Dependence on the Lord - with Noelle Aucoin
Resources:
Podcasts/Sermons
Praying for Power - D. A. Carson
Website
Transcript:
Jocelyn: I don't just need to feel better. I need the truth. And ultimately that will make me better.
Janet: I just want to make it as totally simple as possible for ladies to see that the Bible is really applicable to their everyday life.
Jocelyn: When they understand theology, the application flows out of it quickly with joy.
Janet: It is a journey, but even the journey itself is joyful when I'm doing it, holding the hand of my savior and trusting him all along the way. This is the joyful journey podcast, a podcast to inspire and equip women to passionately pursue beautiful biblical truth on their journey as women of God. When you choose truth, you're choosing joy.
Janet: Welcome back. This is Janet once again, and I get to introduce another special speaker for us today, Noelle Aucoin, who is going talk to us about an important topic, but also just as important, is married to my son and is part of our family, so I get to record here today with my daughter and my daughter-in-law, so I'm thrilled to be here. But Noelle, kinda introduce a little bit about yourself, and what you wanted to share with us.
Noelle: Hello. Yes, thank you for having me. My name is Noelle Aucoin. I am married to Josh Aucoin.
Janet: Yep.
Noelle: Janet's son. So thanks for having me. It's good to be here. I'm excited to be here. Josh has been on the podcast before.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: I believe twice.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: So you've heard from him before. Josh is the worship pastor at our church, and so the way that I use my time, I get to help him with some ministry things. Getting to be a pastor's wife is just a joy to get to do. And then.
Janet: And you sing on the worship team as well.
Noelle: I do, yeah, so I get to help him with worship team. We have been on worship teams together since high school.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: Since his senior year of high school.
Janet: That's kinda how you met.
Noelle: Yeah, it is. Yep. So that's a really sweet part of our story, so we love getting to do that together. And then, the sweetest job that I have is I get to stay home with our two little girls. So Arielle is our two-year-old, and then we have an almost one-year-old, Elsie.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: So she'll be one by the time this podcast comes out. So that keeps me busy for sure. So yeah, that's a little bit about me.
Janet: And that may have led a little bit into why you wanted to study this topic.
Noelle: Absolutely, yes, for sure. For sure.
Janet: So what are we gonna be talking about today?
Noelle: I'd like to start, by sharing a personal example of today's topic from my own life, and the topic we are discussing today is dependence. So around Christmas of 2024, I was pregnant with our second daughter, and I got a bad cold. So the bad cold developed into something called pleurisy, which I've since learned is inflammation of the lungs. So normally this can be treated.
Janet: Yep.
Noelle: But being newly pregnant, I couldn't take the medication that would take care of it. So this began a long journey of physical limitations that I had just not experienced before. This included pain, shortness of breath, elevated heart rates. I was just worn out by the end of every day.
Janet: Yep.
Noelle: After having our baby, my symptoms subsided with medication. This winter I got sick again, which again resulted in pleurisy and to treat my sickness, I was given a shot of antibiotics that for whatever reason caused me to have some pretty intense pain.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: It was not able to be explained, and I was told it would hopefully subside at some point one day.
Janet: Ugh.
Noelle: But with no real end date. Okay, so why am I telling you this story? This was my first real taste of physical limitations in which I just had no control.
Janet: And you also had no end in sight. You didn't know. I gotta hang on for even a month. There's something about not having an end date that's so discouraging.
Noelle: Absolutely. And this is a common lived experience, most much worse than what I just shared. So I will tell you that my first tendency in a season of weakness like this, and now that I've learned more, I see it in many areas of my life, is to run to self-sufficiency. And what I mean by that is to live in a way that says, "I can do it. I don't need help. I will just work harder, do more to compensate, and I will be just fine." I see this in my day-to-day in my marriage, in taking care of my kids. Let me give you an example. Instead of just humbly asking for help on a physically hard day, I will push through just to end up impatient and grumpy with everyone by the end of the day.
Janet: We tell ourselves can do it.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: So I should be able to do it without even knowing the whole rest of their story, and it's completely irrelevant.
Noelle: Oh, man. Yeah.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: It's so easy to compare ourselves. So I see that in all of my relationships, but mostly I see it in my walk with the Lord.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: So if I just work harder, if I repent more, if I write more note cards with verses on them then my soul will be at peace. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of writing verses on note cards and of repentance, okay.
