Is Social Media Killing Your Faith? The 40-Day Challenge to Reconnect to God – Wendy Speake

Episode Transcript

FamilyLife Today® with Dave and Ann Wilson; Podcast Transcript

This content has been generated by an artificial intelligence language model. While we strive for accuracy and quality, please note that the information provided will most likely not be entirely error-free or up-to-date. We recommend independently verifying the content with the originally-released audio. This transcript is provided for your personal use and general information purposes only. References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the use or interpretation of this content.

Is Social Media Killing Your Faith? The 40-Day Challenge to Reconnect to God

Guest: Wendy Speake

Release Date: August 28, 2025

Wendy (00:00):

We don’t feast on the Bible to know the Bible. We feast on the Bible to know the God of the Bible. He wants relationship, friendship with us. This book is a love letter. It is an invitation into knowing Him. So we feast on His Word to know the One who is the Word. We need to know more of God. And the Bible is how we get to know Him.

Ann (00:25):

I’m excited today because we’re going to talk about feasting. Who doesn’t love a good feast?

Dave (00:33):

Well, it’s not the kind of feast we’re thinking of. It’s better.

Ann (00:36):

It’s better.

Dave (00:37):

It’s better. Wendy Speake is back. It’s been a while since you’ve been on FamilyLife Today. How many years, do you know?

Wendy (00:41):

Oh, let’s see. I don’t know, four?

Dave (00:44):

Little Rock.

Wendy (00:45):

Yes. How long have you been here in Orlando?

Dave (00:48):

Jim Mitchell, how long we been in Orlando? Bruce?

Bruce:

It was 21, so we’re coming up on four years.

Dave:

Wow!

Wendy (00:54):

Yeah, we were, last time we were together, you guys were already in the process of—most people were gone, and I had to come through a back door, and things were draped over when—

Ann:

We were transitioning out.

Dave (01:07):

Very impressive, wasn’t it?

Wendy (01:09):

Yes.

Dave (01:10):

Is this a little more impressive?

Wendy (01:11):

This is incredibly impressive. So if you’re listening to the podcast, hop on over to YouTube and see it because we got just a beautiful set here.

Dave (01:19):

Look what Wendy just did; she sent our listeners to become viewers.

Wendy (01:23):

And hit the subscribe button and follow along.

Dave (01:26):

There you go. And hit the like button and leave us a good review.

And by the way, I’ll say this to our monthly partners. Thank you. This what you’re looking at, you helped build because of your monthly giving. It really did. I mean, I’m not kidding. It’s really because of listener supported.

Wendy (01:39):

They helped build, but who really built—

Dave (01:42):

Jim Mitchell built this.

Ann:

—table.

Wendy (01:44):

Yeah. So I don’t know why—

Dave (01:47):

I don’t think we’ve ever said that to our viewers. This table was built by our producer, Jim Mitchell.

Wendy (01:51):

So anytime you want to do shout outs, do some marketing, you just bring me in. I’ll point out all the things they should be doing.

Ann:

We totally will.

Dave (01:57):

Well, let me—

Wendy (01:58):

That’s what we’re going to be feasting on.

Dave (01:59):

You go from sugar fast.

Wendy (02:01):

Yeah. The last conversation we had was on fasting from sugar, and you don’t remember—

Dave (02:06):

What did I say?

Wendy (02:07):

You said you were going to do the sugar fast.

Dave (02:09):

I think I did.

Ann (02:10):

I think I said I was. I’m like, “Dave, I can’t do it without you.” And you’re like, “Okay, I am in. I’ll do it.”

Dave:

Did we do it?

Ann:

I did it for a while, but then my partner—I’m blaming it on you, but I’ve done it before and it’s kind of amazing, of how transformative it is.

Dave (02:27):

There’s a lot of people around the country doing the sugar fast.

Wendy:

Yes.

Ann (02:29):

Yeah. That book has sold well.

Dave (02:30):

Sold a lot of books and you can sell more. Go get it in our show notes FamilyLifeToday.com. We have sugar fast there.

Ann (02:35):

And what was your other one which is so good too?

Wendy (02:38):

The 40-Day Social Media Fast. Yes. Yes. And that’s really where this conversation starts because when we decided we an online community of women, I was leading, it was actually in the context. My first time coming to FamilyLife was for the book triggers—

Ann (03:00):

Yes.

Wendy (03:00):

—for moms who were struggling with anger.

Dave (03:01):

That’s right, with Amber Lia.

Wendy (03:03):

With Amber Lia.

Dave (03:03):

Yeah.

Wendy (03:04):

And so it was in that context, that conversation where I said, Hey, what would happen if we set down sugar for 40 days? Would we be calmer, kinder, more consistent, maybe even more Christ-like just because of physiologically what’s going on in our bodies. We see what happens with our kids. Is it possible that we get them down for naps? We go to the pantry; we have a handful of chocolate chips and a sugared latte and maybe they wake up and we can’t handle those hours between nap time and dinner time. It’s not just them melting down, it’s us too.

Ann (03:36):

You’re getting personal now.

Wendy (03:38):

Right, I know. I’m totally stepping on toes. So it started as a physiological fast, but it was like a week into the very first year. And this was about 2015, 2014, and we found out, “Oh no, no, no, no, no. This is a spiritual fast.” And what made it a spiritual fast is we realized we were running from sugar high to sugar high to get us through our days instead of turning to the Most High. And so when we set down the thing we were turning to. It opened us up to turn to the Lord.

Ann (04:11):

So good.

Wendy (04:12):

And so I said, “So what else is it? Because God never asked us for a sugar sacrifice. What else are we turning to?” And that’s why it became social media. And then we’ve had conversations about fasting from just so many things.

Dave (04:24):

I love how you went to a social media fast, but you asked your online community.

Wendy (04:28):

I know, but isn’t that a testimony? That’s where we hang out.

Dave:

It’s perfect.

Ann:

Finish, what were you going to say?

Wendy:

But there are so many things that we’re running to, but what we learned is when you set down what you’re consuming as though that’s what you need, it frees up your day. It frees up your eyes, it frees up your belly, it frees up your hunker—

Ann:

in your heart.

Wendy:

—to turn to the only thing that can really satisfy you, fulfill you, transform you, and is what your life is—save you, sanctify you, encourage you, edify you long-term.

Ann (05:05):

Yes. And do you guys feel like that’s the enemy strategy to—

Wendy:

—distract us.

Ann:

—distract us.

Wendy (05:10):

Absolutely.

Ann (05:11):

And he uses all of those things to distract us.

Wendy (05:13):

Absolutely. There’re so many great quotes. I think it’s A. W. Tozer who said, “Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, no matter how harmless it may appear to be.”

Dave (05:22):

Wow.

Wendy (05:23):

And I think it’s in Screwtape Letters where C. S. Lewis talks about this is the tactic. Let’s just keep them distracted. And so we’re talking about feasting today, but we’re not talking about literal food. We’re talking about feasting on God’s Word.

