13. God Is Speaking… But Are You Listening? (Part 1)

This is part one of a two part episode. We've all asked at one point or another what it means to listen the the voice of God or how to even do that.

We talk about what it looks like to hear God in real life. Prayer as a relationship, not a performance. Slowing down, paying attention, and bringing honest questions to Him. We also wrestle with free will, big decisions, and why seeking God still matters when the answer isn’t instant.

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Transcript

Welcome And Bad Canned Coffee

Jon 0:10

Welcome to the Uncommon Man Podcast. We're your host. I'm John. I'm Devin. And how are you doing today, buddy? I'm doing good, man. I am glad to be here. Glad to be recording with you. Is that your headphones or mine? Am I turning yours up or am I turning mine up? You're turning yours up. There we go. Okay. Why are you missing? Because it was not loud enough. Anyway, continue. You're glad to be here with me.

Devin 0:34

Yeah, uh, for the most part. But that's rude. I'm just kidding. No, so we are here uh once again with our coffee. This one's an interesting one. Uh it's like it's it's really not, but I I do want to preface here this is not John's fault. This is just bad flavor.

Jon 0:51

So, what happened was I was in this some kind of Asian market with some friends. There's a Asian uh Chinese restaurant in there. We were eating it, and we were walking through the Asian market, and they were like, hey, you should get this coffee. It's like in a can, something from Louisiana. I don't know. I tried, I had to use a can opener to open it.

Devin 1:10

Yeah, I've never seen coffee that you had to have a can opener. Me neither. And I'm a coffee junkie.

Jon 1:15

Yeah, but anyway, it's not that good.

Devin 1:17

It's it's really not. What did it say that it had in it? It said coffee and chicory. The heck is chicory. I don't know. You want to Google it? I I really don't. I'm not that concerned about it.

Jon 1:28

I don't actually care either. This is gonna be emergency emergency stash coffee, though.

Devin 1:33

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. But

The I-65 Porta-Potty Nightmare

Devin 1:35

um now, so this last week I was and if you live anywhere near uh Birmingham, Alabama, where John and I are from, you know this. But the interstate system, uh, there's one main interstate that runs through it's called I-65.

Jon 1:50

South, anyway.

Devin 1:51

Uh yes, well, north and south. They are expanding it, right? And for the most part, towards the southern end, it's completed. But if you look right there in the middle of it, I mean, dead smack in the middle on one of the bridges that they had to fill in is a port-a-potty, and it got me thinking yesterday. Could you imagine you're out there in the 80, 90 degree Alabama heat, all of a sudden you got the bubble guts going? That's a bad day. I've had to do that before. And you've got to go sit in a port-a-potty. Number one, never had a good experience in a port-a potty a day in my life. Okay, but you've got to go sit in a port-a potty in the middle of Interstate 65 with everybody going 90 miles an hour right by you. I mean, less than 20 feet from where you're handling your business. That just sounds like an absolute nightmare to me.

Jon 2:56

It doesn't sound great. I mean being in a porta-potty unless it's like fresh. When it's that hot outside, unless it is fresh. They're fine fresh. Like they just delivered, like it's been cleaned out and yeah, whatever fluid that is in there. And all right, well, we're not going down that path. I'm buying plenty of porta potties, they're they're not great. There, some of the things that are written in them though are hysterical. Oh my god, I bet that's a podcast.

Devin 3:24

Some of it's really just well, sure, sure, because people are still five years old.

Jon 3:28

Yeah.

Devin 3:29

But I just it got me thinking like, could you imagine having to do your business with everybody going 90 miles an hour, 20 feet perfect? Some of those people go 40. But God forbid somebody be texting and driving, and that's how God takes you home. You're just hanging out and all of a sudden, we're just oh, this is why we're a dumpster fire. Okay. Anyways, uh, John, why are we here today?

Jon 4:00

Because

Bear Fight Logic And Instagram AI

Jon 4:03

gosh, I'm just thinking about somebody getting hit by a car and a porta potty now.

Devin 4:07

Well, the last time we talked about, you know, something for a while, like your your nonsense of being able to beat up a bear, somebody sent us an AI picture. I'm wondering if somebody could do an AI picture of somebody getting fucked from a porta potty. Could do an AI video for sure.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

Oh, yeah.

