June 20, 2025 • 43 mins
What if the reason you feel stuck isn’t because God isn’t speaking—
but because you’ve stopped listening?
In this deeply intimate episode of Rooted & Recovered, Dan and Justin unpack Step Eleven of the 12-Step journey:
“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”
This is where recovery shifts from reaction to relationship.
From panic prayers to daily presence.
From just knowing about God to truly knowing His voice.
Step Eleven is not about performance—it’s about posture.
Because you can’t follow a God you never sit still enough to hear.
Key Highlights:
- Why prayer is your fuel, not your fire extinguisher
- How to recognize God's whisper in a world full of noise
- What the story of young Samuel teaches us about positioning ourselves to listen (1 Samuel 3)
- Why silence isn't absence—it's a sacred space for revelation
- How intimacy with God transforms recovery from survival to strength
- What it means to stop striving and start soaking
Scriptures Covered:
1 Samuel 3:1–10 • Psalm 46:10 • Luke 5:16 • John 10:27 • Mark 1:35 • Psalm 37:4 • Romans 12:2
Final Truth:
You’ll never follow God’s will if you never pause long enough to hear it.
Step Eleven isn’t about getting all the answers—it’s about getting close to the One who already has them.
Because when prayer stops being your emergency backup and becomes your daily bread,
you stop panicking…
and start walking in peace.
Don’t just know about God—know Him personally.
He’s not waiting for your perfection.
He’s waiting for your attention.
Stay rooted. Stay recovered. And let’s get to work.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This world doesn't hand outhealing.
It offers quick fixes, cheaphighes and empty promises, but
real recovery.
It takes roots.
Roots that dig deep into truth,into identity, into the
unshakeable grace of God.
We're not here to sugarcoat thestruggle.
(00:22):
We've lived it.
Addiction, shame, relapse,regret, but we've also seen
resurrection.
We've seen what happened.
Happens when broken people getanchored in something real
rooted and recovered is morethan a podcast.
It's a battleground for thesoul.
A place where scars tellstories, where scripture speaks
(00:43):
louder than shame, where freedomisn't just a word.
It's a war we win daily.
So if you're tired of surfacelevel answers, if you want truth
that convicts, hope that heals,and conversations that cut
through the noise, you're in theright place.
Welcome to Rooted and Recovered.
Dan (01:08):
Welcome to another episode of Rooted and Recovered.
I am Dan, as always in thestudio with me.
Justin, how are you doing today,brother?
Justin (01:20):
Blessed and highly favored.
That's I still, man.
I, I don't think you guysunderstand.
We sit here and I can just feelGod moving.
I get goosebumps.
When I'm doing this because man,I know the Holy Spirit's here.
I know he is with us, and I'mjust thankful to let him have
his way in this time.
Dan,
Dan (01:41):
amen and amen.
I wanna start the podcast outtoday with a statement, Justin.
Don't just know about God, knowhim personally.
Today's episode is calledLearning to Listen, and guys, we
(02:01):
are in step 11.
We are moving right alongthrough this, and it's been
quick, so I encourage you to goback, listen to these podcasts,
go to your favorite podcastplatform and just listen to
these.
But don't just listen to'em.
Share'em.
(02:21):
Share'em to those that you thinkmight need this.
Step 11, Justin tells us, soughtthrough prayer and meditation to
improve our conscious contactwith God, praying only for
knowledge of his will for us,and the power to carry that out.
(02:45):
You see, this step doesn't say,you know, pray once in a while
when things get bad.
Justin.
It says, sought through prayerand meditation to improve our
conscious contact with God.
Guys, this is so, this is aboutmore than belief.
(03:09):
It's about more than, thanchurch attendance.
It's so much more than thanquoting scripture when, when
life is hard.
Guys, this is about a dailypursuit.
It's about turning your recoveryinto a relationship, you see,
(03:31):
because religion can introduceyou to God, but relationship
Justin keeps you close.
Justin (03:45):
You can't follow a God you don't talk to.
This is not, look, I, it's morethan church attendance.
Like Dan said, it's so manypeople equate their relationship
with God on how many timesthey've gone to church.
Well, look, if all I ever didwas counted the times I sat down
(04:05):
to dinner with my wife as ourrelationship, I'd think I'd be
doing pretty good because Idon't miss a meal.
But it's more than that.
Look.
It's not about checking somereligious box.
It's about cultivating thatrelationship that Dan was just
talking about.
We don't follow God by accident.
(04:27):
When Jesus looked at Matthew andsaid, follow me, Matthew didn't
get up and say, well, I don'tknow where I'm going.
No.
Jesus showed him the way to go,and it's the same for us.
We don't follow him by accident,but we have to follow him by
intention.
Dan (04:42):
Here you go.
Justin (04:43):
Matthew had to get up and follow, and you have to as
well.
You can't follow a God.
You don't talk to.
How are you gonna know what hewants you to do if you're not
even willing to sit and listento him tell you how to do it?
And more importantly.
You can't follow a God or have arelationship with somebody that
(05:05):
you don't stop and take time tolisten to me.
And my wife's relationship wouldbe nothing if I didn't actually
sit down and talk.
Right?
And it's no different than withGod.
And that's what this step is.
It invites us to slow down and
Dan (05:23):
tune in.
Well, and that's the thing,Justin, you know when you start
talking about relationship.
You, you can't and you won'tfamily take this from me.
You can't survive spiritualwarfare with casual Sunday.
Wednesday.
Church faith.
(05:44):
You need to know the voice ofthe one leading you, and they
shall know my voice.
See, that voice gets clearerwhen you stop trying to fix
everything.
You start spending time with thefixer.
I don't even know if that's aword or not.
(06:04):
Sounds good.
Sounds real good.
Think about it.
How much of your day is spentfeeding your fear?
How much is how?
And you know, look at this.
How much of our time, Justin, doI spend investing in feeding
(06:24):
that fear?
But on the flip side.
How much time is spent feelingmy faith?
See, we binge on the news.
We, we scroll on social media,we, we vent to friends.
But when was the last time youset in silence and just said,
(06:46):
God, I'm here.
Speak lead, change me.
Guys prayer.
It's, it's not just aboutpresenting a wishlist, a, a
Christmas list.
Amen to God.
Prayer is about positioning yourheart.
(07:07):
Me.
Meditation isn't emptying yourmind, it's filling it with
truth.
It's marinating in scripture.
Justin (07:17):
Yes.
Dan (07:18):
It's marinating in just his presence and just soaking and
marinating.
I love that word.
I think of a good old, just agood steak or something, man.
I'm talking a high dollar steakthat you don't throw cheap
seasonings on, man, like youmarinate this big chunk of meat
that you are about to throw.
(07:39):
It's marinating in scripture andin prayer, and in his presence
until the noise fades.
His voice becomes the loudestthing in that room.
Justin (07:51):
I love what you said.
This is not about spiritual busywork.
Look, Satan wants to keep youbusy.
Look, so many times we think,oh, I'm doing ministry.
I'm doing the right thing.
But if you're not spending timeat the feet of Jesus, look at
Mary and Martha Prime example.
Lord.
Tell them, tell.
Tell her she needs to come help.
Jesus says she's got it figuredout though.
(08:14):
That's what this is about.
It's not about the spiritualbusy work.
This is a way to walk in stepwith the one who knows the way
forward.
I love what Dan said.
How many times do we get on ourknees and say, God, I need this,
this, this, this happened, thishappened, this, how happened?
And then get up and walk away.
There's an episode of EverybodyLoves Raymond.
(08:35):
At the end of it, the mom's inthe chapel and she's, she's
talking the they.
She was talking to the creator.
This guy walks up and he says,who are you talking to?
He says, well, I'm talking toGod.
Dan (08:49):
He says,
Justin (08:50):
well, why are you the one doing all the talking?
We like to do all the talking.
Look, David, everybody.
Look, if you, if you don't knowthe Bible, you might think
Psalms, oh, it's a book of joy.
It's, it is.
But if you look at what thosePsalmist talks about.
(09:10):
They got real with God.
Mm-hmm.
But if you look, I love itbecause they always present the
problems and then if you lookwhat happens, they start writing
about, but your word says, butyou promised me this.
That's what meditation is.
It's not me sitting down goingOhm and trying to get everything
outta my mind.
