Gregory Dickow - Unlocking the Power of Inner Health
Welcome to another episode of, "Think Like a Champion," a podcast dedicated to helping you win in every way and enjoy every day. We are building a community of champions. You are a part of that. I'm a part of that. We're in this together. Some of the things that I'm going to talk about are from my book, "Soul Cure" that came out last year. And you can get a copy of it at gregorydickow.com or any bookstore. But I just want to pull from it the material that really is all about connection. We've been talking about how power flows through connection. And in a world where we are so connected through social media, we actually are losing our connection of depth. We're connecting more this way, and we're not connecting more this way, going deeper so we can go higher. But connection is how the power flows.
The electricity in your home, the electricity in this building; in the studio, it all has to be connected to a power source. The wireless connections all over the world give you access to the power of Wi-Fi. And we can be connected anywhere now. But the connection has got to go deep. And I want to talk to you specifically today on the topic of the soul of a champion. What makes the soul of a champion, a champion? What makes our soul a soul of a champion; that we win in life, that we win over adversity, that we conquer the thing in front of us? And so many people are trying to take the mountain. We got to take the step. Before we're going to be able to take the mountain, we just got to take a step. The next step is the secret to conquering yourself. It's not conquering the world out there, but conquering what's right in front of you. And the we need each other in that.
And consider the woman I mentioned to you over the last few weeks of this woman that was bleeding for 12 years. She had this issue of blood for 12 years. It says in Mark chapter five this woman had suffered many things from the physicians. She had spent all she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. Notice she was broke and sick, and getting sicker. But this is, which is something we've all experienced. I'm sure, things get worse and worse sometimes. But it says after hearing about Jesus... So, our soul has to be exposed to the right things in order to heal. She heard about Jesus. You know, there's really no one that can heal you, and do you better, and do your gooder than, do you gooder than Jesus. Nobody is going to do you like Jesus. Nobody is going to love you like Jesus. She heard about Him and she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His garment; touched his cloak. I never get tired of this story. I hope you won't get tired of it because it says she thought to herself. One translation says, "She said to herself".
The soul of a champion is listening to the right information. She heard about Jesus. The soul of a champion is talking to themself rather than listening to themself all the time. Like, we listen to ourselves enough. We got to start speaking to ourselves. And she said to herself, "If I just touch His garment, I'll get well". So, the soul of a champion has got to be listening to the right voices. The soul of a champion needs to talk to itself. And it says immediately her issue of blood was dried up and she was healed. And she felt she was healed. And Jesus felt something in Him; in His body as well. Perceiving in Himself, it says the power that came from Him, turned around to the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments"? And again, I want you to hear the soul of a champion gets God's attention because of what we're saying. We keep saying, "If I just touch His garment, I'll be made well".
If we keep saying we're more than conquerors, we are going to, we're going to get the power of God to flow through us. As we allow His words to flow from us, we're going to allow His power to flow through us. This is what happened to this woman. And so, the soul of a champion is a soul that's connecting to the right energy source; the right power source. So often we're connected to people that drain us. And there's nothing wrong with like, giving ourselves to our kids as we're raising children. And it is going to, they're going to drain us. But we've got to make sure that we're tapping into a power source that continues the supply of power to continue in their lives, and in the lives of the people we come in contact with, and the lives that we're blessed to get to be in contact with. So, remember when this transfer of power took place. It took place when she decided.
So, the soul of a champion makes a decision. She decided to connect. We are called to connection. We are called to belong. We're not just called to believe. We're created for community. We're called to, we're fashioned for fellowship. We're formed for family. I'll give you a picture of the experience that these world changers, these people that turned the world upside down. The Bible talks about how these disciples turn the world upside down. How did they do that? They were connected to each other. They stayed connected. Acts, chapter two, verse 42 says they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Notice there's spiritual, there's physical, there's emotional connection here. There's a spiritual connection. They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles. Then there's the social connection. They devoted themselves to fellowship. Then there's this physical connection. They devoted themselves to breaking bread together.
