Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend and
This topic is one I'm looking forward to talking
about y 'all and our topic today is Relationship
over religion and just how much your life and
your walk with Christ is gonna be transformed
when you focus on the relationship with Christ.
And I'm gonna share with y 'all today about how
focusing on the relationship with Christ has
been life -changing for me, and give you some
tips on how to do that yourself. I'm sure this
is not the first time you've heard, like, hey,
it's not about the religion, it's about the relationship.
You're not saved by your works, you're saved
by your faith. And you're like, Danielle, okay,
I understand, but how do I implement that? How
do I know if that's what I'm doing? How do I
know if I've fallen into religion? And I pray
that me sharing my personal experience with y
'all today, as well as pulling from scripture
and sharing with y 'all the steps I took that
improved my relationship with Jesus can help
you to take steps in your life that are going
to be transformational. This episode feels a
little bit different and this episode honestly
feels like a little bit more What's the word
thought out and Helpful, I don't know. I think
every one of my episodes I pray is helpful for
y 'all but this one feels just a little bit more
like kind of devoted almost to like Self -help
steps when in all honesty all this is not self
-help. This is all completely Christ led in my
life But I think the first thing that I wanted
to remind y 'all of is that we are called into
fellowship and relationship with Jesus. We're
told that in 1 Corinthians 1 9, right? That we
are called into fellowship with God's only Son,
Jesus Christ. And every time I have heard the
word fellowship as a Christian, it's talking
about community. it's talking about relationships,
it's talking about friends, right? Like when
I'm spending time with a brother or sister in
Christ, like when we're having dinner together,
just eating, we'll call that a fellowship time,
because that's a time when we're in relationship,
that's a time when we're, you know, lifting one
another up in prayer, that's time when we're
being supportive of one another, just being a
rock for one another, right? When I attend small
groups, that's a time of fellowship. When I am
hanging out with my brothers or sisters in Christ
Fellowship when I am at church fellowship when
I'm talking to my pastor a time of fellowship
Fellowship is relationship How can we be in fellowship
with Christ if we don't have a relationship with
Christ? Okay, and that that's the first thing
I want to get out here and I want you to take
a moment Pause this episode if you need to pause
it and write down like what is your relationship
with Jesus like right now? What is your relationship
with Jesus like right now? And I'm gonna share
with y 'all Where my relationship with Jesus
is that now? and where it was at in the past
in hopes that this will help you to kind of gauge
where you are at okay most of my life i was raised
in the church right most of my life i was raised
in religion but i didn't have relationship and
i've shared with you all many times before it
was clear i didn't have a relationship with jesus
because i didn't pursue him Right. I wasn't trying
to get to know Jesus. I wasn't regularly talking
to Jesus I wasn't trying to look more like Jesus
when it came time to deny my flesh I loved my
flesh more than I loved Jesus So I didn't deny
the flesh I didn't deny the things that the Lord
told me to deny. I didn't die to self because
I love those things. I prioritize those things.
I elevated those things more than I elevated
Jesus Christ. These things were an idol for me
in my life. When I knew, I knew that I wasn't
supposed to be participating in lustful activities.
But that was where I got my That's where I got
kind of like my quick dopamine hit. That's where
I felt good about myself That's where my confidence
boost came from and because I wasn't rooted in
who Jesus Christ said I was Because I didn't
get my identity from the Lord. I Found my identity
in worldly things, right? I found my comfort
in worldly things and because I didn't have a
relationship with Jesus even when I would read
those things in Scripture I didn't trust them
and it didn't mean much to me When someone would
say God's word says this or God's word said that,
I would shrug it off because I didn't know God
like that. I didn't have a relationship with
Jesus like that. It was almost like some random
person on the street stopping and saying, hey,
I don't like this about you. I'm like, okay,
cool. I don't care. Goodbye. It hits a lot different
if it's someone that's really close with you
that you've known for a long time that's been
there for you says, hey, I really don't like
this thing about you. This is hurting me. Do
y 'all kind of see the difference here? I'm a
lot more likely to feel convicted, to take that
thing to heart, to really reflect on it when
it comes from someone that I truly value their
opinion. And I have a relationship with them
and I care about what they think and I care about
how they feel. A random person on the street
throwing something at me, I'm like, okay, you
don't know anything about me. Okay, I'll never
see you again. Why should I value your opinion
to the point of changing myself and changing
my life? And when I look back that was my relationship
with Jesus When I would hear these things of
like this hurts Jesus Jesus doesn't want you
doing this, you know, like These things are gonna
be hurting you Because I didn't have a relationship
with Jesus. I kind of shrugged it off And it's
so different now y 'all Where it's like I'm just
going about my day and it can be so something
so simple as there's a I fall into Gossip for
even 15 seconds and I walk away and there's a
conviction I feel where it's like I shouldn't
have talked about God's child that way God loves
that person, too I feel a conviction of that
grieves the Lord's heart Because just as I'm
a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit that person
was a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit And
what I'm doing to them, I'm doing to God. Remember
how Jesus, and I'm pulling this out of the depths
of my brain, so please forgive me. I'm trying
to quote this as best as I can. But when Jesus
is talking about, you know, like... When I was
hungry you gave me food when I was thirsty you
gave me drink He's like what you did for these
others you did for me when they say like Lord
Like when did we do those things to you for you?
He's like when you didn't for others you didn't
for me But he also has the vice versa of like
I was hungry and you gave me no food I was thirsty
and you gave me no drink Those things that you
didn't do for them. You didn't do for me. And
it's like now I get hit with that conviction
And when I get hit with that conviction, it's
very quick that I go into a repentance of forgive
me Jesus Like forgive me like when I do something
wrong now Like something that I don't even want
to say wrong when I when I sin now it's like
I Feel like I'm truly green like I'm grieving
the heart of a parent who loves me with everything
they have I feel like I'm grieving a best friend
who loves me with everything that they have.
