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We have all seen God working in our lives; however, we might not all be aware that it is God who is working in our lives.  This is why it is so important that we start talking about it more.  The more we share our experiences, the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us.  If you would be willing to share any experience you have had of how God has worked or is working in your life, please email me at [email protected] or just click on the link below.  It won’t take up much of your time, and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today.  Prayerfully consider sharing.  Everyone has a story, and the world needs to hear them.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow, and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday.  Have a blessed day!   CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

When Life Feels Like Too Much - Day 3 - What If I Can't Shut My Mind Off?Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”One session in my Encounter Ministries class was all about peace.  The title of the session was The Power of Peace.  It was a really good class.  I learned a lot about peace and how important it is.  I learned that we can impart peace to others.  Did you know that?  Did you know that you can give peace to others? In Matthew 10:7-13, Jesus sent the 12 disciples out to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and also to heal people, cast out demons, and more.  In Matthew 10:13, Jesus says, “ If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.”  The disciples were instructed to impart their peace, or the peace Jesus gave them, on the houses that they visited. Deacon Joe, one of our teachers, talked about how he and his wife had a priest stay with them once.  He was coming into town for a conference or something, and so they had him stay at their house.  Deacon Joe said that from the moment the priest walked into their house, they could feel a peace that wasn’t there before.  This peace that the priest brought with him stayed in their house long after he had left.  Have you ever felt this sort of peace in your house before?  Have you ever had someone over to your house and when they were there you just felt more peaceful?  The reverse can also be true, unfortunately.  Have you ever had someone over to your house, or even just been around someone, and you felt less peaceful?  Have you ever spent time with someone and afterward you notice you have less peace, you are more agitated, or more restless? I have definitely had the second one happen.  I have interacted with people who have been negative, and then I feel negative. I am not a fan of that.I do find it intriguing that we can impart peace to others.  Peace is something that can feel elusive sometimes.  Peace is something we all seem to strive for, and yet not too many find it.  Or at least that is how it seems.  I know a lot of people who are anxious.  I know a lot of people who are angry.  I know a lot of people who are anxious and angry.  I do not know a lot of people who are peaceful.  There is so much going on in the world, and it is easy to see why people worry a lot.  It is easy to see why people are anxious and even why they are angry.  The world can often be an unkind and scary place.  Because of this, we might start to feel as if having peace in our lives is a fairy tale. We might think it is unattainable and just something people talk about but never really achieve.  Have you ever felt like that?  Honestly, have you?  It’s ok if you have; I totally get it! There is so much going on right now in the world, and it’s totally normal to not be at peace, or to not have peace.I want to let you in on a well-kept secret: you can have peace, even in the middle of chaos.  It’s true, you really can.  For instance, when I was struggling with my son being in rehab, things were very chaotic.  I did not know what was going to happen from day to day. I had to drive into Boston a lot.  I had a lot of appointments with various people.  Yet, through all of this, I had peace.  Not necessarily peace with the situation, but an overall peace that God was taking care of everything.  I knew this was not the end, that God had so much more planned for our son.  I had a peace that whatever was going to happen, it would be used for his good.  That doesn’t mean every single minute I felt at peace.  I definitely had days when I wanted to be through this storm.  I definitely had days when I was tired of the struggle, tired of it all.  It wasn’t smooth sailing the whole time, and yet there was always this sense of peace, this sense of, “God’s got this.”It is hard to explain, but it is possible, I assure you.  You don’t have to take my assurance, though, because God tells us it is possible in the verse above, and He even gives us a formula, which is really cool because sometimes we are given a parable and we need to work out what it means.  However, in this verse the formula for peace is spelled out nicely and simply for us.  Let’s take a look at the verse above.  It begins with, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.”  Rejoicing in the Lord is always a good thing.  It is possible to rejoice in the Lord, even when you are in a tough situation.  You don’t have to rejoice for that situation; you can always rejoice for something else, like the sunrise, the nice breakfast you had, or even the fact that you woke up to a brand new day of life.  Whatever you want to rejoice for is up to you, but this verse is a great reminder to us to rejoice in the Lord.  It is also a good reminder to let our gentleness be known to everyone.  This part of the verse is telling us to be nice to everyone.Right after that part is when we get to the formula for peace.  It says, “The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The first part of the formula is to know that the Lord is near, so you don’t have to worry about anything.  I know this is easier said than done.  However, I think the rest of the formula makes it a bit easier.  The next part says, “in everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.”  Let’s break that down. We all know what pray means.  I think we are probably pretty good with the prayer part, especially if we are struggling.  Many people, even people who are not Christian, pray when they are struggling.  Next is supplications; this is a word I had to look up.  It means to plead humbly.  So God wants us to not only come to Him for help, but to plead with Him humbly.  If you are not sure what that means, in my eyes that means to come to the Lord in prayer and ask Him/ plead with Him to help you through the situation, knowing full well that you can do nothing without Him and all things through Him.  I get stuck on how to be humble sometimes, but I think it can be as simple as realizing we need God for everything.  We can’t do anything without Him.  The last part of the formula might be the hardest part.  Asking God for help can be hard, but it isn’t always.   However, thanking God when you are in the middle of a storm can be extremely hard.  We often do not feel we have any reasons to thank God. Sometimes we are even angry at God for letting this situation happen to us.  We may blame God for our circumstances.  He understands this and doesn’t blame us for this.  And yet, He is calling us to ask Him for help, turn the situation over to Him, and to do this all with thanksgiving.  This isn’t an easy thing to do, but it is worth the cost. What does God promise us if we can “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God”  He promises us that, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Could you be thankful in the hard times if you knew that you would receive the peace of God?  I think it says, “Which surpasses all understanding, because it doesn’t make sense to have peace when there is chaos all around you.  It didn’t make sense for me to have peace when my son was in rehab.  Many people told me they knew I was more stressed and that I was just hiding it.  They could not understand that I was at peace with it.  Not because I accepted it and stopped fighting for our son.  I was at peace because I knew God was in control and that He would use this for our son’s good.  It surpasses all understanding because the world wants us to stay angry, worried, and anxious.  The world doesn’t want us to have peace in the middle of a storm.  What do you want?Do you want more peace in your life?  Do you want to stop worrying about everything all the time?  Do you want to be less anxious?  Do you want to have the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, to guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus?  What I love about this is that it is not telling us we have to guard our hearts and minds.  It does say that, in several places in the Bible, this verse tells us that if we bring all things to God by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, then the peace of God will protect our minds.  How amazing would that be?  If you want to feel more peace in your life, check out this formula, try to apply it to your life, and see how much more peace you can have.  God did not create us to be anxious and worried.  Give peace a try; I know you won’t be disappointed.Dear heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to the episode today.  Lord, you are amazing, and we thank you for giving us a formula for peace.  We just ask you to help us put it into action, Lord.  Please show each one of us how we can put this formula into action in our lives.  Please have the Holy Spirit reveal to us where we could be doing this more or what step we are getting stuck on.  Lord, show us where we can be thankful in our current situation.  Lord, I know so many are hurting right now; I ask you to be with them and to comfort them. I ask you to show them how to implement this formula in their lives so they

Welcome back to Day 2 of our series, When Life Feels Like Too Much: 31 Days of Finding Peace in God.Yesterday, we talked about Jesus' invitation to bring our burdens to Him and allow Him to help us carry them. But here's something I've noticed: Even when we give our burdens to God, we often have a hard time stepping back and letting Him work. We want to fix things. We want to find solutions. We want to do something!Today, we're going to talk about something that can be incredibly difficult for many of us: being still and trusting God to fight our battles for us.You Don’t Have to Do It All—The Power of Being Still with GodExodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”Being still is not easy for most of us. We are doers, and we want to go, go, go. This is compounded by the fact that we live in a world that never stops. I know so many people who are doing so much, and they never have time to rest. They have jobs so busy they can’t finish everything they are supposed to in the allotted 40-hour workweek. Being busy is not a bad thing in itself. Benjamin Franklin said, “Idle hands are the devil's playthings.” If we sit around doing nothing, we get bored, and who knows what we might get ourselves into. However, being too busy becomes a problem when we no longer make time for the Lord. Being busy becomes a problem when we stop recharging our batteries with the Holy Spirit's power and start relying on our own strength. Something I learned in Encounter Ministries is that all fruitfulness flows from our intimacy with Christ. Fruitfulness means success. The success of all that we do flows from our relationship with the Lord. Think about this in terms of your other relationships. Let’s look at family life. Doesn’t it seem true that the fruitfulness or the success of your family depends on your relationship with those in your family? What if you never talk to your spouse, never spend time with them, and just go about your day? It is not necessarily that you don’t want to spend time with them; it is just that you don’t seem to have the time. You don’t make the time because there are so many other things you have to do.  