Jon 4:22

Somebody do that. That'd be funny. I got a feeling I know somebody who can do that. Do that, and we'll post it on Instagram. If you haven't seen the picture of me fighting a bear on Instagram, go check it out. It's it's pretty good. It's a little bit realistic. Oh, except for the part where I feel like I'm not that tall. Like that must have been a small bear because it was only a head taller than me. Yeah. I'm only 5'7. Like God did not bless you in the height category. No, he did not. But uh anyway, that's the only unrealistic part about it. So I'm not that tall.

Devin 4:52

But I did ask you like what your attack plan would be. I have a very solid plan. John really does. So I I'm I'm going to to go ahead just just for you guys, because I know you're dying to know. I thought we were about to get to the episode. Oh, we are we are, but I gotta get I gotta deliver your attack plan for for this. So go ahead. John's John's exact words were because I told him, I said it it would be covered in your blood. It absolutely be would be a one-sided fight. John just goes, no. Groundbreaking information there. And then he said, and then I said, What would be your plan of attack against a bear? The average bear would be about a foot taller than you and outweigh you by three times. Come on, dude. And they have knives for hands. And they have knives for hands, right? So John, here's John, John Pierce's attack strategy for dealing with a bear. You don't just go head to head with it. I'm smarter than the bear. I use trees and whatever's around you to your advantage. You keep a healthy distance. Go for the eyes first and sticks, or with sticks and rocks, or whatever I can find. Eventually get the first eye, and that'll help a ton. Probably would pretty much end it. And I told him, I was honest with him. I said, that's a very solid attack strategy. I'll give you that. And you said basically uh that that would be how you would come at the bear.

Jon 6:16

And that being said, I'll say this again. I think I've already said it. If it's a grizzly bear, I'm screwed. Oh, you're point blank. You're so cooked. A grizzly bear or a polar bear, I'm screwed. You're so cooked. We are talking about we're talking about like an American black bear.

Devin 6:32

You should know. I'm not going to divulge my sources here, but I had lunch with a guy that you know and that I know. And I told him, because he was like, What is I saw the thing with the bear, what is that? And so I told him what you said, and his response, and I quote, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. It would absolutely be a destruction of John. And I'm like, Thank you. I think everybody realizes that, but John.

Jon 7:03

Okay. So if I'm like I said, also have already said, if I'm in that scenario, it's because I ran out of ammo. And the only reason I can think of that I ran out of ammo is because they're zombies. I might as well be confident that I can defeat the bear. Otherwise, I'm just I'm not just gonna lay down and die. I might as well try. Well, sure.

Devin 7:27

You mean you gotta fight, but I'm just saying, like, that's it. At any rate, um, I hope you never have to prove yourself in this. I mean, me and you both, but but if you did it's a fun thought experiment. Sure, but if you did, you should know I would probably give you like if I'm there, I would give you the first five minutes between you and the bear.

Jon 7:47

Jason, Jason Urban, the person that sent us the photo, thank you. He said he believed me. He's like, I think you could take it. Devin definitely couldn't, but I think he could. He told me that today, actually. Wow. He's like, Devin would be toast.

Devin 7:59

I think you could do it. Me and Jason gonna fight. All right, anyways.

Why Listening To God Matters

Devin 8:03

So um today's episode is is gonna actually bleed into, I think, probably into another episode at least after this. Probably. Um, but it it's because it's something that for us as believers, we need to constantly be in tune to. And that's and that's listening to the Lord. Like actually hearing what he's saying. And I'm not talking about it because men in and of themselves stink at listening. In in general, yeah, probably. Right. I think we're even worse when it comes to listening to the Lord. Like men, for example, we can remember if we're playing a video game, we can remember at one point where we saw the sniper sitting up there, but I can't remember if my wife told me to grab something from the grocery store or not. Or when you got there, you can't remember what she told you to grab exactly. Exactly. And then, of course, per, you know, typical wifely fashions, uh, you call them and they don't answer.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

So it works.

