Matt Smallbone is the pastor of Church of the City’s downtown campus here in Nashville, and we’re continuing with a bit of a theme today as we talk again this week about The Lord’s Prayer. Every time we talk about it during this prayer series though, I feel like there’s something new to see and something deeper to understand. It’s wild how a prayer so familiar, so memorized, so repeated, can still surprise us.

Matt has written a brand new book called The Prayer Experiment that comes out in April and you’re going to love.

We're unpacking all of this over on spirituallystronger.com too, so please come join us as we process together over there!

Find the show notes here

. . . .

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

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Today Eddie and I get to keep talking about how much is going on in the world right now and just how hard it is for all of us to wrestle with it. We also talk about my ceiling falling in during the ice storm in Nashville! Our "7 minutes of serious" turned into closer to 47!

But don’t worry, we of course had to wrap things up by chatting for a bit about Oscar nominations, Zootopia 2, and the first movie we ever remember seeing.

Also...

THE BUDDIES TOUR DATES AND CITIES HAVE NOW BEEN ANNOUNCED!

We’re coming to:

• Keller (Fort Worth), Texas on Friday, May 15th
• Colorado Springs, Colorado on Saturday, May 16th
• Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, June 5th
• Trussville (Birmingham), Alabama on Friday, June 12th

And maybe more…stay tuned!

You can find the dates and details at thebuddiestour.com and because you’re a podcast listener you get pre-sale access to tickets TODAY!!! Just use the code BUDDIES and get your tickets at thebuddiestour.com. We cannot wait to see you there!

. . . . .

Find the show notes here

Want to watch this episode? Watch on your Spotify App, or head on over to our YouTube Channel and be sure to like and subscribe! 

We have a Substack now! Find it at spirituallystronger.com.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

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Thank you to our sponsors!

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

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If you’ve ever felt stuck and don’t have the words to pray, or you’ve felt so discouraged or disoriented that you don’t know where to start, this conversation is for you. Brad Gray and Brad Nelson are both with the organization Walking the Text, where they help people understand the original meaning and context of Scripture. They’ve been friends for 25 years and have now gotten to work on a documentary, TV series, and book all around The Lord’s Prayer. Their depth of knowledge around Scripture is incredible and they’re helping us figure out how to use the Lord’s prayer in our daily rhythms with God. There are some really practical ways to do this that we talk about at the end and I think you’re going to want to get your note-taking pages ready.

We’re unpacking all of this over on spirituallystronger.com too, so please come join us!

Go grab your copy of Bringing Heaven Here and go watch The Lord’s Prayer! We have a free link: angel.com/annie OR you can find all of their resources at thelordsprayer.com.

Find the show notes here

. . . . .

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

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Y'all are going to LOVE this episode with my old friend Tim Timmons and my new friend, Milo Ventimiglia. You may know Milo from Gilmore Girls or This is Us, but he’s playing Tim Timmons in the brand new movie, I Can Only Imagine 2, which comes out TOMORROW! Go get your tickets, you’ve got to see this movie. 

Tim toured with Bart Millard and MercyMe, and this movie tells the story of how Tim unknowingly brought renewed gratitude to Bart’s life through their friendship—and the powerful lessons of grief and gratitude we learn through Tim’s journey with terminal cancer.

You’re also going to hear the incredible new but lifelong friendship that’s been created between Milo and Tim as Milo researched his life and got to know him in order to play this role. It’s really incredible to see.

Tim also has a book coming out on March 3 called Waking Up Again, so preorder your copy so you have it the day it comes out!

Find the show notes here

. . . .

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

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Lauren Tomlin is a PRAYER WARRIOR which is why I called her for this series, because I wanted a friend to sit down with me and really talk about how to pray. 

If you’ve ever wondered if God actually hears you when you pray or if you can trust what you hear from God when you pray, this conversation is for you.

If you feel overwhelmed by all of the hard happening around us, we’re going to talk about how to pray. If you’ve wondered how to discern what God’s telling you, we’re going there too. And if you just need a minute to sit with God, Lauren’s going to lead us through a guided prayer at the very end. I don’t want you to miss it.

Find the show notes here

 . . . .

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

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Here is PART 2 of our episode with Lauren and Thomas Rhett Akins. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to part 1, go back and do that first before you listen to this episode. I want you to get the full story of what God’s been doing in their lives over the last year.

They continue the story of moving their family to Uganda for 6 weeks. They were obedient in saying yes to God, and yet it was not the perfect trip tied up with a bow. There are still questions they have for God they may never get answers to, but I hope you’ll listen for the thread of God’s nearness through it all. You may not be sent to Africa for 6 weeks, but where do you see God continuing to ask you to trust Him even when it doesn’t make sense? Where have you experienced His nearness when everything around you felt hard?

Don’t miss the conversation and processing we’re going over on Substack this week either. I think the questions we’re asking each day this week will really help you look for the places God’s asking for obedience in your own life. You can find all of that spirituallystronger.com.

If you have any questions from this episode drop them in the Q&A box on your Spotify app if you’re a Spotify listener, or send them to us on instagram at @thatsoundsfunpodcast and we’ll try to answer them there!

Find the show notes here

 . . . .

