Your Top 10 Questions About Christian Growth Answered | Season 03, Episode 10 | Simple Truth Podcast

Do you ever feel like you should be growing as a Christian, but you're not even sure if you're doing it right? A lot of Christians, they want a real relationship with God, but they don't know what that looks like day to day. So, they guess, they try things. They may even change churches. And over time, they may feel stuck, frustrated, and unsure if they're even getting closer to God. And this really matters because the Bible shows us that your or my relationship with God, it determines everything. your success, your peace, your purpose. And if you don't know how to develop a relationship with God, you won't experience all the blessings that he has for you. That's why in this season, season 3, we introduced the five disciplines for Christian growth. Simple biblical habits that help you or I grow closer to God consistently. In this final episode of season 3, we're putting it all together, and we're even answering your top 10 questions on Christian growth. That's right, the top 10 questions from our YouTube subscribers answered right here so we could all stop guessing and start growing with clarity and confidence. So, let's get into it in this episode of the Simple Truth. Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast, where we open the Bible to uncover simple, biblical, and essential truths that can transform your life. And now, here's your host, Ted Ross. Hi, my name is Ted Ross and this is the Simple Truth Podcast, your home for biblical truth clearly taught and freely given. Folks, we have reached the last episode of season 3 on how Christians grow. And in this episode, we are going to put it all together. We're going to wrap it all up and we're going to tackle your top 10 questions about Christian growth answered. So, why does this episode matter? Well, God designed you and I to grow and to succeed through a daily relationship with him. But too many Christians, they don't know how to do this. They want a relationship with God, but sometimes they lack clear direction on how to have that relationship. So they drift, they guess, they wander around in a spiritual wilderness. That's why we introduced five disciplines for Christian growth. These are simple biblical habits that build a real relationship with God because growth, it doesn't happen by accident. It's built intentionally. In this episode, we put the five disciplines together with practical advice and we answer your top 10 questions. So, let's get into it. Okay, your top 10 questions. We're starting off with question number one. Basically, it's a question on am I doing it right? Here's the question. How do I know I'm doing the five disciplines right? Will I feel different? That's a great question. First of all, the five disciplines, it's really just a term. It's a term for habits that are described in the Bible for getting closer to God. Those habits that are biblical are reading, meditation, fasting, prayer, and being led by the Holy Spirit. You're doing them right if you're doing them consistently, and if you're doing them sincerely, so you're doing them with the right heart. Here's a scripture from Galatians 6:9. By the way, all verses that are going to be quoted in this episode are from the New King James Version. quote, "Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Right? Paul is writing to the Galatian church and said, "Don't grow weary. Don't faint. Don't grow tired while you're doing good." In our example here, we're describing doing five good habits like reading the Bible out loud, fasting, praying, meditating on God's word, right? Being led by the Holy Spirit. For Paul said, "For in due season we shall reap, we shall harvest. If we do not lose heart, if we do not faint, if we don't quit early. Amen. God bless you. Okay, next item. Some things right in regards to this, it might feel different right away and some might take a while. Why? Because quite often spiritually, God is doing something inside of you that has yet to really show itself on the outside or on the outward. Growth often starts inside. Right? Here's a quote from Matthew 23:26 where Jesus said, "First cleanse the inside that the outside of them may be clean." Also, quite often growth and maturity and transformation, it starts inside of you. It starts in your soul and then it starts to manifest in outward behavior where both you and others start to see it on the outside. Remember, growth, it's not measured by feelings. Quite often, we'll say, "I'm not feeling it quite yet. Maybe I should go find something that makes me feel a certain way. That's not how God described your Christian growth. It's not going to be about feelings. That's just a part of your soul. It's called emotions. It should be measured by fruit. Right? It should be measured by results or outcomes. Jesus said this in John 15:8. By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit. So will you be my disciples. Remember, we've taught in previous episodes in season three about what fruit is, about these byproducts or these outcomes. You're going to know them by their fruit. You're going to know them, and you're being called to bear much fruit. Fruit or outcomes or results is how you should measure your Christian growth. Watch out for feelings. They can often get you in trouble. So, I recommend reach out to God sincerely and consistently. That's how you know growth is happening. Thank you for question number one everybody. The next question, question number two, it's this. How can I stay encouraged when I'm new to the five disciplines and I feel shy, insecure, and worried about judgment from others? Okay, that's a great question. First of all, don't be concerned. We all feel insecure, especially when we're doing something new. It's really a sign that you're growing. Our flesh, it resists change. When you're changing, when you're growing, when you're getting better, it's common to feel a level of discomfort. It's not going to be conviction. It's just going to be a level of discomfort specifically in your flesh, right? The five disciplines are also meant to be personal. So, they're mostly done in private. So, the reality is some of these five disciplines, they're really not things you should be doing in front of other people, and you won't have to worry about their judgment or about being insecure or shy regarding it. But some will. You may be at church and you're going to maybe lift your hands and praise and worship or you're going to pray in front of others. I remember as a young new Christian these things always maybe feel insecure, uncomfortable. It's not behavior that I was used to doing. So start simply and build. You don't need to have an audience. Let's give you a quote from Matthew 66. Here Jesus is saying when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut your door pray to your father who is in the secret place. Here's an example where Jesus is saying, "Listen, I'm not asking you to go out in public. I'm not asking you to pray like the hypocrites on the street corners and to be in front of others. When you pray, go into your room, find a private place, do it personally. Shut your door and pray to your father who is in the secret place." You're going to find with the five disciplines that quite often you're not going to need to do them in front of other people. And remember, this is another important point. your relationship with God. It's actually more important than people's opinions. There may be a time where you do do something in front of someone else. And you may feel a little insecure. You may feel a little shy. And you may feel a part of you that's a little nervous regarding it. But you know it's God. Your relationship with God, it's eternal. It's everlasting. And it's really, really important. And it's more important than people's opinions. Don't let people's opinions stop your spiritual growth. I'm going to repeat that. Do not let other people's opinion stop your spiritual growth. I'm going to quote from Galatians 1:10 where Paul says this, "Do I