Janet: Yes, lots fan of those things too.
Noelle: Yes, these are good things, but if what I can do and check off are the first things I run to in a painful season, which I'm telling you, for me, they usually are, then I'm learning that my focus is misplaced.
Janet: And I think that's so good for us to think about, because you're right, everything you listed, those are good things that God has given us to grow in our love for Him, and no one here is saying don't do them. But to realize we can use those good gifts from God to try to prop up our own self-sufficiency, which, ouch.
Noelle: Yeah, for sure. So every year I pick a word that describes what I wanna grow in that year. And in January of 2024, I picked the word dependence. And what is the opposite of dependence? It's the self-sufficient heart that I just described. It's like the Lord knew what He was doing, right? Now 2024 and 2025 turned into a very challenging season for me.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: And I'll admit, I just blame myself. What did I expect to happen when I picked the word dependence for my year? But I did, and oh, I'm so thankful for what the Lord has taught me and is teaching me. I never ended up picking a word for 2025, and I just decided, you know what? The Lord just has more for me to learn about this topic, so I just picked dependence for the second year in a row. So dependence has become a topic that I am passionate about as the Lord has been teaching me, and I'm excited to chat about it today. Now, I'm an avid listener of the Joyful Journey podcast, so I know that you like your definitions.
Janet: You are right.
Noelle: Yes, and this is a really good one, so just prepare yourself. So according to the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of dependence is the situation in which you need something or someone all the time, especially in order to continue existing or operating. Okay, just let that sink in. Do we even need to talk about anything else today?
Janet: Wow, that is so good. We use that word dependence regularly, and basically we know what it means, but when you define it like that, it makes me think of an infant.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: We say that they're dependent. If you didn't feed Elsie.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: She would not survive. So to realize it's someone I need all the time, even in order to continue to exist. Wow.
Noelle: Yep, for sure. And we are going to repeat that definition over and over again in this episode.
Janet: Because Noelle's a teacher.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: And she knows that's helpful.
Noelle: And you will remember it by the end. Okay. So dependence is a huge topic. There are so many aspects that we could discuss, but today we're gonna cover three specific areas of dependence. First, dependence by being in relationship with Jesus. Second, dependence on the Lord for sanctification, and third, dependence on the Lord through prayer. And as we talk today, I will be referencing just a really helpful sermon that my husband sent to me, so shout out to Josh by D.A. Carson. It's called, "Praying for Power".
Janet: Oh, good. We'll have a link to that in our show notes as well.
Noelle: Perfect. And yeah, I would encourage everybody to go listen to it. It's very helpful. The text he works from is Ephesians 3:14-21, and we're gonna start by reading this passage, and then we will dive in. So Janet, would you read that for us?
Janet: Sure. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Noelle: Amen. Beautiful. Thank you. Okay, so let's begin by talking about what does it mean to be dependent on the Lord by being in relationship with Jesus? I mentioned earlier that in moments of hardship, my tendency is to run to self-sufficiency.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: It is all about what I know and how I can implement it. Let me give you some practical examples. If I'm worrying about my child who is disobeying, I will often run to my myriad of parenting books, look up the problem in the concordance, and make a plan to fix it all within about 10 minutes. I'm very efficient. Or if I'm in a conflict with my husband, I think, okay, if I can just love him better, find something to ask forgiveness for, and tape Philippians 2:3 on every wall in my house, we'll be good. Problem solved. Can you tell these are personal examples of mine? So let's be clear again, resources based on scripture, these practical steps, they're not wrong. These are good things. We should be doing them. But let me ask you, where is the dependence on Jesus in any of this? Do you see that what I'm doing is putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound when I rely solely on my knowledge, my understanding, my work, AKA self-sufficiency, to try to please God? Milton Vincent in The Gospel Primer states, "He, or God, has created me with the intention that I might glorify Him by finding my soul's delight in Him and by living in joyful obedience to Him in all my ways."
Janet: We skip that first part.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: So how do we glorify God? It's not only through obedience. Obedience is a part of it, of course, but it's also, and first, by delighting in our Savior, drinking in His goodness and love day by day. So let's go back to Ephesians 3. This is Paul's prayer starting in verse 17. So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. D.A. Carson states, "This is not a prayer that we would love Christ more, but that we should better grasp His love for us."
