Wednesday, August 30th | The Power of Prayer

Hello, everyone. Today is Wednesday, August the 30th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm Jon Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

That's right. You guys can help us keep the conversation going while supporting the show. You can share it online.

Leave us a good review on iTunes or Spotify, anywhere you get your podcast and content from. We're going to leave a link in the description so you can do just that. The verse of the day today comes from Matthew 9, verse 13. But go and learn what this means.

I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Yeah. Yeah. That's tough because once you get saved, you really want to start—you start seeing those blessings in your life. You really want to start earning them. You know, we're hardwired, I think. And it's reinforced a lot that you have to earn, especially as men, you got to earn, you got to provide, you got to work hard for everything you get and then earn it. And so then sometimes that can bleed over. And I think women do this too, but I think men do it a lot more as you start volunteering and you start serving and you start doing and you start just doing all these things, not to earn your salvation, but to earn those blessings in life.

And you kind of have to unlearn that, you know? And Jesus is saying these words here. This is a callback to the Old Testament. Hosea 6, 6, and it's mentioned in a couple other places, I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

It really puts the focus on what God's heart is and what our heart should be as believers. Yes, we need to give sacrificially and we need to serve and we need to do all those things. But again, check your motivation.

What is your motivation? And if you're not showing love to other people, then it doesn't matter if you're checking all of those boxes because you're not being known by the love that God showed us first. That's right. That's right. I'm trying to get back into Marvel. I feel like the Marvel movies have really, I don't know that they've fallen off in terms of quality. Did you see Secret Invasion? I haven't yet. I'm so behind. I'm several movies back at the time. So am I. And I didn't even see Black Panther.

I haven't either. And it got to the point where I went on Reddit, which I got off of Reddit, but then I went on the Marvel subreddit just to see what was up. And pretty much everyone said Secret Invasion was not great.

Like they were like with She-Hulk and with Moon Knight, like you at least had some people who defended it. With Secret Invasion, almost everybody was like, this is not good. But I mean, I haven't seen it, but I was watching Multiverse of Madness just cause I loved Dr.

Strange. I love Wanda. I thought that movie was really good. Benedict Cumberbatch has done an amazing job with that character. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so I was watching it and it got to the part where John Krasinski was Mr. Fantastic. And it just reminded me like, I'm so ready to have a Fantastic Four movie that's actually good.

I'm excited about a Fantastic Four movie, but I have always had a gripe with the Fantastic Four. Are we doing the pre... This isn't even a gripe. We're going to the Harvest now. We're going to the Orchard because it is time for the gripe vine.

This was not planned, but let me, let me drop into character. I got it. Welcome to the gripe vine.

I got a gripe about this. I'm a comic book fan from way back. I know you are too. And I love Fantastic Four.

Nothing wrong with Fantastic Four. Love them. No, no, no, I'm not.

I'm not. I have no problem with the Fantastic Four. Love them. Arguably invisible woman, greatest character.

She carries the entire team. Mr. Fantastic has a stupid name. A stupid name.

And let me tell you why. In the original comic where they go around, like they've gotten their powers, they're exposed to the radiation. Spoiler alert. If you didn't know how the Fantastic Four got their powers. Yeah.

So you should know by now. So they're exposed to the radiation. They get their powers. Ben Grimm is kind of, you know, covered in those boulders and he's become the thing. So she's like, I can turn invisible. So I'll be the invisible woman. And he's like, I can light myself on fire. So I'll be the human torch. Okay.

Tracks. Ben has had this existential crisis because now he can't turn his powers on and off. He doesn't look normal anymore. So he's like, I'll be what Susan called me. The thing. Tragic line for a beloved character. Tragic line. But it all tracks.

It all tracks. The thing. He looks like a monster. And then Reed Richards, stretchy boy himself, comes over and he says, I'll be, hold on.

Cause there's more options. I'll be Mr. Elastic. Anything, anything would have worked to be thematic around his powers. I'll be Mr. Fantastic.

