Bible, Bros & Brew
Bible, Bros, & Brew is about helping others practically walk out their relationship with God. Hosts David and Phil do just that by “chopping up the word,” bringing scripture to life, and making it applicable to daily life. They do all of this while sharing their favorite “brews”—no, not booze, just a solid selection of good old-fashioned coffees and teas.
Bible, Bros & Brew
Dismantling Mental Strongholds: Biblical Wisdom for Transformative Thinking
Ever wondered why some thoughts seem impossible to shake off? Ryan Holdeman joins us as we tackle the intriguing concept of mental strongholds and their profound impact on our lives. We start with some light-hearted coffee talk—Phillip brings his Nicaragua brew, Ryan goes for Blind Dog Coffee's Black Nevada, John surprises us with a pumpkin spice flavor in August, and David brings Donut Shops Nutty Caramel to the table. But the real meat of the conversation lies in exploring how entrenched negative thinking can be dismantled through biblical wisdom.
Our discussion dives deep into the spiritual battleground of the mind, drawing insights from Philippians 4 and 2 Corinthians 10. You'll hear how accumulated experiences and societal influences can create formidable mental barriers that affect everything from self-perception to marital relationships. We emphasize the necessity of divine intervention to break these strongholds and align our thoughts with scripture, highlighting how capturing and cultivating pure and praiseworthy thoughts can lead to transformative change.
To wrap things up, we focus on the practical side of overcoming these mental and spiritual strongholds. With references to Hebrews 4:12 and Galatians 5, we explore how God's Word can physically rewire our brains and foster spiritual growth. The episode concludes with an empowering message about extending grace to oneself and using scripture as a daily weapon against temptation and doubt. Tune in for practical advice and encouragement to make scripture an integral part of your daily life.
gotbrew@biblebros.net
Hey everybody and welcome to Bible Bros and Brew. I'm here with my boys, even though we are equal opportunity brewers. I've got here with me, Phillip. Of course, I've got Ryan here, and hiding over in the corner, as always, is John, our illustrious producer. So on today's episode, we're going to talk about strongholds. Over the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about our mind, how we think and the things that are impacting our thinking, and what to think and what not to think. Now we want to talk about something well that's deeply rooted in our thought line that can hinder our lives if we don't deal with it. Up next, on Bible Bros and Brew, we are so glad that you've joined us. We're excited, so we're going to jump right into this conversation in just a moment. First of all, I've got to find out what everybody's drinking tonight as we have this conversation. Phillip, what's in the cup?
Speaker 2:Well, just to clarify for those who may be new to the podcast, when we refer to the word brew, we're not referring to anything that contains alcohol. We are mainly coffee and tea Hall. We are mainly coffee and tea brewers here at Bible Bros and Brews. So just for clarification purposes, I wanted to point that out off the bat. But in terms of my own personal brew tonight, peregrine has debuted a new coffee called Nicaragua Ginoteca or Hinoteca, however you would say it.
Speaker 1:I was about to say you know, you don't know. Nobody named no Ginoteca.
Speaker 2:Ginoteca dude sounds like a.
Speaker 1:You tried to pronounce it like they were cousins, right.
Speaker 2:It's like a mid-tier DJ that does EDM, you know Gino Tega, but anyway, my focus is totally gone. But on the bag the notes are with cocoa nibs, cinnamon, apple and sparkling grape juice. Oh, Nice. Yes, sir. I'm trying to think through cocoa nibs and sparkling grape juice just know that when it all comes together, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Shall we say so?
Speaker 1:ladies and gentlemen, it's joy in your mouth, ryan what are you drinking?
Speaker 3:oh man, I'm drinking a it's called. Blind Dog Coffee. It's roasted right here locally in northern Nevada.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this one is a 70% cocoa, molasses, roasted almonds, malty and that's called Black Nevada. It's their dark roast and I really like it and I'm drinking it in my American Buckingham's Peterbilt drink.
Speaker 2:Dude, that mug is goaded already. Dude, I love it. So good stuff. Man Love that.
Speaker 1:Phillip, you didn't share your cup with us. What are you drinking from?