Janet: Oh, wow. I think we need to we need to say that again. For D.A. Carson to say, "This is not a prayer that we would love Christ more", not that's bad. But where's that gonna come from? But that we should better grasp His love for us.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: Oh, I think that's so important. This isn't that I'll just let go and let God theology. But it is realizing that what I need most is to better understand God and to be amazed by His love for me, which ultimately then isn't making much of me. It makes much of God, whose hesed is unbelievable.
Noelle: Absolutely. He goes on to say, "I am not mature as a Christian if I can merely articulate Christian truth. I must ask myself, am I overwhelmed by the grace and the love of God?"
Janet: Wow.
Noelle: Ouch, that's convicting.
Janet: Yeah, it is.
Noelle: So what I'm seeing is, and this is gonna be a theme we talk about, and it's what you just said, Janet. It is just not about me. It's not what I bring to the table. It is all about God's incredible love that I just don't deserve. Let me give you one more example from scripture. This passage has been so meaningful to me the past two years especially, and it's Luke 10:38-42. Janet, would you read that for us?
Janet: Absolutely. Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to Him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me. But the Lord answered her Martha, you're anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.
Noelle: Bless Martha's heart. She's trying, right? She is serving. She's working hard to be hospitable to Jesus. Come on, it's Jesus. Of course she is. So she gets upset with Mary, who is sitting at Jesus' feet listening to Him, and Jesus tells Martha that the problem is that she is anxious and troubled about many things, but that Mary has picked the necessary thing. I so relate to Martha. I am trying to do all the things.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: I'm working hard. I'm serving, I'm striving to please God. Again, good things, but so often I'm missing the necessary thing, the good portion, sitting at Jesus' feet, fully dependent upon Him.
Janet: And I think sometimes we look at this story and we think it's contrasting just sitting or serving. And I think the first indication that Martha, it says, was distracted by her serving- is that she looks at Jesus and says, "Don't you care?" That's really good. I mean.
Noelle: Yep.
Janet: There's an indicator that maybe I'm not serving out of a fullness.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: Of my relationship with Jesus.
Noelle: Yep.
Janet: If my serving has led me to say, Don't you even care? So, I think more than she shouldn't be serving, it's that exactly what you're saying, she needs to have the necessary thing, that focus on her relationship with Jesus that's behind all of her decisions. So now I'm picturing the listener going, Okay, but I still can't see what that's gonna look like in the midst of the situations, even the ones you described earlier.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: So help us. What would that look like?
Noelle: Yeah. What does this look like day to day? It's so easy to use the word dependence, the word abide. These are buzzwords that we use sometimes.
Janet: Yep.
Noelle: But what does this actually look like? I would begin by asking myself, in a moment of crisis, what is my first step? Do I go to how do I fix it? What step do I take? Who do I call? How do I please God through my obedience? Do I do that first, or is my habit to think of Jesus first? To fall on my knees and beg Him for help. Asking Him to help me understand what would be pleasing to Him. To draw near to Him and how? By communing with Him through prayer and His Word as a part of being in relationship with Him. Because I think this is how we please Jesus. And then through His Word, through wise counsel, we take steps through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. But again, it's just never about me and what I know. It's only about Jesus helping me, and me being fully dependent upon Him, just overwhelmed by His grace and love. And then I would also ask myself, what does my quiet time with Jesus look like? Am I so dependent upon Jesus that I would not want to go a day without spending time with Him? Not to build up my repertoire of knowledge, but to know Him, like Mary, to sit at His feet and to listen. Now, I'm gonna be honest, the answer for me is no, I'm not.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: But I want to be, and I'm asking the Lord to help me grow in my dependence on Him day by day, so that I value my relationship with Him this much, that I would not want to go a day without sitting at His feet, listening and learning from Him.
Janet: No, I like that, and I think- Instead of waiting until I feel all of that I can purpose in my heart before I go and do the things. I am going to stop, and it's an act of humility.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: And dependence.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: Instead of just, I gotta just go do whatever's the next right thing.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: Whatever, I'm gonna stop and talk to my Savior and acknowledge that without His help and His wisdom, I am lost.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: And then I'll do the things.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: And as I'm doing that more and more, my heart will orient more and more toward Him. Yes.