Ann:

I love that.

Wendy:

So that’s how we got here is I would say in those fasting resources—so there’s The 40-Day Sugar Fast, The 40-Day Social Media Fast—the purpose of fasting is always feasting. We’re going to set down the things we’re consuming that we can get hungry again for God’s Word, for His sweet presence, for His sustaining word. And we’re going to do it in community, but you can do it on your own. You can do it with a friend. You can do it with a spouse. Tell them not to drop the ball.

Ann (06:03):

And this is a devotional.

Wendy (06:04):

It’s a devotional. It really is a daily devotional, which I think a lot of people feel, “I can be successful at this.” The 12-chapter books. It’s like, oh, I’m distracted by my kids needing me or I need to leave for this. I need to run to the grocery. I need to, and it’s hard to read 30 minutes, but here it’s like the length of a blog post, but it’s deep, it’s meaty, it’s rooted in scripture, and it’ll carry you through these 40 days. But with The 40-Day Feast, when I wrote this one, I was very, very cautious. I did not want to give them a book that was the answer. I wanted to point them and whet their appetite for the real feast.

Ann (06:47):

I was going to say it’s an appetizer, yeah.

Wendy (06:48):

Because my book isn’t—while I hope it’s a good book, it’s not the good book. And that’s what we want to get hungry for.

Dave (06:54):

It’s a good book. And it’s meaty. I thought when I picked it up, it’s going to be little quotes, maybe half a paragraph, pray this, which some devotions aren’t are great. This is not a full-length chapter, but it’s more than just one page. Each page takes you somewhere and then gives you time to say, “Okay, that led me to the Word of God. Now I want to sit with God.”

Ann (07:15):

And so let’s dive into what His Word says.

Dave (07:16):

Yeah, way to go. Very good.

Ann (07:18):

I’ve been saying this all year, and I’ve probably believed it my whole life, but because I’m on year 18 of going through the one-year Bible, I think that has changed me more than anything, more than anything. It really allows me to see who God is, but who He says I am in the scriptures. It’s like after year 18, I read it this morning, I’m like, “This is so good!” And I’ve read it so many times.

Dave (07:46):

We’ll be driving and she does that, “This is so good. Let me read it out loud to you.” I’m like, “You’re going to read the Bible again out loud.” It’s awesome.

Wendy:

You lucky dog.

Dave:

But she loves it, and like you said, it’s a feast.

Wendy (07:57):

It is a feast.

Ann (07:58):

Yes. There’s always something new. There’s a new flavor. There’s a new—there’s something that, “Oh, I’ve never noticed that before. How did I never notice that before?” Because the Holy Spirit who lives in us when we’re in Christ is always pointing out new things, and it’s what I need that day.

Wendy (08:15):

The Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit. One of the things that I love so much, because I often hear from people “I believe, but I don’t read it.” So Bible believers aren’t Bible readers and there are only a few reasons really why. One, they’re just so busy, they’ve fallen out of habit maybe. But a lot of people have never gotten into the practice of being a Bible reader.

Ann:

Are they intimidated?

Wendy:

Well, I think it’s a how am I going to understand it? I don’t understand it. So I love to point out, and because I’ve experienced myself, the same Holy Spirit that inspired the writing of the Word is the Holy Spirit that inspires the reading of the Word.

Ann (08:54):

So good.

Wendy (08:55):

And God is so kind to reveal to us what we can understand the first time through. And then he opens our eyes, opens our minds, gives us the ability to perceive meaning that we didn’t understand the first time through. You’re growing in your ability to understand it. So the word is actually expanding as you expand in your knowledge, as you expand in your ability to comprehend. He says, “Oh good because I have more for you.”

And sometimes it’s not just a mental understanding. Sometimes my heart is inclined to you, or I had to go through seeing that those other things didn’t fulfill me. “Oh, it’s because look how long suffering you are. Those things can’t suffer long with me.” I mean there’s just so many reasons.

But another thing I love is he’s a really clear communicator and we tell ourselves the Bible’s confusing. I don’t know where to start. And so we never start. And so we never find out how simple the message of the Bible is.

Ann (10:04):

Well, it’s interesting. I can remember my family. We didn’t go to church growing up and I slept in a double bed with my sister who’s six years older. And we got in this phase because my mom brought home a Bible. I don’t even know where she got it. And it was a version that we could actually understand. It wasn’t a King James. And so we took the Bible, my sister and I, and we decided to start reading it. And she said, I heard somebody say we should start in the book of John. And so she starts reading it and we read it for probably five days in a row. And I remember saying to her, and mind you, we’ve never heard the gospel. I know nothing. Zero. Neither of us do. And I remember saying, I don’t get it.

(10:48):

How do we get to heaven? Are we supposed to be good enough or what is it? I don’t get it. And she said, me neither. We put the Bible away and we made a pact with one another. Whoever discovers the truth needs to come back and tell the other one of how we get into heaven. Wow. And so years later—

Wendy:

How old were you?

Ann:

I was 10 at that time that we were reading.

Wendy:

She’s 16. Okay, go on with the story.

Ann:

And so then when I was 16, she was married. She came back home, and she said, “Ann, I found the answer.”

Wendy:

Praise God.

Ann:

And my sister and I both gone through sexual abuse. She was bulimic so many years, anorexic. She wasn’t looking good. She was in a tough marriage. But she came home this time, and she looked amazing. And I said, “What happened?” She goes, “It’s what I found the answer to. It’s Jesus.” And I said, “I’m not really into the Jesus thing anymore. I’m kind of into boys.” But she says, “No, I’m going to tell you everything.” And she shared the gospel. We ended up running because I was in track. She ran with me for six miles. The whole gospel laid out. I came home, got on my knees, gave my life, surrendered to Jesus.

Wendy (11:58):

What a story.

Ann (11:59):

But then here’s the amazing thing. Later after she’d gone home, she said, “You need to be in the Bible. The word is going to grow you. You’re going to be discipled through God’s word. It will change you.” I remember reading the same scriptures, and now because I’m in Christ with the Holy Spirit, I read it and I’m like, “I get it. I get it. He has illuminated my mind.”

Wendy (12:21):

I feel led that if you are listening right now and you have tried before to understand it—maybe you were young in the faith, maybe you were not yet even saved, and you’ve told yourself that you just don’t have the ability to understand it, only with the help of a Bible teacher or a pastor on Sundays—I just want to encourage you to try again. And it really doesn’t take much trying so there’s got to be a different word. Do it again.

Ann (12:50):

Yeah.

Wendy (12:50):

Open yourself up again to the one who is the Word. And then open up the Word and—feast might sound a little bit intimidating—have a nibble. Yes, start in the book of John.

Ann:

I love that.