now persuade men or God, if I still pleased men, I wouldn't be a bondervant of Christ." Here Paul is saying that if I, Paul, were still trying to please people, if I cared about other people's opinions, if I were trying to do actions and behaviors to gain their approval, then I wouldn't be a servant of Christ. Amen. Hopefully that's inspiring to you. I understand what it's like to have peer pressure. I understand what it's like to feel that other people are watching you. But I also understand that people are usually not looking at you nearly as much as you think. And the enemy often uses that as an influence or a pressure to get you to not do what you know is right. And what I'm urging you to do, which I'm exhorting you to do, is to in your heart when you know something is right to do, go do it. Amen. Remind yourself, start small, focus on God, and ignore the haters. Okay. Question number three. How can I teach the five disciplines to my own children, especially at a young age so families can practice them together? What a great question because not only we talking about you doing it, but this subscriber said, "Wait a second. How do I get my family to do it?" Especially because I have young children at home. Well, what I have found the best way to teach the five disciplines to children is to show them in action, right, together as a family. Because often children learn what they see more than what they're told. I'm going to repeat that. Same with adults. To be honest, children often learn much more about what they see in their household than what they're told to go do. Remember that old expression, don't do as I do, do as I say. We know that's hypocritical, right? They don't want that. Let's quote you a scripture from Proverbs. Proverbs 22:6. It says train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. Let's zero in on train and train up here. It's to show it as a model right to train up is to instruct which would involve yes verbal teaching and talking to them but it includes showing them as a model and guiding them. So training up a child it includes demonstration of that in your own life and in the family. And so if you train a child by showing them the model of these five disciplines in the household, then when they get older, they won't depart from it. They'll see the benefit of they'll see the wisdom of it. And I guarantee you having children, I know what it's like when teenagers test it. But I could also attest to the fact that as difficult as it may be and at times where you're praying and you're seeking God and you're just hoping that your children that they get it, that they come to a revelation and understanding that God is faithful. And God is faithful not because you're great or I'm great or you did a great job. God is faithful because he's faithful to himself and to his word. And he will bless your children and he will bring them up in the way that they should go. Lord willing, they don't have to go the hard way to get to it. But even if they do, God bless them and God bless you. Start simple when it comes to young children especially. Be consistent. Use age appropriate activities. So depending on what their age is, they'll be in a different place. So the five disciplines will look slightly different depending how old they are. So let's take a look at these five disciplines. So remember we talked about reading the word of God out loud. So when it comes to doing it with young children, read a short verse, read it out loud together. Have them repeat it. Maybe they can't read. Maybe they're not old enough. So you'll repeat a few words. Have them repeat it back at you. Remember them being a part of this experience with you. First of all, they're going to love spending time with you. Secondly, it's going to start building inside of them. They're going to start to see and understand why you do it and why it's a benefit to them. And remember, God will bear witness by his spirit as they're reading God's word. It's not just words you're reading, folks. The spirit of God comes into the room and that child starts to experience and see something spiritual. This is way better than what they get at school. This is way better than what they can do when they visit McDonald's or whatever it is that they may be doing in a secular world. as they start to experience and engage with the spirit of God, they will become hooked. Amen. Secondly, meditate. How would you meditate? Well, you could read this short verse out loud. And then you could start asking them questions like, "What does this mean?" Right? How does this apply in your life? Have you seen this with other kids at school, let's say they're school age, or have you seen this with others, with your friends or with family members? You can get them to start to meditate and ponder on the verse that you just read. Third, pray a short prayer together. Right? Pray. Let them take turns. Let them be engaged and involved. Remember, this isn't about you doing something or you telling them to do something. This is about them engaging and being a part of it. So, you're doing it together as a family. Fourth, fasting. Remember, age appropriate fasting. Maybe they'll skip a snack, right? They're not going to starve. They're going to be okay. Maybe they'll skip a snack. But remember, you're going to want to reiterate why they're skipping a snack, right? This isn't punishment. They're skipping a snack because they're doing it for God. They're doing it to try to humble that flesh and to try to zero in and focus on God. Or remember when we talked about fasting, it would include doing good for others. Maybe there's an aunt who's lonely. Have them give that aunt a call. Maybe this age appropriate fast for them is to clean something up or to help take care of someone, to visit a neighbor, or to maybe call that aunt. So show them an act of service that could be a part of that fast which is highly age appropriate and it's a blessing to others. Fifth, teach them to listen for God's voice. How are they going to be led by the spirit of God? We have examples in the Bible of young people hearing God's voice quite clearly. So teach them first of all that they can hear God's voice. Secondly, they should learn to listen for God's voice and to try to become in tune with God's conviction. Am I doing something? Is it feeling wrong? That could be God's conviction. Take a step back. Don't do it. Am I doing something and I feel like it's the right thing to do? Maybe you might want to lean into that. These are things you can teach a child at a young age and it will be age appropriate for them. Remember the five disciplines, especially for children. It's not about perfection. We're not perfect people and we don't do perfect habits, but it's about building a relationship with God through those habits. That's what the five disciplines is all about. I want to get to know God more through reading my scriptures out loud. I want to get to know God more by meditating on his scriptures. I want to get to know God more by praying to God. Right? These are things that we teach and we do. It's not about the actions. It's about the outcome. The outcome is getting to know God more. Amen. So, let's take a moment. Remember how we got here before we continue on more questions. Remember how we got to episode 10 in season 3. It all started back in season two. In season 2 episode 1, you know, we talked about how it what it meant to be a Christian, right? We saw that Christians, they follow Jesus as their example and that Jesus is a pattern to be copied. In season 2, episodes 3 through 6, we saw that just as the Israelites were led into the wilderness, Jesus was led into the wilderness. And so Christians are also led into wilderness seasons. And we're done so as the scriptures describe in Deuteronomy to be humbled, to be tested, and to be transformed. Okay? But many Christians, they get stuck in the wilderness. It's frustrating. They're wandering and they're asking, "How do I get through this wilderness faster?" That's why season 3 is about how Christians grow. And it's focused on these