Sword Of The Spirt

Hi, this is Nikita Kolev, the Russian nightmare from the Man Up Podcast, where we explore men's and women's fascinating life stories that will challenge you to man up, because it's time. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a moment. Sit back, enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk. The truth is I can't hide it.

I can't hold it in no more. A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you why. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind.

And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. How important is the Bible, the word of God, the sword of the Spirit? How important is your Bible? Is it important? Is it important enough to bring it to church with you on Sunday morning?

Or to the Bible study that you're a part of? How important is the Bible? How important is prayer? Is prayer important? And how important is fasting?

Is fasting important? These are some of the topics that we're going to discuss today, and I want you to call in to 866-348-7884 as we pose some other questions along the way today. No, I am not Stu Epperson Jr. Yes, I am the Russian nightmare, formerly the Russian nightmare, now the devil's nightmare, Nikita Kolov. We're also going to have some Bible trivia today, since we're talking about the Bible.

And if you happen to get the right answers, because you're going to call in to 866-348-7884, and if you get the right answer, you will receive a personally autographed 8x10 photo of the Russian nightmare. So how important is the Bible? You know what's interesting about that is when I look at some recent statistics, and it's kind of mind-blowing in a way, but then again, I don't know, perhaps not.

So let me just share a couple stats with you, and it's kind of out of the gate here. Research indicates that as many as 40%, okay, let that sink in for a moment, as many as 40%, almost half the people in church on a typical weekend, so maybe that applies to you. People that are in church on a typical weekend, but almost 40%, or as many as 40%, read the Bible, read the Bible, read their Bible once a month, rarely, or never.

Hopefully you don't fall into one of those categories, once a month, rarely, or never. Now, link that fact to the Center for Bible Engagements landmark study, which indicates, think about this now, that the single greatest key towards growth as a disciple of Jesus. So is that you? Are you a disciple of Jesus? What qualifies is you give your heart, surrender your heart to Jesus, you become a follower of Jesus, but it doesn't end there. You don't just check that box and then go, okay, I'll just coast till I go home to heaven. No, now you become a disciple.

What was the Great Commission? Go ye, that means you and me, into all of the world and make disciples. Yes, we want converts. Yes, we want to see people come to the foot of the cross and surrender their life to Jesus, but that's just the beginning of a lifelong journey from that point till the time they breathe their last breath and head home to heaven. But in the meantime, we become disciples of Jesus.

So the single greatest key towards growth, okay, anyone want to grow out there? You want to grow as a disciple of Jesus? You guessed it, Bible reading. Bible reading, even more the study discovered that engaging the Bible four or more times a week, now does this apply to you, engaging the Bible more than four times a week, four or more times a week causes, ready, visible behavioral changes, which means other people actually see a difference in you.

How about that? They can see a visible transformation. Now my experience in 30 plus years walking with Jesus doesn't necessarily, I've learned that didn't happen overnight. I'm still growing, I'm still learning, I'm still reading my Bible, still studying who God is and who I am and my identity in Christ, and I hope that you are as well.

The results are really, now listen to these results as well. Engaging the Bible four or more times a week regularly showed that people are 228% more likely to share their faith with others, 407% more likely to memorize scripture, 59% less likely to view pornography, 30% less likely to struggle with loneliness, 57% less likely to get drunk, 68% less likely to have sex outside of marriage, 74% less likely to gamble. Do you think your Bible's important? Do you think reading the Bible, studying, learning, memorizing scripture is important?

I mean if you're concerned about your future as a Christ follower, perhaps it's time to get back into the Bible or more serious about your faith. Hey, how about a Bible trivia question here? How about a Bible trivia question? Ready?

Okay. 866-348-7884, which is this verse found? Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, the just shall live by his faith.

There you go. The just shall live by his faith. Is that found in the book of Jude, the book of Isaiah, the book of Philemon, or the book of Habakkuk? One more time, where is this verse found?

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, the just shall live by his faith. Jude, Isaiah, Philemon, Habakkuk, 866-348-7884, call in with the answer to that question or call in if you have a comment about you reading your Bible. We want to hear from you, okay? We want to hear from you, 866-348-7884, free autographed 8x10 photo if you get the answer. Where is that verse found?

Jude, Isaiah, Philemon, Habakkuk, call in now. Waiting on your answer. We look forward to hearing from you. We'll be back in just a moment, just a moment. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. All right, all right, all right, we're back and we got a caller from Ohio, Buxman, you're on the line.