Wendy:

Absolutely. But I do say in this—one of the days devotions—just because you should be able to read it for yourself doesn’t mean you have to read it by yourself. It’s okay to, you’re talking about reading the book every year, like the Tara-Leigh Cobble, her Bible Recap.

Ann (13:26):

Yes.

Wendy (13:26):

She’s got a podcast; she’s got the book. Great resource. Great resource. There’re so many people that do daily recaps on YouTube. And so you don’t have to do it and suck the marrow out of it by yourself. It’s okay. Commentaries are okay but start reading.

Ann (13:48):

Yeah, I love that.

Dave (13:50):

Now what’s your journey? When did you start?

Wendy (13:53):

I’ve got a history with God, but I don’t remember when I fell in love with God’s word because it was just a very natural progression. I had a Sunday school teacher at church. Her name was Ruth Gostin. And she was ancient when I was little. She was always old.

(14:15):

And she had this squeaky high-pitched voice, and she would tell the Bible stories for the kids and put the felt Jesus up on the felt board. And yeah, tell us Bible stories, but sing songs. “Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me.” And I believed that Jesus loved me because Ruth told me that the Bible told me so. And then my mom at night singing the same song telling me, “The Bible tells me,” so why would I not love God’s word? Because He’s telling me He loves me and I’m being told by people who are actively, demonstratively showing me that I’m loved. And so I believed that the God of the Bible loved me before I could read the Bible for myself. But my first Bible that I remember having was a Precious Moment’s Bible.

Ann:

I remember those.

Wendy:

I’m sure that there are many women listening to this broadcast right now going, “Oh, you mean the white one with the gold edges? And then the pictures of the Precious Moments figurines.

Ann:

You don’t know what that is, Dave.

Dave (15:15):

I do not know what you’re talking about.

Wendy (15:16):

But if I look through it, I see notes in the margin. I see dates. I see flyers from various church camps I went to. There’s—I’ve got a bookmark in there from Indian Village and beads at the bottom of it. It is full of mementos, which tells me I’ve got history with God in His Word, which is just so cool. But then I hit the age where I was going to college and my dad said to me, “You may not take your Precious Moments Bible to college.”

Ann:

He was sparing you, teasing you.

Wendy:

No, he is like, “It is time to grow up a little bit.” So he bought me a Life Application Bible, and that was my first time having a Bible with commentary. Not only was it big; it was big. And so I took it to college. And the way I describe that Bible is “thud.” You’d put it on the bedside table and “thud,” right. And my roommate, my freshman year of college was Muslim from the Middle East.

(16:16):

And so she would watch me read my Bible and she said, I have never seen someone read the Quran the way you read your Bible. And I said to her, “You should. You should absolutely. Then you can tell me what you believe, and I can tell you what I believe.” And so I’m growing. I’m growing not only to know it, but I’m getting so full of the Word. It’s spilling over. I’m wanting to share it. I start going to Campus Crusade for Christ, now Cru, and I remember this was freshman year of college.

Dave:

Where were you?

Wendy:

You asked me, when did I fall in love with God’s word and I’m telling you about all my bibles because I’ve got stories with Bibles. And so I was in Boston, so it was at Harvard because my school didn’t have Crusade. And so there was a teacher there and he’s doing the Friday night message for multi campuses come in here for Campus Crusade. And he was talking about prayer. And when you are praying, so obviously in line with God’s will, there’s an eager expectation to see Him answer. And so he encouraged us at the end of the message, “Pray for something, ask God for something that you imagine would be right in line with His will.”

(17:29):

And so I said, “God, I just got a new Bible and I’ve got a college student’s budget. Could you just send me one because I want a smaller Bible so I can keep it on me and share my faith? And that thud, big honking Bible, I can’t carry that around the city of Boston.

Ann (17:47):

It feels intimidating to a person too.

Wendy (17:49):

It’s not only that, but it’s too heavy. It’s going to break my back. And so the next school day that I went to the post office there on campus, there was an unmarked paper package in my little post box. And it was a small Bible with no return address.

Ann:

Come on.

Wendy:

Totally telling the truth.

Dave (18:11):

Now you found out who it came from.

Wendy (18:13):

I did, years later. It was from my Uncle Bob, and I only know this—he never told me—because I saw my mom had the same one. I was like, “I got that Bible.” And she said, “Yeah, Uncle Bob sent it to us.”

Ann:

But even the timing of it; you had just prayed.

Wendy:

No, it was so the Lord. Anyway, I’ve got history with that Bible, until that Bible fell apart, just fell apart. But I really believe that a Bible that’s fallen apart, it represents a life that’s been put back together. And that Bible walked me through seasons when I had fallen apart and it found me up again. I mean, it just really did a number on me. And that’s what God promises. I mean, I’ve got a history with a Bible.

Ann (18:55):

I mean, I am looking at the verse you have, Jeremiah 15:16. It says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.” I mean that’s where you get the feast.

Wendy (19:12):

Yeah.

Ann (19:13):

I ate them.

Wendy (19:14):

Yeah. And if you don’t have, I mean there are two things. One, I’m not feasting because I don’t know how. Two, I’ve never acquired a taste for it. I don’t get what you need.

Ann (19:26):

Good point; that it’s sweet. This sounds so foreign, like a new language.

Wendy (19:27):

Right, and I think that there are some prayers that we could pray. And I’m very cautious. I don’t want anyone to think that praying is an abracadabra magic trick. We’re not the puppeteer and God is not our puppet.

I had a pastor in Escondido, California, pastor Dennis Keating, and he would say each Sunday—he would get up at the podium, put his hands on it, look out at the congregation and say, Did you come to hear from the Lord this morning?” And then he would pause, which would require us to answer the question. “Oh, that’s right. That’s what I came to church for is to hear from the Lord.” And I found myself asking the question in my own quiet time with the Lord is I would open my Bible, and I’d start to read. “Wait, wait, wait. Did I come to hear from the Lord?” And so if you haven’t yet experienced the sweetness of God’s word, ask Him for it. Your words were found, and I ate them, and they became to me a joy, sweetness, my delight. God, “I found your words. Here they are. I’ve not experienced that. Would you help me to experience how sweet you are?”

(20:50):

“How clear a communicator you are and that you love me and you have life abundant for me? And the secret is found here as I get to know who you are, I’m going to grow in your grace. I’m going to grow in the knowledge of you. I’m going to get more excited about it. To be honest, God, I’m not always excited to open your word. Would you help me get excited, develop a hunger, a taste, a sweet tooth?

Ann (21:15):

And I have found, and maybe you guys have too, but the longer I’m out of the Word, I lose my taste for it.

Wendy (21:22):

You do.

Ann (21:23):

You’re out of the habit, and then you forget the habit, and then you’re not longing for it.

Wendy (21:29):

Absolutely.