Are you kidding me? Number one, it doesn't reflect your powers. Mr. Elastic was right there. It's the same number of syllables. It rhymes.

You could have gone with that. And Ben, your best friend has just had an existential crisis and said, I'll be the thing. And I'll be Mr. Fantastic. Read the room. For the smartest guy on the team, you sure are an idiot.

I mean, really your best friend is like almost reduced to tears over there because he looks like a monster. And you're like, I'll be Mr. Fantastic.

Because I'm still pretty. I am aware audience that the writers are responsible for Mr. Fantastic's lines.

I do know that he's not an actual person. However, I am going to put the blame squarely on his shoulder. Here's hope. Only the writing in the fifties were as good as it was today. Here's hoping that we'll finally in 2025, get a good Fantastic Four. Everybody thinks the Fantastic Four is stupid and lame because they've never been in a movie that wasn't stupid or lame. Here's, here's what I think needs to happen with the Fantastic Four.

And I know we're running short on time. I think this needs to happen because this worked well for Batman and it worked well for Spider-Man. Don't do an origin story. Don't do an origin story.

We don't care how they got their powers. Drop them into day-to-day life. As a family of superheroes trying to navigate Dr. Doom or whoever the villain is going to be.

I would be surprised if it's not Dr. Doom. But trying to navigate this crisis, drop them in and play to the family dynamics. Don't do an origin story. I agree.

Don't just explain why they sat around and didn't help out with Thanos. But after that, you're good. Yeah. Yeah. We got it. We had to clear that up because they did that in Eternals.

Like where were you when this was happening? Oh, bro, we were forbidden to. Okay. All right.

They could have been off world dealing with something. I mean, who knows? Yeah.

Yeah. But don't do an origin story. I'm excited too. We're going to start the show in just a minute. If you have questions or suggestions for a new topic, or you have a gripe about a comic book character, we would love to field that for you. Text in, let us know at 252-582-5028.

Or you can visit us online at clearveetodayshow.com. Stay tuned. We'll be right back. Hey there, listeners. I'm John Galantis.

And I'm Ellie Galantis. And we just want to take a quick second and talk to you about Dr. Shah's and Nicole's book, 30 Days to a New Beginning, daily devotions to help you move forward. You know, this is actually the second book in the 30 days series. And the whole point of this devotional is to help us get unstuck from the ruts of life. You know, when it comes to running the race of life, it matters how you start. But a bad start doesn't ultimately determine how you finish the race. You can have a good finish even with a bad start. And that's where this book comes in. No matter who you are, or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

Instead of going out and buying some gadget or some planner, like I know I've done several times. I know that's right. 30 days encourages you to find your fresh start in God's word. Life doesn't have a reset button. But our God is a God who does new things.

His mercies are new every day, which means every day is a new chance for you to start over. You can grab 30 Days to a New Beginning on Amazon.com. We're going to leave a link in the description box below. And if you already have the book, let us know what you think about it.

That's right. Send us a text 252-582-5028. Share what God has done in your life through this devotional. Hey, maybe we'll even read your story on the air. Ellie, you ready to get back to the show? Let's do it.

All right. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. Or if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028. That's right. If today's your first time ever joining us here on the Clear View Today Show, we want to welcome you and let you know who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadon Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show.

You can find all of his work on his website. That's AbbadonShah.com. That's right. Dr. Shah, welcome to the show today. I like that shirt. Well, thank you. It's nice.

Where'd you get that shirt from? Some would say it's fantastic. It is fantastic. It is Mr. Fantastic. Fantastic.

I was like, why did you say that? I got this shirt from Tickner's. Tickner's is a family-owned store for men's clothing. And they do have some women's items as well, but men's clothings.

And they are in Ohio, I think Pennsylvania, of course, North Carolina. And the thing I like about them is that they really take good care of me. They don't never try to sell me too much or, yeah, try this too. And you can have this and this and this.