Speaker 2:A beautiful gift from my wife, the Charlie Brown mug. Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:I was really doing it for you. Right now it's in season, isn't it?
Speaker 2:It's in season, dude. It's my deal, man Plus, since we're moving, she only left me this mug to work with. That's kind of how it works. John, how about?
Speaker 1:you buddy yeah.
Speaker 3:Speaking of season as basic as basic can be. I'm drinking pumpkin spice coffee in the early morning.
Speaker 1:I can't believe you're drinking pumpkin spice.
Speaker 3:I cannot believe it.
Speaker 1:I can't believe you're drinking pumpkin spice. I cannot believe it. I can't believe it.
Speaker 3:I saw the mug and the mug inspired the coffee. Well, it just, it just had to match. I can't believe regular coffee and a pumpkin Mickey Mouse Right.
Speaker 1:I am standing in such judgment of you right now. It's August, dude. It's August, exactly.
Speaker 3:It's almost September. It might as well be Christmas.
Speaker 1:All you have to do is wait one more week, and then you had been in the clear. But no, I would agree.
Speaker 3:Right, it's like listening to Christmas music before. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Oh gosh, why not have that conversation?
Speaker 3:This is why I'm behind the scenes. I'm not a summer fan, so I'm trying to get out of summer as quick as possible.
Speaker 2:So I have to bring out the confidence we forgive you, but we judge you.
Speaker 1:that's the new age Christian thing to do forgive you, but judge you. Alright, tonight I am drinking one of my favorites from the donut shop. I am drinking a cup of nutty caramel. Nice, great taste of nuts and caramel in this particular mix. I'm not ashamed of my gnome cup. Oh, cool If I can get it out of the. There you go you are my one and only.
Speaker 3:Oh gosh. My wife bought it for me and I'm not supposed to be publicly shared.
Speaker 1:Nonetheless, it's happened. So, yeah, we'll link all of these coffees for you somewhere in the show notes or comments or somewhere, so that you too can enjoy one of these cups if you'd like, and also take a moment and let us know what you're drinking as you're listening to the episode. You're a coffee nerd, so we'd love to have a reason to go buy some more coffee.
Speaker 2:So thanks for sharing with us.
Speaker 1:All right, guys, let's get into what we want to talk about for tonight. We've been on this. Now this is our kind of third week talking about this, and we started this conversation. We started in Philippians, chapter four, and we started talking about how the Bible says whatsoever, things are good and pure and perfect, lovely, just true, honest, a good report. If there be any virtue, there be any praise, think on these things. That's a David McIntyre paraphrase. That's not the official King James retweet of that, but it tells us, the Bible gives us information about what we should be thinking about.
Speaker 1:And then last week we went and we looked at what the Bible tells us we shouldn't be thinking about, or rather what we shouldn't be worried and anxious about. So realize that when it uses the word worried and anxious, it's talking about what happens in our thought life, our thinking. To worry is to negatively meditate on something. To be anxious is to be almost in a fear, if you would, about the possibility of the thing that you are meditating on coming to pass. And so we went to Matthew, chapter six, and we see that Jesus instructs the disciples that they're not to worry about what they're going to eat, what they're going to drink, what they're going to wear, how they'll live, because our Father in heaven knows that we have need of those things, but rather we're to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the things you're anxious about, all the things that you're worried about and that you're meditating on in a negative way. These things will be added unto you.
Speaker 1:So we have some clear instruction from the Bible, but now tonight we want to talk about this thing that happens, and that's when we build strongholds, and strongholds are well, you know what. I will first turn it over to. I'm going to turn it over to Ryan for a second, because I think we need to define what a stronghold is, and then we want to place it where it lives in the mind. So, Ryan, tell us a little bit about strongholds, and what they're all about.
Speaker 3:You know a stronghold is. It's a war terminology and if a stronghold is in the middle of the fortress, it's the strongest part of a fortress and typically placed in the center of it so that if an enemy tries to attack, it's the most difficult place to get into. And typically in a stronghold is, you know, if you're in the middle of war, it's where you would keep prisoners of war, because that's your most prized possession, and if you're in conflict and or your armory and your valuables would be kept in the stronghold. And so it's the fortified of the fortified, the innermost part of a military base, which I think is kind of interesting that he's using this term.
Speaker 1:That's good man. Yeah, that's really good Phillip. What are you thinking when you hear this term stronghold?
Speaker 2:old. Initially, what should people be thinking about? What a stronghold is? Well, man, first of all.
Speaker 2:Ryan, that definition is awesome because it really kind of opened my eyes to some stuff, even in terms of the spiritual connection to what that means. It is that part a lot of times in terms of stronghold. Biblically speaking, this is right up that alley Because, like in 2 Corinthians 10, I may be jumping the gun a little bit, but in 2 Corinthians 10, it talks about how the weapons of our warfare are not physical, but they are spiritual weapons that are mighty through God. Oh, there it is. In verse 4, we use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. Obey Christ.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that I think helped me tremendously with learning about strongholds was understanding that it's something that's built over time and it very much is a pattern of thinking. And when Ryan mentioned that thing about the stronghold being the place where the most valuable things are kept, the place where it's like the last line of defense, it's also the toughest place to penetrate and overtake. That's exactly how it works with the thought patterns that we have. It's like we grow up and we have these certain experiences and certain things that color how we view life, how we view ourselves, how we view other people, and over time those things start to develop this kind of an entrenched place in your mind. So after a while you're working not based on even things that are actually readily apparent. You're working on things that you have built as assumptions in your mind. You're coming from those places like all men are dogs. You know all women are gold diggers. You know different things like that that over time you don't even realize.
Speaker 2:What you've done is. You've taken the accumulated experiences that you've had and possibly things you've heard other people say, things you've seen on social media, all kinds of stuff like that and it's formed this, this fortress. You know in your mind about here's what I think about this topic or this thing or this person, and this is all I'm going to think about them, you know. Or even here's what I think about myself. You know, and this is all I'm ever going to accept about myself and this is all I'm ever going to accept about myself.
Speaker 2:So when it comes time for, you know, when God starts working on you, you know you get saved and he starts, you know, kind of peeling back the layers of the onion in your life and after a while he finally gets to those places deep in your mind where he's trying to help you get free from some things. Get free from some things. Sometimes it's difficult because we're so used to thinking the way we have, you know, established it in our stronghold that sometimes we don't want to yield those thoughts to what God's word says.
Speaker 2:And that's the hardest part man is to finally, you know when the word of God begins to confront those patterns of thinking you've had for years or even decades. In some cases it's like man it's not comfortable, it doesn't feel good, and sometimes we'll fight it, even though it's good for us to let go of those things. Sometimes we fight it because it's what we're comfortable with, what we're used to, and so to me, that's my idea of strongholds, and it's just this entrenched pattern of thinking that after a while doesn't even go challenged, you know.
Speaker 1:So anyway, I've said enough, david. Back to you, sir, you know I've got some friends who and I, of course, have done some myself. But when it comes to counseling, you know we talk about life controlling issues and and I forget the word but life controlling beliefs, and a lot of these are formed, they're really. You know, it's like, even in counseling with Lori and I, when we're working with couples, we talk about the concept of how we build walls between one another, how we say I don't want to allow you to hurt me anymore, so to keep you from hurting me, I'm going to start building this wall, brick by brick, with the intent of keeping you away from me or keep you from hurting me. And really what we're building, we call it a wall that keeps your partner out, but really what it is is we're building a stronghold, because then, when you start believing certain things about your spouse he always, he nevers, he never, she always, she nevers that means that we've come to a place where we've built a certain belief about our spouse in our mind and until we do something to deal with the stronghold that we've built, we will constantly see our spouses through the eyes of our stronghold. Wow, and that's where. That's where we are so many of us, in all kinds of areas in our lives. We allow the enemy to come in through our ears, through our eyes, through our mouth, and we begin believing things that begin to shape how we look at ourselves, how we look at the world, how we look at others, how we look at God, how we see our brothers and sisters in Christ and how we just see different things. And so when we allow that stuff to come in and it comes in in, and it comes in unchecked or unregulated or worse, it comes in with an experience and that experience solidifies that thought in your mind then you start building the bricks around that thing that began to create the stronghold that you never intended to build in the first place.