It's me letting the things thatcome to my mind go to God.
Dan (09:29):
Right,
Justin (09:29):
and letting him answer back with truth.
Like Dan said, it's marinatingin that truth.
It's taking that stake andletting that salt that we're
called to be rub in and sittingin that fridge overnight.
That's what this step is about.
It's about us slowing down andletting God be God.
(09:51):
Prayer, like Dan said earlier,is not meant to be a spare tire.
It's meant to be the steeringwheel.
Dan (09:57):
Amen.
Justin (09:57):
And this is us making sure God's in the driver's seat.
Dan (10:00):
Amen.
Justin.
This is what separates recoveryfrom that's just barely hanging
on dude to recovery.
That's walking in purpose
Justin (10:13):
rooted
Dan (10:15):
because prayer guys is where the war is won before the
battle even begins.
Amen.
Guys, we weren't made, Justin,you and I, listener, you and I
were not made to run on fumes.
Justin (10:34):
Hmm.
Dan (10:34):
You see there's a difference between doing
something outta routine anddoing it outta relationship.
Let's be honest, how many timeshave we prayed with our mouths
moving, flapping our gums?
Justin?
But our hearts were a millionmiles away from him.
(10:57):
Prayer without presence, guys,it just becomes performance at
that point.
We say the right words, we hitall the points, but we walk away
unchanged because we never trulyshowed up,
Justin (11:16):
and that's the problem.
We don't show up.
I love what you said.
We wonder why our prayers arebouncing off the ceilings and
Yeah.
We might be, we might even be onour knees with our hands and our
arms.
Obe, I going, God hither tothis, I need this.
I don't need, but our hearts,the posture of our hearts isn't
in it.
(11:37):
And our mind's a million milesaway.
Instead of actually bringing ourproblems to God, we're focusing
on our problems in the middle ofprayer and not saying, God, can
you help me?
We're just saying, God, I need,I need, I need, and not actually
letting him Speak to it.
God sings over you and he speaksto you.
(11:57):
He speaks life and joy andcomfort and peace, but yet we're
too busy, like Dan said earlier,feeding the fear instead of
fueling our faith.
And that's what this is.
This is us letting, it's usstopping at the gas pump and
letting God kick a quick 20 in.
Dan (12:16):
And that's the thing, man.
You know, we get so wrapped upguys, and we're not.
I'm not here condemning you.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not here pointing fingers atyou.
'cause guess what?
There's three of them pointingback at me.
Guys.
I have been in this situation.
I've let the, just the bills andfamily and my mistakes, Ooh,
(12:38):
bro, that argument I had with myspouse yesterday weigh on me in
my prayer time, in my meditationtime with God.
And what ends up happening isall I end up doing is I'm no
longer connected.
I'm just killing time.
this step right here, guys, thisisn't about checking some
(13:01):
spiritual box.
It's about deepening yourhunger.
When you look at Luke 15:16, itsays that Jesus often withdrew.
To lonely places and prayed.
Jesus guys, the sinless son ofGod, still made space to break
(13:25):
away.
He didn't need forgiveness,Justin, he needed the father, He
didn't wait until he was empty.
He didn't wait till he wasrunning on fumes.
He didn't wait till he wasfeeling burnout and compassion
fatigue and just literally wipedout.
He filled up constantly.
(13:48):
So let me ask you this.
When was the last time you gotalone?
Not to get something from God,but just to be with him?
Not because life was fallingapart, not because you needed
direction, but because your soulwas hungry.
Guys, this is where realrecovery matures.
(14:11):
This is where religion fades andrelationship grows.
When your prayer stops beingsomething you do, it becomes a
place where you come alive.
Because let's be real.
If you only eat when you'restarving, you'll live in cycles
of spiritual malnourishment.
(14:34):
But when prayer becomes yourdaily bread, not just your
emergency meal, that's when youstart to walk in strength, not
survival.
And the more that you and Ipursue God's voice, the less
power.
(14:54):
The noise of the world has overyou.
Fear loses its grip, temptationloses its shine, and everything
in you begins to align with theone you've been made to follow.
Guys, the more you pursue God'svoice, the less you'll be shaken
(15:17):
by the noise.
Justin (15:19):
If Jesus.
The son of God, God in theflesh, needed to unplug from
that noise.
If he needed to unplug andwithdraw and connect with the
father, how much more should youand I desire to do the same,
that that's the thing.
Jesus didn't come and livedthese things just so we
(15:40):
couldn't.
He came and lived as an example,mark and Mark, it says the same
thing.
He withdrew in the morning awayfrom everybody.
Jesus.
It wasn't just a one time thing.
Jesus just, oh, hey God, I'mhere for a sec.
He withdrew daily to go be withGod.
Shouldn't we desire to do thesame?
(16:01):
Look for Jesus?
It wasn't a habit.
It was that hunger that Dan wastalking about, right.
It was a craving for alignmentwith God's heart.
And that's what this is, usfilling that craving.
Look, so many of us, look,before I came to God and my
addiction, I need, I, I felt avoid the opposite of addiction.
(16:22):
Johann Hari great Ted talk.
The opposite of addiction isconnection.
This is a connection we need.
This is us actually beingconnected.
Step 11 is us not praying out ofroutine.
Some checklist, some devotionalthat I, I gotta give 15 minutes
to God of prayer today.
And then, oh, check.
(16:42):
No, this is us doing it out of arelationship.
This is us sitting at the table,this is us answering that knock
on the door and say, come on in.
I want you to speak though.
'cause guess what?
He has a lot better things tosay than this world.
Then even you have to say toyourself, I'm good at beating
(17:02):
myself up, Dan.
Mm-hmm.
I'm good at knocking myself downa peg Bible says to speak life
and not death.
Well, guess what?
I'm really good at times ofspeaking death into my own life,
and it's in those moments I findthat I hadn't been letting God
speak life over me.
(17:23):
Look, we have to take time.
A good relationship isn't builtin five minute increments.
A good relationship is spentsitting and reflecting and
talking and being real with eachother.
Look, you have to let God getreal with you.
(17:44):
Whew.
We don't wanna do that,
Dan (17:45):
right?
Justin (17:45):
We, we don't want'em that search me, oh God.
I'll go back to that again andagain.
We don't want that to happen.
We just want'em to tell'em howwe're loved and chosen and Okay.
But what about the things that'skeeping you from walking in your
freedom?
Are you willing to hear thatout?
Because that's what it takes.
I heard a pastor say one time ifhe ever made a cup of tea, and
(18:07):
I'm not talking about just yourold lanne bags.
I'm talking about a cup of tea.
Right, right.
And it's not a plastic cup withtwo cups of sugar in it.
I'm talking about an actual,talking about legit cup of tea,
like crumpets, right?
The teabag.
A lot of people like to take itand they like to dip it in and
(18:28):
out, and they like tocontinually dip it in and out,
and they like to continually dipit in and out.
Well, what happens is the teadoesn't sit in there, right?
It loses its strength, it losesits flavor, but.
If you take that tea bag and youjust set it in that hot water
and let it sit for four to sixminutes, if you let it abide
(18:52):
that tea, it gets the fullstrength.
It gets the full flavor.
And so many of us are trying todip in and out of our
relationship with God when weneed to stop and abide in it.
Dan (19:06):
going back to what I said, and you brought something up.
I said, the more that you and Ipursue God's voice, the less
that will be shaken by thenoise.
You pursue God's voice byspending time with him and
knowing his voice.
A lot of times we pray Justin,and we ask for something, and
(19:30):
God is speaking to you and I,but we don't know his voice.
Justin (19:35):
Hmm.
Dan (19:35):
So what happens?
We think he's not responding tous.
We think he's not, he, hedoesn't want to hear our
prayers.
You know, I think about thenoise of this world, the noise
of life.
It, there's so much chaos inthis.
But I can be in a room, Justin,with a thousand people talking
and I can hear when my wife iswith me, I can hear her, voice.
(20:00):
Mm-hmm.
Through that noise.
Why?
Because I've spent time withher.
I know my wife's voice in thatchaotic room of a thousand
people.
I know my wife's voice.
Guys, the more time that you andI spend in prayer, the more that
you and I spend time justsoaking in the presence of God,
(20:24):
Justin, the more you and I willhear God's voice in a world that
is full of noise and chaos anddistractions.
And the thing is, guys, prayeris our fuel.
Yeah.
It's not a fire extinguisherlike you and I like to treat it.
Because let's be real.
(20:44):
For most of us, prayer startedin panic.
The addiction got worse, thatthat relationship blew up in
your face.
You hit rock bottom like wetalked about.
And in desperation, we cried outthat moment.
It mattered.
God heard you, but family Step11 isn't about living in
(21:08):
emergency mode forever.
You and I weren't created.
You and I weren't meant tosurvive off of 9 1 1.
Faith, too many of us treatprayer like it's a fire
extinguisher.
Break glass in case ofemergency.
Justin (21:25):
Yep.
Dan (21:26):
But what happens when the fire's out?
We put the fire extinguisherback up and we go on living like
we're in control again until thenext crisis.
See Justin Step 11 flips that.
Mm-hmm.
It teaches you that prayer isn'tjust a lifeline in chaos.
(21:48):
It's your life blood family.
It's not the backup plan, it'sthe battle plan.
Justin, this is where spiritualmaturity begins to take root.
You're not praying for rescue.
You're praying for resilience.
Family, not get me out of thisGod, but God grow me through
(22:11):
this.
You start asking, God, what areyou forming in me today?
God, what blind spots do I needto see before it comes a
breakdown?
Go back to step 10.
Now we're talking aboutinventory.
God, where do I need your willto override mine before I wander
(22:36):
off track again?
Guys, that's not fear.
That's faith right there information.
I.
Because prayer becomes lessabout fixing everything and more
about forming you into someonewho can walk through anything
without folding.
Why?
Because you've learned somethingin the stillness.
(22:57):
You didn't need an escape planwhen you were walking with the
one who sees the end from thebeginning.
Amen.
You're not chasing feelings.
You're chasing the father'svoice.
Not for goosebumps, not forhype, but for clarity, for
strength, for direction, forpeace, and that's when you know
(23:19):
family, you've hit the turningpoint.
Not when life gets easier, butwhen your first response is his
presence and not panic.
Justin (23:29):
You see Step 11, it retrains us.
Renew your mind daily.
Be transformed.
This is us being transformed andno longer seeing prayer as that
fire extinguisher.
Dan talked about that we just gobreak glass in case of
emergency.
We see prayer as fuel for thejourney.
(23:52):
It's us going to God and lettinghim fill us up.
And I love what Dan talked aboutearlier.
You know, in John 10 you.
Study that passage if you can,because it, it's really
important for, as a disciple toknow, because what does Jesus
say?
There's others who come, liarsand thieves, and they sneak in
and they steal, but my sheepknow the sound in my voice.
(24:16):
You see, in those times, theherders could walk up and they
would go to these places whereit was just a general
congregation of sheep, and whenthe sheep heard her, the
shepherd.
Came up and called his sheep.
His sheep.
They knew his voice.
(24:38):
They knew his voice because theyhad spent time sitting with him.
They knew his voice because theyhad listened, and he didn't just
do it when they were panickingand running away.
They spent time when they werefeasting.
Right.
Look, guys, the truth is you'regonna go through valleys.
I'd love to tell you that it'smountaintops all the way, but
(24:59):
let me tell you something.
Do you know where the good greengrass is?
It's not in a mountaintop, it'sin the valley.
It's in that Valley, man.
That's where you feed on thepresence.
That's where you get close andyou find comfort in that.
Rod and staff, you learn hisvoice because you're not in the
valley panicking.
Instead, you're in the valleywith him in your presence and
(25:22):
knowing that you're in his.
Step 11, man.
It's us stopping the crazinessof this world from coming in and
letting the peace that guardsyour heart take its place.
When we only pray in crisis, wemiss out on the steady power
(25:46):
that comes from walking in dailyconnection with God.
Look your phone.
If I don't charge it at night,by the next day it's dead.
Well, guess what?
We need to be getting charged byGod daily.
We need to be plugging into thatpower source.
I like to keep my phone oncharge whenever I'm not using
(26:06):
it, and I can, sure, well, whywon't I do that with my life?
I wonder why I'm walking aroundtired.
I'm wondering why Satan iskicking me in my face left and
right, and I feel like everystep I take is another stumble
Look, I'm not saying you won'tfall, but you won't fall as far
when you make sure that God'swalking close with you, that rod
in that staff, he reaches outand he pulls you right back into
(26:29):
the fold.
Mm-hmm.
This is us making sure thatwe're in that fold.
This is us when we hear hisvoice going, but in order to
hear, you have to listen.
Right.
The, there's a difference.
I, I can listen to people allday, but am I hearing what
they're saying?
(26:49):
Because hearing is actuallytaking time to pay attention.
It's not just letting the otherthings of the world get in and
tell you what should be.
What could be, what won't be,what will be, but it's you
listening to what God has to sayabout the situation.
It's you carving out time.
Look, this is important.
So many of us wonder, well, Idon't have time.
(27:12):
Yeah, you do.
You just don't wanna spend itdoing what you need to do.
Look you, you wanna say I don'thave time.
And Dan actually helped me withthis when I was going over stuff
for school and he said, look, hesaid, brother, take take an
inventory of your day and lookat it.
Write down what you're doing.
You say you don't have time, butwhat about the two and a half
(27:33):
hours you got lost on Facebookreels, watching them clean
carpets.
'cause I will watch a rug getcleaned in a heartbeat and then
say, I ain't got time.
Dan (27:41):
It'll sucker you in, dude.
Justin (27:44):
But we don't have time,
Dan (27:46):
right?
Oh, good old Facebook reels.
Boy, it'll get you.
Justin (27:51):
But why not spend that time with the one who gave you
that time in the first place?
We think that we don't havetime, but yet everything we have
is from God.
Even the time that he gives ushere, and I don't know about
you.
I want to make sure I'm spendingit with the one who keeps it
going.
Dan (28:10):
Amen, our scripture focus for today, Justin, is about
Samuel.
And I encourage you to go to,it's in the Old Testaments, in
First Samuel, chapter three, andread those first 10 verses.
Uh, this story doesn't startwith a prophet, starts with a
young boy, a boy who didn't yetknow the voice of God.
(28:35):
A boy who was still figuring outwho he was, still learning how
to listen, still waking up inthe middle of the night
thinking, you know, someone elsewas calling his name.
When you look at Samuel, he wasyoung, inexperienced, untrained,
but his posture, Justin, that'swhat heaven responded to.
(28:58):
The Bible says that the word ofthe Lord was rare in those days
and there were not.
Many visions.
In other words, people weren'tlistening, so God wasn't
speaking often.
Hmm.
You go back and you read judges,and I mean guys, these people
have gotten so far away fromGod.
(29:21):
That we, what we talked about injust a few moments ago, there
was so much chaos and so muchjust, just negative influences
pouring in that people couldn'thear the, the voice of God if he
was screaming in their ear.
That's heartbreaking, Justin.
It says that the word of theLord was rare in those days.
(29:43):
And you go back to just a couplebooks before that in Deuteronomy
and Joshua, the Lord wasconstantly speaking and leading
and guiding.
But just a few generationslater, it says that the Lord's
voice was rare, but then cameSamuel.
(30:04):
Lying in the temple positionedin the presence of God, even if
he didn't fully understand ityet.
And he kept hearing his name inthe night.
And every time the Bible saysthat he ran to Eli, he says,
here I am.
Did you call me?
And Eli was an older, uh, priestand he finally caught on and he
(30:26):
told Samuel The next time, don'trun to me.
The next time you hear that.
Say speak Lord, your servant islistening.
And that response, that onemoment of surrender, that one
moment of readiness unlockedSamuel's destiny because from
(30:47):
that night on, the Bible saysthat the Lord was with Samuel as
he grew up and let none ofSamuel's words.
Fall to the ground.
Why?
Because God doesn't need yourresume family.
Hmm.
He doesn't need you to have aperfect track record or the
right background.
(31:08):
He's just looking for one thing,a posture of listening, a heart
that's ready, A spirit thatsays, speak Lord.
You don't have to be a spiritualgiant to hear from God.
You just got to be available.
You gotta be still.
You gotta be willing.
(31:29):
And step 11 is about gettingyourself into position, not for
performance, but for presence.
Because when you posture yourheart to listen, even a whisper
from heaven can become theturning point in your life.
