NorthStar Church Blog

Digging Deeper – Seed to Sow

Ryan Hoffer on October 27, 2026

A sower went forth to sow…

Luke 8:5 (KJV)

SEED TO SOW

In 1991, Michael W. Smith’s album, Go West Young Man, proved to be a hugely successful effort for the artist. It catapulted the singer into fame as the single “Place in This World” topped the U.S. Billboard charts and became a mainstream crossover sensation on secular radio. In the Christian music scene, the album took home a Dove Award for Contemporary/Pop Album of the Year. Just to highlight the far-reaching success of the album, I was not a believer at the time, and yet I recall hearing “Place in This World” and being fascinated by the chorus. Almost a decade later, when I became a Christian, I went back and listened to the album with new ears, and it has since had a special place in my heart.

One of my favorite songs off of the record, however, has to be “Seed to Sow.” Of course, with this Sunday’s message being on the parable of the sower from Luke 8, it was inevitable that I went back and listened to the song. So, I’m going to ask a lot of you here: whether you love or hate the late-eighties/early-nineties synth-pop aesthetic (which presents itself in its full glory on the album cover), give the song a listen and follow along.

Smith begins by describing the diverse types of sowing according to different people:
Some people quietly reveal in the manner of the meek
Some people shout the way they feel to a radical degree
Some people sing it to express while others hear another call
Some people speak with subtleness, some don’t rely on words at all

Finally, he returns to his ultimate conclusion: “One thing I know, everybody’s got a seed to sow.” Firstly, Smith is making a good observation. We, too, are sowers. Yes, God is the ultimate sower, and this point is usually made when interpreting Jesus’ parable in Luke 8. However, as disciples and laborers for the kingdom, we also sow seeds of the gospel in the hearts of others. Writing to the church in Corinth, Paul considers himself a sower of the word of God: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6). We are obligated to share the love of Christ generously, that others may see for themselves and believe. In this manner, we sow.

Toward the end of the song, Smith makes an appeal to anyone who would doubt their usefulness as a sower: “God can use what you can give within the mystery of His ways. Don’t underestimate.” Our Lord took the five loaves and two fish of an unnamed lad and fed the multitude. When we doubt our usefulness, we echo the words of Andrew, who said, “How far will they go among so many?” (John 6:9; NIV). To quote Paul again, “…God [gives] the increase.”

Be sure of one thing today: if you have the love of Christ within, you have seed to sow. Now go forth and sow it! I pray that this song, cheesy as it is, is an encouragement to you today.

Ryan Hoffer serves as NextGen Production Director at NorthStar. He holds an M.Div in Church History and enjoys playing the harp. He and his wife, Tiffany, live in Acworth and have three children.

Digging Deeper – Fell by the Wayside

Ryan Hoffer on October 26, 2026

A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it.

Luke 8:5

FELL BY THE WAYSIDE

In 1526, an English priest by the name of William Tyndale published his English translation of the Bible, an act that was condemned by the institutional religion of his time. As a result, he was charged as a heretic, hunted, and burned at the stake in October of 1536. But the work had already begun; his Bibles had been smuggled into England inside bales of cloth and were being distributed throughout the country. By the time of his death, more than 50,000 copies of his New Testament had been sold in England. His dying words were said to have been, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!”—a prayer that was soon to be answered by God Almighty. Less than five years later, King Henry VIII broke ties with Rome and ordered English translations to be placed in churches throughout the country.

Not only did Tyndale’s translation make an enormous contribution to the emerging Protestant cause, but it also left a lasting legacy on the English language. Many idiomatic expressions have their origin in Tyndale’s translation, such as “salt of the earth,” “writing on the wall,” “a stone’s throw,” and “fight the good fight.” One phrase that is particular to this week’s devotion is “fell by the wayside” (Luke 8:5).

Tyndale’s translation of Luke 8:5 reads, “A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed some fell by the wayside and it was trodden under feet and the fowls of the air devoured it up.” Compare this to the NLT translation, which reads, “…some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it.” Notice how our understanding of the idiomatic expression lends new perspective to the text. When one “falls by the wayside,” they are said to fail to accomplish something or to give up. For example, “As life got busier, his fitness routine fell by the wayside,” or “When the going got tough, we fell by the wayside for lack of preparation.” Likewise, the seed that falls by the wayside doesn’t amount to anything—to employ the vernacular.