How successful would that marriage be?What if you never had time to spend with your children? They have sports games or dance recitals, but you don’t have time to go because you are always working. When you are at home, you don’t spend time with them because you are trying to catch up on all the things to do around the house. If you never make time to spend with them, if you don’t ever talk to them, how successful do you think your relationship with them will be?The same is true with your relationship with God. We need to make time for Him, and He will take care of all of our worries. When we spend time with Him, we can tell Him all that is going on. We can give Him our stresses, our cares, and our worries. We can hand them over to Him and let Him take care of them. Who else can we entrust our cares and worries to?The verse above says, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” After we talk to the Lord about what is going on in our lives, we can sit there in silence and let Him come into our hearts and heal us. The Lord has told us many times in our prayer group that He is coming in during the silence and healing our hearts. It is great to talk to the Lord. It is great to pray to the Lord and to do the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and all the other devotions that we do to grow closer to the Lord. These are all amazing and will help develop a more intimate relationship with the Lord.The Lord is also calling us to a time with Him that is spent in silence. He just wants us to sit with Him. God can do all things. He can minister to you anywhere and anytime. Yet, He likes to come in the stillness. He likes to come to us when we make the time just to sit and be still with Him. I know it feels like you don’t have any more time left in your schedule. However, if you spend quiet time consistently with Jesus, I am willing to bet you will see more time open up in your schedule. God can’t be outdone in generosity. Sometimes we feel as though we don't have even 15 or 20 minutes to spend with God. But I've found that when I make time for Him, He helps me approach everything else with greater peace, wisdom, and clarity. There have been times when I have not had enough time to finish everything I needed to do. However, I still gave God the time he deserved and then He gave me the time to get everything done. He is that good. God's math is not the same as our math. It doesn’t make the same kind of sense that our math does. If he can feed 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, then he can certainly replace the 15 or 20 minutes during the day that you gave to Him in quiet time. My sister Dee gave me a plaque once with a poem on it and I feel like it is the perfect poem for reminding us how important it is to start our day with the Lord. It shows how important it is to check in with God before starting our day. Here is the Poem:The Difference By: Alan GrantI got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;I had so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray. Problems just tumbled out about me, and heavier came each task. “Why doesn't God help me?” I wondered. He answered, "You didn't ask.” I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak; I wondered why God didn't show me; He said, “But you didn't seek.” I tried to come into God's presence; I used all my keys at the lock. God gently and lovingly chided, “My child, you didn't knock.” I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day. I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray. As you can see by this poem, God is ready to help us; He is just waiting for us to ask. Then, once we ask, He is waiting for us to give Him the time to work on us, to heal us. If you are going through a really tough time right now, I want to invite you to some quiet time with the Lord today. Sit with Him and ask Him what He wants you to do, and then listen for His answer. If you need to be filled with energy, strength, hope, love, power, or anything else today, just ask the Lord, then sit for a few minutes and receive it. The Lord says when we ask, He answers, so when you ask for something, expect to receive it. I know sometimes, maybe most of the time, it feels like we are all alone in our battles. We feel like we are the only ones fighting our fights. This verse this morning reminds us that we are not in this alone. Not only is God in it with us, but He will fight our battles for us if we let Him. If we turn our battles over to the Lord, He will take care of them for us. Isn’t that amazing? This reminds me of 2 Kings 6:17. It says, "And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” Imagine all the Lord surrounds us with. There is so much we can’t see when it comes to the Lord.We can’t usually see His angels, we can’t see the reason He allows some things to happen, and we can’t always make sense of things. We might be sad that we can’t see these things, and I often wish I could see into the spiritual world. However, we have to remember that there are also evil spirits in the spiritual world, and I think we would be very frightened if we saw all that goes on around us. Even though we can’t see God’s horses and chariots of fire ready to fight for us, we can trust that they are there because the Bible is the Word of God. It is a fact, and it is God’s promises to us. So, when we read in the Bible, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” We can take that to the bank. We can count on that. We can be still and watch as the Lord fights our battles for us. Can we be still and allow Him to do that today?Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us to be still and allow You to fight our battles. We ask that you teach us how to be still and that you give us the power to do so because we really struggle with it. Lord, we thank you for all you do for us each day. We thank you for fighting our battles. We thank you for surrounding us with protection and an army to defend us. We want to call on that army, Lord. We want to hand over all of our struggles to you, Lord. You are the almighty one; you are the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. We love you so very much. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. As we continue this 31-day journey together, I want to encourage you to spend just five minutes in silence with the Lord today. Don't worry about finding the perfect words or saying the perfect prayer. Just sit with Him. Tell Him what's weighing on your heart, and then give Him the opportunity to speak to you. Remember, you don't have to do it all. God is with you, and He is more than capable of handling the things that feel impossible to you. Tomorrow, we're going to continue learning what it means to find peace in God's presence, even when life feels overwhelming. I look forward to meeting you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I am the Lord your God. There is no other. I love you, my children. You are mine. Go out and spread my word. Spread the truth. Be not afraid. I am the victor.”

Today we are beginning a brand-new 31-day series called When Life Feels Like Too Much: 31 Days of Finding Peace in God.I don't know about you, but sometimes life just feels overwhelming. There are so many things going on in the world, in our families, in our personal lives, and sometimes it feels as though we are carrying the weight of it all on our shoulders.Maybe you're worried about your children. Maybe you're struggling financially. Maybe someone you love is sick, or you're dealing with your own health issues. Maybe you're just tired. Tired of worrying, tired of trying to figure everything out, tired of being strong for everyone else.Or maybe you can't even identify exactly what's wrong. You just know that you don't feel at peace.If any of that sounds familiar, this series is for you.Over the next 31 days, we're going to explore what Scripture tells us about finding peace when life feels overwhelming. We're going to talk about worry, fear, exhaustion, surrender, and the things we carry that God never intended us to carry alone.My prayer is that by the end of these 31 days, we will all have learned to release a little more of what we're holding so tightly and experience more of the peace Jesus promises us.And I want you to know something right from the beginning: You don't have to wait until everything in your life is going well to experience God's peace.Jesus offers us His peace right here, right now, in the middle of whatever we're going through.Matthew 11:28-30 “ Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”This is not the verse I was planning to talk to you about today, but after the night I just had, I am hoping that the Holy Spirit will talk to me as He talks to you tonight.  I remember I heard a teaching on this verse once, and they mentioned why farmers would use a yoke.  A yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened around the necks of two animals and then usually hooked to a plow or a cart.  This yoke allows them to pull loads that they would not normally be able to pull on their own.  I also think I remember the person explaining that a younger animal is usually paired with a more experienced one.  This way, the more experienced animal can set the pace and teach the younger one.  This seems to fit so perfectly with this verse.  The Lord is calling us, all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens.  I don’t know about you, but this evening I am feeling pretty weary, and my burdens are feeling pretty heavy.  The Lord is calling us, and it says He will give us rest.  God is calling us to take up His yoke and to learn from Him.  That is such a great visual for me.  I got an image of this giant wooden yoke on the ground.  I go up and put my head in it, and God puts His head in, and my burdens are suddenly weightless.  I wish it were that simple.  I wish we could just hand God our troubles and then we felt this enormous weight off of our shoulders instantly.  I think it can be this simple sometimes.  I think we get in our own way sometimes.  We want to hand our problems over to God, and yet we also want to hold on to them.  We don’t want to completely release them, because then we wouldn’t be in control anymore.  Have you heard of the expression, “Hitch your wagon to the right cart?” or “Don’t hitch your wagon to the wrong horse?”  Both of these came to my mind when I started talking about what a yoke meant.  I was thinking that if I had my choice of anyone to hook my yoke to, it would be the Lord.  There is no one else that I would rather rely on and no one more powerful.  I love the idea of taking His yoke and learning from Him.  The Lord has so much to teach us. Even in this verse, He says, “I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul.”  How awesome would it be to find rest in your soul?  Can you imagine what that would feel like?  When I imagine rest in my soul, I imagine a peace about all things in life.  I imagine I am stress-free and have no anxiety.  I imagine I am filled with hope and joy.  I really feel as though the Holy Spirit is reminding me of Rick Warren’s definition of joy and wanting me to share it.  I have talked about it before, but right now I feel the Holy Spirit telling me that I am not the only one who needs this refresher right now.  Rick Warren’s definition of joy is as follows: “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.” Wow, yes, I did need to hear that tonight.  For me tonight, this is a reminder that joy doesn’t mean I am always happy about everything.  This to me means that it is ok that I am sad tonight about things going on, and that doesn’t mean that the situation has taken away my joy.  I do know that God is in control of all the details of my life.  I am sure of it.  I am grateful for it because He does a much better job than I could do. When I think about it, truly think about it, I do have a quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright.  Does that mean that I know how it is all going to turn out? No, no at all. Does that mean that I know when it will get better?  Nope, I don’t know that either.  However,  I do know that eventually everything is going to be ok.  Will it be exactly as I wish it would be? Probably not.  But that is ok, because God’s plan is better than my plan and His ways are higher than my ways.  The last part of this definition is the part that we forget about a lot.  It says, “the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”  Wow, that is not something I always think of.  Then, even when I do think of it, I don’t always want to do it.  For instance, tonight was a rough night.  Do I want to praise God for tonight?  Not really?  This is where I think we get confused.  We think that praising God is about thanking Him for the situation we are in.  There are many ways to praise God without thanking Him for the specific situation.For instance, even though it was a rough night, I am thankful that I have kids to argue with.  