But then I also, because I know that God loves
me and he doesn't like tell me to flee sin and
do all these things just to make up rules, he
does it to protect me. I've seen what happens
when I open the door for sin. I've seen what
happens when I open the door for idolatry. I've
seen all the pain and suffering where there's
a grieving too that comes with where I'm like,
man, I'm hurting myself. disobeying God I'm hurting
myself so it's almost like I feel like I'm doing
a disservice to myself it's a totally different
that that's just one way and that's just one
example of like my relationship now versus my
relationship then when it comes to conviction
y 'all back then conviction I don't even know
if I call it a conviction because I shook it
off real quick this conviction I want to be so
clear y 'all this conviction doesn't come with
condemnation it's not a thing of where it's like
oh my gosh I did this like I'm not good enough
I'm not I've had those thoughts hit and I'm able
to identify that it's not from God that's from
the enemy because there's redemption in Christ
Jesus now when the conviction hits it's like
I'm called to hire and I'm called to do better
and I'm called to be better and I believe someone
needs to hear this today we're not expected to
be sinless I don't know who needs to hear this,
but we're not gonna be spotless until Jesus Christ
comes back. Our goal, when we accept Jesus Christ,
I don't even know if I want to call it a goal,
but something that's supposed to happen the more
we're walking with Christ is we start to look
more Christ -like, right? Meaning we're denying
the flesh more. We're trying to stop gossiping.
We're trying to stop slandering. We repent when
we fall short. If something causes us to sin,
we cut it off. You find you're falling in the
gossip with that friend group. You stop spending
time with that friend group. If the Lord has
revealed that's your best method, that's your
best method. You can't, you know, only have one
drink. Sobriety is a problem for you. Cut off
the drinks entirely. When we are repentant for
something, we also take the active steps to not
go back to it. There's a difference between feeling
guilt and repentance because you can feel guilty
and go back to it, right? And That never -ending
state of like guiltiness that is also kind of
a symptom of condemnation I feel like we can
do a whole other episode on that at some point
but this may be a good moment for you to again
pause and like if you have a notebook write down
like How do you feel when you receive conviction,
how do you feel? When it's revealed to you that
something you're doing is against the word of
God Like what's your first reaction? Because
I know like back in the day my very first reaction
is I would say well I don't believe in that or
that doesn't apply to me or I would try to manipulate
the scripture To make it apply to me or I would
say God knows my heart When I look back it's
like did he really though because I didn't even
have a good enough relationship with God to know
his heart Yes, God knew my heart. God is all
-knowing That's funny how I'd say God knows my
heart, but I didn't have enough relationship
with him to know his heart, right? It was really
hard for me to discern his voice and we'll get
into that in a minute This may be a good time,
you know, like when something is pointed out
to you all when you recognize like hey that thing
I'm elevating in this life this thing I'm idolizing
this thing I'm doing this thing I'm putting my
faith in this goes against God's word is your
first reaction like repentance is your first
reaction like listening to that conviction and
taking it to God and like implementing it Where
is your first reaction kind of like excusing
it? Defending it away throwing it away I know
that there's something that a lot of people run
into and it's something I ran into a lot Especially
if that conviction comes through someone else,
you know someone saying hey This is what God's
Word says or hey, you shouldn't be doing this.
I know my first reaction used to be Well, you're
not perfect. You can't tell me nothing. Will
you do this? Who are you to talk? And if we are
waiting on perfection, if we think that the only
person who God can use to speak to us, to convict
us as someone who's perfect, you're gonna be
waiting for a moment that's too late. Because
the church is only gonna be spotless when Jesus
Christ returns. Nowhere in scripture are we going
to be as sinless and perfect as Jesus. We've
all already sinned. That's why we need Jesus.
So there's gonna be something out of every single
person i'm going to be able to say well you did
this you did that you did that if my determination
of whether or not god can speak through someone
to me is whether or not they have sin i'm eliminating
everybody and that's a pride thing that's a pride
thing i see now how god can use me and i have
such a sinful past and i know that there are
people who look at me and they're like god can't
use you you have that kind of past i'm like that's
not what god's word says i remember there was
a time when people would try to speak to me and
i'd be like you're one to talk so it's like i'm
able to extend grace in a way but i i want to
extend this question to you too is that how you
react are you very quick to say well who are
you to say something who are you people are very
quick to say like they're passing judgment on
me They're passing judgment. You can't judge
God is the only judge I want to be so clear God
is the only one who decides who goes to heaven
and goes to hell I do not determine that you
do not determine that which is why it's so important
for us to be forgiving one another right because
That kind of judgment is an arse That's actually
our responsibility as Christians When someone
is falling off the path when someone is going
astray to bring them back. We've talked in previous
episodes about how important it is to have brothers
or sisters in Christ that will lift your hands
when you are too tired to raise them, that will
pick you up when you are falling down. And sometimes
that falling down is a moral falling down. Sometimes
that falling down is stumbling into sin. And
you need that person to say, hey, this isn't
something that God wants for you. This isn't
something that God designed for you. This isn't
the life that God has for you. God has better
for you. I think we've seen in the Bible how
many times God will send people to groups of
people. And we see how frequently people in their
pride and their ego rejected for whatever reason.
Jeremiah is one example. Then we also see what
happens when people accept it. Jonah. So I just
want to encourage y 'all today to not harden
your heart in that way. Understand that God can
communicate through people because we are dwelling
places for the Holy Spirit. And God speaks through
his children every day. He has not is not stop
speaking so harden not your heart speaking from
experience y 'all i know it's not always easy
and this would be my encouragement to you start
praying to god that your heart isn't hardened
and he keeps you in a humble space to receive
correction i cannot tell y 'all how many times
i've had to pray that prayer and i still have
to pray that You know pray Psalm 139 23 and 24
search me God and know my heart test me and know
my concerns See if there is any offensive way
in me. Leave me in the everlasting way Y 'all
y 'all see me right now how I'm able to just
like speak with the confidence and share these
testimonies and this different wisdom but y 'all
didn't see the past like year and a half of it
seemed like every other day God revealing a part
of me that wasn't pleasing to him and happened
to break it down and strip it out all the different
ways he revealed to me I wasn't trusting him
all the ways he revealed to me I was in my pride
all the ways I had to be humbled most of my prayers
for like over a year Just to get out like I felt
like I was in a never -ending wilderness season.
I was like God What more do you need to break
out break down and you remember y 'all the Israelites
were in the wilderness because they weren't yet
the people Capable of going to the promised land.
They didn't have the faith. They had pride. They
had ego They have a lot of things that need to
be broken down first And we elevate when we talk
about relationship with Christ a lot of people
think about like the he gives you the peace that
surpasses all understanding and the love and
all this but we don't talk about as much or think
about the pruning part the part where you are
called to hire and you were called to be better
Jesus Jesus met people where they were but he
did not validate them to stay in their sin How
many people did he say go and sin no more? He
called people to do better. He calls you to hire.
He loves you, so he will meet you where you are.