Devin 9:16

But at any rate, I think I think we're even worse whenever it comes to listening to the Lord. And so what we want to do over this episode is we want to kind of break down some helpful tips and tricks that you can use, as well as share a couple of stories from when the Lord has spoken to us and has helped us navigate through the difficult situations of life. Of course, the first thing I think of is when you told me that we were gonna do a podcast together.

Jon 9:46

Yeah, you had no idea that that had been on my heart for a year. Yeah, that'll come up very specifically later. Oh, by the way, this might end up being two parts. This is probably gonna be pretty long, so we'll cut it in half. Ish. Um, I'll agree with you on the tips, not so much tricks. They're not really tricks.

Devin 10:02

Okay.

Jon 10:04

Anyway, I just wanted to patata. Fair enough. Somebody's gonna be like, where are the tricks? And you know exactly who I'm talking about.

Prayer As Two-Way Conversation

Jon 10:13

Anyway, prayer, I think, is where we start. No, not him. Prayer, I think, is where we start. Definitely. So prayer is how we talk to God. But prayer is not necessarily a one-sided conversation. If you want to have a one-sided conversation with God, it's gonna be no conversation. If you want answers to your prayers, you have to pray first.

Devin 10:35

Yeah, and as has been documented on this podcast before, we don't exactly have what Moses had. Moses pretty much had a pickup and uh speed dial. And I'm not supposed to be jealous, but I'm definitely jealous of it. Sure, yeah, me too. But it's absolutely going to be something that it's going to begin, and you'll notice a pattern here, men. Most things that you want to change in your life simply start with prayer. And because, like you said, even though God doesn't necessarily talk back to us, we have to be very active in our prayer life.

Jon 11:10

Well, see, that's the that's the point. He he doesn't necessarily talk back to us with words from the sky. Yeah, it's not like he's up there, he does talk back to us. That's the whole that's the whole point. He does talk back to us, but it's not just gonna be what did you say? I said that that was a terrible God voice, I did. Yeah, it was. I wasn't gonna say anything. Well, I'm sorry, I'm not Morgan Freeman, okay? Alright, anyway. Um one of the biggest questions that I think most people probably have is why? Yeah, walk outside and look up at the sky and you're just like, why? Why me? Why this? Why whatever? Or and then sometimes it could be, am I doing the right thing here? Is this the right choice? Like, does God care if you wear blue socks or red socks? Probably not. Like, honestly, like free will, wear the socks you want to wear. But in certain situations, like major, major life choices, pray about it. Just ask. Maybe, maybe it's uh maybe it's something that honestly one or the other doesn't matter that much, but pray about it anyway.

Devin 12:26

Yeah. Because ultimately, if if you want it, that's the beginning of the conversation. Right. The beginning of the conversation is going to come through the aspect of prayer. And if it's not something that you're that you're because there are people out there, okay. My wife and I have had this conversation. There are people out there who go, I have no clue how to pray. And it's for me, it's very, very simple. I I simplify it, right? I know I'm not the smartest dude in the box, all right. But what I know is that prayer is nothing more than a communication between you and the God of the universe. It's a conversation like you and I are sitting here having. Do you know how many times I've just let God have it?

Jon 13:18

Right. And and not even just a conversation, constant conversation. The same guy who I'm pretty sure you're talking about told you that my plan of attack was stupid. Uh-huh. He said one time that he he likened it to a conversation, a text conversation with your wife. It's pretty much constant. I mean, you work from home, so maybe not so much for you, but it's pr it's a pretty constant conversation. Like me and Laura. Like it is just one La fiance here. What is with you in the voice? What's your fiance? What is with you and the voices? Because I I I don't know. Maybe it's the coffee. Anyway, it's a constant conversation. It's not like, okay, bye, talk to you later. No, yeah, it doesn't it doesn't work that way. Your prayer can be the same thing, you don't have to have all the fancy words and and all of that. Like when you hear when you hear your pastor pray, it sounds really good. It sounds good. A lot of them say things that literally aren't even in the Bible. Hedges of protection. Sounds great, not in the Bible. Anywhere. It's something that someone made up. Not to say that there's anything wrong with that. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But you don't have to, you don't have to have all the words.

