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Is Your Bible Study Dead? How to Find Life Again... · How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're listening to the How to Faith a Life podcast, where we wrestle with questions on how to live a life of faith, from everything from books to Bible studies, even Bible study tips, this is your place to wrestle with the hard questions and dive deep into what scripture really says for the Christian walk.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you've subscribed to this podcast and your favorite podcast streaming services, review this podcast so other people can find it, and share with other believers who want to ask the hard questions.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, with all that said, let's begin.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hi friends, welcome back to the podcast.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all have often heard me say Jesus is everything we're searching for.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I've hit that drum over and over again, but I think a lot of people have I've seen comments or I've just kind of heard pushback of like, what does that actually mean, faith, for my life day to day?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so today I'm so excited.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: We have Jenny Allen.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: She's a Bible teacher, author, podcast host, and really a visionary leader.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: She's the founder of If Gathering and Gather 25, which just mobilizes the global church and she's devoted her life to disciple a generation, to see revival across the globe.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: She's written books I know y'all have heard of for New York Times bestsellers: The Lie You Don't Know You Believe, The Untangle Your Emotions, Find Your People, and Get Out of Your Head.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: She's inspired millions to experience freedom in Christ and connect with others.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so excited because she just came out with this new devotional.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yesterday it hit shelves.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: What I love about it is it's titled When Jesus is everything.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I always say, you know, Jesus is everything we're searching for, but I think a lot of us, you know, we're in the word, we're studying it super deeply, and then we kind of get burnt out and we don't really know what we're doing it for and the goal and aim of this.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so while I have literally not, I don't know if I've ever shared a devotional on my podcast before, this was one that I could not pass up because it really hits that heart pain point that I think so many people are feeling and struggling with of Jesus, what does this mean for my life?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, a couple months ago I was speaking at a church and they gave me a devotional and I set it in my water closet.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I know that's silly, but every time I'm in the restroom, then I open it up and I just read one little entry and it gives me that Kickstarter to continue my day, whether it's in addition to my Bible study or sermons I'm listening to or podcasts, it gets me resonating and interrupts my day with truth.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so as I was reading through this devotional, I was like, man, this is exactly what I need to share with my audience.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, Jenny, that was a long intro, sorry, but I'm so glad you're here.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: You feel like a kindred spirit.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: We we don't live far apart.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully this is the beginning of a friendship.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really grateful for everything you shared.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, Dallas Girls Unite.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I gotta ask you though, what really led to you the heart behind this?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why did you take that angle of Jesus being everything for the reader?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he is my best friend.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: When I go back to college, I had grown up in a Christian home and I knew a lot about God.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, I was probably had the appearance of, you know, really a strong Christian.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: But but in college, I just realized like I had a lot of other things I loved.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: I found the relationship with God that I had longed for.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I gave my life to God.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I really think that was around right before college is when I think I was saved, even though I'd grown up in a Christian home.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I just hadn't understood the gospel.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think I I believe, like a lot of people, that that being good and that doing the right things was the Christian life and meant I was a Christian.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I had no real relationship with God until that point.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: And when he became everything, it was wild, like, and it still is like how much gets solved all at once.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: I surrender to Jesus the things that I want to control, the things that I am scared to let go of, my comfort.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, at that point, it was like, Am I gonna get married?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Am I gonna have kids?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: And and just all of the things that I fear.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I I lay all of that down.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I there's such a peace in that.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's this, you know, call of scripture is that we would surrender and obey and that we would give him everything.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it it's just wild because that feels so hard, especially when you're young and you you God isn't tested in your life.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: It just feels so scary.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's probably going to take it all.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's probably going to, you know, we're probably gonna suffer.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're probably nothing's gonna work out.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then you give it and you go, Oh, okay, that that actually is lighter.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like I actually feel less anxiety, I feel more joy, I feel more peace.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not that everything works out, it's just that there's this, there's this realization that the world doesn't revolve around me, that it revolves around him, and that you want whatever he wants for you.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And even if that's hard.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I have gotten more at ease with life not working out, considering in my many, many years of being alive, not a day of it as it all worked out.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: I I've just gotten more at ease with like I walk with God, and in this world we have trouble, and I know it will be okay.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: I love how you put that because it's like, yeah, you're right.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Every single time I'm frustrated with my life not working out how I want it to, it's because I think that's something, right?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: But when Jesus is my everything, kind of puts everything else in its place.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's really rich.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta chew on that one.