Become New with John Ortberg

What's the right way to wake up?
In this reflection on Psalm 5, John Ortberg continues the daily rhythm begun in Psalm 4.
Evening is the time of peace.
 Morning is the time of hope.
And don't worry: you don't have to become a morning person.
John explores how Psalm 5 gives us a practical way to begin an ordinary day with God, even when we wake up carrying heavy burdens, difficult circumstances, or unanswered questions.
Drawing from the ancient Christian invitation Sursum corda, “Lift up your hearts,” and the wisdom of Francis de Sales, John invites us to preview the coming day with God.
What meetings are ahead?
Who will you encounter?
Where might you be tempted?
Where might you have an opportunity to serve or encourage someone?
Bring your actual day to God.
Then wait expectantly.
Maybe we shouldn't call the thing that wakes us an “alarm clock” at all.
As John puts it, perhaps we need a resurrection clock.
God has given you another day. This one will never come again.
In this episode:
Psalm 5 as a morning prayer
The rhythm of Psalms 3, 4, and 5
Why you don't have to be a morning person
Waking up with God when life feels heavy
Sursum corda: Lift up your hearts
Why waking shouldn't begin with alarm
Francis de Sales on morning prayer
Previewing your day with God
Preparing for difficult interactions
Looking for opportunities to serve
Why morning is the time of hope
The “resurrection clock”
Living this day surrounded by God's care
Scriptures:
 Psalm 3:5 • Psalm 4 • Psalm 5 • Proverbs 27:14 • Psalm 118:24
#Psalm5 #JohnOrtberg #MorningPrayer #Psalms #Prayer #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #MorningRoutine #Hope
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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF
00:00 The Right Way to Wake Up
 00:23 Psalms 4 & 5: Evening and Morning
 00:46 I Wake Because the Lord Sustains Me
 01:03 God's Kingdom, Not Mine
 01:15 You Don't Have to Be a Morning Person
 01:42 All Time Is God's Time
 02:11 When You Wake Up Heavy
 02:54 Every Morning Is a Resurrection
 03:22 Map Out the Coming Day
 03:40 Sursum Corda: Lift Up Your Hearts
04:01 Living Today in God's Hands
04:30 Why Do We Call It an Alarm Clock?
05:14 Don't Wake Up Alarmed
05:40 Psalm 5: The Morning Prayer
06:33 Preview Your Day With God
07:21 Prepare for Difficult People
07:47 Look for Opportunities to Serve
08:27 Talk Through Your Day With God
08:45 Wait Expectantly
09:01 You Need a Resurrection Clock
09:11 This Is the Day the Lord Has Made
09:32 Two Ways to Live Today
10:27 Surrounded by God's Favor
10:47 This Day Will Never Come Again
11:10 Wake Up, for God's Sake!

Did you know the Bible gives us a way to go to sleep?
In this reflection on Psalm 4, John Ortberg explores what sleep can teach us about surrender, control, prayer, and trusting God.
Drawing from Answering God, John points out a fascinating biblical rhythm: evening comes before morning.
Genesis says, “There was evening, and there was morning.”
Sabbath begins at sundown.
Psalm 4 gives us an evening prayer before Psalm 5 gives us a morning prayer.
Why?
Because before we wake up, accomplish anything, solve anything, or even become conscious of the new day, God is already at work.
Every night, sleep asks us to relinquish our grip on our work, our relationships, our problems, our thoughts, and our need for control.
The world keeps turning.
God remains awake.
And we can rest.
In this episode:
Psalm 4 as an evening prayer
Why the biblical day begins at night
Eugene Peterson on evening and morning prayer
Sleep as an act of surrender
Why we struggle to relinquish control
"Search your hearts and be silent"
Historical "first sleep" and "second sleep"
Reviewing your day with God
Gratitude before bed
Psalm 4:8 and sleeping in peace
Learning to trust God's providence while we sleep
Scriptures:
 Psalm 3:5 • Psalm 4 • Psalm 5 • Genesis 1 • Genesis 2:2–3
#Psalm4 #JohnOrtberg #Sleep #Prayer #Psalms #EugenePeterson #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #TrustGod
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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF
00:00 The Right Way to Go to Sleep
 00:34 Psalm 4 & Psalm 5
 01:01 I Sleep Because the Lord Sustains Me
 01:26 Why Evening Comes Before Morning
 01:44 Genesis, Sabbath & God's Rhythm
 02:05 Who's Really in Control?
 02:27 Eugene Peterson on Evening Prayer
 03:05 Sleep Is the Practice of Letting Go
 03:37 Why We Don't Want to Surrender Control
 04:07 Psalm 4: An Evening Prayer
 04:33 What False Gods Did You Chase Today?
 05:08 Search Your Heart and Be Silent
 05:34 First Sleep & Second Sleep
 06:30 What to Do When You Can't Sleep
 06:42 Review Your Day With God
 07:15 Gratitude Instead of Discontent
 07:38 The Right Way to Sleep
 08:07 God Is God and I Am Not
 08:22 Why "Sleep Like a Baby" Isn't Quite Right
 08:54 Sleep Is the Friend of God
 09:50 Trusting God Through the Night
 10:16 Let God Look After the World
 10:51 Sleep, for God's Sake