Some people don’t, and I realize that even when parenting them is difficult, I am still blessed beyond measure that I have them.  I am grateful to the Lord for giving me amazing friends.  Friends who dropped everything they were doing to say a quick prayer just because I said I needed some.  If it wasn’t for the argument tonight, I wouldn’t have had the amazing gift of peace that I felt immediately after they prayed.  That is something that I am not sure I have felt before.  I have heard people say that I felt your prayers, and I always thought that was nice, but didn’t truly understand what they meant until this evening.  Not even 5 minutes after I asked my friends for prayers, this immediate sense of peace came over me.  That is definitely something to praise the Lord for.  We can also praise the Lord for being amazing.  He does so much for us, and even if we don’t want to praise Him for the current circumstances, we can praise Him for being awesome and for the amazing outcome that we know He is working on as we speak.  In all the books about miracles and faith, the authors always talk about how important praise is.  I think this could be the secret ingredient that many of us are missing.  How often do we praise the Lord?  I mean, truly spend time thanking the Lord for all He does and praise Him for being our almighty Lord and Savior?  What if we all tried to praise Him more this week and see how much better our week goes?  When you start to feel down, or get in a bad mood, think of 10 things you are grateful to God for.  The bible verse Luke 16:10 came to mind just now.  The verse says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”  If we appreciate what we have and praise the Lord for it, God will entrust us with more.  What if we spent less time complaining about what we don't have and more time thanking God for what we do have? I wonder sometimes if God is waiting for us to recognize and appreciate the blessings He's already given us before He entrusts us with more. Maybe He's teaching us to have a grateful heart, even when our circumstances aren't what we wish they were. Can we spend just 5 minutes today praising the Lord?  When I am finished with this episode, I am going to listen to 5 minutes of praise and worship music.  That is another great way to praise the Lord.  If you can’t think of anything to say, you can always just listen to music.  I have heard many people say that singing is praying twice.  So if you feel as though you just don’t know what to say, sing a song; they have amazing songs out there that say all the things you want to say.  Remember, all of us who are weary and those of us carrying heavy burdens, come to the Lord and we will find rest.  Take up His yoke and let Him help you carry your load.  Wouldn’t it be so much easier if you weren’t the only one carrying it all?  You are not alone.  God is there; He is offering you His yoke. Reach down and pick it up!  Through the Lord we can find rest for our souls.  Whose soul could use a little rest?  I know mine could.  How about yours? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, the devil is having a heyday with our families, and we ask that you intercede for us. We ask that you show us how to kick him out of our lives once and for all.  Lord, we ask for your protection over our families and give us the strength to ke

Hope in the Waiting – Day 31 – What If I’m Still Waiting?Psalm 27:13-14 “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”Today is Day 31, the final day of our Hope in the Waiting series. And I know that for some of you, the thing you were waiting for on Day 1 is still the thing you are waiting for today. Maybe the healing hasn’t come yet. Maybe your loved one still hasn’t returned to the Lord. Maybe the relationship is still broken, the job still hasn’t come, or the prayer you have prayed over and over again still seems unanswered. If that is you, I want you to know that this series was never about promising that everything would change in 31 days. It was about learning how to keep hoping, trusting, praying, and living while we wait. And I think today’s verse is the perfect way to end this journey: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”What came to mind when I read this verse was that we can look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  It seems like we think we need to wait until heaven to look upon the goodness of the Lord.  We tend to have the attitude that we just have to make it through this world until we get to celebrate with God in heaven.  I am not saying we shouldn’t look forward to heaven; I know I am.  However, we can also look upon the goodness of the Lord here in this world too!I don’t believe we are meant to just muddle our way through this world, suffer tragedy, hang on to life by a thread, and then we will have a party in heaven.  I don’t believe this is the life God has planned for any of us!  I believe He wants us to be happy and enjoying our life.  I don’t think he wants us to spend our time anxious and worried about the things of this world; I think He wants us trusting in Him and celebrating every chance we get.  A lot of the Psalms start out with David lamenting; I mean, he had some pretty hard times.  He was anointed to be the next king, and yet he was hunted by the current king and found himself hiding in caves.  He had plenty to lament about, and I am sure you do too.  This psalm did not start out lamenting, though.  It started out strong, reminding us to count on the Lord. Psalm 27:1-3 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.” Do you see how this Psalm is different?  David is not lamenting about all that he is going through.  He is acknowledging that tough times come, and yet he is saying that when they do, we can rely on the Lord.  David is telling us in this Psalm that we don't have to worry; we don’t have to fear our current circumstances because the Lord is our light and our salvation.  He is telling us that the Lord is our stronghold, and we don’t have to be afraid of anyone.  David said, “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.”  If you don’t know the story of David, you might think he is just a really good writer and that it is easy for him to write these things because he was king or because he was writing about these things in the safety of his home.  This is not the case.  David was on the run for a long time.  It wasn’t just a year or two, and it wasn’t just one man pursuing him.  Saul’s army was in pursuit of David at various times.  David knows what he is talking about when he says, “an army encamp against him” and “war arise against me.”You may feel like David did.  You may feel like you have evildoers assailing you, and you may even feel at times like there is an army encamped against you.  This life is not always easy.  We all encounter hardships, and some of them may seem impossible to get through.  When this is the case, we can look back to Scripture and find verses like this one.  They can remind us that the Lord is our light and our salvation.  We don’t have to fear whatever situation we are in; we just need to turn to the Lord for that light and that salvation.  Looking back at the verse above, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” I picked this verse because of the first line, to remind us that we can see the Lord in the land of the living.  Are we, though?  Are we trying to see God in our day-to-day lives?  Are we looking out for all the ways that God is in our lives?  When you make a prayer request to God, do we write it down and then look for the answer?  When He answers, do we share that answer with all those we asked to pray with us?  This is one way we can start to see God's goodness in the land of the living.  We can share with each other all that God is doing in our lives.When I share the stories of people I have prayed over who have received healing, I am not sharing them to have people look at me and say good things about me.  I am well aware that I did nothing except say yes when asked to pray.  God is the one doing the healing; God is the one moving people’s hearts to want to step out in faith and ask for a healing.  I am sharing these stories to help others see the goodness of God here in the land of the living.  God is moving mountains today, every day; we just have to be on the lookout for it.  The second half of today’s verse says, “Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord!” This part is probably a lot harder than the first part.  Waiting is something that is so hard, especially if you don’t have a time frame.  If you know you will be sick for three months and then you will get better, it is easier to wait than being sick and not having any end in sight.  This is the same for many things.  If you know your child is not going to church now but in 15 years they will return to the church, it is easier to wait.  We hear often that God’s timing is the perfect timing.  However, God’s timing is very rarely our timing, and so it doesn’t feel perfect most of the time.  I know a lot of people who are waiting on the Lord’s timing, and to be honest, they are really tired of waiting.  Some have been sick for a long time and really want to be healed now, not when God is ready.  Some have had children that are suffering, and they are ready for God to heal them now, not in His timing.  Some have been in marriages that aren’t great, and they are looking for God to come in and fix this now.  Waiting in the Lord is difficult; I know that, believe me, I do.  I waited for God to come in and fix my family for over 10 years.  We just kept fighting more and more; things were escalating, and I knew I couldn’t take much more of it.  I was doing the best I could, waiting on the Lord, and yet it felt like He was never going to intervene. What I can see now that I am out of it is that He was there the whole time.  He was lifting me up and giving me the strength to get through each day.  If He weren’t with me, I probably wouldn’t have gotten out of bed.  I definitely wouldn’t have been able to keep going back to the problem with a fresh new attitude.  I would have given up hope of any change coming if God had not been there every step of the way.  If I did not keep relying on Him.  I like how the verse says, “Be strong, let your heart take courage.”  This reminds us we have a choice.  We can give up, you can give in, and yet you don’t have to.  You can give your heart permission to be strong and to take courage.  You can choose to be strong and not be a victim.  You can choose to lean into God and to trust that He will get you through this.  You can choose to see the glory and the goodness of God while you are still here in the land of the living.  It is all about a perspective shift and what you are allowing your thoughts to think.  Where is your focus, on God or on your problem?  Where is your focus, on all that is going wrong, or the one that makes all things right?If we keep our eyes on God, if we keep our focus on God, we will be stronger.  We will be able to wait for the Lord because He will be strengthening us and lifting us up when we need it.  God is there with us each step we take.  Even in the really hard moments, He is there holding us.  I know it may feel like you are alone; you aren’t. He is there.  I know you may be tired of waiting; some of you have been waiting a long time.  I want you to know that God is working in your situation.  I don’t know why we have to go through all we have to go through.  I don’t know why God anointed David to be the next king, and then David was running and hiding from the current king for many, many years.  Our ways are not God’s ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts.  I don’t understand most things that God does and yet I trust them and I trust Him.  Turn to God, talk to God; when times are hard, only He can explain why.  Just know that He is there with you, and when you wait on Him, He will make you stronger.As we end this 31-day journey together, I want you to think back to where you were on Day 1. Maybe your circumstances haven’t changed yet, but have you changed? Do you trust God a little more? Are you more willing to bring Him your disappointment, your questions, and your fears? Have you learned that you can praise Him while you wait, keep praying when you are tired, and continue living your life even before the answer comes?If you are still waiting today, this is not the end of your story. Keep looking fo

