The Single Question That Multiplied My Answered Prayers By 1,000% with Tony Stoltzfus ❖ 243

"He doesn't want to talk about what I'm trying to do. He wants to talk about how He sees me and transfer His  picture from heaven of me into my heart."—Tony Stoltzfus

One Question?

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• ​Your identity in Christ isn't a future promise; it's a present reality seen from heaven's timeline.
• The most profound prayers focus on receiving God's image of you, not managing your earthly ministry.​​

• Discipline fueled by shame/guilt is an idol; Desire fueled by relationship is the path to true change.
• A clear picture of heaven prevents you from making idols out of earthly people or possessions, as they can’t compare to eternal fulfillment.​

"The questions that I was asking were all about the business of being a Christian. They weren't about the relationship... And what I wasn't asking is, Jesus, what do you think of me?" —Tony Stoltazfus

This week's episode challenges you to stop treating your faith like a business transaction. Your main activation today is to ask Jesus one question about His affection for you, not your assignment. True Christian spiritual growth is rooted in receiving, not achieving.

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Summary
This episode of the Interviewing Jesus Podcast features a transformative discussion with Tony Stoltzfus on shifting from a performance-based faith to a relationship-centered one. Tony introduces the reality of being seated in Christ now, which changes how we view our worth. He details how changing prayer focus from doing (the business of Christianity) to being (asking what Jesus likes about us) led to an exponential increase in hearing God's voice. This relational shift replaces the "good boy" idol of discipline with praying your desire, enabling Christian spiritual growth that is led by desire rather than effort. Ultimately, trust is presented as the bridge that connects our earthly reality to the eternal Divine wisdom and lack of regret found in heaven, allowing us to hold earth lightly and live in the confidence of His relentless goodness.

I don't have to be a good boy. That was my original wound. I don't have to be a good boy to be loved and accepted and cherished." —Tony Stoltzfus

Why Your 'Good Boy' Christianity is Sabotaging Your Spiritual Growth
Welcome back to the Interviewing Jesus Podcast! As your host, Kristen Wambach, I’m thrilled to share one of the most transformative conversations we’ve ever had about bridging heaven and earth. So many of us are locked in a spiritual performance trap, believing that if we just pray harder, study more, or keep better discipline, we'll finally be "good enough" for God. We treat our faith like a business, constantly asking Jesus what we need to do next.

But what if the whole point isn't your performance, but His perspective?

This week, acclaimed author and spiritual coach Tony Stoltzfus turned our expectations upside down, revealing that the true path to a transformative Christian life is found not in more effort, but in a radical shift in prayer and identity.

Seated in Heaven, Living on Earth, Tony introduced a profound concept that instantly changes your self-perception: seatedness in Christ. We often view this as an abstract idea, but in heaven’s time system, it’s a present reality. Jesus isn't waiting for you to clean yourself up; He sees the glorified you seated right next to Him now.When we look at our own flaws, our immediate instinct is condemnation. But Jesus looks at us, His perfected reflection, and asks, "Why would you think that?" This perspective alone is a powerful force for healing and transformation. Our feelings of inadequacy lose their grip when we recognize that our worth is already secured in an eternal dimension.

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• The Heaven Experience: discover an eternity far, far better than you ever imagined!
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• Leadership MetaFormation trains you to be an Encounter Coach.
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• How to Read the Bible Like a Human Being brings scripture alive by activating your emotional brain!

Envisioning Heaven: More Than Pearly Gates 🌠 

Forty years ago, a short, timeless visit inspired me. Heaven felt like falling into paradise—a realm operating beyond our 4D understanding, much like the distant galaxies I studied with my telescope.
For 20 years in coaching, I built "Taste of Heaven" experiences using music, staging, and art to immerse participants in acceptance. The real challenge came a decade ago: I started rewriting people’s worst life experiences from heaven's perspective.
How could heaven redeem a child lost in childbirth or a mother whose daughter never said "mommy"? Heaven had powerful answers. For the mother whose child couldn't speak, heaven promised perfect cognitive reunion: reliving every moment with her daughter’s true self.
This journey culminated in two books. Heaven’s Perspective collects 17 such redemptive stories. My latest, Heaven: Experience the Extraordinary, describes a world where gravity is optional, wrong action is impossible, and God is overwhelmingly better than imagined. Heaven isn't just a place; it’s the ultimate reality where every loss is redeemed.