Ann (21:29):

And so to be patient with yourself the first day. You’re like, “Okay, I read it,” and maybe you didn’t think, “Oh, this was amazing,” but maybe you thought, “Okay, I was obedient and this was, I did it.” The next day, you might have a little more of a taste for it, but I’m telling you, the more you’re in it, the longer you’re in it, you acquire that taste to the point where you’re longing for it each day. “I can’t wait to see what I’m going to read today.”

Wendy (21:59):

Oh, I love your heart, Ann.

Dave (22:00):

Yeah, my journey was so different than both of yours. Grew up in a divorced family; when I was seven, my dad left. My little brother dies. He’s five, I’m seven, so all in two- or three-months’ time; moved from one state to another where my mom’s parents were. Anyway, she was a Bible believing woman, mom, so she took me to church. Honestly, I sat there and listened to these sermons. Two things. I thought, “I’ll never become one of those. There’s no way. These guys are boring.” And I felt scared by the Bible. I didn’t understand it. And again, some of it was the preaching didn’t make it clear, so I felt confused. Anyway, I get older and older. I get into high school and then I’m like, I really don’t understand it. I’ve got intimidated by it because there’s not even one book. There’s a whole bunch of books. So I’m very biblically illiterate. I get to college and it’s a long story, but I come to Christ my junior year and a guy says, we have a Bible study on Friday nights. You got to come. And I remember thinking Friday night when we were supposed to go partying.

Wendy:

Do you not know what I’m doing on Friday nights?

Dave:

And my first ever Bible study. I don’t even remember the Bible I had. I think my mom gave it to me. I think it was the book, The Living—remember the—

Wendy (23:21):

The Living book, wasn’t it?

Dave (23:22):

—back in the seventies. It was a big campaign; green one with the gold letters.

Ann (23:26):

That’s the one my mom brought home.

Wendy:

Yeah. I wonder who was giving those out. What ministry was that?

Ann:

I don’t know. It was kind of a big deal.

Dave (23:30):

It was a big deal.

Wendy (23:31):

Yeah, it was the thing.

Dave (23:32):

I got one; I’ll never forget. I walked across campus with my Ball State football letter jacket on, Bible underneath because I was ashamed.

Wendy (23:42):

Wow.

Dave (23:43):

I’m not even a Christian yet.

Wendy (23:44):

Look at you now.

Dave (23:45):

Well, I mean, I’m just thinking, I don’t want anybody know I’m going to a Bible study. This is like, “What are you doing with your life?” And here’s what happened. I go to this Bible study. It’s in another student’s room, dorm room, and he teaches John 3, Nicodemus. I remember it like yesterday. It’s the first time in my life the Bible was clear. It was practical. It was alive. I remember when he said, “Let’s turn to John 3.” I literally looked around the room, “How do these guys know where that is?” I’m looking at the Table of Contents. I’m all embarrassed. I don’t want anybody to see that I don’t know what John is. That’s where I was. And here I am. But I mean, it’s like I remember walking back to my dorm room like this.

Wendy:

Holding it up; holding it out.

Dave:

“This book is amazing.” It was my first taste.

Wendy (24:34):

I think it’s really important for those who are tuning in to just hear that you were raised in church. And there’s various degrees of what you do with that, right. I mean, you could be a “Hey, I never really understood it.”

Dave (24:51):

And walked away.

Wendy (24:52):

The Bible or just the simplicity of the gospel message.

(24:56):

And some people believe it to whatever degree they’re able to without ever really getting into it and letting it shape their thinking and their life. And wherever you are in your journey like right now is a time. You obviously tuned in for this episode. But if now’s the time where you’re going to tune into the Word and dive into the Word and say, “Okay, I’m ready to understand it. I want to know where the book of John is. I want to open it to chapter three. I want to read for myself what was so transformational in Dave’s life. God, what you did in him, what you revealed to him, would you reveal it to me?”

Dave (25:42):

He will.

Wendy (25:43):

Yeah, He will. He does that.

Ann (25:44):

I love the honest prayers that you’re offering our listeners. Just tell God, “Lord, I’ve struggled with this book. I don’t get it. And I don’t know when people say, ‘This is so cool,’ it doesn’t seem so cool to me.” Be honest and ask Him to reveal Himself.

Dave (26:00):

And what I love about your book, it’s a 40-day feast. It’s a start.

Wendy (26:05):

And it’s a slow start too. And one of the things that’s my favorite is I have women reach out to me who are, like I’m talking about the veterans in your church. These are deeply Bible believing women who love the book. There are women who used to be on fire—as we used to say—for the Word, like, “Oh, I was insatiable”. You remember that term?

Ann (26:26):

Yeah.

Wendy (26:27):

And then there are women that say, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m willing to give it a shot.” I heard back from women in all these different stages and women sitting down and doing this with their husbands or their sons as well and it’s hitting.

Ann:

It is hitting. Of course it would hit.

Wendy:

We’re just talking about one, what is God’s Word? Two, why should we read it? Three, how do we read it? And four, how do we live in response? Because we are told in the book of James, we don’t want to just be readers of the Word or hearers of the Word. We want to grow to do what it says.

Ann (27:03):

I like how you’ve divided that up too in your devotional. But before we get onto that—

Dave (27:09):

Hey, let me just remind people right now. I’m going to look at the camera and say, you can get this book, FamilyLifeToday.com, show notes, get it. Let’s commit for 40 days and see where it goes. I know it’s going to keep going but start small. It’s not the rest of your life; 40 days. FamilyLife.com, show notes, get the book.

Ann (27:26):

How about this one, Wendy? This is day eight, Bible wounds. Because Psalm 107 says “He sent out his word and healed them.” But some of us, what do you mean by Bible wounds?

Wendy (27:39):

I think the popular term today is church hurt, where either the scripture was weaponized, and you always left feeling bad about yourself.

Ann (27:50):

Shame.

Wendy (27:51):

Or you weren’t—oh, this is a big one. Maybe as an adult, maybe as a child, you went, and you just never quite felt like you were in the ingroup.

(28:00):

You go to church in this current season and there’s nobody outside, the person holding the door that really greets you or wants to know you. Women’s events go on, men’s events go on, but nobody puts their hands on your shoulder and says, “Come with me. Hey, let’s meet up for coffee first.” And you just kind of feel on the outside.

I think I tell in that chapter the story of Ruth Gostin. As a child, I loved going to church because I was loved by someone at church. I believe, and believed, that the God of the Bible loved me because I was told by people who loved me well. And if you have not been loved well—maybe you’ve experienced the opposite. Maybe you’ve been hurt by a very religious mother, father, church leader, grandfather, and maybe you want to trust that God is good, but your experience is that the people that love God or believe God didn’t love you well.

(29:09):

—then I just want to encourage you to, I mean even now, just slow down, take a couple deep cleansing breaths and separate the love of God from the attempts of people in this world to represent Him.