What if you prayed the Psalms as if they could really help?

In this reflection on Psalm 30, John Ortberg explores the difference between simply reciting Scripture and allowing its words to become our own prayer.

John shares the story of Rabbi Plotkin, whose life seemed to be falling apart. His marriage was ending. His future felt uncertain. Fear and self-pity had taken over.

Then one morning, as he prepared to say the same prayers he'd prayed for decades, he challenged himself:

“Don't pray as you always have. This time, pray as if it could really help.”

The words were the same.

But the speaker was different.

When he reached Psalm 30 and read, “At night you go to sleep crying. In the morning there is joy,” something changed. The ancient words suddenly became personal.

That's John's invitation to us today: don't merely read Psalm 30.

Pray it.

Bring your actual fear, grief, need, and hope to the words. Read them as though they're addressed to you. Let the Psalms become a vessel of God's grace in your actual life.

In this episode:

Psalm 30 and transformational prayer
How to turn Scripture into prayer
Rabbi Plotkin's story of crisis and hope
Why familiar words can suddenly become personal
The difference between reciting and praying
How the Psalms remind us we're not alone
“Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”
Praying Scripture with your whole heart

Scripture: Psalm 30

#Psalm30 #JohnOrtberg #Prayer #Psalms #PrayingScripture #BibleStudy #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #Hope #Joy

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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 How Do You Pray to Change Your Life?
00:28 Psalm 30 & Duets on Psalms
00:48 Rabbi Plotkin's Story
01:21 When Everything Is Falling Apart
01:40 The Last Straw
01:54 Fear, Despair & Self-Pity
02:20 Put Up or Shut Up Time
02:44 Pray Like It Could Really Help
03:02 Same Words, Different Speaker
03:31 At Night You Cry, In the Morning There's Joy
03:55 Suddenly, He Wasn't Alone
04:11 What Would You Take on Alone?
04:30 Nobody Can Keep You From Taking God
04:59 Hope Enters the Story
05:16 Two Friends Underline the Same Verse
05:59 Don't Just Recite the Words
06:12 Why the Psalms Can Transform Us
06:38 Pray These Words as Your Own
06:52 Psalm 30
07:28 Weeping at Night, Joy in the Morning
08:20 You Turned My Wailing Into Dancing
09:01 There's Joy

What do you do when you find yourself in the pit?

In this reflection on Psalm 30, John Ortberg explores one of the Bible's most powerful metaphors for suffering: the pit, the depths, the darkness, Sheol.

Sometimes the pit is grief.

Sometimes it's depression, failure, anxiety, physical pain, a broken relationship, a dream that has died, or something completely beyond our control.

And sometimes the night lasts much longer than we ever imagined.

John shares personally about a season when the pain didn't go away the next day...or the next. One thought became especially important:

It will not always be this way.

That doesn't mean circumstances will immediately improve. It doesn't even mean things can't get worse. It means that even in the darkness, God can still be found.

Psalm 30 says, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

We don't know how long the night will last.

But the night doesn't get the last word.

