Do you ever feel like God just isn’t listening? You know you’re supposed to trust him and that he’s supposedly will provide for your every need, but you’re having a hard time accepting this reality. In all honesty, it feels like the walls are simply crumbling around you and God is standing by watching you get hit by the bricks.
In this episode I am going to share some personal insights I’ve had in my own life this week. I mean, was God really there when my son was peeing in a Gatorade bottle in my car as the police officer was walking up to the window? How can we be sure of His presence in moments like that?
At the end of this episode, I’m going to leave you with five ways you can find God when it feels like you just can’t trust him. And believe me, I know how hard that is to admit and say out loud. It’s not what we’re supposed to say, but it’s the reality. Sometimes, trusting God is HARD!
P.S. I have an AMAZING OPPORTUNITY for you to be a part of a free community of fellow aspiring saints. Starting on August 7th I will be co-hosting a FREE book study on Dan Burke’s book titled “Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits.” Each session will consist of fellowship, learning, and an opportunity for you to get coached by me with no fees attached. Click HERE if you want in!
Do you ever feel like God just isn’t listening? You know you’re supposed to trust him and that he’s supposedly will provide for your every need, but you’re having a hard time accepting this reality. In all honesty, it feels like the walls are simply crumbling around you and God is standing by watching you get hit by the bricks.
In this episode I am going to share some personal insights I’ve had in my own life this week. I mean, was God really there when my son was peeing in a Gatorade bottle in my car as the police officer was walking up to the window? How can we be sure of His presence in moments like that?
At the end of this episode, I’m going to leave you with five ways you can find God when it feels like you just can’t trust him. And believe me, I know how hard that is to admit and say out loud. It’s not what we’re supposed to say, but it’s the reality. Sometimes, trusting God is HARD!
P.S. I have an AMAZING OPPORTUNITY for you to be a part of a free community of fellow aspiring saints. Starting on August 7th I will be co-hosting a FREE book study on Dan Burke’s book titled “Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits.” Each session will consist of fellowship, learning, and an opportunity for you to get coached by me with no fees attached. Click HERE if you want in!
Hey everyone. And welcome back to another week of persistence in prayer. If you are new to this podcast, I just want to say welcome. I apologize. This week, my voice is a little off. As I've been battling a cold, but I am so grateful that you are here. And today's episode is all about Lord. I don't know how to trust you with this. How do I continue to trust? When it feels like the walls are just crumbling around me. I just got off of a coaching call minutes ago with my own. Catholic coach business, coach Lisa Cannon, who is incredible. And one of the things that. Came up and comes up many weeks is. This. Trust in God that entrepreneurs have to have, but it's not just entrepreneurs. It is everyone. It's this. Full surrender. Years ago. I remember when I first started prayer journaling, that was something I wrote about a lot was Lord, I want to surrender to you, but I don't know how. It's. Should be simple. But we make it complicated. We get distracted by all the things that are going wrong by all the things that don't feel good. By the thoughts in our own minds and we don't know what to do. So today I really want to talk about. How do we find our way back to God? How do we trust him and stay present in the moment? And. Not avoid overwhelmed because we're going to feel overwhelmed. That is something that's going to happen in our lives as human beings. But how do we. Sit with the overwhelm and still come back to God. How do we meet God? Where we are in the moment. This idea of God will give me everything I need. Isn't just an idea. It's, it's a truth. God gives us everything we need. And we know that in our minds, But it is different to feel convicted in that, in our hearts. And to continue to focus on that in our minds, because we are easily distracted. We get pulled into the past things that have happened into our. Um, Hertz and our wounds, or we get pulled into the future into our worries and our fears of how. Things may or may not go. How we might not be financially provided for, how we might be treated at work, how we might have to deal with our kids, screaming and yelling at each other in the car or not behaving at church, whatever it happens to be. We get pulled into these ideas about what could happen. It's these. Thoughts. these implicit thoughts, these thoughts that imply something that could or could not happen, but there's no factual base that this is what is going to happen. Even if it's happened before you might have evidence that your kids aren't going to behave at church. But that doesn't mean that what's going on in your mind is what's actually going to happen when you get to church. So it's living in this reality that God is going to give us everything that