What Does Prayer Actually Do?

Someone is going to tell you what they think of your work, your plans, or the boxes in your attic.What you do with it matters.In this episode, Jonathan and David start with a move, a pile of boxes, and some unsolicited advice from a co-host, and use it to ask a question every young adult runs into: when should you take feedback, and when shouldn't you?The conversation begins with a simple fact: we are emotional creatures, so both praise and criticism hit us harder than we expect. With positive feedback, the goal is to enjoy it without absorbing it. A simple habit helps: say thank you, then quietly give the glory to God. That guards against building your identity on other people's approval, because, "if you live for their acceptance, you will die by their rejection." It also guards against false humility, which can deny the gifts God has given and often turns out to be a quiet bid for more compliments.With negative feedback, the first reaction is almost always defensiveness, and the more right the critic is, the stronger it gets. Jonathan shares a story from work about a young employee who shrugged off the feedback completely, and the hosts discuss what a better response would have looked like. The way through is to hold that reaction long enough to listen, then ask two questions: does feedback from this person matter, and does this issue matter? It also helps to consider the emotional state of the person giving the feedback.The goal isn't to take every opinion to heart.It's to build a habit that moves you from reacting to thinking.Put yourself where honest feedback can find you, because without the negative, the positive eventually runs out.As always,Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

In this episode, Jonathan and David start with a rental car horror story before turning to a question that’s easy to agree with and easy to ignore: should you be reading more?David walks through research showing that reading works like a full-body workout for the brain, lighting up everything from visual and language centers to motor and emotional regions. Jonathan adds that only about 15% of Americans read regularly, so anyone who reads consistently has a huge advantage. Reading lets you learn from another person’s entire life experience, and it builds the empathy and perspective that help you serve others well.From there, the conversation turns to AI. When AI generates a response, it’s reordering material that already exists, and it tends to tell us what we want to hear. A book, by contrast, comes from a fellow image bearer who has taken the time to think, create, and say something original, even when you disagree with them. Reading gives you the context to ask better questions and to judge AI output, so that AI stays supplemental rather than foundational. Access to books has never been easier.The challenge now is desire.Go read a book!As always, Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

A three-year-old prayed for a car. Her dad quietly prayed she would stop.Then the phone rang.In this episode, Jonathan and David tackle a deceptively simple question: what does prayer do? They share stories from their own prayer lives, from a World Series prayer over the Cardinals to a child's faith that put her father to shame, and they ask what prayer is doing in us as well as for us.The conversation starts with the most familiar answer: prayer builds faith and deepens our relationship with God. But it also reshapes how we see everything else. Kierkegaard said that prayer doesn't change God, it changes the one who prays. Jonathan and David explore how praying, whether silently, out loud, or through written prayers, puts us in continual conversation with God, guards us against thinking we are God, and prepares our hearts to receive either answer, a yes as a gift or a no with peace.Prayer also changes how we relate to other people. When we pray for someone, we take on a measure of responsibility for them without pretending we can fix their problems, which matters most when words fall short. And praying alongside others in a church body can lift our eyes off our own troubles and remind us that God is faithful to hear.If you're struggling to know what to say, you're not a bad Christian. The hosts suggest using written prayers or the Lord's Prayer as a starting point, making prayer a daily habit, and trying it out loud.Prayer transforms our hearts, our relationship with God, and our relationships with each other. It's a habit worth building.As always, Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

Your coworker may be difficult. They're still made in the image of God.What do you do when you can't just walk away?In this episode, Jonathan and David share stories from their first jobs, from a pizza shop to an auto parts store, and ask how Christians should deal with difficult coworkers. The answer starts with a foundation that doesn't depend on whether anyone else shares your beliefs: every person you work with is made in the image of God. That means they deserve respect, they reflect something of God that only they can, and we are called to love them, which goes deeper than simply being nice.From there, the conversation turns to the mission. Before you decide how to handle a difficult person, ask what you are all there to accomplish. Shared values can be ranked in very different orders, and some workplaces leave more room for differing worldviews than others. When the mission aligns, it gives you common ground to build relationships on, and those relationships may eventually open doors to deeper conversations. Jonathan's story of watching a boss take credit for his idea shows how ego can sabotage a mission, and how much can be accomplished when you stop caring who gets the credit.The hardest case is a difficult boss. Jonathan's surprising first step is to ask what the worst thing is that could happen if you quit today. Remembering that you are not your job, and that your identity is in Christ, frees you to decide whether the job is worth staying in. Only then do tactics work, because your heart is no longer set on revenge or justice.The goal isn't to ignore the friction. It's to step back, remember why you're there, and love the people God has put in front of you.As always, Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

