Breaking free, living in true FREEDOM found in Christ is what I desire and if you do too, I encourage you to keep reading. What if I told you that taking captive your thoughts to make them obedient to Christ, was not as hard as it sounds? Yes, taking every thought might seem overwhelming, but what if I told you that you can break free from the lies you believe each day. Now I’m not saying it’s easy, it takes time and a lot of patience with yourself. It also more importantly, takes a lot of prayer and dedication to following God’s will for our lives, not our own desires and hopes of what could be. And it takes intentional time in the Word, because the more you fill your mind with God’s truths, the less likely you will be to believe the enemy’s lies.
Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
You might be thinking, “Oh, that’s a great verse. But I can’tchange the way I think. I have always been like this.” —I get it. I thought that for a very long time too. I thought I was just more pessimistic by nature. BUT, the good news my friends, is that you absolutely can change your thought patterns. Because the way you think shapes your life, your actions and decisions. And the scary thing is, the enemy knows that and wants to keep you in a negative mindset because his goal is to keep your mind off of God. Changing your thought patterns isn’t easy, and it will take time but you CAN take captive all your thoughts and make them obedient to Christ. Perhaps you find yourself crippled by fear and anxiety. Your mind goes a mile a minute thinking of every “what if” situation that could arise in each day. Or maybe you’ve bought into the lie that you aren’t enough. Whether that be; strong enough, pretty enough, thin enough, or smart enough. The answer is the same. With Christ you are 100% enough.
So how do we take captive our thoughts? –Let’s get into that now.
First we must acknowledge our negative thoughts are from the enemy meant to break us down and tear us away from God. That is his main goal. So realizing this will help when those thoughts creep in. Acknowledge them as lies and then kick them to the curb! Because when we are aware that these thoughts we are letting dictate our daily decisions are lies from the enemy, it makes it a lot easier to say, not today Satan! Think about a subject that you know a lot about. –Now if I started telling you “facts” about a subject that you knew weren’t true, because they didn’t line up with the research you’ve done on the subject, you wouldn’t believe me, right? So then why are you going to let yourself believe something that you know is a lie?! — If you’re thinking, well how do I know it’s a lie? Truth is, it’s actually pretty simple to know what thoughts are lies from the enemy. Anything that goes against God and His word are from the enemy. God is NEVER going to steer you in the direction of fear or anxiety.
The enemy is tricky and can sneak his little lies into our heads without us even realizing. Something will pop into our head and make us feel weak, unworthy or unloved. We won’t at the time realize it, but our actions will then reflect the way we are feeling and all of a sudden it’s a downward spiral into fear and negativity. Putting us exactly where the enemy wants us to be. Feeling far from God. Away from the truth. BUT the good news is, when we start taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ, then we are turning our worry into worship. Our fear into praise. Our sadness into joy.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8
Challenge time!
I want you to visualize yourself physically taking the thoughts of fear, negativity or anxiety into your hands and throwing them away. Every time a thought pops into your head that isn’t from God, I want you to do this and see how you feel at the end of the day. Spoiler alert. You will feel AMAZING. You will feel strong and worthy and loved by God when your thoughts are filled with His truths and promises and not those ugly lies that try to sneak in! Get into the Bible daily. Fill your mind and heart with God’s truths so that you can stand strong against the enemy’s lies! Let me know how this goes for you. I’m rooting for you all to find FREEDOM in Christ!
Hi! I’m so glad you’re here and desiring to be more intentional with your prayer life. Perhaps you’re back after joining me in praying through the month of February for your husband. If so, yay! How did it go? –Or maybe you are new here. WELCOME! :) I received so many positive messages about my recent post, that I thought we should spend this month (March) praying for ourselves.
I think sometimes we let prayer become a routine, rather than a relationship with Jesus. And like any relationship, our relationship with Jesus needs effort made. Imagine if you only called your best friend when there was a problem. Do you ever do that with Jesus? Our relationship with Him needs to be our MOST important relationship, which means we need to build that relationship through prayer and reading the Word. Prayer is a beautiful way to draw closer to the Lord. Let’s spend the next month together, praying intentional prayers that will not only bring you closer to God, but will help you love and cherish the person He made you to be. I’m so excited to see how God moves in your life this month! Let’s start with a quick prayer and then jump in!