we need. Now that word need is key here because what we need and what we want are two very different things. So something to keep in mind when you are taking your concerns and your fears to prayer. If you are saying, or give me what I need, Lord, help me. I know you're going to provide for all of my needs. Yes, he is going to provide for your needs. But that may look different then what you want. The Israelites wandering in the desert, probably wanted something other than bread every day to eat. They probably got frustrated, but their needs were met. They were fed. Did it look like maybe what they wanted, what they had idealized in their heads? No, but they were provided for. And when you focus on what you are given and what graces there are every single day to nurture your soul and your body, you forget about the things that you want. Because you are so abundantly grateful for the things that you need. So again, I go back to, how can we live in this. In this truth that God is going to give us everything we need. Well, number one, we have to come to him. I was getting coached today. And as I sat there with my eyes closed and I was reflecting on all the struggles in my own life. Um, we just had a vehicle that we put a lot of money into to help get us through the next couple of years. It's our main family vehicle. It took it in for a routine oil change on Friday. I made it a couple of blocks and my whole car completely shut down. Uh, we found out today that it looks like the entire engine might be out, which now we're looking at replacing the whole car or investing a lot more money into a car that may or may not be able to provide for what we need in the upcoming years. So. That's just one thing that is going on in my life right now. And, um, My mind wanted to go into problem solving mode of how can I fix this? But I realized that it was important for me to sit with that emotion. Of what I was feeling. And be honest with the Lord about okay. God, I have some doubts here. Like you told me you were going to provide for me. And now it seems like it's one thing after another. Um, and as I sat there with God, He just said, come to me. Like, how do you stay convicted in, in where the Lord is calling you? And he just reminded me come to me. The fifth joyful mystery is when Mary and Joseph find. Jesus in the temple. And it's that, that revelation of like, well, where else did you think I would be like, Jesus tells them like, I'm I'm with my father where else would I be? And so when we are struggling, when things don't seem to be going the way we want, when we feel like we can't trust god with. Our needs and how we are asking him to provide for us. We have to go back to him. How do we find him? Where do we find him? Well, There are a couple of ways. Number one, I talk about having a set morning, mental prayer time, every single day. A consistent prayer practice where you are not distracted by anything else. You do it. The first thing you wake up in the morning, you spend time with God, not just vocalizing prayer. But listening. Listening to how he is speaking to you. Starting with the awareness that you are in the presence of God. That he is there with you, even when you don't feel a thing. Even when you feel like he's a million miles away, it is acknowledging that he is there and that he is present. That is how you start to hear his voice. That is how you stay convicted. And stay on the path of truth of staying on that path of holiness, of ignoring the noise and all of the worries and the fears and the doubts that want to creep in when it feels like, God, I just don't know how to trust you with this. I don't know how to let go. You go to him. And he gives you the grace to let go. The second place that you go to find God is adoration. You go and adore. I've talked about this before, but it could be five minutes stopping in a church and Jesus is there in the tabernacle. Or, have a set, committed time, a date with Jesus every single week. Where you are going to an adoration chapel and you were spending time with him. You may have thoughts about I can't fit this in there's no time for one more thing. But I promise you if you. Want this, if you want to be able to surrender, if you want to be able to trust in God, then you are going to find. Time. Several years ago. I remember I was struggling with. My weight and body image, which is silly looking back on it. But in that moment, it was a thing I was stressed out and I, I went from being a college athlete to barely working out. Um, it was an off season where it wasn't coaching and. It just. Seem like my body was not cooperating. And my husband. Who. Has a degree in exercise. Science finally looked at me one day and he said, you know what, if you, if you wanted to lose weight, you would have already done it. Like if that's what you really wanted. It's easy to say that you want something. It's something completely different. To act on it. As human beings, we jump on that bandwagon all the time. Well, I want this, I wish this was different. Well, we don't actually do anything to make it happen. We aren't willing to prioritize it. So. Well, we might have this desire of, oh, I want to look. Great. In a swimsuit or I want my clothes to fit well. If that's not our priority and our primary focus. Then