Jesus came for us because we fail so terribly as humans. All have sinned and fallen short. And some people have sinned by hurting others, by hurting children, by hurting women. And if you have been hurt, there is healing for you. But they do not reflect or represent the tenderness, the kindness of the God of the Bible. And so if you have been hurt, and most of us have, invite the Lord to do what He says He does, which is bring healing. I have come that they might experience healing, that they might experience relief, that they might experience release from prison, from bondage, from brokenness.

We’re told that God loves the broken hearted. We see throughout the scriptures that he loves the broken bodied. We see throughout the scriptures that he restores people to wholeness, restores families, restores people to God. And so often, even in the Bible that others do wrong to people. And those people are the ones that Jesus came to and lifted up out of positions of brokenness and brought healing to their lives. And he can do it for you.

Dave (31:07):

I mean, what you just said is so helpful in healing.

Dave (31:12):

How have you been able to—because we all have to deal with this—separate the love of God from the people of God, when the people of God—

Wendy (31:20):

—hurt—

Dave (31:20):

—don’t live up to the Word of God, that they even quote and they hurt you. And again, you’ve said a lot there because there’s sin, there’s brokenness, and we’re all sinners.

Ann (31:29):

And those people could be in our homes even.

Dave (31:31):

—in your home, in your church; we’ve gone through church hurt. In some ways, you’re shocked. We shouldn’t be because we’re all sinners, but we’re shocked. We expect people don’t adhere to the Word of God and know the Word of God or preach the Word of God.

Wendy (31:45):

Yeah, I think so often we don’t even know we’re weaponizing it. I mean even well-intentioned moms and dads as we’re doing Bible studies. And I think that this is true. So I’m going to tell you something that I would say to my kids, but if I harp on it, it actually becomes destructive. So I would say, sons, if you obey me, it goes well for you. It’s just like what God says, “Children obey your parents in the Lord, and it will go well for you.” That is biblical truth. But it’s a very thin line when all of a sudden, you’re shaming and becoming authoritarian and demanding respect. So the most well-intentioned, loving parent can also hurt their kiddos if they’re not careful. So God teach us—

Ann (32:34):

I think we will hurt our kids.

Wendy (32:36):

—lead us; we’re going to, right? But there are some who very much are, I think in positions of power usually. And whether that’s a parent or a husband in the home using the scriptures, using his position of power and hurting people. It can happen in churches where whether intentionally or not unintentionally be sending a message of shame rather than an invitation for healing. And then there are churches where it feels like if you’re not in the ingroup, you’re in the outgroup. And that does not represent the love of God. So it can be the word. It can be a lack of loving welcome, right? So there are lots of ways.

Dave (33:32):

Did you have, and do you have, a practice of Bible study that helps you understand? Because one of the things—my story is I didn’t understand it. And back then there were no online commentaries where I could tap into scholars who have studied these over generations. Now, gee whiz.

Wendy (33:48):

Yes. There’s so much more now at our finger fingertips, literally at our fingertips.

Ann:

It’s incredible.

Wendy:

I would encourage people one, to open it up.

Dave (33:57):

Yep. Start there.

Wendy (33:59):

To start there. I have an acronym for feast.

Dave (34:01):

You have like three acronyms, I love that. I’m an acronym guy.

Wendy (34:03):

Not only do I, but I say, okay, now you come up with an acronym. It’s fun to get creative on how you’re going to feast, right?

Ann (34:12):

Well, this is your middle section is really your devotionals are how to study God’s Word for yourself. And I love the practicality of that.

Wendy (34:21):

Yeah. So I pivoted from your question here, because yes, there are ways to get into community, and I think that understanding it is done well in community, but so much of this is getting into a rhythm of opening the Word. So when someone weaponizes the Word of God against you, you actually have a discerning mind.

(34:45):

We’re told to test the spirits. We’re told to handle the Word well. And so we can’t do that if we’re not even opening the Word and reading it for ourselves. So I’d love to just talk about, how do we do it? What are a couple of things we can do if we’re just saying, “Okay, Wendy, I believe you. So what does it look like to open the Word?” And so I have a pre-reading plan, and that’s to pray. If you pray before you eat a meal, “God bless this food. Thank you for the people around this table. Would you nourish us, our bodies so that we can go out and be”—whatever your go-to prayer is, you likely have one.

Ann (35:22):

Let me just say, we say these prayers. People, God is listening.

Wendy (35:27):

Yes, He is. Even your most rote prayers, right, repeated prayers. So let’s have one for when—it could be Pastor Keatings, did you come to hear from the Lord this morning? “Hey God, I just want you to know I’m here to hear from you. Give me the ears to hear you. Give me the eyes to see you. Give me the mind to perceive you. Give me the heart to experience your love as I read. Give me the spiritual taste buds to experience the sweetness of your Word. And then give me the will to surrender and love you back. Here I am, show off. I’m yours. Amen.”

Ann (35:59):

That’s good.

Wendy (36:00):

Whatever it is, some people are going to be like, “I don’t pray like that.” Okay, “God, reveal yourself to me. Amen.” Here we go.

Ann (36:10):

“God, I don’t get this. Help me to get it.”

Wendy (36:12):

Yeah, “Just give me a nugget, Lord. Give me a breadcrumb and I’ll look for the next breadcrumb.” And before I know it, I’m going to be down the path in relationship with you. So that’s my F for my acronym for FEAST. It starts with friendship with God. He wants relationship, fellowship, friendship with us. This book is a love letter. It’s an invitation into knowing Him, abiding with Him, abiding in Him, abiding in His Word. He abides in us. This is a knowing invitation. So we feast on his word to know the one who is the Word. We don’t feast on the Bible to know the Bible. We feast on the Bible to know the God of the Bible. We don’t need to know more of the Bible. We need to know more of God. And the Bible is how we get to know Him. So it starts with friendship.

E is eat. So whether you’re doing the verse of the day on your Bible app, you’re just reading through a passage over and over every day this week because a friend of yours said, “Hey, I’m going to read through this section of Ephesians 6. I’ve never really understood the armor.” “Okay, I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but I’ll do that every day this week. And then we’ll get together on Sunday before church or after church, and we’ll grab brunch, and we’ll talk about what we learned.” Or you’re reading a chapter a day or you’re reading through the Bible, whatever it is. The next portion is to eat. So we start with friendship. Now we’re going to open it up. We’re going to eat.

A is for apply it. Now there are in depth Bible studies. You’re really diving deep. You’re answering a bazillion questions. I think there’s a time for that. I think it’s wonderful, but it can be as simple as these three simple questions. What did I learn about God just now?

(38:03):

Okay, what do I realize about myself in light of this? And three, what should I do? How do I live differently? Is there something I should stop doing because I’m feeling convicted of sin? Is there something I should start doing because I’m convicted of righteousness? Is there something, I don’t even know what it means, and I just need to lean in more about how I should be living? This is part of the sanctification process.

Ann (38:28):

And Wendy, I don’t think we always stop to ask that question.