Devin 14:29

Right. But the thing is with a lot of people, you have to remember number one, whenever it comes to prayer, like God already knows what you're gonna ask. The Bible literally tells us that He knows the things that you're praying for before you even ask for them. Of course. So the fact of the matter then becomes are you having the conversation with him? You cannot, it's simply put like this you cannot expect a move of God in your life if you're not having that constant conversation, if you're not having that top those conversations with him. Because it's the same thing like with my relationship with my lot with my wife, your relationship with your fiance. It cannot be, it's it would be a horrible relationship. And I would have a horrible marriage if I never spoke to my wife. Yeah. Right? Or if I just said, God, I love you, but then never demonstrated that. If I if I just looked at my wife and I said, Brittany, I love you, but then never demonstrated that. Brittany and I are getting ready to celebrate eight years of marriage here in a couple of days. Thank you, thank you, thank you. She asked me, she was like, Do I get my t-shirt yet? And I'm like, no, not quite. You should probably get something a lot more.

Jon 15:43

Wait, eight years?

Devin 15:44

Yeah, eight years.

Jon 15:45

If you're above average now, what's the average? Is it eight? Whatever.

Devin 15:50

You're pretty close to it. Yeah, and and truth be told, like, it is absolutely uh the greatest thing I ever I ever did in my life. But my marriage would absolutely stink if I just said, baby, I love you, but then I never did anything to back that up. Or it would be even worse if she said good morning and I said, Okay. Or she said, Hey, I made you dinner, and I went, okay.

Jon 16:19

You ever gotten uh you ever said I love you and gotten a I and gotten a thank you back?

Devin 16:25

I mean that happened in Friends, uh in the show Friends. Have you ever gotten a I don't think I have, have you?

Jon 16:31

I uh I think I mean it was kind of as a joke. It's gotta be the worst. It was kind of hints.

unknown 16:38

Yeah.

Jon 16:40

Not not really, but as a joke, yeah.

Devin 16:42

But I I mean the thing about it is you we want and we desperately crave in our lives for the Lord to do things, but then we treat our relationship with him almost like it's non-existent. And so the point is in this, to be able to hear him, you have to talk to him, you have to pray. Then

God Speaking Through Other People

Devin 17:03

I think we come to where the Lord begins to speak through other people. Yeah. And oftentimes we will get answers, and God will use other people to speak into our lives.

Jon 17:20

Just real quick, let me back up just a little bit. We're gonna go through several different ways that God can speak to us here. Not necessarily in any kind of order, they're just the order that we came up with them and what we didn't just come up with them, but you know what I mean. They're just they're not in any particular order. And one of the biggest questions that I had several years ago when I lived I lived in Virginia. I had a a pastor that I would have breakfast with from time to time. One of the questions I had with him or had for him was like, How do I listen to God? Everybody keeps telling me to listen. Like, what am I listening to? How does he speak to me? I don't understand this. And that's where that's where I would say uh part of my journey really started with my faith. And this was years ago now, but I still think about that conversation and the follow-up ones all the time. Because it really it really made an impact in my life. And I'm hoping some of the stuff that we have to share impacts someone else. Because I can't be the only person that has that question. I know I'm not, I know I'm not the only person. No, I'm not sure. Like everybody at some point, whether you're brand new to faith or not, has had that question. So, and like you just said, other people. Sometimes you have a prayer and you're like, God, why haven't you answered this prayer yet? Like, I still don't know what to do. Like, well, I sent you 15 people and you ignored all of them.

Devin 18:57

Hey, that guy sent you a text message wanting to have lunch with you, and you chose not to answer it. Mm-hmm. That was me trying to put somebody in your life. And the thing about it is we will then seek to blame everybody but ourselves.

Jon 19:11

Yeah, I mean, that's a whole other that's a whole other thing. But yeah, absolutely.

Devin 19:17

And and the thing about it is we will have numerous people, right? Numerous people speak into our lives. I'm not gonna share any details. Well, no, no, no, no, no. But before you go there, before you go there, John and I want to share each a story. We're not gonna give full details or anything like that, but we want to each share personal instances from our lives where we have seen people speak directly to us that you knew in that moment, in that time, that was God. God was using that person to speak. Go ahead.