Noelle: Yeah. It's like you said before in the podcast, our feelings don't always catch up right away.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: And it's okay. That's not a promise God has given us, that we'll feel all of the right things right away. But I think even being honest with the Lord about that.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: 'Cause if I sit down in my quiet time, and boy, I'm not excited about it, there's a bunch of other things I'd rather be doing.
Janet: Yep, yep.
Noelle: A whole list of things I need to do, or I recognize I have 10 minutes till my kids wake up because I didn't get up early enough.
Janet: Yep.
Noelle: And being honest with the Lord when I sit down, saying, God, to be honest, I don't really wanna do this. Please change my heart because I want, and like I said before, I want to want this.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: That's a daily battle, for sure.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: All right, so do you remember our definition of dependence?
Janet: Here we go.
Noelle: It is the situation in which you need something or someone all the time, especially in order to continue existing or operating. Is this how I view my relationship with Jesus? Am I this dependent upon Him that in the hard moments of my life my first thought is of my Savior who loves me, rather than something I can bring to the table?
Janet: As you're saying this, I'm realizing actually we are all that dependent on Him. We don't really have an option. He gives us our next breath.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: It's just that we're not aware of our dependence. And so we have this illusion of self-sufficiency. So I wanna grow in a functional dependence that will match the actual reality that I really am dependent on Him for everything. I just want to live out of what's true. And He is so patient.
Noelle: Yes, He is.
Janet: As we live in our delusions and act as if we can handle things without Him, all while He's even giving us the next breath to even say that.
Noelle: Yes. Yeah. I love that. I love that idea of a functional dependence. Yep, that's what we're talking about. Okay, so let's talk about what dependence on Jesus and sanctification looks like. And again, let's define. So the Oxford Dictionary defines sanctification as the act of making or declaring something holy. So basically think becoming a more mature Christian until one day in heaven we're fully mature.
Janet: Yeah, I remember asking Brent about that term progressive sanctification many years ago, and he said, it's just the way that I change and grow to be more like Christ. And I remember thinking, Can't we just say that?
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: Why do we have to use these.
Noelle: Why is it so complicated?
Janet: $5 words when a quarter would do?
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: But that is what sanctification is, growing to look more and more like Jesus.
Noelle: Yes. Yeah. So let's go back to verse 16 of Ephesians 3. It says that, According to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Why? Jump to verse 19, That you may be filled with all the fullness of God. So what is Christian maturity or sanctification?
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: It's not being deemed most wise. It's not being the Bible study leader at your church. It's not never struggling with sin. It's being filled with all the fullness of God. And how do we get there? Verse 17 says, By Christ dwelling in our hearts.
Janet: Since Paul's talking to the church, apparently this means something more than just being saved. It means more than have I become a Christian?
Noelle: Yes, exactly. D.A. Carson uses an example, to speak to the very thing you just said that I think is so helpful. So let me set the scene for you. My husband and I moved into a new home about two years ago now, and I will tell you, although I love our house, if you know me, when you walk into my house, you would not say this house screams Noelle. So if you know me, you would know that for our house to truly represent my taste, Janet, What color would every wall in our house be painted?
Janet: Oh, absolutely white. Even your two-year-old, when you ask her.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: What's mommy's favorite color? White.
Noelle: Yes, everybody knows. White everywhere, right. Now, I will say, we did just paint our dining room white a year later, but the rest of the rooms in our house, they're tan and blue. And why? It's not because I like tan and blue, okay? It's because paint is expensive, and we have a limited amount of time to paint, so it's gonna take time. But the longer we live in this house, slowly it is becoming more and more representative of us. It's changing to look more like us, and it will continue to because we live in it.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: We dwell in it. In the same way, how do we look more and more like Jesus? How do we become sanctified? Yes, it starts by becoming a Christian, but then it's by Him dwelling more and more in our hearts. So verse 20 says, Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory. What is the far more abundantly than we ask or think, or some versions say imagine? It is the extent to which Jesus dwells in our hearts. That's amazing. Think about it. If my heart were a house, it would be the most run-down, dirty, disgusting shack you could ever imagine.
Janet: Oh.
Noelle: I'm picturing an outhouse, right. Until Jesus comes in, and by dwelling in it, begins over time to make it look more like Him. I can't even fathom that.
Janet: When you think about it, it's a bit embarrassing. He's dwelling in the parts of my heart that have not been made presentable, that I hide frequently from myself.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: And He still loves me. I'm still safe.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: That's amazing.