five disciplines for Christian growth. because we wanted to reiterate five key habits that help you move through the wilderness and build a successful Christian life. By the way, this wasn't our original plan. We followed the Holy Spirit because originally we were going to go from season 2 into a very different season 3. But as we were teaching season 2, we felt very strongly convicted and moved by God's spirit. I believe we were clearly prompted to teach season 3 on how Christians grow. And so here we are submitting ourselves to the spirit of God and doing God's will. So the five disciplines are critical. So let's review and connect them together before we listen to some more of your questions. Okay. Five disciplines for Christian growth review. Okay. First of all, the original, the OG of them all, episode one, right? Christian success. What do we hear in there? Christian success. It comes from our relationship with God. We saw this in the Bible. God is the source of everything you're seeking in life, right? Whether it's peace or safety or provision or health or direction or fulfillment in life or a spouse. These things come from God. Therefore, you grow your relationship with God and you grow them through these daily disciplines, these daily habits. Right? Our goal is to have this atomlike relationship, a close personal daily relationship with God. That's what we were covering in episode one. And we saw that these five disciplines, reading, meditating, fasting, praying, and being led by the spirit, these are habits put in the Bible that allow us to build that atomlike relationship. Something that's close, something that's personal, something that's daily, something that's intimate. These five disciplines, they're habits that transform our soul over time. God connects us when we become born again. We are connected in the spirit, but we have a soul that's picked up all these bad habits throughout the course of our lifetime. And these five disciplines, they're habits that help us transform that soul to let us be closer to God. Because the problem we run into is when we have all these bad habits and all these bad thoughts and all these these bondages in our life, it keeps us at a distance from God. So these habits are there to help break down these bondages, to break down that distance so we could be even closer to God. Probably the best example of someone who was like this with God the Father is God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Bible says that he is our example, right? He's our pattern to follow. And you might say to yourself, how could I become Jesus? And the answer is one day at a time by reading your scriptures, by meditating on your scriptures, right? By fasting, by praying, by being led by the spirit. What we saw in season two is that Jesus was a man and Jesus humbled himself and Jesus submitted himself to the father. Amen. These are some powerful verses, folks. And if you haven't seen season two, I urge you strongly to check out season two after you get through this episode. So, these habits, they lead to spiritual transformation, right? But worldly distractions, all of our social media and our television and our comic books and you name it, whatever it may be, they just lead to stagnation. They just lead to despair. That's why there's so sadness, unfortunately, in the world. But these habits, even just a little bit every day, they lead to transformation. They awaken your spirit. They're like spiritual exercise where your spirit starts to feel strong and grow. Much like you can exercise your body, you can exercise your spirit and transform your soul. That's why these habits are really important. And it's not the habits themselves. It's that these habits bring you closer to God and you start getting built up in the spirit, which is a wonderful, wonderful thing. So, let's review each of these disciplines and then let's answer the questions you submitted, those top 10 questions about them when we get to it. So, first up, discipline number one. So, what is discipline number one? It's reading the word of God out loud. We saw this in season 3 episode 2. Remember what we saw there. Scripture, it's actually God breathed, right? It's designed to transform you. That's why we read it. And reading out loud, it uses the eyes, the mouth, and the ears. So, it has maximum impact on us. Christians should start with reading the New Testament and the Psalms because these scriptures, they give a very clear guidance for today. Right? The Old Testament is God inspired. It's God breathed for sure. But it often requires a deeper understanding to apply it. God's word, it acts like a fire. So it refineses, right? And it acts like a hammer. It reshapes. Remember where we saw that where that fire, it starts to burn and melt and then the hammer puts it into shape. And we saw this illustration regarding the blacksmith. We also saw that God's word, it's a lamp to our feet. So it's a a lamp to our journey and it's a light to our path. that actually lights the direction that we go. So, it's both a journey in the sense that we go from step to step using God's word and it's bringing us along to where God wants us to go, but it also is a light to a path. So, it's always keeping us specifically in the direction he wants us to do it. So, it's both an ongoing and a day-to-day. We even saw that faith grows by hearing the word of God in Romans 10:17. And we know how important faith is in your life and in your relationship. Reading also exposes our lives like a mirror inviting us to change. Remember with that saw that you should be a hearer and a doer because when you hear God's word, it puts you up to a mirror. And if you're a doer, then you're actually seeing yourself and you're making the change based on what God is showing you. But if you don't do those things, then it's like seeing who you are, walking away and forgetting everything about yourself. Amen. So, let's answer a question from one of our YouTube subscribers on discipline number one. So, question number four. What if I'm in a place where I can't read out loud, like a restaurant or at work? Should I just wait until later? Good question. Don't wait until later. Stay consistent. Even if the environment is not ideal, okay? If you can't read out loud, then in that case, read quietly, but stay engaged. Slow down. Think about what the meaning of it. Pay attention, right? You can still meditate on what you read quietly throughout the day. So as you read it, be sure to start to do the meditation part, the second discipline around it. In Joshua 18, we say, right, the book of the law, God's instructions, quote, shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night. So even if you're reading quietly and you may not get the benefit of coming out of your mouth and going into your ears, you can still get that benefit. And what I urge you to do is after you read it quietly and you pay attention and you look into the meaning of it that you start to meditate on it, too. So combine reading with meditating if you're doing it quietly. When you have the opportunity, feel free to go back and read out loud even later. And even if you can't speak it out loud because of your environment, you can still engage God's word, right? Get closer to God in your day, even if you're reading quietly if it may be. Great question. Question number five, how much of the Bible should I be reading every day? Right? How much is enough? Another great question. There's no set amount of how much you should be reading of the Bible. I know what happens sometimes. Sometimes we can get so busy and we can get so distracted and something's happening with our family or something's happening at work and we may find that we go a day not reading the Bible at all and that's not right. Or we may be somebody who's so zealous and so determined and maybe we're so legal that we're just reading tons of the Bible every day and we may think we're something for doing it and that's not right either. It's really important to be spiritled. There going to be some times in your life where you need to read the Bible more than others. I hardly recommend you read it every day, but there's going to be some times where you feel like you're going to need to read it quite a bit just to be strengthened and sustained because God is doing a work inside of you. That fire, you need that fire and you need that hammer, so to speak, right? So, start with what you can do consistently and focus on quality over quantity. Okay? What do I mean by that? It's better to read a little daily than to read a lot occasionally. Here's a quote from 1 Timothy 4:13. It says, "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." To give attention is to devote yourself. So Paul said, "Till I come, Timothy, devote yourself to reading, to reading God's word." And I don't know about you, but when I think about devoting oneself, that sounds like it's an everyday type of affair. Okay. Also, start with a consistent daily rhythm. Maybe it's 10 to 20 minutes a day. Maybe you do it in the morning. Maybe you do it during lunch hour. Maybe you do it during the evening. But get into something that you could do every day. Because remember, this isn't about checking off a box. This isn't about the more I do it, the more God likes me. This is about connection. This is about relationship with God. So, there's a lot to be said about getting into and reading. And I don't know about you, but I've had times where I didn't feel like reading the Bible. Remember what I said before about feelings? Feelings can get you into a lot of trouble. I didn't feel like reading the Bible. And then when I started reading the Bible, in the very beginning, I think I felt even less like reading it. But a few minutes in, a few verses in, I didn't start to feel a lot better. Okay? So, it quite often, don't be a don't be afraid, don't be amazed that as you start to get into it, you'll start finding yourself reading it more and more. Read out loud, stay focused, engage with God's word. This isn't a check the box type of effort. This is about relationship. Remember, and as you grow in understanding and you start seeing the fruit or the results of you reading scripture, you'll naturally start to spend more time in the Bible, reading the Bible. Consistency over time, that's what builds your understanding of God and yourself. Okay? And it's foundational to getting to know God. Okay? Discipline number two, meditating on God's word. We saw this in season 3, episode 3. What is meditation again? Right? There's so we're in a world, right, where everyone talks about meditation and most of what they're talking about is not from God. So what is biblical meditation? It's thinking deeply and it's reflecting on God's word. Amen. It moves truth from head knowledge to heart transformation. That's what the Bible describes meditating on God's word is doing. Meditation, it's not a trance. It's not emptying your mind, right? It's biblical meditation that's centered on scripture. It's focused and it is intentional. Okay? It produces understanding. It produces wisdom and spiritual clarity. Through meditation, we keep God's word in the midst of our heart, right? Where it shapes our mindset and it changes our life. Quite often, we may be reading verses of scripture, but it's until we meditate on it that it starts to drill deeper and deeper inside of us. And as it drills deeper inside of us, it changes us for the better. Biblical meditation, it internalizes God's word and it leads to visible spiritual growth. Remember what we were talking about? You do these five disciplines and you start to ask yourself, do I feel different? Am I changed? What's going on? Meditation is one of the least appreciated, so underappreciated on how it starts to drill deeper inside of you as you meditate on God's word and it leads to visible spiritual growth. That means as you meditate on it, your behavior starts to change. People look at you and say, "You're a different person. What's changed about you?" It's because you've been meditating on God's word and you have been getting better. So, let's answer your next question. Question number six. This is about biblical meditation. What if my mind wanders when I try to meditate on a verse of scripture? I know exactly what this person's talking about. Mind wandering. It's normal. It's expected. Meditation is something that you learn and that you develop, but you can do a lot about it. It's not about perfect focus. It's about bringing your attention back. Okay. So, here's a quote from Psalm 119 verse 15. Quote, I will meditate on your precepts and contemplate your ways. This psalmist is talking to God. I will meditate, that means to think deeply, on your precepts and I will contemplate your ways. I'm going to think deeply about your instructions, about your regulations, about what you've ordered us to do, and I will contemplate your ways, your behavior, and your character. Amen. When your mind wanders, gently bring it back. Right? Repeat the verse again. Think about the verse. Ask yourself questions about the verse. And if you find yourself somewhere else distracted, gently bring yourself back. Right? It's all good. Repeat that verse again. Think about it again. Ask yourself questions about it. That's what meditation is. Okay. Here is Proverbs 4:20 and 21. Give attention to my words. The the writer says, "Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in your heart." Right? God says, "Do not let these words depart from your eyes. Keep those words in your heart." And how do you keep them in your heart? You meditate on them. Meditation isn't about never losing focus, right? We're people. We are in sinful flesh. We will lose focus. But that's no excuse. We can always bring it back. And you may not be great at it, but that's okay. It's going to come through development, through practice, through experience. It's totally worth doing it. You and I have had many things in our life that we were not good at when we tried it the first time. So if we're consistent about it, if we continue to do it, if we do it with sincerity, not only will we become better, God will bless us in doing it. So it's not about never losing focus. It's about bringing yourself back to focus and meditating on it again. Okay. Discipline number three is about fasting. We saw this in season 3 episodes four and five. Fasting, it's voluntarily abstaining from food for spiritual purposes, right? God designed fasting to humble us, to position us for a spiritual breakthrough. I love the sound of that. Fasting humbles your soul and it weakens power of your flesh. My flesh doesn't like the sound of that. Right? You can read the Bible. You can meditate on God's word. But if your heart is hardened, right? We saw the parable of the sewer. Your growth is limited. Fasting is a discipline that softens your heart. Okay? Fasting, it increases your sensitivity to God's voice and to his leading. It positions you for breakthrough and for overcoming obstacles. In fact, some spiritual battles, Jesus said, require prayer and fasting. We saw this in episodes four and five. So, we had a question. Question number seven on fasting. And here's the question. How does fasting draw me closer to God? When I fast, it only makes me think about food more. How does that help? That is another great question. Fasting is another one of those underappreciated, sometimes even misunderstood disciplines there. It's biblical clearly, but what does it mean and how does it work? So, we're going to take a stab at it. Okay. First of all, remember in scripture there's a war inside of us. The flesh against the spirit, right? Which makes perfect sense because when you became born again, your spirit became alive, but you still got a physical body and you have a soul, a will, an intellect and emotions that is unregenerated. It's full of old bad activities, bad habits, bad ideas, you know, think, you know, bad things you learned along the way, you could say, right? And God wants to convert you. He wants to sanctify you, wants to transform you. So there's a battle going on between your flesh which wants to stay exactly as it was and