Prayer
574 conversations where the hosts get into prayer.
574 conversations
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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.
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Discerning impressions: the exact phrase, obedience, and daily decisions
- Did God give you the exact phrase?
Mike shares a fifteen-year-old unresolved memory of someone saying "God told me," then frames the practical question: "did God give you the exact phrase?"
From No. 593 · Do You Hear What I Hear
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"Fall like rain": does inviting the Spirit imply he is absent?
- Does asking the Holy Spirit to "come" into an event misunderstand our relationship to the Spirit?
Ben raises his second question: prayers and worship songs that ask the Holy Spirit to "fall like rain" and "come into this place" sound like an invitation to someone not yet there, when the Spirit is indwelt the moment you acknowledge Jesus as king.
From No. 580 · Not Sure | Old Testament Law, Holy Spirit Guidance, Christian Discernment
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Maintaining hope for people who won't choose Jesus
- How do you maintain hope for someone who keeps rejecting Jesus when God won't override their free will?
The episode's centerpiece: Mike's pre-show question about how to maintain hope for people who reject Christ when God won't override their free will.
From No. 579 · Wanted: Paul and Hope | Paul’s Persecution of Christians and Radical Redemption
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Ask the Pastor: Jacob's sticks and the speckled flocks
- How did Jacob's sticks change the appearance of the flocks in Genesis 30?
Boova's second Genesis 30 question: how did Jacob's peeled poplar sticks change the flocks' coats? The hosts land on the sticks as a physical prayer-like act — poplar sticks cannot breed speckled sheep, so the visible mechanism lets everyone see Yahweh acting.
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Feeling spiritually meh: causes, experiences, and ways through
- Have you ever felt spiritually meh, what does it feel like, and how do you get out of it?
The main discussion: what it means to feel "spiritually meh" — not rebelling against God, but not wanting to do the prayer, Bible reading, and other connecting practices you know are good.
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Ramadan and the cultural behaviors of Christianity
- What are the cultural behaviors of Christianity that can be kept without actually having a relationship with Jesus?
Ben asks what the cultural behaviors of Christianity are that can be kept without actually having a relationship with Jesus, prompted by a Ramadan display at a halal grocery after a daddy-daughter date.
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How do you know what's trustworthy? Dan, Mike, and Boova answer
- How do you know which supplemental Bible resources are trustworthy?
Ben asks each host in turn — 'Dan, Mike, Boova in that order' — how they vet supplemental material. Dan describes a 'sniff test' built on forty years of reading: checking a teacher's kingdom view, past errors like his early enthusiasm for Rob Bell, and the publisher.
From No. 541 · Why Not The Second Heaven
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Is it wrong to pray distracted?
- Is it wrong to pray distracted — with music, while driving, or while doing chores — instead of in focused silent prayer?
Boova asks his 'is this wrong?' question: he finds focused, silent prayer difficult — possibly ADHD — and defaults to praying with music on, while driving, or while doing dishes so his hands stay busy.
From No. 524 · Handshakes and Wrongness
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Dear LFTP: the difficult apartment neighbor
- How do I politely but firmly set boundaries with a difficult neighbor?
Mike reads the 'doormat' letter: a lonely, miserable neighbor demands rides, walks into the apartment uninvited, and fumes when the writer goes to the store without her.
From No. 507 · What’s in a Name
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Bear Grylls' church critique, prayer, and discipleship
- Is Bear Grylls right that Jesus would struggle with 99% of churches, and would you stay if the production were stripped away?
- How do you practice real one-on-one discipleship instead of relying on church programs?
The hosts discuss Bear Grylls' Christian Post interview: he is unabashedly open about his faith but says Jesus would struggle with 99% of churches today, urging people to stay…
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Hard question: can you follow Jesus and be an unpredictable wild man?
- Can you follow Jesus and be an unpredictable wild man?
Mike poses the hard question: can you follow Jesus and be an unpredictable wild man? He frames it through spiritual disciplines: the regimented 5:30 a.m.
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Dear LFTP: eighth-grader with no friends
- How can a parent help an eighth-grader who has no friends at school?
A Dear LFTP letter: the writer's daughter is in eighth grade at a small private school with no friends, and the parents' promise that high school will be easier isn't landing.
From No. 477 · Shofar, Shogood
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Spiritual disciplines: how to start without bailing by day three
- If you wanted to start a spiritual discipline, what should the first weeks look like?
The hosts get practical about starting prayer, fasting, Scripture reading, and meditation from zero.
From No. 472 · Sometimes We Read Stuff
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Combating spiritual-authority abuse: friends, prayer, and responsibility vs. ownership
- Can spiritual authority be abused, and what do you do about it?
The hosts ask what to do when you suspect you're under abusive spiritual authority. Their counsel: get solid Christian friends outside that church to check your read, pray…
From No. 465 · Cults May Be Wonderful
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Parenting into the deep: Dan on sending kids out and Jesus reaching deeper
- How do you parent kids for a world that will deepen rather than flip their faith?
One host voices his fear of becoming a father who can't save his kids from the world. Dan answers at length: protect their innocence while age-appropriately acknowledging the…
From No. 465 · Cults May Be Wonderful
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The sheep's perspective: personal benchmarks
- How can a regular Jesus follower properly measure where they are putting their time?
A guest asks the layperson's version of the question: if he reads his Bible twenty minutes a day, seven days a week, is that good enough, and is it okay to measure that?
From No. 457 · House Church Trouble in Olympic China
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Is yoga spiritually dangerous for Christians?
- Is yoga spiritually dangerous for Christians?
A host notes that self-help books borrow the Sparta elements and that he prays during yoga, which raises the old objection that yoga is an eastern spiritual danger.
From No. 453 · Whispering Diesel
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Twelve stumbling blocks, part eight: triumphalism and authenticity
- In the New Testament do we see triumphant, conquest-style posturing in the spreading of the good news?
Numbers eleven and twelve: triumphalism — prayers about 'taking cities back for God' sound like conquest, and the hosts contrast 'we're gonna tear this town up for Jesus' with…
From No. 444 · Fake Persecution and Tripping Millennials
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The church at Sardis and what makes a church great
- How would you know if you were in a dead church?
A host who has been preaching through Revelation 2-3 raises the church at Sardis, which has a reputation of being alive but is dead, and wonders how anyone would know they were in a dead church.
From No. 442 · Christians Don’t Understand Christianity
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Hosts respond: boldness, the Fust household's encouragement struggle, and powers-and-principalities prayer
- What would a week look like if you went all in with bold faith?
The hosts respond to Boova's message, musing on what a week would look like if they went 'all in' with bold faith — the same mundane week, but with the fruit of the Spirit.
From No. 426 · Confidence in the Holy Spirit