Noelle: Yes, and that's what I was gonna say. He knows my heart even better than I do.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: There's wickedness in it that I don't even recognize that He knows.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: And He still chose me. Wow, that's pretty amazing. So what does it look like to depend on Jesus for my sanctification? It's realizing that even my sanctification is not actually up to me. It's not first about how much I obey, how much sin I can root out, how much scripture I can memorize. Again, I'm gonna keep saying it, all good things. But even me doing these things in obedience is a grace of Jesus choosing to dwell in my heart and make it look more like Him.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: I'm gonna take you to one more passage. It's John 3. A sweet friend and mentor of mine, actually, you've had her on the podcast, Tirzah Birk.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: Yes. She pointed this out, and it has just stuck with me. We're gonna look at verses 25 through 30. Basically, the context is John the Baptist's disciples see Jesus baptizing and, quote-unquote, "taking people from John." So we're gonna start in verse 25. Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, he's baptizing, and all are going to him. John answered, A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease. John's response to his disciples is, Any good thing in me is only from God. I repeat this phrase to myself constantly. If I ever have a moment that I remember to obey, that I've seen I've grown in an area, that I fight my sin, even that is from Jesus. Any good thing in me is from Him.
Janet: When I think about that cause struggled obviously with my own growth and crying out to the Lord, God, I'm trying to change. I don't know why I keep on. But then recognizing even if I have a desire to change that's evidence of God already at work. That's not even in me. I don't naturally just want to be godly. So you have that desire that doesn't make much of you, but it should encourage you that God's already at work or you wouldn't even have it.
Noelle: Yes. Yeah, and that's what I was gonna say. What does that then lead us to? It doesn't lead us to despair that I'm not doing enough, I'm not good enough yet. It doesn't lead us to, wow, look at me, I'm so awesome.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: And wonderful and holy, right? It leads us to praise the Lord that He has put this in my heart to even be able to obey in an area.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: All glory to Him.
Janet: That's right.
Noelle: That it leads us to a different place.
Janet: Yep.
Noelle: So D.A. Carson explains, You and I cannot be mature or think sanctified unless we have the power to grasp or to know the limitless dimensions of the love of God. Verse 18, The breadth and the length and the height and the depth of the love of Christ.
Janet: Which helps me understand why He prayed that for Him, because I can't know that unless God helps me to even understand that love.
Noelle: Yep. Yeah. Okay, so let's review our definition of dependence again.
Janet: Here we go.
Noelle: The situation in which you need something or someone all the time, especially in order to continue existing or operating. Do I realize I am fully dependent on Jesus even for my sanctification? Anything good in me is only from Him, or am I relying on my knowledge, my understanding, my strength to try to look more like Jesus?
Janet: And I might say I'm trying to look more like Jesus, but when I'm doing that, I'm really trying to feel better about me.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: And shine a spotlight on look how much I've grown. I'm not really shining a spotlight on Jesus at that point.
Noelle: Absolutely. All right finally, let's talk about prayer. So what does it look like to depend on God through prayer? I'll tell you, when I'm praying, especially during a hard season, I find that my prayers often revolve around the outcome of my circumstances. God, here's what I think would be really good to happen, and then maybe utter an but whatever your will is, let it be at the end. Or if I'm asking the Lord to grow me in an area, I can just be consumed in my prayer about how wicked my heart is, or my motivation can be that I'll just have blessing because I'm obeying. But how does Paul model his prayer for us in our Ephesians passage? Look at his doxology in verses 20 to 21. It says, Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. There is just nothing about me in that prayer. It is all about the glory of God. Self-sufficiency must die in a prayer like this. D.A. Carson explains that the ultimate purpose of the prayer for Christian maturity is not actually Christian maturity, but the praise of God. When I'm praying, my soul will find rest when I am so focused on His glory and His praise that I surrender any ounce of my own. That's when I can confidently say, Lord, may your will be done.
Janet: And then that's truly supernatural.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: When we naturally pray, thinking about how the answer will maybe affect us or maybe it's someone we love and so I'm praying for outcomes that I believe would be best for me or best for the people I love and it's not always bad. It's just not ultimate. So we need His help to even do this. I have to give up even trying to do this myself.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: I have to surrender. And I think about my friend, who's been on the podcast, Noel Haynie. The way she prays for people in hard circumstances, and prays specifically for things that she believes would be best for them. And then ends it with, or something better.