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: What did life look like before Jesus really became your everything?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about yesterday, you know?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's like this is daily, right?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not ever at a place where I, you know, I did that and now, you know, I trust God and that's how it's gonna go.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's like every day I have to resurrender my life.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think that's why this is so long.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's like 365 days.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's like this is a daily giving over, you know, and and it's it's both like guttural and and emotional and very practical that we have to give over things, right?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: So where I tend to pay attention to to know, like, okay, what am I holding on to?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because we can like verbalize the words, but then feel all this anxiety.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: And whenever I notice in myself anger or fear or worry, I can usually go to that feeling.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Why do I feel this way?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's usually because of a kid.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's the number one, most often, you know, causing me anxiety is just worried about a circumstance for one of my kids.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: It can be worried about circumstance at work.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: It can be worried about someone I love that is just continuing to make terrible choices.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: And how is that gonna impact me?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Everything ultimately comes back to how is it gonna impact me?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the fear.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, I'm I'm not gonna be comfortable.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Our family's not gonna be as close.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that you just forecast what you're really afraid of, and it usually has something to do with me.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: I've learned to value my emotions because they tell me so much about my heart, right?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I can tell you, I have surrendered everything.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: I surrendered everything when I was 17 years old.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: I remember the day.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: I surrendered everything when I was 30-something, reading Katie Davis' blog on my bathroom floor at 1 a.m.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I was so convicted.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: I surrendered everything.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: I s I can tell you the big moments that I said, God, I'm living for you.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: I I'll do anything you ask.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'll I'm in.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: I can tell you those moments.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: I remember them vividly, and they were big moments for me.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: And and they were catalytic in in a lot of my spiritual life.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: But I also can tell you that it is constant.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like and what an emotion can do is it can bring you back and go, wait, you you gave me that, but why are you so worried about it if you really are trusting me?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's a that's what anxiety, you know, you don't you don't want to live in it, you know.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Scripture tells us that we are people of love and and of faith and self-discipline.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not people that live in and are controlled by spirit fear, but when we notice it, it's a it's a gift to go, oh wait, maybe there's something I'm holding on to that I need to give up again.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Even just for a test case, in October 2nd, in your devotional, you give Psalm 19, verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing to the soul.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think all of us read that Bible verse and we're like, yeah, sure, the law of the Lord, the Torah, that's refreshing for my soul, definitely.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: But you say, like, let's be honest, sometimes reading the Bible feels like work.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Life is full, quiet time feels anything but quiet.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's like a checking the box and learning facts.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: But the word isn't homework, it's holy work.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Every page is a conversation with a living God, and you say, you don't have to come to it perfectly, come openly and honestly, sit with that verse and st until it starts to read you.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so just even unpacking that verse for us and challenging those inner beliefs and struggles that I think we've all had.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: We want to be in the word, we want to love it, but it does feel like checking a box sometimes.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And what do we do with that?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do we just live in that shame or do we take it to God and let scripture transform our desires?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's so simple, so quick.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: You give us a prayer to respond in faith.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that kind of like acknowledging those feelings but identifying how sin can distort them and taking them to God is like such a great daily practice to center on.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Is Jesus my everything?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you just do it so well.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: How do you personally build that sustainable practice of every single day calling out that sin or calling out that struggle and being like, nope, Jesus is gonna be my everything?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I would say desperation is a friend.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I I live in a I feel like I live in Narnia.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I'm in a place where I've been going on college campuses, I've been able to see God moving in all kinds of places.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Just like four days ago, no, three days ago, this weekend, I was in Dallas at my home church at a young adult conference, and I watched people confess sin for an hour, like just out loud.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: So powerful, every type of sin.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like my life is is I'm on the front row watching God move in the most wild ways right now.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And there is warfare all around me.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I cannot tell you how much we've been through in the last year, and even today, like some of the fires that I'm putting out and and just the difficulty that is everywhere in my life.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm so blessed.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I I live on the front lines, I see God moving in a powerful way on earth.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so deeply encouraged that people are coming to Jesus, that that there is a Holy Spirit movement right now on earth that is calling people to himself.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's so exciting and into repentance and all of the things.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Life is really hard.