that's okay too. That's just fine because the Lord, the Lord doesn't give us all exactly the same thing. The the truths themselves are timeless and they are unchanging. His word is is is forever perfect and immutable, but the application can come in all kinds of different ways. I mean, how you act, you know, what how we respond to that, what the Lord's calling you to do is gonna be different than what he's calling me to do in response to the timeless truth of his word. And so it's okay and good that that can be different. It's all right. Um, so we're gonna even before we do that though, we're gonna ask you to spend the next few days, the next six days, if if you do this on a daily basis, and really commit some things to prayer. So there are um, there's a worksheet that will kind of walk through what you can do on day one, day two, three, four, five, and six. And uh, we're gonna do that day by day also. So we're not gonna uh gonna have to spend a lot of time with that today, but we we think it's really important to um before we even start practicing techniques, to prepare our heart. And so part of what we're gonna do is to go into God's word and and ask him to prepare our hearts uh to be to be prepared for and and do this this work that he's calling us to. So um, so that'll be the next next few episodes of this as well. Rachel, anything you want to leave the listeners with? I've really enjoyed the conversation today. Thank you for uh for just kind of doing a lot of the a lot of the prep work on this as well. It's been really helpful, I think, to be able to level set on some of this too. So any words of encouragement you'd have for anybody?

SPEAKER_00

Um commit commit this to prayer.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Right? Like you know that God wants you to be in his word. So ask him. Ask him to help you get in his word, ask him to help, you know, to reveal himself to you through his word. And pray for yourself, and then, you know, pray for others that that are are on this journey with you, that God would will just come alongside them and and help them get in his word because the purposes of God are clear and they're such benefit to you in your walk with the Lord for doing it.

SPEAKER_01

So we'll be praying for you as well. And I'm so grateful that you've uh that you've joined us for this and uh ask that you continue to just remain faithful in it, uh prayerfully seek the Lord and uh and just eagerly anticipate and await the remarkable things that He's preparing to do in your life as well. Um, hope you've enjoyed this time together. We're looking forward to walking through this journey with you on the Adding to Your Faith podcast. Uh Rachel, we'll be back again next time.

SPEAKER_02

All right.