The angels at the empty tomb asked the women a question that I’ve been reflecting on this week: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
This Easter, Rachel gets honest about the dead places she’s been looking for life — not out in the world, but inside her own heart. The self-talk that tears down instead of builds up. The thoughts that are not true, not honest, not of good report. And what happens when what’s living in our hearts starts flowing out of our mouths.
You’ll discover:
- Why the angel’s question at the tomb isn’t just about Easter morning — it’s about every morning
- What Matthew 12:34 reveals about the connection between your heart and your words
- How to tell the difference between the Holy Spirit’s conviction and the enemy’s condemnation
- A practical way to replace dead thoughts with living Scripture
- Why guarding your heart is the most important battle you’ll fight this week
If you’ve been carrying the weight of your own inner critic, this episode will remind you: the tomb is empty, and you don’t have to live there anymore.
Resources Mentioned:
Desperate Prayers: desperateprayers.com
Transcript
Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I’m Rachel, and I’m grateful you’re here this week, especially as Easter reminds us that Jesus has already won the battle for our hearts and he fills us with hope and reassurance. It’s Easter week and if you tuned into last week’s episode, we talked about praying from victory and how the Resurrection can change our entire posture when we come to God. But as I’ve read the Resurrection story this week, there’s a question from Luke twenty four that I’ve been pondering. Luke twenty four to five says, the woman came to the tomb on Sunday morning and they’ve got spices, they’re ready to tend to a dead body, and the angels stop them and say, why do you look for the living among the dead, And I stopped at that question this week because I wasn’t just thinking about the women at the tomb. I was thinking about myself and some of the places I’ve been looking for life lately that have no life to give. That’s where we’re going today, not just the Easter story, but that question, the Angel’s question, because I think it might be one of the most important things we sit with this Resurrection week. Before we dive in, I want to tell you about my book, Desperate Prayers, Embracing the Power of Prayer and life Life’s Darkest Moments. In case you’ve not been around and you’ve been in a season where prayer felt more like surviving than celebration. This book was written from that place. It’s available at Despertprayers dot com or wherever you buy books. The link is in the show notes. And now this week’s question in Hard Space, our first segment is always a question, and so for this week we’re beginning with where have I been looking for life in places that can’t give it? I want to be honest with you because I could talk about all the external stuff, the culture, social media, all the places out there that promise life and deliver emptiness, addictions, those are real, but that’s not where God has been pressing on me. He’s been pressing on the dead places inside of my own heart, those hidden areas where negative self talk and untruth just rests right there. And sometimes we struggle to recognize that there is healing and growth that needs to take place. And so I wanted to help you identify some of the things that I’ve encountered in my own life. There are three patterns that I’ve kind of found that are not from the Holy Spirit. Thoughts that are not true, not honest, not of good report. Things where I’ve been belittling myself, berating myself for speaking words over my own life, that is not from a heart that’s fixed on Jesus. So we all do this, don’t we. We might not call it that, We might not call it being harder on ourselves, or we might call it holding ourselves to a higher standard. But if we’re honest, there’s a difference between healthy conviction and the kind of self talk that tears us apart on the inside. Jesus told us exactly what happens when we let go unchecked out of the abundance of the heart. The mouth speaks when our hearts are full of condemnation and criticism. It doesn’t stay in there. It eventually comes out. It comes out in the words we speak to our families, in how we pray, whether we pray at all, what’s living in our hearts flows out of our mouths. And as we stand at the tomb with our spices ready to tend something dead, the Angel is stopping and saying, why are you here? Life is not here? Stop looking in this place. So let me ask you where have you been looking for life in dead places? And I’m not talking just about eternal things. What have you been saying to yourself when nobody else is listening? The running commentary in your own head? Is it true? Is honest? Is it a good report? Because Philippians four eight tells us where life is found. Finally, brothers and sisters says, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is honest, pure lovely, whatever is admirable, anything that’s excellent or praiseworthy. Think on these things. That’s the living place. That’s where we’re supposed to set up camp, not at the tomb of our own failures, trying to anoint something that God dealt with on the cross. Proverbs four twenty three makes it very plain. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it, above all else, not when you get around to it, or if it’s convenient, Because what flows from our hearts determines the words we speak, the prayers we pray, the life that we live. Thanks so much for listening to this segment of Questions in Hard Spaces. We’ll be right back after this brief word from our sponsors. Thank you for tuning in to that word from our sponsors. And now for this week’s pray More Worthy, Less Encouragement, And this is the segment of the podcast where we focus on one prayer principle. The principle for this week is the battle for your heart starts with what you let live there. I wanted to connect this back to prayer because here’s what I’ve realized about myself. When my heart is full of those dead places thought to sell us, thought self destruction, self criticism, it poisons my prayer life. I don’t want to talk to God because I don’t feel like I deserve to. And I think many of us have been there, feeling unworthy to approach God because of our inner struggles. But I want to remind you that God’s love is unconditional. His arms are open, and he longs to meet you in your brokenness, not to condemn, but to restore and renew. So how do we stop looking for the living among the dead? How do we guard our hearts and actually start living in the place of Philippians for eight, rather than in the tomb? Well, first we have to learn to recognize the voice. Not every thought in our head is ours, and not every thought in our head is from God. There is a simple test. Does the thought convict you and offer a way forward that’s the Holy Spirit, Or does it condemn you and leave you stuck? That’s not of God. Romans eight one says, there’s therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If what your hearing is condemnation, it is not God’s voice. Walk away from that tomb. But secondly, replace the dead with the living. And this is where Philippians four eight gets practical, Because when we catch a thought that is not true, that is not honest, that is not of good report, we don’t just try to stop thinking it. We replace it with the truth. For me, I’m a failure gets replaced with Ephesians two ten, I am God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. When I can’t do anything right, I replace that with Philippians four thirteen. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. So what’s yours? What’s the lie that plays in your head? The scripture that speaks truth over it? It’s not positive thinking. It’s letting the living word of God push out the dead words. And then, thirdly, guard the gate daily. We went over that a guard doesn’t just show up after the enemy’s already inside. The guard watches that the gate keeps the enemy from going in. And so we have to ask ourselves what are we letting in? What are we listening to? What are we scrolling? What conversations are we replaying in our heads at midnight? Guarding is a daily choice and sometimes an early choice. Prayer is how we do it to every time you catch a dead thought and bring it to the Lord that is guarding. Every time you say, Lord, that thought is not from you and I’m not keeping it. That is guarding. That is the battle, and it is a battle, but we fight from victory. The tomb is empty. The thing that tried to steal your identity, your peace, your sense of worth. It doesn’t get the last word. Jesus does. So this Easter, I’m making a choice. I am walking away from the dead places in my own thinking, and I’m inviting you to do the same. Guard what you let into your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill the spaces that lies have occupied. Because we don’t have to live at the tomb anymore. We’re living in the presence of the living God. The grave is empty, you know. For the our final segment each week, I usually share an answer prayer story, and this week I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to share this story from a book that I’ve been reading, a Retrospect by missionary Hudson Taylor, and the entire book gave me so much to think about when I read it this past fall, I’ve revisited again and again in regards to God’s provision and his presence. Here’s the story. On January sixth one, solitary cash remained the twentieth part of a penny in the joint possession of mister Juns and myself. Though we tried to look to God once again to manifest his gracious care enough provision was found in the house to supply a meager breakfast, after which, having neither food for the rest of the day nor money to buy anything, we can only betake ourselves to him who was able to supply all our need, with the petition give us stay our daily bread. After prayer and deliberation, we thought that perhaps we ought to dispose of something we possessed in order to meet our immediate requirements. But on looking around, we saw nothing that we could well spare, and little that the Chinese would purchase for ready money. Credit. To any extent we might have had, could we conscientiously have availed ourselves of it, But this we felt to be unscriptural in itself, as well as inconsistent with the position we were in. We had indeed one article, an iron stove, which we knew the Chinese would readily purchase, but we much regretted the necessity of parting with it. At length, however, we set out to the founders, and after a walk of some distance, came to the river, which we had intended to cross by a floating bridge of boats. But here the lords shut up our path. The bridge had been carried away during the preceding night, and the river was only passable by means of a fairy, the fair for which was to cash each person. As we only possessed one cash, our course clearly was to turn and wait God’s own interposition on our behalf. Upon reaching home we found that missus Jones had gone with the children to dine at a friend’s house in accordance with an invitation excepted some days previously. Mister Jones, though himself included in the invitation, refused now to go and leave me to fast alone. So we set to work and carefully searched the cupboards, and though there was nothing to eat, we found a small packet of cocoa, which, with a little hot water, somewhat revived us. After this we again cried to the Lord and our trouble, and the Lord heard and saved us of all our distresses. While we were still upon our knees, a letter from England containing a remittance. This timely supply only met the immediate and urgent need of the day, For in the assured confidence that God, whose we were and whom we served, would not put to shame those whose whole and only trust was in himself. If today’s conversation hit home with you. My book Desperate Prayers was written from seasons just like this one that I and Hudson Taylor described today, seasons where the battle was as much internal as it was external, and you can find it at Desperate Prayers dot com or wherever you buy books. If this episode encouraged you, would you share it with someone who needs it. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do for someonet is let them know they’re not the only one fiting this fight. Thank you for joining us on the Untangling Prayer Podcast this Easter. When the Angel asks why do you look for the living among the dead? I pray we all dare to answer honestly and then walk away from the tomb and into the arms of a risen savior who has already won the battle for our hearts. He sees you, he hears you, and he knows your need. Happy Easter friend, Thanks for joining me on the Untangling Prayer Podcast. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who could use a little hope, and be sure to subscribe for more. Until next time, keep seeking, keep trusting, and keep praying.