In this episode:

Psalm 30 and the biblical image of "the pit"
What to do when suffering overwhelms you
Why "joy comes in the morning" isn't a formula or timeline
Finding God in darkness
Psalm 139 and finding God in Sheol
How to keep going when circumstances don't improve
Why we can't lift ourselves out of every pit
Mourning and dancing existing together
Hope when the night feels endless

Scriptures:
Psalm 30 • Psalm 139:8 • Genesis 37 • Jeremiah 38 • Daniel 6 • Revelation 21:4

#Psalm30 #JohnOrtberg #Psalms #Suffering #Hope #Prayer #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #Grief

🙌 New episodes every weekday.
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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 What to Do When You're in the Pit
00:29 What Does "the Pit" Mean?
00:58 Psalm 30 Begins
01:29 Weeping May Last for the Night
01:56 When God Feels Hidden
02:20 Bargaining With God
03:10 You Turned My Wailing Into Dancing
03:37 This Isn't a Formula or Timeline
04:04 The Biblical Image of the Pit
04:44 When Pain Takes Over Everything
05:35 When All You Can Do Is Hurt
05:46 How Long Does the Night Last?
06:06 It Will Not Always Be This Way
06:30 What If Things Get Worse?
06:52 Finding God in the Darkness
07:19 If I Make My Bed in Sheol
07:46 Remember You're Not the Only One
08:25 God Has Met Suffering People Before
08:44 Finding Meaning in the Pit
09:00 When You're Going Through Hell, Keep Going
09:22 You Can't Lift Yourself Out of the Pit
10:07 Laughter Comes Again
10:36 Mourning Becomes Dancing
10:54 God Is Lord Even Over the Pit
11:14 Don't You Give Up

What do you do with the mess inside your mind?

In this reflection on Psalm 102, John Ortberg explores how the Psalms can become a kind of divine therapy, teaching us to bring our actual thoughts, emotions, fears, and beliefs honestly into the presence of God.

Drawing from Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb, the ABCDE framework associated with Martin Seligman, and insights from Walter Brueggemann and Dallas Willard, John shows us a practical way to process what's happening inside us with God.
Psalm 102 doesn't clean up the mess.

The psalmist pours it out.

Fear. Despair. Exaggeration. Loneliness. Anger.

And then comes the turn:

"But You, Lord..."

We bring God what we're actually thinking and feeling, then allow the truth of who He is to reshape the way we see our circumstances.

In this episode:
- Psalm 102 and lament
- What "divine therapy" might look like
- Why our inner lives rarely match what we present publicly
- Lori Gottlieb's Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- The ABCDE framework
- Why lament Psalms use exaggeration and hyperbole
- Walter Brueggemann on Psalm 102
- Bringing truth to our thoughts
- Dallas Willard's "Eternity is now in session"
- Walking through an ordinary day with the Eternal God

Scripture: Psalm 102

#psalm102   #JohnOrtberg #Psalms #Prayer #MentalHealth #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #DallasWillard #Lament

📚 Today's Resources:
Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed 
Martin E.P. Seligman, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life 
Walter Brueggeman, Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit 

🙌 New episodes every weekday.
📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time.

Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time.
TEXT us at 51504
EMAIL US at connect@becomenew.com

GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe
GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text NEW to 51504
SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team
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😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/
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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
 00:39 Can God Be Your Therapist?
 01:04 The Mess Inside Our Minds
 01:52 A Therapist's First Patient
 02:33 Finally Naming What's Wrong
 02:58 The Life We Present Online
 03:48 Psalm 102 & Divine Therapy
 04:23 The ABCDE Framework
 05:07 Lament Isn't Objective Reporting
 05:31 Walter Brueggemann on Psalm 102
 06:24 Bring Your Actual Life to God
 07:07 My Days Vanish Like Smoke
 07:32 Why the Psalms Exaggerate
 07:58 Pouring Out the Raw Stuff
 08:28 "But You, Lord..."
 09:19 Eternity Is Now in Session
 09:43 Eternal Life Available Now
 10:22 Living in the Presence of the Eternal One
 10:53 Whatever Happens Today
 11:12 Get It Out, Bring in Truth, Walk With God