Episode 135. Intimacy With God In Prayer with Kyle DiRoberts

Unedited Transcript

Kyle. I am so thrilled to have you on the show today. Thank you for being here. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. This is going to be a lot of fun. I love when we get to talk about prayer, which is a topic you are super passionate about. You've written a whole book on it, called the secret to prayer, 31 days to a more intimate relationship with God.

And it's releasing around the time that we dropped this episode, which I'm really excited about because our listeners can get their hands on it. But before we jump into kind of some of the meat of the book, I want you to sort of walk us through the journey and the path to this. So it's a, it's a 31 day journey examining the heart and actions of biblical characters whose prayers were answered, which I think is a really unique take on prayer.

And so I'd love to hear why was that important to you to kind of be the backdrop of this message? Yeah. Great question. You know, what's interesting to me is, is when you have these really rich biblical themes, One of the, one of the fun tasks that I enjoy doing is, uh, and this is going to sound kind of cheesy.

Uh, and I don't mean for it to be cheesy, like in a, in a, in a demonstrative way. But, um, I, I read the Bible and I read it from beginning to end and here's the secret is I read it quickly. From beginning to end. And what ends up happening as I just read is you start to see this theme on earth itself and just reveal itself over and over and over again.

And so it was neat was as I came across this quote while I was doing some other research and it was by Andrew Murray and it said this, it said the secret of secrets, humility is the soul of true prayer. And when I read that quote, I thought to myself, oh boy, Me and you we're coming back to this one day and.

Almost within weeks of completing some of these other, other projects and tasks. I went right back to it and I said, okay, um, let's, let's figure out what this looks like in the Bible. Let's, let's put this to the test. And so I read Genesis all the way to revelation. I think I did it in about three months or so.

Wow. And, and I just would just dog here, each instance where I felt like, um, um, that quote rang true. And one of the neat little, little nuances throughout the writing project is that anytime you read about prayer in the Bible, you will always find humility, lurking around. Anytime you read about humility in the Bible.

You always seem to find prayer lurking around. I mean, they're just, they always seem to go hand in hand. And so what we ended up doing with this, with this whole, with this book was just, just documenting from gender, gender. Through revelation, what I found to be. And there was a host that didn't make it in there, but at least these being the most, uh, prominent examples whereby the reader just gets to go on this journey and gets to see, um, humility as being the soul of true prayer.

Yeah. That's really cool. That's I've never thought about pairing those two things together as you read through scripture, but I wonder. So I'd go down the path of writing my first book myself. I'm curious, like, as you were reading through scripture is none of this will happen for me. I'll see something and I'll get like really excited yeah.

About it. And I can't wait like a particular instance maybe where you were reading and you were like, oh man, I can't wait to write about that one. Was there, was there one of those for you in this message? Yeah. You know what I ended up. Yeah. I mean, that is, that's one of the joys and that'd be one of the, kind of the, the sweet moments between you and the Lord and your whole writing, uh, endeavor.

And, and yeah, that would happen frequently. And that was part of the excitement. See, I'm an early riser. So I get up at four 30 and I write till about seven or whatever the kids get up, because then everything's done once the kids get up. And, and so I wouldn't get up in the morning. I grabbed my coffee and I would just start to read.

And, and there was just this anticipation of, okay, Lord, what are you going to reveal to me? And I will, I'm not going to lie. There are certain days where it was like, oh gosh, Leviticus offers me nothing as it relates to prayer in this moment. Right. But then there will be other instances where you to be in second Chronicles and all of a sudden you'd be like, oh my God, Yeah, these first 20 chapters of second Chronicles are almost entirely about prayer and no one ever told me this.

Why, why didn't no one ever tell me this? Or you had fast forward, you get to James and you'd be reading James. And all of a sudden you're like, wait a second. The prayer of faith. What does this from chapter one through chapter five, all I'm getting is prayer. And so James is adamant on writing about prayer.

And so, yeah, there were plenty of those moments in which you're just like, okay, Lord. This is sweet and thank you. And it turns into a very worshipful experience for me, at least in the writing process. Yeah. Yeah. That's really cool. I love that. Well, people who are listening, you know, are going to be on a, on a spectrum of where they're at in their prayer lives right now.

Right. And so I would love to hear what are some of the things, maybe the struggles that you are keeping in mind. When you think about your reader, right? Like what are some of the things that you think we're facing right now in terms of prayer that maybe hold us back or keep us stuck? Are there any of those things that you'd want to share?

Yeah, Rebecca, you know, we're living in a unique time. And so Lord willing, one day, we're going to sit with our great grandchildren maybe, or our grandchildren. And we're going to tell them that we lived during a time period in which planes didn't fly and that the church never gathered. And that's some pretty, those are two pretty powerful things.

I mean, I still remember that after nine 11 going up and looking in the, in the sky, it was almost eerie how quiet it was. But the same thing with this, with this pandemic. And, and to me, a lot of the struggles that I would imagine these readers are bringing to this book and why this book I think is, is timed.

So, so well, uh, is that we're, we're coming out of a season in which the church hasn't been gathering. And, and so that means that there are certain people, um, that have that. That are predominantly dependent upon either their pastor or some mentor or some person at church in which they pray with. Uh, and they haven't been able to meet with them.

They haven't been able to see them. They haven't been able to interact with them. And what, what grieves me is is that then there's that potential in which they haven't been praying. And, and regarding, I mean, I don't know how long. You know, the, the pandemic period has been for, for everybody, but in some cases, um, you're looking at a year and maybe a little over a year.

Uh, and so my heart and writing this was for those individuals. I mean, in part for those individuals that I want them, the next time of pandemic. Arrives and it, and it happens. Um, hopefully it never does, but I'm just saying if there's ever a point in time in which this occurs again, uh, that they have, uh, that they realize they have all of the faculties they need right now, uh, to pray and to pray abundantly because all that God demands of us, all that he asks of us is that we pray for my humble heart.

Uh, and so what that does is it frees the one praying up to just speak freely to God and. And hopefully then free and especially even from like a spiritual warfare stamp standpoint where they're actually, um, you know, yeah. Feeling shame or feeling guilt because they're not praying, but then at the same time, uh, wanting to pray, but just not knowing how to pray.

So, so I'm hopeful that this book helps alleviate some of that. Yeah. I love that so much. And it sort of is a good lead in to the next question, because I think some of them. Who were raised in the church, maybe have to overcome oftentimes this piece of like, well, did I do it right? Did I say the right words?

Am I good at it? Right. Which I think is a really creative play of the enemy often to hold us back in our prayer lives. And so I would love to hear. You know, sort of your heart for why is it important for us to focus on having the right posture, right. This posture of humility, rather than focusing on quote saying the right words.

Yeah. Yeah. So we got to remember too. Yeah. Great question. So me going into this project, my goal was to figure out what is the connection between humility and prayer? I mean, the Bible could have unearthed these examples in which the one praying had these outstretched arms, right. And their palms facing up and in their eyes, you know, uh, gazing towards the heavens or maybe due to humility their eyes, or they can't even look up up to God.

Up to God or up towards heaven. Uh, I mean, humility could have unearthed itself in a variety of ways. And I just find it interesting that really what God ends up revealing to the pages of scripture. Is that what he's most intent on is for the one praying to be aware of their heart. Hmm, uh, and to be aware of the condition and the content of the heart, because really the heart becomes the word Smith, which is generating and creating the very words that we pray so long before there's a prayer uttered.

The prayer has already begun. I mean, the, the beginning processes of that prayer have already begun. And what's amazing about God is that, that that's what he's listening to. That's what he's responding to. Take that individual who is fumbling and messing up and, and, and saying what seems to be all the wrong words might genuinely be praying from the most pure and humble of, of a place.

