Every morning, before I get ready or check anything, I sit with my devotional. If I don’t start my day with God, the rest of my day just isn’t quite as good, and it definitely does not feel right. The other day it read: If we learn who we are in Christ Jesus and understand how much He loves us, we can approach everything and anything in an attitude of faith. It is a simple truth, but it seemed to take me a while for me to whole heartedly believe this. This truth has enabled me to take on so many difficult moments, and get through them in a relaxed way, leaving all of my worries with God. It took many hard lessons to bring me to this place, and finding strength within myself — which is where God lives, bless that broken road that got me here. Too often we look to others or things to help us, when all we need to really do is look inside ourselves and what God has placed on our hearts. My relationship with God is never finished, it is always in progress.
I’m going to be pretty candid in this post, because it may be that you need these words today, or that I can help someone. We all experience fear and anxiety — some to a more intense degree than others — people can leave you crippled emotionally when they hurt you, the unknown can be paralyzing and some situations could prompt you in to a huge leap of faith you’re afraid of taking. Knowing how much I am loved by God has helped me power through really difficult points in my life, personally and professionally. Staying in prayer and in faith has given me a source of calm that I otherwise would be lost without if I had never come closer to God, and truly know Him, which meant to truly seek Him. Prayer is the most powerful tool God gives us. Before I turn to anyone for advice, before I panic over anything small or big – I go to God first. That is how I truck through every hurdle, all of my fears and worries. You can really pound on God’s chest, you can let all of your worries out and dump it on Him, and He will take care of them. This is a profound truth, I wish everyone knew, because I really feel it would reduce the stress we inflict on ourselves and others. He answers, He forgives and He loves us, not because we are perfect, but because He loves us that much. You may have something really heavy on your heart right now, and in those moments it can be blind you from seeing anything good to come from it. It takes believing in this truth, and trying to comprehend just how much He loves us, with a heart full of faith to be restored.
Everything is relational: love God, love others. We have something at my church called the prayer room, where a group of people offer their time to help you pray. If you’re going through a rough time, I want to open my inbox for prayer requests so that I can help you. That is how serious I am about the power of prayer. Click the envelope below to submit your prayers. Thanks for spending this time with me today. xo SS
Stephanie, thank you for sharing God's heart for us! It's refreshing to see professional women not afraid to bear HIS name. The truth is we can see HIM in you and that my sweet sister is what it's all about.
This is amazing, Stephanie. I lead a weekly Praise & Worship adoration on campus on Wednesday nights so seeing this as soon as I got back to my dorm tonight made my heart smile. That's so sweet of you to open your heart (and inbox!) to receiving the prayers of others. God bless you! xo
Beautiful words and post Stephanie. I completely agree with everyone you wrote and the message is so uplifting. God really is there for us no matter how badly we mess up and that is so incredibly comforting. Thank you for sharing! xx
This is beautiful Stephanie! You are such a wonderful person. Thank you for sharing your light with others! xoxo
Love this so much 🙂 I also really love the instagram you just posted from your devotional. I'm on the prayer team at my church, and I always feel so much pressure to word things precisely and speak eloquently when I'm praying either for the service before, or after when I'm praying for people. So it was a good reminder that God just wants to hear from you and open up your heart to Him.
XO Katie
allglammedupstyle.com
You are too sweet <3 You are brave & inspiring
I really need to be better at doing a devotional! It's so hard sometimes. Anywho have a good rest of your week!
<3 Kastles
This is so wonderful to read, thank God for your huge loving heart!
thank-you so much for this + for sharing what is on your heart. i do struggle with going to the Lord first & have been making it a priority lately. it is so nice to meet + know that other Godly women have struggled or still struggle with the same things, because we are not alone. again, thank-you for this. tomorrow i will be waking up to spend time with the Lord.
xo
Love this. So beautifully written! Oh that we would truly understand the incredible power of prayer! Thanks for being a light 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this! So timely I stumbled upon your blog this evening and read this there is so much that I can say… But thank you for reminding me about the power of prayer. Sometimes we know too much for our own good. I know these things, but somehow haven't gotten away from doing them. I would like to send you an email to share more of my heart. I love your blog and I look forward to reading more.
God Bless.
Peace&Love,
Eunice
http://www.eglamstyle.com