The 1,000% Prayer Shift Tony, who identifies as a thinker, confessed his struggle with the "is it me or is it God?" dilemma. He realized his early prayers were all about the business of being a Christian: God, what do you want me to do today? Should I buy this?
The breakthrough came when he started asking questions about the relationship:

• Jesus, what do you think of me?
• What is something you like about me?

This simple shift—from performance-driven questions to relationship-focused ones—caused his percentage of answered prayer to skyrocket. Jesus, Tony concluded, doesn't primarily want to discuss our to-do list; He wants to talk about how He sees us to transfer His heavenly picture into our earthly hearts. This is the Divine wisdom that unlocks connecting with God.
Trading the Idol of Discipline for Desire, this concept of effortless receiving is critical to overcoming what Tony calls our "original wound." For him, it was the need to be a "good boy" to be accepted. This wound often turns discipline—our Bible study plans, our prayer hours—into an idol we use to feel good about ourselves. When God, in His love, sometimes pulls the plug on our self-made structure, we crash into condemnation.

Tony learned a different way: changing without discipline, through desire.
Our desires were designed to be filled by God. Tony refers to this as praying your desire, rooted in James 4: "You do not have because you do not ask." Instead of chasing the thing you think will meet your need (an idol), you go straight to Jesus with the desire itself:

• Jesus, be my comfort right now. How do you want to comfort me?
• Jesus, if I never accomplish another thing, how am I significant to you?

When you operate from a place of having your deepest desires met in Conversations with Jesus, change becomes less about working and more about watching Him fill you.
Trust: The Bridge Between Heaven and Earth lack of a clear picture of heaven leaves most Christian spiritual growth focused solely on "my best life now." Tony reminds us that our true destiny is far grander. After losing his home in a forest fire, he learned to hold earth lightly. The things he lost—the furniture he designed, the personal treasures—he recognized were not lost forever. They, or something much better, would be restored in heaven.

This heavenly perspective prevents regret. Trust is the bridge that allows us to access the spiritual realm and the Divine wisdom it holds. It is a necessary component for the Rhema, the experiential word that bypasses our purely rational brain 

God is not a cosmic vending machine. He is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We go to Him to seek Him, not His things." - A.W. Tozer

LIVE recording

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Transformation and Rest
02:48 Seated in Heavenly Places: A New Perspective
05:51 Hearing God's Voice: A Framework for Connection
11:25 Overcoming Original Wounds and Embracing Love
16:18 Desires and Discipline: A New Approach to Change
20:52 Navigating Betrayal: Finding Healing and Purpose
26:15 The Cloud of Witnesses and Generational Callings
27:58 Trust as the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
31:04 Experiencing Heaven Through Trust and Faith
33:54 The Journey of Learning and Teaching
36:58 The Duality of Logos and Rhema
38:37 Understanding Immortality and the Goodness of God
40:00 Heaven's Influence on Earthly Living
44:41 Finding Meaning Beyond Material Loss
47:41 Desires and Idols: A Spiritual Perspective
49:24 The Deepest Silence in Trusting God
51:00 Living from the Reality of Heaven
53:08 Embracing God's Perspective on Our Identity
53:25 _Intro ONLY Video no sound IJP.mp4

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"I think the biggest cause of unanswered prayer is that we're praying for an idol. We're praying for something in this world... that we think will give us our desire." --Tony Stoltzfus

"God is always "gooder" than my current bandwidth about him. He's always better." —Kristen Wambach

MEET THE BLOGGER >>

On my journey of answering 70 of the most asked questions by famous interviewers and podcasters, Last week's follow...
This Week's Question: What is a common myth about your job or industry? 
Hmm? The most common misinformation is that people feel like they will be deceived. Instead of relying on Holy Spirit who leads you into all TRUTH, and His name is Jesus Christ.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 16:13

But when she is come, the Spirit of truth, she will take you by the hand and guide you into the path of all truth. She will not draw attention to herself but will communicate and 1unveil everything she hears and discerns from a heavenly perspective about the things that are 4about to happen within you. (While spirit is in the neuter gender,  truth is feminine. In Hebrew, the word for spirit is רוּח ruach, which is Feminine.

John 16:13 du Toit, Francois. Mirror Study Bible 

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