Why are you reading the Bible, hearing sermons, and consuming Christian content—but still not seeing real change in your habits, reactions, relationships, and decisions?

In this episode of the God Made Podcast, Greg and Kristi unpack James 1:22–25 and the difference between simply hearing God’s Word and actually obeying it. The problem may not be that you need more biblical information. It may be that you have learned to consume truth without responding to it.

We talk about why Bible reading plans can become checklists, how devotionals can sometimes replace real meditation on Scripture, and why exposure to truth is not the same as surrender to truth.

You will learn a simple three-part framework for Bible study that leads toward real spiritual growth:

Slow Down → Respond → Repeat

Instead of rushing through chapters just to finish a plan, learn how to read smaller passages more carefully, identify one clear act of obedience, and stay with that truth long enough for it to shape your everyday life.

In this episode:

-Why knowing more Scripture does not always lead to transformation
-What James means by being a hearer but not a doer
-How Bible reading can create spiritual self-deception
-Why consistency matters—but frequency alone is not enough
-How to use repeated reading and Scripture immersion
-A practical 30-day challenge to help the Bible move from information to obedience
-How to identify one specific response every time you read Scripture

The Bible is not failing to change you. You may simply be walking away too quickly.

Key Scripture: James 1:22–25

Subscribe to the God Made Podcast for practical Christian living, biblical discipleship, spiritual growth, and honest conversations about what it really looks like to follow Jesus in everyday life.

#BibleStudy #ChristianLiving #SpiritualGrowth #ChristianPodcast #Discipleship #BibleReading #James1 #FollowingJesus #BiblicalTruth #FaithInAction

Have you ever felt like giving up on prayer because nothing seems to be changing?

You're not alone.

In this episode of the God Made Podcast, Greg and Kristi talk about one of the hardest parts of the Christian life: continuing to pray when God seems silent and your circumstances stay the same.

Looking at Luke 18, where Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow, we discover why persistent prayer isn't about convincing God to care—it's about learning to trust Him while we wait.

In this episode you'll discover:

Why Jesus told us to "always pray and never give up"
What persistent prayer actually accomplishes
The difference between trusting God and trying to pressure God
One practical way to strengthen your prayer life this week

If you've been discouraged by unanswered prayer, this conversation is for you.

Question:

What's one prayer you've been tempted to stop praying?

When God feels silent, it's easy to assume He's distant—or even gone. But what if His silence doesn't mean His absence? In this episode of the God Made Podcast, we open Psalm 13 and discover how David wrestled with God's silence, why honest prayer is an act of faith, and how to trust God's character even when He seems quiet.

If you're walking through unanswered prayer, spiritual dryness, or a season of waiting, we pray this conversation encourages you and points you back to the faithfulness of God.

In this episode:

00:00:00 Why God sometimes feels silent
00:11:28 What Psalm 13 teaches about honest prayer
00:15:55 Why silence doesn't mean abandonment
00:20:14 One practical step to strengthen your faith this week

Question for you:
Have you ever experienced a season when God felt silent, only to realize later that He was working all along? We'd love to hear your story in the comments.

If this episode encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs this reminder today.

#GodMadePodcast #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Prayer #GodFeelsSilent #UnansweredPrayer #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #Psalm13 #TrustGod #HopeInGod #WalkingByFaith

What does it really mean to trust God when you still feel afraid, disappointed, uncertain, or tempted to take control?

In this episode of the God Made Podcast, Greg and Kristi Rains talk honestly about why even faithful Christians can struggle to trust God. Trusting God sounds simple until life gets hard, prayers seem unanswered, fear creeps in, or disappointment leaves us wondering what God is doing.

This conversation looks at what the Bible teaches about trusting God, why trust is difficult even after years of following Christ, and how believers can grow in faith when life feels uncertain. We talk about biblical examples like Abraham, David, Peter, and Job, and how their stories remind us that struggling does not mean you have failed. It means God is still teaching you to depend on Him.

If you have ever thought, “I trust God… but I’m still afraid,” this episode is for you.

In this episode, we discuss:

What it really means to trust God
Why Christians still struggle with fear and doubt
How control can quietly replace faith
What unanswered prayer does to our trust
How disappointment affects our walk with God
Biblical examples of people who learned to trust God
Practical ways to grow your faith and surrender to God

Trusting God is not pretending everything is easy. It is learning to believe that He is good, faithful, and present even when life does not make sense.

🎙️ God Made Podcast - Real conversations about Christian life, faith, family, and following Jesus in the everyday moments.

You are not a bad parent. You are just pouring into your kids' world — and quietly leaving eternity on the table.

This is a conversation about godly parenting in a culture that never stops adding to the calendar. Greg and Kristi Rains offer honest christian parenting advice for the family that is doing everything right and still feels like something is missing. Drawing from biblical parenting principles in the book of James, they talk about the slow drift that happens when busyness quietly crowds out the most important things — and what it actually looks like to build a christian family around what lasts. If raising godly children matters to you, this conversation will give you something real to take home.

Part of the God Made Podcast — parenting tips and faith conversations that help you move from Sunday into everyday life.

Why do smart people keep making dumb decisions?

The problem is not always a lack of information. Sometimes being smart simply makes us better at justifying what our hearts already want.

In this solo episode of the God Made Podcast, Greg unpacks James 3:13–18 and the difference between intelligence and biblical wisdom. James warns us that not everything that sounds reasonable is actually wise. Some decisions may look logical on the surface while being driven by jealousy, selfish ambition, pride, or fear.

So how can you tell whether a decision is truly wise?

The answer is not found only in the argument you can make. It is found in the fruit your decision produces.

In this episode:

Why intelligence and wisdom are not the same thing
How we rationalize choices we already want to make
The warning signs that your heart may be misleading you
The difference between earthly wisdom and wisdom from above
Why defensiveness may reveal more than you realize
Three questions to ask before making an important decision
How to seek biblical wisdom in everyday life

Before you make your next major decision, ask yourself:

What do I want badly enough that I may be rationalizing it?
What kind of fruit is this decision already producing?
Am I genuinely willing to yield if God shows me that I am wrong?

A bad decision does not become wise just because you can explain it well.

Do not judge wisdom by the explanation. Judge it by the harvest.

📖 Scripture: James 3:13–18
🎙️ The God Made Podcast helps Christians move faith from Sunday into everyday life.

Subscribe for weekly conversations about Christian living, relationships, spiritual growth, and following Jesus in the real world.

#BiblicalWisdom #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy

Words don't just hurt — they break. And most of us have made the promise to change. We meant it every single time. So why do we keep failing?

Greg and Kristi sit down for a raw, honest conversation about what it actually looks like to live with the weight of your words — inside a marriage, a family, and a real life. They talk about sarcasm that became a weapon, promises made and broken, and why no amount of trying harder ever touches the root of this problem.

This isn't a sermon recap. It's the conversation that happens after the sermon — when you go home and have to actually live it.
Based on James 3:1–12.

Where the sermon meets the struggle.

What if the most dangerous kind of faith isn’t unbelief — but belief without surrender?

In this episode, we explore the sobering reality that someone can follow Jesus closely and still miss Him. Using the example of Judas and the teaching from James 2, we unpack the difference between dead faith, demonic faith, and dynamic faith.

We discuss:

• What “dead faith” really means
• The difference between knowing truth and submitting to it
• How cultural Christianity can drift into spiritual complacency
• The tension between belief and obedience
• Practical ways surrender shows up in everyday life

This episode is an invitation to honest self-examination — not condemnation.

Faith isn’t just agreement.

It’s allegiance.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your faith is active, real, and surrendered — this conversation is for you.