Jon 19:56

So I've been dealing with some crazy nonsense the past few months, really, since we started this podcast, honestly. It's not a coincidence, by the way. But I've been dealing with some crap. Like it's been heavy, there's been a lot of stuff on my mind constantly. I have had more people come up to me and start a conversation, and I would end up hearing they would end up saying to me exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. Not necessarily what I wanted to hear, it's maybe 50% of the time what I wanted to hear, if that. But it's what I unexpected people needed, yeah, completely unexpected. Now, a lot of them were at church, and I think that's probably an important distinction. Maybe go to church, but it's it it has been incredible. Sometimes I don't realize it until after the fact, other times I realize it in the moment. Like part of the nonsense I've been dealing with is me trying to figure out how to forgive the same person over and over and over and over. And every time I have to try to forgive them, it gets harder and harder and harder. Someone walked up to me, we had a conversation, and I for whatever reason, that came up, forgiveness came up within 30 seconds of us talking. And this person whose background I had no clue about, and they did not know really what's going on with me either. But they started sharing their process of forgiving someone else, and it it really spoke to me. Another instance, this one was crazy. Like it's it blows my mind, and this was a month and a half ago or something like that, probably. I told you about it right after it happened. Yeah, but it uh this particular person, there's not a doubt in my mind. that God was not speaking direct. I worded that wrong. I worded that wrong. There's not a doubt in my mind that God was speaking directly through them. Yep. I don't think it was them at all. Yeah, in in there they shared some of their experiences, but like I dude, I don't think I blinked. Yeah. Like it was in that moment. All of a sudden it just hit me. I was like God's talking to me right now. Like it it was incredible.

Devin 22:28

And what let me stop you there for just a second. What a I I don't I don't know a a humbling amazing moment to process that the God of the universe with all of the things going on in our world today the God of the universe smiled upon John Pierce upon that day using that person at that time.

Jon 22:52

Right. And if you're out there thinking well that's never happened to me it probably has. It probably has. You may have to and you didn't realize it. Yeah. God will speak to you using people. And you have a similar ish story I believe.

Devin 23:09

Yeah so um several years ago this was probably uh I think close 10 or 11 years ago but um there were some things that had happened surrounding my mother and uh my mother had a she she was sick and she needed help and uh things had occurred in mine and her story that at one point I wasn't sure uh to what level she would remain in my life. And I remember uh going through it I went to church that morning and it was something it would happen to me Mother's Day and I'm standing there in the middle of worship and you know it's supposed to like Cultivate Church where where you and I go where we do three songs that are five minutes each and like it's very structured right this was uh we'll just play until our fingers hurt. Were you singing out of hymn books? No no no not quite but um we were in the middle of like the third song and this guy comes up to me uh that I'd had a handful of conversations with but nothing past hey how was your week you know what I'm saying yeah like surface level stuff surface very very surface level conversations and he was the drummer who out of 52 weeks in a year I would say he drummed 50 of them and this just happened to be one of the Sundays uh that he wasn't and it was Mother's Day and uh he comes up he's sitting on the opposite side of the building from me and all of a sudden he uh he's right there next to me and he said come with me out to the lobby and like middle of worship and I did and this guy had absolutely no clue what was going on between me and my mother at the time no clue not a had never been briefed it that the the situation was not discussed in a public there were three people on God's earth who know about this situation and this guy comes over to me calls me out to the lobby I go out there with him and he looks me dead in the face and he said you're thinking about kicking your mother out of your life and I need you to know that that would be a mistake and he said God just wanted me to tell you that never in my life had I ever had something like that happen before and because I remember sitting there going you have no idea what's happened. How do you know this? How do you know that on Mother's Day I had not spoken to my mother and then he turns around and looks at me and he says you see that woman in there and he points to this lady that it was like the seas parted and there was a direct line of sight pretty much to just her and he said I didn't talk to that woman for 23 years.

