Digging Deeper LIVE with Andi and Brian Hale

Going Deeper In Prayer

To be successful at anything, there must be a burning desire. Whether your goal is to practice medicine or to dominate a certain sport, without love for what you want to do, the flame will go out and it will be just too challenging… and overall, draining.

You must also keep in mind that desire does not appear out of nowhere. You are initially intrigued by something. A mild curiosity, if you will. But it is strong enough that you want to know more. Let’s say, for example, you are somewhat interested in marketing like I was. You admire all the digital marketing strategies out there. But gradually your interest goes beyond just watching YouTube tutorials and browsing through books about marketing. Eventually, you want to be involved personally. So you move from a PC to a Mac and apply for a bunch of different courses. As you grow, your passion and curiosity continue to grow as well. After years of dedication to your craft, you learn the ropes and end up launching your own agency or becoming an executive at a high-profile company.

Frankly, developing a passion for God goes through the same steps. For many people, faith in God is more of an unexplored curiosity, a type of emotional safety net to help you get through difficult times, rather than a passion that consumes you.

But it’s time we change that. We were never meant to plateau with God. We are meant to go from glory to glory to glory to Heaven. We must begin diving deeper. Not only when we are at a conference or a retreat, on a mission trip, or in the middle of a hype sermon.

And the way to go have an intimate relationship with Him requires a whole lot of prayer.

Prayer is more than just a task to cross off your list. It's more than just a requirement. One of the greatest blessings and privileges we have as Christians is the ability to pray. God gives us the gift of his availability for communication at all hours of the day or night. His ability to hear what's on your heart and respond in ways you can't fathom.

The purpose of prayer is not to be a last-ditch effort when all else has failed. It's supposed to be your compass and the most significant talk you have all day.

God wants to be in your life every day, all day, not just on Sunday.

Do you know what happens if you incorporate prayer into your daily life rather than only on Sundays?Fire. Fire always comes after steadfast, diligent prayer! The apostles had been in prayer for several days before Pentecost when the fire was cast onto them. Every significant revival started with a core group of Christians praying.

To remain alive, your physical body needs to breathe. Your spiritual body is no different. It has to pray to stay alive. How long could you survive if you decided to stop breathing?

Jesus is looking for followers who pray.

You cannot stay on fire for God without prayer. At every level of the spiritual fire, prayer is crucial. Never forget that the door to your prayer room also serves as the entrance to God's throne. One of the main ways to maintain the fire is prayer.

Pray to Him. Fellowship with Him. And watch your soul get ignited once more.

Prayer

God, Purify me of all impurities and cleanse my heart from the inside out. May seeking first the Kingdom of God and all your righteousness be my top focus and greatest passion in life.

My deepest and most fervent wish is to spend my entire life in the Lord's house, where I can gaze upon your splendor and be in your company. Grant me a true, everlasting fire for you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Fellowship

Some Christians today view fellowship as optional. Many don't consider belonging to a Christian community as essential to living a Christian life. So many people in the church view fellowship with other believers through a “take it or leave it” mentality. Even Sunday morning worship services are all too often looked at as a “nice to have” or something we “should do if time allows”.

This approach to fellowship and community is completely out of step with biblical Christian living. Across the New Testament, it is crystal clear how critical Christian community is to every aspect of our lives as Christians! We as Christians must work to surround ourselves with a community of believers which in turn helps us foster a genuine passion for God during our daily lives.

The idea of "power in numbers" has a certain reality to it. When we spend time with other believers, we feel more confident in our faith and more aware of God's presence in our lives. The act of believers coming together, holding one another responsible, and serving as a form of living testimony to one another has a special power.

Nothing is more lovely than how the gospel is portrayed in the positive relationships we have as a body of believers. We will undoubtedly experience hurt in this body, but we will also have the chance to forgive. We can experience what it was like for Jesus to be hurt by the people he loved yet continue to love them despite it. The hardest aspect of community is also the aspect that most resembles His life and ministry.

It’s time to recognize your God-ordained need for people, and then seek to build relationships with the people God has placed in your life. If you want a sustaining fire for Jesus, you need a network of believers that push you to the cross daily.

Who can you reach out to today? Who can you grab a cup of coffee with to fellowship? Who can you simply send a text over to?PrayerThank You, Father, for not referring to me as Your servant but rather as Your friend.