Speaker 1:And I think it's important for us if we can look back at 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, and if we look, starting at verse 3, it says we are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. It's interesting that the strongholds that we create in our lives we built as humans, but in order to tear them down we're going to have to do something, that we're going to have to wage war against them, but not as humans do, even though we, in our human power and might, built the stronghold, it's going to take more than our, you would think. Well, I built this wall, so why can't I just tear it down? And it's because that's a spiritual wall you build. Nobody told you the kind of bricks you were using.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:Go ahead, ryan, sorry, sorry. I think it's a really powerful thing to realize that you know your thoughts are very powerful Because you know, what you're saying.
Speaker 3:You've built bricks up in a fortress between you and a person that you never intended to, and before you know it, you're like ah how did we get here? And it was because of your thoughts, and our thoughts are so powerful, and I just find it so interesting that in this passage he's using this very aggressive, warlike terminology. I haven't thought this was just listening to you. This was a revelation is that if you're not careful, you'll arrest the wrong thoughts and put them in captivity.
Speaker 1:And you don't even realize you're doing that.
Speaker 3:It's kind of scary. So how do you know which is kind of scary? So how do you know what thoughts are right and how do you take an inventory of what thoughts should go into the stronghold and what thoughts should be let to roam free? And I think the only way you can really know that is this firm foundation of the scripture right.
Speaker 2:And so I didn't think about that until just now, you can unknowingly arrest the wrong thought. Wow, that's good man. You know, david, I just a scripture just popped in my head and yes, john, this was not on any pre-show list, but it's Hebrews, chapter four, verse 12. And I think it's got a perfect application for what we're talking about, especially what Ryan just mentioned, because it's talking about the word of God and how it will begin to start working its way into your thoughts, working its way and dealing with those things that are on the inside. And it says you know, the word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, and it pierces to the dividing of soul and spirit and to the joints and marrow. There it is. It says the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two edged sword cutting between soul and spirit, between alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. So it's amazing, man, when you begin to get into the word and begin to get serious about submitting your life to the word, to God, after a while he's going to start dealing with you about the way you think and about the things that you think, and if those beliefs or those things don't match up with his recommended way, it's going to be something that will become apparent to you.
Speaker 2:You know, I was thinking about James 1 when it says you know the word of God, looking into the word of God is like looking into a mirror, so don't begin to be a doer of it. It's like someone who looks in a mirror and then walks away and forgets how they even look, you know. You know. So this whole activity of dealing with strongholds number one, I think or what, anything and everything that could be a stronghold or a pattern of thinking that you feel is hard to break, you have to have a scripture, you have to have the word of God on that thing to help you deal with that stronghold.
Speaker 2:You know, if you're dealing with lust I know a lot of guys do, I've dealt with it many, many, many you know, to the umpteenth power, many times before A scripture for that Galatians 5, walk in the spirit and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh, you know so, the more you can gather those scriptures together to combat those ideas and thoughts and things that you know don't line up with God's word, then after a while you have something to challenge that stronghold. But, man, if you don't have God's word on it, it's going to stay as entrenched as it ever was, because those things are difficult to break without something supernatural.
Speaker 1:So yeah, you've got to have the word and that's the key to it. Remember it says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty, through God, for pulling down strongholds. So that scripture tells us God has something that pulls down strongholds. That pulls down strongholds. So we need what God has, and you guys are so right when you keep emphasizing over and over again. I'm going to say it too you have to have the word.
Speaker 1:I remember when I remember a point in my life many years ago where I just just so fearful, fear had really gripped my life.
