The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation

I WILLS TO INSTILL: I Will Speak Him // A Conversation with Wendy Hickox about Talking Faith

• Tosha Williams for FDM • Season 5 • Episode 22

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We talk about what matters to us, and this should be true in our relationship with God, too. In this episode, join Wendy Hickox and me, Tosha Williams, as we ponder the invitation of Isaiah 12:4:  to declare, proclaim, praise and make known who God is. Thing is, God doesn't just want us to experience His goodness but to boldly proclaim Him to others. With our series "I Wills to Instill" as the backdrop, Wendy and I discuss what this can look like. 

Discipleship begins with a conversation, and this podcast challenges us to skip the intimidation and get to these conversations that really matter. Listen in, then reflect on what God is saying to you through this conversation guide about Isaiah 12:4.

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I WILLS TO INSTILL:  "I WILL Speak Him"

“And on that day you will say, ‘Give thanks to the LORD; proclaim his name! Make his works known among the peoples. Declare that his name is exalted.’” Isaiah 12:4 CSB

SEEK HIM: Devotion is Meeting with God in Our Own Lives!  In this conversation, let’s process what it means to make our faith more than just a private experience. Isaiah 12:4 reminds us that, as followers of Jesus, we don’t just keep God’s goodness to ourselves—we speak Him by sharing what He has done in our lives.

  • WHAT:  What is God saying through this Scripture?  This verse talks about a day when God establishes Jesus on His throne. Thing is, if He is on the throne of our hearts, then that day can occur today. In multiple ways, God’s people can “Speak Him,” making Him known through our words. ~ What are the different kinds of speech referred to in this verse? What do His works include in your life? Is Jesus ruling your heart now?  
  • WHY:  Why does this Scripture matter? If we don’t talk about what matters to us, how will others know? Jesus’ command “Go make disciples… teach them to obey everything I have commanded you,” requires words. We can exalt His name through our testimonies and make His works known through our Jesus stories. ~ How does it feel to talk about Jesus to someone else? How can speaking about your faith strengthen it?  
  • HOW: How does God want us to respond to this truth? We don’t have to hammer people with the Bible. We don’t have to be rude, unloving or know it alls. “I Will Speak Him” is a decision to seize every opportunity to speak up about the Lord and His Word. This may be as brief as a few words or as long as a heart-to-heart conversation. ~ What intimidates you about speaking up about Jesus?  

SPEAK HIM: Discipleship is Making God Known to Others! “Seek Him” should always lead to “Speak Him.” Speaking about God is not just for pastors or missionaries—it is for every believer! This week, let’s look for opportunities to share how God has been at work in our lives. Whether through a simple conversation, a prayer with a friend, or a post on social media, let’s choose to speak Him!

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

Speaker 1:

We talk about what matters to us, right? This is true in pretty much every part of our lives. So how much more so should this be true in our relationship with God and well, talking about Him with others. In this conversation, I've invited my friend Wendy to join me so that we can process what it means to make our faith more than just a private experience. As we continue in our conversation collection called I Wills to Instill, today we come to Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 4. And well, with my friend Wendy here, I want us to talk about the fact that, as followers of Jesus, we don't just keep God's goodness to ourselves. We speak Him by sharing what he's done in our lives. So I'm going to cue the introduction and then be right back to have just a few minutes of dialogue and conversation with Wendy. I'll be right back.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. If you have a real relationship with Jesus, then you're in the right place to be encouraged, challenged and blessed as you seek Him, speak Him. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now.

Speaker 1:

Wendy, here we are sitting in my cloth office doing the very thing that we always talk about with Family Disciple Me and that is to have a conversation.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. Thank you so much for inviting me in, and when we talk about a cloth, is we really mean a tiny space? I know you're not here to see what this space looks like, but it is cozy and I feel honored to be here to have this conversation with you.

Speaker 1:

I love this, wendy. Yes, this little, this little cloth is. I don't know what is it? Maybe six feet long and three feet wide, something like that. I think that's being generous, but it is our God-given podcast studio. So, I am so thankful for that. Shout out to Vanguard Church for giving me a cloth.

Speaker 3:

Yes, I'm so thankful you have a space to actually just record in that space.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, and in this space today I've spent so many hours here in this cloth office recording podcast episodes by myself, but it seems so apropos, wendy, that now, as we come to this conversation about, I will speak him and we talk about talking about him. Well, here you are with me to talk about this with me.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely To have a conversation with another person, because, if we think about it, a conversation indicates that word itself indicates two people, at least two people talking about things together. And so here we are talking about it and speaking that, understanding what it means to speak into those that are interested to us.

Speaker 1:

That's right. One of the themes of the Family Disciple Me ministry is the phrase discipleship starts with a conversation. Yes, and there's a tagline that I like to say, and it is skip the intimidation and get straight to the conversation. Yes, and there's a tagline that I like to say, and it is skip the intimidation and get straight to the conversation.

Speaker 3:

It's an excellent way to put it. I think too many people. When I look around, there's too many people that are intimidated by the actual process of speaking out just what you've learned, but the way we've framed it seek him through devotions, know who he is You're living that already and turn around and share that. Share that with the next generation.

Speaker 1:

That's right. It really is as simple as that. It's as simple as being determined to talk about our faith. We've been going through Isaiah, chapter 12, in this collection of conversations and today, in verse four, it says this on that day, you will say give thanks to the Lord, proclaim his name, make his works known among the peoples, declareclare that his name is exalted, exalted in all things I know.

Speaker 3:

For me personally, I am having my devotions in the morning. It just that's when it works for me. I wake up in the morning and that's what I do. That's when you seek him, that's when I seek him, that's my devotion time. That's when I'm seeing what the Lord has for me. But as I go and live out my life, boy, that's where the rubber hits the road. That's right, and sometimes it's not pretty. But what I've learned in my quiet times or my times of devotion, well, that's really where I find the power of sharing with my own children that it's okay. It's not perfect, it's not always easy, and it's actually in those moments that I find the lessons that I can share with my children, because sometimes we just get wrapped up in we have to have the right verse, we have to have the right saying, we have to be righteous enough. No, I've learned that it's in those real conversations that my children are impacted, that I'm impacted.

Speaker 1:

And it's in those real conversations as we keep the focus not just on ourselves or even our kids or the people that we're talking to, as we keep the focus on the fact that we belong to Jesus. Yes, we do, and really we want his name to echo through our lives in every conversation. You know, Wendy, I was at the gym a few days ago and I was on the stair machine and doing my thing and there was this older woman a few machines down and she just had her phone blaring, but there was enough noise in the gym I couldn't hear what she was listening to, except that every few seconds it was Jesus, jesus.

Speaker 1:

Oh my goodness, it was like garbled, until it would say the word Jesus and for some reason I stopped. I was like why is that one word? I have no idea what the rest of what she's listening to is, but that word his name was echoing above all the other sounds in the gym and it made me pause and think. Does my life echo Jesus' name in my conversations?

Speaker 3:

Wow, it's in those moments when God speaks to us, when you're at the gym and you're listening to somebody else's well, whatever she was listening to. It's those lessons that are so powerful.

Speaker 1:

And really, Wendy, if we don't turn around and talk about what matters to us, how will the people who matter to us know If we don't lean into those conversations? If we have these experiences with Jesus, if we learn these things from the word, if we say we're going to live our lives for him, but we never let that come out of our mouths to impact someone else, then it does us a lot of good, but what does it do for them?

Speaker 3:

I really believe we need to be intentional. Enough of this just stopping and thinking that the people around us can see who we are, Because are they really seeing who we are?

Speaker 1:

We need to be intentional in what we speak to them especially our children and those that God's entrusted to us, that we disciple, that we mentor, that we lead whoever. It is One of my favorite things from this. Last year there was a young adult woman that I was mentoring and we were talking about how Jesus said go and make disciples, teach them to obey everything. And she's a fairly new believer and this young woman just kind of leaned back in her chair and cocked her head and got this look in her eye and she said you know, I realized that sometimes I have to use my words Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

It was like such. It was like the light bulb went on above her. She said I always try to be nice and do good, but I realized I need to use my words.

Speaker 3:

Yes, that's true discipleship right there when it comes to our faith.

Speaker 1:

We have this amazing privilege and opportunity to seek him and then turn around and speak him. Thing is, we don't have to hammer people over the head with the Bible, we don't have to be rude, we don't have to be unloving, we don't have to be judgmental, we certainly don't have to be know-it-alls. We just have to decide I will speak him, and then we seize every opportunity that we have to do that.

Speaker 3:

And then watch, see how God is using your words in the next generation, because really they're his words, because you sought him first that's right.

Speaker 1:

And those conversations that we get to have, they may be as brief as a few words. Sometimes I think that speaking him is a simple encouragement to somebody in Jesus name, but then there's other times that it's a really long conversation, that we stay 100% focused on the fact that, yes, this is about my story, that person's story, but this is also about Jesus. Where do I bring him into this conversation?

Speaker 3:

The bottom line. How is Jesus working in your life and how can you share that with the people around you? Your life, and how can you share that with the people around you? Everyone can do that, because everyone that is seeking Christ has a Jesus story and it's worth sharing with the next generation. That's right. That's right.

Speaker 1:

The truth is, speaking him is not just the job for pastors and missionaries. The reality is, god wants all of us to share about him with someone else. What is it?

Speaker 3:

that you said Take the intimidation out of the conversation. It was something like that.

Speaker 1:

What was it? Skip the intimidation, get straight to the conversation.

Speaker 3:

That's important, because if I knew that way back when, when my kids were little, I think my conversations would have looked a lot different. But I've got that today I'm not afraid to share with them what I'm learning, because I know they're going to be going through maybe similar things, and it's okay for them to see it, because, first and foremost, I'm seeking God.

Speaker 1:

Amen, that's right. So, friends, for all of us, we want to be challenged as we think about I wills to instill. We've talked about so many different I wills but, specifically focusing in on the, I will seek him and now I will speak him. This week, let's look for opportunities to share how God has been at work in our lives. This week, let's look for opportunities to share how God has been at work in our lives. This week, let's look for opportunities to give thanks to the Lord, as our verse says, to proclaim his name, to make his works known, to declare that his name is exalted. There's so many different ways we can seek him, speak Him, so let's be encouraged to do this.

Speaker 1:

As we close, I would love to speak the blessing over all of us. Yes, I like to do this at the end of podcast, because it's such a beautiful framework to send people with and even as we talk about, seek Him, speak Him. This is such a beautiful prayer blessing to speak over our children when they you know, they get out of the car at carpool or we tell them goodbye. So I'm going to close this episode with this. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn His countenance toward you and, friend, as you turn your countenance toward him and seek him, may he turn his countenance toward you and give you peace. Now go with God, friend, be encouraged. Wendy, thank you for joining me.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much for having me. I just enjoyed our time here in the Coffice.

Speaker 1:

That's right in the Coffice with a conversation. Let's get to it. Go seek him, speak him until next time.

Speaker 2:

Thanks for joining us in this podcast episode. You can find the matching conversation guide in the show notes. To get the latest updates about the family disciple me ministry, as well as word about our soon toto-be-released app, Sign up to be the first to know at FamilyDiscipleMeorg. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, help us get the word out by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. God bless you, friend. Now go seek Him, speak Him.