49 Religious Lies Jesus Told Me to Stop Believing - #32 Try for God

Summary

Mark Virkler describes moving from a faith centered on trying harder to please God toward relying on Christ’s presence and power within the believer. He says that striving to obey, serve, pray, and witness left him exhausted and feeling unable to meet every requirement.

In a journaled conversation that he attributes to Jesus, Virkler came to understand himself as a vessel or branch: his role is to come to God, while God supplies the direction and power to act.

Key Ideas and Practices

• Replace self-reliance with dependence on God: Rather than “trying for God” through personal effort, Virkler encourages seeking God’s presence and trusting that God will work through the believer.
• Practice rest rather than striving: He says this outlook helped him experience peace, joy, and a more relaxed way of living. He hopes churches will teach people to enter God’s rest.
• Spend focused time reflecting: Virkler spent a year meditating on the idea of Christ within him, which he says prepared him to write about it.
• Journal and reflect on Scripture: He encourages readers to look up referenced verses, write them out, and journal about what they believe God is saying to them.
• Use prayer and personal affirmation: He models renouncing the belief that one must try harder for God and affirming reliance on Christ’s resurrection power within the believer.
• Seek a personal relationship with Jesus: He encourages readers to approach Scripture as part of an ongoing relationship with God, rather than relying only on human theology.

Presenters and Sources

• Presenter: Mark Virkler
• Sources and works mentioned: The Bible, including Hebrews 3–4; Release from Religion; The Great Mystery; and Naturally Supernatural. Virkler also refers to Jesus as the voice in his journaled dialogue.