Why do some of our most meaningful experiences come from the things we would never have chosen for ourselves?In this episode, Jonathan and David explore the uncomfortable truth that hardship may be essential to a rich and meaningful life. From exhausting physical challenges to seasons of suffering we never asked for, they consider how effort, endurance, and difficulty shape us in ways that comfort and convenience cannot. But what happens when the hardship doesn't have a clear finish line and we have no idea how much longer we have to endure?So how do we keep going when we don't know when things will get better? Jonathan offers two principles to hold onto: God redeems all things, and endurance is underrated. David and Jonathan also discuss the importance of prayer and Scripture, drawing especially from Psalms 20–24. Those passages move through hope, disappointment, lament, comfort, and the reminder that the whole earth belongs to God. Faith doesn't require us to pretend that hardship isn't painful. It invites us to bring that pain honestly before God and trust that he remains faithful, even when relief doesn't come on our timetable.Ultimately, living well doesn't mean avoiding every difficulty or forcing ourselves to maintain a sunny attitude when life is hard. It means learning to endure faithfully, allowing hardship to deepen our dependence on God, and remembering that the finish line of this life leads to something greater. We may not know which mile we're in, but we can keep praying, keep returning to Scripture, and keep being faithful with what's in front of us.The hardship you're facing today may be shaping a depth of faith, joy, and character you couldn't develop any other way.As always,Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

The camera can issue the ticket. But who gets to ask whether it was right?And is it ever okay for a Christian to cut one down?In this episode, Jonathan and David take on one of the most talked-about surveillance technologies in the news: Flock cameras. These AI-powered cameras can read license plates, identify faces, and even issue tickets automatically, with no officer ever reviewing the footage.The conversation starts close to home, on a construction-heavy stretch of I-81 where photo-enforced cameras raised millions of dollars in a matter of weeks. Jonathan has never earned a ticket from one, yet he resents them anyway. His own run-ins with an automated ticketing system, including tickets for a car that wasn't his in a city he wasn't in, show how quickly "innocent until proven guilty" can flip to "guilty until proven innocent." Beyond that, there's a deeper question about what happens to a society that knows it's being watched all the time. We already appear on camera in stores and businesses every day, so why does a camera on a public street, backed by the authority of the state and accessible to many people, feel so different?That leads to the question that started it all: is it a Christian thing to cut down a Flock camera? The hosts work through the biblical pattern of civil disobedience, from the apostles to the civil rights movement, and land on a sobering principle. If you believe a law is unjust enough to break, you also carry the responsibility to accept the full consequences without complaint. They also draw a careful distinction. The apostles and civil rights leaders were acting to advance the gospel and affirm the image of God in people, and it's hard to make that case for vandalizing a camera. Along the way they count the cost to family and calling, and they remember that justice belongs to the Lord. It isn't ours to use for the satisfaction of sticking it to the man.If you're weighing whether to take bold action on something that angers you, the hosts offer a few questions to ask first:Are you willing to pay the full consequences?Have you exhausted every other means?Will it genuinely advance Christ's kingdom?Have you prayed about it?The goal isn't to silence your convictions. It's to submit them to what God says is right, true, and just.We don't have to take the easy road just because something makes us angry. We're called to ask the hard questions.As always,Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

AI can turn a three-hour task into thirty seconds.It can also raise questions that are much bigger than productivity.In this episode, Jonathan and David wrestle with the strange tension surrounding artificial intelligence: the technology is extraordinarily powerful, genuinely useful, and increasingly capable; and yet the people building it are warning us about the dangers of letting it develop faster than our ability to understand and control it.This conversation digs into a much-discussed AI incident and what happens when the dramatic headline is separated from what actually happened. The story raises a larger issue: powerful technologies don't just need safeguards, they need people who have thought carefully about the goals, assumptions, and boundaries surrounding them. Sometimes the greatest danger isn't that technology suddenly becomes evil. It's that human beings fail to think through what they are building and why.That leads to one of the most practical ideas in the episode: you don't have to understand every detail of a tool to use it well, but you do need enough foundational knowledge to recognize when the tool is wrong. Jonathan's financial example illustrates this perfectly. Because he had already done the tedious work of understanding the numbers, he could recognize when AI produced a correct answer—and would also be better equipped to recognize a mistake.From there, the conversation turns toward a distinctly Christian approach to technology. We are not called to fear everything humans create, but neither are we called to embrace every new capability simply because it is possible. We are creators because we are made in the image of God, but we are also fallen people capable of using good things for destructive purposes. That means Christians have a responsibility to ask what a technology enables, what it costs, what it replaces, and whether its use helps us love and serve people well.The goal isn't to reject technology.It's to use it wisely.We don't need to live in fear of the future, but we do need to think carefully about the future we're building.As always,Be UnboundArticle Source: https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontierLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