We have all seen God working in our lives, however, we might not all be aware it is God who is working in our lives.  This is why it is so important we start talking about it more.  The more we share our experiences the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us.  If you would be willing to share any experience you have had of how God has worked or is working your life, please email me at [email protected] or just click here.  It won’t take up much of your time and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today.  Prayerfully consider sharing.  Everyone has a story and the world needs to hear them.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday.  Remember Jesus loves you and so do I. Have a blessed day!   CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Hope in the Waiting - Day 30 - What If I Never Understand Why?Proverbs 3:5-6  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”One of the hardest parts of waiting is not only that we don’t know when God will answer—we often don’t understand why He has allowed us to wait at all. I find it easy to have faith when life is going well, when we might have an issue or two, but no big stressors at the moment. I find it easy to rely on God when everything is coming up in my favor, but what about when there are struggles? What about when things happen that cannot be explained? I remember when we received devastating news in May of 2020. Our perfect dog, whom we adopted from a rescue just two years earlier, had spinal cancer and was in a lot of pain. We knew she was sick, and we had been taking her to the vet every so often for several weeks. They gave her medicine, and she seemed to turn the corner. She seemed like she was on the way to recovery. Although we did not know what caused her to struggle for a few weeks, we were happy that she was on her way back to being healthy. She was only 3.5 years old, so we were sure whatever it was, she would get better. Then one day she started whining all day and night. We were not sure what was going on. We finally were able to get her into the vet, and she told us the worst news ever. She told us that our beautiful girl had cancer and was in so much pain and that there was nothing that could be done. We had a feeling going into this appointment, as Skye was struggling to even walk; however, hearing it was so much worse. It made it so real. I instantly prayed, and I had every single person that I know pray. I know God is capable of miracles; I know he does them every day. I know he could have cured our girl in an instant, and he didn’t. How do you wrap your head around that? How does one have faith in a situation like this? I was in a similar place less than a year before this as well.  My friend had throat cancer. I prayed over her; so many people prayed over her and for her, and yet she passed away. I know God could have healed her in an instant. So, why didn’t he? Why didn’t he save her from her disease? Why did he have to take her? Why did he have to take our dog? The answer is, I don’t know. I don’t know why some people die and some people are healed. I don’t know why some dogs live to an old age, and some die at a young age. I don’t know why God does what he does. And this is ok. We are not supposed to know everything, at least not on this side of heaven. God is a mystery. One thing I do know is that God’s ways are not our ways. Isaiah 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God has a plan. His plan is greater than any plan we could possibly have for ourselves. He does not think as we think. He knows every second of our life before we are even born. I trust that even though I don’t understand why we had to lose Skye, God has a plan. Skye came to our family when we were in desperate need of healing. We had had a rough couple of years, to say the least, and we needed to heal our hearts. We needed to learn to love again and to be calm and nice and everything that Skye was. She had the perfect temperament. She was calm, she loved to be petted, she could see when you were upset, and she knew when you needed her to just be next to you. She got everyone outside walking again.  She helped everyone to feel love again.I know with 100% certainty that she was sent to us from God when we needed her most. I am so very thankful for the time we did get to spend with her, and I know she is in a better place right now where she is no longer in pain. In Proverbs 3:5, we are told, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” I did not want to just leave you with this thought and not give you some practical ways to trust God in difficult times. Some people find strength and comfort in reading the bible verses and hearing God’s words, and others need more practical steps in how to apply these words in their everyday life. I found this article called “3 Secrets to Trusting God During Difficult Times” on the Vibrant Christian Living website. I will summarize the three practical steps that she takes to trust God in difficult times.1. We must take responsibility for what we choose to savor. What are you taking the time to savor? Are you focusing on fear and pain, or on the beautiful things in life, like the sunset? If you allow your thoughts to linger on the “what ifs,” you will cripple your ability to trust God during hard times.2. We must quiet our lives so that we can discover (and savor) the quiet undercurrents of joy. Life gets so busy that we don’t notice the small things that bring us joy. The author states, “When I am enduring a trial I have to regularly quiet my heart: to let out the surge of emotion that is building; and to allow God to replenish my soul with reminders of the beauty that is happening in my little world.” What are the small beautiful things in your world that you are not seeing because you are too busy? This sort of goes back to the practice of gratitude. If you are really struggling right now, take a notebook and start or end each day with writing 5-10 things for which you are grateful. You will be surprised how many more awesome things you will notice about your life. 3. Release your fears to God and choose to savor His replenishing promises. The article mentions a well-known bible verse that Christians tend to quote during a trial. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Then the author states that although this is beautiful the true power of this verse is actually outlined in the following two verses. Philippians 4:8-9 says, “ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” First, we must release our fears, tell God what we need, and thank him for all he has done. However, we must not stop there. We must fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. If you take this seriously, if you focus your thoughts on these things during a trial, you will find it easier to find joy. When you are tempted to let your thoughts wander into dark places, confess your fears to God and meditate on the truth. Make a list of what is true in your situation and meditate on those anytime you are struggling. There is truth and light in every situation. You just need to find it and focus on that. My truths are that Skye was here for us when we needed her. We were able to give her an amazing home filled with love for almost 2 years. She was happy here. She is no longer in pain. When I get sad, I can focus on these truths.  What are the truths in your situation?Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord Jesus, there are so many people hurting right now, and we ask that you be with them all during this difficult time. Lord, we ask that you help us focus on the positive and that you shine a light on the truths in our situation.  Help us, Lord, when we don't understand. We know your ways are not our ways and your thoughts are not our thoughts. Comfort us, Lord, during this difficult time.  Strengthen our faith and help us rely on you. Calm the waves of our storm as you did for the disciples when they were in the boat.  Lord, we love you so very much, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day.Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Come and adore me, come and praise me, come and share your lives with me, my children. Come and be intimate, come and know me fully, for I already know you fully, and I will bless you in countless ways. Ways that you never even imagined would be possible. You only need to come and receive all the blessings I want to give you.”   CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Hope in the Waiting - Day 29 - “Who Am I Becoming While I Wait?”James 1:2-4 “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”I love how God works. Sometimes, I just laugh at how he orchestrates everything and how He just knows what we need to hear. It’s like He keeps telling you something in a bunch of different ways until you get it. If you have been listening to this podcast for any amount of time, you probably know how much I love talking about healing. I love praying for people for healing. I believe with my whole being that God can heal everyone, and I will pray with anyone who will let me, for God to heal them. As you can probably imagine, not everyone I pray with for healing is healed. This confuses me, as I don’t understand why this is.I know that God’s ways are higher than our ways and that God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. I know God knows infinitely more than we do, and that He sees the whole picture when we see only a tiny part. I know He knows the future and knows what He is doing. I know all of this, and yet I still don’t understand why some people have healed on this side of heaven, and some are not. I don’t understand why some people are healed instantly while others take months or years. God and I chat about this often, and He keeps trying to explain it to me, and I don’t seem to be getting it.One month the mentoring theme was the "Dark Night of the Soul". If you are unfamiliar with this, the "Dark Night of the Soul" refers to a spiritual crisis or period of deep inner struggle and desolation, where a person feels distant from God or disconnected from their sense of purpose and meaning. It often involves intense feelings of doubt, confusion, and loss, but is ultimately seen as a necessary stage in spiritual growth or transformation. The term originates from the writings of the 16th-century mystic St. John of the Cross, who described it as a painful yet purifying experience that leads to a closer union with God. I had heard of this before. But I didn’t know much about it. A few people in mentoring asked me to cover this topic, so I did some research and learned a lot. I decided to get an audiobook by Thomas Moore called “Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life’s Ordeals.”In this book, Thomas Moore talks about how we are always trying to end difficult times quickly. If we are sick, we want to be healed immediately. If we are struggling emotionally, we want the struggle to end quickly. If we are uncomfortable in any way, we want to do whatever we need to do to get comfortable as quickly as we can. Thomas said in his book that we are doing ourselves a disservice when we do this. Instead of trying to escape our misery, what if we approached it with curiosity? What if we tried to understand it and what it was trying to teach us? This seemed to stand out to me because I was just talking to a friend the other day about how I just wanted her trouble to end. She was saying that she could see how she would be so much stronger when she was on the other side of this, and yet I was just thinking, God, can you stop these bad dreams now? Why wait? Why keep struggling?Now, to be clear, although God could stop these bad dreams now, He hasn’t chosen to do so. It is not as if she hasn’t prayed for them to stop. It’s not as if plenty of people haven’t prayed for them to stop. So, it got me thinking maybe Thomas Moore is on to something here. Maybe I am just in a rush to have God heal these people because then they will be more comfortable or out of pain or misery, and yet God knows that the uncomfortable feelings that they feel now are nothing compared to the glory they will feel if they just hold out a little longer. I have been talking to the Lord for a long time now to try to understand why He does what He does, especially with regard to healing. When I heard this explanation from Thomas Moore, I felt like the Lord was talking directly to me. Then I went to a meeting at Encounter Ministries where about 16 of my graduating class got together. We try to do this once a month. The topic that night was a renewal of the mind. We all asked Jesus to show us one place where He would like to renew our minds. This is what I felt like I heard the Lord say, “I would like to renew your mind around healing. Not every person needs to be healed. Sometimes, I do work within the illness; I will highlight those I want to be prayed over.” Next, I asked Jesus how He wanted me to think about this mindset. This is what I thought I heard: “I want you to think as I do. I want you to know I have my own ways of thinking and reasons for healing that have nothing to do with your ability to pray over people. You are not doing anything wrong, and you are not the reason they are not healed.”Then, I turned to James in the Bible to look for a verse, as I recently heard someone recommend James as a great place to start if you are new to reading the Bible. I thought I would check it out and see why James was a good place to start. Then, the very first line I read confirmed what God has been telling me lately. I think what this verse is telling us and what God has been trying to tell me is that we can learn from the hard times we are going through. God doesn’t make us sick. He doesn’t hurt us or break our hearts. He doesn’t make us lose our jobs or lose our loved ones. God isn’t the cause of our pain, yet He can use it for our good. He can use this difficult time to form you into a stronger, more resilient person. I know suffering is uncomfortable. I know life can throw some pretty crappy things at us, and we just want to escape it all. We want to be comfortable and skate through life with minimal issues. I get this, and it makes sense. What I feel the Lord is trying to teach me is that God knows how long we need to be in something before it has sufficiently changed us. If we leave a situation too early, we may not have reaped the full benefit from it. Do you know what is even worse than having to go through years of agony? Having to go through years of agony and not reaping any benefits from it. God knows what we need. He knows our future; He knows our past; He knows our innermost being. He knows how much we can handle, and He knows the perfect time to take us out of the fire so we are pure gold with no more impurities. He has also made it clear to me that this doesn’t mean we need to stop asking for the healing or the relief of the situation. He tells us over and over again in the Bible to be persistent and that He rewards persistence. What He is telling us is that while we are waiting on His perfect timing, we don't have to be frustrated and discouraged. As this verse says, we can “consider it a sheer gift” when life’s challenges come upon us. It is giving us a chance to grow more into the person God is calling us to be. Our challenges help us to become more mature in our faith.I pray that the Lord continues to renew my mind in this area. I pray He shows me how to be patient in the wait. I pray He shows me how to approach my struggles with curiosity and allows me to have the strength to sit in my struggles without trying to wish them away before they are done doing good work in me. I pray He gives you a renewal of mind also!Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we find it so hard to understand how you work sometimes. We don’t understand why you do the things you do, and so we are asking for a renewal of the mind, Lord. Renew our minds and help us think more like you think. Help us to understand a bit more about how you work and why you do the things you do. Help us to see our struggles and building blocks to becoming the person you made us to be. Give us the strength to hold out when we feel like we can’t hold out any longer. Be with us, Lord, every step of the way! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen.Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Spend time with me each day, my children. It is so important that you get to know me. The more you get to know me, the more you will love me. That time that you spend with me each day can make all the difference in your life.”   CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Hope in the Waiting - Day 28 – Your Prayers Matter More Than You KnowEzekiel 22:30 “And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”We spent last night in class talking about prophetic intercession. I have discussed intercessory prayer before on various episodes, as I think it is essential. Here, we have the Lord telling us the same thing. Intercessory prayer is when you pray on behalf of someone else. For instance, my family was interceding for my dad last week as he was in the hospital for a bit. Whenever anyone asks you to pray for someone, you are interceding on their behalf. Catholics do this same thing when we ask the Saints to pray for us. We are not asking them for a miracle. We ask them to intercede for us just as we would our family and friends.General intercession is when someone asks you to pray for someone, and you do. The way they described it in class is that we are interceding from earth to heaven. Someone on earth asks us to pray for them or a loved one, and we send our prayers to heaven for them. Last night, we learned about prophetic intercession, which sounds fancy, and yet I bet we have all experienced it to some degree at one time or another. Prophetic intercession is praying from heaven to earth. Have you ever felt like you were supposed to pray for someone out of the blue? That would be prophetic intercession. God will sometimes put on our hearts something or someone to pray for, and then we must follow through with that prayer. Sometimes, we will find out later why we were asked to pray. For instance, God urged my teacher to pray the rosary for his wife’s cousin. It was precisely 7 PM when he felt this placed on his heart. He started the rosary right away. The next day, his wife called him at work to let him know her cousin had died. She was in an accident at 7 the night before. When we get these feelings to pray, it is essential to obey. Our teacher told us about another time when he heard a fellow deacon was sick. He had not met this man before because he was away when the man came to talk to his diaconate class. He happened to be by his house and thought he would stop by, meet, and pray with him. On the way to the man’s house, he felt called to do the divine mercy chaplet. He completed the chaplet just as he arrived at the man’s house. He went and knocked on the door and found out the man had just passed away one minute before he knocked.This is what is stated in St. Faustina’s Diary about saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet for someone who is dying: “At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the pardon is the same. When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person, God’s anger is placated, unfathomable mercy envelops the soul, and the very depths of My tender mercy are moved for the sake of the sorrowful Passion of My Son. (811) My teacher had no idea this man was close to death. He just knew he was sick. God knew, though, and God used my teacher to pray this important prayer. God may be using you too!Another time, God urged my teacher to do a Jericho walk around the flag pole. This is when you walk around the flag seven times, silently praying, and after the seventh time, you pray and praise the Lord out loud. The burdens of the nation were put on his heart, and this is how the Lord wanted Him to pray for them. Our teacher had so many examples; I believe that is because He always tries to listen to the Lord and then act when he hears something. I was so excited to share this with you this morning because it reinforces that we are not helpless. This world is crazy right now, and with the news as it is, we can often get overwhelmed by all that is happening. We often feel helpless as it seems like the problems are more significant than any one person, which is true. They are more significant than any one person. They are not bigger than God, though. Knowing that our prayers can make a difference is important. Another excellent example of the importance of our prayers is what I talked about in the Witness Wednesday last week. There was a man who saw a woman being put in an ambulance and knew he couldn’t really help her, as he was not a doctor. So, as he ran by her house, he said one Hail Mary for her recovery. Jesus appeared to this woman in the hospital and told her that she was dying and that this man’s prayer saved her.  He held up his palm, and the face of the man running by was on Jesus’ hand. He said one Hail Mary prayer. One Hail Mary that only takes a few seconds to say. We often say, “All I can do is pray,” as if we are out of options. Prayer is the best and most powerful thing we can do. Prophetic intercession is even more powerful because we are listening to what God wants us to do and then doing it. If you ever feel God is putting a person or a cause on your heart, take a minute and ask the Lord how He would like you to pray for that person—the how could make all the difference. Saint Faustina Kowalska was a nun in Poland. She received a vision that an angel was sent by God to chastise a certain city. She immediately began to pray for mercy, but no matter how much she prayed for mercy, she could not save the city. Then, she saw the Holy Trinity and felt the power of Jesus’ grace within her. At the same time, she found herself praying words that she heard internally, “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us.” (Saint Faustina’s Diary, 475) As she continued saying this inspired prayer, the angel became helpless and could not carry out the deserved punishment (see 474)This example from St. Faustina is why this verse is so important. The verse above says, “And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.” Is God calling you to stand in the breach? Is He calling you to help repair the wall? Instead of worrying about all that is going on in the world, we can pray about all that is going on. We often think our prayers aren’t doing much. We are just one person. St. Faustina is just one person, yet her prayers prevented the angel from chastising a city. If the prayers from one person are that powerful, imagine how powerful the prayers of millions of people would be. Pray, Pray, Pray. Pray for our loved ones and friends. Pray for all nations, church leaders, and leaders everywhere. If you feel the prompting to pray for someone out of the blue, take a minute and press in. Ask the Lord how He wants you to pray for that person. The prayer they taught us last night in class is: “God let me think like you think and feel what you feel.” If you can feel what He feels and think what He thinks, your prayers will be better because you will understand what you are praying for more.Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each and every person listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to stand in that breach. Please let us help you. Use us, Lord. Show us how to listen to your voice. Show us how to obey when you call us. Give us the grace and the strength we need to follow your call.  Open our ears to hear your call and open our hearts to intercede for others. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you all here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “There is nothing too difficult. There is nothing I cannot see about your life. There is nothing worth holding onto that is contrary to my life. No shame. No guilt. No self-defecation. No deep regrets. No unfulfilled longings. No wandering and quandaries and mazes in your imagination and your memory. No generational patterns. No habitual patterns. Nothing is invisible to me.”   CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Can I Still Make Plans While I’m Waiting on God?Proverbs 16:9 “The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.”The title of this episode is a question I think we've all asked ourselves at one point or another during our wait. Waiting for the answers to our prayers can take a very long time, and we can get stuck in the trap of thinking we can’t make any plans until our prayers are answered. I understand the rationale for this thinking, and I get where it is coming from. However, if we don’t move forward, we wind up getting stuck. Stuck in our emotions. Stuck in our job or our relationship. Stuck in depression, anger, jealousy, and a whole lot of other emotions. Making plans while you wait does not mean you are giving up on what you are praying for; it means you are trusting God enough to keep living while allowing Him to direct your steps.I don’t think God wants us to stop living while we wait for him to answer our prayers. I also don’t think He wants us to be miserable while we wait. Whatever we are waiting for can be really hard or really sad. We might be waiting for God to heal us, and so we think we can’t do anything until God heals us. We can’t walk, we can’t go out, we can’t try new things. We just have to sit here and wait until God heals us, and then we can start living our lives. We know God has put amazing things inside of us, and we want to share them with the world. We say yes to His plan. We say yes after he heals us. Because we are sick or injured, and until He heals us, we are helpless.It is easy to think this way. It is easy to get caught up in ourselves and all the things we can’t do. These things are real. These are true limitations, and I am not dismissing them. Today, what I would like to do is challenge the story you are telling yourself that you have to get your miracle, or the answer to your prayers, before you can do anything. Is it true that today you can’t take one step towards the thing you believe God is calling you to? Is it true that you are helpless? I am 99% sure that the answer to the first question is no. I am 100% sure that the answer to the second question is no. Let’s look at the first question I asked. Is it true that today you can’t take one step towards the thing you believe God is calling you to? Take a minute to think about what you feel God is calling you to do, or even just something on your heart that you would love to do if you were healed and feeling like you could do anything. Ask God to show you one small step you could take towards that goal or dream today. That doesn’t mean you are going to achieve the dream, goal, or mission tomorrow, but what is one tiny step? If you feel God wants you to evangelize to people about how great Jesus is and yet you can’t walk outside your apartment, then what can you do in your apartment? How can you use social media to tell people all about Jesus? Maybe you could see if there are any prisons, homeless shelters, or nursing homes that have a pen pal service, and you could write to people about the love that Jesus has for them. Or even just writing to them about anything and letting Jesus love them through you.Do you see how there is almost always something you can do with the limitations that you have until you are healed? What if God wants to see what you will do with what you have before He gives you more? What if He wants to see you stop complaining and start celebrating the things you do have, the things you can do. God knows everything about you, and if He placed this desire or this calling on your heart, He will fulfill it. He may be waiting for your cooperation. He may be waiting for you to say, “Ok, Lord, I know my healing is coming, but while I wait, I will use what you have given me to honor you in some way.” If you do this, if you shift your focus from all that you will do one day when God gives you more to what you can do today with what you have, your life will change. You will be surprised how much happier and more fulfilled you will feel while you wait.Now let’s look at question #2. Is it true that you are helpless? Each one of us has the Holy Spirit living inside of us. If you are listening to this podcast and you haven't been baptized, I want to encourage you to look into it, because when we have the Holy Spirit living inside us, we can never claim to be helpless. When we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we have the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead living inside of us. How could we be powerless when someone so powerful lives inside us?Life is hard, and we don’t want to make it any harder. Sometimes this means that we don’t push through barriers. We try to do something, hit resistance, and give up. We figure if God wanted us to do it, then He would make it happen. This can be true. God doesn’t want us to do some things, so He closes the door. However, God also wants us to work to overcome other things so we can be stronger on the other side. We have to be careful not to take everything that happens as a sign from God that we shouldn’t do it or that we should give up. God isn’t the only one who can give us signs. The enemy can also close doors for us. The enemy can also throw roadblocks in our way. I think God sometimes allows this to happen because He knows how strong we are. He knows we can overcome these roadblocks. He knows we can find a different door if the devil closes that one. But if we don’t try to overcome them. If we just give in because we think it’s God closing the door, then the enemy wins, and we blame God. The only way to know the difference is to pray, discern, spend time talking to the Lord, and ask the Lord if he closed the door. Ask the Lord if you should keep going or turn around. Ask the Lord if you should find another door or kick that one down. If you spend time with the Lord, He will direct your ways. Today’s verse tells us this. “The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.” If you give God a chance, He will direct your steps. He will help you make plans while you wait for the answers to your prayers to come. I believe with all my heart that God doesn’t want us to stop living our lives while we wait for Him to answer our prayers. I think He wants every single one of us to have joy while we wait. To live our lives as fully as we can while we wait. Can you start making plans while you wait?Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we love you. We ask you to show us what we can do while we wait. We ask that you help us to be grateful for all we have, even when we feel like we are lacking so much. Help us focus on what we have instead of what we don’t, and what we can do instead of what we can’t. Help us to find joy while we wait, and help us to feel ok with making plans while we wait for your timing. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I can control you through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. To move you in the ways you should go. To give you the words to say. To bring you closer to me. And in doing that, you will bring others closer to me. And they will recognize their God in action.”   CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Today’s guest speaker is my good friend Nancy. Nancy was the leader of the prayer group when I first joined and has been a great mentor to me on my faith journey these last 4 years. She will be witnessing this week about a prayer she prayed for a very long time. A prayer that seemed to go unanswered for many years. I think we all have those prayers we feel God doesn’t hear. Nancy’s witness provides encouragement to all of us to keep praying those prayers because God is so faithful. I know you are going to love her witness. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month)CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” EmailCLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email ListClick Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Hope in the Waiting - Day 26 - The God of HopeRomans 15:13 “ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”The God of hope- what a great way to refer to the Lord.  He is the God of hope.  All hope can be found in Him.  I like the thought of God filling me with joy and peace as I trust in Him, don’t you?  I feel as though that would be reassurance that we were doing the right thing.  Actually, now that I just said that, I can see how this is the case.  When we are trusting in the Lord, we are filled with peace and joy.  Can you think of a time when you had a decision to make, and you felt completely at peace with it?   Can you think of a time when you were so happy and filled with complete joy?  Think about these circumstances.  Can you see how you were trusting the Lord in them?The second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021 were really tough on our family.  Actually, they were tough on most families, as we were in the middle of a pandemic, and we were stuck in our houses for a lot of it.  It was not an easy time for anyone.  However, on top of all of this, we had a lot of other things going on that made it even more difficult.  Probably some of the hardest parenting issues we will ever have to face, and we have faced a lot of parenting issues.  Although it was a really difficult time, I was filled with joy and peace for much of that difficult time because I was trusting that the Lord knew what was best.  We were encountering situation after situation that we had never encountered before.  We didn’t know what to do or how to handle most of it.  What do you do when you are in a situation and you don’t know what to do?  You turn to the Lord.  I spent a lot of time in prayer.  I asked the Lord at every turn which way He wanted me to go.  I relied on Him to get us through it.  I am not saying this to boast about how great I am for turning to the Lord.  I turned to Him because I did not know what else to do.  This is usually why we turn to the Lord.  When we have tried all we can think of on our own, and nothing worked.  However, I would love to change this.  I would love to turn to God first in every circumstance, not just when I feel stuck and don’t know what to do. This is what the Lord wants too.  He is always there for us, and He is happy when we turn to Him in times of trouble.  However, I am sure He would also love it if we turned to Him in our everyday decision-making.  Or, what about when you do know what you want to do?  What about stopping to ask God what He thinks about you taking that job you want or buying that car you want?  You may already know what you want to do, but what if we stopped to run it by the Lord and see if He thinks it’s a good idea?  Sometimes our decisions can be clouded by superficial things, or we have the wrong motivation driving our decision-making, and we don’t realize it until it is too late.  Invite the Lord into all your decisions.  Wouldn’t it be great to feel that peace and joy of trusting the Lord all the time?This verse ends with, “so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  I don’t know anyone who would turn down the chance to be overflowing with hope.   This verse also tells us where hope comes from: the power of the Holy Spirit.  If we want to have more hope, we just have to ask for it. Jesus tells His disciples in John 16:23-24, “ On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”  If we want to have more hope in our lives, all we need to do is ask the Lord for it, and we will receive it by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask that you fill us all with joy and peace as we trust in you.  We all want to overflow with hope; please show us how.  Please fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Please help those who have given up on hope or have forgotten how to hope.  We love you, Lord; you are so amazing.  You give us so much to hope for.  We are so grateful for all you do for us.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!   CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Your Prayers Are Never Wasted1 John 5:14–15 “And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.”I love this verse because God is reminding us that we can trust Him. He reminds us that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us, and if we know that he hears us, then we know we have obtained the request made of him. I don’t know about you, but I can get caught up in the part that says, according to his will. I have asked the Lord for many things, and I don’t think that he has given them to me. I get frustrated when I am praying for someone, and I remember that God said if we ask in Jesus’ name, then anything we ask for will be given to us.I know that God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts greater than our thoughts, and yet it is still frustrating when we can’t understand what is going on. It is frustrating when we think we know exactly what we need or what we want and we ask the Lord, we beg the Lord and it just seems like He is not listening. If you have struggled with this, let me share with you what has helped me understand it a little better.Have your kids, your nieces/nephews, or your friends' kids ever asked for something that seemed really important to them? They asked for something that they really want, and to them, it is something that they have to have. They have given it thought, and they know it is the best thing for them. Yet, you know it is not good for them at all. You only know this because you have been where they are and things didn’t end well. You have seen where this thing will take them, and it isn’t anywhere good.For instance, your child, or a child you are close to, wants to drop out of school. They have given it thought, and they will get a job at the local grocery store or fast food restaurant. They are tired of all the work they need to do at school and don’t want to do it anymore. However, you can see that it is not the best choice for them. You can see how that one choice will limit so many other choices about their future. They are begging you to let them drop out, and yet you know it is not really best for them.This is what I think of when I think of God answering our prayers. Good thing He doesn’t give us everything we ask for because sometimes, just like our kids, we ask for some things that are not good for us. We ask for things that we think we want, but God knows we don’t really want them. For instance, we might think we want a new job, but then we find out the new job has a lot of travel, or the boss isn’t a nice person. God shields us from so many things that we aren’t even aware of because he is shielding us from them. He does this because He is a good Father.I heard a song on the way to adoration his morning, and you know how much I love songs. I wanted to share the lyrics of this one with you today because it talks about how important prayer is. The song is titled “Somebody Prayed,” and it is sung by Crowder. The song begins:Every night there by your bedYou fold your hands and bow your headThrowing out another prayer in faithWhen you're wondering if He's hearing youLook at me, I'm living proofI'm only right where I am todayBecause somebody prayedThese lyrics remind us that when we pray and do not see results, we can look at those around us and be confident that if God answers their prayers, He will answer ours, too. I think it is vital to remember that the answers to our prayers may not look like we want them to and may not come in the timing we want them to. I like how Crowder can realize that the reason he is where he is today is because his mom prayed for him a lot. So I hit my knees 'cause I'veSeen all Heaven move (don't matter if you hit rock bottomMy God pick you up when you call Him.)I pray, "Father, please" 'cause I'veSeen what He can do (don't matter if the storm cloud comingMy God come through when you call Him)I love this verse too because it says that it doesn’t matter if you hit rock bottom because God will pick you up when you call Him. This reminds us that we are never too far down for God to pick us back up again. It also says it doesn’t matter if the storm cloud is coming because God will come through when we call Him. Crowder says he has seen all heaven move, and he has seen what our heavenly Father can do.You might be in a storm right now, or you might be at your lowest point yet. Either way, you can rest assured that when you call on the Lord, He is going to answer that call. He is going to lift you up out of that pit or get you safely through that storm. That is just who He is. If you wonder if this is true, look around you at all the people you know who are struggling, or the ones who were struggling and have made it through to the other side.  They were not alone. God helped them, and if he helped them, he can help you too!These hands have no powerThere ain't an hour He don't come throughThat's why when mountains move, I say"Looks like somebody prayed”This verse is reminding us that we can do nothing without God. He is our source of power. He is our Savior. This is why, when something amazing happens in our lives, we should automatically know that someone was praying for us. Our default should be to thank God and to thank whoever was praying for us. Sometimes we think that because we didn't pray, then it wasn’t God who helped us. However, there are so many people praying all the time. There were many saints who would send up prayers for anyone who needed them. Or they would pray for those who had no one else to pray for them. You might have a whole army of people praying for you, and yet you might not even know it.For instance, when someone asks me for prayer I usually ask my parents to also pray for them because I know my parents are mighty prayer warriors. I also ask my prayer group to pray, my Encounter Ministry fellow students, and the prayer line at my church. Then sometimes I would also add their request to these three online prayer requests websites, one of which is the Lourdes website. Do you see how someone could have a whole army of people praying for them and not even know it?For the child of God that's far from homeThe one who thinks they're too far goneI'm throwing out another prayer in faith (prayer in faith)Worn-out altars, tear-stained pewsStill I won't give up on youI believe that anything can changeWhen somebody praysI love this verse because he is talking to anyone who feels like they are far from home. Anyone who feels like they are too far gone. Then he tells them that he is praying for them. We all need to be praying for those who are far from home and think they are too far gone. There is no too far gone with the Lord. He is always willing to take us back. He is always waiting for us to realize that and to come home. I love it when he says he won’t give up on us because he believes that anything can change when somebody prays.This is an important thing for us all to believe. It is so true. Anything can change when somebody prays. The enemy often tries to make us believe that our situation is too bad and that there is no solution. He tries to convince us that we don’t need to pray because there isn’t anything God can do for anyone. There isn’t anything anyone can do. This is ridiculous! God can do anything! We might not see a way out, we might not think things can get better, but God can always make a way, even when we can’t see how. It is always worth it to say a prayer. It can make all the difference in the world. Sometimes God is just waiting for you to ask. He is waiting for you to invite Him into it all. Why wouldn’t we want God to be in all of it?I've seen miracles come from feeble wordsI've seen hospital rooms turned into cathedralsI've seen freedom come to the prisonerYou can't tell me that prayer don't workThe first line says, “I’ve seen miracles come from feeble words.” Do you know why I love this? I love it because it reminds us that we don’t have to know what to say. We don’t have to pray these long, eloquent prayers. We don’t have to ask for the exact thing or say the exact right words in order for our prayers to be answered. It’s not like in all those movies about making a wish on a genie in a bottle. If you don’t get the wording perfectly, then something bad happens. God is not like that. We don’t have to know the perfect thing to say. We just have to call upon his name and ask him for what we want.It goes on to say, “I’ve seen hospital rooms turned into cathedrals.” I think what he means by this is that hospital rooms can be a powerful place for prayer. Sitting by a loved one's bedside can prompt people to pray more. It can also help us to be bold and ask for more from the Lord. Desperation to save our loved ones can be a powerful motivator. He also says, I’ve seen freedom come to the prisoner.  This is another great result of prayer. You might know someone who is stuck in their past. They may be an actual prisoner in jail, or they may be a prisoner to guilt, shame, and unforgiveness. Either way, prayers can free them from their prison. I have seen it happen many times!!The song ends with:So every night there by your bedWhen you fold your hands and bow your headNot a single word you've ever said in vain'Cause He hears everythingI like this verse too because it reminds us that not a single word you’ve ever said is in vain. When we pray to God, He hears us. We can be confident in this, just as the scripture verse for today reminds us. God hears it all, whether you are in church praying or you are crying out to him in your car. Wherever you are, no matter how far gone you think you are, He always hears every word of it, and none of it was said in vain. He hears you, and He will answer your prayers according to his will and according to His timing.

Hope in the Waiting - Day 24 - Can I Still Have Joy While I Wait?Habakkuk 3:17-18 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”Talk about a bad day.  This verse is from a time when the people relied very heavily on crops and animals for survival.  This verse states that they have reached rock bottom.  That nothing is going right for them.  If their crops are not producing any food and they have no meat in their stalls, then not only do they have nothing to eat, but they also have nothing to barter with.  Have you ever felt this low?  Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t really imagine it getting any worse?  That is where this person was when they wrote this.  Even if you haven’t been in a situation this dire before, I am sure you can imagine how they must have felt.  Please take a minute and try to put yourself in their shoes.  Close your eyes and imagine you are walking through your fields.  You look from vine to vine just praying for some grapes that you may have missed, or that miraculously grew overnight, but you find nothing.  Now imagine you are walking by your fig tree.  This tree that was once full of figs is now empty.  Next, you walk through the olive crops and pray that there will be some source of food, but again, you find nothing.  You think, at least you have your animals to provide you with food.  However, when you go past the sheep pen, there are none.  When you walk through the cattle stalls, they too are empty.  You realize you have nothing; you have somehow lost it all.  What are you feeling right now?  What are you thinking?  How do you think you would react?  Would you be angry at God?  Would you blame Him for not providing for you?   I am not sure how I would feel or what I would think, but I do not think that my first thought would be to rejoice in the Lord.  The verse says, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  I am thinking that I would struggle to find anything to be joyful about.  I am joyful in God my Savior.  He is amazing, and I love Him so much.  However, when I am at my worst, I am not sure that I would think of that.  I do think I would turn to Him.  I believe I would ask God for His help and for the strength and courage to make it through this difficult time.  But would I rejoice in the Lord?Honestly, I can’t picture it.  I can’t picture how that would work.  I do know that when life is going against us, and we can’t see a way out, that is the perfect time to praise the Lord.  We don’t have to see the way out.  We can praise the Lord for being so awesome that He can see a way out even when we can’t.  We don’t have to praise Him for the situation; we can praise Him for who He is and for what He does for us.  Ok, so now that I am writing this, I am starting to see how this could work.  I guess we wouldn’t have to rejoice in being in this dire situation, but we could rejoice that God was in it with us.  However, would we think to do this?  Would it occur to us when the chips are down that we should rejoice and praise the Lord?  My first thought is no, not without someone reminding us, or without some practice ahead of time.  Several things I have been reading over the last few years have been saying that the best thing you can do when you are struggling is to praise the Lord.  The fastest way out of a difficult situation is to praise the Lord while you are still in it, even when all seems lost.  So then, how do we do this?  How do we try to practice ahead of time so that when we really need to remember this, we can?  I have a couple of suggestions, some you may have heard before.  Some I probably even mentioned before on this podcast.  However, I think that’s how God works.  He tells us something again and again until we get it.  My first suggestion would be practicing gratitude.  When you are focused on being grateful for things, you can’t also be feeling sorry for yourself or feeling miserable at the same time.  Even if you can find just one small thing to be grateful for.  For instance, you have to go to a funeral, and you are really sad, but you can be grateful that the weather is at least holding out for you.  Or maybe the weather had been raining all day, but on the way to the cemetery, the rain stopped, and now you can see a rainbow.  I promise you, no matter how bad things are, there is at least one small thing you can be grateful for.  Practice finding that thing, focusing on it, and thanking God for it.  I promise if you give this a try, you will find more joy in your life.Another suggestion would be to find a few verses that talk about praising the Lord, or rejoicing in the Lord, and either memorize them or post them around your house where you will see them often.  You could put one on your mirror so you see it every time you look in the mirror.  Or, maybe on your fridge, so you read it every time you get something out of the refrigerator.  You could put a note like that on the lock screen of your phone, so when you look at your phone, it reminds you to praise the Lord or rejoice.  Why should you do this now, when everything seems to be going well?  First, if you can get in the habit of praising God all the time, when times are good and when times are bad, I think you will see less and less of the bad times.  I think God loves to reward his children for appreciating Him and thanking Him.  Second, if you don’t intentionally get into the habit when things are going good, and it feels easier to praise the Lord and to rejoice, then the chances are a lot less likely that you will do it when everything feels hard.  Another suggestion is to listen to praise music.  I think many of us listen to music.  Maybe it's when you are driving the car, cooking dinner, cleaning the house, whatever the reason, most of us listen to music.  What I am suggesting is that some of the music you listen to is praise music.  What you listen to affects your mood.  You could be in a perfectly good mood, and then an angry song comes on the radio, and if you don’t change the channel, you can notice yourself starting to get in a bad mood.  If kids listen to a lot of rap music, they may start to feel negatively towards the police for no other reason than the lyrics that they are constantly listening to are telling them that the police are bad.  Those are examples of how music can negatively affect your mood, but the opposite is true as well.  You can be in a really bad mood, and then an upbeat song can come on the radio, and your mood can change for the better.  If you are listening to praise music about how great God is, then those will be the thoughts flowing through your head.  The music can not only change your mood, but it can also change your outlook on life or your current circumstances.  Some of my friends are really struggling right now.  When all seems lost, it can take a daily or sometimes hourly reminder to praise God in the struggle.  Praise God for any slight sign of improvement.  Praise God for the things that do go right in the day.  Maybe you got up, and everything seemed to go wrong.  But, you know what?  You got up that day, and not everyone can say that.  You are able to walk, and not everyone can say.  There is always something you can praise God for.  Try your best to focus on those things and just keep turning over the other things to God and trust that He will take care of them for you.  It is not easy to praise God and to rejoice when all seems lost; however, it is possible. If you take the time to learn how to praise God, even in the difficult times, I think you will be amazed at how different you feel.  I think you will be amazed at how much more at peace you will feel, even when it feels like things can’t get any worse.  Give it a try, what do you have to lose?Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you pray for everyone listening to this episode today. Dear Lord, we ask that you help us to praise you. You do so much for us, and we don't deserve any of it. You don't do it for any other reason than the fact that you love us completely. Lord help us to see all the things that we can rejoice about, even when we're struggling. Jesus shines a light on all the things we have to be grateful for when we can't see them. Lord, it must be difficult for you when you see us struggling. We ask that you help us through the struggle, that you help us lean into you and praise you for all that you do for us.  Sometimes we feel like all is lost and that there is nothing anyone can do to change the situation. And you know what, that may be true. But you are not anyone, Lord God; you are the Lord of lords and the King of kings.  There isn't anything that you can't do. Help us to remember this, Lord. Help us to rejoice when all seems lost because nothing is too big for our God to fix. We love you, lord; you are so amazing, and we are so very grateful for you and all that you do. We thank you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, amen.Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I can't tell you how happy I am to have you along for the journey. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I am the Lord your God. There is no other. Come to me, my children. I speak to you in the silence of

Hope in the Waiting - Day 23 - Praise While You WaitActs 16:25-28 “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once, all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”This story actually begins a few verses before this. In Acts 16:16-24 it says, “Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”  She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!” At that moment, the spirit left her.  When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.  They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into an uproar  by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.  When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.”This is where our verse takes place.  They have been beaten with rods and are now chained up in prison.  You would think after a day like that they would feel defeated.  You would think that they would be questioning God and asking Him why they have to suffer so much when they are just doing what He asked them to do.  You might also think that they were passed out in pain and sleeping.  Is this what they were doing?  No, the verse says it was midnight, and they were still praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  This is something that always amazes me about the apostles and other believers in the faith, such as the Saints.  I am always amazed by their strength.  I know that God underwent extreme suffering in the 24 hours before He was crucified.  He sweated drops of blood. If that is not suffering, I don’t know what is.  And yet, I think we can downplay it sometimes and think, well, He is fully God and fully human, so of course He can withstand it; he is God.  However, countless other Saints have gone through extreme suffering and have done it with joy.  Paul & Silas had just been beaten with rods, and yet they were not questioning God. They were praising and singing to Him.  This is something that I think we can hear sometimes and not pause and think about how truly amazing it is.  I don’t know if we glaze over it because we don’t understand it or because we don’t think we are capable of it.  I don’t know the reason, but I wanted to pause and take a moment to recognize how remarkable these two are for how they endured their suffering.  We could all learn a lot from them and how they lived not only when times were good but also when times were tough.  The verse says that at midnight, while they were praying and praising, they were set free.  The door opened, and their chains came loose.  What strikes me about this verse is that they were set free yet did not leave.  They stayed there until morning, when the guard woke up.  What I hear the Lord saying to me about this verse is that everything He does is for His glory and the good of His kingdom.  If Paul & Silas had left at midnight, they could have escaped.  However, it would not have been known how they escaped.  People could have said that someone broke in and freed them.  God would not have gotten the Glory.  However, by waiting until morning, they not only converted the guard and his whole house to believers, but they were also set free and did not have to worry about being caught for escaping.Sometimes, the things we are going through or the things others are going through make no sense to us.  If we had been there in that jail cell, it would have made no sense to us that when they were freed, they didn’t leave the cell.  I can’t imagine sitting in that cell and just waiting for the jailer to wake up when we could have escaped and been hours away by the time the jailer woke up.  Luckily, Paul and Silas were good at listening to the Lord and trusting in Him.  They were not scared in that jail cell.  They praised the Lord and trusted that the Lord would get them out of the situation.  They were patient and waited on the Lord’s timing, and by doing so, they saved the jailer and his whole family.  Do you see how if the apostles left at midnight, they would have escaped and would have been free?  Do you also see that they did not leave at midnight, yet they were still free?  We never know how God will work things out for us.  Sometimes, we can only see things in black and white.  We can see only two choices.  For instance, we could see that if we left the cell when the door was opened, then we would be free.  However, if we stay there, then we would be stuck in jail forever.  Sometimes, we are so angry, upset, scared, and afraid that we can’t see all the possibilities.  We only see the two.  Sometimes, we may not see all the options because we have limited information, whereas God has all the information He would ever need.  It seems as though the apostles waited for God to tell them what to do next.  They trusted that God would take care of it even though they didn’t know what would happen next.  This may be the same in some circumstances in our lives, too.  We may not understand why God asks us to wait a little longer.  We know God can save us now, but we don’t understand why He isn’t.  We don’t understand why we are going through all of this in the first place.  Maybe God is using this thing you are going through to save someone else.  Maybe by watching your strength in the face of your situation, someone will decide to give God a try.  Maybe after watching how you were saved from your circumstances, someone else has also decided to be saved.  We don’t know what God’s plan is or why He does what He does.  There is one thing that we can be sure of, and that is that God has a plan, and He has a reason for everything.  God can use all things for His glory.  We may think that some things are a coincidence.  However, if you look back over the last 5 or 10 years of your life, I bet you will see how those things you felt were coincidences were actually things that God timed out perfectly for a specific reason.  It is amazing to me how detailed God’s plan is.  He has every tiny detail planned out.  The next time we get tired of waiting for our suffering to end, maybe we can remember this verse, pray, and praise him even when we are struggling.  We can remember that if He has not saved us yet, it is for a reason and that a greater good will come from our situation.  I know that doesn’t always make it easier for us when we are in the moment.  However, I felt God wanted me to share with you that even when we don’t know His plan and don’t understand it, we should still know that He has a plan, and it is for our good and the good of his whole church.  Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  We ask that you give us the strength of Paul and Silas when we suffer.  Lord, we ask that you give us the strength and the wisdom to pray and sing praises to you when we are suffering.  Help us know that you have a plan even when we don’t see or understand it.  Help us to know that we are never suffering in vain.  You will always use our suffering for your glory.  We love you, Lord, and thank you for all you do for us.  You are amazing, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and Jesus’ holy name. Amen.  Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk Boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My ways are higher than your ways. Trust me. I know what is best for you. Trials may seem difficult, but I use them to transform you. I will hold you by the hand through them. I will never let you go. Trust me.”   CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching