With The Perrys - Let’s Talk Fasting and Prayer

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

It’s been a minute since the Perrys dedicated an episode to the topic of prayer, and they realize they pray differently today than they did back then. Just as sanctification changes who you are, it also changes your prayer life, so what do their prayers look like now? Jackie and Preston also take a look at several examples of prayer in the Bible. Scripture shows us how we can approach God when we think He is disciplining us or when we doubt He is for us. Prayer grounds us as Christians, reminding us that we can’t lean on our own understanding. Through both prayer and fasting, God wants us to quiet our souls so we become more dependent on Him.  You can also go back and watch the Perrys’ conversation on prayer from 2022: Prayer: The Discipline We All Suck At Scripture references: John 15:2 Romans 8:31 2 Corinthians 1:9 2 Kings 19:14 1 Samuel 2 Acts 4:23-29 Daniel 3:17-18 Luke 22:42-43 Isaiah 58:5-8   This Episode of With The Perrys is Sponsored By: https://weekendtoremember.com — Get $100 off when you use code PERRY at checkout! https://www.covenanteyes.com — Get Victory by Covenant Eyes FREE for 30 days with promo code PERRYS Subscribe to the Perrys' newsletter: https://withtheperrys.myflodesk.com/zhfus4jx1s Join Preston's discipleship community for men: https://www.patreon.com/PrestonPerry/membership To support the work of the Perrys, donate via PayPal: https://paypal.me/withtheperrys Shop BOLD Apparel: boldapparel.shop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lean on me I beat you I beat you to it It's the St. I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on I thought I was sure

Beech you to the St. ane song It won't be long I'm laughing at your hands So I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on So does I think about Lead on me

I think about you smoke crack Don't you just smoke crack When you need a hand Remember Joe Clark We all need somebody to lean on. I just might have problem that you'll understand. We all need somebody to lean. Hey, you know, you know what kind of replaced that song in the Christian community.

I pray for you. You pray for me. I love you. I need you to. I was just telling Jordan. I won't harm you. With words. No, listen.

With words from my mouth. The first church I went to when I became a Christian, my pastor would play that something. We didn't have no choir. We had no praise team. We sang to a CD, okay? He would turn Hezekiel Walker CD on. He would play that song.

Have us all stand up in whole hands and sing it to each other. Bro. Meanwhile, while somehow I end up, I'm always next to the first lady. I pray for you. And she were like, I need you to survive. And I'm like 20. I'm like, this is the weirdest thing.

No, because my auntie used to always look me dead in my eye. I won't harm you with words from my mouth. You mean, you be cursing me out of every week. She was not cursing you out. Not cursing me out, but telling me off. But I will admit, at 1920, I thought it was absolutely stupid. now that I'm 35 than been in the church

long enough, we need to sing that song because the way we be harming each other with words from our mouth and thinking that we don't actually need each other it's like oh that's a discipleship song It is We all need to re-coranth

I got tired of it real fast though It is his It is his will that every need be supplied You are important to me I need you. That's actually a really beautiful. If somebody listens to this podcast, like, what are they talking? They Googling.

Do Hezekiel Walker. I won't harm you with words from my mouth. Well, I don't know the title of the song. I pray for you. What are they singing? I wish I could play it. Sounds lovely. I don't know.

Let me see. I'm going to find it because y'all need to listen to it. Hezekiah, pray. It's not even on my phone. That's how I feel about it. Yeah, I need you to survive. Ain't that what it is? No.

So this is going to make me irritated. At this point, yeah, I need you to survive. Heskaw Walker and the Love Fellowship. Oh my gosh. I can only play like 10 seconds. This podcast will be flagged. Okay. That's how I did 10 seconds.

All right. So we back in the day, probably a couple years ago, had a conversation about prayer. I don't even remember what we talked about if I was a particular podcast. host, I would have watched it back. You know what I'm saying? Be like, oh yeah, we said this. We said, I don't feel like doing that. We got four kids.

I got to get up at six something in the morning and take them to school. I don't feel like doing anything. We got two, one of them, ain't party train. You know what I'm saying? He ran on my back today. It was just a lot. So I'm here saying, I don't know what we said. If you want to go back and watch it, feel free.

But last night, when me and person were thinking about topics, I was like, you know, we pray differently now than we did then. And it's not as though my prayer life is fantastic. It's not as though it's great. It's just different. It's just the depth is different. The words are different. The language is different.

Everything about it is different because we are. And so I was like, why don't we just have a conversation and about prayer and fasting from the place that we're in now? But also, I think seeing that, man, like just in the same way that sanctification changes who you are, sanctification also changes your prayer life. Yeah. It does. That's a word. And so I guess if you think about where you were then, I think we had just had Sage, maybe August.

I think it was August. It was Sage. Not when we had that, not when we was Airbnb in that property. Oh, okay. Yeah, I was a little wide. You know what I'm saying? I was probably wearing size. I won't say what size pants I was wearing, but they was wide.

And we was in there. We saw my prayer and all stuff. When you think about your prayer life then to your prayer life now, Now, what's the difference? More dependency. Like, I think back then I was talking to the Lord. I'd be begging him now. I'd be begging him.

Like, God, please. Please. Please help me. What created that dependence? I think just life. I think, like, we have way more responsibilities. More children. Our children are in school.

It's just so much to think about. You know, our marriage. which it's still lovely, but it's way more complicated. I mean, the more you do, the more you're married to somebody, you're changing, that person changing, so you need to learn how to deal with the changes. You need help, you know. That, you know, the level of platform that we've been storing it is just different.

Yeah, I remember when you talked about how many downloads this podcast has generated, I remember you talking about just the weight you felt. It wasn't even like a proud. It was just kind of like a... Ooh, scary. Oh, it's just scary. You know what I mean? But I felt similar.

