WEBVTT - The Power Habits – Part 1 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.680 Today we're learning three power habits that will change your life. 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:06.760 Stay tuned for some bold steps. 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.760 They will affect your marriage. Affect your health. Affect your 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:16.160 finances because they have with them a promise of God's 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:18.680 favor or God's reward. 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:34.000 Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:37.360 Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:39.240 in Chicago. And right now, we're in a series about 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:41.680 what it means to be fully devoted to God, which 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.800 Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter six. Mark, as we 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.640 get ready for today's message about power habits, I know 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:51.120 there are many habits we already know that promise positive results. 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:54.080 Healthy eating, of course, and working out and just staying 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:55.800 off our phones before we go to bed. That's a 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:58.959 tough one, isn't it? We intuitively know that these guaranteed 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.960 good results, but the habit you're talking about today are 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.120 backed by more than just statistics, aren't they? 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.920 Yeah. And, you know, habits are what we do on 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:13.520 a regular basis that become embedded or ingrained in our life. And, 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.200 you know, they're hard to create and they're hard to 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:20.240 break good or bad habits. And there are some spiritual disciplines, 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:24.280 some habits that are spoken of in Matthew chapter six. 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.600 And Jesus talks about when you give, when you pray 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:32.880 and when you fast. Uh, these are three spiritual disciplines 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:35.960 that I believe should be part of our life in 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:37.840 one way or the other. So we're going to talk 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:38.600 about that today. 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.280 Okay. Well, let's get into the message. Here's Mark Jobe 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:42.479 with bold steps. 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:45.680 How many of you know that habits are hard to 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.760 build and hard to break? How about it? Anybody here 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:53.360 ever had a hard habit to break? Yeah, there's all 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:58.200 kinds of habits. You know, some people bite their nails 0:01:58.200 --> 0:01:59.880 and they just. They don't want to do it. They 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:01.770 can't get away from it. from it. I heard that 0:02:01.770 --> 0:02:05.250 people put like, hot pepper spray on it just so 0:02:05.250 --> 0:02:06.490 that when they put it in their mouth, they don't 0:02:06.490 --> 0:02:12.810 want to bite their nails. Um, other people have cuss 0:02:12.810 --> 0:02:15.330 words that they just just grew up saying, and they 0:02:15.330 --> 0:02:18.730 just it just pops out at the most inconvenient times. 0:02:19.610 --> 0:02:20.850 And you just say, I don't want to say it. 0:02:20.850 --> 0:02:22.530 I don't want to say it, but you say it. 0:02:22.730 --> 0:02:25.850 You're like, I'm going to break that habit. Uh, some 0:02:25.850 --> 0:02:28.690 of you have habits about health that you're trying to break, 0:02:28.690 --> 0:02:32.730 some bad habits. Habits are hard to break, and they're 0:02:32.730 --> 0:02:35.930 hard to create. If these three habits that I was 0:02:35.930 --> 0:02:37.889 taught that I'm about to talk to you about were 0:02:37.889 --> 0:02:41.450 easy to create, then we would all be doing them. 0:02:41.450 --> 0:02:44.889 But they are difficult to create. And I'm challenging you 0:02:44.889 --> 0:02:49.049 at the beginning that you would pay special attention to 0:02:49.090 --> 0:02:53.450 these three habits because they happen to be the three 0:02:53.490 --> 0:02:59.770 habits that Jesus talks about in the same chapter. Matthew 0:02:59.770 --> 0:03:06.530 chapter six. I call it the Power Trio. I don't 0:03:06.530 --> 0:03:10.690 know if we have in the house any triathlon. Uh, competitors. 0:03:10.690 --> 0:03:14.650 Anybody here done a triathlon? Triathlon before? Yeah. Okay. We 0:03:14.650 --> 0:03:18.450 have at least one. Anybody else? Yeah. Okay. One over here. 0:03:18.490 --> 0:03:20.530 A couple people that have thought about it. How many 0:03:20.530 --> 0:03:22.090 of you have thought about it? Yeah, we got a 0:03:22.130 --> 0:03:24.450 lot of thought about it in here, but only a 0:03:24.450 --> 0:03:27.530 couple of people that have done it. So here's the 0:03:27.530 --> 0:03:30.250 thing about a triathlon. I've never done one, but I've 0:03:30.250 --> 0:03:33.370 had friends that have done triathlons. And so there's three 0:03:33.370 --> 0:03:36.650 primary disciplines in a triathlon. You have to learn to 0:03:36.690 --> 0:03:41.650 swim well. You have to learn to cycle and then run. 0:03:42.250 --> 0:03:44.369 And so if you're going to win a triathlon or 0:03:44.410 --> 0:03:49.050 compete well in a triathlon, you have to prepare yourself 0:03:49.050 --> 0:03:55.250 in swimming, prepare yourself in cycling and prepare yourself in running. 0:03:55.690 --> 0:04:00.900 Three disciplines lead to one victory. Only if you master 0:04:00.900 --> 0:04:03.140 all three, you may be a great runner, but a 0:04:03.140 --> 0:04:07.300 lousy swimmer. And you'll never win a triathlon. You may 0:04:07.340 --> 0:04:10.780 be a great swimmer, but a lousy runner. And you'll 0:04:10.780 --> 0:04:14.340 never win a triathlon. But if you're able to master 0:04:14.340 --> 0:04:20.100 all three, then it leads to one significant victory. Jesus 0:04:20.140 --> 0:04:24.060 is telling us in this passage about three disciplines that, 0:04:24.060 --> 0:04:31.500 when combined together, can create an extraordinary, powerful impact not 0:04:31.500 --> 0:04:35.260 only in our spiritual life, but on every realm of 0:04:35.260 --> 0:04:41.100 our life. If you go to Matthew chapter six, which 0:04:41.100 --> 0:04:43.940 is primarily known for the chapter in which the Lord 0:04:43.940 --> 0:04:46.620 gives us the Lord's Prayer, or what we refer to 0:04:46.660 --> 0:04:51.300 as the Our Father, you'll see three disciplines that he 0:04:51.300 --> 0:04:57.020 refers to in verse two. He says, when you give 0:04:57.900 --> 0:05:02.300 in verse five, he says, and when you pray and 0:05:02.300 --> 0:05:06.860 verse 16 he says, and when you fast, he gives 0:05:06.860 --> 0:05:11.700 a paragraph to giving, a paragraph to praying and a 0:05:11.700 --> 0:05:16.580 paragraph to fasting. Yet now you may think that these 0:05:16.580 --> 0:05:21.460 are merely spiritual disciplines, but the way that Jesus presents 0:05:21.460 --> 0:05:25.620 it is that these are disciplines that actually overflow into 0:05:25.660 --> 0:05:28.380 every area of your life. They will affect your marriage, 0:05:29.100 --> 0:05:33.940 affect your health, affect your finances, affect your mental state, 0:05:33.940 --> 0:05:37.900 affect your well-being because they have with them a promise 0:05:38.100 --> 0:05:44.580 of God's favor or God's reward. Number one, if you're 0:05:44.580 --> 0:05:46.900 taking notes, I want you to write this down. The 0:05:46.900 --> 0:05:48.660 first thing I want you to see about this is 0:05:48.660 --> 0:05:54.700 that God expects these disciplines in our life. He expects it. 0:05:55.420 --> 0:05:58.780 He doesn't say, if you give, if you pray, if 0:05:58.820 --> 0:06:03.710 you fast. He says. When you give, when you pray, 0:06:04.029 --> 0:06:09.030 when you fast. In other words, the implication is that 0:06:09.029 --> 0:06:12.550 if you are a follower of Jesus, these are sort 0:06:12.550 --> 0:06:19.070 of natural expectations that you will engage in. These aren't 0:06:19.070 --> 0:06:22.710 for the super powerful, extraordinary people. This is not for 0:06:22.710 --> 0:06:26.230 a one time event in your life. These are regular 0:06:26.230 --> 0:06:32.990 habits that disciples of Jesus engage in. And he, in 0:06:32.990 --> 0:06:38.990 this passage, he he tells us about these habits. And 0:06:38.990 --> 0:06:42.029 I was thinking about these habits