Latest / Intentional Guy / I Believe, Help My Unbelief
Transcript
- Michael Chestnut: Twenty years ago, my world fell apart. And for the longest time after that, I could not pray. Not would not. Could not. I would sit down to do it, and nothing came out. And I knew the words. I was a pastor's kid. I had been praying the right thing in the right room since I was old enough to sit still in one. I had all of it in my head, and none of it would come out of my mouth. And you know what I did about it? Absolutely nothing. I did not tell anybody. I kept showing up. I said amen when another man prayed. I let every person in my life go on believing I was fine. If that's you today, sitting there running on fumes and letting everyone believe you are fine, well then stay with me today, because this episode is for you. Here is what I've learned sitting across the table from men for the last several years. Men do not usually walk away from God. We go quietly. There is no blow up. There's no big night where you shake your fist at the sky and slam the door. It's much quieter than that. And it is a lot more dangerous than that too. You just stop asking them for things. You are still in your seat on Sunday, you're still praying over your supper. You are still the man in the house who is supposed to have the answers and you still give it. But somewhere back there, you quit bringing him anything that actually mattered to you because you are not sure it works. And you are definitely not saying that out loud. That is not doubt with a bullhorn. That is doubt with good manners. And it will sit in a man for years. I want to be careful here because I'm not standing over anybody on this. Nobody taught us differently. We learned that a man of God is the one with the answers. So the day you do not have the answers, you assume you are the problem. And you go find a corner and handle it by yourself. That is not rebellion. That is what we were shown. I talked with a man about this yesterday on the show. Paul Granger. He hosts the Where Did You See God podcast. He serves with YWAM in Richmond. And he has been a full-time volunteer ministry since 2018 with a wife and kid and no traditional paycheck. He has written two dozen books. And he sat there and told me he came to the mic, sick and tired, not just his body, sick and tired down in his spirit. He told me that even doing all the things he has, he still has moments where he does not believe God has his back. A man who has given his whole life to God said that to me out loud. If that is where he is, then you can stop believing the version of this where you are the only one. Go listen to that conversation. It aired yesterday, and the link is in the description. Paul pointed me to Mark 9, and I've not been able to put it down since. A father brings his son to Jesus. His boy has been suffering since childhood, and this man cannot fix it. He has tried. He went to the disciples first, the professionals, the guys who were supposed to know how, and they could not do anything either. An argument breaks out over it. So now he is standing there out of options with a crowd watching. And he says to Jesus, If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. If you can, Jesus comes right back at him. If you can, everything is possible for one who believes. And here's a verse, Mark 9:24. The Father cries out, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief. He said both things in the same breath. I believe. And I do not. but look what he did not do. He did not take his son and go home. He stayed right there in front of Jesus with his questions still in his hands. That is the turn for me. And it cost me something to get there. When I was finally able to start praying again, I did not come back with a good prayer. I came back. With the only honest one I had, I asked God to make his desires mine, because I had already proved I could not manage my own. I could not even control what I wanted. So I quit trying to bring him a cleaned up version of me. But before any of that, I had to say the true sentence out loud to another man. I had to tell him I did not know if this was working. I want you to understand what that felt like. It felt like failing. It felt like handing someone proof that I was not the man I had been acting like. Every part of me said, keep it in. That was the beginning of 15 years of restoration, not the end of it. The beginning of it. What changed is that I stopped waiting to feel it before I moved? Three things you can do this week. Say the true sentence out loud to one man. Not the group, one man. It sounds like this. I'm still showing up, but I've not really talked to God in a long time. That is the whole sentence. You do not need to explain it. and if you've been around the show for a while, you have already noticed that I say some version of this every single time. Almost every challenge I give you, almost every step I lay out comes back around to getting with another man. Tell somebody, get in a room, have the coffee. I do not say it because I need something to fill the space. I say it because it is one of the best things you can ever do for yourself. And that is true whether you are in the worst stretch of your life or the best one. God did not build us to handle this alone. He built us to need each other. That is not weakness in you. That is the design. two, ask God for one specific thing you quit asking for. The one you gave up. Say it out loud with the specifics in it. Three, keep your feet where they are. The Father in Mark nine did not have certainty. He had position. He was still standing in front of Jesus. Some weeks that is the entire win. And it counts. So here's my challenge. Before this week is out, tell one man the true sentence. Today, if you can. And if you cannot think of a single man you can say it to, that right there is the thing God is putting his finger on. And you need to go get in a room with some men. Maybe a small group at church, a devotional, something where you can surround yourself with some godly men. And if today hits you, Don't sit there alone. Find a celebrate recovery near you. It's worked wonderful for me. Today, drop the word still in the comment so I know you were here today. Just still. You do not have to say anything else, and I will know what it means. And go watch yesterday's conversation with Paul Granger. It is the other half of this. Search the Intentional Guy podcast to find us wherever you listen. Let's get coffee. Let me be your brother. Let me walk beside you. And until next time. Just keep being intentional.