How important is the word of God, Buxman? I'll tell you what, Nikita, the former Russian nightmare, now the devil's nightmare, I love that Nikita. Come on, thank you. I got a name I got to drop to you, Mean Gene Oakland. Mean Gene, come on, you know, he graduated from the same high school I did a few years prior before me, but did you know that? Did you know he graduated?

I did not know that, Nikita, that's awesome, man. Robin still high school. Did you know him in school?

No, because he was, you know, I think he graduated in the 60s and I graduated in the 70s, so did not know him. Gotcha. Yeah. Wow. Very cool.

Very cool. Buxman, how important is the word of God? Let me put it to you this way, Nikita, and all of our listeners, I love this program. We live in the 21st century, do we not, Nikita?

Correct. Okay, and when did our Lord Jesus Christ live, have his ministry, get up from the grave and ascend back to his Father God in that cloud? I mean, around 2,000 years ago.

About 2,000 years ago. So how does a 21st century sheep follow the 1st century King of King and Lord of Lords shepherd, Nikita? Crack open your Bible and learn who he is, start by surrendering your heart to him and then begin to read and study and learn. Ding, ding, ding, brother, that's the recorded tape, that's the videotape, that's the CD that God recorded for us back in the 1st century so that we, in the 21st century, could accurately follow that blessed son of his. And if we do not follow him, we will fall prey to any other voice that has told us in the 21st century.

Exactly right. And so you are spot on and, you know, some might say, well, you know, of course we're in the 21st century so I've got a Bible app on my phone and that's well and good. Bucksman, I'm old school, I'm old fashioned, right, so I just like to have my Bible in my hand.

That's not to say I don't listen to the Bible on an app, you know, because I do, because I spend a lot of road time, so I do pull it up and listen to it there. But anyway, so, well, we've got another caller I think is going to answer our riddle, Bucksman, I appreciate you calling in from up in Ohio, thanks for listening to the show. God bless, Nikita, have a great day. Thank you. Bless you, sir.

Clay, in the triangle area, we're talking about the importance of God's Word and you might be able to answer the riddle, Clay. Welcome to the show. Yes, sir.

Well, the key is to start off by giving thanks to God for you. It is a good gift thanks that you are able to talk to somebody like yourself in the area today, and that, you know, I find it not only essential, it's very important to me, I remember when they first Bible conference, and you were one of the people that spoke, and you own the Bible, and you spurred, you even said, Clay, we're losing you a little bit, you're kind of going in and out, I'm going to have you call back, okay? Try it again, see, check your reception, call back, okay, because I want to catch everything you're saying, and we're only getting every other word at best, okay?

So hang, let's hang up and call back again, okay? Thank you, Clay. All right, we're talking about the Word of God and the importance of the Word of God, and I also asked the question, you know, how important is prayer, we're going to talk about that, how important is fasting, Jesus talked about that, if you go over to the book of Matthew, let me pull, let me get my Bible out here, because I've got it with me, the book of, there's three things in the book of Matthew chapter six, when you do charitable deeds, Jesus said, when you pray, Jesus said, and when you fast, that's in verse 17, 617, and that's in 6-7 and 6-3, three specific things Jesus addressed in Matthew chapter six, we're going to talk about all those things, also we're hoping Clay might have the right answer to our question there, our Bible trivia question, behold, his soul, which is lifted up is not upright in him, the just shall live by his faith, where is this verse found? In Jude, Isaiah, Philemon, or Habakkuk, if you know that answer, 866-348-7884 for a free 8 by 10 autographed photo of yours truly, former world champion, now a champion, I hope for Jesus, in Jesus' name, and so give us a call if you know the answer, or you just have a comment about how important the word of God is to you, alright, looks like we're going to give Clay another chance here, Clay, are you there Clay, are you there Clay?

Yup. Okay, what did you say, you're still breaking up a little bit Clay, but give us a shot, you got an answer to the riddle Clay, you got an answer to the question? Yes sir, I believe it's back in chapter two, verses four and following.