Dear Lord, I ask that you open the eyes and hearts of everyone reading this. I pray that they know their worth and beauty is found in you, Lord. Help each and everyone reading this stay on track and keep praying through this month, no matter how hard or hectic life gets. Don’t let the enemy’s lies distract us. Let us see your goodness and mercy and love each day as we pray to become the person you called us to be. Help keep our hearts hopeful in you as we pray and believe that you are doing big things in our lives. Let us stay positive even if we can’t see them just yet. I ask that you reveal yourself to us when we seek you Lord. Protect our hearts and minds every day. Reveal your purpose for us and let us be bold and live it each and every day. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:10-11
Day 1: Thank God for making you, YOU! —I know that sounds silly, but get in the habit of loving yourself. NOT the edited, filtered social media version of you. The REAL you! ;) If there is something specific that bothers you about yourself physically; maybe you think your nose is too big or that you are too tall. Pray about that and ask God to see yourself through HIS eyes. I encourage you to work on your heart rather than your looks, since looks fade. :)
Day 2: Pray for your heart and eyes to be protected from the enemy’s lies. —The enemy wants to trick you into believing there is something out there better than what you have. And that God is holding out on you. Not true. The enemy knows your weaknesses and you better believe he will attack you: physically, mentally and spiritually. Don’t be fooled. He has NO power over you if you are in Christ. So don’t buy into his lies.
Day 3: Ask God to remove anything that hinders you from fully surrendering to Him. I encourage you to pray and ask God to take away anything in your life that keeps you from walking your talk as a Christian woman (not just saying you are a Christian, but truly following His commandments and will for your life.) Ask Him to take away what is causing you to sin. Maybe it’s something you’re doing, something you are watching or something you’re caught up in. You know and God knows. Fully surrender to Him today.
Day 4: Pray about strengthingyour relationship with Christ. — Whether you have been a Christian your entire life and think you have a strong relationship with Jesus, or if you are a new Christian, I encourage you to spend more time reading the Bible and praying. The more you read the Bible, (the actual Bible, not a devotion book.) the more you will understand God’s will for life. If you feel far from Him, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you!
Day 5: Pray for God to give you peace and comfort. —I struggle with anxiety sometimes because of my chronic pain. Maybe you struggle too, or maybe you don’t. Maybe you’re a busy mom who feels overwhelmed by the end of the day and struggle to find peace. (because we will never find it in the things of this world.) Either way, I encourage you to pray for peace that only comes through the Holy Spirit.
Day 6: Pray forhealing from your past. —We all have things in our past that we need healing from. Some of us have bigger, more traumatic things that may take years to fully process and heal from, and some may have small things. Either way, I pray that you find healing from your past and can move on to be the strong, Godly woman you are called to be. (and remember that God uses our brokenness for His glory if we let Him.)
Day 7: Pray that you can forgive those who have hurt you. —There is always someone in our past that we *think* we have forgiven, but if we’re really being honest, we haven’t. Ask God to help you forgive those who have hurt you; whether that be, physically, mentally or emotionally and be able to move on.
Day 8: Ask God to help you seek His will (not your own) for your life. —It’s easy to go through life thinking we are in control of things and we can make good decisions on our own. But truth be told, we aren’t, and we can’t without Christ. I pray that you seek God’s will for your life each and every day.
Day 9: Pray for your jobas wife and mother. —Ask God to help you be the wife and mother that He has called you to be. Thank Him for your husband and children. Ask Him to tame your tongue when you are angry so that you don’t say things you will regret. Ask God to give you strength when you’re tired and worn out so that you can keep going and take care of your family that He has blessed you with.
Day 10: Pray for Godly friendships. — Pray about not only having Godly friends, but also that you would be a Godly friend to others. Ask Him to help you find friends that will pray for you and help you grow closer to Him. True friends that will rejoice when you rejoice and weep when you weep.
Day 11: Ask God to take away any jealousy in your heart. —-It’s really easy to fool ourselves into thinking we are not envious of other people. But if we are honest with ourselves, at one point or another we have all wished we had something that someone else has. (especially in this fake social media world.) Maybe you have wished to be taller, prettier, skinnier, the list goes on. But remember that “Envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30 so keep your eyes on God and all the blessings you have!
Day 12: Pray to have a BOLD faith. —Ask God to help you have a faith that is unwavering and founding on God’s promises, not on your own emotions. Ask for the courage to always speak the truth, even when no one wants to hear it.
