Tension - April 26, 2026

In this meditation, Jen Shoutta invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, and reflect on the message shared at Southeast Christian Church on Sunday, April 26, 2026. This episode offers a quiet space to prayerfully process the sermon, allowing its truth to move from head knowledge into heart transformation.

Through Scripture, reflection prompts, and moments of stillness, you’ll be gently guided to listen for God’s voice, notice what is stirring in your spirit, and consider how the message speaks into your everyday life. Whether you’re revisiting the sermon or engaging with it for the first time, this meditation is designed to help you encounter Jesus personally and carry His truth with you throughout your week.

Click here to watch the sermon.

You can reach Jen at jen.shoutta@southeastcc.com 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to a time of worship and prayer to connect with our Creator, heart, soul, and mind. In Matthew 22, the Sadducees ask Jesus what the greatest commandment is. His answer is twofold. He replies, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. So, friends, this time is a time set aside for us to worship and pray, not only with our minds, but with our hearts and our souls, so that we can be transformed from the inside out and love our neighbors as ourselves. My hope with these meditations is to give us space to reflect on what we heard in the sermon on Sunday. How do we take what we heard and know in our heads to be true and let it transform our hearts into the likeness of Christ? So wherever you are, I just invite you to take a deep breath in through your nose and let it out through your mouth. In through the nose, and let it out through the mouth. One more time in through the nose and say it out through the mouth. Inhale through the nose. Seal the lips and exhale through the nose. Just continue breathing with your rhythm of breath in through the nose and out through the nose. Genesis 2, 7 says, Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And the man became a living creature. So as you're here, I just invite you to begin to notice your breath and take a moment to give thanks to the one who gave you that breath. And know that he is as close to you as your next breath. Now I invite you to get curious. What is your breath like? Is it fast or slow? Is it high up in your chest? Or can you begin to slow your breath down and let it come all the way down to the bottom of your belly? Let your ribs expand, let your belly expand with each breath in. And as you exhale, can you imagine that you're emptying a balloon, releasing that stale air that no longer serves you, making room for fresh, life-giving oxygen. The more that I learn about the breath and the calming effects it has on our nervous system, the more I am amazed at God's design. Of course, he designed us to be calmed by breathing in his breath of life. So now I invite you to begin to notice your body. If you're seated in a chair, I invite you to plant your feet firmly on the ground and sit up nice and tall. Or maybe you're walking as you're listening to this. If so, can you begin to notice your feet as they move along the ground? Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, I just invite you to relax your shoulders, relax your jaw, and continue to breathe deeply, the breath of life. To connect our minds to our hearts and our souls, we're going to practice breath prayer. The practice of breath prayer is the intentional linking of our breath with a word or a short phrase. Our breathing is something that comes naturally. It's automatic, continuous, and involuntary. And when we let our inhales and our exhales represent an intentionally chosen prayer, we begin to live out Paul's instructions in 1 Thessalonians 5.17 to pray without ceasing. So in the quiet of your heart, on your next inhale whisper, release the tension. And on your next exhale, whisper, accept the invitation. Inhale, release the tension, and exhale, accept the invitation. Take a moment to just breathe and pray it out with your rhythm of breath. Inhaling, release the tension, and exhaling, accept the invitation. This week's message focused on the book of Jonah and the idea that oftentimes, like Jonah, we try to escape the tension we're feeling. Scott asked this question. And what if, in our trying to escape the tension, God is actually trying to redirect our path? This message hit home for me and brought to light what I've been doing with the tension I've been battling in my own life. I've been trying to escape it and I didn't even realize it. So, friends, what tension are you struggling with in your life? Are you like Jonah and actively trying to escape it? Can you begin to flip your perspective and ask God, what are you trying to tell me in this tension? As we consider these questions, I want to invite you to meditate on Jonah's prayer as he was trying to escape the tension he was feeling. I'm going to do that by reading scripture over you a few times. The first time that I read it, just let the words wash over you and through you. Don't try to analyze them or apply them. Just soak in the word of God. Jonah 2, 1 through 2 says, From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said, In my distress, I called to the Lord and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead, I called for help, and you listened to my cry. Do you believe that He hears you and that He answers you? As I read God's word over you again, this time I want you to listen for a word or a phrase that stands out to you. In the pause after, let that word or phrase land and take up space. Let the Holy Spirit breathe on it, and then begin to notice its impact on you. Jonah 2, 1 through 2 says, From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God. He said, In my distress, I called to the Lord and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead, I called for help, and you listened to my cry. Friends, I invite you to take a moment to cry out to the Lord about the tension that you're experiencing. And then listen. Listen for how He is going to answer you? As I read God's word over you again, this time listen for how you can apply His word to your life. Like a puzzle piece, how does it fit in your life and in your heart? In the pause after, reflect and ask yourself, how then will I live in the light of God's truth? Jonah 2, 1 through 2 says, From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God. He said, In my distress I called to the Lord and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead, I called for help, and you listened to my cry. Father God, thank you that in you there is no condemnation in Christ. Lord, I ask that you forgive us for the times we try to escape the tension in our lives. Lord, I pray that we would be a people that notice when we are trying to escape the tension, and that we would cry out to you in prayer instead of trying to escape. Lord, I pray that we would turn to you and ask you what you are trying to bring to our attention with attention. Lord, I pray that we would be a people that would then respond to whatever it is you are inviting us to with joy and with gladness as your humble servants that get to partner with you in making your presence known in our community and beyond. Lord, thank you for your patience with us. It's in your name that I pray. Amen.