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: We are walking through some things that like I could weep right now of just the difficulties that we're facing in our personal life.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And and so I just I feel like I have nothing, nothing to give, like the places I'm called to serve, and no way to get through the day without Jesus.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I I feel desperate.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I think all of us want the days where it's like, what are we gonna do today?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: And like put on a cute outfit and walk out the door and like I think I'm gonna go get a Starbucks and like take a long walk through Target.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like that sounds great.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: But a lot of days it's like fighting for our lives, right?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's like there's really, it's like the yeah, we're going about the day and we might get a Starbucks and we might get to walk through Target, but all the while we're like thinking, ruminating on something that's so hard in our lives, or or picking up, you know, getting a phone call that just uh just makes you feel sick because you were left out of something, or there was something that you found out about your family member that that you wish.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I have a friend right now.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: I just right before I got on, I'm praying for a friend that that is going into surgery and and yesterday was supposed to be on a beach vacation and gets a call that's just to immediately go in and get brain surgery.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay, how do we how do we practically do this?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think we are at war in our minds, we are at war in our circumstances, we are at war in the the realm of ministry and everything that God's called us to do.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: And if we don't like center our heart on Jesus and surrender everything, and I don't even mean in the morning.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean yes in the morning and yes at 10 a.m.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: and yes at noon and yes again when that call comes and yes again when that sick feeling in my stomach comes up, and yes again when I can't control a kid and I see them wandering, and yes again when that work person is upset with you.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's like and yes again, you know?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just to me it's it's truly required.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, it's not required out of obligation, it's required out of I'm not gonna make it.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm not gonna make it, and I'm for sure not gonna make it with a stable and sane mind and a sober mind.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna make it with a with love for the people around me.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: I I'll be irritable.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like I just I'm not gonna make it.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so yeah, I just think it is um, I can't, I yeah, I don't have another answer.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: I can't make it.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Praise over it though.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's uh almost a blessing to see just how much you need him and how much you don't have in yourself.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I think in those moments we're like, oh, I'd love for it to be a nice day where I do feel like I can pull myself up by my bootstraps.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, no, that's it.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Those days, I I don't take lightly the time I have here.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm urgent.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: And and so my days are full of good and hard things.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I I don't think I'm alone.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think you're probably the same way.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just yeah, and I'm happy.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's not like I'm sad.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: I have so much joy.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: There's I'll tell you this like the title, and you say the words all the time.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're like-minded.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: I I feel like today, if I told if I could, I mean, I 99% of the hard things in my life I can't write about, I can't share, uh because they they have to do with other people, right?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I can't, I can't rat out my kid, I can't tell you about my family member that it's uh causing all kinds of havoc.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: I I can't, I just wouldn't be right.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: So the things that are causing me, like if I were to name them all right now, everybody would be like, oh my gosh.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I can tell you that I'm I'm really happy today.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: And last night I was with my girlfriends and we had a great night.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I think I can live well, I think one of the greatest gifts in my life of giving everything to Jesus is I don't have to control people.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Life changing.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness, life changing.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even have to control my kids.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't I can find joy while people unravel around me.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: I can still I can be steady.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: I remember I told one of my kids this.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: I said, listen, you can ruin your life.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: We are going to have a good life and we love you, but you're not gonna ruin our lives because we are right with God and we are walking with God, and we want it for you, but we can't choose it for you.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: So if you choose it, great.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's gonna bring me joy and delight.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: But if you don't choose it, I'm still gonna have joy and delight in my life.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that was freeing for him.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think he was like, that woke him up.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I can't ruin your life.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think I think he kind of wanted that kind of power, you know?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And now I have to fight for that to be true like every day, right?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like I have to give him over to God.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: But um, today, today's a good day.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: He's walking with Jesus.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: But but you know, that that I think that's that's the power of like God holding my son, God holding my life and heart, God holding all of our future.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm just not, I'm not gonna, I can worry, I can fret, I can grieve, I can, I can be sad, I can even be angry, I can feel all those things.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: Certainly, God did, you know, Jesus did.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit's greeted.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: I we we see emotion all over the the Trinity, but Genesis to Revelation.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: However, those things can be true and I can find joy.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Those things can be true and I can have peace and I can have faith, not be obsessed, and not ruminate and like not check my phone to make sure he's okay.