Wendy (38:30):

No, no. Because when you ingest but don’t digest, it leads to oftentimes spiritual indigestion or malnourishment, right? Because we’re not getting the nutrients out of what we just ate. We’re like gobbling it up, checking the box and moving on. So you ingest the word, but applying it helps us to digest it. And then—so we’ve got friendship, we’ve got eating it up, we’ve got applying it.

S is for savoring it. Even after you’ve done the application, now you got to take what you learned with you. If all you do is close your Bible and move on—

Ann (39:11):

How do you savor it? What’s that look like?

Wendy (39:13):

Well, sometimes it’ll be, I love keeping little note cards on my desk or wherever I study the Bible. Sometimes they’re tucked into the pages and I’m like, oh, I want to write that verse down and I’ll tuck it into my Bible—I mean my pocket or back into my Bible, but usually in my pocket or in my purse, or I put it by my sink or on the mirror or in my car. And I’m like, “Oh, that’s right. God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind in Christ. That’s the verse I need to savor, the verse I need to meditate on.” I need to not only read it I need to believe it. I need to let that verse seep into me and believe. Because I’m struggling with anxiety and my mind feels just fractured and bouncing, but I read in God’s word that I have a sound mind. That’s part of my inheritance. What does that mean? And I want to suck on, I chew the cud as a cow does, right.

Dave (40:08):

That’s what you say over and over.

Wendy (40:08):

I take it with me. But if I left my snack, if I left my meal, if I left my feast in my Bible and I was only there for, let’s say I had a meaty time with the Lord, I was in the Bible for 25 minutes, or you were in the Bible for three minutes. How many minutes are you not in the Bible? So take it with you so that you might savor the sweetness of that, which was so good.

Ann (40:31):

I know that when our kids were little, it’s just you have kids on you—

Dave (40:36):

You want to get to T.

Ann (40:37):

Oh, I will.

Wendy:

I’m going to get T.

Ann:

But they’re on you all the time. So I’m like, I don’t even know how I read my Bible anymore. And so you probably did this too. I had my Bible everywhere.

Wendy (40:49):

Oh yeah. That’s why I needed the little Bible that I prayed for.

Ann (40:52):

Yes. I had one in the kitchen. I had one in the bathroom. I had one in the car as I’m waiting for kids in a school, in the school line. And there’s such a temptation because now we all have our phones which has the Bible on them too. Which is good but man, as soon as I pick up my phone, you’re just captured by whatever post was on there. And so even to discipline our minds, because how will your life look different if you’re in the word digesting and eating of the Word versus social media. Our lives will look so different, and our hearts will be so fulfilled as we get in God’s Word. And maybe we discipline ourselves to think, “I’m not going to go on to social media until I have feasted on God’s Word.”

Wendy (41:37):

The Word before the world.

Ann (41:39):

Yeah, that’s really good.

Alright, now the T.

Wendy (41:41):

Well, absolutely. And I mean, I think that what you’re saying leads to the T, which is we ultimately, we want to be transformed.

Ann (41:49):

Yes.

Wendy (41:50):

You are what you eat. So I mean, I joke God will never call me to a 40-day cheese fast. I love cheese. Who doesn’t love a good charcuterie board, right?

Ann (42:01):

Yes.

Wendy (42:03):

But if all I ate was cheese, I’d be physically bigger. I would look different. And if all I do is consume reels—if you’re listening, I’ve got my thumb going, right?

Ann:

We’re all convicted with you by the way.

Wendy:

—if all I do is consume social media, then I will start looking by that which comes across my feed. But if I start feeding on God’s Word, then I’m going to start being transformed and looking more like that.

Ann:

So good.

Wendy:

I had a friend when my kids were young, Miss Angie. She had a sing-song voice, and she was so patient with the kids, and she was always having creative party ideas. And I loved to be with Miss Angie, my peer, but I would even say to the kids, “Who’s the best mom in the world?” And we would all cheer “Miss Angie.” “What’s the happiest place in the world?” And we lived close to Disneyland, and we would still say, “Miss Angie’s house.” And when I would spend time with Miss Angie, I, my voice pattern even sounded more like her. My joy was more like her joy. It was contagious. It was like I was rubbing up against her and I was taking on her character. And that is true when we spend time in God’s word. You are what you eat. You are whom you spend time with. You become more like their character. And so we want to consume more of Him.

Ann (43:31):

This is time for you to share the dog fighting story.

Dave (43:36):

The dog fighting story.

Ann (43:37):

Yeah. It’s the—

Dave (43:38):

About who wins the dog fight?

Ann (43:40):

Yes.

Dave (43:40):

You’ve heard that one. That’s around—

Ann (43:41):

But it goes with this.

Dave (43:43):

—for generations. It’s told like it’s a true story, who knows? But it was like this guy takes dogs down—again, this is horrible. Dog fights are terrible.

Ann (43:54):

Of course, we’re not—

Dave (43:56):

Don’t bet money on dog fights.

Wendy:

Don’t Google dog fights.

Dave:

But he would always bring his dogs. And he had certain kennel of dogs and his dogs; he always bet on the right dogs. And somebody came to him one day and said, “I’ll never bet again, but can you tell me, do you know who’s going to win the fight?” And he goes, “Yeah.” And he goes, “How do you know?” He goes, “I can’t tell you.” He goes, “No, I’m never going to bet again. I’m not going to use this, but you must have a secret.” And he goes, “Well, it’s not a secret. Whatever dog you feed the most wins.” And it’s the spirit and flesh. It’s how it’s used is what are you feeding on? What are you eating? And we eat the world. We feast on world’s mindset.

Wendy (44:32):

Okay, can we all, just a moment, ask the Lord, what are we feeding? And it could even be for some of you listening, whatever it is right now that you are binge watching. I’m not calling out sin. I’m just saying if what you’re watching right now is Game of Thrones and Yellowstone—

Dave (44:54):

Or American Idol, that was me.

Wendy (44:58):

Well, I’m specifically sharing ones that I’m okay listening to a whole lot of cussing with a whole lot of sex in it.

Dave:

Are you?

Ann:

Maybe we should—

Wendy:

I’m not saying me. I’m saying if that’s what you are saying, then that’s what—

Dave:

We’re like, wow, Wendy, okay.

Wendy:

Actually I prefer it but no.

Ann:

We have family that don’t agree with that.

Wendy:

No, but if you’re consuming, let’s say three hours with three episodes at night, you and your husband—

Dave (45:27):

“Oh, it’s not influenced me at all.” Yes, it is.

Wendy (45:30):

You’re feeding that, but you’re at church for a 37-minute message once a week—

Dave (45:36):

Right.

Wendy (45:38):

Which one’s going to win? —the flesh or the Spirit?

(45:42):

Which dog’s going to win? Yeah. Do we need to restate what I was trying to say in that one?

Dave (45:47):

We got it.

Wendy (45:49):

I’m saying, what am I feeding? What am I watching?

