Delay and Pray – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Freedom, Fraternity, and the Fight for Virtue: Inside Exodus 90 with Jamie Baxter

Épisode 141

jeudi 31 juillet 2025 • Durée 39:59

Many of you ask me if I coach men, and I'm sad to say I do not at this time, but today I want to focus on men and the spiritual battle they face.

I am joined by Jamie Baxter, founder of Exodus 90: a spiritual formation program that’s helped over 250,000 men across 80 countries grow in freedom, discipline, and communion with Christ.

Jamie shares how Exodus 90 began and why its focus on prayer, asceticism, and fraternity is more needed than ever.

If you’ve ever wondered how to support the men in your life spiritually, this episode is for you.

Discover how Exodus 90 and Delay and Pray® complement each other in leading men and women back to the Church, the sacraments, and a vibrant, faithful Catholic life.

Help Beth reach her goal of bringing 1 Million Catholics back to the Church:

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Resources in Today's Show:

Learn more about Exodus90

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Join the Delay and Pray® Group Coaching Experience Today

Chapter 3 - Happy, Thin, and Rich Right Now

Épisode 132

jeudi 29 mai 2025 • Durée 18:48

In this episode, Beth unpacks Chapter 3 of her book, Delay and Pray®, and tackles the idea of being "Happy, Thin, and Rich Right Now."

Rather than chasing happiness or peace as distant rewards, Beth reveals how they’re available in the present, regardless of your weight, finances, or circumstances, by rooting yourself in God’s mercy and peace.

With honest stories and practical tips, she shares how spiritual fasting, prayer, and a shift in mindset can help you find joy and richness today, not just when you meet your goals.

If you’re tired of waiting for happiness to arrive "someday," this episode offers encouragement and a roadmap to experiencing it now - no perfection required.

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Sleeping and Overdrinking

Épisode 41

jeudi 31 août 2023 • Durée 24:57

Did you know that a few glasses of wine before bed can throw off your sleep schedule for days? In today’s episode, Beth is explaining the science behind alcohol’s effect on the human brain.

“With good sleep, everything is better.” - Beth Bubik

The glass of wine that you ‘need’ to relax in the evenings isn’t helping you relax - it’s actually stimulating your fight-or-flight response, shutting down the regenerative process of your brain, and ruining your sleep.

Luckily, Beth has a few tips for improving the quality of your sleep, and it starts with fasting from alcohol in the evenings. She’s also sharing ways to create a quality sleep environment in your bedroom, and a bedtime routine that will optimize your sleep experience. And of course, she’s giving you fair warning of the habits that are most likely to damage or even completely ruin your chances of rejuvenating rest.

Beth reminds us that good habits beget good habits: for example, quality sleep will lead to quality days! The reverse is also true: a few drinks or some caffeine before bed will rob you of good sleep, which will in turn rob you of your best life tomorrow. If you’re ready to reclaim your right to dream, don’t miss this episode!

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Dr. Matt Walker: “Why We Sleep”

Sleeping and Overeating

Épisode 40

jeudi 24 août 2023 • Durée 23:35

Anyone else feeling tired? Today, Beth is talking about how sleep-deprivation can inhibit your ability to achieve the vibrant life you desire.

“Sleep is as important as exercise and nutrition.” - Beth Bubik

She explains different sleep rhythms, describes what good sleep actually looks like, shares scientific explanations of what sleep (and the lack thereof) does to your brain and body, and suggests various ways to optimize your sleep in order to live a more fruitful life.

Did you know that you may be genetically predisposed to stay up later or get up earlier than other people? Beth encourages everyone to discover their natural sleep rhythm, and make a plan to honor it. She also shares how just a few more hours of sleep could affect your weightloss journey, and how sleep-deprivation can awaken the primitive brain’s desire for fast-acting carbs, rather than healthy foods.