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like I can I can be okay.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's the hard part though, is being like, okay, yep, that's true.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: I might feel this way, but I can still have faith or I can still, yeah, not remember.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's why you just need God every minute, right?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh I'm laying it down again, picking it up, I'm laying it down.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Hi friends, I'm gonna hijack my own podcast really quickly to give a shout out to this sponsor, which is honestly many of you guys.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: This entire ministry is sourced by you guys, funded by y'all.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: I have a Patreon page, which is just a crowdfunding website where everyday people like you guys join me in super in-depth studies.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: So while you might know me from podcasts or YouTube or maybe even my silly Instagram or TikToks, the majority of my time I actually spend on Patreon studies.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's where we get to go super in-depth.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of being controlled by algorithms, it's just content for the people and with the people.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so I love it.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's honestly the best.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: We just started small groups, which has been really cool.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: We're finishing up this four-year-long series, going through the Psalms super in depth every single week.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that will just live there on Patreon.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: And they get to like rewatch them and go back through them if they want to.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if you join today, we'll be there.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: And we're starting a new one through the parables.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then every year we have a whole other series that we're going through.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I share vlogs and things going on in my life.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's really just the means by which this super public online ministry with a lot of people can be made a lot more intimate, one-on-one, and we can just go so much deeper.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: So if you like the stuff I come out with and you want to do more in-depth Bible studies with me, and honestly, just find a community of fellow like-minded believers that truly want to geek out on that Greek or Hebrew word, then Patreon's the place for you.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's patreon.com forward slash how to faith a life, literally the name of this podcast.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, there's a million and one different studies, and they'll all just live there for years to come.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, to get the best bang for your buck, join the top tier and you get free stickers every single month, as well as access to all the things.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to see you there.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure to mention in the chat that you came from the podcast.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of, let's get back to the podcast.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Again, not to like keep just hammering down, but I do think this is one of those devotionals that's a good asset for exactly that.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like stick it in your cubicle for your lunch book, read it out of red light, or you know, in those little micro moments is what I often call them.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, Jesus, please meet me here.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I may not be doing like a verse map or a word study or like exegetically going through a person a passage, but I can do that later.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, I just need Jesus in this moment because mommy's gonna pop off on the red light.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Mommy's gonna like lose her mind.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a little bite.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm like you, girl.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a deep Bible study girl.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I love I love the word of God.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: I love my commentaries, I love tearing it, tearing it all apart.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then sometimes it's like you're you just need that like hit, you know.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I just need to know I'm gonna make it today in this moment.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And for yeah, yeah, to be easily applicable and practical.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think you do a good job of those things because I want to.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I think of all the young mamas, like I think about when when I was with toddlers and babies and not sleeping and all that, and I I used to think like I need to have my quiet time, I need to look the exact same as it did.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there was grace for I hadn't been sleeping.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like there was there was a grace in sleep.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, go back to sleep.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you need to probably do that.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so hopefully this like just fills in some gaps for people where it's like I'm going through it.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think of my friends that, you know, when they are going through suffering, which I've been in the same place, and I cannot do anything.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I can't get out of bed, I can't, I can't think about reading my Bible.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like hopefully this also serves in in those times where it's just, I just need something.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: I need something right now.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so how do you do this?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: You talked earlier about like not ruminating on your phone.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: How do you do this daily rhythm in an age where we're like super distracted with our phones and social media and performance and checking the box?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we have to realize there's, you know, the this idea that our attention is being paid for by companies and that there are there there is a whole industry, industries that exist to capture our attention so that they can sell things to us.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think we need to take that really seriously.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: That the greatest gift we have to give anyone, including the Lord, is our attention.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: And and so this is the highest, it's the highest commodity, it is for sure the highest commodity on earth right now.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like it people are paying the most money for our attention.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so, okay, so you know those facts.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Then you take have to take seriously, like, okay, then what I still have power to choose what to give it to.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like I can still decide where my attention is going.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care how much money someone is paying to get my attention, I get to decide every day until I pick up the most addictive substance on earth.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then they are deciding it for us.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, my my daughter went on a date last night with a guy.