Noelle: Yes. Amen.
Janet: Because the Lord, if He doesn't do that, it's because He knows so much more than me.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: About what will bring Him glory.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: That He will do something better. So I have to surrender.
Noelle: Yes. And let's talk about that word surrender. I mentioned buzzwords earlier when we talked about a topic like dependence.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: I think surrender is one of those. People will often explain that to depend on the Lord, I must just surrender the circumstance to Him, and that sounds so great. But what does that actually mean?
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: Let's take a look at 2 Corinthians 1:20. It says, For all the promises of God find their yes in Him. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory. When we read this verse, it's tempting to think, great, anything I ask, God says yes to? I love that. No, not quite. It says that all the promises of God find their yes in Him. So we have to ask ourselves, what has God promised His children? I have a list for you of some of the things that come to my mind, so bear with me. Some of the things I think of that God promises to His children: salvation, eternal life with Him, that every tear will be wiped away. That He will grow me until one day, when I join Him for eternity, I will struggle with sin no more. That perfect justice will be done in the end. That nothing can separate me from His love. I could go on. So when I'm praying, yes, I'm bringing requests before Him, and then I'm remembering that what He has promised is already a yes. Now, it's not wrong for me to ask, for example, that my physical suffering be taken away. He cares about that, and He may choose to say yes, no, or wait.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: But when I ask that He would grow me in compassion for others and trust in Him through my physical suffering, the answer to that is already a yes. What comfort and hope there is in a prayer like that. So I'm surrendering my request to Him. I'm saying, God, I trust you with my request, and I want to want your will to be done.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: I'm remembering that whatever God chooses to do with my request will bring Him glory and will be only for my good, and I'm depending on the Lord to fulfill the promises He has already made and said yes to. That is how I surrender to the Lord in prayer.
Janet: Oh, that's really good. And I think it just, we need to slow that down a little bit. First, I wonder how much of my prayer time is asking for what He's promised so that I could pray it confidently and know the answer is yes.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: It seems like that should be a pretty big part of what I'm praying.
Noelle: Yes, yeah.
Janet: Praying for what I know He wants because He's promised it. And then when I pray about things that I don't know exactly what He wants, does He wanna heal me physically? I still bring all that to my Father, and I know He wants to hear from me and He wants me to bring Him all of it.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: And I will hold the answer with an open hand and know that whatever His answer is, it will be consistent with His promises and His heart for me.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: And that would then practically be surrender.
Noelle: Yes, definitely. And joy and what peace comes out of a prayer like that. I'm not clamoring to get what I want or what I think is best, and that's really hard.
Janet: It's supernatural.
Noelle: Yes. Sometimes there are really painful and difficult circumstances that we're praying for. So I don't say this lightly, just imagining some of the circumstances that your listeners might be in right now.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: That they're praying these prayers for, but boy, there just is such a peace after walking away from a prayer that says, God, I fully trust you with my request, and these are the things I know about you, and this is what I know is already a yes. Now I can walk away in peace knowing that yes, God will do what is best for me because He knows me and loves me.
Janet: Yep.
Noelle: Boy, there's just hope in a prayer like that.
Janet: Absolutely.
Noelle: All right. So let's review our definition of dependence. Are you tired of it yet?
Janet: I wonder if listeners say it with her.
Noelle: That's true. The situation in which you need something or someone all the time, especially in order to continue existing or operating. So I have some questions for us to ask ourselves. Does my prayer life reflect dependence on Jesus? Are my prayers loaded with self-exaltation and self-sufficiency, or are they all about His glory? Am I surrendering my desires and my circumstances to Him? Am I finding hope in His promises that are yes, and depending on Him to bring them about? Can I go even a day without falling on my knees, begging Him for His help, rather than running to what I can do and accomplish? And then after I pray, am I dwelling on thoughts of, oh, did I pray enough times, with enough faith, or have I done enough to make God happy? Or does praying lead me to a peace-filled truth of who my God is? This is how we depend on the Lord through prayer.
Janet: I love that when you said, Did I pray enough? Sometimes what we're saying is, how do I help God to know how much I want this so that I can make Him do it? So now it's not about God's glory.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: And it's not about trusting His heart. It's how do I talk Him into it?
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: And I don't have to do that, and that whole thing is a process. That's just a growing journey for each of us.
Noelle: Oh, yeah.