And then you contrast that with the person that just sounds like they've got it all together. It appears like their life is all together. They know exactly what to say and when to say it. And so that they're offering their prayers. And so you're looking at them thinking, well, man, I wish I could be like them, but, but in reality, they could be praying without a humble heart.

And then the great question is to say, well, who would the world recommend we with. Hmm. And then in turn, um, who would God recommend we mimic? And so, so at the heart of this whole endeavor, um, is that we we'd be aware of this. Yeah, I think it's that simple. Yeah. I agree. That's so good. You know? It's so fun to get, to talk to authors as a part of kind of this, this part of my job.

And one of the things that I love hearing is how God works in you as you develop this message, right? I think that's always such a beautiful story because no matter what book you hold in your hands there is. Often years of searching the scriptures of research of writing before, you know, the real world is going to hold that, that piece of work in their hands.

So I want to hear, like, what did God do in you in this, this period of time? You know, prior to the book coming out, we were in a pandemic, right? What did God do in you through the process of writing the book in terms of transforming your own prayer? Yeah. You know, it's, what's your book on, what's your topic of your book?

The topic is, um, helping women kind of connect. How, what am I gifted in? What, uh, what are my talents with, how do I make that known or how, how am I making God known in that? So, um, kind of a calling purpose type link. Okay. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. To date it's anytime I've taken up some kind of a writing task, um, it could be speed, whatever it is.

There always seems to be some measure of, um, uh, uh, intimacy with God, which is forged as you take up whatever task that is. And so it, it shouldn't then come as a surprise that really the, the Genesis of the beginnings of this book, um, came out of one, my parents going through a divorce. It's later in life.

So I was in my thirties, uh, and then I've got some family that, um, um, struggles with addiction and, and so you're. You're just kind of left in those, those moments in which you go, okay, Lord, like we've got to talk, like I have to talk to you. I have to pray to you. I have to offer these applications. Um, and, and in the midst of that, and then sitting down and also writing it became this really enriching, but then also transformative experience whereby.

I'm actually applying what I'm writing. So, so, so now it's not just merely editing words, but it's editing experiences. Hey, this just didn't work. Or, Hey, this does work. Ooh, this just felt wrong. Like, I didn't like this, right. Or, wow. This, this brought me so much comfort in the midst of this sorrow. Uh, and so.

And so you're just constantly going back and forth between those, um, those types of human experiences. And so, so this book, um, I think without going into too much detail in terms of just personal life stuff, but yeah, this book was, um, therapeutic in a sense in that regard, because I was able to have this companion along the way.

And what I loved about this is that as the burdens of life became great, the simplicity of prayer became all the more. Prevalent. And so it became just simply Kyle, where's your heart in this, right. Uh, be introspective know what's going on in your heart. Okay. Great. Now. Pray freely, even if you're mad, if you're angry, if you're frustrated, if you're joyful, if you're happy, pray, but I want you to pray from a humble heart.

Uh, and, and that was, that was a wonderful, wonderful experience, at least for me. And so I would imagine when you go through your writing experience as well, you know, that'll be on the other end of it. You're gonna be like, wow, I never thought I was going to have to live through some of this. Right. But that'll actually be the thing that, that transforms the readers the most.

It's yeah, that's my prayer. And it's been interesting to see how God has moved. Even up into this point, there was a chapter that was not in my original proposal. I won't share right now what it is just because less people are gonna listen to this. But, um, God did something in me through a conversation I had with my mom a few months ago, that was really powerful.

And it became a whole chapter that an as, as we were going through the pitching process, That chapter was talked about more than any other part of my book. That's amazing. And had that not happened and had the timing, God not just aligned the timing of it in his sovereign way that he does. Um, it wouldn't have been a part of the project.

And so I love, I love how he does that. And I agree with you in that most of us, if we, if we speak, if we right, there's, there's like a flavor of what we love. To talk about or what our heartbeat is first for serving in the kingdom. Right. And so it's cool to see in your case, how that comes through. So if it's intimacy with God, um, seeing that through that specific line of prayer is that's really cool.

And I can see that and it, you know, it's neat too, is this, you know, this is a book, it's a, this is a it's conversational, it's approachable. You hear tons of stories about. My wife, my kids, um, my own flaws. I mean, you get to know me the process of getting to know this book, but that's largely because I'm convinced that in order to do theology appropriately, uh, you have to, it has to integrate.

Um, you have to interject life into it. So, so theology, devoid of life and life's experiences. It's just textbook stuff. And, and, and sadly, I think too many people, their experience of theology has been, you know, a what's that whole thing, right? Debating about how many angels can dance on the, you know, the, the head of a needle or something.

I don't know something like this, but. No. I mean, this is, it's got to, um, it's got to confront life and it has to come out of life. And, and I hope by the end of, of reading this, um, that, uh, that the audience will, will be aware of that. Yeah. It makes me think of that. I think it's Francis Shaffer, the quote that's like theology.

Void of compassion is useless or something like that. So, you know, and that makes me think of that whole conversation. That's so good. So if you, you know, as you hold this book in your hands, that you've, you've worked so hard on and God's really moved through you through this process. I want to hear like, what's your hope and your prayer for readers as they pick it up?

Um, what do you want them to just walk away with. I want them to walk away, uh, praying more. Yeah. Which sounds so simplistic, but, but that's often the most profound, the most profound lives are the most simple ones. The most profound truths are often the simple ones. And so for me, if a reader can walk away thinking to themselves, you know, I think I can do this.

Um, I can pray. And, and then, and then when the trials arrived, it's not if, but when a trial presents itself, uh, I hope, I hope they feel more confident to pray. Uh, I feel like, and I, and I hope that when, uh, circumstances present themselves and they do not have words so that what they're experiencing, or they don't yet have the vocabulary to articulate what it is that they're feeling.

I hope that they. Yeah. Um, I hope that they realize that that all God demands of us, all that he asks of us is that we pray out of a humble heart. Uh, and it's not, it, it, it has some complexities to it and that's, that's why there's a book. And that's why there's chapters and quite a few chapters at that.

Um, but, but in the end, I think what they're going to see is, is that I can, I can do this. And if a reader walks away with that, um, I think I will have made my contribution to this topic because let's be. There's lots of books on prayer. Um, and that's okay. And I celebrate those, but this one does make a contribution because I I'm just asking the reader to be introspective, to figure out what's going on in their heart, uh, to be able to acknowledge it.

Cause that's what humble people do. Uh, and then to move forward and then to pray and to speak to God. And I, and I think they're going to have a vibrant prayer life in the end of this journey. Well, that's what we pray for. Right? And that's, there couldn't be a better hope for the outcome of this book. I'm so excited about it.

I'm going to say the name of it one more time in case people didn't catch it at the beginning, it's called the secret to prayer 31 days to a more intimate relationship with God. So I can't wait for our people to pick it up and get to hear your house. For this topic. And I'm so glad we got to have this conversation today.

What I want to do before we go over to our Patrion community. Kyle is just give you the opportunity to share with people. How can they connect with you? Where can they go grab the book? All those. Yeah. So my last name is, this is my wife's leaves police. Favorite thing about marrying me was my last name because, uh, everybody seems to, uh, to mess it up.

And so this, this drives her crazy at times, but so my last name is D Robert. So Dai, R O B as in boy, E R T S. So Kyle D. Roberts, uh, dot com. Because a place in which you can find me. And then clearly on any of the social media platforms, I try to keep it consistent to where it's just K D Roberts and a, and you'll find me.

So I look forward to meeting some of your listeners. Awesome. Good deal. Well, I'm so grateful for you, Kyle and excited about your book and just want to say again, thank you for being with me. Goodness. Thanks.