Learn to Pray Like Jesus [Ring Them Bells Interview, re: God-Shaped Prayer]

This interview on Ring Them Bells brings Jason Bostow together with Anthony Delgado to discuss Delgado’s book God-Shaped Prayer: A Theology and Practice of the Lord’s Prayer. While framed as a book conversation, the heart of the exchange explores what prayer is meant to accomplish in the Christian life. Delgado explains that prayer is not about manipulating God to act but about God shaping his people through communion with him. Together, they unpack the Lord’s Prayer line by line, emphasizing its Old Testament backdrop, its communal nature, and its role in spiritual warfare. Delgado highlights the depth in every word of the prayer—“Our Father” as both intimate and communal, “hallowed be your name” as active participation in God’s holiness, and “your kingdom come” as a hopeful, not fearful, anticipation of God’s reign. The discussion discusses themes of confession, forgiveness, and deliverance, connecting these practices to personal transformation and the church’s corporate life. Drawing from biblical theology, Second Temple insights, and even historic liturgical practices, Delgado insists that prayer forms us into the likeness of Christ and equips us for the mission of God’s kingdom. The interview is both pastoral and practical, urging believers to establish a rule of prayer and to see the Lord’s Prayer as both a model and a lived reality

TRANSCRIPT:

Jason Bostow: You're the man. I'm excited for this interview and to have you back in the studio. I'm going to share my screen and we’re going to get rolling. Let's do it. Welcome to another episode of Ring Them Bells, where we interview top scholars and authors to help you rediscover the Bible on its own terms. Today we have the privilege of welcoming back pastor, author, and fellow Bible nerd Anthony Delgado. Anthony is a pastor and author from Southern California with nearly two decades of experience in Christian leadership and Bible teaching. He studied at Sterling College and Knox Theological Seminary and is the author of multiple books, including The Watchers and the Holy Ones, The Gospel is Bigger Than You Think, and the book we’ll be discussing today, God-Shaped Prayer: A Theology and Practice of the Lord’s Prayer. Prayer is the radical means by which God shapes our lives and the world around us. Like the disciples, we all look to God asking, “Teach us to pray.” Delgado walks us through these words and their Old Testament backdrop to show us the power of God-shaped prayer. I believe this book can help us restore the narrative that Jesus put flesh on and more faithfully follow our King. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the show, author and pastor Anthony Delgado. The crowd just gets louder every time you come here, Anthony. It’s awesome to have you back. Thank you for this book and for taking the time to be here. It means a lot, brother.

Anthony Delgado: Yeah, man, it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me on.

Jason Bostow: I consider you a friend and a brother in Christ, even before we met. I want to thank you for a couple of things that mean a lot to me. First, thank you so much for your willingness to be part of the Heiser documentary we’re working on. That project is near and dear to my heart, and I know it’s close to yours as well. I’m grateful for your willingness to be included.

Anthony Delgado: I appreciate that. It means a lot to me too, just to be included. I’ve had a lot of experience with Mike, both personally and through his work, so it’s really my joy.

Jason Bostow: Can’t wait to get some clips with you. The other thing I wanted to thank you for is this: a lot of people know we don’t just do content creation here but also have a service side to our ministry. We run pop-up feeding centers for the homeless and specialize in hurricane relief. You didn’t ask for this, but I want my audience to know that you contribute and believe in our ministry. That has been strong wind in my sails and fuel for my fire. Not only have you donated, but you’ve also encouraged me in that part of the work. Thank you so much, brother.

Anthony Delgado: Yeah, man, I’m happy to help wherever I can. I’m encouraged that your ministry isn’t just intellectual—you’re letting what you learn and love in Scripture shape the way you live. That’s always encouraging to me. I love that your channel hits both sides of it, and I want to support that any way I can.

Jason Bostow: Thanks, man. It’s a pleasure to serve the one true King alongside you. Before we dive into the Lord’s Prayer, help my audience understand what you want this book to do for them. With so many books on prayer, what do you hope this one accomplishes in the life of a believer?

Anthony Delgado: This really flows from my pastoral ministry. There’s a lot of confusion about what prayer even is, and that’s unfortunate. No matter how often we pray in church or teach people to pray, until they really dig in and understand its purpose, they won’t grasp its power. That’s what I’m aiming for. I want to look at biblical theology, and some systematic theology too, to see how God intends us to experience him through prayer and what prayer is supposed to do in our lives. Part of the book also explores what our prayers actually do in God’s plan and will. From a ministerial standpoint, that has profound implications for helping us grow as Christians. Prayer is central to the Christian life, but until we answer those big questions—what am I doing, what is this supposed to accomplish?—we won’t really experience its power.

Jason Bostow: I agree with you. I think your book is pastoral in its efficacy. At the end of each chapter, there are practical sections that help put what you’re teaching into practice. Maybe you could talk about that form a little bit, because it feels devotional or instructional in tone, not just theological.

Anthony Delgado: Completely. I wanted to teach the church to pray, but not without digging into the biblical material. I didn’t want to just say, “This is Pastor Anthony’s take on prayer,” because you can search Amazon and find thousands of books like that. I wanted to ask: what is prayer really about? So, each chapter begins with an introduction, and then there are four main chapters plus some important back matter. The four chapters focus on categories of the Lord’s Prayer. What is Jesus teaching? What theology is he assuming? What Old Testament practices is he drawing on? There are things smuggled into this prayer that modern readers can easily miss. That’s the biblical studies part. But then I wanted to say: because Jesus taught it this way, what can we actually do with it? That’s the pastoral purpose of the book—lots of practice and examples. Some readers may be surprised that I encourage using the Lord’s Prayer directly, along with historic prayers of the church. Some people argue, “If it’s not spontaneous, it’s not real prayer.” But where do you get that from? You don’t want me preaching spontaneous sermons every week—you trust that the Spirit works in preparation. Why wouldn’t the Spirit also work in the intentional preparation of prayer? Perhaps that intentionality actually inspires deeper spontaneous prayer. So I want to teach people to pray according to a biblical and historic tradition. Each chapter ends with concluding thoughts, and for people like me there’s a short section on systematic theology before the conclusion. Finally, the book ends with putting it all together—forming a rule of prayer for a healthy, practical rhythm of prayer.