Next time you hear the expression “fall by the wayside,” remember two things: 1) the parable of the sower and the unfruitful conditions of this first type of terrain and 2) the enormous impact the Word of God has had on our language, mostly without our even being aware of it! Wouldn’t it be cool if even etymology could become an avenue for us to share the gospel with others who use these phrases unwittingly?

Ryan Hoffer serves as NextGen Production Director at NorthStar. He holds an M.Div in Church History and enjoys playing the harp. He and his wife, Tiffany, live in Acworth and have three children.

Digging Deeper: The Battle of Wills

Sellers Hickman on October 23, 2026

⁹Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. ¹⁰Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us this day our daily bread, ¹²and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV)

THE BATTLE OF WILLS

When most of us think about prayer, we probably think about asking God for something. We pray for our families, our jobs, our relationships, our finances, our health, our future, and a hundred other things. There is nothing wrong with asking God for those things. In fact, Jesus tells us to ask. But what if there is something happening in prayer that is even more important than getting the thing we asked for? What if one of the primary purposes of prayer is to change what we want? In this passage, Jesus reminds us that God is a good Father. He knows what His children need, He cares about His children, and He gives good gifts to His children. In fact, Jesus ends the thought by saying, “How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” That sounds simple, but it completely changes how we should approach prayer.

If God is actually a good Father, then prayer doesn’t have to be about convincing Him to care about the things we care about. He already cares. We don’t have to manipulate Him into giving us good things. We don’t have to find the perfect words or say enough prayers to finally get His attention. We come to Him because He is our Father. And when we spend time with our Father, something begins to happen… our hearts begin to change. When we pray, we come to God with our limited perspective. We see what is happening right now. We know what we want right now. We know what we think would make things better right now. But God sees the entire picture. He knows what we don’t know. He understands what we don’t understand. He sees where our desires will lead us.

So prayer becomes more than asking God to bend His will toward ours. It becomes an opportunity for God to bend our will toward His. This is why Jesus gives us such a powerful example in the Lord’s Prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus teaches us to pray for God’s will to be done. That means prayer isn’t just, “God, here’s what I want You to do.” It’s also, “God, help me want what You want.” That can be uncomfortable because sometimes God’s will is different from ours. We may pray, “God, give me this job,” while God is teaching us to trust Him when we don’t get it. We may pray, “God, fix this relationship,” while God is asking us to forgive someone. We may pray, “God, make my life easier,” while God is using a difficult season to make us more dependent on Him. We may pray, “God, give me what I want,” while God is slowly showing us that what we want isn’t actually what we need.

And that is where prayer becomes transformative. Instead of prayer simply changing our circumstances, prayer begins changing us. The more time we spend talking to God, listening to His Word, and bringing our desires before Him, the more we begin to recognize that some of the things we desperately wanted weren’t actually good for us. We begin to care about things we didn’t care about before. We begin to see people differently. We become more concerned with God’s glory than our comfort. We become more willing to forgive, serve, sacrifice, and obey. Prayer doesn’t always change what is happening around us. Sometimes it changes the person experiencing what is happening. That’s why we shouldn’t measure the effectiveness of our prayer life only by whether we got what we asked for. Sometimes God answers our prayer by changing the situation. Sometimes He answers by changing us in the situation. And if we’re honest, changing us may be the greater miracle.

Think about the things you are currently praying for. Now ask yourself a different question. Not just, “God, will You give me this?” but, “God, what do You want to teach me through this?” Not just, “God, will You change this person?” but, “God, what do You want to change in me?” Not just, “God, when will You fix this?” but, “God, how can I become more like Jesus while I wait?” Those questions begin to change our prayers. We still ask boldly. We still bring our desires to God. We still believe He can do things we cannot do. But we hold our desires with open hands, trusting that our Father knows what is best.

Prayer is not us trying to get God on our side. Prayer is us learning to get on His side. And maybe that is one of the greatest gifts prayer gives us. We come into prayer thinking we need God to change our circumstances, but we leave realizing that we need God to change our hearts. We come telling God what we want, and over time, He teaches us to want what He wants. So keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Bring your biggest prayers and your smallest prayers to your Father. But as you pray, don’t only ask God to change the things around you. Ask Him to change you. Because the ultimate goal of prayer isn’t simply getting God to do our will. It’s allowing God to shape our hearts until His will becomes what we want, too.

