If we’re honest, that’s a sentiment we’ve all shared. Prayer can be challenging and confusing. Often we feel abandoned, betrayed, and anxious. We don’t know what to pray for, we don’t know the words to say, and sometimes it just feels like there’s no one on the other side.
Pastor and bestselling author Derwin Gray addresses all of these feelings and thoughts today on the show. Using his book “God, Do You Hear Me?” (B&H) as a guide, Derwin walks us through the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9-13).
We also chat about:
- His time playing in the NFL
- God’s transformation process
- Partnering with God
Tune in to discover the prayer God always answers. We pray this episode helps you breakthrough to a completely new and refreshing prayer life.
Quotes:
“Football functioned as a god. A god is something that gives you affirmation, identity, and mission.”
“As a football player, my identity was wrapped up in what I did. I could have all the fame and success in the world, but without God it’s nothing.”
“I thought football would heal all those hurts. I thought I could accomplish my way out of trauma. I thought I could succeed my way out of pain.”
“God allowed me to experience my dream, but without Him, it was so unfulfilling. I had accomplished all of my goals and still thought there has to be more to life than this.”
“For the first time in my life, I was loved with no strings attached, even though I wasn’t good enough. Jesus was my good enough.”
“You can have all the success in the world, but what does it profit a man or a woman if you gain the world and lose your soul?”
“What if we had such satisfaction in Jesus that we wanted everyone else to experience Him as well?”
“It’s not about getting stuff from God, it’s actually about getting God and getting to know God.”
“Anything of significance to you comes out of a season of wrestling.”
“If you find prayer difficult and confusing and sometimes a struggle Join the club. We all do. Even Jesus’ disciples did.”
“Where is our certain place that we pray?”
“Prayer is being continuously open to God’s presence. The Lord’s prayer is a description of God’s will for our lives and aligns us to our assignment in His Kingdom. It’s an invitation to get to know God the Father.”
“A lot of Christians mistakenly believe that God’s goal is to get us out of our earth, but in reality, God Himself came to earth to bring heaven to earth through us.”
“Jesus will meet our needs, not our greeds.”
“We will be so thankful there are prayers our Father never answered.”
“Every book I have written is on a stack of rejection letters.”
“God is always on time”
“Shame and guilt are the twin brothers of destruction.”
“I’m not a victim. I’m victorious in Christ. Jesus is greater than my trauma.”
“The scene of the crime is your mind.”
“We are not what we do. We are what Christ has done.”
“We are not what others say.”
“Adam and Eve had the perfect parent, God the Father and they still sinned. The best thing I can do as a parent is to point my children to the greatest parent of all. Their behavior is not a reflection of you. I thought I was parenting my kids, but my kids have been parenting me.”
How does prayer not grow stale? It’s not about getting something out of it. It is about being with someone.
“The world tells us you are what you have. Jesus says our value comes from belonging to Him.”
Psalm 23
“We’ve got to be ok with boredom. Sometimes we entertain ourselves into oblivion.”
“It only becomes routine and ritualistic if we don’t understand that prayer is about intimacy.”
“Every follower of Jesus is a royal priest. Our royalty is not them serving us, but us serving them.”
“Our prayers begin to align with God’s provision for us.”
“Even the ordinary things are bristling with supernatural capacities.”
“Upward, inward, outward.”
“We often think we have to do big things to be a part of the Kingdom of God. Everyone is created to participate in the Kingdom. Allow Jesus to reproduce His life in you and through you in every moment of life.”
Galatians 2:20
“I don’t make “little ole mes” I make image-bearers.”
“Let’s go on an adventure today. Let’s go be the Kingdom.”
“We are serving the appetizer of what is to come.”
“When we try to be good without God we end up being bad. So, the way you become a love offering is you let the unlimited, life-giving, sin forgiving, love of Jesus ravage you.”
“It’s not about how much we love God, it is about how much He loves us.”
Connect with Derwin:
@derwinlgray
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