Jason Bostow: We’ll get into that later on, but I think it’s so good that the book is both practical and pastoral because it’s useful. You can take this book and put it into daily practice right away. I can’t recommend it enough. Now as we move on to the Lord’s Prayer, in the introduction you write that we should listen closely to Jesus’ own prayer, not just as a prescription prayer or merely as a pattern to follow, but as a calling to commune with God the Father. The Lord’s Prayer is a gift to the church, carefully designed by God to transform us as his people. In the early church, and even in my own life, it has been central in adopting Jesus’ teaching into daily practice. Before I expand on that, I want to give you a chance to talk about why the Lord’s Prayer was so important to you. Why did you want to use it as the focal point?

Anthony Delgado: When I first started studying the Lord’s Prayer, it was for a sermon, and then it turned into a series of sermons. That’s no surprise—I’m always writing sermons, and that’s where the ideas for my books usually come from. One thing that struck me was realizing that the disciples, these Jewish men, already knew how to pray. Perhaps they learned from their fathers or local rabbis. They attended synagogue, they understood prayer. As I dug deeper, I found that wasn’t a unique insight. Many scholars agree that disciples in the Second Temple period would learn how to pray from their rabbis. A rabbi would teach his disciples his way of prayer—how to pray, what it accomplishes in Jewish life, and what it means. So when the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray,” they were essentially saying, “You’re our rabbi now—teach us how you pray.” That exploded the way I saw the rest of the prayer, because now I was thinking about how people pray in different faiths, in Judaism, in Christianity, and even among Christians. How do we articulate things? How do we address God in prayer? I realized that every single word of the Lord’s Prayer points to something specific. It gave me license to dig deeper. For example, “Our Father in heaven”—even the word “our” carries profound theological meaning. None of it is accidental. So I began asking whether Jesus was giving them a prayer to use directly, as some traditions believe, or whether he was only giving them a model, as other traditions say. I walked away convinced it’s both. As long as the heart is engaged, you can pray the Lord’s Prayer directly—and that may be especially helpful when you lack words of your own. But it also serves as a model that teaches us how to pray. Beyond that, it’s a teaching about who God is, what his purposes are, and what his kingdom means. It’s designed to align us with God’s will and kingdom purposes. That, to me, is the most profound purpose of the prayer.

Jason Bostow: I love that. It’s such a vital prayer, and even its structure shows that. In my own life, about four years ago I put this into practice. I’m pretty sure it was after reading Tyler Dayton’s book—though I forget the title. Either way, he talked about having a daily ritual of saying the Lord’s Prayer in the morning. I walk my dog religiously every morning—four or five miles on a trail through the woods. About three or four years ago, I started belting out the Lord’s Prayer as loud as I could on that trail. Even in the hot Florida summers, it’s beautiful out there. Neighbors probably hear me and think I’m crazy, but I still do it every morning. At first it was a liturgical practice to get into the flow, but over time it shaped me. Now when I post prayers online, they’re all shaped and formed by the Lord’s Prayer. The words may vary, but the structure is the Lord’s Prayer, and it has shaped who I am. Like you said, every word is loaded—you can’t get through a syllable without tripping over something in the Torah. It’s so important. So I want to examine the literary structure, because the Bible itself often highlights important texts through structure. The Bible Project has been especially helpful for me in this—they have amazing resources, like their visual commentary series, which feel almost like doctorate-level courses but are accessible to everyone. So let’s watch this clip and then discuss. How’s that sound?

Anthony Delgado: Sounds great. Let’s do it.

VIDEO CLIP: At the center of a collection of Jesus’ teachings called the Sermon on the Mount, he taught his followers a simple prayer to adopt as their own. The prayer has two short halves, each with three requests. The first half focuses on God’s purposes in the world, and the second half addresses our concerns in day-to-day life. It’s a short prayer, but this little prayer contains a whole new way to look at everything in the world. The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most important collections of Jesus’ teachings and has three parts: an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. The main body is the central part of the sermon, and in it Jesus calls his followers to live by a higher standard of right relationships with God and with other people. The main body itself has three parts, looking at this righteousness from three perspectives. The central part here is about how righteousness should be expressed in the religious practices of Jesus’ day, and this section also has three parts. In the middle, Jesus addresses three religious practices, and the central practice he highlights is prayer. This is where Jesus teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. So the Lord’s Prayer is at the center of the center of the entire Sermon on the Mount, and it’s here because Jesus wants this prayer to have a central place in the lives of his followers. The prayer begins, “Our Father who is in the skies.” Notice the prayer does not begin with “my Father.” Jesus wants us to remember that we belong to a worldwide family, appealing to God together as our Father.

Jason Bostow: Love that clip, and it goes on much further for you all to explore. We’ll have a link to that in the notes. I wanted to talk about the literary structure and how it points to the importance of this prayer, and how that happens in Scripture in general. I just love how this explored it. Before I say anything else, tell us what you thought about that clip and why the literary structure can show the importance of a given text.

Anthony Delgado: This really has to do with a pattern we see in Hebrew Scripture generally. Sometimes it happens formally and sometimes informally. Sometimes it’s the intent of the human author, and sometimes we discover this literary structure within the heart and mind of God. We see it in places where structures transcend multiple authors—throughout the way the Tanakh is put together or in a given section of the New Testament. It takes a number of forms. People have probably most often heard of chiasm—the idea that you get bookends to a bigger idea—but chiasm often takes on a full hierarchy. I’ve seen three-tiered hierarchies—maybe that’s just me not seeing beyond three—but I see a lot of triads, like I’m seeing in a study on Jude. Passages are chiastic, you could say, narrowing in on the most important idea. Tim is exactly right in that video: these literary structures point to the most important idea. What’s also beautiful is that chiasms usually start in practice and point toward a theological idea. That’s what the Sermon on the Mount does. It begins by saying, you’ve seen blessing this way and relationships work this way, then builds up to the Lord’s Prayer on one side, and then brings the Lord’s Prayer down into relationships and how people live according to it on the other side. My concern with chiasm and these structures is that sometimes we only use them to identify the central theological or pragmatic point and we lose the breadth of the teaching—the way faith and practice come together to form a holistic person. We just did a spiritual survey of our church, asking many questions so a leader can sit down with each member to help them grow. Some people seemed strong in spiritual practices and low in theological learning; others the opposite. The goal is to bring faith and practice together. That’s part of what this literary structuring does—it appeals to the everyday Christian thinking, how do I live my life, and then points to deeper spiritual realities that extend back down the other side of the hierarchy to form our lives.