Thank you to our sponsors!

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

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You may know Thomas Rhett from his incredible country music career or Lauren from her beloved Live in Love podcast or book, but I want you to get to know (and hear) their deep faith today.

When they called me and said, “We want to tell the story of what God did in our lives last year,” I knew we had to share it. As we talk about prayer this month, I want you to hear what perseverance and obedience in prayer looked like in their lives through this story. 

Last year, they spent 6 weeks living in Uganda after sensing God telling them that’s what they were supposed to do, and it wasn’t the trip they imagined. At all.

You’re going to hear the entire story along with their journey over the last couple years of trying to figure out if they should grow their family (spoiler alert: Lauren is due any minute with their 5th!). 

In these two episodes, you'll hear the power of prayer, the way God speaks when we make space to listen for His voice, the reminder that we’re never alone, and the reality that obedience to God is never promised to be easy. You’re not going to want to miss part 2 coming your way on Thursday. 

And remember, head over to spirituallystronger.com today where we’re processing what perseverance and obedience in prayer looks like in our lives. 

View the show notes here

 . . . .

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

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You may remember Pete Greig when he was on our last prayer series here on That Sounds Fun. He’s an author and founder of the 24/7 prayer movement, and y’all have heard me reference the daily devotional Lectio365 so many times- he's the co-host of that! I LOVE it.

Today we’re talking about Pete’s recent 3 month sabbatical, how time with God and prayer shifted for him and his wife during those months, what they learned from it, and how prayer impacts our relationship with God. I also got to ask him what we do when God doesn’t answer our prayers.. and I think Pete’s wisdom in his response is SO helpful. 

I can’t wait for you to hear this, and I would love for you to keep talking to us about this episode over on Substack! You can find today’s post and questions over at spirituallystronger.com!

Find the show notes here

 . . . .

Thank you to our sponsors!

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

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Today on the show, I get to keep talking with our buddy Eddie Kaufholz. A new year and new us… we’re talking about mice, the Winter Olympics, The Golden Globes, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Will Arnett...and then a **special announcement** I think you’re absolutely going to love! You don't want to miss this one! 

. . . . .

On a related note... TheBuddiesTour.com

Find the show notes here

Want to watch this episode? Watch on your Spotify App, or head on over to our YouTube Channel and be sure to like and subscribe! 

We have a Substack now! Find it at spirituallystronger.com.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

. . . . .

Thank you to our sponsors!

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

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We are going to spend the next 5 weeks talking about prayer, and Christine Caine is here to help us kick off that conversation. If we’re going to be spiritually stronger in a world we cannot control, we have got to get serious about prayer. Chris is going to fire you up today about your prayer life! We talk about her prayer life as an activist, her turning 60 this year and continuing to run her race harder, olive trees, and what Jesus tells the disciples to pray for in Matthew 9. You don't want to miss this one! 

She also has a new book coming out  on February 10th called The Faith to Flourish which is perfect for what we’re talking about right now. You’re going to want to preorder your copy today! 

We want our miniBFFs to learn about prayer today too, so parents, there’s a brand new episode for them today over on the miniBFF podcast.

We also will continue this conversation and I’ll tell you some of my over on our Substack. You can find that at spirituallystronger.com.

Find the show notes here

 . . . .

Thank you to our sponsors!

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NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

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This is Kevin Queen's 10th time on That Sound Fun which basically means he just lapped Hall of Fun status twice!! Today he’s helping pastor us as we get started on this journey to become spiritually stronger. We talk about one of the tensions you might face as we get started talking about spiritual disciples and rhythms. We don’t want any of this to feel like things you need to check off in order to earn something from God, and Kevin has a really helpful way for us to keep that in check.

Then we’re going to talk about journaling. If we’re going to spend 18 months talking about ways to get spiritually stronger, what if we document what God’s doing all the way through?

Kevin’s a big journaler (I am too), so we talk about his process, how he spends his time with God, and the journaling system that works for him. Remember, none of this is meant to be prescriptive. We’re not asking you to adopt the same plan that every guest uses or that I use. These are descriptive, so you get an idea and take it to God to decide how you want to grow with Him.

We also will continue this conversation (and I’ll tell you some of my favorite journaling tips) over on our Substack. We’d love to hear from you in the comments there too.  You can find all of that at spirituallystronger.com!

Find the show notes here

. . . . .

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Our Place: Visit fromourplace.com/TSF and use code TSF for 10% off sitewide.
• This show is sponsored by BetterHelp: Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/thatsoundsfun.
• Tovala: Save up to $300 on the Tovala smart oven when you order meals 6+ times by heading to Tovala.com/THATSOUNDSFUN and use my code THATSOUNDSFUN.
• Brodo: Head to Brodo.com/THATSOUNDSFUN for 20% off your first subscription order and use code THATSOUNDSFUN for an additional $10 off.
• ELIC: To learn more, visit elic.org/thatsoundsfun.
• Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/soundsfun⁠.
• Boll and Branch: Get 15% off your first order plus free shipping at BollAndBranch.com/THATSOUNDSFUN and use code THATSOUNDSFUN.

NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends.

Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests!

#thatsoundsfunpodcast

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