Day 13: Ask God to help you be quick to forgive. — The enemy likes to put a wedge between us and God and I think holding on to anger and resentment is one of the ways he does this. Pray and ask God to help you always forgive those who have hurt you, just as He has forgiven you.
Day 14: Ask God to help you work on strengthening your prayer life.—The Bible says to “pray continually.” Jesus taught us how to pray, saying, “Thy will be done.” Prayer isn’t about asking for things you want. It’s about seeking God’s will above our own. Our relationship with Jesus grows stronger when we pray. I encourage you to spend more time in prayer, talking to God about anything and everything.
Day 15: Ask God to help you be a Godly wife. (if you aren’t married, pray that He helps you be one when you are.) — Pray for God’s will for your marriage and for you to always make decisions that will be a blessing to both you and your spouse and your future together. And to keep Christ at the center of your marriage.
Day 16: Pray to live out the fruit of the Spirit. — Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. We as believers already have these through the Holy Spirit, but the flesh keeps us from living them out. We are told in Galatians, that those who participate in the works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. But those who belong in Jesus Christ have been crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Day 17: Pray that you are a Godly mother. (if you don’t have children, pray for your future children or for you to be a Godly mother like figure to the children around you.) — Ask God to help you raise your children to grow stronger each day in their faith in Jesus. And to help you live out as an example for your children, what a follower of Christ truly is.
Day 18: Pray for Joy (not happiness) from Christ. — Being happy is great, but it typically only happens when things are going the way we want them to. But being joyful despite our circumstances is even better. Ask God to fill you with Joy so that you are able to rejoice in the trials of life, knowing they strengthen your faith.
Day 19: Pray that your love and respect for God grows stronger each day. —The closer you draw to God through reading the Bible and praying, the more you will understand His will for your life. You also will grow deeper in your love and respect for Him. Pray that your reverence will grow stronger each day for God and that you will live in a way that shows it.
Day 20: Ask God to help you love yourself. —You might read this and say, “I do love myself.” But do you really? Do you live like you love yourself? Do you look in the mirror and see the beautiful child of God that you are? Even if you think you 100% love yourself, I encourage you to pray this and see what happens when you surrender to Him.
Day 21: Pray that you are humble and gracious. — Ephesians 4:2 says; “Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.” I know this is not easy and impossible to accomplish on our, so ask God to help you not only work on this, but to want to work on it.
Day 22: Pray that the Lord heals you from _________________. Fill in the blank with anything you are dealing with physically or emotionally. —I’m sure something instantly came to your mind when you read this. I encourage you to pray about that. Let go and let God heal you from that.
Day 23: Pray that Christ shines through you. — Pray and ask God to shine through your life. I encourage you to ask God to let your inner beauty be what draws people to you. If you’re a Christian than your inner beauty is the most beautiful thing about you. And if you’re not sure about your inner beauty, then I encourage you to pray and work on your heart and letting Him shine through your life.
Day 24: Ask God to take away your worry, fear and doubt and fill you with a strong faith. — The thought of living without worry, fear or anxiety may seem impossible, but with peace through the Holy Spirit and faith in God who is bigger than anything that worries you, it is absolutely possible!
Day 25: Pray to always have pure intentions. — Ask God to help you not do things for love or the approval of others. Pray that you would always have pure intentions in both your personal and business relationships and that you would be compassionate and considerate towards others and their feelings. Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourself.”
Day 26: Pray that God would fill you with self control. — Ask Him to give you self control so that you live a life pleasing to Him. That you would die to yourself (and human desires) and live in accordance to His rules.
Day 27: Pray that your life reflects a woman who loves the Lord. — Ask God to help you truly love and respect Him and His word. Ask that He helps your words and actions reflect the heart of a dedicated follower of Christ. Pray that you always make decisions both in public and private that will please God rather than yourself.
Day 28: Pray that God breaks the chains of any addictions you have. — Ask God to expose and heal any and all addictions you have. This could be something really big like a drug or alcohol addiction, or something small. Either way, ask God to help you break those chains and to come out victorious.
Day 29: Ask God to tame your tongue. — Pray that your words build others up and that you always speak the truth, no matter how unpopular it may be. Ask God to help you go to Him first in prayer when you are angry, so that you don’t say things that you will regret. Pray that you always think before you speak and that your words be seasoned with grace.