Janet: And God is so patient while we're learning.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: And He knows exactly what to bring into our lives to help us see our need for Him.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: As well, He is such a good father.
Noelle: Yes. Okay, so we've talked today about dependence being in relationship with Jesus, dependence on Jesus for sanctification, and dependence through prayer. I would like to read Ephesians 3:14-21 in its entirety one more time to give us all a chance to meditate on this passage through the lens of dependence, and then we will get into application for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith— that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge— that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. So I was hesitant to even talk about application today because we have talked all about depending on the Lord and how that is the opposite of self-sufficiency. And it is so tempting to jump into an application section and say, okay, finally, now what can I do?
Janet: Just tell me what to do.
Noelle: Yes. Give me a list. This is my temptation too. So let me just say, if you've skipped ahead to application, go back and listen to the meat of this topic. But I do think it's important for us to ask, okay, how could this look in day-to-day life? Because it's not that we don't obey. Jesus says to love Him is to obey His commandments, But it's that we approach even obedience in dependence on the Lord. So that being said, how could we apply what we've learned today about dependence to our day-to-day lives? First, we just talked about it in depth. Prayer is a huge part of depending on the Lord.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: It is a physical act of saying, I cannot do this on my own, and I need your help. We see Jesus all the time in the gospel spending time alone, praying to His Father. If Jesus needed to do this, don't you think this should be a practice that would be good for us, too? I will tell you, in heavy seasons, some of the most meaningful moments I have is physically on my knees communing with my heavenly Father in prayer. Surrendering, we know what that means now, my life, my desires, my fears, my requests to Him, and remembering His promises are a yes. I'd like for us to read Matthew 26. This is Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane, and it's just a beautiful example of what a prayer of dependence looks like. So Janet, would you read that for us?
Janet: Sure. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and troubled. And then He said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me. And going a little farther, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And He said to Peter, so you could not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done. And again, He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.
Noelle: Thank you, Janet. So some things I notice in Jesus' prayer that make me think dependence. Jesus began to feel sorrowful and troubled, so His first response was to go away on his own and pray. Jesus prayed multiple times. Verse 39 says that Jesus fell on His face in prayer. Jesus repeated to His father, Your will be done. So I wanna ask myself, do the heart of my prayers resemble Jesus'? Is this a way that I'm practicing dependence upon Him? Another area of dependence that I'm learning more about is rest. So I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that over the past couple years I've dealt with some new physical limitations that I didn't have before. And when your body won't do what you want it to do, and you don't have any control over it, I have realized just how dependent I am in a new way. So when thinking about rest, I think it's just really helpful to go back and look at how God commanded the Israelites to handle the Sabbath. So we're gonna go and look at Exodus 16:20-30. The context of this is that the Israelites are wandering in the wilderness, grumbling and complaining as they do, and as I would too, right?
Janet: I know. I'm too much like them.
Noelle: Yes. And God provides manna for them to eat. He tells them to only gather as much as they can eat for that day, but no more. Okay, so verse 20.
Janet: But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning, they gathered it, each as much as he could eat. But when the sun grew hot, it melted. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, 'This is what the Lord has commanded. Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil. And all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.' So they laid it aside till the morning as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none. On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore, on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in His place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.
Noelle: So what is the point of the Sabbath? I would argue that it was to teach God's children to depend on Him.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: Every day He told them to gather only what they could eat, and the next morning it would be back. But to prepare for the Sabbath, they were to gather double the portion of food in preparation, and then they would have to trust Him that it would last. They could not run out and get some more. There wasn't any. They had to depend on God for their daily bread. Do I depend on God like this through rest? And I'll tell you, my tendency, like I said, is to just go do more.
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: I think I can handle it. I can just do it myself. I'm learning that dependence looks like valuing rest in the way that God values it, physically and spiritually. Part of that is sleeping at night, right?
Janet: When you can, right?
Noelle: Yes. Yeah, for real. No kidding. I am fully dependent on God for my physical wellbeing while I sleep. I just have no control while I'm sleeping. But am I also intentionally scheduling times of rest into my life? One of our pastors in a recent sermon asked us, am I living life slow enough to think of God often? This looks different for everyone, of course, but one of the ways our family is considering this is trying to implement a day a week where we put our phones away, we cook meals ahead, and we just have some really focused and intentional family time. That includes just a lot of praising the Lord together without distractions. And let me tell you, the first time we had a Sabbath Saturday, as we're calling it, but we felt so good going into it. Yes, we're so dependent on the Lord. This is so great. Everything went wrong. Our kids ended up with fevers.