You don't need to clean yourself up first, but
you need to allow him to clean you. Which means
being open to correction, being open to hearing
you're wrong. Y 'all, I had such a hardened heart
for the longest time of where I felt like everybody
else did me wrong. And I want to be so clear
that a lot of people hurt me in a lot of hurtful
ways. But it was funny how God sat me down and
started revealing to me all the ways I hurt those
people. And he wasn't negating what they did
to me or saying what they did to me was okay,
but he was showing me you're not a 100 % victim.
And you need to take accountability for what
you did to. Because once you take accountability,
I can actually heal this and we can make it better
and move on. Y 'all I used to think I was always
gonna be a crash out. I'm not anymore I Used
to be like control freak 101 overthinking thinking
of a million different outcomes and couldn't
let it go and now just about everything is God
I'm giving it to you. I'm not perfect in it,
but man the way I give it to God now I used to
thrive on ranting and gossiping and complaining
and now when someone rants or gossips to me for
more than 15 seconds I'm like, all right, I don't
want to entertain this. This is too negative
for me. I got to go But I wouldn't have got to
the spaces if I hadn't first acknowledged the
parts of me that enjoyed the gossip and Enjoyed
the ranting and enjoyed the attention and enjoyed
the victim mentality There are a lot of people
who are stuck in victim mentality and then say
but I don't like being a victim But they refuse
to see the areas where they don't have to be
a victim So I'm encouraging y 'all to pray to
God consistently not just a one -time prayer
pray to him consistently of God keep me humble
God keep me receptive to correction. I pray when
you reveal correction I implement it and it's
rooted in me Pray every day Because it's not
just you're gonna get to a point one day where
it's like, okay I'm humble and I'm gonna be humble
the rest of my life. You are going to continue
Because without Christ we can do nothing Christ
is the one who perfects us Like Christ is the
one who working in us makes us holy Christ is
the one who working in us when we have when we
are covered in the blood of Jesus is What has
us forgiven for our sins and we are able to enter
heaven. It's not our own works it's not we walk
with jesus long enough and then we've earned
it it's having our faith in him throughout life
enduring so yeah i'm encouraging y 'all if there's
one prayer that i'm encouraging y 'all to pray
today pray that psalm pray that god reveals your
heart and pray that when he reveals it you don't
recoil and you don't double down in it and you
don't get offended Pray that he breaks the spirit
of offense off of you. Pray that he delivers
you. Did y 'all know that pride and ego is something
you can be delivered from? I've shared in the
past my deliverance, where there was a two month
period when I was giving my life to Jesus, that
I went through an intermittent fasting, where
four or five days at a time I wasn't eating,
and I was just praying and seeking him and in
his word, and at that time too I was denying
my flesh, I was... Refusing to I wasn't scrolling
on my phone. I was denying my flesh in that area.
I wasn't scrolling on my phone I wasn't Participating
at that point the Lord was breaking new age off
me and I refused to go back to tarot card reading
all these things I was actively denying my flesh
and seeking the Lord and going through that fasting
and That was a deliverance period for me where
the Lord broke things that had been burdens for
me for decades things I thought were unchangeable
things that therapy couldn't change in me things
that medication couldn't change things that um
new age couldn't change things that relationships
couldn't change things I just accepted as this
is who I am and how I am and the Lord was like
no I call you to hire this is not who you are
let me show you who you are and that is what
a relationship with Jesus did for me too y 'all
It didn't even realize we were going into this
relationship with Jesus has broken things off
of me that I thought to be impossible there were
things that literally I was diagnosed with I
was told you're just gonna have to live with
this for the rest of your life and Jesus broke
those things off of me. He healed me Like there
there were literally like some and I'm not talking
mental health diagnosis Which the Lord did do
an amazing work on my mental health there were
physical health things. I was dealing with From
a young age that I had been told this is you're
gonna have this for life. There's no cure for
this And I felt Jesus tell me You're never gonna
have to deal with this again like I will heal
you and there were steps of faith I had to take
like getting off a medication and just trusting
That I was never gonna have to go through that
again No such a debate debilitating like especially
mentally it's crazy what physical like a physical
disorder can have on your mental and he delivered
me from that and I haven't had to deal with that
oh my gosh I'm about to start crying talking
about this because it was something that's not
supposed to be possible like there's no surgery
for it there's no like I was just told you're
gonna have to deal with it for life and while
I was going through that deliverance and the
Lord actually showed me scriptural verses that
lead me to believe that that thing I was dealing
with was also due to the open doors of sin and
demonic oppression I had going on in my life
because interesting enough when I got diagnosed
with that thing y 'all was when I started getting
into lust I started getting heavy into drinking
and smoking and lying and gossiping and just
when I went into like the most unhealed just
mean worst version of myself no self -denial
and when I look back that was when like I I had
really fully given myself over to the world and
to Satan without realizing it was Satan. I've
really fully given myself over to myself and
I got diagnosed with that thing and it was so
consistent. It felt like it affected every area
of my life and the Lord actually showed me in
Scripture where that very disorder thing I was
dealing with were symptoms of people with demonic
oppression. In the scripture and demonic possession
The demon literally trying to kill them and I
cannot tell you how many times y 'all that disorder
put me in life endangering situations Like it
happened at the worst time possible Where it
was like I think I almost died like I'm so lucky
I didn't die And when I look back and I'm not
saying that's everybody's situation But I am
saying that I truly believe the Lord revealed
to me that that medical thing I was dealing with
Was a result of my sin like my open doors to
letting the devil in Now I want to be so clear
I'm not saying that God gave me that the sword
to punish me for my sin I want to say that my
sin my willful sin and my refusal to deny the
flesh open the door for demonic influence in
my life that eventually became an oppression
that was able to affect me mentally and physically
because that was also the time when my depression
hit an all -time high it was years later i started
having panic attacks panic disorder i had eating
disorder like my crash outs were crazy like everything
or when i look back i'm like every single aspect
of myself was a symptom of someone dealing with
demonic oppression and it's actually crazy i
made it through as long as I did but when I was
seeking Jesus and keep in mind y 'all I didn't
see all that at that point at that point when
I was seeking the Lord I just saw it as a medical
thing I was dealing with and I saw it as like
I can't continue to live with this like I can't
continue to pay the medication and doing all
this and then also like Lord if you're calling
me to do all these things this disorder is going
to be prevented I don't see how I can keep doing
this and he said like Will heal you of this you
will never have to deal with this again put your
faith in me and and put my faith in him He called
me to get off the medication and he called me
to distrust and I did and he delivered on his
promise. So I want to say that y 'all Your relationship
with Jesus will heal you it has healed me physically
It has healed me mentally. It has healed traumas.