And for any new parents out there: Beth understands that sleep may not always be easily accessible. Even with that, she encourages everyone to keep this information handy, and create a lifestyle that promotes sleep as much as possible. Maybe that’s reading Scripture before bed, instead of binging Netflix. Maybe it’s avoiding excessive caffeine intake, or journaling to work through your stress. Or maybe it’s simply honoring your natural circadian rhythms: eating when it’s daylight, and sleeping when it’s dark.

Making changes in your sleep schedule can be challenging. If you’re feeling discouraged, try Beth’s new motto: “Wrestle. Pray. Trust. And then Repeat.” Three steps forward and two steps back still results in a trajectory towards sainthood: you just have to be willing to get back up and try again.

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This Naked Mind - Annie Grace

Friday Night Drinking

Épisode 39

jeudi 17 août 2023 • Durée 24:14

Friday night happy hour? Count Beth… out! In today’s episode, she’s challenging the idea that Friday night fun begins with a drink.

“Alcohol is small and irrelevant in my life.” - Annie Grace, This Naked Mind

Thought shifts, scientific proof, and her own personal testimony combine into a provocative episode that boils down to answering one simple question: “Do you really need to drink to have fun?”

Beth shares a recent story about a family weekend when she was tempted to have a drink, and the thoughts and motivations that kept her strong in spite of that desire. She gives a few excellent examples of motivating thought shifts and even shares a deliverance prayer that she has found helpful in the face of temptation. Using her own struggles as an example, Beth reassures her listeners that giving up alcohol does get easier and more rewarding: she hasn’t had a drink on Friday night throughout 2023!

And if, after all that, you’re still reaching for a glass of wine, Beth shares some pretty fascinating scientific facts about the cyclical havoc that alcohol can raise in your brain, and the destructive power of your own habitual thoughts about alcohol. You don’t need to be stuck in these cycles: using the delay-and-pray protocol, you can break these patterns and begin a fun, rewarding life without needing alcohol. You just have to be willing to question your own mind the next time it says, “I need a drink.”

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Resources Mentioned:

The Alcohol Experiment - Annie Grace

Deliverance Prayers: For Use by the Laity - Fr. Chad Ripperger

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Your Thoughts Determine Your Results

Épisode 38

jeudi 10 août 2023 • Durée 22:58

What is the easiest way to do hard things? In today’s episode, Beth is answering that question with insights from multiple great saints, theologians, and her own mindset coach.

“Our thoughts determine our lives.” - Elder Thaddeus

If you think the pursuit of virtue is difficult, you’re right! But maybe it doesn’t have to be quite as difficult as you think it is.

Beth is explaining a two-tiered approach to creating lasting, virtuous change in your life. The first tier is self-knowledge, and the second tier is Divine Grace, through the Sacraments. She cites great thinkers like St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul, Elder Thaddeus, and Fulton Sheen, to explain that your interior life dictates the results of your external life. If you want to experience real change in your life, the first step is to start noticing your thoughts and taking them to God.

She also addresses the way that the material world can affect our interior life. How often do we allow the culture’s ideas of fun to creep in and fill us with FOMO if we choose to live a countercultural life through prayer and fasting? Beth counters this by describing the “smells and bells” of the Mass as an example of the lovely ways that God reaches us through our senses, and she shares her personal relationships with nuns and priests to exemplify how fun holiness can truly be. Furthermore, she quotes Fulton Sheen, who explains that the Sacraments are the spiritual manifestation of our physical lives. Internally and externally, God is constantly offering us the truths and graces we need to shift us into a life of abundance and love.

So… What do you need to be thinking to create lasting spiritual, mental, and physical changes in your life? Your results all begin in your thoughts!!

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Stop the Overeating: Part 2

Épisode 37

jeudi 3 août 2023 • Durée 19:43

What if it’s not you… What if it’s your hormones? In today’s episode, Beth is continuing her two-part series, “Stop the Overeating,” and de-escalating the emotional pressure of your weight loss journey with a simple, biological fact: your hormones aren’t playing nicely together.