Speaker 1:But that scripture you used, Philip, was one of the weapons of my warfare. God had not given me the spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind, and it was like I was building a new belief with those bricks. And while I was building that new belief with those bricks, and while I was building that new belief with those bricks, there was also a crane or something behind me that was helping me, as I believed what God said, to tear down what I had believed in, the fear that had been there for so long. So God will help you build a new structure and tear down the old one. Yes, so we have to give him the opportunity and remember if you see the next verse, john, will you put up verse 5 of 2 Corinthians 10? Corinthians 10. It says we destroy every proud obstacle that keeps us, that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
Speaker 1:Ryan is so right when he talked the war footing, that this is on and that there's a relentlessness to how scripture sounds and how we are to attack these wayward thoughts that are building these structures, these thoughts in our mind. And I'll just say one other quick thing. You know, even if you've never read, she's got great content. Dr carolyn leaf um, she's got a book out there, uh, called switch on your brain and in the book she talks about the neural pathways and the plasticity of our brain and that when we believe certain things, it impacts the plasticity of our brain. Negative thoughts, bad things that have happened to us that we've meditated on, and all of that impacts our brain and you can see those markers in the brain, wow. But that when you begin to introduce new, healthy thoughts, positive thoughts, you can begin to see new structures build over the top of that and you can see new structures being built in the brain. So it's not just a spiritual thing. That spiritual thing is impacting a very physical aspect of our lives.
Speaker 3:Good stuff.
Speaker 1:So, ryan, where do we, where do we go from here? We've identified the culprit and we know we need the word. What I mean? Does that mean if I read the word tomorrow and I read it for three days, then I'm healed and everything's great?
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, that's a great, great question. I want to point out a very key word that I see here in verse five, and that is the word we. It says we destroy, we destroy. So I think a lot of times in the evangelical church today we have this mindset of well, I just show up to church and sing Kumbaya, then everything's going to get better. And you know, sometimes all you need are the goosebumps, but the goosebumps only last so long before the addiction comes back one day, before the anger comes back, one day, before you know, before I'm fighting with my spouse or whatever on Wednesday.
Speaker 3:So I think it's very important to understand the we I think he's talking about we, and who he's writing to. Like Paul is saying, yeah, I can relate to you, like everybody's involved here, but I also think he's. I would like to believe that he's also talking about we, as in you know us as believers, and God, the father, the Holy spirit, like we are going to, God's not going to do it. He doesn't say you have to destroy it one on your own. He does not saying that. He's saying you're not going to do it on your own.
Speaker 3:And he's also not saying he's not going to do it for you. It's a we. So you have to have some sort of proactive activity in this battle of tearing down these negative thoughts, of tearing down, of destroying the thoughts that are coming between you and God. You have to take some sort of proactivity in, and that is a big part of it. Phil talked about it Getting those scriptures. That's a part of it. That's your ammo.
Speaker 3:Part of it is being proactive and getting around like-minded people. Part of it is saying I used to think that way and I even still believe that that might be true, but it doesn't line up with this. So I'm going to start refusing that. That's the truth, and you have to be proactive in tearing down those barriers, tearing down those strongholds, tearing down what's between you and the truth, the truth, truth, not what you believe to be the truth, but the actual truth.
Speaker 3:So it's not just stand up, sit on the sideline and expect God to do it for you, and it's also not just do it on your own. It's a, it's a we.
Speaker 2:That's good, ryan man, that's good dude. You know it's interesting man. And the Bible like especially the new Testament. Just do a study one time. All the different times the phrase follow after is mentioned and when you look up that phrase in the Greek it means to pursue. So, like the Bible says, you know, follow after righteousness, faithfulness, patience, and follow after love and all these different things, seek peace. It's all there.
Speaker 2:But those verbs are very proactive verbs. It's not anything where you just sit back and let life happen and hopefully it'll work out or whatever it's like. No, you have to pursue these things and make an attempt at least to get those things going. So when we talk about trying to destroy or demolish these strongholds, it is a very, very active, proactive, like Ryan said, activity. And it made me think of what Ryan was talking, know, um, and it made me think of um.
Speaker 2:What ryan was talking about earlier made me think of that movie saving private ryan. I don't know if you guys have seen that movie, but um, the, the opening scene is crazy. It's. It's about the, the d-day, uh storming the beach at normandy and the, the soldiers in world war ii. And as soon as they arrived on the shore. It was like all craziness broke loose. Guys were getting shot, limbs being blown off, and the thought came to me, it's like whether or not they were ready for combat, it met them there.
Speaker 2:It was not even about whether you did all the training you could do. Now you got to get on this boat and you got to head to the shore, you know, and it's like, okay, either you're ready or you're not. And so that's kind of how it is with, I think, our life of faith. A lot of times we don't recognize when we're on the battlefield. You know, this is an active situation here. This is not. You know, you're not, you're not in peacetime, you know. So I think we have to take that mindset. When it comes to demolishing strongholds, you can't be passive about it. You have to recognize these thoughts and these patterns when they try to direct you and govern you and go, wait a minute, I'm not going to think that way, you know God doesn't say that about me, and you have to start using God's word as a way to kind of, like David said, develop those new neural pathways to take you a different route.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good, philip. I think that there's. You know you both are saying something that's not just true for this situation, but that's true for our Christian life. Yeah, about being a Christian, that's right. You always kind of have this. You're always working towards something, you're working on something, you're working towards something and there's movement in this walk. That's why I've never understood people who say you know, the concept of Christianity is boring and it's like, well, I hadn't found that one yet. I hadn't found it at all because there's been too much going on, even when you just uncover the things in your own life that you need to work on, not to mention the things that God calls you to, and then you meet and connect with people and you need to be a part of people's lives and you begin to see how this life is a very active Christian life that needs your attention and your involvement. And you start with this right here. You've got to take those thoughts captive in your mind that are trying to take you captive.
Speaker 2:Yes, and.
Speaker 1:I think Ryan said it the best way. What was it you were saying in the beginning, Ryan? That you got to take care of those thoughts before your thoughts take you to a foreign land. Say that again yeah, you got to take care of those thoughts before your thoughts take you to a foreign land.
Speaker 3:Say that again. Yeah, before we started I was saying that. You know, if you're not careful, your thoughts will come in, and before you know, it.
Speaker 1:They've invaded your mind and carried you off somewhere else that you never intended Right.
Speaker 3:Truth Right.
Speaker 1:You never intend to Right Truth Right, and that's not a good thing, because, even though that place may be exactly where you are in your mind, you see everything differently. That's right, and you see it according to your stronghold. Your stronghold becomes the rose-colored glasses that you're wearing that shape and cause you to see the world. And if you're not careful and don't have your God glasses on, you'll see things in a really twisted way that keep you from having a full life in Christ. Wow, gentlemen, final thoughts on this particular topic Ryan.
Speaker 3:No, I just want to encourage you. You know, um, this is very, very difficult, especially, you know, in today's culture, when we're taught that live your own truth. How do you sort that out, between what I know to be true versus what is actually true, what God says is true, versus my feelings versus what other people are saying? So this takes first. I want to say give yourself a grace, because this battle lasts a lifetime for some people and you'll be victorious, and you'll have battles that you win, that the war lasts a lifetime. So you need to give yourself grace to say, well, I'm not there yet and that's okay. It doesn't mean you're losing or that you've lost. That's right. And so I just want to encourage you.
Speaker 3:I guess the reality of it, what I want to encourage you, is you lose when you surrender to the battle. You surrender to the battle. You surrender to say I'm not going to give up, I'm not going to go to church anymore, the Bible is not really relevant. That's when you surrender. And so don't surrender, don't give up, keep fighting every day, keep sorting out the truth, keep reading the scripture and studying it for yourself. And you know what 1 John says test every spirit, keep testing the spirits and keep getting around people. That will encourage and sharpen you Very good, good stuff.
Speaker 2:How about you, phillip? I would say ditto to everything Ryan said, really, because that was good, but just lock into the Word on whatever you might be dealing with, whatever the situation is that's probably bothering you, plaguing you the most. Find scriptures on that thing. Get into your concordance. If you don't have one of those, get a Bible concordance. There's plenty of them online. Start looking up scriptures about whatever it is you're dealing with and use those things.