Bam! Clay, winner, winner, winner, chicken dinner, you hang tight, we're going to get your information and send out that free 8 by 10 autographed photo to you Clay, and appreciate, tell us real quick Clay, the importance of the Bible to you. Well I think it's more than important brother Nikita, I remember as I was turning this year earlier, you spoke a heartfelt message, and I remember there were between 130 and 140 men at this conference, Bible conference in Kernersville, and you know I went to not only to be there with some people that I knew from church, but just to hear you preach that, you asked a question, and you brought up the scripture, you said, how come being in church is not essential? You literally brought out the fact that it is essential, that being able to have a Bible in your person. I agree with you, you talked about what you said and shared, I see only God's word, opening your heart and reading, Jesus said, even in scripture words, that's what Jesus said, it's more than important, it's essential, and it's what you know in your heart, because I have shared, I don't think I've ever shared, I remember when I heard it a few years ago. Clay we're losing again Clay, I know you said it's essential, the word of God, let me just re-emphasize, I heard you say the word of God is essential, I apologize for the poor reception here, but all to say congratulations on that eight by ten, and we're gonna roll on here Clay, thank you for calling in from the Triangle area, and so when we come back we're gonna talk about the importance of prayer, so we're gonna move on from the importance of Bible, and I'm gonna have another Bible trivia question for you when we come back, but we're gonna talk about the importance of prayer. Jesus talked about it right, Jesus talked about when you pray, he didn't say if you pray, he said and when you pray, he didn't say if you fast, he said and when you fast, which by the way, speaking of fast, well we moved pretty fast over there in Nashville Tennessee last week at the NRB, thank you Stu Epperson Jr, Truth Radio celebrating 25 years there at the NRB, quite an accomplishment, quite an amazing, amazing thing for Truth Radio, and it was the first year without big Stu, but God sustained us, and but we had a great time, a lot of great connections and networking, hey that's why it's called the Truth Network, because we network with other ministries, we network with other people, and we just want to make sure you stay plugged in with Truth Talk Live, okay, so don't go anywhere when we come back, the importance of prayer, the importance of fasting, more Bible trivia, stay tuned.

You're listening to the Truth Network, and truthnetwork.com Hey, we're back, we're back, Truth Talk Live, and what I'm thinking about, be sure to check out, we've got so many great programs, so many great shows on the Truth Talk Network, and be sure to check out the Man Up show, my radio show and podcast, and Q&A with Kolov, Questions and Answers, where you get to ask me some questions where I'm always usually asking the questions. Hey, another Bible trivia question, speaking of questions, and I'm going to make this one a little bit easier for you, I'm actually going to get a caller right away on this one, and here's the trivia, the words of Revelation say that this place is where the devil will be cast and will be tormented day and night. Is it the pit, purgatory, the lake of fire, or hell? Where will the devil be cast and be tormented day and night?

Call in 866-348-7884, 886-348-7884. We're talking about the Bible, the importance of it, the Bible, and prayer, the importance of prayer in addition to the Bible, and how important is prayer? Do you have a prayer life?

I hope you have a prayer life, I hope you at least, hey, how about if you just start with praying grace over your meal, that'd be a good place to start if you're not praying at all, but some might even ask the proverbial question, what is prayer? Well, I have a little definition that might be helpful to all of us. Prayer is an invocation, that's a good Latin term right there, a Latin word. How about invitation, invitation, invocation that seeks to activate a rapport, a relationship through deliberate communication with the creator of the universe. I like to say it this way too, an open-ended, ongoing dialogue with the creator of the universe. Notice I said dialogue, not monologue, I said dialogue.

If you don't know the difference, go Google that and you'll figure that out. It's just communication from the heart, right? It's just communication from the heart.

That's what prayer is. And it's a part of our armor as well, it's a part of our armor. All right, looks like we may have someone here from Winston, Jamal from Winston who might have an answer to the trivia question. All right, let me hear, Jamal, welcome, welcome, welcome.

What's your answer? Thanks for taking my call, Nikita, I believe the answer is the lake of fire. Bam, ding, ding, ding, winner, winner, Jamal.

Yeah, the lake of fire revelation, chapter 20, verse 10. You make sure and hold on and we're gonna get that autographed eight by 10 out to you. Were you a wrestling fan at all, Jamal, growing up?

Not really. You're not gonna hurt my feelings if you weren't, just for the record. But you know somebody who might like the eight by 10 photo, right? Oh no, oh no, I'm gonna take that and put it on my wall. We've met a few times. This is the guy that keeps asking for the Russian sickle every time I meet you.

Stand in line, stand in line. Well, hey, I appreciate you listening to the show today. Thank you. Yes, sir.

