It's Always Comeback Time: Shift, Pray, Proclaim | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 383

Something sick or dying in your world? Peter's raising of Tabitha in Acts 9 reveals a three-part kingdom pattern for breakthrough: shift your environment, pray through, and proclaim in faith. It's always comeback time in Christ.----------See the full episode transcript below.👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcastIf this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement.Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible.Stay current via the Smart Edit letter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/letter.----------EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: It's Always Comeback Time: Shift, Pray, ProclaimChrist is reigning. This is Jesus Smart X with Brian Del Turco. Live the difference.Hello there, friend. I'm recording this outside today, so if you hear a little birdsong in the background — well, that's a good thing. Did you know research now shows that five minutes of birdsong a day is good for you psychologically? Maybe we'll talk about that sometime — about creating soundscapes in our lives that are positive and healthy for our spirit, soul, and body.Today I want to talk with you about shifting your environment for a breakthrough, then praying through, and then proclaiming in faith to activate the extraordinary. Shifting your environment. Praying through. Proclaiming in faith.Let me ask you this: is something sick or dying in your world? Well, it's comeback time.A Kingdom Pattern from Peter — and from JesusPeter modeled something for us in the book of Acts, and he learned it from Jesus. There's no reason we can't do the same. Maybe it's a relationship, something in the financial space, a career, a business, a ministry project, or some cause you care about.Peter modeled three kingdom dynamics for seeing someone — or something — experience new life. We find them in Acts chapter 9.Tabitha fell sick and died. Luke writes that she was a woman who abounded in deeds of kindness and charity. Something good and beneficial had stopped. And the question was: how would Peter move forward in the face of this?Acts 9 tells us that when Peter arrived, they brought him into the upper room, and all the widows stood beside him weeping, showing him the tunics and garments Dorcas had made while she was still with them. But Peter sent them all out.Now, grieving is real — it's understandable. But this woman had been taken before her time, and Peter knew that if they were going to see the extraordinary, he had to shift the environment away from depression, wailing, and sorrow, and condition it for kingdom possibilities.Peter wasn't this wise on his own. Where did he get the idea? He'd seen Jesus do the very same thing with a little girl in Matthew chapter 9. Jesus arrived after this girl had died. The mourners started to mock him when he said, "She's asleep." He took Peter, James, and John with him into the room and told the crowd to leave. He conditioned the environment. And when they had gone, he entered, took her by the hand, and the girl got up.We, too, can follow this pattern that Jesus modeled and Peter followed: condition the environment.Point One: Condition Your EnvironmentWe probably need to stop listening to some things, stop watching some things, stop letting certain people or circumstances shape us. We're meant to live from the inside out. When our internal state is powered up, our internals shape our externals for the positive — instead of our environment crushing in on us and shaping us from the outside in.The Lord may lead us to graciously transform, or if necessary release, some relationships — and to stay open to new ones. We may need to let go of some negative memories and past experiences. There are many ways we condition both our outer environment and our inner one. (Maybe sometime we can talk about how our internals shape our externals.)But that's point one: condition — or recondition — your environment. Position yourself and set the stage for the extraordinary.Point Two: Pray Through to Win the DayWe can learn something from the old-school believers and that old-school phrase, "praying through." There are some things cool and casual won't win.Acts 9 tells us that after conditioning the environment, Peter knelt down and prayed. This is where we go to access grace and power. Hebrews chapter 4 tells us we can draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace — empowerment to help in our time of need. When we pray like that, we p