Justin (31:51):
I love what you said, Dan.
Notice the posture of Samuel.
I want to go before that.
Notice where he went first.
He went to what was familiar andthere's too many times people go
to what's familiar.
Instead of going to God verygood, he went to Eli.
Dan (32:09):
Very good.
Justin (32:09):
Hey man, you call him and Eli's like, no.
And there's a lot of us go backto the world and say, are you
calling me?
And the TV goes, no, but I'lllet you sit here.
Facebook goes, no, but you canwaste some time here.
The enemy steal, kill, anddestroy.
Right?
(32:30):
But notice the posture.
When Eli finally went and hesaid, speak Lord, and I love the
way, I think it's the KingJames.
Here I am.
Right.
Speak Lord.
I'm listening.
The posture was not, Lord,here's my plan.
Here's what I'm gonna do foryou.
Here's what I want.
Go ahead and bless it.
No, it was, Lord, you speak.
(32:53):
That's what Step 11 is.
It's us setting ourselves inthat posture and saying, Lord,
you speak for a long time.
I used to say, God, what's yourwill for my life?
God, what's your will for mylife?
God, what's your will?
And I didn't hear anything, butwhen I stopped and I said, God,
what's your will?
(33:13):
Hmm.
Not just from my li What's yourwill?
That's when I started listening.
That's when I could hear himbecause I stopped just trying to
posture myself where I couldprogress and started wanting
let, and started letting Godprogress in my life.
Right.
It, it's not these big, eloquentwords.
(33:33):
God's not sitting there going,well, and we've talked about
this before.
He didn't say hither two andthus say the Lord.
I can't listen.
God's not sitting up theregoing, well, you know, you said
that wrong.
In fact, one of the things Ilove is when I mess up in my
words, I laugh because I say,God, you know what I meant?
Mm-hmm.
Because he already knows it'snot about us bringing it to him.
(33:57):
It's about us being willing tolisten.
It's us about being present andpositioned.
That's what Step 11 is.
And I have a question.
When's the last time you gotquiet?
Hmm?
When's the last time?
Be honest.
You just sat at the feet of themaster.
(34:19):
When's the last time you justgot on your, and you don't have
to get in your knees, right?
When's the last time you justsat in silence away from the
world?
Because look, Satan's gonna tryand distract you.
I don't know about you, but whenI sit down and try and get quiet
with God, the dogs next doorstart barking.
Somebody's knocking.
The kids all of a sudden aregetting up at five in the
(34:40):
morning and they're usuallyasleep.
My phone's going off.
Satan's trying his best, but Imake sure that I get away from
that and just sit with God.
When's the last time you didthat?
How often do we come to God inprayer and say everything on our
hearts and then hang up the callbefore he can answer
Dan (34:58):
back.
That's good.
That's
Justin (35:00):
real good.
We ask for direction, but wedon't sit still long enough for
him to direct us.
It's like turning on your GPSand then throwing it out the
window or leaving your phone athome,
Dan (35:10):
right?
Justin (35:12):
Step 11 is that challenge that says Slow down.
Slow down, Christian.
Look this.
We run a race, but we walk withChrist.
Amen.
And you ain't outrunning him Toomany times we're trying to
outrun Jesus and look over ourshoulder and say, Hey, hey, no,
he wants us to walk with him.
(35:32):
'cause he walks with us, hetalks with us.
He knows you by name.
And let me tell you something,there is nothing sweeter.
Sitting in the presence of Godand understanding that he knows
you by name and letting himspeak to you.
Step 11 is us slowing down,carving out space and giving God
(35:53):
Almighty, who with just a word,brought all things into
existence.
Let let that sink in.
This is God the creator of allthings, who said, let it be, and
it was the one who was beforethere was a, was.
Dan (36:09):
Very good.
The
Justin (36:10):
same God who spoken to eternity, all things wants to
speak to you.
This is us listening.
This is us taking time andsaying, God, I'll let you speak.
It isn't an empty silence,right?
It, it, it, it's not empty.
In God's presence, silencebecomes a sacred space.
(36:32):
It becomes holy ground.
It's the soil where Revelationgrows.
Dan (36:40):
I love that question.
When was the last time you gotquiet?
You know?
'cause if we're real, most of ustalk to God more, you know, than
we talk with him.
Justin (36:51):
Hmm hmm.
Dan (36:52):
You know, we fire off prayers like, they're like
spiritual text messages orsomething, and then we wonder
why we just feel sodisconnected.
Justin (37:01):
LOL.
Dan (37:03):
Okay.
We say, God, I need direction.
God, I need help.
God, show me what to do.
And those are good prayers topray and before Heaven even has
a chance to respond, we'realready scrolling, stressing,
and we've moved on to the nextthing.
(37:24):
I love what you said, Justin.
Step 11 is a, is a, is a call tostop filling the space.
Because what if the silenceisn't God being distant?
What if it's God waiting for youto slow down?
Not so he can scold you?
(37:44):
Not so he can shame you, but sohe can speak life into places in
your life that are too loud tohear him.
Dude, Psalm 46:10 says, bestill.
Know that I am God.
But stillness is hard when we'vetrained ourselves to believe
(38:09):
that movement equals progress.
But let me say this clearly,stillness it's not laziness,
it's intimacy.
It's not weakness.
Family.
It's worship.
And when was the last time youjust sat in the presence of God
not to talk?
Not to plan, but just to listen.
(38:31):
When's the last time you'veasked, Lord, what do you want me
to say?
What are you trying to speak tome?
And then waited.
I mean, really waited for theanswer.
'cause the truth is God's nothiding.
He's not.
He's not sitting up thereplaying spiritual, hide and seek
(38:53):
from you.
He's not holding out on you.
He's waiting for your attention,not your perfection.
He's waiting for you to stopstriving and start sitting to
stop performing and startlistening, because that's where
the breakthrough happens.
Family, not in the volume ofyour words, but in the quiet of
(39:17):
your surrender.
And Justin, as we get a wrapthis podcast up, brother, again,
something we could probably keepgoing and going and going when
you start talking about soakingin the presence of God.
Because we've been there family,we know how life changing it can
be, but I've also been on theother side of it, and we're just
(39:41):
here to help you.
Mm-hmm.
'cause God isn't hiding.
He's waiting for your attention.
Not your perfection.
Justin (39:50):
I love what you said, Dan.
Step 11, that's what it's about,is intimacy.
It's not about information,right?
This step isn't about gettingall the answers.
It's about getting close enoughto the one who has them.
Listening for his voice.
And here's the truth, and thisis a hard truth that we all have
(40:12):
to accept.
You will never follow God's willif you never pause long enough
to hear it.
Mm-hmm.
We are.
So how do you know what Godwants you to do when you've
already decided?
Dan (40:23):
Right.
Justin (40:23):
It's hard to hear God's voice when you've already
decided what he's gonna say.
Listening is loving.
Hearing is healing.
When we slow down to hear God'sheart, we actually begin to live
from it ourselves because thatis us.
I delight in him.
(40:47):
He will give you the desires ofyour heart.
Mm.
So where's your delight today?
Is it in the presence of God?
Because guess what happens whenyou take your delight from his
presence?
Your desires begin to become hisdesires, and that desire is
fulfilled in his presence, andit's a never ending cycle.
And guess what?
Recovery's all about getting outof the cycle that kept us
(41:08):
victims.
Victim that kept us held hostagefor years.
This is us stepping out.
Look, you're a slave torighteousness or a slave to
obedience, and this is ussitting down and saying, Lord,
I'm yours.
Because one path leads to death.
Amen.
And the other leads to life.
Amen.
This is us stopping and lettinghim lead us to life.
Dan (41:32):
Guys, step 11 is where spiritual maturity, it doesn't
just visit.
It digs deep and takes roots.
This isn't the place where yourecite words and recite the
Lord's prayer every day, andand, and then walk away.
(41:53):
This is where your identity getsreshaped in the silence.
This is where you stop strivingand you just start hearing.
You don't come here to impressGod anymore.
You come to be impressed uponhim.
(42:15):
You don't need the perfectwords, family.
You just need to be quiet andjust be willing.
This is, this is the space whereclarity replaces the chaos of
the world, and this is wherepeace silences panic.
Where his whisper drowns out thewar.
(42:39):
That's waging in your mind.
So pause, lean in.
Don't rush this moment.
Don't rush the presence of God.
You're not waiting on a feeling.
You're waiting on a word,because when his voice rises in
your spirit.
(43:00):
Everything else, family.
This I can promise you willbegin to fall in line.
So stay rooted, family, stayrecovered, and let's get to
work.
You are not just surviving.
You are becoming, becomingrooted in truth, becoming
recovered by grace, and becomingthe person God always knew you
(43:25):
could be.
Thanks for joining us on Rootedin Recovered.
If this episode stirredsomething in you, don't keep it
to yourself.
Share it, live it, let it takeroot.
We'll see you next time righthere where scars become
testimonies and hope rises fromthe ashes.
This world doesn't hand outhealing.
It offers quick fixes, cheaphighes and empty promises, but
real recovery.
It takes roots.
Roots that dig deep into truth,into identity, into the
unshakeable grace of God.
We're not here to sugarcoat thestruggle.
(00:22):
We've lived it.
Addiction, shame, relapse,regret, but we've also seen
resurrection.
We've seen what happened.
Happens when broken people getanchored in something real
rooted and recovered is morethan a podcast.
It's a battleground for thesoul.
A place where scars tellstories, where scripture speaks
(00:43):
louder than shame, where freedomisn't just a word.
It's a war we win daily.
So if you're tired of surfacelevel answers, if you want truth
that convicts, hope that heals,and conversations that cut
through the noise, you're in theright place.
Welcome to Rooted and Recovered.
Dan (01:08):
Welcome to another episode of Rooted and Recovered.
I am Dan, as always in thestudio with me.
Justin, how are you doing today,brother?
Justin (01:20):
Blessed and highly favored.
That's I still, man.
I, I don't think you guysunderstand.
We sit here and I can just feelGod moving.
I get goosebumps.
When I'm doing this because man,I know the Holy Spirit's here.
I know he is with us, and I'mjust thankful to let him have
his way in this time.
Dan,
Dan (01:41):
amen and amen.
I wanna start the podcast outtoday with a statement, Justin.
Don't just know about God, knowhim personally.
Today's episode is calledLearning to Listen, and guys, we
(02:01):
are in step 11.
We are moving right alongthrough this, and it's been
quick, so I encourage you to goback, listen to these podcasts,
go to your favorite podcastplatform and just listen to
these.
But don't just listen to'em.
Share'em.
(02:21):
Share'em to those that you thinkmight need this.
Step 11, Justin tells us, soughtthrough prayer and meditation to
improve our conscious contactwith God, praying only for
knowledge of his will for us,and the power to carry that out.
(02:45):
You see, this step doesn't say,you know, pray once in a while
when things get bad.
Justin.
It says, sought through prayerand meditation to improve our
conscious contact with God.
Guys, this is so, this is aboutmore than belief.
(03:09):
It's about more than, thanchurch attendance.
It's so much more than thanquoting scripture when, when
life is hard.
Guys, this is about a dailypursuit.
It's about turning your recoveryinto a relationship, you see,
(03:31):
because religion can introduceyou to God, but relationship
Justin keeps you close.
Justin (03:45):
You can't follow a God you don't talk to.
This is not, look, I, it's morethan church attendance.
Like Dan said, it's so manypeople equate their relationship
with God on how many timesthey've gone to church.
Well, look, if all I ever didwas counted the times I sat down
(04:05):
to dinner with my wife as ourrelationship, I'd think I'd be
doing pretty good because Idon't miss a meal.
But it's more than that.
Look.
It's not about checking somereligious box.
It's about cultivating thatrelationship that Dan was just
talking about.
We don't follow God by accident.
(04:27):
When Jesus looked at Matthew andsaid, follow me, Matthew didn't
get up and say, well, I don'tknow where I'm going.
No.
Jesus showed him the way to go,and it's the same for us.
We don't follow him by accident,but we have to follow him by
intention.
Dan (04:42):
Here you go.
Justin (04:43):
Matthew had to get up and follow, and you have to as
well.
You can't follow a God.
You don't talk to.
How are you gonna know what hewants you to do if you're not
even willing to sit and listento him tell you how to do it?
And more importantly.
You can't follow a God or have arelationship with somebody that
(05:05):
you don't stop and take time tolisten to me.
And my wife's relationship wouldbe nothing if I didn't actually
sit down and talk.
Right?
And it's no different than withGod.
And that's what this step is.
It invites us to slow down and
Dan (05:23):
tune in.
Well, and that's the thing,Justin, you know when you start
talking about relationship.
You, you can't and you won'tfamily take this from me.
You can't survive spiritualwarfare with casual Sunday.
Wednesday.
Church faith.
(05:44):
You need to know the voice ofthe one leading you, and they
shall know my voice.
See, that voice gets clearerwhen you stop trying to fix
everything.
You start spending time with thefixer.
I don't even know if that's aword or not.
(06:04):
Sounds good.
Sounds real good.
Think about it.
How much of your day is spentfeeding your fear?
How much is how?
And you know, look at this.
How much of our time, Justin, doI spend investing in feeding
(06:24):
that fear?
But on the flip side.
How much time is spent feelingmy faith?
See, we binge on the news.
We, we scroll on social media,we, we vent to friends.
But when was the last time youset in silence and just said,
(06:46):
God, I'm here.
Speak lead, change me.
Guys prayer.
It's, it's not just aboutpresenting a wishlist, a, a
Christmas list.
Amen to God.
Prayer is about positioning yourheart.
(07:07):
Me.
Meditation isn't emptying yourmind, it's filling it with
truth.
It's marinating in scripture.
Justin (07:17):
Yes.
Dan (07:18):
It's marinating in just his presence and just soaking and
marinating.
I love that word.
I think of a good old, just agood steak or something, man.
I'm talking a high dollar steakthat you don't throw cheap
seasonings on, man, like youmarinate this big chunk of meat
that you are about to throw.
(07:39):
It's marinating in scripture andin prayer, and in his presence
until the noise fades.
His voice becomes the loudestthing in that room.
Justin (07:51):
I love what you said.
This is not about spiritual busywork.
Look, Satan wants to keep youbusy.
Look, so many times we think,oh, I'm doing ministry.
I'm doing the right thing.
But if you're not spending timeat the feet of Jesus, look at
Mary and Martha Prime example.
Lord.
Tell them, tell.
Tell her she needs to come help.
Jesus says she's got it figuredout though.
(08:14):
That's what this is about.
It's not about the spiritualbusy work.
This is a way to walk in stepwith the one who knows the way
forward.
I love what Dan said.
How many times do we get on ourknees and say, God, I need this,
this, this, this happened, thishappened, this, how happened?
And then get up and walk away.
There's an episode of EverybodyLoves Raymond.
(08:35):
At the end of it, the mom's inthe chapel and she's, she's
talking the they.
She was talking to the creator.
This guy walks up and he says,who are you talking to?
He says, well, I'm talking toGod.
Dan (08:49):
He says,
Justin (08:50):
well, why are you the one doing all the talking?
We like to do all the talking.
Look, David, everybody.
Look, if you, if you don't knowthe Bible, you might think
Psalms, oh, it's a book of joy.
It's, it is.
But if you look at what thosePsalmist talks about.
(09:10):
They got real with God.
Mm-hmm.
But if you look, I love itbecause they always present the
problems and then if you lookwhat happens, they start writing
about, but your word says, butyou promised me this.
That's what meditation is.
It's not me sitting down goingOhm and trying to get everything
outta my mind.
It's me letting the things thatcome to my mind go to God.
Dan (09:29):
Right,
Justin (09:29):
and letting him answer back with truth.
Like Dan said, it's marinatingin that truth.
It's taking that stake andletting that salt that we're
called to be rub in and sittingin that fridge overnight.
That's what this step is about.
It's about us slowing down andletting God be God.
(09:51):
Prayer, like Dan said earlier,is not meant to be a spare tire.
It's meant to be the steeringwheel.
Dan (09:57):
Amen.
Justin (09:57):
And this is us making sure God's in the driver's seat.
Dan (10:00):
Amen.
Justin.
This is what separates recoveryfrom that's just barely hanging
on dude to recovery.
That's walking in purpose
Justin (10:13):
rooted
Dan (10:15):
because prayer guys is where the war is won before the
battle even begins.