that's probably, what's not. Not what's going to happen. So if you're. Primary focus is not, I want to be a Saint. I want to surrender to God. I want to have a relationship with Jesus. That of course, all of the other things are going to come first. And you, aren't going to progress in that spiritual life, the way that you want to. And that's where that's persistence in prayer. Title comes from is we have to continue to show up when it's hard. When we don't feel like it. There are so many times when I can find myself like. Oh, I don't want to say I don't want to do my nightly examine. I want to sit here. And I want to binge watch Netflix. But the truth is I know that's not really what I want. That's not my deepest desire. And anytime when. When I do sit. Sit down and watch even an episode on Netflix. And I don't fit in my prayer because I go up and I think. I'm going to get it in and I fall asleep. Like I don't. Wake up in the morning, feeling fulfilled. Something is missing. And you may not be there in your spiritual journey right now. Maybe. You need. Or had this thought that you need. Your TV time to de-stress to decompose. But I want to challenge you to ask yourself. Is it something you need or is it something that you want. Is that time. Filling you, is it nourishing your soul? Is it helping your anxiety? and your stress, or is it. Distracting you from your anxiety and your stress. And please do not get me wrong. I'm not saying TV is bad. I'm not saying that having a movie night. Is a bad thing. You can enjoy. Some of the human things that we have in our lives. Some of the conveniences. But if that is your every day routine, And. And you are. Not giving any of your time to God. Then maybe reflect on that. And another thought that just came to me. Um, holy spirit showing up here is I was recently reading on the contemplative life and there's a part in Saint Teresa of Avila's The Way of Perfection talking about how our time is not Really our own it's God's time. And so if he asks us to give back some of his time to him, Like who are we to say? No. Like this is his time. He gives it to us. It's not our time. This isn't our time. It's his time. So. Are we offering any of it back to him? And if we're not then can we really be upset when we feel like we can't trust him? Because it's on us to go to him. So come to me, come to God. Adore. Go and sit and just love our Lord and let him love you. Because that trust will come. As you spend time and you learn to know that Shepherd's voice. The third one I want to say is reflect. You've heard me talk on here about. The daily examine by temperament. I continue to learn more and more about seeing Ignatius and. These ideas about finding God in every moment. I also love the quote by. St Jose Maria. Escriva about, if we can't learn to find God in a simple everyday moments, then we are never going to find him. Because God is truly. Really present in. All things and everything. And so it's this growing in? Self-awareness. It's. Recognizing. The graces. And not just the trials. A gracious heart can not be angry. A gracious heart can not be frustrated. A gracious heart. It is not. Overwhelmed. It is simply grateful. And as you bring those gratitudes to God. Your heart will overflow with love. And simplicity. Becomes. I want. Simplicity becomes. Becomes a desire. Being, becomes something we crave rather than something we fight. And coming from someone like me, who is a Dewar through and through. I can tell you that. The more you come to him, the more you will desire to be. That doesn't mean it's not still a struggle. But it doesn't mean I don't have to fight my. Human inclinations, many times a day to just white knuckle fight through, get all the things done. But the more you come to him. The more, you actively lift your heart and your mind to God. The more, you will be. Called to be. And the more you will desire to simply be, to feel your emotions. To be aware of your thoughts. To recognize the fruits of those thoughts. And that is. So much of what I do in Catholic coaching. I have an upcoming free book study. If you're not on the list yet. The book we're going to be reading is spiritual warfare and the discernment of spirits by Dan Burke. And it is a great introduction. Too. Self-awareness St. Ignatius teaches. Be aware. Understand. And then reject or accept. So being aware of what is going on, what is, what are the stirrings in your heart? What are the pulls on your heartstrings? What are the thoughts in your mind? Understanding where are those things coming from? Are they coming from the good spirits? Are they coming from the holy spirit, from God? From the angels? From the way that he is working in the people and the movements around us, or are they coming from. The other. Evil spirits. From the fallen angels or the demons or from the evil one himself. Trying to pull you into despair, into anxiety, into fear and worry about what is to come. Rather than trusting God. Who is right here in the present with you in this moment, as you are listening, wherever it is, you are listening. Whether it's on the day, this podcast comes out or it's five years down the road. He is there. With you. So come to the Lord a door. Reflect on the graces. Ask is the next one. Ask. Like ask God. For greater trust. I