Dave (45:53):

But as a pastor for 40 years almost now, I sense, and there’s surveys that back this up when I even say, “Hey, let’s turn to turn to Malachi. We’re going”—

Wendy (46:06):

Malachi is what—

Dave (46:07):

Yeah. Malachi the Italian prophet.

Wendy (46:09):

Yeah.

Dave (46:11):

Honestly, you look out there—and today again, everybody’s got a device. But back in the day when people would open their Bibles—most of the room can’t find that book. They’re just not familiar with the book. The only time they open it is right now. This 30 minutes, once a week. And if you were a golfer—

Wendy:

At church, you’re saying.

Dave:

—or anything else, and you’re like, “I’m going to become a great golfer. I’m going to play 30 minutes once a week,” you’ll never shoot par. It’s like we don’t apply that concept to anything else that we really want to be good at. But the Word of God is just like, “Oh, it’s not that important.” It’s the most important thing you can do.

Wendy (46:42):

I would recommend something. If you have a church that has a grounded, theologically grounded, and intentional children’s ministry, as long as you are a Bible-believing Christian, whether this is in your comfort zone and your gifting or not, see if you can serve in children’s ministry. If you do not know the Word yet, you don’t understand the message, the arc of scripture, you don’t know where Malachi is, start serving in your children’s ministry. They won’t ask you to teach beyond your knowledge, but you might start learning.

Or get for your children or your grandchildren, the Jesus storybook Bible or the Jesus Bible. There are a couple children’s Bibles, and I tell you as a woman who to some degree does know the Word, it is oftentimes in the context of teaching children that I’m most moved by the simplicity of the gospel. And also, they’re oftentimes learning the fruit of the Spirit. They’re learning to feed the spirit, not the flesh. And they’re learning it on a very, very elementary level, literally.

Ann (48:05):

And simplistic and you can remember it.

Wendy (48:06):

Yes. And they’re going to learn the books of the Bible. You can learn with them. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus—you’ll be singing it. You can also just do a Bible search on YouTube for books of the Bible song and then challenge yourself to sing along with young children the books of the Bible.

Ann (48:25):

It’s a great idea.

Wendy (48:25):

Maybe even here in the show notes, you guys can add a link to something like that. Because there are so many great resources out there.

Ann (48:33):

Good idea. Well even, oh gosh, I’m going to forget his name. Who’s the guy that does the little video before each book?

Dave (48:39):

Yeah, the—

Ann (48:40):

Is it on You version

Dave (48:41):

Bible project?

Wendy:

Oh, there’s so many good ones, I’ve got to say.

Ann (48:43):

There’re so many good ones that will just explain it simply. Here’s what this about.

Wendy (48:46):

I’ll do those even too on my, I don’t even know how many times through the Bible I’ve done.

Dave (48:52):

Yes. I’ve shown them at church for a series. “Hey, were going to study this book. Watch this.” It’s so well done.

Ann (48:58):

Just give the background. Helps you understand.

Well, let’s end by talking about your last section, Wendy: commit to stay hungry, faithful, and unashamed of a biblical worldview.

Wendy (49:10):

Oh, this is a hard one, but I think so important. There is so much. Well, actually, you and I were talking over lunch.

(49:20):

There’s a movement that’s, let’s be progressive is the term, right? We’re progressive Christians.

Ann:

What do you think that means?

Wendy:

Well, I think what it was intended to mean originally was, hey, there’s this historical reading of the Word in Christian churches in North America, interpretation of the Bible, but we want to be more inclusive. So we want people who are homosexuals to feel safe and comfortable here. We will have maybe more women pastors preaching. And so they start broadening what a lot of the more conservative churches are doing. And I absolutely think it’s okay to have really meaningful dialogues about what does the word say and how do we show the love of Christ to the people in our communities and invite them in and give a safe place. So I think that the purpose of the church, the churches who have become more progressive, I think the intention is really, really good. I think it’s Alisa Childers has a book called Another Gospel? She talks about progressive Christianity as eventually, if you broaden and broaden and broaden what the gospel is, what it includes, you can broaden it to the point where it’s actually not the gospel anymore.

Ann (50:48):

It’s no longer the gospel.

Wendy (50:48):

So I say, you can progress beyond the gospel is the way I put it. And so many progressive churches—because they don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. They want everyone to feel included—suddenly they don’t want to address sin. So sin becomes like it’s an off the table topic. Well, we don’t talk about homosexuality. We don’t talk about just anything that might offend someone—gender. And so before you know it, you’re not talking about sin. But there is no need for Christ. There’s no need for redemption.

Ann:

There’s no need for his death.

Wendy:

There’s no need for His death. There’s no need for His resurrection. We don’t need Christ if there was no sin to separate us from God.

Ann (51:41):

And now we’ve lost the gospel.

Wendy (51:42):

Absolutely. You don’t need it.

Ann (51:44):

Right.

Wendy (51:44):

Why would you need good news when there’s never been bad news? We’ve got to read the Word to know the Word so when we’re taught something that it is counter to the Word, we will know it and say, “No, I know what the Word is.” And we will be like Dave leaving the Bible study, holding up our Bible saying, “Nope, nope, nope. I’m not ashamed of this.”

(52:08):

I’m not looking to start fights for division’s sake, but I am willing to stand up for truth’s sake because of love, not because of the opposite of love. Not because I’m looking to be judgmental, but because Christ came motivated by love to bring people to the Father. And sin separates us from the Father. So the loving thing to do is to recognize that sin exists and we want to, in love, call it out. Speak the truth in love. Of course, we have to first shine the light of truth in our own lives, which is why we need to open the Word too, say, “God, I give you access to the cobwebby corners of my life and heart.” Shine a light there first.

Ann (52:54):

And I’m telling you, I’ve said this so many times. We are being discipled by our culture.

Wendy:

We are.

Ann:

We live in it. You can’t help it. We’re being conformed. We’re being discipled by the culture automatically. It just happens.

Wendy (53:06):

You will be discipled.

Ann (53:07):

Yes. And so if we don’t know the Word—you’re right, Wendy—we will just conform. But if we know the Word and we know what it says, and we know that it brings life and it is the best feast we will ever taste, when you taste of the Word of God, the world feels much less appetizing.

Wendy:

It loses its sweetness.

Dave (53:28):

Hey, I got to ask this. I got two moms of boys.

Wendy (53:30):

Yes.

Dave (53:31):

How did you guys do this with your kids?

Ann (53:34):

Not perfectly. Go ahead, Wendy.

Dave:

You were amazing.

Wendy (53:39):

I love that. You take this one. You know what I’ve learned is I will answer that question, but just a caveat for the moms listening who maybe, have grandchildren, whether you did it and knocked it out of the park and your kids love the Lord, or you did it and you thought you were knocking it out of the park and they—

Ann:

They aren’t following the Lord.

Wendy:

Yeah, they’re not.