Jason Bostow: That makes a ton of sense. I do a lot of content creation, so I have a lot of tripods and cameras. I was thinking of chiasm like a tripod: the practical implications are the legs holding up the theme—the focal point. I love that. So let’s dive into the Lord’s Prayer. As we begin, I want to set out our course so both we and the audience know what to expect. We’re going to break down the Lord’s Prayer verse by verse, using quotes from Anthony’s book and clips from our resident scholars to unpack the Hebrew narrative backdrop of what Jesus is saying in this prayer. Starting off, we don’t get very far before we need to pause on the words “Our Father.” Tim just hit on “our,” and you mentioned it a second ago. Concerning “Father,” which is revolutionary, I love how you wrote: to pray “Our Father” means we approach God as his children with a childlike trust, love, and access. You give the example: consider the special access a child has to a loving parent. Anthony, help us understand the familial implications and unity that come from those first two words of Jesus’ prayer—“Our Father.”

Anthony Delgado: Yeah, it’s earth-shattering. First, about the word our—I think this was cut from the book during editing, but Tim in that video pointed to the idea that prayer happens in community. My prayer life isn’t just mine alone. In Revelation we get the phrase “the prayers of the saints,” and the cover of my book actually comes from Revelation 8, where the angel receives the prayers of the saints as incense and brings them before the face of the Father. They are our prayers being lifted up to heaven. One of the mistakes in evangelicalism has been too much individualism in faith. People hear a sermon and decide what they agree with or don’t, but they’re not there to be formed by the Word of God in community. Then, if the church challenges their lifestyle, they simply leave rather than letting God’s Word shape them through the church. That’s not to say there aren’t abuses—those happen, and sadly they make the news. But normally what we see are faithful pastors and faithful churches seeking to form faith in their people. That our is important because prayer is something we do together.

At Palmdale Church, our liturgy trains the same structure of prayer we encourage people to use personally. It’s expressed at different levels, like a typology—prayer happening both in community and in private. We believe prayer happens best in community and is practiced in private.

Now, the word Father—that’s where the section you read is so important. We are a community only because we come together as children of God, and John tells us we have received the right to be called children of God. That means we have a familial relationship with the Father. The image of father and child has intimacy. In the Old Testament, Israel is sometimes called God’s son, and you find a few other examples. In the Second Temple period, praying “our Father” wasn’t unheard of, but it was usually communal. To pray to the Name (Hashem), or the Lord (Adonai), was common. But to pray simply Father—that’s unique. Jesus is pointing to that family relationship we have with God. He isn’t a distant, fickle deity who may or may not take interest in us, like the gods of the nations. He is imminent—present with us.

I quote Tim Keller in the book: “The only person who has the right to wake the king in the middle of the night is his son.” That’s the kind of access we have to God. My kids, when they were little, could wake me up in the middle of the night, and no matter what it was, I was instantly awake to hear them. Sometimes it was serious to them but small to me—a bad dream, a glass of water, a noise outside. Sometimes it was silly, but I still listened, because they are my children. We have that kind of access to God—because he is our Father.

Jason Bostow: I love that, especially how you showed not only that we approach him as Father, but what that means for us as children. So much of the Torah is baked into the Lord’s Prayer—and I’d argue so much of the Garden of Eden too. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that phrase is a Hebrew idiom meaning “to come of age,” when you’re no longer a child but an adult who knows right from wrong. That reminds us that we’re meant to remain like children before our Father. Even if it isn’t explicit in the Garden narrative, the undertone is there. You drew that out beautifully.

So again, we don’t even get out of the same verse before we pause again—“Our Father in heaven.” I love what you said here: “Calling God our Father in heaven reminds us that while his fatherhood invites intimacy, we still approach him with reverence. Similar to the respect we owe our earthly fathers, we draw near like a child but also bow low in awe before the King of the universe.” I love how “in heaven” brings that balance. Could you elaborate on that?

Anthony Delgado: I don’t remember if last time I was on the show we talked about three-tiered cosmology. I probably did, because I talk about it a lot. To understand “in heaven,” we need to understand the three-tiered cosmology that was present in the ancient world. For my science folk out there, I realize modern science doesn’t teach a three-tiered cosmology—it teaches something very different. Some ancient people may have hinted at modern ideas when thinking scientifically, but nearly every ancient author—not just biblical authors—spoke of spiritual realities using a three-tiered cosmology. It provided a way to teach us about who God is, or who the gods are.

Take Deuteronomy 32, where cosmic powers are appointed to judge the nations—they’re depicted as sons of God in the cosmos. In that worldview, “heaven” is hierarchically higher than us. You have the heavens, the earth, and under the earth. When the Bible speaks of the earth, it often means the dust, the clay, the soil. Humans don’t naturally exist in the realm of the earth—that’s where Sheol or Hades is. From dust you came, Adam was created from dust, and to dust you shall return—that’s Sheol, the underworld. That’s also where Jude says the angels are chained, in the watery places below the earth.

So within a three-tiered cosmology, humans live in a unique place between heaven and earth. Even outside the garden, we are meant to ascend the mountain of God, to journey back toward Eden. Eden is depicted as a mountain, a high place. Adam, when he was cast out, was sent down the mountain—not directly into the earth. Humanity lives low, but between heaven and earth, always called to ascend back toward the place where God comes down in his imminence and fatherhood.

It’s important to remember that even though God reaches down to us, making himself imminent, he is still transcendent. I love how Dante depicts this in The Divine Comedy. If you search “Divine Comedy cosmology,” you’ll see charts showing heaven, earth, under the earth, and much more—but everything is within God. In Dante, you don’t fully realize it until the end: when you reach heaven, the great revelation is that everything exists within God’s essence and being. I’m not saying that’s exactly how I would articulate it, but it illustrates the point.

So when we say “Our Father in heaven,” we’re not just acknowledging a divine being among many who has authority in heaven. We are addressing the Father as the source of all things, the sovereign ruler of the universe. We pray imminently—our Father—and transcendently—in heaven.

Jason Bostow: I love that combo. N. T. Wright often teaches that God’s space (heaven) and our space (earth) are intimately connected. That’s what you’re saying: even within the three-tiered cosmology, these aren’t distant spaces but overlapping ones. Heiser loved the show Stranger Things, and—plug here—we’re going to have a show coming out called Stranger Stories, where we take strange stories in the Bible and talk about them. One thing Stranger Things really showed well was the overlap between the upside-down world and the real world. What happened in one directly affected the other. That’s the picture I get from Scripture.

What blew my mind—maybe Heiser said this in a book—is the idea that heaven is like the real world, and we are like the upside-down. We often think it’s the reverse, but it’s not. That fits with what you said about Dante. It’s not a perfect depiction, but it helps us see that when we know God as Father, we also know him as transcendent—other. Thank you for including that, because I think it’s super important.

So now, here’s one that’s always confused me. “Hallowed be your name.” Last time I checked, I haven’t gone around hallowing anything. Many of us don’t quite understand what this means. Some of us come to understand it as bringing honor to God’s name, but how does that make sense in the biblical narrative?

In your book you wrote: “As part of his address to God, Jesus gives the first petition. To hallow means to honor as holy, to set apart as sacred or ultimate. It’s an activity. We aren’t merely recognizing God’s characteristic holiness. We are also not asking God to become more holy—he is already perfect and holy.”

So Anthony, help us understand what it means to hallow the name of God.

Anthony Delgado: Yeah. We can get into the name in a second, but I remember as a kid when our pastor preached through the Lord’s Prayer. I remember him distinctly talking about this as just recognizing God’s intrinsic holiness. I appreciate that, and I mention in the book that we shouldn’t make God only imminent or only transcendent. One of the things hallowing does is allow us to practice our position before God’s holiness. Hallowing is an activity. It isn’t just recognizing God’s holiness—it is that, but more. We aren’t asking God to become more holy than he already is. When we pray for God’s name to be hallowed, we’re asking that his name would be held holy in our hearts. We’re asking that we would understand the depth of his uncreated character so we can live out its implications.

For example, we might say, “Yes, God is sovereign. He is king. He’s creator. He’s in control.” Intellectually we know what that means. But when we pray daily—when we make it a habit—we let that hallowing form us. We become people who not only affirm God’s sovereignty as a doctrine but also live in light of it. My concern is that Christians can articulate the doctrine of sovereignty but never let it shape their hearts.

So think of something simple: going to work each day to earn a paycheck to feed your family. It’s easy to think of that paycheck as something earned by our own efforts. And in a sense, it is. But when I pray about God as provider, when I hallow his name by reflecting on his providential care, I learn that all provision comes from him. He causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Everything that anyone has is God’s gift, whether they acknowledge it or not. So when I hallow God’s name, I learn to approach daily tasks—work, grocery shopping, feeding my kids, even enjoying a meal—with the awareness that it’s all a gift from God, every good and perfect gift from him. That’s what I think it means to hallow.

Jason Bostow: I love that. It’s exemplifying God’s holiness, but also pointing toward how it transforms us. The way I’ve always understood “hallowed be your name” is in light of the next petition: God’s kingdom coming on earth. God’s name is blasphemed among the nations, and people still do that today. The way I pray this part of the prayer is: “God, let me be part of putting back right your name on earth as it is in heaven.” I want to live in a way that when people see me, they say, “Man, God is awesome.” That’s how I’ve drawn from it. Does that make sense to you?

Anthony Delgado: Yeah, I think that’s a good way to look at it. God is putting all things right, and if we want to be part of that, we need to truly see God and experience him—not just know data points about him, but have our hearts motivated to join his work. It’s about the formation of the self, and then absolutely about activity in God’s work. I completely agree.

Jason Bostow: Thanks, man. I love that. Next I want to move to my favorite chapter of your book—the one I chose for review—on confession. One of the things I love about your work, Anthony, and I want to pause here because it’s important: as a modern evangelical who was initially baptized and raised Catholic, I so appreciate the liturgical and ceremonial aspects you bring back. These are things we desperately need. In many cases the baby was thrown out with the bathwater, and you’re helping us tie back into them—especially with confession. Confession is one of those liturgical aspects that needs a resurgence in the evangelical church.

As I read through this chapter, my mind immediately went to Thomas Merton’s Thoughts in Solitude. It’s a pocketbook I keep close, filled with prayers. Your book reminded me of it—not because it’s the same size, but because it’s practical and something you can carry with you. One of Merton’s prayers came to mind as I read your section on confession.

First, here’s a quote from your book: “Confession is ultimately about God reshaping us into the image of Christ. If this is true, then we should never see prayers of confession as weakness, but as the courageous pursuit of spiritual lucidity. Through confession, we become participants in the transformation that God is working in us.”

Now here’s Merton’s prayer that pairs with it: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself. The fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.”

What a real sense of confession Merton honors there. Anthony, I love your focus on confession and its power to connect us with our Father. Tell us why you made this such a focal point of your book.

Anthony Delgado: I think confession might be the hardest part of prayer for anyone, because it’s the one that makes us wrestle with our demons—sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively. I called the chapter “Confession: Reflective Prayer.” First, let me just say I felt a little fear when you compared my chapter to Merton. I don’t write books thinking that hundreds of years from now someone will still be reading them. Merton is a classic—he’s not going away. I told my wife the other day, statistically my book will sell for 20 years and then disappear. But some works become timeless. So thank you. And I think I even mentioned this on Facebook, but I should have quoted that Merton prayer right there in the chapter, because it captures exactly what I was trying to say.

When I talked about “spiritual lucidity,” I meant that we humans have a tendency toward self-deception. I don’t think anyone sits down and says, “Here are my sins that I love; how can I justify them?” But naturally, we all find ways to justify behaviors without consciously thinking about it. Confession unravels that self-deception. And confession is dangerous—it will radically change you.

Jason Bostow: Amen.

Anthony Delgado: If you pray with David, “Reveal if there is any hurtful way in me,” God will answer that prayer if it’s sincere. He will reveal things you don’t want to face. It’s dangerous, but it changes you for the good. That’s why I made confession so central.

Let me add this: theosis, glorification, deification—however you describe those related ideas—every Christian desires the end result. We all want the Christian life of walking in righteousness, no more temptations, no more sin, being with Christ in glory. But we don’t like how we get there. Romans 8:29 says we are in Christ to be conformed to his likeness. That doesn’t mean only neutral aspects of our character are reshaped—it means the sinful, self-deceived self must be exposed by the light of Christ. His light shines into our hearts so we cry out “Abba, Father,” and become spiritually lucid.

Though we will still sin as human beings until glory, we should never remain self-deceived or content in our sins. I even hold what’s probably an unpopular opinion: I believe a person can be freed from intentional sins. I’m not sure about unintentional sins—like when you speak carelessly without realizing it—but intentional sins, where you know something is wrong and say, “It’s Tuesday, I’ll do it anyway.” A good pattern of confession prepares us for those situations and gives us victory. That’s why I think confession is essential.

Jason Bostow: Yeah, it is. And your book draws that out wonderfully. Confession is liturgical—it’s ceremony. It’s something we need to return to. It’s intrinsic to our relationship with the gospel, a moment of communion and truth with God that strips us bare before him, like in the garden. So next we move—

Anthony Delgado: Let me just add this, since you mentioned your Catholic heritage. I always tell my church, just because something is Catholic doesn’t make it wrong. We Baptists share 85% of our faith with the Catholic Church. There are some major differences, yes, but much is shared. And in the Lord’s Prayer—“Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors,” “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”—confession is meant to transform us, both in forgiveness and in future victory.

Some practices evangelicals consider taboo—like confessing to a priest—I don’t think are always healthy in the way they’ve been done, but the principle isn’t wrong. James tells us to confess our sins to one another, and that the prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much. Remember that word our from the beginning? Confession has a corporate dimension. That’s something Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and Episcopalians often do better than evangelicals. We want our confession to remain private, but biblically, much of it belongs in community.

Jason Bostow: Yeah, I appreciate that. And you’re right—the word “catholic” simply means universal. I follow Jesus. I don’t get caught up in denominational divides, though yes, there are differences between Catholicism and evangelicalism. Still, I follow Christ—he’s my King.

So next, we move to a very important declaration in Jesus’ prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” There’s so much in that one sentence. We could spend a whole episode just unpacking it. N. T. Wright wrote a whole book on it. And you returned to it multiple times in your book.

In your chapter on Thanksgiving and Christ-centered prayer, you wrote: “I was born at the peak of what I’d like to call the Rapture-Ready Church movement. I don’t make any official judgments on eschatology, but I bring this up to expose the fearfulness generated by that theological tradition. For many contemporary Christians, the line in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Your kingdom come,’ conjures fearful images of the end times, suggesting the return of the Lord and judgment day. But the Thanksgiving prayer is not a prayer of desperation—it’s a prayer of trust and faith. It originates in our current experience of God’s salvation, so that we have certainty, even hope, for things to come. ‘Your kingdom come’ is a prayer of anticipation for what awaits faithful followers of Jesus Christ.”

We always say “the beginning is near” here, not “the end is near.” We say that because the Garden of Eden is hyperlinked to nearly every text we read, and because in Christ the end is not near—our hope tells us the beginning is near. I saw that all throughout your chapter.

So as someone who also grew up in what you call the Rapture-Ready movement, tell us why this line of the prayer should not provoke fear but rather thanksgiving at the heralding of God’s kingdom on earth.

Anthony Delgado: Yeah, I usually say, “Eternal life starts now.” That’s one of my phrases. Half the time I mess it up when I say it, but that’s what I mean—eternal life starts now. When you give your life to Christ, you’re not just waiting for the destruction of the old man as a future event so you can enter glory. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that you are already a new creation in Christ.

So when we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we shouldn’t think, “The world is awful, it just needs to be wiped out so everything can be reset.” The New Testament actually holds two paradoxical teachings, both in Revelation. Early in the book, Christ says, “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” That points toward a transformational view—that as the gospel spreads, people are changed, and the world becomes God’s kingdom. But later in Revelation 18–22, we see the destruction of the earth, the old order passing away, and the new heaven and new earth coming down. “Behold, I make all things new.”

That tension creates a dichotomy. Some say you have to pick one: either the world is condemned and we just wait for God’s kingdom, or the world is transformed into God’s kingdom. But if we only see the earth as destined for destruction, then when we meet someone wicked, we just write them off as someone under judgment. That causes division. But if we see the kingdom of this world becoming the kingdom of God, then wickedness becomes a point of mission. When I encounter brokenness, I want to feed the hungry, share the gospel, house the homeless. I don’t separate from people as though they’re nothing but objects of wrath.

Now, the wrath of God is real, but it’s not everything. Too many Christians make it everything, putting themselves on a pedestal while assuming everyone else is under wrath. But biblical theology shows something deeper. Revelation 12 says Christ has already cleansed heaven. Satan and his angels were cast out, never to return. But they weren’t cast into the abyss—they were cast down to earth. That’s why we believe spiritual powers are active here.

So when we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we’re asking God to do on earth what he’s already done in heaven: purify. We’re asking for victory over evil powers, for darkness to be overturned, for light to shine into every void, for what is broken to be redeemed. And where does that light shine? Back to Matthew: “You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill.” We as God’s people must be purified so the earth can be purified. This prayer points us again to our own transformation—another way of saying, “I need to be purified so the earth can be purified.”

Jason Bostow: That’s good. It’ll give people something in the book to wrestle with, but what you said is so true. N. T. Wright says the church’s eschatology is a barometer for its effectiveness in the world. If your story is simply about escaping hell, living good enough to get to heaven, and avoiding punishment, that’s not exciting. It doesn’t challenge you or push you to serve. But when you see that God has invited us—all of us, the “our” in “Our Father”—into the grand operation of his kingdom coming on earth as in heaven, that excites you. That lights a fire for service. That’s what birthed this project, Ring Them Bells.

Anthony Delgado: Exactly. In Michael Bird’s Systematic Theology that came out a couple of years ago, he starts with eschatology. He shows how ecclesiology flows from eschatology, and then missiology flows from ecclesiology. Everything stems from eschatology. If we flip that—if we let our ecclesiology dictate our eschatology—then we end up saying, “We are who we are, and that’s how we’ll stay.” And that takes the world out of the picture. It doesn’t make sense of so much of Jesus’ teaching, does it?

Jason Bostow: No, I agree. And I want to say, please make sure you guys check out the book. There’s so much in there. We’re going to skip over “Give us this day our daily bread.” There’s a lot in that section about the Exodus, wilderness wanderings, and daily provision. That’s a plug—go read it, it’s beautiful. But I want to skip ahead to forgiveness, because that’s in the confessional part. It’s also the only clarification Jesus gives at the end of his prayer.

So let’s hang here on that verse: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us.” This implies that a faithful follower of Jesus should be quick to forgive others. You write that our faith in Jesus should move us not toward self-benefit but toward the good of others. Receiving God’s mercy and compassion should awaken us to show mercy and compassion to others. Forgiveness cannot be compartmentalized. If God’s mercy is real to you, then you will show mercy.