Lord, please help me to strengthen my friendships. I need an upgrade in terms of community because my life's season has shifted. I am grateful for the relationships I have had throughout the years, but I yearn to walk with a godly friend toward the life that Jesus has called us to.

Keep me away from disparaging remarks about others, dishonest statements, arrogance, and depravity. Please pardon me for these vices and help me to become more like You by daily practicing integrity. So that I can expand my circle of friends and become a draw for godly individuals and bring You glory and much joy, please grant me favor and make me a magnet for them.

In Jesus’ Name
Amen

Repentance

To return to God, we must turn away from competing lovers.

Just being real here - some days I have no time for prayer but amazingly find hours to scroll on a social app.

If you feel something has crowded into your private space with God, show it to the door this week. Turn it off. Once and for all.

One thing many Christians miss when trying to get their fire for God back is their need to repent. Get alone with God. Get quiet and wait for Him. Worship Him. Talk to Him. Bare your soul to Him.

Even though we might not have killed someone or held up a bank, what about those "small things" that are so simple to excuse?

Have we ever been in line at the grocery store and counted the calories in the basket of the overweight woman in front of us? Have we unintentionally indulged in gossip at work? Have we "innocently flirted" with someone that is not our spouse?

Repentance is so freeing. Being transformed into God’s image and sustaining a fire for Him involves turning away from the ties of this world and the sins that so readily corrupt us.

Many Christians in our generation don’t take sin nearly seriously enough. And that's a major factor in why the church resembles the outside world so much. True repentance is not something we value. The amount of sin you decide to allow into your life directly relates to how passionately you love God and follow Him.

If you are habitually sinning, you will not, and cannot, have a genuine passion for Jesus Christ because that sin is an area of darkness that will prevent you from basking in the full light of Christ.

A heart that is passionate for God is a heart that is open to the Holy Spirit’s prompting toward repentance because only a pure heart can cultivate a genuine passion for God.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for making me one of your friends and for revealing to me the facets of your kingdom. I want to get to know you better, so please rid me of any sin in my life.

To avoid giving in to my flesh's desires, please help me concentrate on the things of your Spirit.So that I can produce fruit for your kingdom, please help me to remain in your love.

I'll continue to worship you in spirit and in truth while keeping my heart near to you.

In Jesus’ name, I pray.
Amen.

His Word

When you initially trusted Jesus with your life, do you remember the fervor you felt for the Lord? Do you still recall the thrill and passion you experienced? But then reality crept in. School. Work. Relationships. Our devotion to God can become ordinary and less fervent simply because life happens. But more than anything, Satan adores apathy in Christians. It's time to change your faith if it's become mundane. God’s will is not for you to be on fire for Him sometimes. But always.

Side note: Being on fire doesn’t always mean we will feel on fire. A fire for God is not an emotional high. A fire for God is choosing to obey Him and follow Him, even when our feelings may not be in sync in the current moment.

As we focus on getting our fire back for God permanently, we need to commit to spending daily time with God.

The first step in developing a genuine fire for Him is making the choice to devote some of our day to learning more about God. And we learn about Him by spending time in the Bible.

So turn off all distractions. Use the Bible app to listen to scripture and follow awesome reading plans, journal and jot down your favorite scriptures, highlight verses in your paper bible… however you do it, whatever it looks like, in order to sustain your fire for God, you have to spend time with God in His word.

The Bible is not just an oversized book. It is a letter of love. It is addressed to the bride from the bridegroom! We don't have this business-like, transactional relationship with Christ! We have a close, loving relationship that is personal. So review His letter to you once more. 1 John is a good place to start. It serves as a reminder of the extent to which the Father personally loves you.

But let’s be real. You can’t hit a target if you don’t know where you’re aiming. Make a plan for what your quiet time with God will look like every day.

And remember, some days we will fall short, and that’s where the Gospel will come into play. We are able to mess up and get right back on track because of what Jesus did on the cross for us.

A fire for God is found in consistently learning about Him and reflecting on how much He loves us.

PrayerI thank you, Lord since you are my God and my Savior. You are my everlasting joy, and whenever I am in your presence, I am filled with happiness.I desire to constantly be in your presence so that I may benefit from the renewal that comes through your Spirit. Being in your presence brings about a life-changing shift.