Sellers Hickman serves as College & Teaching Pastor at NorthStar Church and loves cheering on his Ole Miss Rebels. He and his wife, Hannah, live in Dallas, Ga. with their two daughters. He also serves as the chaplain for the KSU Men’s Basketball team.

Digging Deeper: What If God Withholds?

Sellers Hickman on October 22, 2026

⁹Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:9-11 (ESV)

WHAT IF GOD WITHHOLDS?

We’ve spent the last few days talking about prayer, and if you’ve been following along, you may be asking… What if God doesn’t answer my prayer? That’s a much harder question. It’s easy to talk about prayer when the answer is yes. We love the stories where someone prays for something and God comes through in an incredible way. We love hearing about the impossible situation that suddenly changed, the healing that nobody expected, or the door that opened at exactly the right time. Those stories remind us that God hears our prayers and that He is capable of doing far more than we could imagine. But what about when you pray and nothing changes? What about when you ask God to bring about good health and He doesn’t? What about when you pray for a relationship to work out and it ends? What about when you ask God to open a door and it stays firmly shut? What about when you pray for years for something and the answer seems to be silence?

Our passage from last Sunday gives us such hope. Matthew 7:9–11 gives us one of the most comforting pictures of God in the entire Bible. Jesus says, “Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?” Jesus is making a simple point: good parents want good things for their children. If we, as imperfect people, know how to give good gifts to our children, “how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” I love that Jesus calls God our Father. He doesn’t describe Him as a distant God who reluctantly listens to our requests. He describes a Father who knows us, loves us, and wants to give good things to His children. But there is something important we have to remember. God being good does not mean God will give us everything we ask for.

As a parent, there will be plenty of things my daughters ask me for that I will say no to. That doesn’t mean I don’t love them. In fact, sometimes the reason I say no is because I love them. A child may not understand why the answer is no because they can only see what they want in that moment. A parent has a different perspective. God has a completely different perspective than we do. There are things I have prayed for that I desperately wanted God to say yes to. There are things I have prayed about where I was convinced I knew exactly what God needed to do. But looking back, I can also see moments when what I thought was a good thing wasn’t actually the best thing for me. That doesn’t make the “no” easy. Sometimes we use phrases like “God has something better” so casually that we forget how painful it can be to actually live through unanswered prayer. There are moments when you don’t want a lesson. You don’t want character development. You don’t want to hear that God has a different plan. You just want the thing you prayed for.

Here is a truth that maybe you need to hear today. God can handle your honesty! You don’t have to pretend that a “no” doesn’t hurt. You don’t have to convince yourself that you never wanted what you prayed for. You can bring your disappointment to God because He is not threatened by your questions, your frustration, or even your grief. Jesus Himself modeled this in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed that the cup of suffering would be taken from Him, but ultimately surrendered Himself to the Father’s will. The prayer wasn’t wrong because He asked for something that didn’t happen. The prayer was an honest expression of what He desired, followed by a willingness to trust the Father. That may be one of the hardest parts of prayer: when we continue to trust God when His answer is not the one we wanted.

Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is not yet. And sometimes we may never fully understand the answer this side of eternity. But Matthew 7 reminds us that whatever the answer is, we can trust the heart of the One giving it. Jesus doesn’t say, “Your Father in heaven will give you everything you ask for.” He says your Father will give good things to those who ask Him. That means our confidence in prayer ultimately cannot rest in getting what we want. It must rest in knowing who we are asking. If my confidence in God is dependent on Him giving me the answer I want, then I will eventually find myself disappointed with Him. But if my confidence is rooted in who He is, then even when I don’t understand His answer, I can still trust Him.

Maybe that is where you are today. You have prayed the same prayer over and over, and you’re starting to wonder if God is even listening. Maybe you’ve been waiting for an answer for months or years. Maybe God has already answered, but the answer was no, and you’re struggling to understand why. Keep talking to Him. You can ask again. You can tell Him what you want. You can tell Him that you’re disappointed. You can tell Him that you don’t understand. And then, even when you don’t understand His answer, you can remind yourself of what Jesus told you… your Father is good! We may not always understand the answer, but we can trust the Father. Sometimes the greatest answer to prayer isn’t getting the thing we asked for. Sometimes it is discovering that even when God says no, He is still good, He is still present, and He is still our Father. Rest in that truth today!