That’s why I believe praying this prayer daily is so important. Like I said, I pray it every morning on that trail. If I just had a fight with my wife or I’m mad at someone, when I say that line—“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive”—my mind immediately goes, “Wait, I’m not forgiving right now.” It doesn’t let you off the hook. Respond to that and continue with your quote—help us understand why Jesus shows us that forgiving others is integral to following him.

Anthony Delgado: Fundamentally, forgiveness says something about what you love. Do I actually love righteousness if I can hold onto the presence of sin? If I truly love righteousness enough to want to be free from sin myself, then I must love God’s forgiveness—because I desperately need it. And if I desperately need it and believe God really forgives me, then shouldn’t I also be that kind of person? Aren’t I called to be conformed to the likeness of Christ? Aren’t I called, in Romans 12, to be transformed by the renewing of my mind so that I can discern God’s good and perfect will?

It doesn’t make sense to say, “I want to be forgiven, but I don’t want to forgive.” Years ago, when I was a youth pastor, I preached on forgiveness to our group. We had a lot of kids from the community, many of them hurting. Some had been abused, one girl had been forced into an abortion, others carried deep wounds. I preached on forgiveness without considering who I was speaking to. Afterward, one of the girls told her small group leader that I really hurt her by what I said. When I sat down with her, she said, “You don’t know what was done to me.” But I did know—we had counseled about it before. I had to apologize for how I said it, because I never want to put anyone back in a dangerous situation.

But here’s the truth: when we understand the egregious nature of our own sin before God, and we accept his forgiveness, we are acknowledging that if we love forgiveness, we must extend it—no matter how grievous the sin against us. Now, I always teach this with a second point: forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same. Forgiveness happens in a moment; reconciliation is a process. That’s how it works with God too. When I confess my sins, he is faithful and just to forgive me—that forgiveness is immediate. But reconciliation unfolds over time, as I walk with Christ until his return.

So yes, someone who has endured terrible abuse must forgive, but that doesn’t mean putting themselves back in harm’s way. Forgiveness is necessary—it reflects what we believe we’ve received from God. Reconciliation, however, may take years, or may not happen at all in this life. My own father and I had tensions. I forgave him for much, but he wanted nothing to do with me, and he passed away last year. Reconciliation never happened here. But forgiveness was there.

That’s why I always stress this: forgiveness is necessary because it reflects our theology. Our belief in justification—however defined in our tradition—shapes us to extend that same mercy toward others. That’s where faith and practice meet.

Jason Bostow: Yeah, I love that. Thank you for being vulnerable and authentic in sharing that story. I’ve wrestled with forgiveness toward my parents in the same way. When it’s your father or mother, it’s even harder to separate forgiveness from reconciliation. But like you said, forgiveness is essential—it’s ultimately for you. It brings healing and freedom from the hurt. Reconciliation is different—it takes both sides. I think Shane Wood in Thinning the Veil wrote that forgiveness is one-sided, but reconciliation takes two. That’s not on you alone. So I’m glad you emphasized that, because it’s so important.

Now, as we round third on the Lord’s Prayer, we come to one of the most important declarations: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” There’s a lot to unpack here. First, I want to focus on the word temptation. This is where I initially had some polite pushback when reading your book, but once I finished it, I realized we were saying the same thing. You wrote that this raises a serious question: does God lead us into temptation in the first place?

We’ll get to spiritual evil and Satan’s role, but first let’s look at this word temptation or test. I’ve prepared a short clip from the Bible Project that gives context from the Hebrew narrative. We’ll watch, then discuss. How’s that sound?

Anthony Delgado: Sounds great. Let’s do it.

VIDEO CLIP: The story of the Bible begins with God creating a beautiful world and appointing Adam and Eve to rule it on his behalf. He gave them access to his wisdom and life but told them not to eat from one tree, or they would die. That feels like a test—and it is. But not all tests are bad. If a king chooses you for a royal task to see if you are trustworthy, that’s a test, but it’s also an opportunity to do something noble. Now imagine a rebel who hates the king sets a trap to convince you not to follow the king’s command. That’s also a test, but in the form of a trap. So a test could be an opportunity or a trap—the difference depends on whether the one testing you has your best interest in mind. The Hebrew Bible explores this from many angles. In Eden, the test was God’s, but then the serpent turned it into a trap. This leads to Jesus’ request: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” It’s really two requests: “Father, I would rather not go through a test—but if I must, deliver me from the evil one.”

Jason Bostow: Very interesting. I love that clip, and I love this section of your book. So Anthony, before I say anything else, respond to that clip.

Anthony Delgado: You mentioned the polite pushback, Jason, and I want you to know I actually transcribed that video and put it side by side with the section in my book, because I thought, isn’t that exactly what I said? I went back and clarified a few things to make sure. Hopefully it’s clear to readers now—we really are saying the same thing.

I love what Tim and Jon highlight: the ambiguity of that word. I sometimes get frustrated with translations, because Greek words can carry multiple meanings. For example, the same Greek word can mean both encouragement and exhortation—different concepts in English. So should temptation and testing be considered different? I think they belong under one umbrella. God uses all things for the good of those who love him. Anything that is a temptation from the devil becomes a test in God’s hands, because he will use it to form and shape us.

Maybe we need a new word for this—something like “testation.” That’s why Bible translation isn’t my job! But we do need a way of seeing that when the devil tempts us, God tests us. That’s what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 10: God will not test you beyond what you can bear. And why is that? Paul gives two reasons: first, all of us face the same struggles; second, God is with us.

Why would God allow us to be tempted and then abandon us? He didn’t abandon Adam and Eve in the garden—he was present with them. That’s important. People often want to separate these things into strict categories, but even in Dante, Inferno is still within God. How? Because even the devil can’t act outside God’s control. Some people get fired up when you talk about God’s sovereignty—it starts sounding like Calvinism or determinism—but the truth is, Satan has agency, but God always wins.

It’s like playing cards with God. It doesn’t matter what cards you’re dealt—you’re always going to lose, because God is just that good. The devil can play his hand, but God will still use it for his purposes. So yes, it seems like Jesus says God leads us into temptation. But the prayer continues: “Deliver us from the evil one.” That’s the balance. The reality is, temptation will come. The prayer is that in the midst of it, God delivers us so we can endure and overcome.

Jason Bostow: That’s so good.

And I love how you started with Romans 8 28. And understanding that how it all encapsulates. And I loved what you even said with Dantes again, that the, even the inferno, Jesus says we're all gonna be salted with fire. The, and Paul talks about the burning off of the draws and the silver and all these things.

This is a part of what God's doing. And that's why, even we're not afraid of it. We, like we talked about before, this isn't some fearful judgment. This is like God setting things right? And we should be like, yay. And that's that's what we are like, but I like, this is why it's just so important.

And this is what we're gonna move to now, as we move towards this climactic ending of Jesus' prayer, where he teaches us for prayer, for deliverance from the evil one. To understand that like when I say that, I say it every morning, it really, it reminds me every day of the struggle that we're in and that I do have choices to make, that there is this test in front of me, and that there also is something behind the scenes that wants to see [01:13:00] me fail and drag me back down into chaos.

Jesus wanted us to daily be reminded of that fact. Concerning this, you say, temptation and biblical theology comes from the tempter, the evil one, the same serpent who tempted Adam and Eve also tempted Jesus. Therefore, any prayer for deliverance from temptation must be grounded in this spiritual reality.

That's what you just said. Temptation is spiritual warfare. A battle against the kingdom of God fought on the grounds of your own soul. You rightly connect this prayer as a pledge of allegiance to the one true king and a declaration of separation from the dark ruler of this world. So I love how you included baptism in this conversation, and you also included Heiser and I, that's why I have this wonderful clip.

We're gonna watch from him real quick because you brought those two points together so well, and I figure if I share this, you're gonna be able to wax eloquently about it. So let's watch this [01:14:00] and then discuss

VIDEO CLIP: the book of first Enoch says, the fallen sons of God were imprisoned after they rebelled.

Peter's second epistle mentions those rebels being held in chains of gloomy darkness. In one Enoch, the fallen sons of God asked Enoch to see if God would forgive them. Since Enoch had God's favor. They thought it was worth a try. In first, Enoch, God rejects the plea of the fallen angels. After Enoch reports to him, he sends Enoch down into the abyss.

He descends to the spirits in prison to announce their doom. That's the point of analogy for Peter. Just as Enoch descended to the fallen spirits, so Jesus descended into the same realm, to proclaim something to them, what did he proclaim? They thought that since Jesus was in the realm of the dead, they had won.

Jesus told them they were wrong, [01:15:00] and he rose on the third day to prove it. They were still doomed.

But how does this connect to baptism and a good conscience?

An appeal to God for a good conscience in one Peter three means a sincere pledge. In essence, baptism was a loyalty oath and repeated the message.

Enoch. And then Jesus gave to the demonic powers and anyone present of just whose side of the spiritual war you were on.

That's why baptism is an instrument of spiritual warfare. Whether we realize it or not, we're being watched by both sides of the supernatural war.

Jason Bostow: Love that. Okay, there is a war going on, and there are unseen and seen powers that are at play here. So as we continue with this very important climb, respond to that clip. I don’t even want to say anything. Tell me about the connection you made there, because I want to bring it back up to say it. You connected our petition to God to deliver us from temptation and the evil one as a pledge of allegiance to the one true God and away from these dark spiritual powers, which is also represented in baptism like Heiser just explained. Go.

Anthony Delgado: Yes. So I speak of baptism. First of all, it’s just—distracting me at the very end of that clip—was that Henry from Psych? The dad, anyway. Yeah. That’s—

Jason Bostow: Corbin Bernson. Yep.

Anthony Delgado: That’s his name. That was awesome. I didn’t see that. I hadn’t seen that clip. So anyway—yeah—so I describe baptism as including an exorcism, and historically it does. For example, at Palmdale Church we always ask something like, “Do you renounce the devil and his works?” or “Do you renounce the devil and the powers of this world?” to which the baptismal candidate says, “Yes,” or “I do.”

And you probably won’t be surprised that I don’t have to explain all that, because that’s pretty key in my teaching. By the time we’re baptizing someone, they’ve already got a pretty good idea that’s what they’re doing. But it reflects a historical rite that might be foreign to a lot of your listeners, where the candidate for baptism is asked, “Do you renounce Satan and all his works and all his pomp?”—sometimes that word pomp is translated “allurements” or “temptations”—and then the person responds, “I do renounce.” That’s considered an exorcism that’s built into baptism so the baptismal candidate understands they’re no longer going to be loyal to the things of this world—not just materialistic things, but to the powers of this world. There are powers behind the things that want to pull you away from God, and you’re renouncing those to pledge allegiance, to give loyalty, to Christ.

And so it’s very much a kingdom issue when someone is baptized. Why, in the historic Baptist tradition, people are baptized into the membership of the church. Baptists have always practiced church membership, and the ones that don’t today are just out of sync with the historic Baptist faith. Baptists have always said you are being baptized into the membership of the church. So it’s not two separate things: you are baptized over there—so praise God, you’re saved—but over here, do you want to become a member of the church? No, it’s just one thing; you’re baptized into the membership of the church.

And it’s why—this is why—because it’s a picture here on earth of entering into the kingdom of God. And then I say—so let’s put it in the prayer now—baptism includes a baptismal… I explain this petition as a minor exorcism. That’s what you’re saying. Not because I believe that you are indwelt by a demonic spirit, but because there are still spirits in the world. Conversation for another day, but I do think that something like possession—demonization, I like that word (Sam Storms uses that word)—that various levels of demonization occur in the world. And I think some of those oppressive voices still speak to us as believers, trying to draw our affections away from Christ.

And so here in the prayer, when you’re praying, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” or “deliver us from the evil one,” I think it’s a minor exorcism—that you’re retaking that vow: I don’t want to live in the world of the prince of the power of darkness; I want to live in the world of Christ. And so we want to see this world be the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of darkness. And that’s what you’re saying every time you do that.

Anthony Delgado: Can I comment on the textual variant there—“the evil one”?

Jason Bostow: Yeah, go ahead.

Anthony Delgado: Because I think a lot of people might be confused by this, especially if you’ve memorized the Lord’s Prayer as a kid, and you’re like, “It doesn’t say ‘deliver us from the evil one.’” Some translations do; some translations don’t. Some just say, “Deliver us from evil.” And it’s difficult to be convicted on this point. But I favor “deliver us from the evil one,” although I think the original is more likely “deliver us from evil.” But they’re one and the same again in the biblical theology. Where does evil come from? It comes from the evil one. So I think it becomes a clarifying point—that the evil one is behind the evil. Bringing the biblical theology to bear on Christ’s words there. But I think as long as we understand it in its fullness, it doesn’t really matter which way we say it.

