Become New with John Ortberg

Can you really live without lack? In this reflection on Psalm 23, John Ortberg draws from Life Without Lack to explore one of the most beloved passages in all of Scripture. What does it mean to say, "The Lord is my shepherd"? What if "I shall not want" is not a promise that life will be easy, but an invitation to stop being driven by fear, scarcity, and unsatisfied desire? This...

What's your story today? In this teaching on Psalm 59, John Ortberg explores one of the most important lessons of the Psalms: prayer is always prayed from inside a story. Drawing from Answering God, John challenges the idea of "spiritualized prayer" — prayer that removes the conflict, fear, anger, disappointment, and messiness of ordinary life. Psalm 59 was written in the middle of...

What if refuge was something you practiced? In this conversation, John Ortberg talks with therapist and trauma specialist Lisa Cuss about anxiety, church hurt, attachment theory, the nervous system, and Psalm 31. Lisa shares how reading the Psalms through the lens of the nervous system helped her understand David's prayers in a completely new way. His cries of fear, confusion, and desperation...

What if your imperfections are not your greatest problem? In this teaching on Psalm 138, John Ortberg explores the difference between perfection and perfectionism, the beauty of human weakness, and why God has so much compassion for imperfect people. Drawing from Psalm 138, Psalm 103, the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, and the image of cracked pottery repaired with gold, John shows how God often c...

How do you calm and quiet your soul? In this deeply practical conversation on Psalm 131, John Ortberg and Steve Cuss explore anxiety, emotional awareness, prayer, soothing, and learning to rest in the presence of God. Psalm 131 offers one of the gentlest images in all of Scripture:  “I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child with its mother.” This episode explores: - Anxiety and emotio...

What is social media doing to your soul? In this conversation, John Ortberg and Steve Cuss explore Psalm 1, online outrage, anxiety, reactivity, and the emotional formation happening through social media. Why do platforms like Twitter/X, Facebook, and Instagram so easily pull people toward outrage, contempt, comparison, and self-righteousness? And what do the Psalms have to say about it? This epis...

Why should we pray the Psalms slowly? In this reflective teaching, John Ortberg explores the nature of Hebrew poetry, the structure of the Psalms, and why the language of prayer was never meant to be rushed. Using Psalm 90 and several other Psalms, John unpacks the beauty of biblical parallelism — repetition, pivots, refrains, and poetic movement that deepen meaning and slow the soul down enough t...

Why do other people’s lives always seem better? In this teaching on Psalm 73, John Ortberg explores envy, comparison, resentment, worship, and the deep human struggle of feeling overlooked while others seem to prosper. The psalmist honestly confesses: “I envied the arrogant.” What follows is one of the most emotionally honest prayers in the Psalms — a prayer about jealousy, discouragement, unfairn...

Is it possible laughter could be a form of prayer? In this joyful and surprisingly profound teaching on Psalm 126, John Ortberg explores joy, humor, delight, neuroscience, and why laughter may be far more spiritual than many people realize. Why do children laugh so much more than adults? Why does spontaneous laughter feel healing? And what does it mean that God Himself laughs? This episode explore...

Why does memory matter spiritually? In this reflective teaching on Psalm 77, John Ortberg explores remembrance, gratitude, grief, forgiveness, healing, and why memory itself can become a form of prayer. Using deeply personal family stories, Memorial Day reflections, and Psalm 77’s call to “remember the deeds of the Lord,” John reflects on the spiritual importance of remembering honestly and hopefu...

Why is gratitude so difficult to sustain? In this teaching on Psalm 100, John Ortberg explores the deeper source of genuine gratitude and why thankfulness cannot simply be forced through willpower. Using reflections from Robert Hayden and his poem Those Winter Sundays, John reflects on the hidden acts of love that quietly sustain human life every day — often without being noticed or thanked. This...

Why would God include violent prayers in the Bible? In this deeply challenging teaching on Psalm 137, John Ortberg explores anger, injustice, enemies, suffering, and why the Psalms are far more emotionally honest than most modern spirituality. John begins with a provocative statement:  “You should stop having a quiet time.” Using reflections from Eugene Peterson, this episode explores the differen...

Why do we avoid uncomfortable truth? In this teaching on Psalm 42, John Ortberg explores self-awareness, attention, distraction, procrastination, and the deep spiritual thirst at the center of the human soul. Using Psalm 42’s famous image — “As the deer pants for streams of water…” — John reflects on how human beings often distract themselves from the deeper realities happening inside them. Why do...

Why is self-awareness so difficult? In this teaching on Psalm 19, John Ortberg explores self-deception, blind spots, hidden faults, and the surprising difficulty of honestly seeing ourselves. The Psalmist asks:  “Who can discern their own errors?” That question launches a fascinating exploration of: - Freud and the unconscious mind - Cognitive bias and self-deception - Why humans protect their ima...

What does bowling have to do with spiritual life? In this teaching on Psalm 19, John Ortberg explores anxiety, surrender, creation, grace, and the deep human longing for soul rest. Using a surprisingly powerful bowling illustration, John reflects on how most people continue trying to control outcomes long after the “ball” has already left their hands. Psalm 19 offers another way: let go, trust God...

What actually creates a peaceful life? In this teaching on Psalm 15, John Ortberg explores the ancient biblical vision of an “unshakable” life — a life rooted in goodness, grace, truth, and the presence of God. Psalm 15 asks: “Who may dwell on your holy mountain?” The answer turns out to be both beautiful and deeply challenging. Along the way, John reflects on: Why peace is more than a feeling The...

What’s the one thing that would make today a good day? Psalm 16 says it’s simpler—and deeper—than you think. In this teaching, John Ortberg walks through Psalm 16 and introduces a powerful idea: your life-scape—the inner world where your thoughts, desires, and attention live. Most of us drift through our days reacting to whatever comes. But Psalm 16 invites us to something different: “I have set t...

Ever feel stuck in your thoughts… and don’t know how to pray? Here’s a simple, practical method that actually works. In this teaching, John Ortberg walks through a powerful and practical way to pray your emotions using Psalm 57. Adapted from psychological insights and grounded in Scripture, this ABCD prayer method helps you move from anxiety and rumination to clarity, trust, and peace. You’ll lear...

What do you do with anger you can’t let go of? What if the Bible actually teaches you how to pray it? In Part 3 of this conversation, John Ortberg and Rankin Wilbourne tackle one of the most difficult emotions we face: anger. Psalm 109 is one of the most shocking passages in Scripture—full of raw, unfiltered anger. So why is it in the Bible? In this episode, you’ll learn: - Why denying anger isn’t...

What if the pain you’re avoiding is actually the path to healing? And what if God already gave you the words for it? In Part 2 of this conversation, John Ortberg and Rankin Wilbourne explore one of the most overlooked practices in the Christian life: lament. If the Psalms are the prayer book of God’s people, why are so many of them… sad? And why do we avoid praying that way? You’ll discover: - Why...

Most people don’t know how to pray their emotions… even after years of faith. What if the Psalms were meant to teach you how? In this conversation, John Ortberg sits down with author and pastor Rankin Wilbourne to explore a life-changing idea: learning to pray your emotions. Many of us either suppress our feelings or let them control us—but the Psalms offer a better way. They give us language, per...

How long can you carry something before it breaks you? And what do you do when God feels… silent? In this teaching on Psalm 13, John Ortberg walks us through one of the most honest prayers in Scripture: “How long, O Lord?” When pain lingers, when answers don’t come, and when God feels distant, we face a choice. We can grumble—turning inward in bitterness and withdrawal—or we can groan—bringing our...

Everyone’s talking about mindfulness… but what if we’ve missed the most important part? What if the key isn’t your mind being focused—but God’s mind being focused on you? In this teaching on Psalm 8, John Ortberg explores a deeper kind of mindfulness—one that begins not with your attention, but with God’s. While we often struggle with distraction, anxiety, and rumination, Psalm 8 reveals something...

We live in a world obsessed with predicting the future… and terrified of it. So how do you actually live when everything feels uncertain? In this teaching on Psalm 3, John Ortberg explores one of the most universal human struggles: uncertainty. We don’t know what’s coming next—and instead of trusting God, we often try to control, predict, or even “gamble” on the future. But Psalm 3 offers a differ...

What if your life is already headed in a direction… and you didn’t choose it? Psalm 1 says there are only two ways to live and only one leads to flourishing. In this opening teaching of a new series on the Psalms, John Ortberg invites us into one of the most important questions we can ask: What is my way of life leading to? Psalm 1 describes a person who is “blessed”—not just happy, but deeply roo...