Pray, Pray Often, Pray Boldly

Marlin McPhail on October 21, 2026

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Matthew 28:39

PRAY, PRAY OFTEN, PRAY BOLDLY

Prayer, for some, is quite easy, natural in fact. For me, it is not! I have asked many people about how they pray, and I know I’ve been given very good advice. However, what works for one doesn’t always work for another.

As a coach, depending on what level you work, you sometimes have the opportunity to pick the players you work with, while others, you are handed the players. In either scenario, the players are all individuals and all likely have to be motivated and coached “differently.”

Some might need a good motivational kick in the rear end from time to time, while others need the shoulder hug as motivation. Regardless of how you engage with the player, you still have to coach them on a level they understand as well. They all come from different upbringings and backgrounds and learn in many different ways!

I suspect prayer is much the same! God knows all about us. Nothing is hidden from Him. Our hopes, our dreams, our needs, and everything in between! What He wants us to do is bring it to Him. We need to be willing to communicate in some form or fashion with Him, all of it!

Just like working with your players, you need to find your mode of motivation and figure out what avenue best fits a way for you to get it done! Once we get there, the job isn’t over. We need to be bold, lay it all out on the table. Even though God knows all, He wants you to express in any words you can manage…that YOU know! Ask, and answers will come in God’s timeframe. But you need to pray to get answers!

Scripture allows us to see many examples of bold prayer. Above, in Matt. 28:39, is part of Jesus’ approach in the Garden of Gethsemane. Here is one from David after falling badly with Bathsheba.

David: Psalm 51:1–2

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

Pretty direct, and there are so many more examples of bold prayer for intercession, supplication, and repentance in the Bible. Many of us are asked to pray for others and have asked others to pray for us. I’m still working on a delivery method! I believe simple works, like “Lord, heal (insert name here).” I also believe God wants us to ask for blessings upon ourselves and our family if it’s something we truly want!

You can be more eloquent and flowery with your prayer. It’s your prayer! It’s your comfort level. However it gets done, I promise you, any prayer (communication) with God is better than none! Find your niche and pray!

Be well, Build well, Serve well.

Marlin

Marlin McPhail worked in professional baseball for 44 years before retiring in 2025. He played ten years with three different teams in the minors and then spent his final 34 years with the New York Mets as a Minor League Coach and Amateur Scout. Marlin resides with his wife Terry in Irmo, S.C. and has two grown children and five grandchildren.

Digging Deeper: The Difference Between Asking and Surrender

Sellers Hickman on October 21, 2026

³⁶Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” ³⁹And 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.” ⁴⁰And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? ⁴¹Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ⁴²Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. ⁴⁵Then 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. ⁴⁶Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Matthew 26:36-46 (ESV)

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASKING AND SURRENDER

Yesterday, we focused on the big prayers we pray. What would happen if we saw lives changed, miracles happening, and people coming to know Jesus? We’d be so excited! But today, I want to challenge you to think about another reason our prayers may be lacking. Do you ever pray for God to bring about change while secretly hoping He won’t ask you to change anything?

Think of it this way. (Here is my chance to insert something about the TV show Survivor.) I always say I would go on the show. I would love to compete. I believe I have the relational ability and strategic mind to win, and it would be fun! But what if today I got a call from Jeff Probst saying they needed a replacement contestant, filming started tomorrow, and I would be gone for 45 days?

This would be a dream come true! But what if those dates landed on our biggest night of our college ministry? What if filming overlapped with one of my daughter’s birthdays? What would my wife think if I left her for 45 days straight? At some point, I would have to ask myself, “Do I actually want to do this?” I’ve always said I wanted to be on Survivor, but when the opportunity finally came, I might discover that I wasn’t willing to accept everything that came with it. There is a difference between saying we want something and being willing to embrace what it requires.

I believe many of us do the same thing in our spiritual lives. We pray for God to give us victory over a particular sin, but we don’t want to give up the things that continually lead us back into it. We pray for spiritual growth, but we don’t want to rearrange our schedules to spend time in His Word. We pray for God to use us, but we don’t want to be inconvenienced. Sometimes the problem with our prayers isn’t that we don’t believe God is able to answer them. The problem is that we know He is more than able, but that it might require something from us.