the spirit of God and your spirit which wants to convert you into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Remember firstborn of many brethren we saw that in season two. Okay. So the flesh competes with the spirit for your attention. Got that? The flesh is competing with your spirit. So the spirit is talking and the flesh is talking. you could say, and it comes down to where your soul focus its attention here in Galatians 5:17. Paul summarizes it really, really well. The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another. Interesting. The flesh lusts or desires has strong desires against the spirit. And the spirit has desires, desires to transform you, convert you, and bless you. And those are against the flesh. And these are contrary, right? They are set against each other. Your spirit is set against your flesh and your flesh is set against your spirit. So when you fast, you are choosing to temporarily set aside the wants and the desires of your flesh so that you could focus your attention on God. And what happens? What happens, folks, for any of you who fasted out there? What happens when you temporarily set aside? You're going to eat again. You're not going to die. You're going to do just fine. But when you temporarily set aside what your flesh wants and what it desires, and you focus your attention on God, your body and your mind, it reacts strongly. How dare you not feed me? How dare you not start taking care of me? I've got all these desires and all these wants. Right? So, when you choose it, your body and your mind often strongly reacts against it. Again, folks, you're not going to die. We're talking about missing breakfast or missing some of the food for a day or maybe you're doing a fast in which you eat different things you're not accustomed to, right? Where you're going to be just fine. You're going to live. But your body, your desires, it feels angry, right? This is what fasting is all about. You'll notice cravings, irritability, distractions, impatience. All these things start coming about because you've temporarily stopped giving your flesh everything it wants and it desires. These reactions, they reveal what is trying to control and influence us, right? These are things that are always there, but they're made visible by the fast. So these desires, these wants, this control, this influence, it's always there and we're usually satisfying it. But that one moment when we fast and we say, you know what, I am going to abstain from food for this short amount of time is when it starts to try to take control again and try to influence. And that's very indicative of something that's going on inside of you and fasting is bringing it about. So let's continue in this question. Such a great question. Well, well asked. Thank you subscriber. Right? So fasting, what does it do? It humbles your soul and it makes it sensitive to God's voice. So it starts to quiet down those desires from the flesh, the influence from the flesh, and it starts to increase like turning up the volume, your sensitivity to what God is saying. Because remember, the flesh is contrary to the spirit, and they're at war with each other. Okay? So as you start to decrease on the flesh, you start to increase on the spirit. This psalmist in Psalm 35:13 wrote, "I humbled my soul with fasting." To humble yourself is to submit or surrender yourself. So the psalmist submitted and surrendered his soul, his will, his intellect, his emotions. He submitted them to God. And he did so by temporarily abstaining from food. When you feel hunger during a fast, let it be a reminder to turn your focus to God, to turn your dependence on God. Right? Remember what Jesus quoted in Matthew 4:4. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Amen. We've been living on bread. We've been living on food. We do it dayto day. And temporarily you abstain from it so that you can start to zero in on God because you know and I know this really critical thing that our life is more than the food that we eat. And we shall not live by bread alone. We shall live by the word of God by the voice of God in our life. And fasting is temporarily turning down the bread and turning up God's voice so that you can have direction and purpose. You can have conviction. You can have peace. you can see what God is saying, what the spirit of the Lord is saying to you that day. Amen. Fasting brings you closer to God and it does so by weakening the flesh and strengthening your focus and your dependence on him. And as we saw in these episodes, fasting was a common practice in Old and New Testament. Excellent question. Discipline number four about prayer. We saw this in season 3 episodes six and seven. Okay. Prayer. It's how you communicate and relate to God through prayer. You speak to God. You listen to God. And you align with God. Okay. Prayer. It's ongoing communication. We saw in the scripture that you're to pray without ceasing. Right? It's not an occasional request. I'll I'll pray maybe just at church on every Sunday. No, no, no. God wants to communicate with you daily. He wants to communicate with you without ceasing. Amen. We should be quick to pray. We should be persistent in prayer. We should be unrelenting. We read the parable of the persistent widow in those episodes and we saw that the widow was unrelenting even to an unjust and a wicked judge. And what Jesus was saying is if this widow could break down this wicked judge through her persistence and her unrelenting requests, how much more will your father who loves you, who is just, who is righteous, who is good, how much more will he deliver you from what comes against you if you're persistent. Amen. When you pray and you surrender to God's will, you position yourself for his answer and for his power in your life. Thank God. Prayer, it brings peace. It brings guidance. And it brings assurance into your life. I know sometimes I may be praying regarding certain circumstances. And I may not see those circumstances change immediately, but I will find peace. I will have confirmation and conviction. I will have prompings by God's spirit. And even though those circumstances may not change immediately, I will feel so much better after I prayed and sought God. And then with time I often see those circumstances change and I say thank God because God was faithful from start to finish. And it's important that when those things happen that we give God thanks and praise because we could not change that. There are things that are happening in the spirit that we cannot change. Regardless of how much money we have, regardless of the education we have, from who we know, where we were born, who we were born to, who our parents were, it's irrelevant. You will run into a time in your life where you are going to come against something where it requires God himself to move it. And when you pray and seek God and you humble yourself before God, he will move it. He is faithful and just to move it. And when he moves it, you will see that he is the Lord God. Hallelujah. Thank God. Okay. Prayer keeps your relationship with God active and it keeps it personal. Amen. You've sent in some questions on prayer. So, let's take a look at those. Question number eight, what should I do if I've been praying for someone for years and they seem to be getting even further from God? That is a very powerful question. Amen. God bless you for asking that question and I'm sure there's a source of pain and concern behind that question and I appreciate that. And the answer is to keep at it. Okay? Don't give up even if you don't see the results yet. And you know, you might be saying, "Well, Ted, that's easy for you to say." Well, let's take a look at the Bible and let's see what God has to say about it. Remember the persistent widow parable. Quote, Jesus is saying in this quote, "Men always ought to pray and not lose heart." This is in Luke 18:1. They ought to always pray and not lose heart. That was his opening to the parable of the persistent window. Quite clearly Jesus has seen this. Quite clearly Jesus knew about this, right? knew