Like, man, this is a big responsibility. And so it just, even that, you know, I wasn't authored in. So now I have people, you know, looking to me for a particular advice with it relates to evangelism because, like, so it's just so much, you know. And so I think the more God gives you, it's weird. It's like the more faithful you remain with the Lord, the more he gives you. But the more he gives you, the more stressful, more stressful, more dependent you need to be. And so I think it's just, you know, your prayer life just naturally changes because of that. Well, I got the same question for you.

Like, how has your prayer life changed? Yeah, my prayers are, I'm not going to say more honest because I've always been honest with the Lord. but I do think they just sound weaker. In what way? Like, I don't know. I think, I think in general, the last year or two has been a lot of discipline from the Lord. And discipline from the Lord is not punishment. It's training.

Yeah. It's, you know, it's very much John 15. To those who bear fruit, he prunes so that they will bear more. So being fruitful means that difficulty might come, circumstances will come, not as a consequence, like a negative consequence, but as a positive one. I actually want you to bear more fruit. So I got to point that out. We got to deal with that. We got to tighten up here.

We got to, you know, crucify that, da, da, da, da. And I think those trials, those tests, all of it has put me in a position where it's like, I really can't think my way out of this. I actually can't even fix this. I actually don't know what to pray. Like there's been so many times where I don't, I don't know what to say to you. I don't have language for what I need. All I can really do is cry and say, help me.

I don't know. I don't know. Just please help me. Like I, like, I've seen a lot of that pruning processing your life. And I just, we've had, I don't have to go deep into the conversations, you know, personal conversations we had in the bed or whatever, just like, man, Lord, you know. But, like, I think when you're going through those, those seasons, like, how do you approach God

when you feel like he is disciplining you? Because I can imagine that some people, you know, I have pity parties or, you know, like, what does that look like? And how do you approach God when you feel like he's disciplining you and pruning you the season like that. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot.

Because I think your theology definitely has to be solid where you have to be convinced or even beg the Holy Spirit to convince you by his power. That's a word. Again, like the Holy Spirit to. The self-reliance is I don't have as much of that as I had. And so it's like asking the Holy Spirit to help you believe that God is for you. You know what I'm saying? Like when Romans talks about like, no, like if God is for you, nothing can be against you.

Neither principality is no powers, no this, nor that, da, da, da. And I think when life is difficult, it can really feel like God is against you. Yeah. Or that God doesn't like you. Yeah. It's like, do you even, I know you love me, but do you like me? Yeah, Job, Job energy. Like, what's going on, sir?

Come on. Let it go. I am the most faithful man in the east. Why did my kids die actually? That's what I'm saying. So you start to have these, and that's what despair does. Yeah. That's what unbelief does.

That's what hopelessness does, is it starts to change your conception of God himself. And you start to think about him in ways that are actually just not true. And so I think that's been a really big thing because, again, if you're going through a season and going through a trial where you are being tested, you are being challenged, you are being pruned, at the same time that you are being tested, you are also being tempted. They are going to come at the same time. Break that down. Okay. We talked about this a couple weeks ago. So in Luke, when Jesus is led into the wilderness, it says that the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness, it translates as tested, right?

testing is the process by which the like what is in your heart is revealed so when Abraham was tested by sacrificing or when God said sacrifice Isaac the son that you love da da da da he was tested and then when he did not when he went to sacrifice the son and the Lord gave him the ram and all the stuff he said okay now I know that you love me it ain't that God needed the knowledge it was that Abraham did and so Abraham learned something about himself and learned something about God at the same time. I'm feeling spiritual. The test was revelatory. It revealed, oh, you actually have faith here. That's great. And that came after tests where he did not have faith. Those tests reveal where he actually was. That's good. So at the same. And also, also, real quick, when we was talking about this,

we was traveling. We was on a plane. Tim Keller. I'm coming there. Okay, yeah, yeah. So he, with Jesus being in the wilderness and being tested, while his obedience, his submission to the Lord, His love for the scripture is being tested. Satan is there tempting him, right? And so with us as humans, we ain't nothing like Jesus. So while God is trying to prune a thing, prune anxiety, prune fear, prune pride, prune perversion, prune all of that, the enemy is sending temptations to help lessen the cost.

Does that make sense? Makes a lesson. Like one of my temptations, it might not even be something crazy. It might just be sleep. Yeah. Like I'm, Do you get what I'm saying? Yeah.

You don't got to get up and pray. You know, like, I know you, your kids doing nap time, you can watch Netflix. Yeah. The temptation is sloth, which weakens your resolve to fight. So it's like he,

his strategies are fantastic. And so I think having a view of God that is solid and biblical and steadfast helps you to not only pass the test but resist the temptation that comes with. That's good. So with Tim Keller, Tim Keller, it was his podcast or this sermon I was listening to

about the Lord's Prayer where he says, lead us not into temptation. Our temptation and test in the Greek, it really can go either way. And he was saying it can go it either way depending on you. Depending on you, we'll determine if that was a temptation or if that was a test. Yeah, wow, that's so amazing.

Because the reason why when we was having this conversation, I think we was on a plane and you said that to me. Who's in a cab for Uber? Yeah, we're in New York. Yeah, yeah, we was in the cab. And you said that to me, it was so powerful to me because it really just reminded me that God is sovereign over everything that I'm going through. And depending on how my heart is willing to embrace what God is trying to do,

it's up to me if I want to open that door for the devil to come in and test me. Yes. And so it's like to tempt me, I mean. Yes. Because the Lord is testing me, but how I respond. to this test, it's all, like, the enemy is just waiting for me to be like, in my feeling so he can come and touch me. Yeah. You know, and so, like, that was just so powerful me to, to know that, like, man, like, if God is working all things out for the good of those who love him,

like, to just trust him in the midst of the test, even when it's hard. And I think that's just something we got to, we got to consistently remember as Christians. And the way prayer develops from that place is that if we're honest, I am coming to see that when God sends me trials, it really is like one of his primary goals is to weaken me. Satan wants to weaken my resolve. Satan wants to weaken my faith. That's what he wants to do.

God wants to weaken myself reliance. Yeah. God wants to weaken my pride. Yeah. He wants to deliver me from me. Yeah. And so what that does is it puts you in a position where it's like, you know, I actually can't succeed at Christianity if I don't fall on my face more often.

Yeah. I'm not going to do this thing. Like I feel like I have tapped into an understanding of Christianity that is just like, oh, you really want me to die? Like you really Oh, it's about death. This really is about dying. And guess what?

I don't like dying. I don't want to do that. Yeah. So, because I know that you resist the proud and give grace to the humble. The prayer then is me not coming before the Lord acting like I want to be there. Yeah.

It's me saying, you know, I'm actually really irritated by this. I really don't like it. I am so proud. please help me be humble. What would you say to the person who says, what does that do for God for us to be weak? Why does he want us weak? Why does he want us?

I don't think it's that God wants us weak. He wants us to be realists. We are weak. Yes. We just fight against that reality. So it's ultimately God is trying to position us where we're honest about our truest state. You are made of dust, sis, sir.

And also too, I think God wants us to be in touch with their reality because he knows that he cannot be the primary source of everything that we, and it's no hope for us if he's not the primary source of all of our needs. And so I think the Lord's kindness prunes us. And I think it develops a dependency in us that actually helps us. Like, God is so good that he'll tap us on our wrist just so we can know that the most thing that we need is him. When has it actually served us to act like we're strong? Yeah.

Yeah, I love this quote. I read some book. I forgot what book it was. But in the book it said, the thing that separates God between us is that God never tries to act like he's us. And I just love that quote so much because God never tries to act like us, but we're always trying to act like we're self-sufficient. And we're not.

We're literally creation. Yeah, we are. We were created for someone. Yeah. There's a passage. I've been quoting it a lot lately because it really is ministering to me. It's in 2nd Corinthians. One, man, if you could listen to or read 2nd Corinthians in one sitting, I really would. Because it's such an honest letter from Paul. Like, listen to his emotions. Listen to how the trials are affecting him. Listen to his affliction and how just how the Lord is carrying him. And he says in 2nd Corinthians 1, Verse nine, verse two, I'll say. For we do not want you to be unaware. Verse two, that was the cross-reference, eight. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.

For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Pause, he's going through an affliction that he does not have the strength to overcome. He does not have the resources to get through. Mind you, this is Paul, but he's like, yeah, this is what we're going through right here. I can't make it through this, actually. Verse 9. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. That is such dramatic language.

But he's like, oh, we're going to die. Yeah. What I'm going through is too much for me. Why did it happen? But that, intentional, was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on the God who raises the dead. And I'm learning that sin, like, hides this from us. But it's like, oh, you, you want me to experience real power, real resurrection. And so, like, you're putting me in positions where I can't actually raise this thing from the dead.

I have to, like, get before you for that thing to come alive again. And that's actually what Christianity is. It is. It is. you're not living by your own strength. You're abiding. And only in abiding can you bear much fruit. And so, again, that's how the prayer life is developed,

is that you come to a point where it's like, oh, I can't actually rely on myself. Yeah, yeah. And that's one thing that I had to realize, I think starting last year, I was going through something that I just couldn't figure out. I didn't know how to, like, I couldn't understand it.

And for the life of me, you know, I would go downstairs and I would try to think my way through it. Mm-hmm. And the Lord was just like. Oh, yeah, God. Intellectualizing everything. Yeah, I was just like. Leaning on your own understanding. And God, but to be fair, I'm not trying to make excuses.

But a lot of times, God has met me in those moments where I'm thinking and processing. Because it's not like I'm not talking to him. I'm still talking to him, but it's a lot of me. It's a lot of me. I feel like the Lord over a course of weeks was like, you haven't sat with me about this. Like you need to come to me and talk to me. And I need that.

You need help. And it wasn't until, you know, I started to pray where the Lord gave me very clear direction about how to move in a situation and like how not to move in this situation and just made everything clear. And I think prayer, grounds the Christian in such a beautiful way

that helps us we cannot do life without it we literally can't do life without it so prayer is just so important yeah I think you know a prayer I'm gonna read this a prayer that really be ministering to me

I think it's in chronicles but it's also in Kings it's has a Chaya's prayer because what happens is King Hezekiah He's chilling All the stuff

And one of the other kings From somewhere else Basically starts coming For Hezakia He's like hey We gonna come You know and kill y'all And all the things

You're not listening to me I am This king named Snackarid I'm assuming that's how you pronounce Snanacra I'm pretty sure The Hebrew

Doesn't sound like this I hope it don't Because this is mama bogus for that Come in Sanacariabriibati A snack of red? She named him when she was hungry. I know. Snack a rib.

I know that's not what it was. I want a snack on a rib. He comes, he's a king of Assyria. He comes up against the four to five cities of Judah, basically with the intention of attacking them. And it's like intense. But you go read it for yourself, Second King's 1819. What I love is Hezekiah is in a situation where there is a foreign entity coming up

against him coming up against his country coming up against his people with really big loud threats that i'm pretty sure if god isn't on his side he can actually follow through on those threats and as the king he could just be proud he could say we're going to figure this out we we going to get i'm going get my soldiers we going to get our horses we going to get our chariots we going to get all the stuff. But it says that verse 14, Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers. This is Sinacherib's messengers

and read it. I'll say that one time. Because you know, I'm churchy you got to set it up. Hezekiah got the letter. So he gets the letter that is threatening him, right? He receives the letter from the hand of the messengers. He reads the letter and Hezekiah does this. He went up

to the house of the Lord and spread it before him. Wow. And that's not what we do. we receive threats from the devil, we receive threats from the job, we receive threats from our anxieties, we receive threats from the flesh and lust, and we don't spread it out.

We try to deal with it on our own strength. We try to process it. We try to talk to social media about it. We try to, like, we try to, we don't want to be needy, and I think there is a sense where we don't think God cares about our cares. So some of the stuff is like,

I ain't going to put that before you. Like, I'm going to wait till it's something big. I'm a way to something. significant. But it's like, no, even that depression is a threat. Yeah. And so he takes the letter and it says, and Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, Oh, Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone of all the kingdoms of the earth, you have made heaven and earth. Paul's so good. Pause. He spreads out this letter and starts to like, I think, remind his soul of who he's talking to. Like, you're,

you spread out before, you enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone. All. the kingdoms of the earth. You have made, like it's setting his affections up where he's not as threatened by the king of Assyria anymore because he knows who's he talked to. I'm getting excited. He says, verse 16, incline your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, O Lord, personification, and see, hear the words of Sinakari, which he has sent to mock the living God.

So he doesn't take the threats as personal. He sees this as an attack on the Lord. So now he's calling God to. get some vengeance. It's like, I think that Hezekiah's prayer has ministered to me so much in this season. It's like, what is it, what is it that I'm dealing with that I just need to spread out before the Lord? That's so good. Like, what is that thing

that I just need to put before them? That's so good. What is the name of God that I need to employ? Because I know I'm talking a lot, but I got to get it out. You don't talk about. In First Samuel, when Hannah was being vexed in her spirit by Panena. Panana over here talking all this crazy stuff because Hannah ain't got no babies.

It says Hannah went into the temple. It said, oh, Lord of Host. I'm trying to tell you, the name you call God in prayer does function as meditation. It functions as a reminder to the soul and gives language to like how your petition can be said with confidence. And I feel like there was one time,

I said this in the sermon recently, where I felt like the Lord was saying, I want you to practice calling me. be father. Because you begin your prayers calling me Lord, which is, that's true. I'm paraphrasing my unctions in the spirit. I'm giving language. But it's like, I'm calling you Lord because I have no problem being a servant. But you want me to call you father because I do have difficulty being a daughter. Wow. And so because I have difficulty being a daughter, I'm coming to you, say, okay, just tell me what you want me to do instead of just sitting and crying. We're more comfortable with

coming to him as Lord, but like, I am because I didn't have a daddy. Yeah. So that means I'm coming to you and wanting you to just tell me what to do so I can obey when you want me to just come and cry. Wow. You want me to come and sit. You want me to come and be so that he can give some type of release in my soul. I'm not going to tell you what to do.

I just want to love on you. You ain't the only one. You're in my business. Yada-Bake. I just want to love on you. That's good. That's good. That's really good.

Are you done? I can be. You want to keep going to get. This is with the parries, not Jackie. No, but no, seriously, that was really, really good. And the prayer, the prayer that you said that you've been blessed by, reminded me of a prayer that I've been blessed by in the scriptures. Because one of the last sermons that I taught was Acts 4.

And I taught Acts 4, I think, like the first half of Acts 4. And I never taught the second half of Acts 4, but I want to teach Acts 4. one day. You should. The second half, because it's so beautiful. So in Acts 4, you have Peter and John. They're arrested for preaching the gospel in the synagogue. And they put before the chief priests and the scribes and the elders or whatever.

And they asked them like, why y'all are here talking about Jesus when we told y'all not to talk about Jesus? And because they knew if they killed them, they would be, you know, caused like an uproar from the people. So they released them. Oh, I know the prayer we're doing. So they released them But they released them And they told them not to talk about Jesus anymore And so one thing that I love about this text is

These are the same group of men who Brutely beat, crucified, and killed Jesus. And so this means they have the power to do y'all the same way. They let y'all leave But they charge them not to talk about Jesus anymore And verse 23 of Acts 4 It says when they were released they went with their friends and reported what the chief priest and the elder said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted up their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heavens and the earth and the seeing everything in them, who through the mouth of our Father David your servant said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the people's plighted vain? And the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against your anointed one. For truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus,

whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pollitt, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to do whatever your plan predestined to take place. Now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant your service to continue to speak the word with all boldness. Let's just break down this prayer for a minute. I got so much to say, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

Let's just break down this prayer for a minute. The reason why I love this prayer so much is because, one, I love this prayer. I love this because when they were released, Peter and John, they didn't just stay clicked up together. They went to community. That's one. That's important because they know the power of community. And so it says they went to their friends and they prayed and they lived up to the voice.

And the first thing they did was exactly what Hezekiah did. They reminded themselves of the bigness of God. And I think that when it says, when they said sovereign Lord who made the heavens and the earth in the sea and everything in them, they're just not merely acknowledging that God is big. but what they are acknowledging is that God is the same God who spoke the Atlantic Ocean into existence. Correct. The Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean. Oh, you want to name another one?

No, the Pacific Ocean, what I'm saying is the Pacific Ocean is so big that you can fit all seven continents inside of it. Jesus. God created that. Oh, that's a big swimming pool. Right, right. The stars are so big that you could fit like 100,000 Earths inside of one star. Lord. And so when they remind themselves...

We should look for a planetarium. No, seriously. Be quiet, baby. What I'm saying is I think that they're reminded themselves of the bigness of God. So I think what they're doing is they're reminding themselves of the bigness of God and comparing the bigness of God to their threats. It's like, if God is this big, what are your threats to me? And so I think a lot of times that's what prayer does.

It reminds us of who we serve. And so I think it just gives us peace in every aspect of life. It's like, what are these problems compared to the God that I serve? And so I think that's what they're doing. And then the second thing, it says, it says, through the mouth of our father, David, your servant said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage in the people's plot in vain and the kings of the earth set themselves against your rulers and against the Lord and against his anointed? Now, this is a psalm that they're quoting from David, right?

This is a question that David raised. But you know in the Psalms, David asked a lot of questions and nobody answered it. Like the Psalms, it's just, it's just him just posing a lot of questions. But I love how in their prayer they raised the question that David, that David raised hundreds of years ago. So one, they reminded themselves of the Word of God in their prayer by talking about this question that David raised. But in the prayer, they answered the question. Uh-huh. Right?