What if the way God answers your prayer looks different from what you expected? What if He doesn’t immediately remove a struggle, but instead gives you the strength and discipline to keep fighting? What if He doesn’t remove a difficult person from your life, but teaches you patience, forgiveness, and grace? Would you still want the answer?

This is where Jesus gives us an incredible example. In the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing the suffering that was ahead of Him, Jesus prayed to the Father in verse 39, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus was honest about what He wanted. He asked the Father if there was another way, but He also surrendered Himself to the Father’s will. He brought His desire before God without allowing that desire to take priority over obedience.

That is an important distinction in our prayer lives. Surrender doesn’t mean we stop asking God for things or pretend we don’t have our own desires. We can bring Him our fears, frustrations, hopes, and the things we desperately want Him to change. But we must also trust Him when His answer looks different from what we expected. It’s easy to pray, “God, here’s what I want You to do.” It’s much harder to pray, “God, here’s what I want You to do, but I trust You even if Your plan looks different from mine.”

Sometimes God changes our circumstances, and sometimes He uses those circumstances to change us. We may ask Him to help our daily life, but He may use a difficult season to deepen our dependence on Him. We may ask Him to fix a relationship, but He may first challenge us to forgive. We may ask Him to remove an obstacle, but He may use it to teach us patience and perseverance. We won’t always understand why God answers the way He does, but we can trust that He sees what we cannot see and knows what we cannot know.

So, what are you praying for right now? Are you asking God to change something in your life? Maybe you’re asking Him to help you overcome a struggle, grow in your faith, or use you in a new way. Keep asking Him. Pray boldly and honestly, but also consider whether you’re willing to trust Him with the outcome. Are you willing to obey if He asks you to take a difficult step? Are you willing to let go of something you’ve been holding onto? Are you willing to follow Him even when His answer isn’t the one you hoped for?

Jesus reminds us that we can bring our requests to a good Father who hears us and cares for us. We don’t have to hide what we want from Him, and we don’t have to be afraid to surrender those desires to Him. Prayer is not just asking God to do what we want. It’s trusting Him enough to surrender to what He wants.

Digging Deeper: Learning to Ask God Boldly

Sellers Hickman on October 20, 2026

Matthew 26:36-46 (ESV)

LEARNING TO ASK GOD BOLDLY

Have you ever had something you wanted to say but didn’t know how to say it? Maybe you know exactly what you’re feeling, but when you try to put it into words, it comes out completely different. I think a lot of us feel that way about prayer. We know we’re supposed to pray. We know God wants us to pray. But when we actually close our eyes and start talking to Him, we think, “Am I doing this right?”

That question can become even harder to answer when life gets difficult. When everything is going well, it can be easy to thank God for His goodness. But when you’re anxious about the future, hurting from a relationship, or watching someone you love suffer… what are you supposed to say? How do you pray when you don’t understand what God is doing?

I think one of the most helpful places to look is the Garden of Gethsemane. On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus went away to pray. Matthew 26 tells us that He became anguished and distressed. He even told His disciples that His soul was crushed with grief. Jesus knew what was coming. He knew He was about to face betrayal, suffering, and the cross.

And what did Jesus do? He prayed.

Think about what Jesus was doing. He was not pretending that the coming suffering was easy. He was not hiding His anguish or acting like He had no desire for the cup to pass. He openly expressed what He wanted. He asked His Father to take away the suffering that lay ahead.

That is an incredible example for us because sometimes we approach prayer as though we have to clean ourselves up before we can talk to God. We think we need to find the right words, control our emotions, or convince ourselves that everything is okay. But Jesus shows us that we can come to the Father honestly. We can tell Him what hurts. We can ask Him to intervene. We can bring Him the things we desperately want Him to change.

Hebrews 4:16 invites us to approach God’s throne of grace boldly so that we can receive mercy and find grace when we need it most. God is not asking us to pretend we have everything figured out. Because of Jesus, we can bring our real selves before Him.

So how do we actually do that? When you don’t know what to say, it can help to have a simple framework for prayer. One tool I learned in high school is the ACTS prayer model. It is not the only way to pray, and it is certainly not a formula that guarantees a particular answer. Think of it as four lanes that can guide your mind when you aren’t sure where to start.