Ann (54:04):

Yeah.

Wendy (54:05):

Let’s just remember that the God who wrote the Word, who inspired the Word is the one who is the Word chasing them down in all spirit and truth today.

Ann:

Because we feel incredible guilt.

Dave (54:16):

You planted it. There’s a seed there, yeah.

Wendy (54:19):

Man, did we ever, and so sometimes when I’m praying for my children today—and they’re grown now—I will just spend time praying for the soil. “Lord, I just bless the soil of their lives. Holy Spirit, would you just knock out some of the rocks?”—

Dave (54:37):

The rocks and the hardness.

Wendy (54:38):

—”pull some of the weeds, toil the soil”—

Ann (54:41):

Chase them down. That’s what I pray too.

Wendy (54:42):

Yeah, “moisten it with Your tears. And thank you for the privilege of having planted so many gospel seeds in their lives. Help me, Lord, even now to model well a life of love and joy and service that represents you well.”

Ann (55:00):

And I think too, Dave, I feel like I have done some good things, and I ask the boys, “What do you remember?” Nothing, they basically remember, but the thing they do say, “Mom, I do remember this, is you reading your Bible.”

Wendy (55:15):

Yes.

Ann (55:15):

“I remember that Bible always being on the table every day. The Bible was out on the table.”

Wendy (55:19):

Because we were homeschooling for quite a few years I had all the fun devotionals. I mean, I call them fun. Okay. My kids are like, “Oh my gosh, again.” And now I’m printing up coloring pages and now let’s make a specific meal that goes with the theme of the book we’re reading to go with the—

Ann:

I would walk with Jesus if I were your child.

Wendy:

Kids today would say “She was a little extra,” right? So whether you’ve done a lot and then it ended up there, tell you you did too much or you didn’t do enough, it is always the Lord that brings revelation and faith. It is the gift of the Spirit that gives eyes to see and a spirit that receives.

Ann (56:03):

And if you’ve done nothing as a mom, just know it’s never too late. Maybe your kids are all gone. Maybe you have grandkids or not. But you can still start your own journey feasting on God’s Word, growing in your faith.

Wendy:

Absolutely.

Dave (56:17):

And the key that it would be an overflow.

Ann (56:20):

Yes. That’s what I was going to say.

Dave (56:22):

I couldn’t deny because I see it coming out of Mom or Dad or both.

Ann (56:25):

They can’t help but talk about it because—

Dave (56:26):

So I’ll use one more acronym from your book as we close and say, “Forget everything and start today.”

Wendy (56:33):

Yes. FEAST.

Dave (56:36):

I didn’t have to look. I remember that one.

Wendy (56:37):

There’s so much grace in that, isn’t there?

Dave (56:40):

Doesn’t matter what happened yesterday or last year. Maybe you were in the Word for decades, start now.

Wendy (56:45):

With yourself, with the kids, with your husband. This is grace.

Ann:

And let me add, God is never beating you up. He’s not saying, “Well, finally you’re in the Word.” He’s always cheering you on.

Wendy:

One more day I’m giving you.

Ann:

He never does that. We say it to ourselves, but that’s not who He is.

Wendy:

No, we thank you, Lord.

Dave (57:02):

It’s a shame, when you were saying earlier about praying. You think, “I don’t often think about praying before I open the Word.” That was a great reminder to say, wait, all the things that are really, really important to us, we pray. Like being in the NFL as a chaplain, guess how many teams pray in their locker room before they go on the football field? Every team!

Wendy (57:21):

Really.

Dave (57:21):

Because it’s so important to the city, to the organization, to everybody there, whether they believe in God or not. Everybody wants to pray. It’s like before battle.

Wendy (57:30):

Yeah, everybody prays in a fox hole.

Dave (57:32):

And so when you said today, “Pray before you open the Word,” I’m like, why wouldn’t we? This is just as—it’s more important than winning an NFL football game.

Wendy:

You’re coming to hear from the Lord today.

Dave:

But I remember doing a chapel years ago—again, I didn’t use acrostic—I used seven Ps, and I called it the Seven Ps of Bible Study. See if this works. I don’t even remember.

Ann (57:49):

I’m sure it’s good time to—

Dave (57:50):

I’m going to try and remember. It was number one, it’s got to be a priority.

Wendy (57:54):

Yes.

Dave (57:55):

This is one of the most important things you’ll do every day. Number two, you need a place. I would say find a place that you love in the house. It doesn’t have to be, but it could be a chair or somewhere. You do it. Number three, pray. I had that as one of the things. Before you open the Word, pray.

Wendy (58:10):

Just so you know, many Bible teachers, pastors, well-intentioned bloggers, we know things and we forget to do them sometimes.

Dave (58:18):

Yeah.

Wendy (58:19):

Okay, go on. You’re on three.

Dave (58:19):

I’d forgotten I had that one when you said it. I like, “Oh yeah, had that one ,” passage. You need a passage You’re going to study whether you’re going through the whole Bible or going through a book. Don’t just randomly say, “I’m going through the book of Psalms,” whatever. Have a passage, get a pen. Now today be maybe a digital device but take notes, or write in your Bible, scribble things there. You may hand this to your grandkids someday and they’ll see.

Wendy (58:41):

That’s my heart. I love it.

Ann:

Me too.

Dave (58:42):

That man, he didn’t just look at the passage. He took notes. He had a pen. How many is that? Five.

Wendy:

That’s five.

Dave:

Six was ponder. Think about it. Savor was yours, then seven was practice. Do it. Live it.

Wendy (58:56):

Transform. Nice.

Dave:

There you go.

Ann (58:58):

Nice.

Dave (59:00):

Well, it’s not as good as the FEAST but it works.

Wendy:

No, it’s a good alliteration.

Ann (59:02):

And you know what? Wendy’s book has scripture every day in it. And they’re good scriptures too.

Wendy (59:08):

Food for thought. Some questions afterwards. So feast.

Dave (59:10):

Food for thought. That’s what it’s called.

Ann (59:11):

Food for thought.

Dave (59:13):

FamilyLifeToday.com, show notes, we’ve got a link. Get her book right there. Bruce is going to tell me something. No, okay.

Ann (59:23):

Hey, thanks for watching and if you liked this episode—

Dave (59:26):

You better like it.

Ann (59:27):

—just hit that like button.

Dave (59:28):

Yeah, and we’d like you to subscribe. So all you got to do is go down and hit the “Subscribe”—I can’t say the word subscribe. Hit the “Subscribe” button. I don’t think I can say this word.

Ann:

“Like” and “Subscribe.”

Dave:

Look at that; you say it so easy. Subscribe, there it goes.

FamilyLife Today is a donor-supported production of FamilyLife®, a Cru® Ministry.

Helping you pursue the relationships that matter most.

If you’ve benefited from the FamilyLife Today transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs of producing them and making them available online?

Copyright © 2025 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.

www.FamilyLife.com