Are we winning or losing?In this episode, Jonathan and David reflect on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and use it as a starting point for a much bigger question: are we winning or losing? As they look at the changes that have happened over the past 25 years, they wrestle with the reality that progress and loss can exist at the same time. Some things have clearly improved, while other things have deteriorated. And when we zoom out far enough, it can be difficult to know exactly how to measure whether we're moving forward.The conversation turns toward 9/11 and the world that existed before and after it. Jonathan and David talk about how dramatically the event changed American life, from air travel and security to political division and the way people relate to one another. They wrestle with the costs and benefits that have followed, recognizing that history doesn't always move in a straight line. Sometimes victories come with losses, and sometimes the world we gain is permanently marked by what we lost along the way.That leads to a deeper Christian perspective on what Jonathan describes as the “long defeat.” We live in a world marked by sin, and Scripture tells us to expect suffering, evil, and persecution. But that isn't the whole story. God is also actively redeeming people, communities, and circumstances in the middle of that brokenness. The early church grew in the midst of a deeply broken world, and even after 9/11, people experienced unexpected community, ministry, and spiritual renewal.Ultimately, the Christian hope isn't that we will be able to look around and prove that everything is getting better.We may live in the middle of the long defeat, but the story doesn't end there.Because God redeems all things, even the things that look like loss.As always,Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

What if failure isn't something you need to avoid at all costs?In this episode, Jonathan and David explore what it really means to say that “failure is an option.” In a culture where failure can feel like the end of the road, they argue that failure is often necessary for growth, learning, and meaningful progress. Trying something new means you may not get it right—and if we're unwilling to fail, we can end up unwilling to try anything that actually matters.But there's an important distinction: failure is an option, but it's not an excuse. Failure isn't something to celebrate simply for its own sake, and it doesn't give us permission to stop caring, put in minimal effort, or blame circumstances when things don't work out. Healthy failure means taking responsibility, asking what happened, learning from the experience, and figuring out what you can do differently next time.The conversation explores this idea through sports, physical training, and everyday life. Whether you're losing a game, pushing your body to its limits, or trying something you've never done before, growth often requires getting close enough to failure that you discover what you're actually capable of. Avoiding failure may keep you comfortable, but it can also keep you from expanding your capacity.The episode ultimately brings failure into a much bigger Christian perspective. We live in a broken world where failure isn't just possible—it's a reality. That includes our own sin and shortcomings. But the Christian story doesn't end with failure. Redemption begins with honestly acknowledging that we have failed, and the gospel gives us something that our failures never can: the assurance that our identity is not ultimately defined by our performance. In Christ, we can confront our failures honestly without allowing them to become the definition of who we are.Ultimately, failure isn't the end of the story.Try the thing.Own what went wrong.Learn from what happened.Get back up and try again.And remember that God can redeem even the places where you've fallen short.Failure may be part of the journey—but for those who belong to Christ, it never has to be the end of the story.As always,Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

What does courage actually look like?In this episode, Jonathan and David explore what courage looks like in everyday life and argue that courage isn't the absence of fear. It's the willingness to do what is right despite fear, discomfort, doubt, laziness, or uncertainty. Courage is accepting responsibility for what God has placed in front of you, even when you know it will cost you something.The conversation begins with a few very different stories of courage, from Jonathan confronting a mysterious intruder in his home (which turns out to be a helium balloon) to David crawling through a muddy obstacle course underneath electrified wires. While the stories are entertaining, they point toward something much deeper: courage grows when we deliberately put ourselves in situations where we have to push through discomfort.The episode also explores the connection between physical hardship and mental fortitude. When we consistently avoid discomfort, we shouldn't be surprised when we're unprepared to face significant challenges. If we want young people to resist temptation and stand firm when life becomes difficult, we have to give them opportunities to practice doing hard things. We can't expect people to suddenly demonstrate extraordinary courage when they've never trained for it.Community plays an important role in that training as well. Courage becomes easier when you're surrounded by people who are willing to do hard things alongside you. Other people can encourage you, challenge you, remind you that you're capable of more, and help you push through moments when you don't feel like you have enough courage on your own.Ultimately, courage isn't something you suddenly discover when the moment arrives.It's something you build ahead of time.Keep doing the hard things.Keep seeking opportunities to grow.Keep building the courage muscle.As always,Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips