Two prayer jokes and where the word 'devil' comes from
- Where does the word 'devil' come from?
Before advice, the hosts allow two prayer jokes, addressed to Mike. Johnny the five-year-old prays daily for a baby brother, quits after a month of skepticism — his mother comes home with twins: 'aren't you glad I quit when I did?' ('could have been seven kids, Mike'). Then the Christian lady whose atheist neighbor anonymously supplies her groceries: 'I knew the Lord would provide me with some groceries, but I didn't know he was gonna make the devil pay for them.' The joke sparks an etymology detour: 'devil' is a translation word — diabolos means accuser/slanderer, as does 'hosatan' — not a proper name; they cite 'your enemy of the devil' (1 Peter 5) and 'give no opportunity to the devil' (Ephesians 4:27).
More on Prayer
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'When God is silent': what counts as hearing from the Lord?
- What does it mean to 'hear from the Lord,' and how often should we expect it?
Mike brings a question from his Bible study, whose paragraph heading was 'when God is silent': the author wrote that he experienced God's silence for a couple of weeks and freaked out, and Ben expected a relatable years-long drought story — 'Oh, two weeks.
From No. 603 · Found Out
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'What would I fight God on?': buildings, pews, and the zero-fruit youth group
- What would I fight God on — and would my heart go along with following him?
Ben shares what he ran into in the last couple weeks: 'what would I fight God on even if I knew it was him?'
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Is modern Christianity biased toward a personality type?
- Is modern Christianity (its sermons and worship music) biased toward a certain personality type?
A host asks whether what churches teach, focus on, and sing is biased toward a certain personality type — prompted by emotive worship lyrics (the 'sloppy wet kiss' line in a…
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Should following Jesus feel more comfortable as time goes on?
- Should following Jesus feel more comfortable as time goes on?
A host asks whether following Jesus should feel more comfortable as time goes on — noting the low-level tension many feel around am-I-doing-enough and the stigma that contentment equals laziness.