Show me the way of life, and I'll walk it for the rest of my days. May I always follow your guidance as I spend time with you and never lose my way in life.

While I'm in your presence, feed my spirit and give me access to all of your knowledge and wisdom.

Give me the courage to seek you out every day and fill my heart with your loving words.In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

The Gospel

Many of us wish we could constantly be fired up for God. We want a stronger desire to follow Him, we long to submit to Him, and we really do want to share Him with others. But life’s roadblocks can get in the way.

The question is... Despite all of those roadblocks, how can your devotion to God be stronger? How do you ensure that it endures regardless of external circumstances?

Perhaps you can recall when you first became a Christian and how eager you were to attend church and read your Bible. But somewhere along the way, it became all too easy to fall into a "groove" with schedules filled with Christian activities, leading us to just hit "cruise control" throughout our journey.

And as heartbreaking as it is to admit - that is exactly what a lukewarm believer is described as.

A lukewarm Christian is typically one who has retreated so gradually that they are unaware of their own complacency. Or a person who is still attempting to figure out how to have it all - the things of this world, and a relationship with Christ. We introduce a destructive level of misunderstanding in both situations. We start living for ourselves when we allow ourselves to become lukewarm. We also spread a false understanding of God's grace.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably pleading like David did, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation”. But despite your pleading, it feels impossible to see a clear path from where you are to those times of passion in God's presence.

Because friends… It really is possible to maintain a flame for God. Our devotion to God doesn't have to be limited to fleeting moments after attending a powerful sermon, gathering, or performance. When we start relying on external things to fuel us up rather than God himself… that’s where we find ourselves in trouble.

The first step is to take a fresh look at the Gospel.

Paul tells us in Romans that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… Meaning that the Gospel is just as much for believers as it is for unbelievers. The present tense describes the continual process of believing. The gospel saves us not just at the time of conversion, but it continues to save us throughout our entire lives.

If you've lost your enthusiasm for Jesus, you need to be in awe of the Gospel again.

To recap the Gospel in just a few words…God created us to be with Him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sins separate us from God. (Genesis 3)Sins cannot be removed by good deeds. (Genesis 4 – Malachi 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. (John)

Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. (Acts – Revelation)

Sit with that message for a second.No run of good days will get us nearer to God, and no run of terrible days will condemn us. Because of the love that Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit have for us, he willingly offered his life for us.

Make every effort to embed this profoundly transformative Gospel message in your heart and thoughts.

Prayer

God, Today, I ask for passion. I ask for a greater desire to follow You and carry out Your will in my life. Please make the Gospel the forefront of my thoughts. I cherish you. Help me to love you more and more each day. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

SUPERNATURAL HISTORY

“While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” LUKE 2:6-7 (ESV)

In the Gospel of Luke, no sooner has the author introduced himself as a detail-oriented historian (Luke 1:1-4) than we are immediately ushered into an environment filled with supernatural occurrences (v 11-17). The story of Jesus’ birth is filled with angels, predictions, and miracles (1:26 – 2:21)—and when Luke reports these events, he offers them not as imaginative stories or poetical speculations but as they are: real history.

When we read that Mary laid her firstborn son—the very Son of God—in a manger, it’s because she did. When we read that the child she gave birth to was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:31-35), it’s because He was. Rather than being superfluous, these supernatural elements are an intrinsic part of the Gospel’s account.

Some have concluded that Jesus’ birth narrative appears so dramatically supernatural as to be implausible. They don’t believe it themselves or teach it to anybody else. They have decided that the story would be more acceptable to everybody if we simply removed anything miraculous.

But that cannot be done. The story of the gospel is supernatural in its entirety, and not just at its beginning, because it is the story of the Creator of the universe entering into time, revealing Himself as Savior and King. Surely it would be more bizarre if the almighty God did not enter and exit the world in entirely supernatural ways that made mere mortals scratch their heads in amazement! Indeed, in each of the supernatural incidents Luke recorded, some faithful people had reflected on the Scriptures and were keenly anticipating that God would break into their environment in a way that had never happened before and would never happen again. When God came, these were the people who were ready for God to come and do what only He could do; these were the people who responded in faith.

Christianity is ultimately meaningless apart from the almighty, miraculous intervention of God in time. God has come to meet us, but not at the top of the towers we have created on the strength of our ideas and investigation into what is plausible. He came to meet us in a cattle shed in Bethlehem. He came to meet us on a Roman cross at Calvary. He works in ways that we cannot explain and cannot predict.

