The Abiding Devotional Podcast

Intimidation will have you believe someone else should be doing it. Someone else is more qualified. Someone else is more anointed,But God didn’t make a mistake when He called you. He knew your strengths and your weaknesses and He called you anyway. New episode is out now on YouTube and everywhere you listen to your podcasts. What has intimidation been keeping you from? Drop it in the comment

It’s giving God’s timing > our timeline every single time. Episode 5 — the final episode of How God Answered My Prayer — is LIVE today! She left a job she loved because the environment was toxic. She waited a full year. She doubted. She pressed through. And then God did something she never could have orchestrated herself.But what hit me most in this conversation? Don’t just pray for what’s coming, thank God for what’s already here.You are living an answered prayer right now. Let that sink in.“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” — Proverbs 3:5 NIVTrusting God with all your heart means you believe He’ll do what He said, even when you can’t see how. Even when the timeline doesn’t make sense. Even when the door looks closed. 

Luke 11:9 says ask, seek, and knock. But Rose’s story takes it even deeper: the most powerful prayers come from a heart that’s fully delighting in God , not just asking for what we want, but trusting that what He has for us is so much greater.And can we talk about this line for a second?“I don’t have any obligation to believe the lies of the enemy.” Someone needed to hear that today. Screenshot it. Write it down. Say it out loud.If you’ve been waiting on God for a spouse, a baby, healing, or a promise that feels delayed, this episode is for you. Waiting is not the same as forgotten. And God’s hold on is not the same as God’s no.Your breakthrough is still coming. 

Zenobia Gerald shares her testimony of how God delivered her from shame and an identity crisis and showed her exactly who she is in Him. We go deep into Ephesians together and sis, Ephesians 1:4 alone will wreck you in the best way: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” — Ephesians 1:4 Before the foundation of the world. Before the mistakes. Before the shame. Before the crisis. He chose you. If you’ve ever questioned your identity, felt disqualified, or carried guilt that doesn’t belong to you anymore, this episode is your permission slip to put it down.

The second episode of How God Answered My Prayer is LIVE!! and today my husband, Francis, is sitting in the guest seat and sharing what God did in his life. I have heard this testimony before, but recording this episode with him? That was something special. There is nothing like watching the person you love give glory to God out loud. Friend, this one is personal. And I believe with everything in me that God is going to use Francis’s story to speak directly to someone who is still in the middle of their waiting season that God will do what He promised. “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” — Luke 11:10Share this with someone who needs to hear that God still answers prayers

Christelle opens up about the moment she brought it all before God, the season of waiting that tested everything she believed, and the way He answered in a way only He could. This is the kind of story that reminds you — your prayers are not going unheard.This episode is for you if you are:Holding on to a prayer that hasn’t been answered yetIn need of a reminder that God is still faithfulReady to have your faith renewed all over again“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”— Luke 11:9

Prayer gives you ACCESS to the Father.And I mean that literally —A — AdorationC — ConsecrationC — ConfessionE — ExpectationS — SupplicationS — Spiritual WarfareThis is what Jesus was showing us inside the Lord’s Prayer all along. Six movements. One framework. A blueprint for a prayer life that actually matures over time.You don’t have to have it all together to start praying.

This truth changed the way I pray entirely:"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."  — John 1:14God didn't stay at a distance and send instructions. He came near. He moved in. He put on skin and walked among us — and through the Holy Spirit, He still dwells with us today.The God you're trying to "reach" is not somewhere far above the clouds waiting for you to find the right words. He is here. He is close. And He has been speaking all along — we've just had so much noise in our lives that we couldn't hear Him.Isaiah 66:1 gives us an incredible picture of just how vast and near He is:"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool."  — Isaiah 66:1The God who fills all of heaven uses the earth as a footrest — that is how present He is in every space, every moment, every ordinary Tuesday of your life.He has been speaking all this time. We were just not paying attention. Revelation 3:20 tells us that Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Every single day, He is there — not forcing His way in, but knocking. Waiting. Ready.And it's up to us to open the door.Prayer is how we open it.Not a formal, polished, perfectly-worded prayer. Just — God, I'm here. I need You. Come in. That is enough. That is more than enough.When we pray, we are not just asking for things. We are inviting God to intervene. We are aligning ourselves with His will — praying that what is done in heaven would be made manifest on earth, in our homes, in our families, in our workplaces.A prayer life is not just essential. It is the connection line between you and God. When we neglect it, we don't lose God — but we lose the awareness of His nearness. And we were never meant to live without that awareness. 

Friends, I want to reframe the way many of us think about repentance, because I think we've reduced it to a moment — a prayer, a single decision. But repentance is not a one-time event. Repentance is a lifestyle.  The word repentance literally means to change direction. God is not calling us to feel sorry once and move on. He is calling us — every single time we come before Him — to have hearts that are willing to change direction. Every morning when we wake up, we can say, Lord, where am I going that I shouldn't? What have I been holding onto? Show me where I need to turn back to You. That's the prayer I want to put in your heart today:God, show me the places in my life where I need to repent. Not just once. Not just today. But every time we come before Him.

In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins. Five were foolish,five were wise. And here’s what strikes me every time I read this story all ten of them had lamps. All ten of them had oil. They were all showing up. They were all at the door, waiting for the bridegroom. But the wise ones? They brought extra oil. That one small detail made all the difference. And I want to ask you today, friend are you carrying extra oil? Because here’s the truth I feel the Lord pressing on my heart to share with you: doing Christianity the way you used to is not going to cut it anymore. Not in this season. We are living in days that require more. Days that call for the extra mile. What does that extra mile look like? Maybe it looks like moving from not fasting to actually fasting. Maybe it looks like moving from praying ten minutes a day to committing to a full hour in God’s presence. Maybe it looks like inviting God into the mundane the grocery store run, the school pickup, the quiet moments in between and saying,Lord, I want You here too. Maybe it looks like moving from just reading the Word to actually studying it. Sitting with it. Digging into it. Letting it get into you. Now, I know what some of you might be thinking That sounds exhausting. And I get it. Life is already full. You’re already stretched thin,But beloved, the extra is not about earning God’s love. It’s  not about performing for Him. The extra is really about one thing: no longer being lukewarm. In Revelation 3, God says He would rather we be hot or cold but lukewarm? He says it makes Him sick. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be in that place. I want to be on fire. I want to be so filled with the Spirit that there’s no question whose I am and where I stand.The extra oil is what keeps your fire burning. And this is where it gets personal  because going deeper is not just about spiritual disciplines. It’s about listening and obeying when God speaks. How many times has the Holy Spirit nudged you? Prompted you to reach out to someone, to stop and pray, to say yes to something that scared you  and you talked yourself out of it? God is calling you deeper. And some of the victories you’ve been crying out for, some of the breakthroughs you’ve been waiting on  are on the other side of surrender.

Friends, Joseph's life is not just a historical account. It is a mirror.  It asks us: Can you love when you've been betrayed? Can you maintain joy when the road is dark? Can you wait with patience when you can't see the plan? Can you choose goodness and self-control when no one's watching? These aren't things we manufacture on our own. They are fruits — the natural outflow of a life rooted in the Spirit of God. As we abide in Christ, as we remain connected to the Vine, these qualities grow in us. Slowly. Painfully sometimes. But beautifully.  So today, I want to leave you with a question to carry into your week. It's the same question the Holy Spirit may already be whispering to you:  fruit of the Spirit is God inviting you to grow in right now — and what might that growth require of you?

“The Lord remembered her.” Hannah had prayed before this moment. She had cried out to God many times. But God remembered her this time because she prayed differently. She prayed a prayer of surrender.It was no longer, “God, I want you to give me a son just to make my rival jealous.”It was no longer, “God, I want you to give me a son so people will stop looking at me with pity.”It became, “God, I want you to give me a son so that YOU will be glorified through him.”

Many of us might say, “I’m waiting on God,” but then impulsively chase after things or people who don’t align with His will. Maybe it's dating someone we know isn’t right for us or taking a job that doesn’t fulfill us. In Isaiah 40:31, we find encouragement: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”waiting can be a time of growth—a season where we deepen our faith. It’s where we learn to trust that God’s timing is perfect, even when it feels like nothing is happening. 

In our latest podcast we talked about two key principles that will help us abide in Jesus this year: 1 - Choose your company wisely: Our alignment matters 2 - know what the word of God says about you Scripture references: ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬, ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭27‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬, ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬#abideinjesus