The Resting Place

The most convincing lie many of us live with is subtle: Jesus is welcome in the “spiritual” parts of life, but the stressful, practical, grown-up parts belong to us. We name that lie, challenge the old “don’t be so heavenly minded” slogan, and talk about what real balance looks like in the kingdom of God when Christ is actually Lord over everything.

We lean on the “every square inch” vision of Abraham Kuyper and hold a real biblical tension: Paul says we have to care for the things of this life, and Jesus warns that those same cares can choke out the word like thorns in good soil. The answer isn’t choosing one side. It’s refusing to compartmentalize. We share a story from an ordinary work morning that turns into an unexpected moment of ministry and becomes a picture of what it looks like to let the Holy Spirit into the middle of the workday, not just the quiet time.

Then we turn to Matthew 13 and flip a common charismatic reading. The treasure and the pearl aren’t mainly about what we found, they’re about who found us. From there we talk prevenient grace, “hedging our bets,” and why mixing new wine with old wineskins keeps us half-in and half-protected. We also get honest about self-reliance, how trauma trains it into us, and why childlike trust is the doorway into deeper freedom and wholeness.

If this challenged you, share it with a friend, subscribe, and leave a review so more people can find the show. 

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
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You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

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If you’ve ever prayed hard and then wondered why nothing seems to move, you’re not alone and you’re not crazy. We open Luke 18 and Luke 11 to look at two unsettling stories Jesus tells about prayer: a widow who keeps demanding justice from an unjust judge, and a neighbor who keeps knocking at midnight until the door finally opens. On the surface, both stories feel almost uncomfortable. Underneath, they reveal something steady and hopeful about God’s character: the Father doesn’t merely tolerate persistence, He loves it.

We also dig into the words behind the ideas, including “importunity” and the NLT phrase “shameless persistence.” Why would Jesus tell us to ask again, seek again, knock again? Because the waiting isn’t wasted. Waiting has a way of dragging hidden beliefs into the light, like the whisper that says, “If God cared, He would’ve answered by now.” We talk honestly about how those thoughts challenge beloved identity, how persistence keeps us close, and how God uses proximity to heal what’s broken without requiring perfection first.

Along the way, we connect prayer to spiritual growth and Christian maturity. Some gifts are free, yet still priceless. Some answers come quickly, but other answers come with formation so we can actually carry what we’re asking for. If you want a clearer picture of persistent prayer, faith, and the practice of God’s presence in everyday life, press play and stay with us.

If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend!

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give?

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

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The valley isn’t just something you survive. Sometimes it follows you home, reshaping what you believe about God, about yourself, and about whether love can really reach the places that hurt. In this episode of The Resting Place podcast, we start with the logic of the incarnation: the Father, Son, and Spirit desire to share their life with us, drawing humanity into the divine dance of love rather than leaving us stranded in separation.

From Psalm 23, we name a hard truth: everyone passes through the valley of the shadow of death, and not all shadows lift when the season changes. We talk about trauma, grief, and the lingering residue that can make parts of the heart feel inaccessible to God. Along the way, we look at Jesus stopping for the woman with the issue of blood and why he makes space for her story, not just her miracle, as a revelation of the Father’s heart and a blueprint for spiritual wholeness.

Then we step into Matthew 26 and Gethsemane, where Jesus models what it looks like to stay joined to the Father under crushing pressure. We explore the fear behind so many of our questions, “If God is good, why?”, and the core lie beneath it: “You will be alone.” We also challenge the habit of papering over pain with “I’m fine,” and why honest prayer and weakness become the doorway to healing and lasting peace.

If you’re wrestling with suffering, anxiety, or the feeling that God was absent, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, leave a review, and tell us what line hit you the hardest?

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give?

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

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You’ve probably heard someone say, “You just need more faith.” We push back on that idea by taking Jesus at His own words: mustard seed faith can move what looks immovable, and the real question is not whether we can manufacture belief but whether we will obey when He invites us.

We start with Matthew 4 and the foundation of Jesus’ public message: repent, because the kingdom of God is at hand. That repentance is metanoia, a change of mind, and it sets up everything that follows. Then we sit in Luke 17 where the apostles ask for increased faith and Jesus answers in a way that feels almost disruptive. He links miracle-level faith with the posture of a servant who simply does their duty, and that shift levels the playing field. It makes the kingdom accessible to the lowly while removing any excuse to stay passive.

From there we get practical. We walk through “impossible commands” Jesus gives, like stretching a withered hand or standing upright after years of infirmity, and we name the trap of false humility that sounds spiritual but actually blocks courage. Finally, we go to Luke 11 and talk about what to do when delay hits and the mulberry tree does not move. The answer is shameless persistence rooted in the Father’s character, steadying our hearts with the history we already have with Him.

If you want a clearer, steadier way to think about faith, obedience, prayer, and the kingdom of God, listen through to the end, then share it with a friend and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give?

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

Support the show

The hardest spiritual moments are usually the quiet ones: delays you can’t explain, prayers that feel unanswered, and the creeping sense that you’re stuck. We sit with that tension and talk about patient endurance, not as grim survival, but as the way God turns truth into something real in us. Starting in Luke 8, we walk through the parable of the sower and ask the uncomfortable question: what actually happens to the Word of God after we hear it? 

We dig into how the “cares of this life” can crowd out spiritual growth even when those cares are legitimate responsibilities. We talk about guarding the seed, protecting tenderness, and learning to judge our experiences in the light of revelation instead of letting our past write the final script. Then we move to James 1 and the shocking invitation to “count it joy” when faith is tested, because endurance grows maturity, and maturity looks like Christ-likeness, not just productivity. 

Along the way we share stories of breakthrough and healing that happened when we felt nothing, and we explore why faith is required for endurance but joy is tied to cultivating relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you’ve been trying to stay faithful without becoming miserable, this one gives you a language and a practice for the long road. 

If this episode blessed you, subscribe, share, and leave a comment!

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give?

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

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Two blind men trail Jesus through a crowd, shout for mercy the whole way, and then walk straight into a house where they were never invited. That one scene in Matthew 9 exposes a question that still messes with us today: how can someone with “less” status, less certainty, and less welcome sometimes recognize Jesus more clearly than the people who think they have it all together?

We start by pulling wisdom from Brother Lawrence and The Practice of the Presence of God, where prayer stops being a scheduled activity and becomes a steady, honest conversation with God in the middle of normal work. From there we read the healing story of the blind men and connect it to Isaiah 11, Jesus’ compassion, and the way the Messiah judges differently than human systems do. Along the way we talk about Jairus, the woman who touches the hem of Jesus’ garment, and how Jesus keeps stopping for the people who “should not” be there.

Finally, we draw a line between believing in God’s power and trusting God’s compassion, because faith that moves toward Jesus is often rooted in believing He is willing. If this challenged you, share the episode, subscribe, and leave a review.

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give?

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

Support the show

Jesus doesn’t just give promises, He gives invitations and they often cost us our blueprint. We sit with a prophetic word spoken over Iowa that it will become a citadel of revival, then challenge the reflex to build an “infrastructure” that tries to control how God must fulfill it. What if the real goal isn’t getting the promise to happen faster, but becoming like Jesus while we wait?

We also confront a grim idea we’ve heard in church culture: that the enemy is God’s primary tool to bring people to repentance. We push back with a better story rooted in Scripture, the goodness of God, and the steady work of the Holy Spirit. From there, John 4 becomes our map. Jesus sits at an existing well, asks a Samaritan woman for a drink, and turns a small offering into an encounter with living water. That exchange reframes worship, prayer, and spiritual renewal: bring Him your real life, even the parts you feel unworthy to offer.

Along the way we talk Tozer, prevenient grace, and Romans 8:29, where “conformed” means sharing the same form and standard as Christ. The presence of Jesus isn’t a side topic, it’s the gateway. If you’re hungry for revival in Des Moines, Iowa, or anywhere that feels forgotten, start here: make space for Him to rest, and let His presence do what nothing else can.

If this stirred something in you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who needs a drink, and leave a review so more people can find the conversation.

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give?

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

Support the show

Adversity has a way of stripping everything down to what’s real. When the wind is loud, the stress is constant, and your emotions feel one step from spiraling, you find out fast what you’ve actually built your inner life on. We go after a hard but necessary question: how do we grow in hope while we’re living through things that feel hopeless? We define hope as the joyful expectation of good, and we talk about why that kind of hope can’t be borrowed from better circumstances. It has to be formed in you. 
 