There were things I unpacked in the counselor
and the psychologist's office for years When
I was basically told like you're too self -aware
for therapy like I could sit in the therapist
office and say this is what I do and I know it's
unhealthy and this is why I do and I compartmentalize
this and I deal with this and I do this and like
all these things it's like I understand why I'm
doing it and I understand what this is and how
it's affecting me and all these things and when
they would literally they just started putting
me on a lot of medication because they're like
clearly you understand it but I had like a self
-awareness where it was like there was nothing
they could really show me or reveal to me and
It wasn't long after y 'all that I started going
into new age because new age offered like a healing
and you can Manifest your own reality and all
this kind of stuff and it seemed like the answer
I was someone who was seeking truth and healing
and a world that told me like there was none
Unfortunately, I had to go through new age to
find Jesus Like I say, unfortunately, like having
to go through that stage, but I've seen how many,
I don't even want to say unfortunate scratch
that y 'all because it's fortunate because now
I'm able to discern things. I have learned things
that I wouldn't have learned. I'm able to see
things and be like, that is witchcraft. I'm able
to see things and be like, that is manipulation.
That is new age garb, like mumbo jumbo. in ways
that I wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't
been like embedded in it and experienced it.
It's crazy just side note y 'all how many times
I catch people like just through the daily through
my daily life where in the past I wouldn't have
been able to discern like hey that's like a new
age term hey that's that I'm able to catch it
now it's crazy how God has used it um but yeah
y 'all sorry we're going back we're going back
we're getting a little off track your relationship
with Jesus will heal. Your relationship with
Jesus can deliver you from things that you never
thought possible to be delivered from there were
traumas There were things that haunted me that
I was delivered from And these things happened
because I sought the Lord and I denied the flesh
and This is the direction. I think we're kind
of going where we talk about y 'all its relationship
over religion and The religion I'm talking about
say when we look at the Pharisees where they
did all the proper steps They kept themselves
clean. They kept the law. They did it this way.
Remember what Jesus said to him said to the Pharisees
He's like on the outside y 'all look great But
on the inside y 'all are nasty. This is me paraphrasing.
He's like on the outside you look holy you look
You look clean, you look all these things, but
on the inside, you're hypocritical. On the inside,
there's greed and jealousy and all these icky
things. You got a lot of skeletons in your closet,
sir. Like, is how he's kind of talking to them,
like... He said, y 'all go out of your way to
convert someone, but now that they're converted,
you make them twice the child of hell that they
were before. You double condemn them. You saying
you tell everybody that they're unworthy of God
you tell everybody that they're unworthy to heaven
you close the door you say no one's worth There
I was someone who Unfortunately, you know was
a victim of religion not relationship. I knew
scripture growing up. I was baptized i would
go to confession i would sing the gospel songs
but because i didn't prioritize a relationship
with christ i didn't see the transformations
i didn't see promises of god i didn't see these
things i didn't have we know that the one who
believes in jesus will do the works he does right
and we shall know them by their fruits i didn't
have those fruits the peace patience love you
know like the forgiveness these things you could
it sometimes mimic them but it wasn't who you
were compared to who I was in the past y 'all
like and I know the Lord will continue to do
better with me I am so patient compared to the
person I used to be man I am loving and forgiving
I used to think I was a forgiving person no I
was a person with bad boundaries people pleasing
mentality now I know what forgiveness is because
Jesus has shown me there are people today who
are in religion and the relationship has kind
of taken a backseat right there are people today
who they say well I read the Bible and I listen
to the sermon You know, I I do the little Bible
studies and I make sure to go out and tell people
this is what God's Word says I flee lust I Keep
myself clean in this area. I do these things
I do these things But then like when you start
to ask about like okay, but what's your personal
relationship like with Jesus like what's your
prayer life like How do you worship him? How
do you spend time with him? And I want to be
so clear y 'all that and I have said a million
times over Reading scripture is important. Like
we as Christians need to have a Christian worldview
meaning like The way that we view the world our
values our morals Are based off of what God's
Word says not our thoughts and our feelings and
you only know that through God's Word When you're
facing spiritual warfare, you need to be able
to combat it with God's Word, the lies of the
enemy. You take these thoughts captive and make
them obedient to Christ. In order to know God's
voice, to be able to hear when the Lord is speaking
to you, you've got to know his character. You'll
learn all these things through reading scripture.
But there are a lot of people who will read and
consume all this knowledge and they feel like
the knowledge consumption is the relationship.
And I was one of those people for a while there
is a period in my life after giving my life to
Jesus Remember y 'all at first it was really
good. It was for months. It was just me denying
the flesh praying to the Lord Like just reading
my Bible every day. No one's outside influencer
opinion. It's just me and the Lord but then when
I got back into Social life again, and I joined
a church and I went back to the church I was
raised in in this church Now I'm non -denominational,
but this was a church that was like a very religious,
old religion. There were a lot of religious practices
in place that you're supposed to do very consistently.
And I did all those things. And what's interesting
is in doing all those things, those things started
being my gauge for how good standing I was with
God. And that can be a whole nother topic for
another day. But I started thinking, okay, did
I say these... Pre -rehearsed prayers, which
is like, you know the our father and like these
different things. It's like which are fantastic
Jesus gave us that prayer But I I was in a consistent
just praying the rosary and praying these prayers
I wasn't pulling anything personal out and laying
it at Jesus's feet, right? I was honoring him
and I was doing these things. I wasn't really
getting deep and personal with him. I was reading
his word a lot learning about him but I wasn't
speaking to him I wasn't communicating with him
I wasn't pouring it out to him and the direction
we're going in next y 'all is prayer life because
you can do all these things You can have all
of these things, right? You can have all of the
biblical knowledge. You can go to all these Bible
studies. You can listen to the pastors who have
seen all these moves of God in their life. You
can have all these things, but you can still
find yourself to be spiritually dry. Meaning
you can find yourself feeling like I see no healing
and I don't feel like God speaks to me and I
don't feel like I've seen any of these things.
And there are some people who emphasize so much
the knowledge intake and the religious practices
of the going to church and doing all these things,
but they put aside the intentional prayer time
and the just fellowship with God. And then they're
wondering, why don't I hear from God? Why don't
I see these changes? Why don't I see these transformations?
And they may even start to get cynical. They
may start to look at other people who hear from
God consistently and be like, oh, there's no
way you hear from them because I don't, so you
don't. There's no way God speaks to you every
day. There's no way he's just revealing things
to you. There's no way he's just telling you
to read the scripture. There's no way he's giving
you dreams. There's no way he's doing this. Fun
fact, y 'all, I used to be one of those people.
I used to be like, are you sure you prayed to
God and you heard from him while you were praying
with him? Are you sure that God gave you dreams
about that? Are you sure that every day you pray
and every day you hear from God? Because I felt
like I was hearing from God once in a blue moon.
And I felt like I was only getting bits and pieces.
So when other people would get something very
detailed from God, I was like, yeah, no, there's
no way. Because I didn't personally experience
that, I wrote it off completely. And now that
I personally experienced it, I'm like, oh god,
there's so much more I'm sure you can do. Like
I want to see it all. But I got to that point
through prayer and where we're getting at today
y 'all is you can do all these religious things
and none of these works are bad. Our father prayer
is an amazing prayer. That's what Jesus Christ
gave us to show us how to pray. Reading scripture
is how we know God all these things are good,
but these things without relationship Without
intentional time with God Is when we find ourselves
starting to put God in a box when we find ourselves
starting to condemn everybody else because that's
not our experience with God An interesting thing
is this very well could be your experience with
God With intentional time with him and that's
where we're getting that y 'all is Prayer is
gonna change your life. And I'm talking intentional,
laying it all out, relationship with God prayer.
And I'll tell y 'all and give you a little bit
of just how I've changed my prayer life. Because
there was a time when I felt like my prayer life
was very, very consistent. And that was when
I was waking up every morning and I was praying
the rosary before I went about my day and...
That was for those of you all who didn't know
I was raised Roman Catholic and when I came to
Jesus You know, I had those couple months with
him and when I came back to social I tried to
go back to that church and Just the more time
I spent in there the Lord led me To a church
that he needed me to be out which is a non -denominational
church Then that's what I'll say with it because
I saw that old church I went to I loved it. I
love the people there But where I'm at now is
Where God needed me to be in this time with him,
right? To work on my relationship with him and
to show me things and to kind of grow me to where
I needed to be Spiritually God has used it in
so many ways But at that time I was really kind
of deep in that religion, right? Trying to throw
myself into that and one of the things I was
doing is every morning I was waking up praying
the rosary, you know Having that time and I felt
like very good. I found myself actually kind
of bragging to people I'm like, yeah, I pray
my rosary every morning and all these things
And it was good right like that that's a reverence
for God and it's me taking time away from my
life and away from like what I want to do in
setting aside time for God. But what the Lord
revealed to me personally was I stopped having
intentional prayer time with him. That stuff,
say those prayers, and what I mean by pre -written
prayers is these are the prayers that Millions
of people are praying every day, word for word,
right? And they are good prayers. Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as is
in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those
who trespass against us, and lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Amazing
prayer. And these are things that we need. But
there are things I'm going through in my personal
life right now. that aren't discussed and not
to the depth that I need to discuss them with
God and I personally allowed this kind of prayer
life to Replace intentional time with God and
when I received that deliverance back in California
was where I was living When the Lord was breaking
all these things off of me. I was praying very
intentionally At that time I had some very pressing
things and that was what I was praying to God
about saying God this is why I'm dealing with
and God this is my fear and like this is what
I'm wrestling with and I need your help with
this and I need this and like then times when
I'm like God thank you for this and thank you
for that and times when I'm like God I don't
understand Humble me like give me peace give
me an understanding like every single area in
life things I was happy about things I said about
things I was confused about I was taking it all
to God And then me personally when I when I really
got into that religious Season in my life that
relationship with Jesus was on the back burner
and it just became kind of like the Every day
what everyone else around me was doing and I
found myself really spiritually kind of slowing
down And I felt like I wasn't hearing from the
Lord felt like I wasn't really seeing the promises
I felt like all the momentum I had been gaining
with God really started coming to a halt and
slowing down and That's not everybody's I want
to be so clear. I'm talking about my own personal
experience. I'm not speaking for a whole religion
Because I had a grandma who was Catholic who
said all those prayers But also had her intentional
alone time with God and I saw it in her prayer
life. I Just for me personally, this is what
God has called me to do where God has called
me to be For me personally, that was this non
-denominational church that I'm at right now.
Okay? But I'm telling y 'all how important that
intentional prayer time with God is because he
has taught me to prioritize it again. And when
I tell you it has been transformational, when
I tell you I hear from God multiple times a day,
like every time I'm sitting down praying to him,
I feel like I'm hearing something. Every time
I'm in my scripture reading and I'm praying God
guide my reading God give me an understanding.
It's like he's revealing things to me I'm allowing
him to lead my prayer life. I'm allowing him
to lead my reading and that is y 'all I started
implementing Where I just have specific time
every day of prayer to God And someone today
needs to hear this, and I felt convicted about
this when I was reading Madison Perot Trout's
book, Dare to be True, where she said, like,
you make time for what's important to you. And
we make a lot of excuses about prayer, of like,
I don't know what to pray, and I don't know...
Don't know what to pray. I don't know like what
to talk to God about or saying I'm too busy like
making up all these excuses and it's like you
make time for God he's gonna make time for you
and I I had to kind of swallow that pill because
I felt convicted about I was like I need to be
praying. I start thinking, but God, I don't have
the time to pray. And I start thinking, okay,
well what does my day usually look like? And
it's like, okay, I get home from work and I use
that time to, in my own little air quotes, decompress.
And what does my decompression look like? Getting
in my comfy clothes, scrolling on my phone, listening
to some music. And then I go into cooking dinner,
getting a shower, and then kind of going back
to that. And it's like, how much of that time
of that mindless scrolling? Could I instead like
give that to God? Because every time I spend
time with Jesus, I end up leaving with a lot
more peace than I do passively scrolling. So
I started doing a thing where I set a 30 minute
timer and said, okay for 30 minutes I'm chewing
out all the distractions. I'm shutting off my
TV, shutting off all my stuff. I'm putting that
30 minute timer on and that 30 minutes is dedicated
just to talking to Jesus. And sometimes it looks
like me pacing around my room, pacing around
the living room, because I'm one of those people
that like, I don't like to just sit still for
long periods of time, especially when I'm thinking
and processing things actually do better, like
kind of moving around and talking out loud, which
is why it's important to pray out loud. And you
know what's interesting enough, at first those
30 minutes felt kind of hard. but eventually
those 30 minutes started turning into an hour
and an hour and a half or sometimes I've been
walking around realizing I've been praying for
two and a half, three hours. So that's my first
encouragement with prayer to y 'all today is
set aside intentional time for God. Stop saying
that you don't have time for God. Imagine if
he said, I don't have time for you. You make
time for God, he's going to make time for everything
else. Other things that need taking care of,
they will be taken care of. We learned that with
Mary and Martha. Mary chose the better thing.