Day 30: Ask God to help you develop a heart of worship and gratitude. — Pray that your heart’s desire is to worship and thank God in all circumstances because He is good and worthy of praise! Ask Him to put a song in your heart and that you will seek to glorify Him and give Him the glory in all things.
Day 31: Ask God to put a strong desire in your heart to seek Him and His will in prayer and reading the Word, each and every day from this day forward!
I’m praying for each and every one of you who reads this. That God reveals His heart for you and that you are bold enough in your faith to live out His will for your life. xo, Elizabeth
Each day when we wake up, we have two choices. We can choose JOY or we can choose to be miserable. Unlike happiness, which is based on our circumstances. Joy is internal and is based on God’s goodness, REGARDLESS of how good or bad things are.
For some people (I hate to admit this, but ME!) being positive during trying times doesn’t come naturally. And you know what, that’s ok! We CAN be positive, we just have to work a little bit harder to SEE the good. But one thing I can tell you is, that if you look for the good, you will find it!
There are a few things that will help you be more positive and joyful that I want to share with you. I pray they will help your days go better.
You can not live a positive life with a negative mind.
If you follow me on Instagram, I’m sure you’ve heard me say many times, if you have a negative mindset, you’ll live a negative life. The worst part is, that we don’t even realize sometimes what we are thinking is dictating our lives. Each day we feed ourselves so many negative thoughts without even realizing it, and then we wonder why we are so unhappy.
Simple things can help shift your mindset to focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. Things like; smiling at yourself when you look in the mirror and taking notice of things you like, rather than picking apart the things you don’t like. Below are some more ideas. I hope this will inspire you to be more conscious of your thought patterns. Because if you change your perspective, you will change your life!
1. Wake up and thank God for your day. Thank Him regardless of your feelings, because God’s promises are NOT based on our feelings. They are based on His truth!
2. Get up and get moving. If nothing else, just walk. Walk around your house, around the block, whatever you can do. Do it.
3. Look in the mirror and ask God to let you see yourself through HIS eyes. Speak words of truth over yourself. Read a Bible verse or just say something out loud that you like about yourself.
4. Read the Bible. Depending on your morning schedule, you might need to get up earlier to get your Bible reading in, but if you only have a few minutes, download a Bible app and just get into the Word for a few minutes. Something is better than nothing. Don’t tell yourself you don’t have time. I promise you, time spent in the Word is NEVER a waste!
5. Put on some worship music. And sing, or dance, journal, or cry out to the Lord. However you worship is between you and God. And again, time worshiping the Lord, is NEVER a waste!
6. Drink a BIG glass of water. Cold, hot, with lemon. Doesn’t matter. Drink it however you like it. But water just makes you feel good and is so good for you!
7. Smile! Smile at yourself. Smile at strangers. Smile at no one. It doesn’t matter. Just smile. Smiling will train your mind to be happy. And personally, I love smiling at strangers, because you never know how a simple smile might impact their day!
SEE THE GOOD.
Don’t just “look” for the good. SEE the good. Train your mind to see the good. The positive in all things and I promise you, after awhile you will start noticing yourself being more positive.
I encourage you to start this list TODAY. It is a new day. A fresh start. Doesn’t matter if it is the Monday of all Mondays, or the weekend. His mercies are new every single day. So MAKE it a great day!
Life is not a competition. It’s not a board game, where the person who collects the most money and property wins. It’s not about who is the prettiest, the smartest or who has the most followers on social media. Your looks don’t determine your worth and neither does your career, your relationship status or how many upcoming coffee dates are on your calendar. Your worth and beauty are found in Christ. You will find that you are most satisfied in life, and will feel the most beautiful when you are glorifying God by letting HIM shine through you. Not shining so that others can see you.
There are so many movements now telling us to “love our bodies,” to be “who you are,” and to show ourselves “self care.” People are eating this stuff up all while forgetting that the truth of most people’s unhappiness about themselves lies in the fact that they are only working on making their outsides beautiful. So why aren’t we trying to live and love like Jesus and not like the “Influencers” on social media? Why aren’t we trying to make our HEARTS beautiful?
Answer me honestly….Don’t worry, I can’t hear your answer. Are you spending more time making sure that your outside is beautiful, rather than your inside? Read that again and be honest. When was the last time, you spent honest to goodness quality time in the Word? When was the last time you prayed a heart felt prayer of THANKSGIVING not just a prayer listing your requests to God. What is your heart’s desire? Do you want people to know YOU? Or are you shining a light so that others can see God through you?
We spend so much time and money working on our outwards appearance. We do our hair, nails, makeup. We go to the esthetician and get a facial. We color our hair to hid our grays hoping to erase a few years off our age. BUT imagine if we just spent half that time working on our hearts. Digging deeper in the Word. Spending quiet time with God. Working on making our inner beauty more beautiful than our outer beauty.
A super simple prayer that I have said for as long as I can remember is, “Lord, let my inner beauty shine through my face.” You see. I have struggled with pretty bad acne since I was a teenager and there were many days I didn’t want people to see MY face. I instead wanted them to see my heart, because I knew it was beautiful because Jesus rules it. It’s funny how hard most people work on making sure they look good all while forgetting that looks fade, but a beautiful heart of someone who loves the Lord will never fade.
Friends, I encourage you to spend more time focusing on making your inner beauty more beautiful. And if you want, pray that simple prayer I shared with you. “Lord, let my inner beauty shine through my face.” I promise that if you wholeheartedly work on your inner beauty and seek the Lord and His will for your life, people will notice. Your inner beauty will shine through your face and no one can ever dull that sparkle.
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Psalm 31:30
Comparison. Plain and simple, is a jerk. Sometimes we get so caught up in “creating the perfect life” that we forget to just LIVE our life. We try to create a life that is pleasing to look at from an outsider’s view. But ask yourself, are you making the view for all involved on the inside as pleasing? Think about that for a minute. It is way too easy to start comparing our lives to other people’s. (strangers on the internet, people you pass on the street or see on tv, without truly knowing anything about them.) We get ideas in our head of what our lives (and ourselves) “should look like” and then we forget what living a good life truly means. Continue reading →
As women we often find ourselves asking the question, “Am I beautiful?” We may not be directly asking someone, but I am sure at one point or another you have asked yourself that very question. Which then leads me to ask you this question. Do you think you are beautiful? More importantly, what do you think “being beautiful” truly means? Continue reading →
I thought in honor of my birthday tomorrow, I would share a little bit more about myself…and by a little bit, I mean 36 facts since I am turning 36. Yes I’m old. Let’s just agree to pretend I’m not. Mmmkay? Good. Now that we got that out of the way….haha. I’m sure if you have followed along for awhile on my Instagram, you already know the basics, like I can’t go a day without Jesus and Coffee! But did you know…. Continue reading →
Can you believe it’s the end of November already? Maybe you’re on top of things and have already bought and wrapped your presents this year. {overachiever. haha just kidding!} BUT, maybe you are like me, and are way behind on Christmas shopping. Ok, Ok….I’ll level with you. I haven’t even started! But in my defense, I do my best work under pressure. hehe ;) So for all of you who haven’t finished (or started) here are a few things I think would make a perfect gift for any women in your life. Your friends, your sister, your hair stylist, your mom or hey….maybe your favorite blogger ;) wink-wink. I am especially loving my JORD watch this season! See that mint beauty, smack dab in the middle. It is totally adding a pop of color and fun to my holiday outfits! Want to win one? Of course you do!
It is so easy to get caught up in making a life that you forget to actually live life. I sit here at my computer listening to the trees swaying in the cool breeze. Fall is here. I can feel it in my soul. Why is it that when Fall rolls around, we finally feel like we can slow down and start enjoying life? Summer always feels like we need to go, go, go and keep going all day until the sun goes down. When do we decide that making a life is not as important as living your life?
Let me ask you a question. Now be honest with yourself, and well I can’t hear your answer so there’s no need to be shy. ;) Really think about what I am about to ask you. Ok? When you look in the mirror what do you see? I’m not asking what you physically see. I mean, when you look at yourself and look deep into your heart, what do you see? Do you see broken? Do you see pain and the burdens of your past mistakes? If you are like most people, you said, “Yes.” Because in some way, we are all broken. Perhaps you even started to cry and couldn’t get the words out so only a whisper was spoken.
God took human form and walked this world. He felt the pain and hurt we are feeling and knows what we are going through. He created us to feel. Even if that feeling is pain, you know why? Because it draws us closer to Him…..
