Personal Priorities a Struggle? God Is Our Hope and Peace in 2026

In this episode, Lenora Turner invites you into a deeper, freer relationship with God—one rooted in truth, not pressure. Together, we explore how renewing your mind, understanding God’s goodness, and aligning your goals with His thoughts can transform your life from the inside out.

As you consider your goals and desires for 2026, this conversation challenges the inner conflict many believers face—wanting change while battling limiting beliefs about their worth, capacity, or God’s intentions. Drawing from Scripture like Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 3:20, Romans 12:2, and 3 John 2, Lenora shares how knowing who God is—and how He thinks—raises our vision, restores hope, and unlocks lasting spiritual, emotional, and practical growth.

This episode includes prayer, biblical encouragement, and a powerful reminder that God formed you with purpose, delights in your prosperity, and desires you to experience abundant life—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. If you’re seeking God’s presence, freedom from guilt and anxiety, renewed faith, healing, and clarity for the year ahead, this episode is for you.

📘 Resource Mentioned:
100 Prayers Releasing 100 Cares — a Scripture-based prayer book offering real stories and prayers for stress, faith, relationships, health, and everyday life. The link is in the show notes.

☕ Grab some coffee, take a deep breath, and let’s talk about knowing God, thinking higher, and stepping into the full life He has planned for you.

Book offer - Prayer changes everything — especially when you’re seeking God for answers to anxiety, depression, relationships, finances, health, or life decisions. 100 Prayers Releasing 100 Cares shares real stories of answered prayer, biblical wisdom for hearing God’s voice, and practical faith tools rooted in Scripture to help you walk in freedom and bold trust in God.  "100 Prayers Releasing 100 Cares"  Click to order your copy today and begin praying with confidence!