used to always go to the litany of humility, which I still pray. But the litany of trust has become a new friend. And be specific in this prayer of what you are asking for. Loving and gracious God. Help me to have. A deep. And overwhelming trust in you. To surrender. All that I have and all that I am. To your holy will. To not fight where it is that you were calling me. And how it is that I am being called. To trust you that when I say yes in response, To what you desire and hope for in me. That you will pave the way. To trust that as I take one step forward, even though I cannot see the destination. That you will be there along the journey. To trust. That the people that I need. To help me get where I am going. We'll be there. To trust that the grace that I need will come as I need it. Lord help me to trust and grant me the courage. To face. All that lie before me. Great meta trust. In you. To hear your voice. And not get distracted by all the shiny objects and all of the things. That take me from where it is that you are calling. We have to ask. We have to be specific. And we have to be persistent again and again and again, this is not a one-time ask. This is an every day ask. This is a many moments of everyday ask. To trust. To be humble, to be gracious, to be courageous. When we look at the saints, they weren't just born the way that they died. They weren't just born with this great courage with this great humility. They were born like us. With all of these same thoughts and discouragements and despairs. And yes, they were called in a certain way, but so are we, so are you, you are called in a certain way. And just like the saints we have to fight. We have to fight to show up. We have to fight the discouragement and despair and we have to. Claw along the narrow way. Asking God. For great trust. To take the next step when we can't see what's coming. To take the next step when the waves are crashing. To help keep our eyes fixed on him and on nothing else. And lastly the fifth one I want to talk about today. Is renouncing. Or rejecting and accepting. So again, say meshes says, be aware, understand, and then reject or accept. Um, So. This kind of goes hand in hand with reflecting, but just seeing where are these thoughts and ideas coming from? And then stating in the name of Jesus. I reject. Or in the name of Jesus, I renounce. And saying it out loud. I do this with clients a lot, especially if it's, um, one-on-one. And. This most beautiful reflection that someone sent me was after a call. They said, I did that. I did that prayer and it was. Like balm for the soul, like this healing balm for the soul. And I. Love that is stuck with me. In the name of Jesus. I reject discouragement. The name of Jesus. I reject. That you are not providing for me in the name of Jesus. I reject the lie. That I have not been called to a life of holiness. And the name of Jesus. I reject the lie. That I can't be a good mother or that I'm not a good mother. There are so many things. There are so many lies that we believe. And I know that because. My job is as a Catholic coach is to help people bring. That inner life into the exterior so that they can see it. And these thoughts that come out through coaching. These are lies that they have consented to. They have consented to keep believing. And I have them to many, many, many thoughts and lies that I have consented to believing. And. This renouncing and accepting exercises so helpful too, because it, it brings into light things that we can go. Take two confession. I think that's one of the things that has come up a lot just in my prayer groups is, is people struggling with confession? And I know I've struggled with this too, is. You know, I feel like I'm. Confessing the same things all the time, or I don't know what to say in confession, so I just don't go. Um, but we don't realize. Not, not just the sins, but the imperfections that we all have and the graces that come from confession. And when we do this rejecting exercise. Um, It brings those things into the light. The same with the daily examine, like places in our life where we have maybe been self-reliant. Seeking control. I say those because those are the two that I probably struggle with the most are self-reliance and control. And if you do the book study with me and, um, my friend, Tanya, through the. Spiritual warfare and discernment of spirits, books, city. This is one of the early chapters in the book is an exercise similar to this. And Dan Burke actually talks about, he. I don't remember, he still does. Or he used to have it as pocket. I believe he still has it, but a piece of paper. And on one side you can write like the lie that you are going to renounce. But on the other side, it's like, You then need to accept. So maybe it's a scripture verse that you go back to. So if you are struggling with worry or you're struggling with fear, or you're struggling with control. Then you have the opposing scripture verse there to remind you of what is actually truth. What is the objective truth? Um, Or you can, you can come up with your own too. So. In the name of Jesus. I reject that I am unworthy. And on the other side of that in the name of Jesus, I accept that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. And the name of Jesus. I accept