And then there's this power. They prayed together. When two or three agree together, nothing will be impossible to them. There's power when there's connection. There's, the new wine is found in the cluster; the Bible says in Isaiah. The new wine is found in the cluster. The anointing, new wine represents the anointing, the release and activation of the grapes of God's power, the grapes of God's joy, the grapes of the thing that can intoxicate us without a side effect. It is the connection to one another that produces the wine that influences and transforms things. And it says they were in awe. Everyone was filled with awe. And the many wonders and signs that were performed. You see, when there's connection, there're going to be miracles. And it says all the believers were together, they had everything in common. They continued to meet together. They sold property when people had need. They were generous people.
We're not advocating everybody get rid of everything they have because then you have nothing to ever give to anybody else. But this shows generosity. The soul of a champion is generous. It says that they continued to meet together in the temple. They broke bread in the homes and with gladness and sincere hearts, praising God, and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to the number those that were being saved. Their culture of, and community of championship thinking souls, the souls of champions, it was contagious. There's something about getting around winners, getting around people that are happy, getting around people that have energy. It gives you energy. It gives you, makes you smile. Somebody smiles at you, you smile back. There is a contagiousness that I believe that we have the power to create together.
No wonder one of the great revivalists in history in one of the great awakenings in the world was a man named, John Wesley. He created what was called the Wesleyan bands. And they weren't musical bands. They were small groups. And they got together and they asked each other in this simple question of love; a loving question of how is it with your soul? How is it with your soul? You see, we could ask, I could ask you how is it with your family? How is it with your finances? How is it with your fitness? How is it with your faith? But all of those things will be an overflow of how is it with your soul? How is it with your soul? Is your soul happy? Is your soul full of joy? Is your soul at peace? And oftentimes, the answer to that is no.
And so, I want us to have what we call the soul cure. I want us to have what we call the soul of a champion. You have that. I'm just revealing what you already have. I'm simply peeling back the layers of wrong beliefs, and the mistaken beliefs, and the mistaken mindsets, and the mindsets of failure, and the mindsets of defeat, and the mindsets of who you used to be. We're stripping away those things so we can reveal to one another who we really are, and so that you can discover who you really are. But being a believer, being a champion Christian doesn't mean you never fail. It doesn't mean you never make mistakes. It means you're connected. It means that you believe in community. It means you believe in asking this question and answering this question: How is it with your soul?
And so, here's what we need to be asking each other. How is your soul? How is your soul? Boy, we live in a sick, broken world. We live in a world that has more mental health issues than we have ever seen. We have more depression, we have more suicide, we have more broken families, more dysfunction, more abusive situations. We have more violence than we've had before. It is an epidemic. But asking that question, "How is it with your soul"?; or asking somebody that is hurting, somebody that you notice at school, somebody you notice at your job, somebody you notice in the church, somebody you notice in your neighborhood who's always down, always dark, always depressed, always discouraged... Maybe ask them this question, "Hey, how is it with your soul"?
And develop an ability to ask that question without judgment, without condemnation, without condescension, without looking down at them. But maybe saying... I was approached recently by a Muslim person who reached me on social media and they said, "I'd like to, you know, I'd like for you to really consider and be open minded to which God you're praying to, and which God you're speaking about. Because I believe that I have a revelation of my faith in Islam that is superior to yours. And it's better. And our faith is... I believe in Jesus," this person told me. "But I don't believe He's like, died on the cross or anything".
And honestly, I could have just deleted it, ignored it. But I thought this is a person that I want to win, not a person I want to just go away. So, I said to this person, "I'll make a deal with you". This person said to me, "Pray to God and ask Him to show you who He really is". I said, "You know what? I have no problem praying to God and asking Him to show me who He really is". Because my prayer is, you know, Lord, that I might know You and see you more clearly, that I might love You more dearly, that I might follow You more nearly. That's my prayer anyway. So, I said to this person, "You know what? No problem. I like that, to God and say, 'Lord, show me who You really are.' I'm willing to do that. Are you? Are you willing to do that, too? Like, let's make a deal".