Janet: Ugh.
Noelle: It was cold and rainy outside. We ended the day so grumpy after having to endure all of these things, and without the distractions of our phones. And then we realized, oh, this was the point. We needed to see how quickly we run to entertainment and distraction rather than to Jesus when things get hard. So if you try a Sabbath Saturday, you've been warned.
Janet: That's right.
Noelle: It's probably not gonna go how you think it will, but it'll be good. Oh, but the point is, am I living in a way that values what God values when it comes to rest?
Janet: Yeah.
Noelle: And am I implementing rest in such a way that it's reminding me that I am solely dependent on God? Okay, so there could be a hundred applications of this topic, but I just have one more really practical one to share that's just been a big blessing to me. This is not original to me. I learned this from a pastor, Garrett Higby. But it has been a big blessing to me in practicing dependence on the Lord, and it is Psalm writing. So his encouragement was to start by looking through the Psalms that are meaningful to you and take note of why. So maybe it's the style, the topic, the turn from hopeless to hopeful then spend some time writing your own Psalm, implementing some of those ideas from psalms that are meaningful to you. So this has just been an incredibly helpful exercise for me. I have a journal just full of them from the past year.
Janet: Oh, wow.
Noelle: I think it's just a really helpful way to commune with the Lord. So if you look at the Psalms, they are full of dependent language, whether it's lament, so trusting in the Lord with hurt, proclaiming truth about God, remembering who He is in the midst of hard circumstances, or praise, worshiping God for His character. It has just been a hugely helpful exercise for me as I try to practice dependence on the Lord.
Janet: And maybe for some that seems overwhelming. If they're like me, I'm not a creative person. I've done it, I do find it helpful, but that can feel overwhelming.
Noelle: Sure.
Janet: At least just start by journaling your prayers.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: To God.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: And the whole point of the Psalm writing is you're basically just putting some structure to that.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: But journal your prayers to God after you've read a Psalm.
Noelle: Yeah, absolutely. There's lots of ways to practice this, for sure.
Janet: Yes. I find that just slows me down. For me, that's the big thing, is I have to slow down.
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: To be able to really think about what's going on in my head, what all do I need to take to the Lord, and what's true about God, and am I talking to Him about all of it?
Noelle: Yes.
Janet: So that helps me truly talk to Him about what's going on in my heart and to offload my hurt and my sorrow to Him.
Noelle: Yeah.
Janet: I do like the idea of following a Psalm structure because it's most likely then gonna include not only lamenting or crying out, but it's gonna intentionally help me take the time to remember who He is and what He's done.
Noelle: Yeah. I really like that idea that you're talking about of slowing down. I think sometimes at the end of the day, especially with little kids running around, and it's true in every season of life, I can get to the end of the day and think, man, I feel really burdened, or, I'm feeling really anxious, and I don't really know why. What just happened? Everything's fine. But I'm really struggling to sit down and journal, boy, I have found that to be so helpful.
Janet: Yeah, because things are going on in our head we don't even realize it.
Noelle: Yes. So whether you're just journaling or writing a Psalm, to then even be able to look back and say, oh, this is what's going on, and here's how I can cry out to the Lord.
Janet: Yes.
Noelle: Sometimes we don't even realize it.
Janet: Yep.
Noelle: Until we sit down and really consider Okay, so let's wrap up by reviewing our definition of dependence one last time so that you never forget it. Dependence is the situation in which you need something or someone all the time, especially in order to continue existing or operating. So let's look to Jesus for help as we live in dependence on Him.
To keep from missing any future episodes, please sign up for our newsletter on our webpage faithlafayette.org/JJP From there you can also subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, or Spotify. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or Instagram at Joyful Journey Podcast. If you have questions or comments for us, you can email us at joyfuljourneyquestions@outlook.com. Joyful Journey Podcast is a ministry of Faith Bible Seminary. All proceeds go to offset costs of this podcast and toward scholarships for women to receive their MABC through Faith Bible Seminary.
Host Janet and her husband, Brent, also speak at a variety of conferences as a way to raise money for the seminary. If you want to look at what they offer or book them for a conference, go to their website.