Peep the text, right? Verse 26 is the question. that David raised, why did the Gentiles rage and the people plot in vain and the kings of the earth set themselves against your people and yada yada yada? Verse 27 says, for truly in this city they were gathered together

against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pollitt and the Gentiles and the people of Israel to do whatever your plan and your hand predestined to take place. And so one thing that I love about this text

is they they're allowing God to be right. Like, because their prayers became rational, their thoughts became rational, their prayers also was rational, right? And so I think that's what prayer does. I think prayer puts everything in perspective for us. And they're saying, like,

everything that took place in this city happened because of your hand predescent to take place. So it's actually no need for us to fear that if Jesus' life was in your hands, why is our life not also in your hands? Like no evil took place apart from your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, why am I nervous?

If, if God, if, if God had Jesus back through it all. Yes. Why does he not have my, my back? And I think that's what prayer does. I think it grounds us. I think it senses us and I think it reminds us of the God that we serve. Um, and it gives us more confidence. I think what I love about that prayer.

it's a lot but even with this and hasakaya it's like you're talking it's like they're communicating things to god that he already knows you know what I'm saying and things that are rooted in Bible yes where it's like we said this in the previous episode but I think it's worth repeating is that the more Bible you know the better you might end up praying you get what I'm saying because it's like their language is true language. Yes. Their prayers are true prayers. It's like you're talking back to God what he already told you.

It's like he gave y'all these scriptures. He told y'all he was the sovereign Lord who made the heaven and the earth and the sea. He already know what's going on. And it's like, God, I know that you know, but I just need to say it out loud real quick. I just need to say, hey, I know you're sovereign. I know you see what they're doing. I know you see how da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Like, it's something about knowing truth and communicating truth back to God as you seek, like, as you petition him.

I don't know. It's just something about that to me. And I also think that when we go to God with truth, because what they did was they just really quoted David. And they quoted a question that David raised. And I think God was able to meet them in their circumstances. And they were able to rationalize why they're actually going to. going through things because they actually came to God with reverence, with truth, with honor, with transparency, with honesty.

And I think that's why I got was able to meet them. It's like, oh, I'll be actually going through this because, you know, and I love the fact that before they went through this, they was actually hiding in a room, afraid. Like, they were not rational. They did not remember that God was big. You know something? One thing they have in common with Hannah is how they referenced. themselves in the prayer.

Verse 29. And now, Lord, look upon their threads and grant to your servants. Mm-hmm. And it's like they have expectation but not entitlement. Woo. That's a good word. So they have expectation that you can give boldness. Mm-hmm.

You can give courage. Like this doesn't sound like they're like, if you don't mind, can you please just make, make us a little more. courageous. I know, I don't know if you went. Like, there's an expectation, but they also know their place. Yes. We are servants at the end of the day. And so I can expect, but I don't have a right for you to respond. That's a real good observation. Another thing that I noticed is because their thoughts became rational, their prayers also became rational. And in their, in their rational thought, they did not pray and ask God to take away the threats. Huh? They prayed and asked God. And

to help them to be bold in the midst of it. Riquet, Ishet, Osha. And so, and so, I think what they're experiencing here, these are the same man who, after Jesus's death, you know, before the resurrected Christ was revealed to them, they were hiding in the house and locked the doors because they was afraid to get crucified like Jesus. Yeah.

They were afraid, right? But I think now that they come to, terms like my life is actually going to end the way God wants it to end, that if Christ's life was not spared, it's a reality that my life is not going to be spared too. And so it's not like they wasn't praying. They just wasn't praying the right thing. And I think that they, when they, when they started to pray, Lord, maybe this threat isn't going to go away. But the gospel being heard is more important. So instead of taking away the threat, no, actually, can you just help us be more bold. And so I think that just helped their prayers change. And I think that's,

our prayers sometimes just need the change. I don't think, yes. I think when I read the Psalms, but the Psalms, he was like, Lord, kill him. Take it away. Take it away, Lord. And so I think there's both. I think there is, I think they have, I think they have a view of their mission, And especially with their Lord who just was crucified and that drew many to himself, I think they have a view of their mission and the earth as disciple makers. That's so true.

That, you know, this is the means by which you draw a lot of times. It's persecution. This is how you scatter the church. And so I think there's this kind of view of God's sovereignty that like, no, all things will work together for good. And so we're just going to pray specifically for what we need. We probably know we don't need deliverance from them.

We need courage towards them. But I think it's helpful to bring up. bring up the tension that that has, like with Daniel 3, when you have Shadrach, Meshach, and not a billy goat. Not a billy goat, but a bed to go. And how, you know, Nebuchadnezzar, he wants them to bow down to the little image or whatever. And he's like, hey, y'all don't do that, y'all going to die, da, da, da. And they say in verse 17, if this be so, our God we serve is able to deliver us from

the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of your handle, king. but if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. I think in prayer, that is Garden of Gassimity Energy. It's one of the hardest things for me to pray with faith and pray with faith that I know you can set me free from this. I know you can deliver me from this. I know that you can work that out.

I know you can lift that. But if you decide not to. I'll still worship. That right there, I think when you come to a place where you can hold both intention with contentment, then you are living Christianly. Like you have figured out like, oh, like I need to have faith and I need to have faith. The faith that says if he does it, he's worthy. If he doesn't, he's worth it.

Yeah. Yeah. That's so good. And if you don't, honestly, say that too. Like, you know, like, I, I want you to do this. And I'm, like, sometimes we got to, we got to, we got to be with, like, Jacob. Like, we got to wrestle. Like, you know, I feel a way that you, I've been praying this for a long time.

Yeah, yeah. And you're not, it don't seem like you care. Yeah, because I think, I think one thing we have to realize, because what I hear you talking about in a lot of ways is just suffering. And I think what we have to realize is that it ain't worth nothing if it don't cost you. nothing. The Christian life costs you something. I remember I was studying 1st Peter 4 about suffering and it would say it was the righteous was scarcely making it. And people think that means that they won't make that they won't make an end. And it's like no, like the righteous will will make it in but it will be hard. The skin today chiny chan. It would be hard. And so like in our prayers,

I think that we I think God honors when we meet him with like realistic expectations about the Christian life and about suffering. It's like no. It's like, no. But if Christ suffered, there is going to be a level of suffering. And so, like, sometimes the Lord takes things away. Sometimes he doesn't. And sometimes he don't. But I think what you just said is so key. Like, will you still worship me and love me if I don't?

Yeah. And I just want to say something connected to that real quick. Because I wanted to talk about fasting. Yes. I've learned a lot about fasting in this little season. particularly as it relates to temptation. It's been recently where I see the temptation. It actually is in the category of suffering.

And when I went to that Christian school to teach on endurance, when it comes to sexuality, I feel like this is always a big thing where I've prayed for this. and it didn't go away. I ask God to... That's what people tell you. All the time. That's a big part of why people end up not living Christian according to Scripture is because they ask for God to deliver them from same-sex desires

or they asked for God to take that thorn away and he didn't. Therefore, that must mean that I am what I am. And so they continue to submit to their flesh because God did not answer their petition. And I think ultimately is that people grow weary with the concept of endurance. Is that there are some thorns that God is just not going to remove. That doesn't mean that he can't. It just means that he is not always obligated to. And one of the things that I think would encourage everybody,

whatever that is, whatever your struggle is, whether that's a mental struggle, whether that's a financial struggle. Like I know people where it seems like a big thorn in their flesh is that they always have to ask for daily manner. Yeah. You know, like there are some people who are in positions where their bank account is sitting. Like they straight. Like they trust God for provision, but they're not desperate for provision. Then there are others where it's like, Lord, you really want us to beg for basic stuff all the time.

And he always shows up. But there is this like, day, like, why do I have to be needy in this area all the time? And I think Jesus ministers to us in this way when he was on the Mount of Olives and he prays it says, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

Here's what I love is verse 43. The Lord does not remove the cup, the cup of God's wrath, because that's the reason he was sent. What he does do is this. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him. Wow. Meaning that there are some seasons and some things that if the Lord does not deliver you or answer that particular petition, trust that he can strengthen you

to endure it if he doesn't. Yeah, that's so good. You know what I'm saying? It's not like he, he's promised to never leave you nor forsake you. So if he says no to that, it isn't that he's saying no to everything. He's teaching and training and developing and strengthening you in ways that you just have to look out for it. So you know what? Let me start praying differently. Lord, thank you that I haven't lost my mind. That's so good.

Thank you that I still have strength. Thank you that I'm still a Christian. Thank you that I still love your word. Thank you that I'm not out here smoking bloods every dang on day to make it through. Thank you that. That's so good. It's like, yeah, I might not have lifted that, but I strengthened you. That's fire.

That's fire. Yeah. That's a word. That's a word. Because I think, because if we, if we're honest and we look at it, like when we just read Acts 4, we just read as a kai. when they're reminded themselves about the bigness of God, they're not just reminded themselves that God created the heavens and the earth and all the things.

They're also just reminded themselves of just, God, you are a being that is outside of time, space, matter, which means you are eternal, which means you see into eternity's paths. And so, like, somebody might say, if it's bad for me and if it's hurting me and I'm asking God to move it, or to remove it, why won't he just do it? But what if God, who sees into eternity's past, who sees your future, knows that you actually won't become the person that you will become if he moves it? That if God and our relationship with him is the best thing for us

and removing this thing prevents you from actually seeing him like you should, why should he move it? So, like, just because something is momentarily bad for you doesn't mean that it's not, in the long term, good for your growth. Yes. But only God knows that. So this is the reason why faith in, like, there's some things that I, it's something I wouldn't learn about, I wouldn't have learned about God if he didn't allow me to go through certain seasons. That is a fact. So, like, I think that we just have to trust that God is just,

wiser than us and like he just knows everything because we we think the prayer of faith is sufficient we're praying like

he will answer if it's in accord with his will what is his will for your life and most likely usually it's to sanctify you so again

we ain't saying don't pray for deliverance from certain things like do that petition him God, please lift it. Help me out. You know what I'm saying? Give me some ease.

Bless me with some joy. But I think what I'm coming to terms with is if and when the mountain doesn't move, it might be because he's trying to move me. Woo! I am the mountain that he's trying to move. So my prayer needs to shift. My prayer needs to change. God, my heart is actually hard. That is a tweet, a thread, an Instagram post.

I'm the mountain. A YouTube little situation. Move me, Lord. You get what I'm saying? If you don't want to move that, move me. It's fire. Fast. You're in your bag today.

Look pretty self. This is what happened when you're not on social media. You ain't got nothing but time to think and pray. You've just been praying and. It's stored up. And playing a little game. Solitaire. So sick of solitaire.

It's stored up. Fasted. We have faster more this year. And please don't hear us like, oh, y'all so spiritual. Yeah, we know. Not trying to be like those people in the synagogue who don't wash their face. No, no, no, no. I'm praying.

I'm so tired. I'm fast. I'm so weak. We are weak and fragile. And we won't love each other. Our children, the Lord, the church, Christ, his spirit. If we don't do these things. But they did crazy how God basically said, when y'all fast, don't be fake.

That's what he said in the scriptures. He did. You want to know why I look weak? They disfigure their faces. You want to know why? I'm snubbed like this? No. You don't want to know.

We did a fast at the top of the year with our church. It was a seven-day fast. And I had never fasted longer than three days. I fasted for seven days, like my second year being a Christian. And I did nothing spiritual when I listened to me. I watched TV. I kept drinking water. You just didn't eat.

I just didn't eat. Yeah, you did. I was just walking around. You didn't actually. Well, God told us not. I disfigured my face. I was like, I'm fasting yours. I didn't know what I was doing.

But this is the first time, that was the first time, like I actually understood fasting that I fasted for seven days. What about it did you understand differently? I think I understood that I went into it knowing that I want to crucify my flesh in a way that will make me hear from God

in a way that I haven't heard from him lately. That will make me see myself. and that I like God show me myself in this and I just wanted to just I needed a lot of answers from the Lord and I think he answered a lot of things doing FAS and I think that's what fasting do I think fasting just I think it's silence your flesh

so that you can you can hear from the Lord more clearly and more precisely and I think that's what it did for me and so that's what I didn't understand stand the first time I did a seven-day fast. I'm trying to find this verse that I think is helpful. I came off that fast and went straight to all you can eat buffet, Golden Corral. Oh, man. Yeah, that's seven days.

And eight. First of all, my kneecaps were hurting. Like, I had, my knee, and I'm not exaggerating. I'm not trying to be funny. My knees were aching by day five. I said, do I need iron pills? Like what's going on? Like my body was like

what, sis, what's happening? But do you remember? I was cold. Yeah. Do you remember when like I walked up the steps and I came in the room and I said, I can't breathe? Yeah. Like I'm having a panic attack. No, I remember.

And I was like, why is walking up the steps so hard? No, I was so tired. And I said, I had so much respect for Christ. I said, I said, I said, 40 days and 40 days. 40 nights. $40, $40 days? $40. $40.

$40 days of this? Oh my God. Like, I can't. I just, I don't know. Like, you really wanted the Lord. Because I just, it's really intense. But I will say that like you said, this was one of, like, when I used to fast at my old church, because I think a lot of our churches recently, they don't be fast like that.

But at my first church, when I was a believer and we would do fast, again, I would just refrain from food. Now one of them fast, I actually did stuff. But it just wasn't, I refrained from food, but I still didn't eat food in the sense of this fast. It's like, no, you're restricting yourself so you can add spiritual food to your diet. Yeah. So when you would eat, eat, when you would drink, drink.

Meaning when you would eat food, read your word. When you would drink this, drink your word. like lean into the time to dig into God's presence in a way that you would not have otherwise did. And something that was really paradigm shift in for me. I was so hungry. I was having, I don't know if you remember, every night, not every night,

probably every other night I kept having dreams of eating. I'm not going to say it was the devil. I'm going to blame it on my subconscious. They saw all the McDonald's fries. No, it was one of them dreams. I was in a buffet and it was Jamaican food, it was Thai food, and it was Mexican food. That was you in the wilderness.

Brough, and I was like, I was getting, I was getting my plates ready and then I woke up and I said, something about this feels like spiritual warfare. That was a devil saying, I would give you these egg rolls right now if you would just stop fasting. Like he did Jesus in the wilderness. He wanted me to stop fasting so bad. Because sometimes...

Look at this shrimp fried rice. Sometimes what you're seeking the Lord for might not come into the last day of the fact. Yeah. So he wants me to give up before I even reach God's feet. That's so good. But what happened was, I think it was probably day four, I was so hungry and irritated that I could not eat that I was like getting mad. And I felt like the Lord was like, girl, go go pray, go seek me.

So I went and was praying and was reading and I'm not lying to you. I forgot I was hungry. That's so good, yeah. It wasn't like I was distracted. It was like I was getting full. And it clicked to me. I said, oh, that's what Jesus meant when he said to the disciples that my food, like, I have food that y'all don't know about. My food is to do the will of the one who sent me.

And I think in my mind, Preston Perry, are you listening to me? I'm listening, babe. Glue to the tube. I think because I have spent a lot of time in highly intellectual. academic scriptural spaces. I know what you're going to say. That it can be so easy to think that so much of what Jesus says is not actually experiential. Whereas like he's experiencing some kind of fullness in his father that actually replaces his desire for natural food.

That's an experience. He says eat of my flesh, drink of my blood, those who eat. eat of me, those who thirst, will not hunger. And I realize you mean that. That's not just an idea. That is a reality. This is how we apply it to life. The Lord literally said to me, he was like, you live like you're only hungry once. Nobody is ever hungry once. You are always eating. You are always feasting. You are always drinking. So why do you think that you only need to talk to me one time. Why do you think that you only need that 10 minute devotional? You are always hungry. So anytime your flesh is acting up, it's because you're hungry. Anytime your attitude is

flaring up, it's because you're thirsty. It means that your hunger and your thirst are cues that you need me. That's what the fast did for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's exactly. Well, it's sort of what I was going to say. When I was fasting, I think after the fourth, a fifth day, I think it was the fifth day, I said, man, what if this is a reflection of how thirsty my soul be, of how hungry my soul actually is? Is. Right? And so what if this is a reflection of my spiritual state all the time? Yes.

This neediness. Yes. Right? And so now my flesh is experiencing what my spirit experiences all the time, which is a need, like feed me. Yes. Feed me, feed me, feed me. That's good. And so, like, it wasn't until I would go down in the basement doing the fast and I would actually pray and the Lord was like, I felt like I heard.

Like, I'm still hungry. Like, because I'm not going to lie. I heard the Lord, but I was still hungry. I was like, the Lord did take them growls away. I was like, God. Like, he silenced some of the grows. Yeah. But my stomachs still there.

It was, you know. That was your test. It was still a ride in my stomach. But, yeah, I was just like, man. And so I think it put a lot of things in perspective for me. But also, too, like I was walking with, and they listened to this podcast. I was walking with two, I had, I disciple two dudes at our church very closely. And they was doing the fast with me.

And that was the first time that they ever fast, it was the first time one of them ever fasted, period. The third day he called, this is crazy. And you know which one I'm talking about. This is crazy. Well, I mean, they expect us. Can we die? That's ridiculous. No.

Jesus did 40 days. What are you talking about? No. I said, stop drinking water, bro. I'll keep peeing because I'm drinking on his water. You know, and what was crazy was he has a particular set of struggles like we all do. And I said, have you had any of these struggles doing the fast? Jesus.

Talk about it. I said, have you struggled with this one time doing the fast? He paused. He said, no. I say because you because you starve in that flesh. Jesus, yeah. You literally, like your flesh is being crucified. You ain't thought about that.

Your flesh ain't got time to think about that particular struggle that you sneered in. And I think that's what Fasson does. It starves the flesh and it helps the spirit to grow up in such a particular way that's so good for us. I want to read this verse because I think, depending on how you were raised, I think a lot of times we are taught to fast to get something from God when I think the greater,

and I think that's okay. I think we can fast as a form of like petition and dependence on God for a particular need. So I'm not saying that's wrong. But I think the preeminent desire and aim in our fasting should be to get God.

And I think that always makes the fast just different. I think it, because it becomes less about, I'm going to not eat because I need a husband. I'm not going to eat because I need an increase in my paycheck. And it's like, yeah, those might be some legitimate desires. But how about fasting to say, Lord, I want to love you more than I want a husband? I want to know, I want to know you more than I have provision.

You know what I'm saying? So that if you grant it, if you do answer the petition, my heart is in the right position to receive it, not as an idol, but as a gift. That's good. And I think fasting with God in mind does that. One thing that's helpful is Isaiah 58, where God talks about the fast that he delights in. He says, is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose? To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house? When you see the naked to cover him and not to hide yourself from your own flesh, then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily.

Your righteousness shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. It's like how we fast matters. It does. Meaning, if you fasting and you being mean, that's not the fast that God has called you to. You got an attitude because you can't eat some cereal.

Ultimately, to synthesize, you can't be fasting and still deciding to be in the flesh. Because you think that fast is sufficient. Like, oh, I'm fasting, I'm fasting, but you mean. You can't be fasting and deciding to steal. It's a choice. It's a choice. You want to be in your flesh.

You sure you do. Just eat, sis. Honestly, eat. eat the sandwich. It's not working out for none of us. Just go to Burger King, Bucco, because we're tired of that attitude. Break that fast and try again. It's like the Lord, ultimately, if you are fasting to get his attention,

but you're offending him as you do it. Wow. You can't possibly think that that's the fast that the Lord has chosen. The fast he's chosen is one of righteousness, of dependence, of humility, of repentance. That's the fast that the Lord has called you to. And that's the fast that the Lord will bless. You ain't a business. That was a word. So Isaiah 58. Read that about fasting. So I don't know. I think as Christians, I realize, man, that the way my heart is predisposed, the drift is always inevitable. Yeah. It's always inevitable. And my, I am such a heart.

hungry, thirsty, I am the woman at the well in John 4. I am the one who needs living water constantly. And it's like, I think God creates circumstances and trials that reveal the degree of our thirst, but I also think he has instituted fasting as an opportunity for us to quench our thirst. And so I think as Christians, especially in the last days, I think it is something that we should take seriously and start to add to our rhythms of spiritual disciplines more often. Yeah. And not as a way to look strong. No, we fast because we're weak.

Yeah. And one little thing, it's probably not a little thing, actually. One thing that I realize in my relationship with the Lord is the Lord, he's above all, but he really doesn't compete with a lot of outside noise. Ooh, who, yeah, he doesn't. He just doesn't. Like, I think, like, he really wants. us to quiet our souls, quiet, quiet the world around us because he really just wants to speak.

Like, he wants a particular type of time from us. That's good. And so I think fasting for me, it just reminds me of the intimacy that God wants with us. Because I think it really, like, I don't think that it's wrong to have expectations for God to do things doing fast. But know that ultimately God wants to connect with us. And I do think that fasting, along with the prayer, has the ability to break certain things in your life because you're just, the more intimate you are with this great king, the better results you're always going to have in life. That's facts. You know, and so I think for me, I think that's what the fasting did.

It's just, I just came out of that fast, just way more clear on things because I was close to him. Yeah. Yeah. I was just close to him. So I think that's what fasting does. It just, it just quies the world around us, helps quiet the world around us so that we can really hear and dying with our king.

And I'll say this. I think there are some circumstances where you'll fast by yourself. But I think one thing that was really helpful is we did that extreme fast as a community. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? We were in it together.

Like, man, you can, man, three more days, bro. Because honestly, and honestly, I, there was one point, I think day three or four, something happened. I don't remember what it was. And I wanted to break the fast because I had an attitude. I was just irritated.

And I was like, I don't want to do this. I would rather just eat a sandwich and go back to my regularly scheduled program. And you were trying to encourage me. Try it. But you did encourage me, but your encouragement isn't what kept me.

Yeah. What kept me is I thought about Megan and Jordan. Wow. Because I thought if I break it, they might. Yeah. I thought about, I thought about Javana Scooter.

Yeah, I was like, yeah, I can't do this. I was like, I can't move in such a way that could discourage others from continuing to do it.

So it's like I had in mind the wider community which kept me going. Yeah, I passed a call. And I think having people who fast regularly to encourage you and who've developed that muscle.

Yes, man. Because he called me, are you holding up press? I said, why you sound like Moses? It's the way I caught I taught him the first day of the fast

I was like you hungry He said Yeah I probably won't be hungry Until day five It was like You used to this Okay Whatever

And he really don't be trying to flex No he's dead serious Yeah yeah How you hold up I said why you don't sound weak No talk about when you When you call him And you told him

You was eating a sandwich I said He was so like No he called me He said What's up Bruce How you doing I said

No man We had an all you can eat buffet right now. He said, oh, really? He was like, I don't know. He said, he said, oh. No, that's what they say. He said, oh, I said, no, I'm just playing with you. He started laughing. I'm true. He's disappointed. But yeah, so do it, do it often. Do it with your people. Do it unto the Lord. And, yeah, that's it. Yeah, love y'all. Peace. Bye. With the Perrys is produced by the Perrys with support from Amanda Reed and Channing McBride. Video recording and audio production by Matthew Baxter and Xavier Fairley.

edited by the team at Tread Lively, artwork by Hobb, and music by Swoop. Thank you for listening. Now go with God.