and I thought to myself, 0:06:42.270 --> 0:06:45.150 they're hard because they hit at areas that we tend 0:06:45.150 --> 0:06:48.190 to cling to, areas that we don't want to give up. 0:06:49.070 --> 0:06:56.750 Giving touches our money. Praying touches our time, and fasting 0:06:56.910 --> 0:07:03.630 touches our food. Some of you like pastor, I can give. 0:07:03.670 --> 0:07:08.230 I can pray, but the fasting, I mean. Come on. 0:07:08.630 --> 0:07:13.550 Some of you are hyper possessive about your food. Admit it. 0:07:14.310 --> 0:07:18.310 Last time you went to Rick Benny's, your husband reached 0:07:18.310 --> 0:07:20.870 over and said, I don't want fries. And then he 0:07:20.870 --> 0:07:22.710 reaches over and tries to pull a fry out of 0:07:22.710 --> 0:07:27.390 your fry bag and you say, hold on, that's my fry. 0:07:28.150 --> 0:07:30.910 If you wanted fries, why didn't you order your own fries? 0:07:30.910 --> 0:07:33.070 Don't touch my fries. How many of you know what 0:07:33.070 --> 0:07:34.550 I'm talking about here? How many of you have people 0:07:34.550 --> 0:07:36.710 around you that always want to mess with your food? 0:07:36.710 --> 0:07:42.470 And you're like, hey, get your own fries. Your wife says, no, no, no, 0:07:42.470 --> 0:07:44.190 I'm watching my diet. I'm not going to. And then 0:07:44.190 --> 0:07:46.230 she always wants a piece of yours and another piece 0:07:46.230 --> 0:07:51.870 and oh, that's good. And you're like, hold on. Jesus 0:07:51.870 --> 0:07:57.630 talks about giving, praying and fasting that affect our money, 0:07:57.630 --> 0:08:01.200 our time, and our food. Each of those things are 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:03.360 hard to let go of. There are areas that we 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:05.440 tend to want to cling to. There are areas that 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:09.040 are difficult to release, but yet they have a powerful 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.360 repercussion in our lives when we learn how to manage 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:16.480 them well. If it were easy to give away, we 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:21.000 would be giving it away. And for example, he talks 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:25.440 about giving. You know, the Bible is talks a lot 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.880 about the topic of giving. And I believe I happen 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.200 to believe that we as believers should be some of 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:34.800 the most generous people in the world. I believe that 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.120 if our father owns a cattle on a thousand hills, 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:41.000 and our father has all the wealth in the world 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.920 that we know that our God supplies, and so therefore 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:48.200 we also need to be generous and it needs to 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.960 flow out of us, not just at offering times on 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:54.320 Sunday morning, but in our life in general. I believe 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:59.640 generosity should characterize the believer. Can I tell you this 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:04.360 church is here because when we were 20 people and 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:08.160 had very little money and very little resources and were 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:13.000 meeting in a rundown building and, uh, no staff besides 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.559 me who was paid part time and a building that 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.680 was creaking and falling apart and no worship team. And 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:23.520 when we got together, we made a determination. We may 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:28.840 have needs, but we refuse to be needy. So we 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:33.079 will not act like we're the needy people. We will 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.440 start giving and releasing even though we don't have a 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:40.560 lot to release and give. When we were that small, 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.520 we