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: I should have loved me talking about this publicly.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she called me this morning and she was like, you know, mom, he has one minute um screen times on every social media app or addictive app.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Okay, boy, like I kind of like him.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know anything about his faith.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm guessing it's strong because she wouldn't even go on one date with a boy that wasn't.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm like, I'm convicted more.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: I have screen times on lots of things on my phone, but I'm like, not one minute.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm like, that that that's all like that's how it should be is like, okay, I am not giving my mind to this.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: And and we need to set it up for ourselves the way we set it up for our kids.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we need to be vicious about what we give our mind to.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: So getting with Jesus is one thing because the enemy also opposes that.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to realize any time you go to spend time with God, like we were talking earlier about how it becomes a chore.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because he wants to diminish what's at stake.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: He wants to diminish the relationship that we are having and why we're meeting with God.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like he wants all of that to become head knowledge.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because if that can all become head knowledge, it means very little to us.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: We can judge other people with it, we can read something intellectually but never let it change us.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: We can experience the word of God and never experience God.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's you know, the Pharisees were great at the Torah, like they understood the word of God that existed at that point.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so he calls them the sons of Satan.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like so, so the word of God in itself is you can read it and be demonic.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like the demons know the word of God.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that's not it.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, oh, you gotta realize like our attention is that is is being warred for our relationship with God and our purpose and why.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're supposed to it's being warred for by so the world is warring, the the enemy is warring, and then of course our selfishness, laziness.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think when you look at it that way, it's like, of course, it's hard to spend time with God.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Why do I not want to meet with God?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, there's good reasons, like there's there's an assault on that because nothing changes us more than intimacy with Jesus, right?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: So abiding.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, remember, like, this is what we do.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: John 15, we abide with God.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: And one way we do that is the word of God.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: One way we do that is prayer.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, one thing I'll do if things get where I would say they are monotonous, or I'm just reading and I'm checked out and I'm just going through the motions.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mix things up many times where I'll just go to a park nearby and I'll lay in the grass and I will look at the sky and I will talk to God for an hour.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like I will, I will choose something that is different to awaken parts of me that I think get numb or go to sleep.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we're all that way.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: And if I did that for every day for, you know, a few months, I think that would probably I'd be like, eh.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is you know, so I think it's okay to just go, what what awakens your soul to God?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: What what helps you remember he loves you, what helps you remember how good he is.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's really truly endless, an endless list in that.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hosanna Wong, she wrote Uncomplicated, kind of simple.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love that book.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like we need to be given that grace to go, Lord, I'm struggling right now.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: I do not want to open up Nahum One and read wrath literature.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to sit with you, Jesus, and to have these entry points, like when Jesus is everything, to go, you know what, Lord, how do I wrestle with this honestly before you?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: And how do I marinate on your word and let it like change me from the inside out, just even one verse sometimes, just praying through it, reflecting on it.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you do a great job of not taking that one verse out of context like some other devotionals have at times.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: I worked hard on that.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, I think there were Well, and I'm so blessed because I got to go to seminary, right?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like I can't promise you that there's no verses in that whole 365 that aren't out of context, but that is that is valuable to me for sure.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes when we isolate only one Bible verse, our brain will start to take it out of context if we don't then go look at the context.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so you're good at like calling us to go look back at that Bible verse and go reflect more and calling us to action.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't end there, but it should propel us to action, to prayer, to worship, reflection.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that is what's really valuable, I think.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: So you do a good job of making the reader grow in hunger for Jesus, kind of like hunger more, open up more, feel less intimidated in their walk with Jesus.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say to the person that's like, all right, Jenny, but I don't know, I really feel like I could do 10 more push-ups and earn his love.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: I really do want to perform for him.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's easier for me in some ways than being vulnerable, than opening up and confessing.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say to them?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, first of all, yes, it is easier.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, it is better for our ego, and yes, it is feels good to do good things for other people and for God.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not all bad, but it it never feels good long, right?