As you reflect on God’s word during this Advent season, consider His divine work, which has already been accomplished, and the ways He continues to move today. In doing so, your heart will once again be stirred by the wonder of the triune God’s supernatural love for you. Your eyes will be prepared to see surprising ways that God is at work in and around you—ways that you cannot explain and had not predicted but love to enjoy and praise Him for.

• How is God calling me to think differently?
• How is God reordering my heart’s affections—what I love?
• What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

REJOICE WITH THE ANGELS

“Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.” LUKE 2:4-5 (ESV)

Jesus’ birthplace had a rich biblical history before it was ever visited by angels. It was Bethlehem that had once been stirred at the return of a woman who had left with her husband and two sons. Her name was Naomi. She and her family had gone in search of bread, from “the town of bread” (the meaning of “Bethlehem”), because of famine. While away, she’d lost her husband and both her sons. After this triple bereavement, she returned to the town with one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, who gave her name to the Old Testament book that tells their story. This grieving foreigner would one day become a part of the lineage of the Messiah (Matthew 1:1-6).

It was also in the fields surrounding Bethlehem that a shepherd boy, David, looked after his father’s sheep. Bethlehem was the place where Samuel arrived in obedience to God’s word to find a replacement for King Saul. He asked Jesse to bring his sons out because one of them would be the king. They all came. None of them were chosen. The prophet then asked if there were any others, and the one who just looked after the sheep was brought in—and soon became the shepherd king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1-12).

Then, 1,000 years later, a man named Joseph returned to his ancestral home of Bethlehem to be registered for a census with his betrothed, Mary. In this now-familiar and ordinary yet historically significant place, it was time for the arrival of the promised and long-anticipated Messiah. For some 600 years previously, the prophet Micah had recorded these words: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2, ESV)

Once again, in Bethlehem, presumably in those same surrounding fields where David had once watched over his father’s sheep, there would be a stirring as the skies filled up with angelic visitation and echoed salvation’s songs.

As you approach this familiar territory during the Christmas season, may your heart be stirred afresh in the presence of God’s Son, our Messiah. May His Spirit move you to consider with awe the centuries-long complexity of the preparation for that moment when your King lay in a manger. And may He cause you to rejoice with the angels in God’s great salvation, knowing that our great God uses the small and ordinary things in life—even a little town like Bethlehem—to accomplish His great and glorious purposes.

• How is God calling me to think differently?
• How is God reordering my heart’s affections—what I love?
• What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

WONDER AND MYSTERY“‘Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus …’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.’” LUKE 1:31, 34-35 (ESV)It is not Jesus’ birth that is so remarkable but His conception. When the angel announced that although she was a virgin, Mary would have a baby who would rule the entire universe, she simply asked the sensible question: “How?” And with that question, we arrive at the very heart of the Christian story.

How was this child to be conceived? God was going to make it happen. He would do it. The language of being “overshadowed” reminds us of God’s divine presence being symbolized to the Israelites by a great cloud (Exodus 40:34-38). The conception, in other words, would be supernatural, able to be accomplished by God alone.

As Paul worked through the theology of the incarnation, he wrote, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). He emphasized that the Redeemer had to be human so that He would be of the same nature as those whom He came to save: a man dying for mankind. But it was equally imperative that the Redeemer should be perfectly holy because no sinful person could effect atonement for the sins of others. He had to be Immanuel—God with us—and He had to be man.

The early Christians hammered out the incarnation’s implications and came up with ways to describe the one who was conceived by the Spirit in Mary’s womb, coming to the convictions that have passed down to us in the early creeds. Our spiritual forefathers identified the wonder of the incarnation, bowed before the mystery of it, and affirmed that Jesus was, and remains, very God and very man.

The idea that God would supernaturally invade this world shouldn’t surprise or discomfort us. After all, it takes a supernatural invasion of God into individuals’ lives to bring them to living faith, just as God sovereignly worked a miracle in Mary’s womb to bring us the Redeemer. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless someone is born from above—a birth brought about by God through His Spirit—they would not see God’s kingdom (John 3:3). If we have been brought to salvation, it is only because God has done it. You did no more to save yourself than Mary did to become pregnant with your Savior. The “How?” of salvation is always answered only by “God did it.”So, bow today before the wonder and mystery of God taking on flesh. And bow today before the wonder and mystery of God redeeming you. For that, no less than the virgin birth of the Son of God is the supernatural work of God.