about times and situations where people they're seeing people make mistakes over and over again. And they want those people to have the blessings and the peace and the direction and all the goodness that they're getting from God. They want that person to be a part of it. And that person makes decision after decision in ways that just send them down a wrong path. And Jesus said, "You ought to keep praying and not lose heart." Amen. God also sends different people into that person's life and he's working. Even when you and I can't see it, right? When you and I go to sleep, we're in our own little world, God's still working. Amen. Change it often happens over time. Okay? So, this is from 1 Corinthians 3:6. And here Paul writes, "Some plant, some water, but God gives the increase." Amen. Sometimes you're planting a seed. Sometimes someone else is watering that seed and it's God who causes the plant to grow. So different people may be operating in this person's life. So you may be there interceding and praying. Someone else may be witnessing. Someone else may be giving them a caution. Someone else may become a cautionary tale, a proverb if you will. So keep at it. Keep at it. Remember, you can't control their choices. They have a free will. They can make decisions. But you and I can stay faithful. you and I could intercede to God on their behalf. Remember what it means to intercede. It's to stand between, to stand in the middle. So, we see what this person is doing. We go to God and say, "God, you're just and you're right and you're holy, but you're merciful and you're gracious. And I pray your blessings on this person, interceding for them. I stand between you, Father, and them. And I pray your blessings on them. Not because they deserve it, but because you're great. and that you will move powerfully in their life. I know you can do it by faith. You'll move powerfully in their life and you will cause everyone to look and say, "Only God could have done that." Just recently, my wife was showing me something on social media of a very powerful, influential person who said that God came to them and they completely have changed what they're doing. They're reading their Bible. They're reading scriptures. They're giving testimonials. These were people who said all sorts of terrible things in their lifetime. And God came to them, had grace and mercy on them and is converting them right in front of us all. And we are literally watching a parable in front of us, a proverb if you will of a proud person who has been brought down who God is now granting grace, granting mercy. And this person is describing God's love in their life. God bless that person. And this is just one example. These things are happening all over the place, folks. And who knows what different role people were playing in that person's life to bring that about. And the same could be said for the person asking this question and the person that they've been praying for for years. Keep loving them. Keep praying for them. Keep living as an example before them. Your consistency matters and God is still at work. Amen. Question number nine. I pray for good things like marriage, children, right? Good job, but it's taking a while. How do I know God wants it for me? Am I wasting time? No. Keep at it. The Bible promises success in this life and the life to come. We saw that in episode 1 of season 3. God promises success. He promises good things. Peace, joy, companionship, provision, right? Safety. These are the things God promises. And God won't withhold any good thing from you. But what he will do is he'll do it according to his timing and he'll do it according to his purpose for you. Okay. Psalm 84:1 quote, "No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Amen. There is not one good thing that God will withhold from those who walk uprightly. And what does it mean to walk uprightly? It means to believe the gospel. It's to repent and to believe God's word. It's to trust in and rely on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is to receive his message, to receive that gift, right? It's to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. It's the way the book of Romans describes it. Amen. That's a person who's walking uprightly. A delay, it does not mean a denial. Just because it's taking some time doesn't mean God's denying it from you. God may be preparing you for that situation. Okay? Maybe preparing you for it. That happens all the time. We've seen in a variety of scriptures where someone would pray and ask for something and it took some time because God was working in them so that when it came it was a blessing and not a curse. Ecclesiastes 3:1 to everything there is a season. Amen. You may be asking for something which is good, which is a blessing, but it's not the season for it. So stay persistent. Remember men are always to pray and not grow weary. Don't grow weary. Stay at it. Right? Don't faint in it. So continue to seek God. Continue to do the five disciplines. Read about him. Pray to him. Fast. Meditate on his word. Seek to be led by his spirit. So seek to continue to seek God first. Not just seeking those outcomes. Amen. I got to say this. There are times in which where we lose hope, where we faint along the way. And that just means our strength is small. A relationship with God, it far outweighs the results of that relationship. There may be times where you'll say, "Listen, I really feel like I'm car trying to carry more than I can. The scriptures say God will not give you more than you could bear." Amen. And so, you may need to repent of something, but the reality is our job is not to seek the outcomes. Our job is to seek God. and those outcomes will come together. Matthew 6:33 is a powerful powerful scripture where Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things that Jesus was describing will be added to you." Amen. Seek first God's kingdom. It's about the relationship. God is the pearl of great price. When you find that pearl, you should sell everything you have to get it. There are so many precious and valuable blessings that come through a relationship with God. And you may be re, you know, wrestling with something here or dealing with something there. But I guarantee you the sheer fact that you're hearing my voice and you are a part of this podcast, which I thank you for by the way, the fact that you are doing this, God has his hand on you and he's going to do mighty things in your life. So stay with it and continue in those habits that build your relationship with God. Amen. You are not wasting time. You are building trust and relationship. Continue to pray for good things and continue to seek the kingdom. And that is the best way to get all things. It says in the scripture that eye has not seen nor ear heard, hasn't even entered into your heart the things that God has prepared for those who love him. Amen. God is going to do exceedingly abundantly above everything you can ask or think. This is just verse after verse here, folks. That's who God is. So stay with it. Amen. God bless you. Discipline number five, be led by the Holy Spirit. Season 3, episodes 8 and N. This is where we discuss this. Being led by the spirit is recognizing God's voice, discerning that it is God's voice, and then obeying his direction for you. Every Christian can hear and recognize God's voice. A spirit-led life, it will recognize God, discern it's God, trust that it's God, obey, and then review afterwards to doublech checkck to see, was that God? Amen. The Holy Spirit primarily leads you through prompings, through conviction, through an inner witness and confirmation through God's word, right? The Bible. Spiritual sensitivity. It grows through familiarity. So, you become more sensitive to God the more you're experienced with God. And you gain experience with God through the five disciplines. That's why we do them. A spirit-led life produces alignment with God's will and God's purpose for your life. And if you want to be blessed, you will be aligned with what God wants you to do in your life. Amen. And now, question