Jason Bostow: Yeah, no, I agree with you. And it’s important to keep that focus. I just had Paul Sloan on talking about Jesus and the Law of Moses. He included the supernatural in his book, but only in the footnotes. I congratulated him for that, because honestly, even to see it mentioned is rare.

I have books and interviews with top scholars covering wide-ranging subjects in the Bible, and yet they leave this part completely out. In Daniel Schwabauer’s book The God of Story—which I can’t recommend enough—he talks about the concerted effort to remove the enemy from the story. That’s why I love this part of the prayer: not to focus on the enemy, but to be reminded of him.

Again, that’s why we say, “The beginning is near.” To be rooted in that story. We weren’t alone in the garden—we were deceived. First John says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” That’s the reason. And when we leave that out of our teaching, our scholarship, or our preaching—something I’m thankful you don’t do—we put the church at a disadvantage. We rob people of those moments of exorcism, like you talked about. So I can’t thank you enough, brother, for doing that.

As we close, I want to leave us with hope and practical advice. That’s what we started with, talking about how you give practical guidance, and that’s also how you end your book—which I loved. Your book is filled with accessible reflections and action plans to put prayer into practice.

You say that prayer is never about trying to get God to act, but about allowing God to shape us more deeply as we pray. You write: “Establish a rule of prayer for yourself as you develop a habit of prayer. A rule of prayer is a structured daily plan that outlines specific prayers and practices to help you maintain a consistent connection with God.”

Anthony, as we close, give us some hope and practical advice on how to implement this rule of the Lord’s Prayer in our daily lives.

Anthony Delgado: Yeah, absolutely. I would just say it depends on where you’re starting from. But fundamentally, a rule of prayer needs to be doable.

If you’re a Christian who rarely prays—maybe only at meals or in church—then don’t decide that you’re suddenly going to pray three times a day for thirty minutes, plus pray the Jesus Prayer five hundred times, plus the Lord’s Prayer at the end of the day. Don’t make your rule so overwhelming.

Your rule of prayer can change as you grow. Start with something manageable. For years, I had a habit of praying in the morning as soon as I got up. If you’re already there, but you’re realizing, “I need more,” you’re right. Paul says, “Pray without ceasing.” So you do need more—and so do I. The question is, what’s the next step? What manageable goal can you add to increase your habit of prayer?

Keep the bigger picture in mind, but set achievable goals.

Now, the Lord’s Prayer itself is broken into four categories: adoration, confession, thanksgiving (both eucharistic and acknowledging God’s providence), and supplication. Many of us are good at supplication—asking God for things. Pastors remind us to be thankful, and some people keep prayer journals, logging answers so they can thank God. That’s great.

But if you’ve never prayed the full breadth of prayer as the church has historically practiced in its prayers and liturgies, maybe that’s where to start. Train yourself to embrace the whole pattern. In the book I’ve provided many example prayers, and in the appendix I’ve gathered some full prayers you can study or use directly—filling in your personal situations.

Start using the book as a tool. I’m such an abstract thinker that people reading my website articles might wonder, “How can this guy provide anything practical?” But in this book I really worked hard to give something concrete on every page. I hope readers find spots where the theology informs their prayer life, and then build a habit of prayer they can commit to—one that leads them to adore God, confess sins, give thanks for Christ and his kingdom and all his provisions, and then to ask in a way that shapes their desires and affections.

That’s what supplication is meant to do.

Jason Bostow: Yeah, I’m glad you brought up the ACTS—adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication—because that’s how the book is shaped into those four sections. Again, thank you for giving practical wisdom and advice there, and also for pointing people back to the book. That’s why I keep saying, guys, get this book.

It’s practical. It’s not a huge, dense, long read. Like I said, I love my pocket-sized books because I can keep one in the car, and when I’m waiting on a kid or stuck somewhere, I can just pick it up and gain something. I feel like your book works the same way. It’s a field guide people can carry along, let it get bent up, used, and well-worn—in the best way.

So thank you for that. Anthony, it’s been an absolute pleasure to have you back on the show. I consider you a friend and an ally to this channel and ministry. It’s an honor to serve the one true King alongside you. Thank you so much for the work you put into this book and for taking the time to be here with us today.

Anthony Delgado: Again, thank you for having me. I love being here and I love the work that you’re doing.

Jason Bostow: That means a lot, brother. Audience, I want to remind you—check the notes. I’ll have links to the book. We’re also going to have a giveaway, so keep an eye on our posts and videos for ways you can win a copy.

And let me quickly plug two upcoming interviews: Sandra Richter, The Epic of Eden—awesome book, can’t recommend it enough. And George Athas, Bridging the Testaments—a deep treatment of the intertestamental period, often overlooked but full of insight. I can’t wait to bring those to you.

Thank you so much for being here with us today. Anthony, in the spirit of prayer, would you close us with a word of prayer before we go?

Anthony Delgado: Yeah, I’d love to.

Lord, we come before you in adoration. You are God, you are Father, you are transcendent and imminent. You are holy and righteous in every way, above all things, yet merciful and good to your people and your creation. So we adore you as God of gods and Lord of lords over all things.

We also come in confession and humility. We are not who we ought to be. We have all, at times, gone the way of Adam, loving what we should not love and pursuing what is not good in your eyes. Forgive us. And may our understanding of your forgiveness, rooted in your mercy, move us to forgive others.

We thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ. Apart from his work on the cross, his resurrection, and his ascension to the right hand of the Father, we have no hope. If he were not King in heaven, humbled yet exalted, we could never ascend the mountain of God to reach you. But we do—because Christ has reached down to us. For that we give thanks. And we thank you for every blessing and provision that flows from that grace.

Now in supplication, we ask. I pray for Jason and for the Ring Them Bells channel—for provision in every way as he does your work. Do great things in his life and in the lives of those who minister alongside him. Let him see fruit from his labor as he seeks to bless others as he has been blessed. Provide for your people, protect your people, and continue to show us your goodness.

We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jason Bostow: Amen. Thank you so much for that, brother. Audience, thank you for being here with us today. It means a lot. As always, stay tuned—the beginning is near.

VIDEO CLIP: So this prayer that Jesus taught his followers—it’s a way to make Jesus’ story our story. The prayer invites us to daily trust God, to love and forgive each other, so that we can participate in the story of heaven and earth becoming one.