Yes, we made it. Sometimes they'll just tell me, just hold off. There's another batch coming this fall or something. So I know that these guys are good guys. Yeah.

They don't play you just to make a sale. Yeah. Right. Right. Some places it's just like, yeah, get that, man.

You look great. And you walk out looking like a clown. But their commission is through the roof. Yes, of course.

Not these guys. They're making some great. They're like friends. I remember you talking about Tickner's. And I had never gone there before getting the suits for Abigail and then Rebecca's wedding. But going there, I can see why you like shopping there.

Yeah. I was like, oh, man, it's so nice. They're very nice. It's like stress relief for me. Now it's become next to a bookstore.

That's where I like to go. Can we say the name of the guy? Because we all are thinking of the same guy. Are we able to say his name on the radio? Maybe just his first name?

Maybe his first name. Tony. Tony.

Good dude, right? You like Tony a lot. I do. Tony from Tickners. Tony from Tickners?

Hashtag, he's the next Alex from Target. It's interesting that you say that you like Tony's style because I notice that Tony peacocks a lot. He does. Deeply. He does.

Deeply. The shirt is open and it looks really good. He does. And you agree it looks good. I agree that it looks good on Tony.

Okay. But when Tony peacocks, it's like the collar hugs his neck and the peacock happens down here. Not the peacock happens and then the collar is back here. You're talking about John? You want to start the show? Or because now I'm... Anyway, on today's episode, we're going to be talking... No, I'm just kidding.

I'm in a poor mood. You look good, John. Thank you. You look good, especially in the Dada shirt. I like the Dada shirt. I like the Dada shirt.

Very nice. On today's episode, we want to talk about something that is important in the life of every believer, but something that is often neglected, and that's prayer. Prayer is important. It is essential, but a lot of times prayer is treated like an afterthought in our lives. Where does this, I guess, dismissive attitude of prayer come from? Especially among men.

That's where I'm more concerned about. Ladies are more apt to pray and have that desire to have a communication with God. I mean, keep in mind, in the Garden of Eden, Satan or the serpent did not go to the man and said, don't you want to be like God? Because if he had done that, Adam, I know exactly what he would have said. What? I'm good. Yeah, I'm good, man. All right. I play with the animals all morning.

I take a nice dip in the ocean or the rivers or whatever they had back then. And I have a beautiful woman, so I'm straight. I'm good. What do I want?

Don't you want to be like God knowing good and evil? No. No? No, thanks. What for? Sounds like a lot of hassle.

No good and evil, what for? If he wanted me to, I would know. Yeah.

No. If he wanted me to know, I would have known. Exactly. Like, I'm completely content to just chill, man.

I'm going to chill. But he went to Eve and he asked her that question. God is holding out on you. If he had done that to Adam, he would be like, well, if he wants to, that's up to him.

Yeah. But Eve is like, yeah, of course we do. God has told us not to.

See, if you just trust me, I can open some doors for you. Go ahead and eat that fruit and you'll be fine. And so he went to Eve and offered that apple, of course, or the fruit, whatever you want to call it.

And the world changed forever. But there is a lesson there. There's a principle there, which is this. Women are more spiritually minded than men. Women are more likely to spend time in prayer than men. And that's why it is even more imperative that men take the time to pray. So yes, I'm concerned about prayer. I'm concerned about intercession in the life of the church, but especially with regards to men.

Mm hmm. I believe we need to pray. Yeah. And we're not praying like we should. Absolutely. And that's one of the things, you know, that we place a heavy emphasis on that here at Clearview and give opportunities for men to step up and lead, to step up and pray. But even beyond that, you know, beyond praying in service or beyond praying for maybe blessing a meal or something like that, there are opportunities for men to step up and to pray over service.

There are opportunities for men to step up and join together in prayer with other men. I mean, this is this is critical. Yeah.

Yeah. And this kind of prayer cannot be some flippant, half-hearted, window dressing, opening or closing remarks kind of prayer. You know what I mean by opening and closing remarks? Like, hey, thank you all for coming here today.

Our Heavenly Father, we come to you today. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of like the, like, hey, we need to go ahead and start rehearsal, but let's pray real quick so we don't feel guilty about starting. Not that kind of that. And that's the kind of stuff I've been guilty of doing that too.

Yeah. I'm in such a rush to get it done. I do it. And then someone's like, are we going to pray? I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, let's pray, we're going to pray.

And then, you know what I mean? When we close a meeting or some some group or whatever, we will end with, it's like, OK, guys, thank you all so much for being here. We appreciate you all's contribution. We appreciate your time, your energy. Thank you, Lord, for bringing us here today. And we just pray that as we leave this place, be with us and guide us. I mean, that's not prayer.

Prayer is not a parenthesis to a worship service. Oh, that's good. That's a that's a real right there. That's a real right there.

I like that. It's time for us to pray the way Paul told Timothy to pray. He said in 1 Timothy 2.8, I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. I love that lifting up holy hands. It's a physical gesture. You know what I mean? And I think a lot of times as men, we shy away from stuff like that.

I do, for sure. Like if I'm not on stage leading worship, it's very rare that I'm going to put my hands up in a worship service. And I think it just comes from that. Not that there's anything wrong with not doing it, but that lifting up of holy hands is that physical expression of what you're doing, that praying to God. He urges Timothy to enact that in his church. And the reason he does that is very important. And to understand the reason behind Paul's command to Timothy to lead men to pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting, we need to understand the reason. Because then it raises the importance of this passage to a whole new level.

So what is the reason behind it? The reason behind it is actually found in 1 Timothy 1.1. It says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope, to Timothy, a true son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, here it is. Here's the, I believe, the key to the pastoral epistle, especially 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy, as I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus.

So Timothy was the pastor of the church in Ephesus. That's right, that's right. And if you just play that tape backwards, remember the back masking back in the day? Yeah, playing it backwards, trying to find hidden messages and stuff, yeah.

Here's the back masking here. Timothy wants to quit. Hmm, Timothy is ready to leave Ephesus. Hence Paul says, as I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus. Do not leave Ephesus. Which means Timothy was tempted to leave. Why do you think he must be tempted to leave?

I mean, there's so many reasons. I mean, just think about the city of Ephesus, fourth largest city of the Roman Empire. Wow. Population somewhere about a quarter of a million.

I would say about half a million people. Wow. And this city, even to this day, you know, when you walk through it, it's like the best part of your tour in Turkey is Ephesus. Somebody told me that before I left. I didn't believe it until I got there.

I'm like, yeah, sure enough. This is like I'm walking through Ephesus and it's like they just abandoned the city yesterday. That's what it was like. Oh my goodness.

Oh man. But what you're looking at is only like a tenth of the city. If they were to start digging tomorrow, it would take 600 years to completely excavate. It's that big.

In Genesis. Yeah. It's huge. It's huge. I mean, it's when you see the harbor from the distance, when you see the mountains and realize those are not mountains, those are terrace housings. Because we went into one of them, which has been excavated in their terrace housings.

And you see, you keep climbing and guess what? In those terrace housings, you actually find indoor plumbing. I mean, toilets inside the house. We give, I know we've said this on the show before, but we give people such a hard time in the ancient world because we think they were just like cavemen with books. Yeah. Yeah. Like they had some books and they could read, but they were essentially Neanderthals. Yeah. Compared to us.

Which is not at all true. Yeah. Yeah. You walk through and you see that there is a toilet inside this person's house.

It's an indoor plumbing. So, I mean, these people were very advanced. They had plenty of business and wealth because, you know, it's sitting right out on the coast of the Aegean Sea. Now it's about three kilometers or so inland.

Okay. But back then it was sitting right on the port. So that's going for them. Then they had, they were known as the Neocarus. Neocarus means the temple sweepers or the temple keepers, the goddess Diana or Diana meaning Artemis. So you remember that big riot that went off in Acts chapter 19, when Christians through Paul's ministry had completely shut down the temple of Artemis.

And then they didn't like go over there and lock it up. It's just the gospel began to spread in such a way that people stopped going to this massive temple. Yeah.

They didn't even care about it no more. Yeah. It's like, and when you walk through those temples, even though I'm not a pagan, I believe in the living true triune God, the only God of the universe who made everything. And he's the one in control of everything. And he's a Redeemer. He is, I mean, I know that, but when you walk through those temples, it's like, wow.

Yeah. I don't believe in any of those gods, right? They're false gods. They're fake. They're not living, but it's still like, yeah, the magnificence of it. Wow.

Look at these steps that keep going. Look at these pillars. Look at the, look at the statues and how beautiful they are. I think about that sometimes, like think about all the temples and all the monuments dedicated to false gods. Like if that level of creativity and ingenuity was all channeled towards Jesus Christ. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Like how different our world would look because I mean, Christ has his monuments, but imagine if they were all focused where they should be. Which there will be one day, right? That's right.

That's right. So this was Ephesus. The temple of Artemis that I just mentioned was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was also, there was also the temple to the goddess Roma, which was Roman state personified, Rome personified. There was also a temple to Julius Caesar. The city had big business and magical practices. Remember when they burned up all the books, it was like hundreds of thousands of dollars in our money. So I can go on and on talking about the massive theater that was there. They're actually, it could seat about 24,000 people.

Incredible. It was being built when Paul came there, but 24,000 people. This was the city in which Timothy was the first pastor of the first church.

It's easy to understand. And that context helps you to get kind of in Timothy's mind of how intimidating that must've been. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I don't want him for one to be like, I don't know if I can do this. That's a big task. You're the first pastor of the first church in this bustling metropolis. And this center of pagan darkness.

Right. And you are responsible for shutting down the worship of Artemis. I can imagine that didn't make him very popular.

No, not popular. And all those people are in your church and they do have problems. People have problems, right? So imagine you're leading this congregation. And then of course, Jewish people, their family members hate them for leaving the old faith and accepting Jesus as the Messiah.

All the demonic powers are stirred up against them. So you can imagine the pressure that Timothy is in. Is it any wonder he wants to quit?

No, not at all. I can't imagine. I mean, as long as he lasted. Yeah, it's really a wonder that he was still there.

Many of us would have been like, bye. Like shutting down that temple and causing a big riot. Imagine looking at it and be like, I started that. Yeah. You know, I part of this movement.

Yeah. So people hate us. The locals don't like us much, but look, we have several thousand people who are part of my church. It's great.

It's wonderful. But when the service is over and the problems begin and all the headache and walking with the sense of fear that somebody may hit me over the head. How long do you want to do that ministry? Yeah, I was going to say, do you feel like people want that ministry until they realize what comes with it?

Oh, yeah. Like, it looks like you see the good stuff. Like, I got thousands of people in the church and I've got, you know, this massive pulpit and this massive platform.

But all this other stuff that comes with it. People don't understand the perils and the heartache that's associated with ministry. Once you talk to some of these pastors of mega, mega churches and you talk about their health problems and how often they have to see the doctor and how many medications they are on, that's when you go, oh, well. Maybe the bright lights weren't all I thought they were. Maybe I like my little, small little congregation out in the hillside somewhere.

Yeah. Yeah, so Paul wants to encourage Timothy. So if we understand that context that Paul is writing to Timothy, urging him not to quit, then it'll make sense how important is men praying in church.

Sorry, say that one more time. So once you understand the context, the context is Timothy wants to quit or at least leave Ephesus and Paul is telling him, encouraging him not to do that. And he begins to give him several reasons.

And one of them, one of the main reasons is, listen, you need to start getting the men in your church to start praying. That's right. That's when that statement takes on a whole new meaning. So what does Paul tell him?

Let's go back. First Timothy one, verse three, he says, I urge you, when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith. Now, the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart. From a good conscience and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say, nor the things which they affirm.

In other words, Paul is telling Timothy, hang on to the truth. Don't allow false doctrines in the church. Teach people to love from a pure heart. Focus on these things, Timothy. Instead of quitting, it's easier to be a good person.

It's easier to quit. How about you make the teaching and preaching of the word of God a priority in your life? How about you teach people how to not get distracted with some quaint or some innovative idea or principle or something? Stick to the truth and teach people how to love. And then he tells him in verse 18, this is first Timothy one, 18, this charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. He's telling Timothy, you are in the middle of a battle.

Okay. So as a soldier of Christ, don't quit. Don't run.

Stay put. And then he says in verse 19, having faith in a good conscience, which some have rejected concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck. It means there have been people in the church who have left you. I believe that could have been one of the reasons, or maybe one of the catalysts that was leading Timothy to quit.

You know, when you have people close to you who begin to walk away from you in ministry, you feel like, you know what? I give up. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Is what I'm doing making a difference anyway? If these people who I thought were in my corner, who are closest to me, exactly.

And they're the ones who are walking away now. I mean, maybe, maybe I'm ineffective at this. Maybe I wasn't meant for this in the first place. Yeah, you tend to take that as a sign because you're putting your faith in what you're doing, working in the immediate context around you.

So if these people who are my right hand people are walking away, clearly I'm blind to my wrongs and my faults, and I should take some time to go and figure that out. Right. I just need to quit. Maybe somebody else can do better with this. Yeah. I've been there.

Yeah. I've been there and it's not a good place to be. It's very discouraging. It's very disheartening.

It's very hopeless. It takes away any kind of vision that you have. It even takes away your faith. Not that you stop being saved, but you start seeing things very cut and dry and you stop seeing God's power, God's hand, God's movement in your life, bringing people to Christ.

You stop seeing that. You just see very just as bare essentials. He may at times remove his conscious presence. Not that he stops being with us, but the conscious presence is like, oh, I see God. I feel God. I sense God.

Sometimes God will begin to remove that because let me ask you this. If you have two people working for you, let's just say you have a job in construction. One guy is over there who is working because how you pay him, how you take care of him, how you give him breaks, how you encourage him, applaud him. So he works harder and harder because you do those things. But then there's another guy over there. You don't do anything for him.

In fact, you are so carefree about him that you know that even if you don't give him any encouragement, if you don't give him a raise, if you don't give him time off, he will still be at that task giving his hundred percent. In your heart, who is closer to you? Who do you like the most? Probably the second guy. The second guy. Yeah. Why? Because I know that it's not dependent on what I can give him.

Like with the first guy, if I have a bad week or if something happens and he doesn't get his fill. Yeah. Were they money or an encouraging word? Right. He may not leave, but he may. Yeah. But the other guy is like, he's going to do it.

Yeah. So also with God, God wants people who will not be dependent on how much you pay me, how much you make me feel good, how much prayers you answered. He loves it when, look at that boy right there. I haven't even shown up at his site. I haven't answered some of his prayers lately. He's going through some tough times and yet he keeps on working.

That's my guy. So also in ministry, God wants us to plug on or keep moving on, even when we don't feel like it, even when people quit on us, even when bad things happen, even when we feel like our prayers are not being answered. And Paul is telling Timothy, wage the good warfare. That's right.

Even if your commanding officer is not showing up, you still keep fighting. Yeah. Isn't that awesome? Oh, that's amazing. That's so encouraging. That's so encouraging.

I want to dive deeper into what, what Paul's encouragement is to Timothy. Maybe we can do that on tomorrow's episode. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, if you have questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028. And you can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com. Don't forget, you can partner with us financially on that same website. Every gift that you give goes down only to building up this radio show and countless other ministries for the gospel of Jesus. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clear View Today.