number 10. Drum roll, please. Okay. What should I do when I need God's guidance, but I'm not hearing him clearly and time is running out? What do I do? Great question. I've been there, too. First of all, don't wait for perfect clarity. Move forward with what seems right and aligns with God's word. Here's Proverbs 3:es 5 and 6. It says, "Trust in the Lord and he shall direct your paths." Amen. If there's no prompting, if you're not hearing God's voice clearly, if you're in praise and worship and you're just not quite grasping exactly the direction that God wants you to do, then look to conviction. Where's your peace in this? Right? Look to your inner witness. There's something there. So, I may not have heard God's voice, but maybe I have a conviction one way or the other. Go with that. If two options are good, choose one with greater peace for you. Amen. Here in Colossians 3:15, Paul said, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." So if you're making a decision in which you are seeing peace being grown where you have a strong peace with God on that decision, I recommend you go for that. Amen. And if you have no peace with that decision, then you should just really second guess that because that clearly may not be God for your life. Okay? Surrender the outcome to God, not just the decision. God's not looking for perfect little androids out there. God understands. He knows where you're at and he may be testing you in something. And so it's important for you to not only have faith in the decision that's going to be made, but to surrender the outcome to God also. You're God's and he's responsible for you. He's the good shepherd and you're the sheep. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose." Amen. All things work together for good. We may not feel like we have perfect clarity, but we're going to say, "You know what, Lord? I'm not sure if I'm hearing your voice clearly in this, but this appears to be the right direction. So, Father, I'm going to step out onto it. And I pray, Lord, that you bless it. And if I missed it, please convict me. Please show me that I missed it. And I will repent from it because I'm yours. And whatever that result is, Father, I appreciate the fact that you've got me in your hand. You've got me in control. And whatever is going to happen, the outcome, not just my decision to make, the outcomes are yours to bless me in too. Amen. You are God's responsibility. Don't forget that. Trust him to handle the outcome also. So you may be stepping out. I remember when I was early in the Lord where I would hear so many things quite clearly from God. And then as I started to grow and get older, I'd find that I have to kind of pursue God a little more on something. He wasn't as in my face and as obvious like a big billboard telling me what to do. And I asked myself the question and says, why would God almost feel like he's withdrawing a little bit? And what became quite clear is I had to go deeper into the five disciplines. I had to become more familiar with him. I had to read more. I had to pray more. I had to fast more. I had to seek God more. I had to meditate more. And you know what? It only made me a much better person. Much better person. God knows what he's doing. He's been doing it with so many people. He's been doing it all around the world. He knows what he's doing with you. So trust God. Pursue God. Seek God. It'll be the greatest thing you'll ever do in your life. Amen. So, how about some practical advice before we close all this up? Let's start with a daily blueprint. What could the five disciplines look like for an average day? Well, let's start with the morning. Let's start your day with God. Read the Bible out loud. Let's say 10 to 20 minutes in the morning, right? Separate from some distractions and read that Bible out loud. Then, choose one passage to meditate on throughout the day. Pray. Make it short. Make it focused, right? Especially early on, talk to God and listen to him. Also, think about praying for others. Remember, when we discussed prayer, we discussed intercession as a form of prayer. So, do a short focused prayer. Maybe on this day, it's about talking to God and listening to him. Maybe on another day, you'll make it dedicated to intercession for other people. Give thanks. Remember, prayer of thanksgiving is a part of a form of prayer. So, give God thanks as a part of it. Then during the day, right, meditate on that same passage. Repeat and reflect it. You might be at work. You might be at home. You might be interacting with others. You may be at school. Meditate on that passage that you read that morning. Think about what we're doing here is we're taking this relationship and we're bringing it through the day. Repeat, reflect on that passage. Talk to God throughout the day. Have ongoing prayer. Remember, the scripture said to pray without ceasing. Watch for prompting to be led by the spirit. As you're meditating on God's word, as you're talking to and listening to God, watch for a prompting where God might be instructing you to do something. You know, be sensitive to God's voice. Amen. Sometimes we feel like God's not talking to us, but quite often we're just not listening to what God has to say. Remember, you're not trying to fit God into your life. You should be building your life around God. He's totally worth it. Remember that experience you had when you were born again. That's what you're pursuing. God has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. So read your scriptures, meditate on them, fast some, pray, be led by his spirit. That feeling, that emotion, that transformation that happened when you were born again. You want to continue in that. And the five disciplines is how you do that. Okay. So during the week, of course, this is optional. Be led by God's spirit. Fast. Maybe you'll fast once a week or maybe as lead. Maybe you're going through a tougher time, you'll fast more often, right? Because you want to be built up. You want to get through that situation as fast and as easy as possible. We talked about absolute fasts, water fasts. We talked about partial fasts as well as group fasts. So, check out our episodes in season 3 on fasting, right? To remind yourself more how to do this. If this is what an average day or an average week could look like as you're integrating and you're bring putting all together the five disciplines, then maybe what are some of the common mistakes people make when they're trying to get closer to God. So let's talk about how to avoid common mistakes. Do these things to avoid common pitfalls with the five disciplines. Number one, treat the disciplines as a relationship, not as a checklist. Right? Too easy to get legal. I've done my reading. I've done my meditation. I prayed. Check, check, and check. Well, where's God in any of it? Right? Avoid turning the five disciplines into some kind of legal routine without any purpose. The purpose is the relationship itself. The five disciplines is not the end goal. The five disciplines is a vehicle to get you into your relationship that's closer with God. Second, do them for God, not for people. Don't do the five disciplines to be seen. I understand that there's a desire, there's a temptation to be seen by people, to get the approval of people, for people to say, "You're so godly. You did that prayer so well, etc. That's people pleasing. It's sin, right? That is a temptation for us that we must resist." Not all of us have that temptation, but some of us, we love attention. And you know what? We do not need that kind of attention. We want our attention to come from God. That's why Jesus said to go pray in a private place. Go into your room and pray to the father in secret who will see it in secret. Do these five disciplines for God. Don't do it for people. When you do it for people, you get this little bitty reward. You know where they say, "You're such a great person." When you do it for God, you get a massive reward. That's what you're doing it for. Number three, expect growth over time. Don't look for instant results. You don't do