that. I am a wonderful mother. And I am doing my best and the name of Jesus. I accept that God is going to provide everything that I need in the name of Jesus. I accept that I can trust my savior. Because he is the savior. And I, I promise you that this exercise is. This prayer exercise is so powerful. I've done it in groups I've done on my own. And even last week I talked about this, I think on the podcast too. My spiritual director, just calling it to my attention of like, Hey, I know you know this, but did you do this in that moment? Um, Last Friday. I was in my car. And I again, had gotten a routine oil change. I made it a couple of blocks. I had both kids in the car. And my car just completely shut down in the middle of the road. And praise God. I was able to get it into the turning lane. And it would have been so easy. So easy to just. Let all those lies fill me. To fall into worry. About financials. About getting off the road safely. I had two children who really needed to go to the bathroom. So fun fact. Sitting on the side of the road. Trying to get ahold of my husband to come help us out, not knowing what was wrong with my car. If they mess something up when they were changing the oil, if it has just completely tanked out of the blue. Because I had been in to a dealership the day before. To get everything checked out. And everything was fine. So I had all of these thoughts, all of these worries. Um, It was very hot. And so not sitting in the car, no air conditioning. Um, And do you have children? You had to go to the bathroom and we had to pull a, um, thank goodness. There's a Gatorade bottle in the car moments where my four year old. Had his pants down pain and a Gatorade Bible because we couldn't get out of the car and. Praise the Lord policemen pulled up behind us to help keep us safe from getting. Rear-ended but also my son had his pants down as the police officer was coming up to the car. So. Mom when moments there, I can laugh about it. And I'm so grateful that in that time I had the tools to. Do this prayer exercise of in the name of Jesus. I rejected in the name of Jesus. I accept because I went from. Pure panic to. Being able to stay calm and collected by the grace of God and having the holy spirit there with me in that moment of not going to all the worries and being able to. Sit with God and be present with my children and make a memory and an experience out of it. My husband answered on the first call. The police officer sat there with us for maybe 40 minutes to make sure that we were safe. We were able to get my car into a parking lot. Um, By the officer and my husband pushing it and me steering. It was able to get towed that day. And. We thankfully have another vehicle. It's not pretty. It has no air conditioning. It's rusty. But it runs and I. Am overwhelmed with gratitude. But. 10 years ago, I would not have been in this place. I, I would have been incomplete. Panic and tears and frustration and anger with God of why are you not, why are you not providing them coming to you? Why are you not giving me what I need, but the truth is I have what we need. We have a roof over our head. We have food in our bellies. We are able to get where we need to go. And this trust. Again, it's something I have to work at. It's something that you will have to work at. But when you feel like Lord, I don't know how to trust you with this. These are ways that you can build trust. You can go to him. That's what he he's telling us. Come to me. Jesus is with his father in his father's house. So go to him. I adore him. Reflects on the graces that he is providing in your life. Ask for help. Very specifically, ask her help. And asking. Ask him questions. And I want to say. Asking. The right question is huge here. Um, Not that there's only one right question. But. Think about the questions that you are asking in prayer, if it feels like you're not getting an answer, maybe try a different question. And lastly, renouncing and accepting. So I'm going to leave you with that today. This is just really on my heart to share. As I got off of my own coaching call, where I get coached. Um, my name is Kylie. If you're new here, I'm a Catholic mindset coach. I'm a mom, I'm a wife. I'm a mother. I'm an educator. Aye. Love rowing in my spiritual journey with all of you. God has placed this mission on my heart to bring souls to Christ through prayer. And that is what I'm doing. One day at a time, one person at a time. I would love to hear from you. You can find me on my website@wwwdotkyliemhein.com. You can reach out to me on Instagram at Kylie and Hein. Sign up for the book study. It's my birthday on August 7th, which is the day that we are starting the book study. I would absolutely. Love to see you there. Also head on over to the website to get the free. Daily examined by temperament. If you don't know your temperament. You can also get that for free. So check it out. And if you want coached. I have a few spots open for clients right now. I have a 12 week. Plan of life program. If you don't know what plan of life is, you can check out my episode on the plan that everyone needs, or also check out my recent interview. Uh, done by Jessica Castillo at a thriving Catholic you can head on over there and we talk all about it. I'll see you all next time.