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Transcript

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If we want our life to rise, we need to say, God, we want your thoughts. I want your thoughts. Help me to think higher than I think. Help me to think better. Do you love God but feel guilty instead of enjoying his presence? I know how unsatisfying time with God can be if we feel he's distant and busy. I'm Lenora, mom, Jesus lover, and international trainer. If you want to be persuaded that God is good, pray with more confidence and increase the impact with your own life. Well, get some coffee and let's talk. Hey, if you're carrying stress and want support with prayer, I wrote a book to help you. It's called 100 Prayers, releasing 100 Cares. It's full of real stories, scripture, and 100 prayers for about every part of life. A link for the book is in the show notes. I really think you'll love it. Some have said it is the best prayer book they've ever had. What goals and desires do you have for 2026? And how are you planning to get there? I'm taking a different approach this year because I've lived enough years to know how I start with some goals and I may forget completely about them. Or I reach a few goals, but I don't reach near as many as I wanted to. Sometimes I've written down too many things to accomplish. It's better to focus on a few key things that matter the most to you and at least write them down. That in itself is a beneficial thing and very scriptural. But here's something I'm doing different this year, and I want to share it so that you can consider this option. In the past, like I've said, I've made some goals, but what I've actually done the next year is, in reality, struggle against the conflict of who I think I am and what I say I want to be, what I believe about myself and what I say I want to see happen. Often there's a big conflict inside of us where we say we want something, but we believe something very different about our own value, our own abilities, the likeliness of something happening, all those things. And we spend our time fighting our own beliefs instead of achieving our goals. And though, thankfully, I've been taught by great pastors, executives, friends, thank God. I've been taught more and sought myself on knowing and growing in the belief of who I am and what I can accomplish, but I can't or we can't achieve just on what somebody else says about us. We have to know what we're capable of and believe it. So my focus this year is all the more attention on who God is, because He made me. Scripture says God made me. I didn't make myself. I don't know what your practice is, but if you ever struggle with putting yourself down or getting frustrated with yourself for not getting to where you want to be, then maybe, like me, we act like we made ourselves. So we have a right to judge ourselves and condemn ourselves or any manner of flousy self-talk that in itself is what stops us from going forward. But if we can grab a hold of the fact that we did not make ourselves, God, as Scripture says, God formed us in our mother's womb. He does the making and the saving. Ephesians 2.10 says, No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and the saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does. The good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. The truth is God thinks way bigger than we do. So if we want, if I want the best life, then I want to think like him. I want to be open to what he has, because his visions for my life are bigger than mine. Ephesians 3.20 says God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that is at work in us. The verse in 3 John 2, it's just one chapter, says, Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. So many times people don't realize how big God really thinks the good plans he has for us. I really think that a lot of uh, should I say it out loud, the lot of man's version of religion is quite restrictive. I don't mean morally. Morally, you want to do the right things, treat people well, have self-control to do the right things. But in saying restrictive, I mean restrictive in how dare you think so big. Who do you think you are? That happens without religion and it happens with religion. So I don't want to blame religion, but if you grow up in church, you might have got that version of that thinking. And I don't want to see us limited anymore. Again, God says, I wish above all things that you'd prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. I was reading that verse some years back, and I felt God highlight to me the end of that verse. It was like, Lenora, according to how your soul prospers, that's how you're gonna prosper and be in health. Speaking of health, when it comes to a healthy body and receiving healing just by being healthy or miraculous healing, you need to know God wants you healthy. There's verses all throughout the Bible, and yet it's amazing how some of us think somehow God is making us suffer for some bizarre reason through sickness. Now, can he use anything to turn something good out of it? Sure, he's God, but it's not his plan for you. How could he say, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers, if the opposite is supposedly true. God wants us to prosper, and that's in way more than finances. But if all you've ever seen is poverty, if all you've ever been around is poverty, most likely that's what you'll reproduce because it becomes your vision. And you can't help what you were born into, but you can put yourself around new scenarios so that you can begin to change the internal soul prosperity so you can produce friendship prosperity, mental prosperity, emotional prosperity, as well as your health. All those things are impacted greatly by how we think about them. And if you grew up in church, it's impacted by how you think God thinks about you. Romans chapter 12, verse 2 talks about the renewing of our mind so that we can prove what God's good and acceptable and perfect will is. And we just read an example of God's will when he says, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. So I'm approaching this new year all the more focused and on purpose to know how my God thinks, what he says about me, and how big his plans are. So I encourage each one of us to do the same thing. The more you know the God who made you, and you find out how good he is, how for you he is, and like Psalm 35, 27 says, that God delights in the prosperity of his servant. The more we know that, the more our thinking will rise, the more we'll think like the God of the universe thinks. Another scripture says that God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. As far as heaven is above the earth, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. If we want our life to rise, we need to say, God, we want your thoughts. I want your thoughts. Help me to think higher than I think, help me to think better. And again, in the book of Ephesians, I've shared this on multiple episodes. I think it's my personal mantra these days. God, give me revelation in the knowledge of you and the hope of your calling and the riches of your inheritance in the saints and the power that's at work in me. I feel like just praying right now. Father, we need to know you better. I pray for everyone listening right now. God, help them feel your presence. Help them know you are a good, good father. You think so much bigger than them. And it's not a scary thing to dare to believe how good you are, and that you made us, we did not make ourselves. You made us with a purpose. You said in Ephesians that it's your good pleasure to have planned for us, to make a great vision for us, to choose us as your own, to make us your children. And when we called on the name of Jesus, it was affirmed what you always wanted, that you took responsibility for the fall of mankind. You took responsibility for all of our choices, all of our failures, and you took it on yourself. And Father God, I ask that this person give you all of their failures, all of their fears, all of their doubts. God, they begin to speak out that they give it to you. And I'm asking you, if you're listening to this, invite God right now to give you revelation of Him, to give you the courage to dare to believe He's real and that He's better than you think. Because again, His thoughts are higher, His ways are higher as far as heaven is above the earth, his thoughts and ways are higher than our ways. So, again, Father, give us revelation to how much higher your thoughts are, to how much better your ways are. Help us give up anything else that would hinder us from the uh the amazing life that you intended always for us, that we would acknowledge you, surrender each one of our ways to you, and that through the mind of Christ, we'll begin to sense the direction we need to go, the wisdom we need to take steps forward. I thank you for forgiveness. I thank you for the life you have poured out on us through your Son, by the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, and we receive it. We receive it, God. Help us not resist the very life you poured yourself out to give us. We would dare to believe that the God who made this universe made it for those he prepared it for. Did I say that right? You know what I meant, God. David in the Bible said really he knew that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. He knew he was a work of art, a majestic, divine work of eternal art. God, help us dare to believe who we are because you made us. Help us dare to believe how good you are. Father, I pray healing in people's bodies right now that need healing. I ask hope to arise for people who need hope. I pray for restored relationships, restored marriages, restored bodies, because that power is at work in us. And I pray for healing right now in people's bodies. I would I thank you, Father, for your life. You said you came that we would have life and have it to the full, the God kind of life. And I believe you are that good God. And I just pray, God, the person receive it right now, just say thank you for it. God, I believe it's working in me. I will have a better life because you are a good God. Not because I have earned it, but because you are a good God. You have a pathway forward and a pathway out of any situation. Father, you give us the grace and the power to walk through it. We grow stronger through it. We also are will agree with you, which your word also says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us out of them all. A L L means all. So, Father, for this year, 2026, help our hearts be shifted and anchored on your goodness, anchored in a hope that is a good expectation. Inspire us and teach us to speak life. You told me give you words to create with, and I've done it sometimes. God may help me increase it so much more. And I ask you to bless the life, the day, the family, the job, the health of this person listening in your powerful name, in your beautiful name for your glory because you are so good. Now, if you sense the presence of God, if you can, take some time just to be still for a moment and let God let his presence be recognized by you. It's not hard. But I've also been in a space where my heart had thick walls. I'd say hard, but I don't want it to sound judgmental. I had thick walls that kept me from sensing God's presence much. It's a whole lot easier the more I trust him and have gotten to know him. But if you're feeling his presence, just soak it in. Let him refresh you. It's what he wants to do. I think it's John 17, 3 that says, and this is eternal life, that they would know you, the one true God, and him who you did send, even Jesus Christ. So eternal life is knowing God, is being still right now, having said yes to him, taking in his presence, allowing his power to work, agreeing with him. When we do this, we are experiencing the ever-present life of God. But I just want to wrap this up to say, God, I just speak blessing. I've asked you, God, to bless their life and I agree. Blessing on their life, hope restored on their life, hope restored, that healed bodies that people are getting healed right now just by agreeing with your goodness in Jesus' name. Father, that you get all the glory because you are the source of life. And I thank you for the opportunity to speak life in your name. But I speak blessing on your year, blessing on your family, blessing on your business. I just want to keep saying it. God made you to bless you. He thought you up so you could be his own. It was his good pleasure to do that. It's his good pleasure to see it happen. I'll wrap it up with this. The book of John, chapter 10, verse 10. Jesus said, The thief comes only to kill, to steal, and to destroy. But I came that you would have life and have it to the full. I'm not someone just making this up. I'm just repeating what Jesus Himself said he came for. I pray you have a blessed week. You have hope renewed, and you get some big dreams for your future. Amen. Hey friend, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you please share it and leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts? That really helps me reach others. The link to 100 Prayers releasing 100 Cares is in the show notes, and thanks for listening. Until then, be kind to you. Because then it's a whole lot easier to be kind to anybody else.