it and say, you know, I prayed two days, therefore that's what it is. Make it consistent, right? Make it something you can keep with. Remember, people grow over time. When you physically grew up, you were a little baby and you became a full-g grown person. If you of course are an adult, it took a while, didn't it? You didn't go from a baby to an adult in a year. You didn't go from a baby to adult in 5 years. It took a long time to physically grow into who you are. It's going to take some time to spiritually grow into who you are. So, expect growth to happen over time. And don't look for instant results. Don't be impatient. Don't faint and don't grow weary. Okay. Number four, put your heart into it. Don't just go through the motions. Right? Don't say, "Well, I've read. Well, I've prayed." No, no, no, no. God wants to relate to you. Remember, it's about quality more than quantity with the five disciplines. Fifth, guard your focus. Don't let distractions take priority. We live in a modern world. We carry around mobile devices. We've got computers. We've got television. There's so many things demanding your attention. Separate from them. set yourself apart from them. Don't let the distractions take priority. You can't have a situation where you look up and it's just been days or weeks and you haven't even done any of the five disciplines. That's letting the world control you. You want to have a strong relationship with God so that you can impact the world. It's the other way around. Number six, choose transformation over comfort. I know this is easier said than done, but the disciplines, they move you forward. Distractions hold you back. Don't chase after comfort. God didn't call us into the world to go be comfortable in everything. God has called us to be a light. God has called us to be transformed. And as we pursue that, we are so thoroughly blessed. Amen. So, it's not about pursuing comfort. That's pursuing the desires of the flesh. There will be comforts in your life, but it's not about pursuing comfort. It's about pursuing God. Remember what Jesus said, seek first the kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. But it starts with seeking the kingdom and his righteousness. That's what we seek first. Amen. Not seek the things. Christian growth is built through consistency, not shortcuts. Stay consistent. Stay engaged. Stay focused. Focus on building that relationship with God. That's where the blessings come from. And now some final advice. How do you keep growing? Well, first of all, start simple. Just start. Don't over complicate it. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be right. Begin with today. Start small. Do some consistent steps in the five disciplines and then just build from there. Second, did you miss a day? Don't stress about it. You're not right or wrong with God because you did these habits. You're not right with God because you prayed or because you read. You're not a Pharisee. This is about relationship. It's not about rules. Here's the reality of it. If you skipped a day, if you skipped a week, if you skipped a month, you're just hurting yourself. You're distancing yourself from God. You're hurting your relationship with God, that doesn't benefit you. You do these things because they're a blessing to you, right? God has his relationships. God is self- sustaining. God is all knowing. God doesn't need you and me, but you and I definitely need God. So, you do these things to grow closer to God, to be transformed in your life, and to have a greater, more powerful, and a more blessed life. So if you missed a day, don't worry about it, but catch it the next day because it's good for you. Third, focus on the relationship, not on the routine. This is the goal isn't about checking boxes, right? It's about walking with God daily. And you do that through these disciplines, and you build that relationship. Next, don't be led by feelings. Be led by truth. I'm sorry, folks. Feelings, they're a part of your soul. They're they're called emotions. As is the intellect, as is your will. These are components of a person's soul. We're going to discuss this when we get into the season on the parts of a Christian. So growth, it can't be measured by how you feel, right? It should be measured by the fruit that is produced in your life, the outcomes and the results of it. And I say that because there are plenty of things in your life that didn't feel good, but they had an excellent outcome. We also know things that have felt really, really good and they had a terrible outcome. Do you understand? There are things that don't feel good and are great for you and there are things that feel really really good and they are terrible for you. So you cannot be led by your feelings. You should be led by the fruit that's being produced in your life. You should be focusing on the outcomes that God describes. Next, stay with it. Even when it feels hard, difficulty doesn't mean it's not working. It often means it's actually happening. That transformation is happening. Okay. And last, trust the process. God is working in you. Even when you don't see it, God is shaping you and he's shaping you from the inside out. There's all sorts of times in my life where I it took me some time to realize it. That started off in the spirit. It started off spiritual, started off deep inside of me where God was cleansing the inside, but I couldn't see it because I was looking on the outside. And then with some time, what was on the inside comes out and it shows on the outside. And I say, "Amen." You did a great job, God, and I thank you for it. Okay, let's talk about the next season of The Simple Truth. You made it. This is the end of season three, how Christians grow. Thank you so much for watching and for growing with us. Honestly, I understand that this requires your time. This requires your attention. You are putting your time and your energy into it. Heck, you could watch all sorts of things on YouTube or listen to it on a podcast. It could be secular. It could be Christian. could be anything and you're spending your time here. So, thank you. I sincerely appreciate that and I'm hoping that you're getting benefit from this. We do this for you. Remember, we quoted that old Vidal Sassoon commercial. If you don't look good, we don't look good. The Simple Truth podcast is about you and about you being blessed. And I just pray that God manifests tremendous blessings in each one of your lives. Amen. But we're just getting started, folks. We are just getting started. Join us for season 4 as we get into the Bible's most important message. I'm not saying this to be sarcastic. I'm not trying to do marketing here. I'm not trying to do I'm not trying to make this viral. We are literally going to talk about the Bible's most important message in season 4. It's the gospel of the kingdom of God. The good news. We're going to define what it is and we're going to zero in. Literally, the reason why Jesus Christ came to the earth is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We're going to get into the gospel. Amen. So, join us with this next season, next episode. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Simple Truth Podcast. Christian growth. It isn't complicated, but it is intentional. God designed you and me to grow through a daily relationship with him. And that relationship, it's built through consistent, simple, biblical habits. Start where you are. Stay consistent and keep at it. And trust that God is working in you. Even if you don't feel it, if this episode helped you, please be sure to like, subscribe, and share it with someone else who wants to grow as a Christian. Next season, we will talk about what is literally the most important message in the Bible, the gospel of the kingdom of God. You won't want to miss it. It's been a real pleasure talking about the Bible with you. I pray God bless you, God keep you, and he strengthen your relationship with him daily. Until next time. Thank you for listening to the Simple Truth Podcast. For additional episodes, visit us at www.simpletruth.org.