Ep. 26| Stop Asking to Get Rich—Start Asking God to Use You

What if the reason you're not successful yet isn't because you're failing—it's because it's just not time?

What if God's timing is perfect, even when it takes 16 years?

In this short but powerful episode, Josiah Ryan shares his raw, personal testimony of what it actually takes to become an "overnight success" in business. Spoiler: it takes 16 years. And a lot of failure. And hurricanes. And business partners who disappear. And agencies that burn you out. And pivots. And mistakes. And loss.

But here's what makes this episode so powerful: Josiah is finally on the other side. After 16 years of grinding, praying, failing, and rebuilding, everything is finally taking off. The second agency is working. The software company is launching. The right people are showing up. And it all happened the moment he stopped asking to get rich—and started asking God to use him.

This is an exhortation (a fancy word for encouragement) for every entrepreneur who feels like they're behind, stuck, or failing. You're not. You're just not there yet. And that's okay.

What you'll learn in this episode:

Why Josiah's 16-year entrepreneurial journey finally took off—and what changed The difference between asking to get rich and asking God to use your gifts, skills, and talents for His good Why Colonel Sanders spent 40-50 years "failing" before becoming an overnight success What it means to ask for anything "in Jesus's name"—and why alignment with God matters more than the request itself Why those who love money will never have enough (Ecclesiastes 5) How losing everything—life savings, business, business partner—was the turning point that led to breakthrough Why God gives and takes away to impart wisdom and grow you closer to Him What it means to "take care of the Father's business" so He takes care of yours (Matthew 6:33) How to stop looking back and start serving the Lord 24/7, 365

If you're feeling like things aren't working out, this episode will remind you: it's probably just not time yet. And that's not a failure. That's God's timing.

Ecclesiastes 5 tells us that if you take joy in your work and use your gifts, skills, and talents for God, you'll sleep good at night and won't even have time to worry about the old days. You'll be so dedicated to serving the Lord that your life is going to go great.

Stop asking to get rich. Start asking God to use you.

Subscribe to The Christian Business Podcast with Josiah Ryan and join a community of entrepreneurs who are trusting God's timing—even when it takes 16 years.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

All right, guys, welcome to another episode of the Christian Business Podcast. I am your host, Josiah Ryan, and today I got something that's short and it's both short and sweet for you guys. So today I'm really just going to be giving an exhortation. For those of you who may or may not be aware, an exhortation is essentially it's just a form of encouragement. It's a big fancy word for encouragement. That's all it is. And really what I want to encourage you guys on is God's timing is better than yours. Okay, you guys hear me say that all the time, but it might just not be your time yet if you're not super successful, if you're not hitting what you want to hit in these types of things. I want to give you a quick example, okay? So I have prayed to God many, many times, and I kind of laugh at this at this point, but I have prayed to God many, many times asking for success in business, asking for success in life, and all of these types of things. I've also been an entrepreneur for well over 10 years at this point. You know, I got into the game of you know, like side hustles and and uh, you know, basically making websites for small businesses. I did that in 2010. And then in 2017, I went full-time with it. And it has been a journey. You know, in 2017, I opened my first, you know, full-on digital marketing agency. In 2020, uh, I, you know, opened up a golf cart business because that digital marketing agency was completely burning me out. In 2024, I closed that digital marketing agency. And that was also, you know, I had to pivot three, four times in that digital marketing agency, even to get things to to work. You know, if you guys remember, like a lot of you, COVID basically changed everything during that time. And there's been a lot of rebuilding, restructuring, you know, hires, right? You hire families sometimes, and that can be a difficult thing. And you hire employees who, you know, maybe uh like overseas and and and you put them in positions of leadership that you didn't need to maybe do. You make a lot, here's what I'm getting at, you guys. You make a lot of mistakes as an entrepreneur throughout your entrepreneurial journey. Okay, so you know, in my personal experience, here I am, I've got this first agency, you know, and then I start up this golf cart rental business. Now I got both, you know, I've had to re-rebrand and relaunch the digital marketing agency a number of times over the years. And uh in 2024, I even closed that agency. I also, that year later, six months after I closed my agency, you know, had not just one, but two hundred-year storms hit the golf cart rental business. It took out our first, second, and third markets that we were growing in. And it has been a topsy, turvy, freaking journey. Well, guess what? Okay, here's what's amazing. I'm now on my second digital marketing agency. Um, met this wonderful guy who started running ads for me. And uh turns out that he's been working on this software for two years to basically handle the fulfillment and make the streamlined systems inside of digital marketing agencies using AI. And it's just amazing. And so now here I am, and I'm I'm signing on to the software company. Um, you know, in addition to now running my second digital marketing agency. And you guys, for the very first time, it's actually taken off. Everything is taken off right now. Um, this has been a since 2010, what are we in? 2026? This has been a 16-year journey for me, which to say that out loud is freaking crazy, man. I don't feel I should be talking about 16 years, you know, in the past tense like that. But the fact of the matter is, is that this is how business is, and this is how life is. And I'm lucky, you guys. I'm blessed. I'm super, super blessed. And it's only taken 16 years. You know, Colonel Sanders was in his, if I'm not mistaken, it was like his late 50s, maybe his late 60s or mid-60s, something like this. And he spent 40, 50 years of quote unquote failing over and over again, um, until he became the quote unquote overnight success that we all know and see today. And so, guys, I just really want to encourage you that if you're just feeling like things aren't working out, it's probably just not time. And with that being said, we have to check ourselves and make sure that everything we ask for is, you know, being asked for in the lens of Jesus, right? Jesus said, You can ask for anything in my name and it will be given to you. He literally told that and he taught that a number of times, not just once. Well, what does that mean? Ask for anything in my name and you will receive it. Well, we have to make sure that we're seriously, completely dedicated to God in every single, you know, facet and shape and form of our lives. If you're just asking for money and all this kind of stuff, like I used to, well, you know what? You may or may not get it, but God is going to use that as a lesson to um impart wisdom upon you. God gives and he takes away. We are all perfectly made today in a way that's going to grow us closer to the Lord if we're paying attention to the messages he's sending us today. All right. And so what I'm getting at here is that you have to be aligned with God if you ever want to experience true success in life. Bible also tells us that those who love money will never have enough. Those who love luxury will never have enough. And uh, if you guys are just trying to get rich just for the sake of getting rich, that's fine, whatever. That's what the world does. I promise you, God will give it and he'll take it away like he did with me. And if you're trying to wrap that in altruistic things of, oh, well, I have to provide for my family, you know, I'm tired of being prokay, I need to do this for XYZ. Well, guess what? God says that if you, I love saying this, this is in Matthew 6, 33. Uh, but basically, if you focus on the kingdom of God, he's going to take care of you. All right. I like to say if you take care of the father's business, he's going to take care of yours. And what that means is you're not going to get rich, you're not going to even get what you want. You might, but it's for an entirely different purpose than probably what you're thinking today. And I'm speaking from experience, I used to just ask to get rich just for the point of getting rich. Now I don't ask for anything in life because what I've learned is that God is going to have different plans than anything I can ask for. And so my absolute prayer every single day is that He just uses my gifts, skills, and talents for His good and puts the people in my life that I can bless with those gifts, skills, and talents. And by doing that, um, man, I'm just looking to do the Lord's will 24-7, 365. And I think when we come in, and listen, okay, I have to be super straight up. I didn't start thinking that until I lost everything. You know, I lost my lost my life savings with those hurricanes, lost my business, lost my business partner, and just the whole thing fell apart. And now I'm on the rebound and God is good. And He's brought really random people into my life who are helping me to do all sorts of amazing things. So, guys, if you're feeling like you're going through the grind, get aligned with God. You know, Ecclesiastes 5, I want you to read Ecclesiastes 5, particularly the portion of 12, basically tells us that those, again, those who love money will never have enough. Those who love luxury will never have enough. But it also tells us that those who take joy in their work, whatever that is, and if you're using your gifts, skills, and talents for God every single day, whatever that is, and and if you're the business owner who's scraping by, maybe you're using your gifts, talents, and skills for God, and you actually are making a bigger difference than you think, honestly. But if you are dedicated to God, and if you are looking at things through his lens, he is going to bless you, he is gonna take things away, everything is gonna change. But if you are living every day to serve the Lord, you will always have enough because he will always give you positions to serve him. And like I was saying, Ecclesiastes 5 tells us that if we take joy in our work, we're gonna sleep good at night, and we're not even going to have time to worry about the old days. Basically, you won't have time to look back, you won't have time to even care about what's going on. You're gonna be so dedicated on serving the Lord that your life is gonna go great. So that's what I got for you guys today. God bless you all. I hope you're having a wonderful day. Thanks.