She chose to be in Jesus's presence Martha chose
to run around and do all this other stuff saying
like if I don't who will that's when you give
it to God I Encourage y 'all set aside intentional
time to just talk to Jesus I'm not talking about
the pre -rehearsed prayers or anything like that.
Those are Continue to say you're our father Continue
to say those but set aside time for intentional
prayer with God Set aside time for intentional
Prayer with him because as we said earlier y
'all we're called to be in fellowship fellowship
is relationship How can you have a relationship
with someone you don't talk to the people that
you call your best friends? Are they people that
you only call when you have a problem? Like a
lot of us, we only pray to Jesus when it gets
too hard. We only pray to him when we need something
fixed. We only pray to him when we have an ask,
which is like the genie in the bottle situation
where we treat him like a genie in the bottle.
When your friends are coming through and these
people are doing helpful things for you, is it
just one time you're like, Ayo, thanks, and you
walk away? No? And it shouldn't be like that
with Jesus. With Jesus we should be thanking
him every day. There's something to thank him
for every day. His mercies are new every morning.
God's mercies are new every morning. Every day
we can thank Jesus for his salvation on the cross.
For what he did on the cross for our salvation.
There's something we can thank God for every
single day. Just waking up the air in our lungs.
The lessons he's teaching us. The ways that he
uses things for our good. We shouldn't just be
praying to Jesus. the things we need fixed, we
should be praying and gratitude. We should be
thanking him for things. With your friends, when
you're hanging out with them and spending time
with them, you're not just talking about things
you need. You're just, you're filling them in
on your daily life. You're telling them about
what's going on. You might be asking for some
advice. That's what we're supposed to be doing
with Jesus. I'm at the point I'm at right now,
y 'all. because I treat my relationship with
Jesus like a legit fellowship. Where he is my
savior, God is the Alpha and the Omega, there's
a reverence, there's a respect, there's all these
things, there's a fear. Because I want to be
so clear, some people treat relationship as like
Jesus is just like my bestie and there's no reverence
or fear or anything like that. And there are
people who treat relationship as like willy -nilly.
And they are like, they throw religion out, but
when they throw out religion they also throw
out the fear and the reverence and the fruits
of the spirit and the one who believes in Jesus
will do the works he does. And they throw out
the Bible completely. Jesus is the word made
flesh. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
You can't have Jesus while discounting the word
of God. Okay? But this may be convicting for
somebody if You feel like your relationship is
strong with Jesus or you're one of those people
who says like, yeah, it is all about relationship.
But like, do you have a consistent, healthy relationship?
Like, is it one where you feel like, because
he already knows everything. And we know from
reading scripture, God waits on us, he wants
us to bring it to him. He already knew Adam and
Eve bit into the fruit. When he was still saying,
he already knew where they were at, but he was
still giving them an opportunity to present themselves
to him. He's like, where are you? When we look
at Cain Nable, he already knew. He already knew
what happened, but God still said, where's your
brother? He's like, am I my brother's keeper?
God gives us. He wants us to bring it to him.
He already knows. He already knows the fears
in your mind. He already knows the ego, the pride.
He already knows the sins you're struggling with.
He already knows how you're defending things
away. He already knows what's going on in your
brain. He already knows what's going on in your
heart, so take it to him. And this, get your
notes ready. If you haven't written anything
down, y 'all, I want you to write this down,
because this was shown to me in a young adult
group last year, and it was transformational
for my prayer life. And in reading there to be
true, This isn't an advertisement y 'all. This
is just one of the more recent books. I've been
reading y 'all know I'm a bookworm I'm always
I love reading and Madison Perot trow I just
finished I listened to the audiobook of the love
everybody once and right now I'm finishing up
reading through dare to be true and I'm just
this I'm not getting paid to talk about them
You all this is just me. I'm sharing what I'm
reading right now and how it's impacted me and
she kind of shared something kind of similar
in her prayer she shared kind of about her prayer
life and it's very similar there's a little bit
a couple different differences but p -r -a -y
this is where you all need to write it down when
i pray this is this is the step process i go
through in my head and it doesn't always look
like this but this is the majority of what my
prayer looks like that's been transformational
for me the p starts with praise When I'm open
up in prayer, I start with thanking and worshiping
God. I'm saying, God, thank you for the air in
my lungs. Thank you for the salvation. Thank
you for bringing me to you. Thank you for the
deliverance. I start thanking him for who he
is, for what he did. I think about all the different
things I can be grateful for, and I start praising
him. And that praise is saying, no one but you,
Jesus. No one but you because none of these things
were my own works or I did for myself. No one
but you Jesus I praise him. I start with thanks.
I start with gratitude. I start with praise There's
sometimes like before I go into my prayer time.
I'll listen to a couple worship songs put my
hands up y 'all My hands up. I'm one of those
people that used to not put my hands up being
raised like in Religion like in the Catholic
Church that that wasn't a thing you did like
I'm just like Worship with your hands up and
I don't know a lot of people. It's weird going
into the non -denomination That was what everyone
did and for a while it was really uncomfortable
for me and now I can't help it That's how just
in reverence like I'll be listening to worship
music in the car and when my hands will be up
and that's just my way of like kind of emptying
myself up emptying myself out and elevating God
and giving him the praise and just really like
opening myself up And I know a lot of people,
it's not just people who are raised in Lake Hal,
I know people who are like Presbyterian, I know
people who are Methodists, people who are Baptists,
who are like hands feel performative. And I used
to be one of those people too. And then I started
feeling convicted about... Judging and realized
that like at the root of it. I actually was passing
judgment And the Lord convicted me very heavy
and now I am one of those people who has my hands
up But when I tell you all that worship has been
Transformational and a lot of my spiritual battles
have been one with me on my knees and my hands
up in prayer and worship and gratitude I Cannot
tell you how many times the Lord has had me Giving
me a taste of my own medicine had me have a tough
pill to swallow at me passing judgment on the
way other people worship Passing judgment on
me calling other people performative and all
these things and he showed me zero to 100 real
quick. That's not all performative And that just
comes through relationship because I was always
so focused on religion when I was so focused
on religion I looked at non -denominational people
as like And now like y 'all it's crazy now it's
it lord has really transformed it's been amazing
um but p p we start with praise so when you go
into i i encourage y 'all to try praying like
this set a 30 minute timer and go through this
start praying start with a p praise praise god
for everything and then r repent Just where I
go into a time of repentance and I start repenting
to God Like if there's anything any gossip I
fall into any kind of discipline. It keeps me
humble Right. We empty ourselves out we repent
Before you even get into asking God for anything
you need to you need to get right in these areas
repent ask for forgiveness acknowledge where
you've fallen short and also for me personally
has kept me from getting like prideful and puffed
up of thinking i can do no wrong and i'm the
victim and all these things when i have to come
before god and acknowledge i'm not perfect and
it also reminds me that i'm not deserving like
i'm not earning the things i just praise jesus
for he's so graciously given them to me and praying
Psalm 139 during this time is an amazing thing
to empty yourself out. And this is when I recommend
to pray that in your prayer time, y 'all. Just
search me in God and know my heart. Test me and
know my concerns. See if there is any offensive
way in me. Lead me in the everlasting way. Sometimes
y 'all when I go to repent, I start thinking,
well, there's nothing to repent for. I'm like,
I haven't done a big bad sin. There's nothing.
And then when I pray that, The Lord such revealed
me little ways where I've been prideful little
ways where it fall and where I can see I'm still
falling short So that is a very important one
are repent and then we go to a which is ask And
this is the time to start asking God And I'll
find myself saying God I need healing and this
I'm asking you to heal God. I'm asking you to
reveal I'm asking you to speak to me. I'm asking
for these things. And this is also the time when
I start saying, God, this is what I'm wrestling
with in my mind. And I'm in confusion with this.
Most of the time, y 'all, I'm actually asking
God for wisdom and knowledge. You'll hear me
so many times saying, God spoke this to me and
God revealed this to me. That's because y 'all
honestly to them. I don't want to say that's
because, but it's no coincidence that the majority
of my prayers are, God, give me clarity on this.
God, show me the right way to view this. God,
this is what I'm thinking, but I shouldn't be
relying on my own understanding. God, show me
the things that I can't see. Most of what I'm
praying for is wisdom and understanding, because
it's once I have the wisdom and understanding
that I can then... have the confidence to take
the steps sometimes God is calling me to take
there are times when it's bold and I have no
understanding and there are other times when
I'm like first you know God revealed me what
I need to see that I'm not seeing and once he
reveals it to me I'm like oh so God like are
you calling me to do this should I say this thing
should I take this and then I take that to God
and he'll reveal to me a yes or no there are
times when I'm I'm saying God put a scripture
on my heart highlight an area in scripture god
i want to help memorize scripture help me to
memorize scripture a that asking time anything
on your heart what you're needing clarity for
ask ask that that is when i present things to
god and then the why is yielding where the why
is me yielding and saying even if Like these
are the things I desire and these are things
I believe they align with your will because y
'all that's another important thing. That's why
you read scriptures. There are things I used
to pray for that when I would read the Bible,
I'd be like, of course God didn't give me that.
That's a sin. Of course God didn't give me that.
That goes against His word. Make sure and this
happens as you're in relationship with Him. You're
praying for things that are like His will for
your life. like you're praying for things that
are pleasing to God because he's not going to
bless you with things that are going to lead
you away in a stray and that's a whole combo
for another day okay but the why the yielding
is me saying and God even if you don't give me
these things even if not even if I don't see
a yes to any of these prayers you are still good
you are still worthy of the praise you are still
deserving of it all and I will still serve you
The why is the yielding is a saying after getting
through a place of asking sometimes it's easy
to get kind of puffed up right and the yielding
again is a humbling moment for me saying If any
of these things do happen, it's not me that did
it God. It's you And I all of these things even
if you do none of them, I know you're capable
It's not that you're not capable. It's that you
chose not to and I'm not gonna turn my back on
you There's multiple famous celebrities y 'all
there's one coming to mind that There was a stint
in this person's life where they were like elevating
God and like Saying Jesus name and all these
things and they they've shared openly but there
were some things that they they took to God and
God told them no and they left God Which shows
that their their relationship was conditional
their worship was conditional right? It was an
unconditional surrender And that's like a space
I have to remember to keep myself in in the why
and the yielding is like even if you don't do
it God I'm still gonna serve you. You're still
good. I still need to be on mission I still need
to walk with you. Even if you don't do any of
these things. I know my reward is in heaven anyway
That is where the blessings really lies in heaven
all these earthly things are gonna pass away
anything you give me here isn't gonna go with
me When I die It's the treasure in heaven that
awaits me and Yielding is also I kind of do like
a why? Because this is also my time for others.
This is also my time when I pray for others it
it I have found it's so important for me to be
praying for others. It gets you into a real prideful
space when you're just asking for yourself and
praying for yourself. And I want to be so clear
it's not the prayer for others where it's like
the backhanded prayer where it's like God do
all these wicked things. Like there's some people
who like with the praying for others they take
it as a time to like take out their anger and
their frustration. This is a time period for
me where it's like You kind of start with the
bigger people where I'm like, I'm going to pray
for the leader of the country. We should be praying
for our leaders regardless. Like regardless of
anything, pray for your leaders because they're
in a leadership position. So pray that God is
guiding them. Pray that they encounter the Holy
Spirit. I find myself praying for the leaders
in my country, for my state, for my city. I find
myself praying for my bosses. I find myself praying
for anybody in leadership position. And I find
myself praying for the people who are lost. I
find myself praying for the witches. I pray for
the atheists. I pray for the people who their
faith is not in Jesus. I pray for the people
who, you know, say rude things to me online.
I start praying for my enemies. I start praying
for the people who I know hate me. praying for
the people who are trying to block me i am praying
for these people i'm praying god heal them god
show them the truth god change their heart god
expose them when they walk into seat and i pray
that they start to walk in the light i pray that
they they love the truth and they live in the
truth i'm praying for people's salvation i'm
praying for and this time i'm praying for my
family i'm praying for my friends i'm praying
for my exes i'm praying for my ex friends I'm
praying for people I haven't talked to in years.
There are times, y 'all, when the Lord will bring
up the face of someone to me in my time of prayer,
someone I haven't talked to since high school,
or since middle school, and I'll find myself
praying for them. He'll bring up someone I haven't
seen since I was like 12 years old, and I'll
be praying for that person. That's my time to
just pray for other people. It's in scripture
that the prayer of a righteous person is so powerful.