• How is God calling me to think differently?
• How is God reordering my heart’s affections—what I love?
• What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

KNOWING WITH CERTAINTY

“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed who was with child.” LUKE 2:1-5 (ESV)

In our day and age, it is trendy to seek the truth but taboo to say we have found it. Our culture would have us believe that while it’s ok to have a concept or an idea, we shouldn’t say we have certainty. Luke was different. He wasn’t satisfied with anything less than knowing with certainty—for himself and others. Indeed, it was a key part of his very purpose in writing his Gospel (Luke 1:3-4).

In his account of Jesus’ birth, Luke provides us with political, social, geographical, and historical observations that may seem quite mundane. But they all matter. We are being shown that within the sociological context and in obedience to the political structures of his time, Joseph, along with Mary, made a geographical journey to his ancestral home. All of this took place in real, historical time.While people back then didn’t have Google or social media, someone easily could have gone to the record of public registration and looked up Joseph’s name. The Gospel writer was not providing a philosophy, an idea, or even a religion. He was delivering an honest account of actual events—events which centered upon the child who was in Mary’s womb and who would be born in the city of David, his great ancestor whose triumphs and reign were a mere shadow of the victories this baby would one day win for His people. Luke, with every word and every detail, made it very clear that Jesus’ story doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

First- and second-century historians were in no doubt concerning Jesus’ historicity. Tacitus, a Roman historian who was writing in the early second century, had no interest in supporting the claims of Christ but was absolutely convinced that Jesus was not mythological.[1] Josephus, a Jewish historian, writing in AD 93, affirmed the fact that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus were proclaimed by His followers.[2]

The New Testament doesn’t call any of us into the realm of blind faith or to leap into the dark. No, it invites us to take a step into the light of absolute truth. In this supernatural space where God took on human flesh, you and I can be certain about the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. And in that certainty of what took place in those days, you will discover hope, peace, joy, and purpose for your day today.

• How is God calling me to think differently?
• How is God reordering my heart’s affections—what I love?
• What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

THE PURPOSE OF CHRIST’S ADVENT

“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” 1 JOHN 3:4-6 (ESV)

Why do we anticipate Christmas with such relish? For the believer, the answer must surely lie, above all, in the awareness that Jesus Christ appeared to take away our sins.

When we read the Gospel writers, we discover this truth at the very heart of their Christmas message. Matthew recorded the words of the angel to Joseph: “[Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Ahead of what might be regarded as the first ever Christmas concert, the message the angel gave to the shepherds was similar: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). John began from a different vantage point. As he highlighted the commencement of Jesus’ earthly ministry, having raised our gaze to the eternal Word becoming flesh (John 1:14), he gave us the words of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (v 29). And Mark records nothing of Jesus’ birth or childhood, but in his Gospel, Jesus’ first words are an announcement that in Him the kingdom of God has come near to people like us (Mark 1:15), and in one of His first miracles, Jesus assures a paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (2:5).

If we say that God has shown His love for us in the incarnation, that is accurate but insufficient. God demonstrated His love for us not simply by sending Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem; rather, His own word tells us that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, emphasis added).

Of course, if we understand that Christ came to take away our sins, then it’s only logical to conclude that we have sins that need to be taken away. Rare is the man or woman who would say that he or she has never done wrong! We all have impure thoughts. We all speak bitter words. We all know what it is to live an unholy life. But the word of God comes to us and says, Here is the good news: Christ appeared in this world to take away your sins.

Today, lay hold of this message with renewed joy and gratitude. Let these eight words be the most precious part of your Christmas season: “He appeared in order to take away sins.” Your friends, coworkers, and neighbors may be more open to the gospel message during the holiday season; make it your aim, then, not to further the misguided perception that Christmas is nothing more than a sentimental emblem of God’s love, as though His Son lay gurgling in the manger but never hung in agony on the cross. God’s love can only be fully explained in the purpose of Christ’s coming: to take away our sins. This, and this above all, is what gives our hearts bountiful cause for celebration!

• How is God calling me to think differently?
• How is God reordering my heart’s affections—what I love?
• What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?