A — Adoration. Start by telling God what you love about Him. Tell Him that He is holy, good, faithful, powerful, gracious, or whatever characteristics of God you have seen in Scripture or experienced in your own life. When life feels uncertain, remembering who God is can help ground you. You may not understand your circumstances, but you can still remind yourself that God is worthy of your trust.

C — Confession. Bring your sin and struggles to God. Maybe there is something you’ve been hiding, something you’ve done that you know was wrong, or an area where you’ve been struggling to follow Him. God already knows it, but confession is about acknowledging it before Him and asking for forgiveness. We don’t have to pretend when we pray. Because of Jesus, we can come honestly and confidently before God.

T — Thanksgiving. Take time to thank God for what He has done. Maybe you thank Him simply for saving you. Maybe you thank Him for your family, friends, church, or something specific He has done in your life recently. This does not mean pretending that your circumstances are good when they are painful. It means remembering that even in difficult seasons, God has not stopped being God. You can thank Him for His presence, His promises, and the grace He has already given you.

S — Supplication. Ask God for what you need. Bring Him the big things and the little things. Tell Him where you’re struggling to see Him at work and ask Him to make Himself known. Pray for your family, friends, future, workplace, relationships, and the things weighing on you. But don’t be afraid to ask God for big things either. Ask Him to save people, heal what is broken, give you opportunities to share the gospel, and use your life for His purposes.

Again, this isn’t the only way to pray. The goal isn’t to turn prayer into a formula. It’s simply a place to start when you don’t know what to say.

Yesterday, we talked about the new relationship and new access we have because of Jesus. Today, I want you to actually use that access. You don’t need the perfect words. You don’t need to sound spiritual. You don’t need to know exactly what to say. You simply need to start talking to your Father.

You have a new relationship with God. You have new access to God. Now, talk to Him.

Digging Deeper: In with the New

Sellers Hickman on October 19, 2026

¹¹And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:11-14; 19-22 (ESV)

IN WITH THE NEW

Two things are true of me. In middle school, I got my very first cell phone, and I got my very first girlfriend. Now, those two facts may be a coincidence, but they were much more related than you might think. I think back to the month I got in trouble because we had Verizon as our phone provider, and my girlfriend had Cingular. (Anybody remember Cingular?) We texted so many times that month that it cost my parents hundreds of dollars in cross-company texting charges. I also have a memory of being on the phone with my girlfriend until about 3:30 in the morning. I eventually had to get off the phone because I knew my dad would be getting up at 4:00, and it would not go well for me if he heard me still awake!

There is a connection between having a new relationship and having new access. I had a girl that I really liked, and I now had a new means of communicating with her whenever I wanted. (Mainly because my parents upgraded us to the unlimited plan.) When you have a relationship with someone, you naturally want access to them. You want to be able to talk to them, spend time with them, and hear what they have to say.

There is a similar connection between our relationship with God and our access to Him. If you have put your faith in Jesus, you have a new relationship with the God of the universe. A God who loves you deeply. But you also have new access to Him. Through the Holy Spirit, we now have the ability to communicate with God through prayer. And because prayer can feel so normal to us, it is easy to forget just how significant that access really is.

Think about some of the people from the Old Testament. Maybe you thought of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, or King David. These people certainly knew God and experienced His presence, but access to God’s presence was mediated in a way that is different from what we experience today. God gave Israel the tabernacle and later the temple, and at the center of that worship was the Holy of Holies. This is the place where God’s presence was uniquely represented. The high priest could enter that room only once a year, but only after making the sacrifices and following the requirements God had given. There was a real barrier between the holy presence of God and sinful humanity.

But then Jesus came. Jesus (our Great High Priest) offered Himself as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for sin. And when He died, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two. The barrier was removed. Hebrews 10:11–14 explains that while the priests repeatedly offered sacrifices that could never ultimately take away sin, “Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins.” His sacrifice accomplished what the repeated sacrifices of the old covenant could never accomplish.