We're supposed to pray for others. The Lord has
taught me how to intercede and pray on behalf
of others. Y 'all, sometimes I'm gonna be so
for real, sometimes... When the Lord is leading
my prayer life, I find myself praying that someone
has turned over for the destruction of their
flesh The Lord has called me to pray some heavy
things for people But the important what I'm
getting at y 'all is like I I'm right now what
I'm trying to do is I'm I'm just showing y 'all
The things that transform my prayer life I have
revealed you all some of the fruits that have
come through my relationship with Christ, which
is healing, which is deliverance, which is I
hear from God consistently, which is He is guiding
my steps. I want to share this scripture with
y 'all, okay? Because someone needs to hear this
today. For the people who think, like, can you
really hear from God? Like, is it really possible
to hear from Him that much? Yes! Like it's more
possible now than ever that we have the Holy
Spirit dwelling with us within us Do you all
forget that there is literally a part of Jesus
inside each of us? First Corinthians 6 19 your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you
When you have from God Literally all each of
our bodies is now a dwelling place. There was
a time when God would, when his spirit was kept
in tents. There was a time when people were carrying
around the religious artifacts. But when Jesus
left us, the helper, just the Holy Spirit, when
he departed and said, the helper is going to
come to you, the Holy Spirit is dwelling with
them. Back then we see in Old Testament time,
that was when God would pour his spirit out on
people and then like after they do something
like his spirit would leave, right? But now His
Spirit is dwelling within us consistently. And
we know the reason why. The Spirit is the helper
and brings things to our remembrance. Of course,
you can hear from God every day. He's literally
inside of you. He's literally dwelling within
you, waiting on you to say, Holy Spirit, guide
me. Holy Spirit, lead me. Holy Spirit, help me
to remember. Holy Spirit, help me to discern.
Like back in the Old Testament times I actually
think it'd be a lot harder compared to now and
we see how much God was working back then You
literally have the Holy Spirit dwelling within
you and you think it's impossible For the Holy
Spirit for you to hear from the Holy Spirit every
day for you to feel a nudging to read your Bible
for you to Feel a nudging to go talk to that
person for you feel a nudging to go pray for
that person for you to be praying Lord reveal
things to me guide me and in prayer he reveals
something to you and guides you I have shared
before y 'all about the Lord revealing things
to me and me being like is that really God and
then it's like a couple months later someone
comes and says that thing to me where I'm like
oh my gosh that's what God told me about oh my
goodness where God gets detailed with me now
there is a time where I was like there's no way
God can get that detailed until I experienced
it. I was humbled. And y 'all, these things,
let me tell you, I actually started reading up
on the Holy Spirit, how the Holy Spirit is working
in my life, how I can partner with the Holy Spirit.
See, as I told y 'all earlier, knowledge isn't
a bad thing, but it has to be implemented in
relationship. In my prayer time, I started praying
to God. Help me to understand how the Holy Spirit
is working. Help me to, you know, come to you
consistently. Help me. All of these things, when
I tell y 'all prayer was so crucial. Because
a big part of prayer is listening and not talking.
We oftentimes see prayer as just our time for
talking to God and spilling it all out. And then
when we say, okay, I'm done, and we walk away,
we forget to listen. I cannot tell y 'all how
many times in that 30 minutes an hour when I'm
praying that I'll pause for a few minutes because
it's like I'm mid -talking and all of a sudden
I have an understanding of what I'm asking God
about. It's like I'm mid -talking Him and all
of a sudden it's like there's an idea. All of
a sudden there's an understanding. And that's
when I take it to the Lord and I'm like, oh my
gosh, is this from you, Lord? And there are people
who, because they haven't experienced it, don't
believe it. And you don't have to, you don't
have to believe me, but the fruits speak for
themselves. How many times God has literally
spoken a thing and then he comes through with
it? I don't, it doesn't matter how many people
tell me you're wrong or you're crazy. I know
my God and I know what he's done. And you might
think, well, Danielle, how do you know that that's
God's voice and not your voice and not the enemy?
I used to say that to myself too. I believe that
at that time when I'd be like God doesn't reveal
things God doesn't speak things He wasn't yet
able to trust me To speak to me the way he can
now because back then every time I heard from
him I didn't believe it was him and I was always
second -guessing it and Oversharing with other
people and everything. He literally I wasn't
spiritually mature enough To be trusted with
a lot of things, but I also did didn't know him
well enough to know his voice and that's why
John 10 27 my sheep hear my voice I know them
and they follow me and I wrote down y 'all intentional
time with Jesus is how you learn his voice and
guidance I remember for those two months when
I was just spending all that time with Jesus
and I was like praying and reading the Bible
and I was wanting community and wanting friends
and God told me in his timing I would have that
But right now I have to work on discerning His
voice and knowing His voice, knowing what's His
will and what isn't. Because once I'm put back
in the world, I'm going to have opportunities
and doors open that aren't from Him. And I have
to be able to look at it and say, that's not
God. God wouldn't call me to that. I have to
be able to enter room, hear God's voice, and
trust and listen. And that comes through intentional
time with Him. Part of it through scripture reading,
a lot of it through prayer. Now I know what His
promptings feel like. I know what His nudgings
feel like. And I feel like this episodes getting
kind of long so we might have to kind of take
a pause here y 'all but I'm really praying that
this is helping you today and that you you really
take some time to evaluate your relationship
with Jesus and Understand that no matter how
long you've been walking with Jesus your relationship
can be improved I today I'm saying my relationship
with Jesus can be improved I'm sharing with y
'all where I'm at now compared to where I used
to be and I pray I pray to God That a year from
now my relationship is gonna be so much more
improved drastically different than it is today
We are never spotless we are never like imperfect
until Jesus Christ comes back There's always
room for us to grow for us to improve and that
includes our relationship with Christ, right?
so It doesn't matter who you are listening to
this today. Your relationship with Jesus can
improve. Your prayer life can improve. How you
hear from God can improve. And I pray that this
episode helps you with that. And I pray that
this episode, maybe there's a part of you that
needed kind of humbled by something I said. And
I want to remind you and I'll remind you every
episode. I'm able to share these things because
I've also experienced it. So I have definitely
experienced a side of needing to be humbled,
experiencing a humbling. I've shared with y 'all
multiple times in this episode where I was being
judgmental and casting stones and God would humble
me real quick. I'm sharing these things with
you because I've experienced it too. It's not
a holier than thou, it's a y 'all I've been there,
I've done that, like listen to my experience
so maybe you don't have to be in it as long as
I did. Okay, I pray y 'all have a wonderful week.
Don't forget to Like this episode leave Please
please please y 'all leave a review wherever
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you guys next time. Bye guys