I said to this person, "I'll do that, and you do that. And let's both be open to what God could show us". Because really, I have nothing to be afraid of. I'm happy to pray that prayer because I know the real God, the God I've already discovered, I know that He'll show me even more of His love. I know He'll show me even more of His kindness. So, that's really a great prayer. But to this person, they didn't want to do that. And you see, that shows that the condition of their soul is not healthy. So often, we are so dogmatic, and so... We demand that people see things through our point of view. And we don't have the empathy to actually be willing to see things through their point of view, too. And I think if we can give empathy, we can receive it if we can be open minded. I'm not saying that I'm looking for a different religion. What I'm saying is by saying, "God, reveal who You really are to me," what's the risk there?
But when that person wasn't willing to do that, then there's a closed door. There's no openness and there's no conversation. It's just more of a declaration rather than a conversation. We need to learn to learn how to have healthy conversations. Healthy conversation with God, a healthy conversation with ourself, and a healthy conversation with others. We need to not be afraid of conflict. We need to not be afraid of learning how to resolve conflict better. Most people avoid it because they don't know how to resolve it. They don't know how to navigate through conflict. They don't know how to navigate through trauma. They don't know how to navigate. That's why, "How is your soul?" is the most important question we can ask every day.
You know, I'm sure most of you heard the hymn, "It Is Well with My Soul". But most people are not necessarily aware of the story behind the writing of that song. It was written by a man named, Horatio Spafford, after two major traumas occurred in his life. The first was a great Chicago Fire of October 1871, which ruined him financially. He had been a healthy, a wealthy businessman. And shortly after that great fire where he lost everything financially, his wife and daughters crossing the Atlantic, all four of his daughters died in a collision with another ship. Stafford's wife sent him this now famous telegram that said, "Saved alone". She was the only survivor of their family. Several weeks later, as Stafford's own ship passed the spot where his daughters had drowned and died, he wrote these words. In this tragedy, he wrote these words. "When peace like a river... (You know these words now, right?) attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul".
The song goes on to say; the hymn. "My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole, (it) is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul". Wow, these words spoke of His trust in God, no matter what grief he was experiencing, no matter what pain he had felt, it was well with his soul because he was assured that God had put away his sin. It was well with his soul because he was sure that God loved him no matter what circumstances he faced. Now, I've been a quote, unquote, Christian for more than 40 years now; a little more than 40 years following Jesus. And I don't think anyone has ever asked me that question: "How is it with your soul"? So, I don't want to be the one who doesn't ask you that question. How is it with your soul? And if I could put it to you this way.
In Third John, verse two, there's a great verse that says, "I wish above all things that you would prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers". I wish above all things that you would prosper. This is what you would do, even as your soul prospers. This is what you are. I wish you would prosper. (This is what you do in parentheses). This is what you do. I wish above all things that you would prosper, (this is what you do) even as your soul prospers, (this is what you are). So, when you, when your soul prospers, it begins to spill over into every other area of your life.
Now, I like to think of the soul as the kitchen at a restaurant. So, the dining room Is our life on display to others. The dining room is your Instagram posts. The dining room is the front stage. If you were an actor or a preacher, the front stage is where you present yourself and present your brand, your revelation, your truth, your... The kitchen though, is where the groceries are kept. It's where the germs are avoided. It's where the recipes are kept. It's where the meal is prepared. Food poisoning doesn't come from the stage. It doesn't come from the dining room. It comes from the kitchen. It was in the kitchen first and it found its way to the dining room. It started on the inside and then it found its way on to the outside.
You see how that works? This is our life; our front stage of our life. The front stage of your life and my life is our social media platform, our social media presence, what we do at our job, our Instagram photos that took us 95 takes before we got one that we liked, right? The front stage is where we're noticed, where we're affirmed, where the spotlight is on us, at our job, in our families, in our recreational life. It's the picture of our lives. But the backstage, the kitchen, that's where the pictures are developed. If the front stage is doing, right? What you do for a living, the family you do life with. The backstage is being. The front stage is doing, the backstage is being. If we don't get it right in the backstage, it's not going to be worth it on the front of the stage, right? It's who we are. It needs to be given far more attention than how we look.
If you want an authentic and healthy front stage, the life we live out towards others, it starts in the backstage; in the kitchen. Where you're cutting up your attitudes, and you're chopping up your unbelief, and chopping up your anxieties and your fears one at a time. It's where you clean, keep things clean. It's where you take care of your cutlery. It's where you make sure the plates are clean. It's where you make sure that everything's refrigerated properly. Wow. If we would give attention to our soul the way that a chef gives attention to what's happening in the kitchen, we would live extraordinary lives. But so often we're curating, you know, we're creating this image of ourself, this brand, that is not born from the hard work we do in the kitchen. It's born from how we spent a lot of energy making it look right. Versus spending all the energy, making it be right. Spending the energy, working, the doing the hard work, asking ourselves the tough questions.
Are you limiting yourself? Are you willing to challenge the way you think? Are you willing to forgive people that you've been holding a grudge against? Are you willing to face the trauma? Are you willing to stop blaming other people? Are you willing to stop playing the victim? We have all been victimized in life, but we don't have to have the attitude of a victim where we stay victimized the rest of our lives. There are so many ways to be healed. There're so many ways to deal with the trauma that we've had in our lives. Your soul is by far more valuable than your presence online. And therefore, the attention that needs to be given to what's going on in the kitchen needs to be more important to you than how things look out there, right? And if if we truly got ahold of this, our lives would be changed forever.
Lies create unhealthy souls. The truth of God's Word, the truth of who you really are in Christ, the truth of facing the dragons and slaying the dragons within, this is what sets people free. And as I've been saying for weeks, months, years... All of the illnesses in our societies, all of the bad in our societies, all of the crime, all of the hate, all of the anger, all of the pain, all of the affliction that is imposed on others, the oppression that is imposed on others from one to another, from country to country, from person to person, from community to community, from political party to political party, all this fighting, all this illness, all this sickness, all this condescending, all this judging, all this superiority thinking rooted in inferiority, all of that comes and it's built upon what's happening underneath the surface; what's happening in the kitchen of people's souls, the negative emotions that bring people into bondage, which come from negative assumptions and believing lies about ourselves.
We have to confront this. We have to heal the sick soul. The soul of mankind is sick. It's poorly bandaged up. We've just been bandaging up, broken, sick souls, and therefore were not producing families of champion thinkers; families. We're not... It's not about winning a game, winning a sport, winning a medal. It's not about that. It's about winning in the fight against who you used to be, winning the fight against that lesser version of you, winning the fight against your flesh, the spirit ruling over the flesh rather than the flesh ruling over the spirit. In Isaiah, chapter one, verse five, it says, "Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? Your (the) whole head is sick..."
So, what he's saying here is your whole head is sick and your whole heart is faint, and therefore it's causing you to rebel against the better life that God has for you; to rebel against the sound truths that will set you free. It goes on to say, "From the soul of your foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it". There's nothing healthy about it. "Only bruises, welts and raw wounds. Not pressed out or bandaged, (properly) not (nor) softened with oil". The Message translation of this verse says, "Why bother even trying to do anything with you when you just keep your bullheaded ways? You keep beating your heads against brick walls. Everything within you protests against you". Everything within you protests against you. Wow, profoundly put there.
Verse six, "we're really fighting ourself; our better version of ourself. From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, nothing's working right. Wounds and bruises (and ruining) and running sores, untended, unwashed, unbandaged. Your country is laid waste, your cities burned down". Why? Because of the soul. Because of what's happening inside the souls and minds of men and women. "Your land is destroyed by outsiders while you watch, reduced to rubble by barbarians". He's telling us the reason the country, the reason the city, the reason the city is burned, the country is laid waste, the land is destroyed, outsiders are destroying it. You're being destroyed on the outside because you're not tending and taking care of the inside. How do we do that? I believe we do that by facing our giants. Slaying the giant within. Slaying the dragons. Facing our dragons. Naming our dragons, so we can slay our dragons.
You got to admit, "You know what? I've been an excuse maker. You know what? I have had the victim mindset control my life. You know what? I have given myself a pass and given myself excuses why I stay the same every year, why I stay the same every season of my life". You got to name it. Jesus said to that man that was demon possessed, "What's your name"? What's your name? He wanted the man to name what his condition was. Name what you're facing. Name, admit, say it. Don't deny it. Don't live in denial. Listen, God doesn't accept excuses, but He gives plenty of grace. We have to stop making excuses with God. "Oh, God, you know, this is why I didn't do. This is why I didn't do this. Why I didn't do that or did that".
God is not. He doesn't need our excuses and excuses don't work with Him. But the blood of Jesus works with Him. And if you come to Him, there's plenty of grace available. Humble yourself, the Bible says. And, under the mighty hand of God, and God gives grace to the humble. So, we have to face; name what we're struggling with, face it, and then even be willing to be open about it with people we trust. This is where this verse comes from in James, chapter five, verse 16. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for one another so that you may be healed. Confess where you've missed the mark it's talking about. Confess where you admit where you have let go of the better version of yourself. Admit where you have given in to the flesh, given into your mistaken beliefs. Admit where you've given in to those things, so that we can pray together.
And that's where he says, "the prayer of a righteous man avails much". It's powerful and effective. In one sense, this whole concept of the prayers of a righteous man avail much, is talking about when a person is willing to admit they're mistaken beliefs, they're wrong-headedness, they're wrong-mindedness, the wrong belief system that they've adopted for themself, the wrong identity. When a person's willing to admit that, the prayer, the admission of that and the prayer for that person will be powerful. It will be mighty. And it will prevail against whatever those demons are that you're dealing with, whatever that trauma is that you are facing, or that you haven't faced.
Really, a lot of this is what we're not willing to face because it scares us too much or it brings us too much pain. We have to face it. We have to face it. We have to open ourselves up, so the spiritual surgery, emotional surgery can be done in our lives by God with connection. No one is meant to do it alone. Talking honestly about the messiness of our lives is not easy. But if we are willing to, in the right setting, in the right context, there's healing there. I'm going to pray for you for healing today. But before I do, I want to close by saying this relationship I consider sacred.
We are building and creating a community of champions and a culture of champion thinking. And I want to mentor you. I want to disciple you. I want to equip you. But mostly, I want to awaken you to your power. The reason we're not willing to admit what we're struggling with is because we don't know that we'll have any power to do anything about it. But I'm telling you, you have the power. And the power is available to you. It's through the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. It's through the power of connection in a setting like this. And I want to invite you to join a small group; some small group that's sanctioned within your church family.
If you're a part of this church family, wherever you are in anywhere in the world, you can join an online small group. You can join an in-person, small group, or you can start one and lead one. Because you are called. The reason why there's so much negativity in your life is because Satan knows how great your destiny is. So, he riddles our life as we're growing up with damage and trauma so that it will prevent us from ever really focusing on our God-given destiny. And I want you to know, no matter where you're at in this life, part of your destiny as a champion; part of your destiny is what God calls us more than conquerors, is to lead others.
It's to bring others with you. It's to take this home with you. And to bring others from home to the family of God, and the kingdom of God, and a culture of champions, and a community of champions. You see, the Bible says we are put together. We're joined together. It says we're built together. We're members together. We're heirs together. We're seated together. We're fitted together. We're held together. And we will one day be caught up together with Jesus. So, while our relationship to Jesus is personal, God doesn't intend it to be private. It's in God's family that you're connected to the power source. We belong to God and we belong to each other for eternity. So, let me pray for you for the healing to begin, healing the trauma, healing the brokenness, healing the, and slaying the dragon within.
Father, thank You that we name our struggle, we name our fears, we name our demon, we name our addiction, we name our habit, we name what we're struggling with. And we activate the power of the righteous prayer, the prayer of righteousness, that we are the righteousness of God. And we stop identifying with our habit, and we start identifying with who we are in Christ today. Today, my brother and sister that is broken, that is sick, that is emotionally damaged, that is living in trauma, that is living in protection mode, I just release healing right now. I release healing virtue, power. I declare. I declare it bubbles up from within you, and it flows through every fiber in your being, spirit, soul, and body in the name of Jesus. Let the healing begin and let the work of the Holy Spirit bring us to that maturity, so we can be the leaders, and the culture carriers, the champion community that you've created us to be, Lord, in Jesus' Name, amen.