Amen.
Guys, we weren't made, Justin,you and I, listener, you and I
were not made to run on fumes.
Justin (10:34):
Hmm.
Dan (10:34):
You see there's a difference between doing
something outta routine anddoing it outta relationship.
Let's be honest, how many timeshave we prayed with our mouths
moving, flapping our gums?
Justin?
But our hearts were a millionmiles away from him.
(10:57):
Prayer without presence, guys,it just becomes performance at
that point.
We say the right words, we hitall the points, but we walk away
unchanged because we never trulyshowed up,
Justin (11:16):
and that's the problem.
We don't show up.
I love what you said.
We wonder why our prayers arebouncing off the ceilings and
Yeah.
We might be, we might even be onour knees with our hands and our
arms.
Obe, I going, God hither tothis, I need this.
I don't need, but our hearts,the posture of our hearts isn't
in it.
(11:37):
And our mind's a million milesaway.
Instead of actually bringing ourproblems to God, we're focusing
on our problems in the middle ofprayer and not saying, God, can
you help me?
We're just saying, God, I need,I need, I need, and not actually
letting him Speak to it.
God sings over you and he speaksto you.
(11:57):
He speaks life and joy andcomfort and peace, but yet we're
too busy, like Dan said earlier,feeding the fear instead of
fueling our faith.
And that's what this is.
This is us letting, it's usstopping at the gas pump and
letting God kick a quick 20 in.
Dan (12:16):
And that's the thing, man.
You know, we get so wrapped upguys, and we're not.
I'm not here condemning you.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not here pointing fingers atyou.
'cause guess what?
There's three of them pointingback at me.
Guys.
I have been in this situation.
I've let the, just the bills andfamily and my mistakes, Ooh,
(12:38):
bro, that argument I had with myspouse yesterday weigh on me in
my prayer time, in my meditationtime with God.
And what ends up happening isall I end up doing is I'm no
longer connected.
I'm just killing time.
this step right here, guys, thisisn't about checking some
(13:01):
spiritual box.
It's about deepening yourhunger.
When you look at Luke 15:16, itsays that Jesus often withdrew.
To lonely places and prayed.
Jesus guys, the sinless son ofGod, still made space to break
(13:25):
away.
He didn't need forgiveness,Justin, he needed the father, He
didn't wait until he was empty.
He didn't wait till he wasrunning on fumes.
He didn't wait till he wasfeeling burnout and compassion
fatigue and just literally wipedout.
He filled up constantly.
(13:48):
So let me ask you this.
When was the last time you gotalone?
Not to get something from God,but just to be with him?
Not because life was fallingapart, not because you needed
direction, but because your soulwas hungry.
Guys, this is where realrecovery matures.
(14:11):
This is where religion fades andrelationship grows.
When your prayer stops beingsomething you do, it becomes a
place where you come alive.
Because let's be real.
If you only eat when you'restarving, you'll live in cycles
of spiritual malnourishment.
(14:34):
But when prayer becomes yourdaily bread, not just your
emergency meal, that's when youstart to walk in strength, not
survival.
And the more that you and Ipursue God's voice, the less
power.
(14:54):
The noise of the world has overyou.
Fear loses its grip, temptationloses its shine, and everything
in you begins to align with theone you've been made to follow.
Guys, the more you pursue God'svoice, the less you'll be shaken
(15:17):
by the noise.
Justin (15:19):
If Jesus.
The son of God, God in theflesh, needed to unplug from
that noise.
If he needed to unplug andwithdraw and connect with the
father, how much more should youand I desire to do the same,
that that's the thing.
Jesus didn't come and livedthese things just so we
(15:40):
couldn't.
He came and lived as an example,mark and Mark, it says the same
thing.
He withdrew in the morning awayfrom everybody.
Jesus.
It wasn't just a one time thing.
Jesus just, oh, hey God, I'mhere for a sec.
He withdrew daily to go be withGod.
Shouldn't we desire to do thesame?
(16:01):
Look for Jesus?
It wasn't a habit.
It was that hunger that Dan wastalking about, right.
It was a craving for alignmentwith God's heart.
And that's what this is, usfilling that craving.
Look, so many of us, look,before I came to God and my
addiction, I need, I, I felt avoid the opposite of addiction.
(16:22):
Johann Hari great Ted talk.
The opposite of addiction isconnection.
This is a connection we need.
This is us actually beingconnected.
Step 11 is us not praying out ofroutine.
Some checklist, some devotionalthat I, I gotta give 15 minutes
to God of prayer today.
And then, oh, check.
(16:42):
No, this is us doing it out of arelationship.
This is us sitting at the table,this is us answering that knock
on the door and say, come on in.
I want you to speak though.
'cause guess what?
He has a lot better things tosay than this world.
Then even you have to say toyourself, I'm good at beating
(17:02):
myself up, Dan.
Mm-hmm.
I'm good at knocking myself downa peg Bible says to speak life
and not death.
Well, guess what?
I'm really good at times ofspeaking death into my own life,
and it's in those moments I findthat I hadn't been letting God
speak life over me.
(17:23):
Look, we have to take time.
A good relationship isn't builtin five minute increments.
A good relationship is spentsitting and reflecting and
talking and being real with eachother.
Look, you have to let God getreal with you.
(17:44):
Whew.
We don't wanna do that,
Dan (17:45):
right?
Justin (17:45):
We, we don't want'em that search me, oh God.
I'll go back to that again andagain.
We don't want that to happen.
We just want'em to tell'em howwe're loved and chosen and Okay.
But what about the things that'skeeping you from walking in your
freedom?
Are you willing to hear thatout?
Because that's what it takes.
I heard a pastor say one time ifhe ever made a cup of tea, and
(18:07):
I'm not talking about just yourold lanne bags.
I'm talking about a cup of tea.
Right, right.
And it's not a plastic cup withtwo cups of sugar in it.
I'm talking about an actual,talking about legit cup of tea,
like crumpets, right?
The teabag.
A lot of people like to take itand they like to dip it in and
(18:28):
out, and they like tocontinually dip it in and out,
and they like to continually dipit in and out.
Well, what happens is the teadoesn't sit in there, right?
It loses its strength, it losesits flavor, but.
If you take that tea bag and youjust set it in that hot water
and let it sit for four to sixminutes, if you let it abide
(18:52):
that tea, it gets the fullstrength.
It gets the full flavor.
And so many of us are trying todip in and out of our
relationship with God when weneed to stop and abide in it.
Dan (19:06):
going back to what I said, and you brought something up.
I said, the more that you and Ipursue God's voice, the less
that will be shaken by thenoise.
You pursue God's voice byspending time with him and
knowing his voice.
A lot of times we pray Justin,and we ask for something, and
(19:30):
God is speaking to you and I,but we don't know his voice.
Justin (19:35):
Hmm.
Dan (19:35):
So what happens?
We think he's not responding tous.
We think he's not, he, hedoesn't want to hear our
prayers.
You know, I think about thenoise of this world, the noise
of life.
It, there's so much chaos inthis.
But I can be in a room, Justin,with a thousand people talking
and I can hear when my wife iswith me, I can hear her, voice.
(20:00):
Mm-hmm.
Through that noise.
Why?
Because I've spent time withher.
I know my wife's voice in thatchaotic room of a thousand
people.
I know my wife's voice.
Guys, the more time that you andI spend in prayer, the more that
you and I spend time justsoaking in the presence of God,
(20:24):
Justin, the more you and I willhear God's voice in a world that
is full of noise and chaos anddistractions.
And the thing is, guys, prayeris our fuel.
Yeah.
It's not a fire extinguisherlike you and I like to treat it.
Because let's be real.
(20:44):
For most of us, prayer startedin panic.
The addiction got worse, thatthat relationship blew up in
your face.
You hit rock bottom like wetalked about.
And in desperation, we cried outthat moment.
It mattered.
God heard you, but family Step11 isn't about living in
(21:08):
emergency mode forever.
You and I weren't created.
You and I weren't meant tosurvive off of 9 1 1.
Faith, too many of us treatprayer like it's a fire
extinguisher.
Break glass in case ofemergency.
Justin (21:25):
Yep.
Dan (21:26):
But what happens when the fire's out?
We put the fire extinguisherback up and we go on living like
we're in control again until thenext crisis.
See Justin Step 11 flips that.
Mm-hmm.
It teaches you that prayer isn'tjust a lifeline in chaos.
(21:48):
It's your life blood family.
It's not the backup plan, it'sthe battle plan.
Justin, this is where spiritualmaturity begins to take root.
You're not praying for rescue.
You're praying for resilience.
Family, not get me out of thisGod, but God grow me through
(22:11):
this.
You start asking, God, what areyou forming in me today?
God, what blind spots do I needto see before it comes a
breakdown?
Go back to step 10.
Now we're talking aboutinventory.
God, where do I need your willto override mine before I wander
(22:36):
off track again?
Guys, that's not fear.
That's faith right there information.
I.
Because prayer becomes lessabout fixing everything and more
about forming you into someonewho can walk through anything
without folding.
Why?
Because you've learned somethingin the stillness.
(22:57):
You didn't need an escape planwhen you were walking with the
one who sees the end from thebeginning.
Amen.
You're not chasing feelings.
You're chasing the father'svoice.
Not for goosebumps, not forhype, but for clarity, for
strength, for direction, forpeace, and that's when you know
(23:19):
family, you've hit the turningpoint.
Not when life gets easier, butwhen your first response is his
presence and not panic.
Justin (23:29):
You see Step 11, it retrains us.
Renew your mind daily.
Be transformed.
This is us being transformed andno longer seeing prayer as that
fire extinguisher.
Dan talked about that we just gobreak glass in case of
emergency.
We see prayer as fuel for thejourney.
(23:52):
It's us going to God and lettinghim fill us up.
And I love what Dan talked aboutearlier.
You know, in John 10 you.
Study that passage if you can,because it, it's really
important for, as a disciple toknow, because what does Jesus
say?
There's others who come, liarsand thieves, and they sneak in
and they steal, but my sheepknow the sound in my voice.
(24:16):
You see, in those times, theherders could walk up and they
would go to these places whereit was just a general
congregation of sheep, and whenthe sheep heard her, the
shepherd.
Came up and called his sheep.
His sheep.
They knew his voice.
(24:38):
They knew his voice because theyhad spent time sitting with him.
They knew his voice because theyhad listened, and he didn't just
do it when they were panickingand running away.
They spent time when they werefeasting.
Right.
Look, guys, the truth is you'regonna go through valleys.
I'd love to tell you that it'smountaintops all the way, but
(24:59):
let me tell you something.
Do you know where the good greengrass is?
It's not in a mountaintop, it'sin the valley.
It's in that Valley, man.
That's where you feed on thepresence.
That's where you get close andyou find comfort in that.
Rod and staff, you learn hisvoice because you're not in the
valley panicking.
Instead, you're in the valleywith him in your presence and
(25:22):
knowing that you're in his.
Step 11, man.
It's us stopping the crazinessof this world from coming in and
letting the peace that guardsyour heart take its place.
When we only pray in crisis, wemiss out on the steady power
(25:46):
that comes from walking in dailyconnection with God.
Look your phone.
If I don't charge it at night,by the next day it's dead.
Well, guess what?
We need to be getting charged byGod daily.
We need to be plugging into thatpower source.
I like to keep my phone oncharge whenever I'm not using
(26:06):
it, and I can, sure, well, whywon't I do that with my life?
I wonder why I'm walking aroundtired.
I'm wondering why Satan iskicking me in my face left and
right, and I feel like everystep I take is another stumble
Look, I'm not saying you won'tfall, but you won't fall as far
when you make sure that God'swalking close with you, that rod
in that staff, he reaches outand he pulls you right back into
(26:29):
the fold.
Mm-hmm.
This is us making sure thatwe're in that fold.
This is us when we hear hisvoice going, but in order to
hear, you have to listen.
Right.
The, there's a difference.
I, I can listen to people allday, but am I hearing what
they're saying?
(26:49):
Because hearing is actuallytaking time to pay attention.
It's not just letting the otherthings of the world get in and
tell you what should be.
What could be, what won't be,what will be, but it's you
listening to what God has to sayabout the situation.
It's you carving out time.
Look, this is important.
So many of us wonder, well, Idon't have time.
(27:12):
Yeah, you do.
You just don't wanna spend itdoing what you need to do.
Look you, you wanna say I don'thave time.
And Dan actually helped me withthis when I was going over stuff
for school and he said, look, hesaid, brother, take take an
inventory of your day and lookat it.
Write down what you're doing.
You say you don't have time, butwhat about the two and a half
(27:33):
hours you got lost on Facebookreels, watching them clean
carpets.
'cause I will watch a rug getcleaned in a heartbeat and then
say, I ain't got time.
Dan (27:41):
It'll sucker you in, dude.
Justin (27:44):
But we don't have time,
Dan (27:46):
right?
Oh, good old Facebook reels.
Boy, it'll get you.
Justin (27:51):
But why not spend that time with the one who gave you
that time in the first place?
We think that we don't havetime, but yet everything we have
is from God.
Even the time that he gives ushere, and I don't know about
you.
I want to make sure I'm spendingit with the one who keeps it
going.
Dan (28:10):
Amen, our scripture focus for today, Justin, is about
Samuel.
And I encourage you to go to,it's in the Old Testaments, in
First Samuel, chapter three, andread those first 10 verses.
Uh, this story doesn't startwith a prophet, starts with a
young boy, a boy who didn't yetknow the voice of God.
(28:35):
A boy who was still figuring outwho he was, still learning how
to listen, still waking up inthe middle of the night
thinking, you know, someone elsewas calling his name.
When you look at Samuel, he wasyoung, inexperienced, untrained,
but his posture, Justin, that'swhat heaven responded to.
(28:58):
The Bible says that the word ofthe Lord was rare in those days
and there were not.
Many visions.
In other words, people weren'tlistening, so God wasn't
speaking often.
Hmm.
You go back and you read judges,and I mean guys, these people
have gotten so far away fromGod.
(29:21):
That we, what we talked about injust a few moments ago, there
was so much chaos and so muchjust, just negative influences
pouring in that people couldn'thear the, the voice of God if he
was screaming in their ear.
That's heartbreaking, Justin.
It says that the word of theLord was rare in those days.
(29:43):
And you go back to just a couplebooks before that in Deuteronomy
and Joshua, the Lord wasconstantly speaking and leading
and guiding.
But just a few generationslater, it says that the Lord's
voice was rare, but then cameSamuel.
(30:04):
Lying in the temple positionedin the presence of God, even if
he didn't fully understand ityet.
And he kept hearing his name inthe night.
And every time the Bible saysthat he ran to Eli, he says,
here I am.
Did you call me?
And Eli was an older, uh, priestand he finally caught on and he
(30:26):
told Samuel The next time, don'trun to me.
The next time you hear that.
Say speak Lord, your servant islistening.
And that response, that onemoment of surrender, that one
moment of readiness unlockedSamuel's destiny because from
(30:47):
that night on, the Bible saysthat the Lord was with Samuel as
he grew up and let none ofSamuel's words.
Fall to the ground.
Why?
Because God doesn't need yourresume family.
Hmm.
He doesn't need you to have aperfect track record or the
right background.
(31:08):
He's just looking for one thing,a posture of listening, a heart
that's ready, A spirit thatsays, speak Lord.
You don't have to be a spiritualgiant to hear from God.
You just got to be available.
You gotta be still.
You gotta be willing.
(31:29):
And step 11 is about gettingyourself into position, not for
performance, but for presence.
Because when you posture yourheart to listen, even a whisper
from heaven can become theturning point in your life.
Justin (31:51):
I love what you said, Dan.
Notice the posture of Samuel.
I want to go before that.
Notice where he went first.
He went to what was familiar andthere's too many times people go
to what's familiar.
Instead of going to God verygood, he went to Eli.
Dan (32:09):
Very good.
Justin (32:09):
Hey man, you call him and Eli's like, no.
And there's a lot of us go backto the world and say, are you
calling me?
And the TV goes, no, but I'lllet you sit here.
Facebook goes, no, but you canwaste some time here.
The enemy steal, kill, anddestroy.
Right?
(32:30):
But notice the posture.
When Eli finally went and hesaid, speak Lord, and I love the
way, I think it's the KingJames.
Here I am.
Right.
Speak Lord.
I'm listening.
The posture was not, Lord,here's my plan.
Here's what I'm gonna do foryou.
Here's what I want.
Go ahead and bless it.
No, it was, Lord, you speak.
(32:53):
That's what Step 11 is.
It's us setting ourselves inthat posture and saying, Lord,
you speak for a long time.
I used to say, God, what's yourwill for my life?
God, what's your will for mylife?
God, what's your will?
And I didn't hear anything, butwhen I stopped and I said, God,
what's your will?
(33:13):
Hmm.
Not just from my li What's yourwill?
That's when I started listening.
That's when I could hear himbecause I stopped just trying to
posture myself where I couldprogress and started wanting
let, and started letting Godprogress in my life.
Right.
It, it's not these big, eloquentwords.
(33:33):
God's not sitting there going,well, and we've talked about
this before.
He didn't say hither two andthus say the Lord.
I can't listen.
God's not sitting up theregoing, well, you know, you said
that wrong.
In fact, one of the things Ilove is when I mess up in my
words, I laugh because I say,God, you know what I meant?
Mm-hmm.
Because he already knows it'snot about us bringing it to him.
(33:57):
It's about us being willing tolisten.
It's us about being present andpositioned.
That's what Step 11 is.
And I have a question.
When's the last time you gotquiet?
Hmm?
When's the last time?
Be honest.
You just sat at the feet of themaster.
(34:19):
When's the last time you justgot on your, and you don't have
to get in your knees, right?
When's the last time you justsat in silence away from the
world?
Because look, Satan's gonna tryand distract you.
I don't know about you, but whenI sit down and try and get quiet
with God, the dogs next doorstart barking.
Somebody's knocking.
The kids all of a sudden aregetting up at five in the
(34:40):
morning and they're usuallyasleep.
My phone's going off.
Satan's trying his best, but Imake sure that I get away from
that and just sit with God.
When's the last time you didthat?
How often do we come to God inprayer and say everything on our
hearts and then hang up the callbefore he can answer
Dan (34:58):
back.
That's good.
That's
Justin (35:00):
real good.
We ask for direction, but wedon't sit still long enough for
him to direct us.
It's like turning on your GPSand then throwing it out the
window or leaving your phone athome,
Dan (35:10):
right?
Justin (35:12):
Step 11 is that challenge that says Slow down.
Slow down, Christian.
Look this.
We run a race, but we walk withChrist.
Amen.
And you ain't outrunning him Toomany times we're trying to
outrun Jesus and look over ourshoulder and say, Hey, hey, no,
he wants us to walk with him.
(35:32):
'cause he walks with us, hetalks with us.
He knows you by name.
And let me tell you something,there is nothing sweeter.
Sitting in the presence of Godand understanding that he knows
you by name and letting himspeak to you.
Step 11 is us slowing down,carving out space and giving God
(35:53):
Almighty, who with just a word,brought all things into
existence.
Let let that sink in.
This is God the creator of allthings, who said, let it be, and
it was the one who was beforethere was a, was.
Dan (36:09):
Very good.
The
Justin (36:10):
same God who spoken to eternity, all things wants to
speak to you.
This is us listening.
This is us taking time andsaying, God, I'll let you speak.
It isn't an empty silence,right?
It, it, it, it's not empty.
In God's presence, silencebecomes a sacred space.
(36:32):
It becomes holy ground.
It's the soil where Revelationgrows.
Dan (36:40):
I love that question.
When was the last time you gotquiet?
You know?
'cause if we're real, most of ustalk to God more, you know, than
we talk with him.
Justin (36:51):
Hmm hmm.
Dan (36:52):
You know, we fire off prayers like, they're like
spiritual text messages orsomething, and then we wonder
why we just feel sodisconnected.
Justin (37:01):
LOL.
Dan (37:03):
Okay.
We say, God, I need direction.
God, I need help.
God, show me what to do.
And those are good prayers topray and before Heaven even has
a chance to respond, we'realready scrolling, stressing,
and we've moved on to the nextthing.
(37:24):
I love what you said, Justin.
Step 11 is a, is a, is a call tostop filling the space.
Because what if the silenceisn't God being distant?
What if it's God waiting for youto slow down?
Not so he can scold you?
(37:44):
Not so he can shame you, but sohe can speak life into places in
your life that are too loud tohear him.
Dude, Psalm 46:10 says, bestill.
Know that I am God.
But stillness is hard when we'vetrained ourselves to believe
(38:09):
that movement equals progress.
But let me say this clearly,stillness it's not laziness,
it's intimacy.
It's not weakness.
Family.
It's worship.
And when was the last time youjust sat in the presence of God
not to talk?
Not to plan, but just to listen.
(38:31):
When's the last time you'veasked, Lord, what do you want me
to say?
What are you trying to speak tome?
And then waited.
I mean, really waited for theanswer.
'cause the truth is God's nothiding.
He's not.
He's not sitting up thereplaying spiritual, hide and seek
(38:53):
from you.
He's not holding out on you.
He's waiting for your attention,not your perfection.
He's waiting for you to stopstriving and start sitting to
stop performing and startlistening, because that's where
the breakthrough happens.
Family, not in the volume ofyour words, but in the quiet of
(39:17):
your surrender.
And Justin, as we get a wrapthis podcast up, brother, again,
something we could probably keepgoing and going and going when
you start talking about soakingin the presence of God.
Because we've been there family,we know how life changing it can
be, but I've also been on theother side of it, and we're just
(39:41):
here to help you.
Mm-hmm.
'cause God isn't hiding.
He's waiting for your attention.
Not your perfection.
Justin (39:50):
I love what you said, Dan.
Step 11, that's what it's about,is intimacy.
It's not about information,right?
This step isn't about gettingall the answers.
It's about getting close enoughto the one who has them.
Listening for his voice.
And here's the truth, and thisis a hard truth that we all have
(40:12):
to accept.
You will never follow God's willif you never pause long enough
to hear it.
Mm-hmm.
We are.
So how do you know what Godwants you to do when you've
already decided?
Dan (40:23):
Right.
Justin (40:23):
It's hard to hear God's voice when you've already
decided what he's gonna say.
Listening is loving.
Hearing is healing.
When we slow down to hear God'sheart, we actually begin to live
from it ourselves because thatis us.
I delight in him.
(40:47):
He will give you the desires ofyour heart.
Mm.
So where's your delight today?
Is it in the presence of God?
Because guess what happens whenyou take your delight from his
presence?
Your desires begin to become hisdesires, and that desire is
fulfilled in his presence, andit's a never ending cycle.
And guess what?
Recovery's all about getting outof the cycle that kept us
(41:08):
victims.
Victim that kept us held hostagefor years.
This is us stepping out.
Look, you're a slave torighteousness or a slave to
obedience, and this is ussitting down and saying, Lord,
I'm yours.
Because one path leads to death.
Amen.
And the other leads to life.
Amen.
This is us stopping and lettinghim lead us to life.
Dan (41:32):
Guys, step 11 is where spiritual maturity, it doesn't
just visit.
It digs deep and takes roots.
This isn't the place where yourecite words and recite the
Lord's prayer every day, andand, and then walk away.
(41:53):
This is where your identity getsreshaped in the silence.
This is where you stop strivingand you just start hearing.
You don't come here to impressGod anymore.
You come to be impressed uponhim.
(42:15):
You don't need the perfectwords, family.
You just need to be quiet andjust be willing.
This is, this is the space whereclarity replaces the chaos of
the world, and this is wherepeace silences panic.
Where his whisper drowns out thewar.
(42:39):
That's waging in your mind.
So pause, lean in.
Don't rush this moment.
Don't rush the presence of God.
You're not waiting on a feeling.
You're waiting on a word,because when his voice rises in
your spirit.
(43:00):
Everything else, family.
This I can promise you willbegin to fall in line.
So stay rooted, family, stayrecovered, and let's get to
work.
You are not just surviving.
You are becoming, becomingrooted in truth, becoming
recovered by grace, and becomingthe person God always knew you
(43:25):
could be.
Thanks for joining us on Rootedin Recovered.
If this episode stirredsomething in you, don't keep it
to yourself.
Share it, live it, let it takeroot.
We'll see you next time righthere where scars become
testimonies and hope rises fromthe ashes.
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