And real quick, I might not have been a wrestling fan because I was a little bit before my time, but I tell you this, I did know of the Russian nightmare known as the devil's Russian nightmare. I appreciate that. Well, let me ask you before I let you go, how important is prayer for you? Prayer is a lot to me and I know some people will say, well, isn't it everything? Well, prayer is part of it. Reading your Bible is part of it. Going out and witnessing is part of it. So I say prayer is very important and one of the reasons why it's important is because it allows us to talk to God as one thing and it's a way for us to humble ourselves before Him. Because we get a little too much on ourselves and we want to rely on our own strength, but as the Bible says, lean not on your own strength nor understanding, and we can do that through prayer. So it's a way for communication for us, between us and God, and it's a way of humbling ourselves. So I think it's very important for us to know about that. And that's good. And lots of people pray unceasingly, right? I mean, there's so many scriptures on prayer.

I just shared one, but there's so many. So, well, Jamal, thank you for calling in and answering the question and I hope you have a blessed day. Okay? Have a blessed day. Thank you. All right.

Thank you, sir. The importance of prayer. The importance of prayer. And there's lots of different prayer traditions. Sometimes you'll be sitting in a church service and they'll say, oh, bow your heads. And some people might fold their hands or close their eyes, right?

A lot of different traditions. I quoted 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without ceasing. It may be another scripture. But prayer changes things, right? It can change our focus. I mean, because is it not easy to get caught up in circumstances around us?

Good or bad, right? Prayer can direct our focus away from the chaos. We know life is filled with, boy, it is filled with chaos. Our world is filled with chaos, right?

Fallen broken world. Prayer can bring us closer to God, just what Jamal was just talking about. Prayer can bring us closer to God. One of the many ways we can get to know him better is through our prayer time, our communication with him in addition to the Bible reading, right? Prayer can usher us into God's presence. Now we know worship can do that, but prayer can as well, right? In the Old Testament, they used to have to have a priest or a prophet go into the presence of God and speak on their behalf. But thanks to Jesus and what he did on the cross, when he was crucified and died for our sins and that veil was torn in half, guess what? We become the priest.

The Bible says, your Bible says, and now we get full access. 24 hours a day, seven days a week into the presence of God that we can go there any time of day or night driving in your automobile. I was praying on the way up here to the radio station today. I'll probably pray on the way home, right? We can pray praying for safety, for one thing, all those crazies on the road. Anyway, we can pray prayer helps others, right?

Two ways to do that. Pray for others, pray with others, public prayers, private prayers. Praying can help calm us down in this chaotic world, right? Prayer can bring about change. Ever heard the expression, prayer changes things? Well, sometimes the things that change are the circumstances while other times we change. How important is prayer to you? I'd love to hear from you, 866-348-7884, 866-348-7884.

And one more trivia, I got another eight by 10 sitting over here next to me. Besides being priests, speaking of priests, besides being priests, what separated the Levites from the other 12 tribes? Besides being priests, what separated Levites from the other 12 tribes?

Here's your choices. They could not speak directly to the other tribes. They could not marry outside their tribe. They did not receive a share of the land. They did not need to offer sacrifices. What separated Levites from the other 12 tribes or the other tribes besides being priests? They could not speak directly to the other tribes. They could not marry outside their tribe.

They did not receive a share of the land. They did not need to offer sacrifices, 866-348-7884. I want to hear your thoughts on prayer. Prayer brings about changes. Prayer helps us to find direction in life. Have you found that to be true?

I sure have. Man, it can prevent us from making wrong decisions. It can help us receive forgiveness and love. And there's all different types of prayers, right? Prayer for healing, prayers for family, prayers for strength, prayers for protection.

I just said, I'm going to get my card. I'm going to pray for protection and get me home safe. And then there's the Lord's Prayer. How familiar are you with the Lord's Prayer? Is prayer important to you?

I want to hear from you, 866-348-7884. How about the Lord's Prayer? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us as they are daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Finally is the King, the power of the kingdom, and I lost my train of thought there at the end. But you get it, right? You know it probably better than I know it, but the Lord's Prayer.

And how important is prayer to you, 866-348-7884. And we're going to talk about fasting when we come back as well. Who knows the answer to this trivia question, besides being priests, what separated the Levites from the other tribes? They could not speak directly to the other tribes. They could not marry outside their tribe.