Jon 26:14

Now

Wise Counsel And Testing What You Hear

Jon 26:15

I miss every single second that I never got with her and he said I'm telling you if you don't do it it would be a massive mistake and as I said today I've seen the Lord do amazing things through my mother and mine's relationship at one point I could remember not knowing if my mom was going to even be at my wedding and not only was she there but she walked me to my spot at the wedding you know what I'm saying so he had no idea what was happening and so sometimes we do see the Lord use different situations the hardships and we're gonna talk about that later but using the hardships of our wives to speak to it you good yeah yep sorry that was uh I felt like I had a belch and it didn't want to come out but anyway and I probably shouldn't belch on it live on a mopa mic but anyways um the what the next piece so sometimes it's through wise counsel um like like I said a minute ago I had that pastor when I was in Virginia like he and I shared we had some shared experiences in our past we dealt with a lot of the same things um and he he gave me a lot of godly insight into the things that I was trying to overcome in my life in my process of growth right he baptized me actually and he he was he was my wise counsel at that time now the Bible says wise counsel is found in the council of many Proverbs 1114 you want to read that wise counsel is found in the council of many no actually so it it says where no counsel is the people fall but in the multitude of counselors there is safety okay so it's basically the whole verse anyway B. It's B of the verse um but yeah you need people in our lives we've talked about before yeah we have so we're not gonna hang out here for too long but you need people in your lives who are wise and have permission to speak into your life that being said if you're dealing with something and you don't tell them about it then how can they speak into your life? So I would say if you're like I don't know what to do here pray about it. If maybe God will just send somebody to you maybe right but don't count on that go ask the people in your life what do I do help me through this I don't this that or the other thing but I want to highlight something here because if if the Lord will send people to you to speak through you then guess what your adversary will as well right the enemy will absolutely use and send people to you and you say well then how do I know the difference back it up by scripture.

Scripture As The Filter And Guide

Jon 29:26

Yeah the whole if the Holy Spirit's speaking to you it is not ever going to contradict scripture.

Devin 29:33

You know it's it's the same thing of like uh I in this did happen to me but I remember I was in high school and I I had this uh I think it was my first year I had this air quote relationship with this girl and I remember she came to me one day like everything was perfect. We had a good we'd been together for like a month and I'm like holy crap this is awesome and uh she came to me and she said and I quote the Lord told me to break up with you and I remember and I remember going no he didn't like no he's taking dead man that's funny. Come to find out she was dating somebody else like the next week and I'm like oh yeah no that was the Lord.

Jon 30:09

Yeah right but it's like saying that's nowhere in the Bible God told me to divorce my wife no no no he did not no no no that's a cheap shot it did not even if it's justified by scripture because of adultery it might be justified by scripture you might be justified in doing so but God did God will not tell you to divorce your wife.

Devin 30:32

Right. So ultimately how do like I said how do you distinguish the two? You back it up by scripture and that's really the next point of it is if you want to be able to hear from the Lord hello well hold on we didn't actually talk about we were with counsel of many we mentioned it but we didn't say why we mentioned it.

Jon 30:49

We'll talk about it. So if you if you have you should have more than one person in your life that could speak into your life but if you have more than one ask all of them individually and that's not asking one and going to someone else and saying and hoping you get a different answer. That's not what it is. Wisdom you might get different things from different people that really put the whole picture together for you. Like I could sit here and tell Devin I don't know something until I'm blue in the face but until he hears the same thing from three or four people then it might click like oh I really do need to do something about that.