We connect Jesus’ picture of building on rock versus sand to everyday pressure like financial turmoil, sickness, anxiety, depression, and prolonged hardship. If “I’m beloved” and “I’m in union with God” stay as mental agreement instead of practiced reality, adversity will expose the gap, and your interior world can crumble even while your theology sounds right. We also name the accusations that hit during suffering: “Why is God letting this happen?” and “If He’s good, why didn’t He stop it?” Then we offer a grounding filter that helps you refuse blame-shifting and stay rooted in the Father’s goodness. 
 
Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians and Romans 8 bring it home: weakness can become the place where grace and resurrection power show up most clearly. The practical takeaway is simple but deep: cultivate relationship with the Holy Spirit. We close with specific practices you can start today, especially silence and listening, along with worship, Scripture, and praying in the Spirit. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s under pressure, and leave a review. What’s one practice that helps you stay hopeful when life gets hard?

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

Support the show

What if fear isn’t your opponent to outmuscle but a signal that love hasn’t finished its work yet? We explore how the Trinity’s invitation draws us into the “great dance” and why awareness—not just language—determines whether we actually live inside that reality. Rather than staging a tired match between “faith vs fear,” we anchor in Galatians 5:6 and 1 John 4 to show how faith truly works only when love fuels it, and how perfect love casts out fear’s authority so boldness can rise.

We get practical about spiritual senses, naming the difference between natural fear and being under the influence of fear. That distinction changes everything. When fear governs, we hesitate, stall, and ask permission from anxiety; when love matures us, we move at the Spirit’s impulse. Think of love as the gasoline and faith as the engine—you can have all the horsepower and still go nowhere if the tank is dry. We share stories, litmus tests for discerning the whisper, and the subtle ways passivity disguises itself as wisdom.

Zechariah’s encounter reframes disappointment as the soil where unbelief often grows. His silence wasn’t punishment; it was mercy that protected a promise and trained a father to raise a son who could recognize the Lamb when few could. That same mercy meets us in the corners of our hearts where the fear of man, fear of lack, or fear of missing it still decides when we obey. As conduits of heaven to earth, we’re called to carry kingdom culture into ordinary spaces—work, family, community—so that recognition of Jesus becomes second nature, not a rare surprise.

This conversation is for anyone tired of white-knuckling faith, ready to let love clear the gate and let faith actually run. You’ll learn how to awaken spiritual senses, respond to the Spirit’s whisper, and take the next step without waiting for fear to stand down. If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review telling us where love is setting you free next.

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

Support the show

Rain was a rumor for Noah, yet he still built an ark plank by plank. That’s our starting point to rethink how we build communities, gatherings, and personal lives that can carry presence without warping under pressure. We’re wrestling openly with pace, materials, and motive—because speed without seasoning makes joints fail.

We share a working vision for The Resting Place as a gathering house where hungry people arrange life around Jesus. Locally, that looks like roots, family sanity, and a healthy rhythm of worship nights and regional gatherings. 

Scripture offers a blueprint for heart-work. The Shunammite woman built a room and turned visitation into habitation; Mary’s quiet “be it unto me” shows consent under mystery; Zechariah’s imposed silence becomes the surgery that heals cynicism so he can father a voice that chooses wilderness over a safe priesthood. We reflect on unusual moves of God that confront control, the danger of double-minded confession, and the simple assignment between promise and fulfillment: tend the fire. Keep the flame alive, and when the moment comes, throw out nets not net.

If you’re aching for community that burns hotter than hype, for gatherings that honor presence over polish, and for a steady way to build before the rain, this conversation is for you. Listen, share it with a friend who’s hungry for more, and if it speaks to you, subscribe and leave a review so others can find their way into the room.

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As always, we hope this message stirs and encourages you! If you were blessed by this message and feel led to sow financial resources into The Resting Place, you can do so at the link below. Thank you!

If you would like to give to The Resting Place click here:
https://subsplash.com/u/therestingplace/give

You can now support The Resting Place podcast by joining our subscription! Click the link below to join: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2129391/support

If you would like more information about The Resting Place or to subscribe to our email list, contact us here: https://therestingplaceia.com

Support the show