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: When it it's like I remember I was at mono in college and I had to miss summer camp.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I was so sad because I had so many friends there, and all my friends were working there, and I was at home in bed.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like I just I I just hung out with my mom and we cooked together, and I decided I would write everyone a letter at camp that was there without me.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I had been feeling so sorry for myself, and I wrote all of them these sweet letters about how wonderful they are and encouraged them and all this stuff.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I finished that last letter and I was like, I'm so proud of my that feels so good.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like I remember saying out loud, like, I'm so proud of myself.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I did that, like that was amazing.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: And my mom was like, Yeah, it sounds like you did that more for you than for them.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I did do that for myself.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: I am lonely, I am, I need them to remember me out there, you know.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think I think it's okay.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, and still I wrote them letters and they felt left by it.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: And how shallow life would be if that was the only motivation, right?
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, I just believe in the Holy Spirit and his work in our lives.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: Because if we just read the Bible and try to do everything it says, we're not one, he made it impossible.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if y'all notice that when you read your Bibles, but like he literally made it impossible.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, you know, don't murder, but also never, never hate someone.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay, I will never hate someone.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's impossible.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so he really did.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: He just made it like, here's the bar, here's the moral bar, and then it's like, and here's the moral bar in infinity, and you'll never do it.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think why he did that was so that we could be like accept and accept that we need him.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh gosh, if you want me never to hate someone, never to be jealous of someone, yeah, don't don't envy or covet your your neighbor's wife, but also don't ever envy or covet anything.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh no, I don't know how to do that.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: So so then it's like, okay, I can't do it.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Comforting, terrifying, you know, I don't know, which and then it's like, okay, but but God, what do you want?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, I want you to walk with me.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let me boil it down.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna love me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna love other people really well.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'm gonna take care of the rest.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, as you love me, as you love other people, you're gonna get sanctified.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's called in the Bible.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or I don't know, did it ever say that, or just that our own theological word?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's our own theological word that we have put on our process of becoming more like Jesus.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, unfortunately, that takes a long time.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you accept these things, as like I'm in process just like my kids are, just like the insane college students that I talk to that I'm like, okay, you're in witchcraft and you've had an abortion.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, like, okay, first day with Jesus, let's go.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm just like her.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm coming out of I'm not coming out of witchcraft, but I'm coming out of selfishness and self-obsession, and I'm coming out of fear, and I'm coming.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're all, we're all just and I think, I think as I've gone, humility has grown.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, I'm not that great.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not, I I I'm really selfish, and I I have my heart and motives aren't that pure.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I I know that and I know where to go with that.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that they don't have to be, and that I can go to Jesus with it again and again.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's just I don't know.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: There's something really fun about that kind of walk where you just go, okay, Lord, like I am doing good works and it feels empty, and I don't know why.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: Will you help me?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: And he does, and he shows up, you know.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: What do you what do you feel, Faith?
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, welcoming him into even the things you don't even feel like you can say out loud of I'm doing what you told me to do, and it feels empty, Lord.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like he's that's where he shows up biggest sometimes for me.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so good, Jenny.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, guys, when Jesus' everything launched yesterday, so go check it out.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: Everywhere books are sold.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: You can find Jenny.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: Where can everybody find you?
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, everywhere on the internet.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, jennyallen.com has every link to everything.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: So J-E-N-N-I-E Allen.com.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for coming on the pod.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, thank you for having me.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: I feel honored.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: I love what you're doing.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, and all of you out there that are like loving your Bibles and loving Jesus and doing your best to serve him, like, yes, like this is beautiful work.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: And and so I just want to cheer you on.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think um, I think we can be so discouraged at where we are and feel like we haven't arrived yet.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I I hope and pray that that there's refreshment in your bones that you feel like, you know, God loves me, he's walking with me, and like I I want to please him.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's really delightful to God.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: That it that that is enough.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like that is really delightful to God.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: You've been listening to the How to Faith Life podcast with your girl, Faith Wilmack.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: During seasons, episodes go up every Wednesday, and they're found everywhere podcasts are posted.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: I personally love Spotify.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure to hit subscribe and leave a review that really helps other people to find it.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if you want to hang out with me and do in-depth Bible studies, like I talked about earlier, you're gonna wanna find me on Patreon.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I spend most of my time teaching with weekly Bible studies, longer form teaching, behind the scenes content, and honestly, just a great community of awesome believers who love God's word and want to go deeper.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's patreon.com forward slash how to faith the life and Faith Womac everywhere else online.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: Bye guys.