Devin 31:32

Yeah that happened to me last week actually I was uh getting ready to to step onto a platform uh and just do a brief uh holy moment I guess if you will a spiritual moment and it was the first time that pretty much I'd done that in five years and within a 10 minute span two separate people um who didn't know me three years ago came up to me and they were like you've postured your heart in the right direction for this you're built for this moment they both said the same thing okay I can I can generally take that as being truth yeah and some people might might take that as dependent on your career path I've seen this a lot the new guy who doesn't know how to do anything asks you a question and he says how do I do this you tell them the right answer like there is only one answer to whatever this thing is lefty loosey righty tidy that's the answer but then they'll go ask other people because they like don't believe you this is not that this is this is not this is not that ask if if you really if you're still seeking after you speak to the first person go talk to the second one go talk to the third one find a fourth one to talk to there's absolutely nothing wrong with that have your counsel of people and you just mentioned scripture yes so you have to go to you have to you have to go like if you want to hear the Lord in your life and you're not in the 66 books that he gave you for the love of God just open the Bible and read on Bible just what are you doing it's not it's not hard. If you don't know how to read listen to it go to the so typically I mean God will speak a lot through scripture so open your Bible and read it the more you do that the more you will see and hear you want to get to know the personality of God how God thinks how he operates first off Isaiah says his ways and his thoughts are higher but you can typically get a good outline for how the Lord thinks about something or how he is about something through the Bible through how many times Devin have you had a thought and you're like what the heck why this why whatever it may have been and then all of a sudden a scripture that you've read before pops into your head and you're like oh numerous times all right numerous times you're thinking what am I supposed to do and then you suddenly remember that like you said maybe that doesn't happen and you go seek the scriptures for whatever it is that you're struggling with that's one of the beautiful tools uh with regards to um the way that certain Bibles are you can get study Bibles you can get you can type things in like on the UVersion Bible on your phone.

Jon 34:14

Bible

Tools And Meditating On The Word

Jon 34:15

hub you have you yeah you're familiar yeah that is amazing and it's completely free it is completely free. If you don't know what I'm talking about I'm not gonna sit here and explain it in depth but just I believe it's literally Biblehub.com. Yeah go to Google and type in Bible hub it is amazing and there's an app it's not a great app but there's an app it'll give you the the different uh it'll give you the original Greek and Hebrew it'll give you all the different translations uh there's a bunch of um oh gosh I'm blanking what's the word I'm still looking at Bible hub yeah we go hub.com sorry for the blonde moment there anyway check it out yeah biblehub.com don't just simply read it meditate on it and that that's the key because if you just read it like how many times have you read a book that you weren't really interested in maybe you were interested in it how many times you read a book and then maybe this is just me and you're like I don't remember the last five pages I just read.

Devin 35:21

Oh god that happens all the time that's why like for me whenever I go to read a book um I I maybe this is just my brain that works this way but I buy the audio version and the book itself and then I basically and then I basically have the author read it to me like a five year old that I am. So sometimes there's differences but it works it yeah but it it's it completely works for me I'm able to retain it a lot better um I make notes on my iPad because typically I'll buy the I'll buy both on my iPad and then I'll make notes on it. So use that in the Bible you can absolutely use all look the tools are there. It's a question of whether or not you're gonna reach for them.

Jon 36:06

Yeah yeah they are today the tools are there for you to be able to listen and hear the Lord as a matter of fact the Bible app will straight up read it to you. Yeah like it you can follow you can follow along as the dude reads it.

Devin 36:21

The thing that that gets me is when people say that that they don't hear the Lord's voice and I and my very very first question is how when's the last time you picked up your Bible oh well uh yeah there you go.

Jon 36:34

Hindsight this probably should have been right there next to prayer.

Devin 36:37

Well that's fine but regardless prayer and when's the last time you prayed when's the last time you picked up your Bible that's right and then finally uh the or I'm sorry the next way I I would say would be silence.

Silence Plus Final Takeaways

Devin 36:52

Find a quiet place.

Jon 36:53

But I want to I wanna I feel like we already you we said it but I want to really hammer it home to meditate on the scripture like it is fine you want to roll with it roll with it quality over quantity I'll say like don't just we've all read you've read numbers it's not it's not a thrilling read. But there's st there's stuff in there to learn obviously it wouldn't be in the Bible if it didn't need to be there. But if you're having a if that's happening to you you're like I just read this whole chapter and I don't remember the last half of it go read the first half again and meditate on that then read the second half. Like if your attention span can't get past a chapter in the Bible which I mean that's happened to me depending on the day really meditate on it. Meditate on every single word you'd be surprised like you could read the same thing the same verse a hundred times to get something out of it different every time that can happen. Because you're like wait a minute why they use this word instead of this word and then you go Google the original Greek like what does that mean? Where else was this used in the Bible? What what what's the whole context here? Really meditate on it.

Devin 38:07

Study it I had a professor in college he used to always say context determines meaning it does. So the context behind through which the passage is being said determines the meaning of the passage.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

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