“Trade your cheap desire for sugary foods and alcohol for the true desires that God has written on your heart.” - Beth Bubik

Tackling both the mental strain of indulgent thoughts and the hormonal imbalances triggered by our stressed, exhausted lifestyles, Beth is offering simple, straightforward suggestions to win the weight loss battle once and for all.

She begins by discussing ‘indulgent’ thoughts and ‘opportunity’ thoughts, replacing “This isn’t working” with “This just might work!” She also explains the effect that the three hunger hormones - insulin, leptin, and ghrelin - have on your weight loss journey. Insulin is a fat storage hormone, and an excess of insulin contributes to diabetes and weight gain. Leptin is the hormone that tells us when we’re full and need to exercise, but insulin blocks that receptor to our brains. Ghrelin tells us when we’re hungry and need to find food, but insulin causes ghrelin to escalate, creating even more desire for food.

In order to get all of these hormones balanced, Beth is offering a simple, effective plan to her listeners, including food choices, sleep recommendations, and tips for controlling the stress responses that make us reach for cookies when we really ought to reach for a pillow. Finally, Beth gently affirms that the first few weeks are the hardest, but they will result in a deeper awareness of your interior life. From that space, call out to the Lord to shine a light on the true desires of your heart that have gotten buried under the sweets and processed foods. This is the path to permanent healing. As Beth says, “Don’t shoot for purgatory - Shoot for heaven.”

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Stop the Overeating: Part 1

Épisode 36

jeudi 27 juillet 2023 • Durée 19:29

What if the best way to stop overeating and to start enjoying the best days of your life had literally nothing to do with food itself?

“Take the pressure off yourself. This is not a diet. It is a spiritual lifestyle.” - Beth Bubik

In this episode, Beth is exploring practical ways to overcome common food struggles, but more importantly, she’s tackling the interior thoughts and desires that create the chaos that ultimately lead to overeating. If you have struggled with diets in the past and you’re frustrated by the numbers on the scale, you don’t want to miss this episode!

Beth begins by defining overeating, and challenging the diet mentality. By shifting our focus from deprivation to experimentation, Beth unearths a new way to view the impact that food has on both our bodies and our minds. She even debunks some myths about foods that have been wrongly labeled “unhealthy,” while simultaneously explaining why no foods should be eaten with reckless abandon.

Have you heard of the motivational triad? “Seeking pleasure, avoiding pain, and reducing effort” is a default setting in the human brain, but it can have catastrophic results on the mind and body when we allow it to influence our food choices. To undo the damage done by these brain habits or “neural pathways,” Beth suggests identifying the scenarios that lead to overeating, and making a plan to address them in the future. The same repetitive process that created the unconscious bad habits can be used to create unconscious virtuous habits!

And finally, if you’re struggling, Beth suggests praying for the virtue of longanimity: the willingness to wait for the good. As Beth says, “This is the ticket to heaven for the whole Body of Christ.”

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Jim Rohn: The Parable of the Sower and the Seed

Metabolic Flexibility for God: Part 2

Épisode 35

jeudi 20 juillet 2023 • Durée 26:25

Welcome to Part 2 of Metabolic Flexibility for God! In today’s episode, Beth uses the parable of the Sower and the Seed to explain the Delay and Pray Spiritual Fasting Course.

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12

She introduces her listeners to the desired results (the ‘seeds’) of spiritual fasting, and uses the parable to illustrate four different ways that our brains pursue those results.

Do you stop before you start? Cave to perfectionism? Buffer with other foods and entertainment? Or fail your way to success? Addressing these four tendencies, Beth uses beautiful, Biblical symbolism to illustrate this epic journey into spiritual fasting. She’s also sharing purely practical information, by offering you a list of pantry staples, recipes, and even a 7 Day Meal Plan to help you become metabolically flexible for God.

And finally, if you love the idea of spiritual fasting but you don’t want to make this journey alone, the next Delay and Pray cohort starts soon! There’s a free waitlist on Beth’s website!

Help Beth reach her goal of bringing 1 Million Catholics back to the Church:

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Resources Mentioned:

Beth’s 7 Day Meal Plan

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