decided we were going to give to missions and 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.280 support missions in Africa and other people. And I'll never 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.400 forget someone coming up to me and say, pastor, we 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:53.600 are the mission field. We can't be given to orphans 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:57.640 in Africa. Look at us, pastor. And I sat down 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.320 with a couple of people. I said, hey, hold on 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:03.650 a second. Have you ever been to Africa? No. Well, 0:10:03.650 --> 0:10:06.370 then you may think that you're the needy because you've 0:10:06.370 --> 0:10:09.929 never been to Africa and you've never seen how people 0:10:09.929 --> 0:10:12.130 live in Africa. But I'm going to tell you something. 0:10:12.130 --> 0:10:16.370 There are people that are much, much, much, much, much 0:10:16.370 --> 0:10:23.250 needier than you are around the world. So, so never 0:10:23.250 --> 0:10:26.610 take on a needy mentality. You may be a single 0:10:26.610 --> 0:10:29.730 mother here right now, just living paycheck to paycheck, wondering 0:10:29.730 --> 0:10:32.370 how you're even going to pay your mortgage. Listen, and 0:10:32.370 --> 0:10:34.850 I understand that's a challenge to live in that world, 0:10:34.850 --> 0:10:36.850 but I want to tell you something. Never take on 0:10:36.850 --> 0:10:40.610 a needy mentality. Never view yourself as I'm the needy person. 0:10:40.610 --> 0:10:43.610 I have nothing to give. I'm just living. Living from 0:10:43.610 --> 0:10:46.849 paycheck to paycheck. The moment that you embrace that mentality, 0:10:46.850 --> 0:10:49.010 the moment you start living in that world, is the 0:10:49.010 --> 0:10:50.929 moment that you will feel like I have nothing to 0:10:50.929 --> 0:10:55.890 give to others. I have no time, energy, love, generosity, food, uh, 0:10:55.929 --> 0:10:59.330 sympathy to give to others. And you begin to lose 0:10:59.330 --> 0:11:02.689 what you have when you begin to develop a need mentality. 0:11:02.730 --> 0:11:05.329 You need to understand, hey, I may have needs, but 0:11:05.330 --> 0:11:10.090 I will never, never, never live like a needy person. Amen. 0:11:13.530 --> 0:11:17.970 Jesus said, give and it will be given to you. 0:11:18.290 --> 0:11:22.250 Good measure. Pressed down, shaken together, running over will be 0:11:22.250 --> 0:11:24.810 poured into your lap. For with the measure you use 0:11:24.850 --> 0:11:28.130 it will be measured back to you. That's Luke chapter six, 0:11:28.130 --> 0:11:37.850 verse 38. Prayer. Prayer is hard because prayer requires us 0:11:37.850 --> 0:11:41.890 to give of our time and more than our time. 0:11:41.890 --> 0:11:49.650 It requires a humility about our approach to God. Prayer 0:11:49.690 --> 0:11:53.569 causes you to say to God, Our Father who art 0:11:53.570 --> 0:11:57.449 in heaven, hallowed be thy name, which means holy is 0:11:57.450 --> 0:12:01.300 your name. You're declaring that God is high and you 0:12:01.300 --> 0:12:05.980 are low. When you pray, you are declaring that you 0:12:05.980 --> 0:12:10.500 need God. When you pray, you are saying, I can't 0:12:10.500 --> 0:12:13.420 do this without you, God. I need a force and 0:12:13.420 --> 0:12:17.340 a power that's greater than me to intercede in my affairs, 0:12:17.380 --> 0:12:21.059 because I. I need you to do what I cannot do. God. 0:12:21.100 --> 0:12:24.380 Prayer causes you to humble yourself. Prayer causes you to 0:12:24.420 --> 0:12:27.580 admit that you don't have all the answers. Prayer causes 0:12:27.580 --> 0:12:31.579 you to bow yourself before the King of Kings and 0:12:31.580 --> 0:12:37.260 acknowledge I'm in a position subservient to you and oh God, 0:12:37.300 --> 0:12:40.900 I desperately need you. It hits at our pride and 0:12:40.900 --> 0:12:46.660 it hits at our time. Let me tell you, if 0:12:46.660 --> 0:12:48.340 you are here today and you don't know how to 0:12:48.340 --> 0:12:51.300 pray and you don't pray, it's because you haven't understood 0:12:51.300 --> 0:12:55.420 really how much you need God. What's keeping you away 0:12:55.420 --> 0:12:59.900 from that is either your pride, your self-sufficiency, your self confidence, 0:12:59.980 --> 0:13:02.540 and a lack of understanding how big God is and 0:13:02.540 --> 0:13:03.540 how small you are. 0:13:09.059 --> 0:13:12.020 You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Today's message 0:13:12.020 --> 0:13:15.300 titled The Power of Habits. Mark, before we continue, I 0:13:15.300 --> 0:13:17.380 want to encourage our listeners to reach out to us 0:13:17.380 --> 0:13:20.780 with their testimonies and comments and Bible questions. I know 0:13:20.780 --> 0:13:23.020 you love hearing from what's on their mind, and and 0:13:23.020 --> 0:13:25.339 sometimes we even read them on the air. So here's 0:13:25.340 --> 0:13:28.579 a question we received recently from a listener named Paula. Mark, 0:13:28.580 --> 0:13:30.579 I love your program. I've been listening to you for 0:13:30.580 --> 0:13:32.900 a short time. I have a question about an earlier 0:13:32.900 --> 0:13:34.939 program I heard when you were talking about the Mark 0:13:34.940 --> 0:13:37.540 of the beast. I didn't hear you mention anything about 0:13:37.540 --> 0:13:39.900 the rapture. So my question is, do you believe in 0:13:39.900 --> 0:13:42.819 the rapture or taken away of the church slash believers 0:13:42.820 --> 0:13:44.020 before the tribulation? 0:13:44.340 --> 0:13:48.860 Yeah. Thank you for asking that question, Paula. And, um, 0:13:48.900 --> 0:13:52.540 I do appreciate your interest in the end times, and 0:13:52.540 --> 0:13:56.620 there's a lot of interest growing nowadays in that, as 0:13:56.620 --> 0:14:01.310 many of our listeners know, there's various Years. Timelines and 0:14:01.309 --> 0:14:04.709 time frames about the end time. I do happen to 0:14:04.710 --> 0:14:09.790 take a rapture position. I believe that Jesus is going 0:14:09.830 --> 0:14:13.310 to come like a thief in the night. And um, 0:14:13.350 --> 0:14:17.190 in first Thessalonians chapter five, in multiple other passages, it 0:14:17.190 --> 0:14:22.870 talks about, uh, Jesus coming unexpectedly and the ideas that 0:14:22.870 --> 0:14:27.710 he's coming to take, those who are believers already. And 0:14:27.710 --> 0:14:31.670 I do believe that we will be spared from the 0:14:31.670 --> 0:14:35.950 Great tribulation. The majority of the difficult time. That doesn't 0:14:35.950 --> 0:14:38.190 mean that we won't be tested or go through difficult 0:14:38.190 --> 0:14:41.230 times and not go through dark times, but I believe 0:14:41.230 --> 0:14:46.390 that what Scripture talks about the, uh, seven years of tribulation, 0:14:46.390 --> 0:14:49.910 that we will be raptured ahead of that time, that's called, 0:14:49.910 --> 0:14:54.510 by the way, pre-trib rapture and Moody Bible Institute is 0:14:54.510 --> 0:14:56.630 taught on this a lot. And that's kind of what 0:14:56.630 --> 0:15:00.080 we hold as an institute as well. But I also 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:03.880 respect people that have other views of the end times 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.160 and where they think, um, there are certain things that 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:11.240 Scripture is very clear about. Other things that scripture, uh, 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:14.840 you have to nuance it. And, uh, but I hold 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:18.280 to a pre-trib rapture that the the church will be 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.160 raptured before the Great Tribulation. 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.360 Thank you, Paula, for helping us clarify that. And hey, 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:25.840 if you've never reached out to us before, we encourage 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:27.560 you to take a moment and send a letter or 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:31.120 a message online and share your question, or maybe your story, 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.720 your faith story, or a prayer request with us at 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.560 Bold Steps. Just go to our website Bold steps. Org or. 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:39.960 Now you can leave a message on a recorded line 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:48.800 by dialing this number (312) 329-2011. That's 312329 2011. Thanks, Mark. 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.120 Let's get back to today's Bold Steps message. Now the 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:52.240 power habits. 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:01.160 When I sat down with a married couple that desperately 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:05.560 needs counseling, marital counseling. And I talked to the guy. Hey, 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:07.240 how come you're not going to marriage counselor? I don't 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:12.560 she needs it, I don't. Here's what I know. Pride. 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:15.800 You don't want to admit that you have problems that 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.400 you can't solve yourself. You don't want to admit that 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.880 you need counsel from someone else. You don't want to 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.880 admit that you need a third party to walk you 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:31.040 through things. You're too proud to admit that prayer is 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:35.200 the same way. The people that pray are people that 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.880 are humble. It humbles us to pray. It brings us 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:42.880 to our knees. It causes us to stand. When I pray, 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:48.040 I acknowledge I'm standing as a small, finite being before 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:53.120 the awesome, omnipotent, grandiose God of the universe who has 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.320 all power and all might. When I don't, who has 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.920 all the answers and I don't, who has all the 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:02.080 miraculous power and I don't who can open all the 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:06.000 doors and I can't. Who is everywhere all the time. 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:10.880 And I'm not. I'm bowing myself before that. God acknowledging 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.000 how awesome he is and how much I need him. 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:22.200 And Jesus said, when you pray. Ephesians chapter six, verse 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.160 18 says, and pray in the spirit on all occasions 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:28.520 with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.800 be alert and always keep on praying for all the 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:38.320 Lord's people. First Thessalonians 516 through 18 says, rejoice always. 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:43.479 Pray continually. You say, well, pastor, I don't know how 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:46.000 to pray. If you gave me a prayer to read, 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:47.480 I would be able to read it. No, I don't 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.480 want you to read a prayer. I want you to pray. 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:53.719 It's like me saying, hey, I don't know how to 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:55.719 talk to my wife. If you give me a poem 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:57.919 to read to her, I'll read her a poem every 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:02.690 day and repeat it multiple times and hope she's happy. No, 0:18:02.690 --> 0:18:05.290 she's not going to be happy. I don't need to 0:18:05.290 --> 0:18:08.409 learn a poem. I need to learn to talk with 0:18:08.410 --> 0:18:12.609 her and communicate with her. You don't need to learn 0:18:12.609 --> 0:18:16.690 the the Our Father. You need to learn how to 0:18:16.690 --> 0:18:20.050 talk to your father. You need to learn how to 0:18:20.050 --> 0:18:23.890 communicate to him. And some of you don't know how 0:18:23.890 --> 0:18:26.890 to pray because you're not that close to God. And 0:18:26.890 --> 0:18:31.649 it's almost like, hey, God, it's me. Well, you probably 0:18:31.650 --> 0:18:34.890 already knew that. You need to learn how to pray 0:18:34.890 --> 0:18:38.889 like a father and a son. Communicate together, because that's 0:18:38.890 --> 0:18:42.250 the kind of relationship that God wants with you. Not 0:18:42.250 --> 0:18:46.250 a reverse prayer, not an awkward silent prayer, but a 0:18:46.410 --> 0:18:52.209 father to son. Daughter to father conversation where you stand 0:18:52.210 --> 0:18:54.810 before the creator of the universe, and you converse and 0:18:54.810 --> 0:18:57.490 bring an end. And it's an ongoing conversation that you 0:18:57.490 --> 0:19:00.659 have with God, because that's how God wants us to 0:19:00.700 --> 0:19:04.740 learn how to pray. The discipline and the habit of prayer. 0:19:07.700 --> 0:19:12.860 And then the third discipline is the discipline of fasting. 0:19:13.420 --> 0:19:15.700 Now I have to say, if these were easy again, 0:19:15.700 --> 0:19:20.340 we would be doing them. Fasting is the forgotten habit 0:19:20.340 --> 0:19:24.740 or spiritual discipline of the church. The 21st century does 0:19:24.740 --> 0:19:31.179 a lousy job at being a fasting people. It's a 0:19:31.340 --> 0:19:34.379 almost like an ancient practice. Like, yeah, didn't people the 0:19:34.380 --> 0:19:37.540 old saints do that. Didn't Jesus do that? The disciples 0:19:37.540 --> 0:19:42.100 do that, but we don't really do that. I mean, 0:19:42.100 --> 0:19:43.980 some of you told me, yeah, I come from a 0:19:44.020 --> 0:19:48.820 tradition I used to fast before Easter. Really? Yeah. You 0:19:49.100 --> 0:19:52.660 tell me. Every Friday I would fast. Tell me about 0:19:52.660 --> 0:19:57.660 your fasting. Yeah, well, I wouldn't eat meat. What would 0:19:57.660 --> 0:20:02.340 you eat? Well, yeah. Where would you go to Long 0:20:02.340 --> 0:20:05.780 John Silvers and eat all the fish I could eat? Hey, 0:20:05.780 --> 0:20:11.500 you're not fasting. You're changing diets. That's not a fast. 0:20:11.700 --> 0:20:15.820 A fast is actually giving up food, abstaining from food 0:20:15.820 --> 0:20:19.659 or drink for a predetermined period of time for the 0:20:19.660 --> 0:20:23.659 purpose of more intently seeking the heart and the face 0:20:23.660 --> 0:20:28.740 of God. If you fill yourself up on fish or 0:20:28.740 --> 0:20:32.939 fill yourself up on meat, it's not fasting. Fasting is 0:20:32.940 --> 0:20:38.020 actually giving up food. Fasting is one of those disciplines 0:20:38.020 --> 0:20:42.820 that puts your prayer life on turbo. That every significant 0:20:42.820 --> 0:20:47.340 event in Scripture seems to be preceded by fasting and prayer. 0:20:47.540 --> 0:20:52.140 Jesus fasted in prayer for 40 days before his ministry 0:20:52.140 --> 0:20:56.300 went public. Moses fasted 40 days before he received the 0:20:56.300 --> 0:21:01.460 Ten Commandments. Elijah fasted 40 days before he went into 0:21:01.460 --> 0:21:06.659 the cave. Uh, we see over and over. Place after place, 0:21:06.700 --> 0:21:12.100 event after event. People fasting for the purpose of praying 0:21:12.100 --> 0:21:16.780 so that God could move in extraordinary ways. Jesus was 0:21:16.780 --> 0:21:19.820 once approached about it because the disciples of John the 0:21:19.820 --> 0:21:24.580 Baptizer were fasting, but the disciples of Jesus were not fasting. 0:21:25.340 --> 0:21:27.420 And so some people came to Jesus and they said, hey, 0:21:27.420 --> 0:21:30.820 how come your disciples don't fast? But the disciples of 0:21:30.820 --> 0:21:35.700 John the Baptizer, they fast. And Jesus said, they can't 0:21:35.700 --> 0:21:40.180 fast while the bridegroom is with them, because Jesus was 0:21:40.180 --> 0:21:42.700 still with them. He said, but the day will come 0:21:42.740 --> 0:21:46.100 where the bridegroom, I will be taken away, and then 0:21:46.100 --> 0:21:49.020 they will fast. We live in that day and age 0:21:49.020 --> 0:21:52.220 between the leaving of Christ and the coming of Christ. 0:21:52.220 --> 0:21:54.580 And so we live in a time and an age 0:21:54.580 --> 0:21:58.950 where we are called upon to fast and pray. Break. 0:22:04.510 --> 0:22:07.550 You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. The first 0:22:07.550 --> 0:22:10.630 half of a lesson titled The Power Habits. We'll pick 0:22:10.630 --> 0:22:13.350 up with part two when we return for tomorrow's program, 0:22:13.350 --> 0:22:15.790 but until then, we encourage you to visit our website 0:22:15.790 --> 0:22:18.150 and browse through some of the faith building resources we 0:22:18.150 --> 0:22:21.190 have available, like this month's unique edition of our Bold 0:22:21.190 --> 0:22:23.869 Step gift. Mark, we are pleased to have doctor Heather 0:22:23.869 --> 0:22:26.109 Holloman with us briefly on the program here today to 0:22:26.150 --> 0:22:28.869 talk about her book, The Six Conversations. This is a 0:22:28.869 --> 0:22:30.350 very timely book, isn't it? 0:22:30.430 --> 0:22:32.710 I think it's very timely. You know, it seems like 0:22:32.710 --> 0:22:36.950 a lot of the conversations that should be happening are 0:22:36.950 --> 0:22:43.590 more shouting at each other or angry conversations or stereotyping people. 0:22:43.750 --> 0:22:46.430 And so it seems more and more difficult to have 0:22:46.430 --> 0:22:49.990 conversations with people that maybe have other ideologies. 0:22:50.070 --> 0:22:52.030 So, Heather, help us out here. How can how can 0:22:52.030 --> 0:22:53.109 you advise us? 0:22:53.230 --> 0:22:55.350 Well, I learned from the research what it means to 0:22:55.390 --> 0:22:58.710 believe the best about people. And it's profoundly biblical right 0:22:58.710 --> 0:23:01.870 out of Romans 12 and Philippians two. What would life 0:23:01.869 --> 0:23:04.710 look like if you began to honor one another, to 0:23:04.750 --> 0:23:08.590 value others above yourself, and to bless those who persecute 0:23:08.590 --> 0:23:12.070 you and love your enemies? It's a countercultural way to live, 0:23:12.270 --> 0:23:14.790 and when you believe the best about people, you're seeking 0:23:14.830 --> 0:23:17.389 to learn from them. So my neighbors that believe different 0:23:17.390 --> 0:23:21.350 things politically or socially, instead of arguing with them, I say, 0:23:21.390 --> 0:23:24.909 I can tell you really care so passionately about this issue. 0:23:24.910 --> 0:23:27.150 I'd love to hear the story of when you first 0:23:27.150 --> 0:23:30.270 started believing these things. Now we're having a warm connection, 0:23:30.270 --> 0:23:32.550 and I can share things that I'm learning from the 0:23:32.550 --> 0:23:34.629 Bible or anything important about my life. 0:23:34.750 --> 0:23:36.550 So your goal here is to help us get deeply 0:23:36.550 --> 0:23:39.790 into other people's lives and share things with them spiritually. 0:23:40.350 --> 0:23:42.830 Yes. And you can have those warm connections that really 0:23:42.869 --> 0:23:45.990 were designed for the research is clear. People are suffering 0:23:45.990 --> 0:23:49.230 because of loneliness and disconnection. So this book is really 0:23:49.230 --> 0:23:51.870 an intervention in a health crisis that we're also seeing 0:23:51.910 --> 0:23:52.949 across the nation. 0:23:53.390 --> 0:23:56.630 I love it. One of the greatest challenges that we 0:23:56.630 --> 0:24:01.520 live is isolation, lack of connection. And so whether this 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:04.879 is at church with other believers or whether this is 0:24:04.880 --> 0:24:08.119 with a neighbor that maybe does not share your faith 0:24:08.119 --> 0:24:12.520 or politically is at odds with you. This is a 0:24:12.520 --> 0:24:18.040 great book. The Six Conversations by Doctor Heather Holloman. Look 0:24:18.040 --> 0:24:21.040 forward to getting this book into so many people's hands. 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:22.560 Heather, thanks for your partnership. 0:24:22.760 --> 0:24:23.480 Thank you. 0:24:23.640 --> 0:24:25.440 Please let us send you a copy of this book. 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:27.760 When you make a donation of any amount to support 0:24:27.760 --> 0:24:31.440 Bold steps. Go online to Bold steps.org or call us 0:24:31.440 --> 0:24:38.359 today at 800. D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. You can even 0:24:38.359 --> 0:24:40.440 send your gift and your check in the mail. Just 0:24:40.440 --> 0:24:45.440 address your envelope to bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, 0:24:45.480 --> 0:24:49.639 Illinois 606 ten. And when you give this month, or 0:24:49.640 --> 0:24:52.359 if you've ever given to bold steps before, would you 0:24:52.400 --> 0:24:56.160 consider becoming a bold partner? These monthly supporters are the 0:24:56.160 --> 0:24:59.560 backbones of our ministry, helping us build a steady foundation 0:24:59.560 --> 0:25:02.480 so we can keep bringing God's Word to listeners worldwide. 0:25:02.840 --> 0:25:05.480 When you commit to a monthly gift of $30 or more, 0:25:05.520 --> 0:25:10.240 you'll receive exclusive benefits, including a signed copy of Mark's book, unstuck. 0:25:10.520 --> 0:25:14.880 Special video content and a 50% discount on everything at 0:25:14.880 --> 0:25:18.760 Moody Publishers. So join the team today at Bold Steps. 0:25:20.320 --> 0:25:22.159 And as we close, we just want to remind you 0:25:22.160 --> 0:25:24.399 that you can always find these messages and catch up 0:25:24.400 --> 0:25:27.159 on anything you've missed on the radio by subscribing to 0:25:27.200 --> 0:25:30.439 the Bold Steps podcast. Open up your podcast app on 0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:33.639 your mobile device and search for bold steps with doctor 0:25:33.640 --> 0:25:37.080 Mark Jobe. Well, I'm Wayne Shepherd signing off, and we'll 0:25:37.080 --> 0:25:39.880 see you tomorrow for the conclusion of today's message. The 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:43.640 power happens. That's coming up Thursday right here on Bold 0:25:43.640 --> 0:25:47.639 Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of 0:25:47.680 --> 0:25:50.800 Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.