They did not receive a share of the land. They did not need to offer other sacrifices. When you read Ephesians, chapter 6, starting verse 10, and you go through 10 through 18, what you're going to find is, that's our armor, right? Like I'm looking at my Bible here, and that's our armor, and it lists all the armor, right? Helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, stand and have girded your waist with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, taking the shield of faith, which quench all the fiery darts. But verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, praying always.

You think prayer's important? Come on, when we come back, let's talk about fasting when we come back. Something less familiar with, but let's talk about it, okay? Truth Talk Live. See you in a minute.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. All right, welcome back. You know this trivia question is a little bit more difficult than some of the others, besides being priests, what separated the Levites from the other tribes? I'm going to go over and give you this answer, because I want to give away another eight by 10. Come on. It's Deuteronomy 18.1.

They did not receive a share of the land. So all right, maybe this one will be a little bit easier. Want to give one more eight by 10 away? What does the proverb suggest you should do to calm an angry man? What does the proverb suggest you should do to calm an angry man? All right, here's your choices.

Give him a gift in secret, listen to his counsel, publicly apologize, or give him an ox. 866-348-7884 is where you want to call into and give me the answer. In just a moment, we're going to go to Mike up in Dayton, Ohio and talk about prayer, but let me first say this, because, excuse me, talk about fasting, because you may not be all that familiar with fasting, and I can tell you this, man, when the Lord first called me to fast quite a few years ago, you know, I loved to eat back in those wrestling days, right? I mean, I'm talking, no exaggeration, five to 10,000 calories a day to maintain that 285-pound frame, right? And I was like, Lord, do I have to fast food? Can I fast like TV or something?

You know, right? And he's like, no food. Fasting is intentionally abstaining from most times food, but it can be a lot of other things. You just seek the Lord, see how he would want you to fast and what he would want you to fast from, but it's intentionally abstaining for spiritual purposes, typically, and is humbling for your soul. Fasting brings you into a deeper, more intimate and powerful relationship with the Lord. Fasting is an act of humility before God to seek his divine intervention in the events of our physical world in which we live. It brings revelation by the Holy Spirit of our true spiritual condition and can lead to brokenness, repentance, and change. Fasting transforms prayer, we just talked about, into a richer, more personal experience and can draw you and I closer to God.

Let's go up to Mike in Dayton, Ohio. Mike, welcome to Truth Talk. How important is fasting to you, Mike? It's important. It makes you humble, like you just said.

That was well said, what you just said. And then also, if people Google some health benefits from fasting, there's eight or nine health benefits from fasting. It lowers blood sugar. I mean, there's a lot of things, the results of fasting, that help your health. Yeah.

It's amazing. Yeah, right. No, good point. And, you know, a lot of times we center it on, you know, when we think about what Jesus said in Matthew chapter six, and when you fast, you know, especially Christ followers, right, are going to fast mainly for spiritual reasons. However, to your point, yeah, there's a lot of physical benefits to fasting as well, you know, and as you said, you know, a whole series of benefits, you know, for one, give your digestive system a break, right, Mike?

Yes, sir. From all that eating, right? We eat all the time.

We eat, eat, eat, eat, eat. Yeah, you can give that digestive system a break, and so there certainly are- It cleans you. Yeah.

Yeah. It cleans your body. Cleans your body, toxins, poisons, right, all kinds of things it can flush out, right?

Yes, sir. And then also it makes you more spiritual to God, you know, I need to do it again. You know, it's a humbling experience, like you said, and the prayer and getting into God's word and fasting, those all three things need to be tied together, and then people need to get closer to God so they can humble themselves to be a witness for God. It makes you draw towards God and it makes you not worry about what other people think because you are in relationship with God and you're understanding what God wants you to do, and you're willing to do it, you know what I mean, because you're listening, you know what I mean?

Yep, and I found this to be true too, again, just to tag on to your point you're bringing, is when I'm fasting, and by the way, for the record, I fast as much as I eat, meaning it's as much a part of my life as eating is a part of my life, so I call it living a fasted lifestyle. And I seek the Lord on how to do that, when to do that, and all of that, which all of you out there in Listening Land should do as well. But I found this to be true, Mike, and we got another caller, Willie, from North Carolina here in a moment, but I found this to be true, that when I'm fasting and denying this flesh physical food, man, it makes my spirit, man, it just makes my heart so much more sensitive, one, to the voice of God and to the Holy Spirit, but secondly, to the word of God.

And so you bring up some great points, Mike. Dayton, Ohio, I appreciate you calling in today. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

All right, all right, we're gonna go to Willie over in North Carolina. Willie, welcome to Truth Talk, and you have a comment on the importance of prayer? Yeah.

Well, the Bible says the effectual prayer of prayer of the righteous man availeth much in the book of James. Come on. Oh. Huh. Come on. Keep going.

Yeah. Well, heaven therefore, brother bones, enter into the holy by the blood of Jesus by a new living way which is consecrated forth through the veil that is to say his flesh, as in Hebrews 10, 19, Romans chapter 8, verse 26 and 7, for we know not what to pray for of the earth, but the spirit make of intersection forth with groans and earth, which the spirit make, you know, make the intersection forth, be the search of the heart and of the mind of the spirit, for the spirit is the search of all things, yet the deep things of God. Willie. Are you talking about faith? Willie, if I didn't … Willie, Willie, Willie, Willie, if I didn't know better, it sounds like you have a few scriptures memorized there. Well, they call me a walking Bible. Well, amen. That is amazing. For our listeners out there, you are a living, breathing example of the importance of reading the Word, studying the Word, memorizing the Word, and then prayer and fasting ties in like we just heard from our last caller, right, that how all three of those work together, right? Yeah.

Well, no. Then, the just shall live by faith in Romans 1, 17, also in the back of 2, 4, that's right, also in the book of Galatians, just shall live by faith. Also in the book of Hebrews, the just shall live by faith. Three times it's written, the just shall live by faith in the New Testament.

Well, Willie, I appreciate you calling in today and encouraging us with your Bible memorization and the importance of knowing the Word, and I'm going to see if I can't get a winner, Willie, for this last trivia question, okay? So I appreciate you calling in today. Well, when you give out this number, slow down on it.

It's just a double time to get that number down. All right. I will slow down and try to repeat it. Thank you, Willie. Thank you.

I'm nearly 80 years old. Well, God bless you, Willie. Thank you for listening to Truth Talk.

I appreciate you. Well, God bless you. Are you a Jew or a Gentile? I'm a Jesus follower. I'm a lover of Jesus.

That's what I am. Thanks, Willie. All right. So to Willie's point, 866-348-7884, I want you to call in. Come on.

I want to give this last 8 by 10 away. What does the proverb suggest you should do to calm an angry man down? Now, no angry men out there, is there? No. Nowhere. Come on. Let me know. So here's your choices.

Give him an ox, publicly apologize, listen to his counsel, or give him a gift in secret. What's the answer? Come on.

866-348-7884. Thank you, Willie, for bringing home that point of slowing it down. We only got a couple of minutes left, so I'm hoping to give this 8 by 10 away, and I hope you take into consideration some of the things that have been said today as you've dialed into Truth Talk live, and your host, Nikita Koloff, and that is the significance, the importance of really, I love what the other caller said about how all three of those tie together, right? From reading the Word of God, studying, memorizing, writing in notes in the margins, right?

Be old school. Have that Bible. Carry it with you when you go to church, when you go to Bible study, carry it with you. If you don't have much of a prayer life, okay, no shame, no foul here.

Just make a commitment, a decision to develop your prayer life, and begin to consider, Jesus said, and when you pray in Matthew chapter 6, he didn't say if you pray. It's almost like, I don't know, it's almost like he assumed if you're gonna be my disciple, if you're gonna be a Jesus follower, you're gonna pray, and you're gonna fast. And again, as we discussed, there's certainly spiritual benefits to fasting. Like I said, when the Lord first called me to fast, man, I began to develop that as a lifestyle. You know, it can be difficult if you've never done that before, maybe you don't know a whole lot about that, then go research all the different types of fasts. I remember one year, the Lord called me to a 40-day Daniel fast. He said, hey, starting January 1, I was in the prayer room, in the prayer room on New Year's Eve, and just seeking God's guidance for that following year, and one of the instructions he gave me was, I want you to do a 40-day Daniel fast starting tomorrow, January 1. And so those first 40 days, I did that Daniel fast, and I just gotta tell you, it was amazing looking back. It was amazing. And so I hope, I hope you'll consider, if you're lacking in one or more of these areas, Bible reading, prayer, and fasting, that you'll study it, learn more about it, and implement it into your life and into your lifestyle. Thanks for tuning in, God bless you, have a wonderful day.