Speaker 2:Recognize that that's actually your, your war chest, that's your toolbox, your war chest, your armory that you can use. Because when you think about in matthew 4, I think it was was when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he didn't respond with you know, he didn't cuss Satan out or whatever. He only used the Word of God, the written Word of God, not just something that came to Him in the booming voice. He used what was already written to cut the devil up. You know six ways to Sunday. So just keep that in mind the written word of God. What's in that Bible? That's going to be your weapon, man, so go at it, that's good, that's good.
Speaker 1:Well, if I've got a final word for you, it's do exactly what these guys have said.
Speaker 1:And just remember you can, even if you don't let's say you don't have a Bible or have immediate access to a concordance, but want to get started right now.
Speaker 1:Google the scripture.
Speaker 1:You can go and Google and literally type in scriptures on anxiety, scriptures on fear, scriptures about X or Y or Z, and lots of times you'll get something from somewhere like Bible Hub or Blue Letter Bible or Red Letter Bible or you know.
Speaker 1:But take the opportunity to go and start digging for yourself and pull out verses that will help you. And then what you want to do is you don't want to just read them once, you want to make it a part of your daily reading. So let's say you read it just like you eat, once in the morning, once in the noonday and then once in the evening, and then once again before you go to bed. You know, if you want to be really greedy, read it when you wake up, read it when you eat breakfast, read it at lunch, read it at dinner and read it when you go to bed and then meditate on what it is you've read, consider what does that mean, look words up in those sentences, make sure you get it. If you're not sure about something and you have a friend you can talk to, ask them to help you understand. But go ahead and start doing the work and it's going to lead to a transformed life for you Awesome.
Speaker 1:Phillip or Ryan. I'm actually to ask you to do it this time, if you would. We know people are out there and they're struggling with these strongholds. Yeah, let's pray for them, and let's pray for them to get a breakthrough in this area and for God to do what he wants to do.
Speaker 3:Heavenly Father, we just thank you, god, for conquering all of our sin, all of our hurts and brokenness and addictions on the cross addictions on the cross. And we thank you, god, that the final thing you said is it's finished, that the payment for the war and the battle and the struggle and the surrendering to our own selfish desires, the cost of all that has already been paid for in full. And now we just need to take a step of faith onto the battlefield and say, well, maybe I was wrong in my thinking, maybe I was wrong to give way to the addiction and to my selfish desires and step onto the battlefield and begin to tear those things down. And so, god, I just pray for those that are struggling with addiction. The same thing over and over again with addiction, the same thing over and over again being left after succumbing to it, being left feeling hopeless and guilty and shame. I pray, god, that they would be victorious this week. They would be victorious in the next week. They would become victorious in every week for the rest of their lives.
Speaker 3:In the name of Jesus, I pray for those that are struggling with doubt, believing in you, believing in their Savior Jesus. God, pray for those that are struggling with doubt, believing in me, believing in their Savior, jesus, god, I pray that they would become victorious and have the revelation of the truth, a revelation of their Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus, I pray for those that are dealing with anger. I pray that those strongholds about their own insecurities, their own doubt, their own self-worth. In the name of Jesus, I pray that the revelation would be that you bankrupt heaven for them and you sent your son, jesus, to die for them and as them, because you love them that much, god, I pray.
Speaker 3:I pray for those that are just dealing with knowing between right and wrong, good and evil. What's what I pray, god? That, as the author of the scriptures, the author of truth, that, in the name of Jesus, that that would be sorted out and they would be given the gift of discernment in the name of Jesus. And so, god, we thank you for these victories and we thank you that we're victorious in all these things, in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen, thanks, ryan. Well, that's it for us. Thanks for hanging out with us tonight. We're glad you joined us for this episode of Bible Bros and Bros. We hope you enjoyed it and we hope that you also were just a little bit or a lot of it inspired. Don't forget to connect with us on social media. You can find us on Instagram, youtube, facebook and probably some other place that we don't even know about. We're there, just look for us. Also, if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe and like the podcast wherever you're listening to it or watching it, so that you never miss an episode. And, of course, if you've got questions or you have something you want us to dive into, us dive into, shoot us an email at gotbrew at biblebrosnet. We'd love to chat with you. Until next time, keep the faith strong and coffee hot.