Sellers, why does this matter? It matters because when you begin to pray, you are approaching the holy God of the universe. You don’t have to travel to a specific place, wait for a priest, or bring an animal sacrifice. Because of Jesus, you can draw near to God yourself. Hebrews 10:19–22 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”

Think about the significance of that. Because of Jesus, you have a new relationship and new access to God. Prayer isn’t simply a spiritual discipline that Christians are supposed to practice. Prayer is one of the ways we experience the access Jesus died to give us. The God whose presence was once separated from His people by a curtain invites you to come near and talk to Him.

And that should change the way we view prayer. We don’t pray because God is distant and we’re trying to get His attention. We pray because, through the sacrifice of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, God has brought us near. We don’t pray because we are trying to convince God to listen. We pray because He has already made a way for us to come into His presence.

So let me ask you a few questions that I would love for you to consider…

Why do we pray?
How does the relationship you have with God change the way you pray?
How does the access you have to God change the way you pray?

Digging Deeper – Answers Can Leave Questions

Chris Boggess on October 16, 2026

O Lord, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.
O Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you turn your face from me?

Psalm 88:13-14 (NLT)

ANSWERS CAN LEAVE QUESTIONS

On Sunday, we looked at some of the answers that God gives us when we pray: Yes, Better, No, Grow, and Slow. But let’s be real, the first two are great, but the last three are confusing. I mean, all three feel like “No” in the moment.

When we pray and don’t get an immediate or positive answer, we get impatient. We want a customer service number: “Press three to find out the status of your current transaction.” But prayer is not a transaction.

When we don’t get an immediate or timely answer to prayer, we can start thinking strange things and attribute ideas to God that aren’t from Him. We do this in our regular relationships: when someone does something that may have a negative impact on us, we begin to come up with reasons why they acted (or didn’t act) as they did:

“Maybe they didn’t hear me.”

“Maybe they didn’t understand how important this is to me.”

“Maybe they are playing favorites and giving what I should get to someone else.”

Usually, when we jump to these conclusions about people, we are wrong. We often find that their reasons are far more nuanced than we thought. This is even more the case with God. When we try to divine His reasons, we are probably going to be wrong.

Sometimes we can turn to Scripture and see what God is doing, but even if we don’t find the answer, turning to Scripture is our best response. The Bible is full of people in dire situations who call out to God and don’t immediately get the answer that they need in the moment. Job, David, and even Jesus ask God to move and don’t get the answer they request, but all three eventually get an answer, and whether positive or negative, they accept what God is doing.

Negative answers to prayer can feel like punishment, that God is not working because He is correcting us in some way. If you will indulge me, I would once more quote J.R.R. Tolkien from a draft of a letter to a reader:

“A divine ‘punishment’ is also a divine ‘gift,’ if accepted, since its object is ultimate blessing, and the supreme inventiveness of the Creator will make ‘punishments’ (that is, changes of design) produce a good not otherwise to be attained.” (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 286)

So, when you get one of the last three answers, and you are waiting to definitively understand what God is doing, just remember that the God you serve is GOOD, which is often the real question we are asking when answers don’t turn out the way we want. Know that there is more going on than you will ever see, and trust your Father in heaven, who loves you more than you will ever know.

Chris Boggess is the Care + Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Where Are You?

Chris Boggess on October 15, 2026

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:8-9 (NLT)

WHERE ARE YOU?

The first question God asks in the Bible is, “Where are you?”

This comes directly after the first couple, Adam and Eve, listened to the serpent and ate the fruit and, as far as they knew, changed everything in their relationship with God. When God shows up, they hide.
So why did God ask, “Where are you?” It wasn’t because he was unaware of Adam and Eve’s location. If that were the case, God would have used the Hebrew word “Eifo.” This is the word you would use if you were asking, “WHERE do you live?” or “WHERE is the restroom?” But that is not the word this passage uses to quote God.

Instead, God asks, “Ayekah?” The root “Ayeh” is not about location. The question God is asking is more like, “Why are you not here where I am?”

Adam and Eve thought that their sin meant that God no longer wanted to meet with them. They thought their best option was to hide since God wouldn’t want to be around them. But God’s response wants them to look at themselves and realize that God hasn’t changed and that He is still there to meet them.

I believe God asks me the same question. On days when things are hectic and time is short, or when my spiritual life feels shallow and my sins overwhelm me, God walks in the cool of the day and asks, “Ayekah?” Don’t let what you have done or how you feel about yourself or God come between you and your Creator. Go and meet Him now.