Make The Bible Nonnegotiable

We make the case that daily Bible reading is the foundation for hearing God clearly, breaking cycles, and walking in authority instead of spiritual defeat. We share Stacy’s journey from childhood familiarity to adult distance, then back to a Word-centered life shaped by the Holy Spirit, Scripture meditation, and obedience.

• why recognizing God’s voice requires time in Scripture 
• Stacy’s shift from memorized verses to a neglected Bible 
• starting small with audio Bible habits and daily chapters 
• inviting the Holy Spirit before reading for revelation 
• the Bible as living and active, not just information 
• Jesus as the Word made flesh and Scripture as intimacy 
• the Word of God as the sword in spiritual warfare 
• identity in Christ and verses that dismantle lies 
• meditating day and night, then living what you read 
• reflection questions that point to hidden breakthrough 
• a closing prayer for hunger, guidance, and courage to begin 

Beloved, if this episode touched your heart today, I want to ask you to do three things:

First - make a commitment today. Even if it's just one chapter a day, pick up your Bible, invite the Holy Spirit and start. Don't wait until you understand it all. Don't wait until you feel ready. Just start. Watch what God does over time.

Second - share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Ask the Holy Spirit, whom do you need me to send this to? Because somebody in your life right now is fighting battles they could win. If only they were in the word. Be the one who demonstrates obedience. 

And third - if you haven't already, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review wherever you're listening. Every single review helps this podcast reach more people who need to encounter the heart of the Father. 

You can also follow me on YouTube @AwarenessUnlockedOfficial and visit awarenessonlocked.com for the full blog, transcripts, and resources from every episode.

Transcript

The Book With Every Answer

Speaker 0:00

Did you know that there is a book on your shelf that has the answer to every single question your soul has ever asked? The reason you feel anxious, the reason you keep repeating the same cycles, the reason your prayers feel like they hit the ceiling, the reason the enemy keeps getting the upper hand, the reason you don't know who you are, it's all in there. And the enemy knows this, which is why he will do anything to keep you out of it. He'll keep you busy, he'll keep you tired, he'll keep you entertained, he'll keep you scrolling, he'll convince you that you don't have time, that you won't understand it, that it's boring, that it's outdated, that you'll get it tomorrow because he knows that the moment you open that book and start reading with the Holy Spirit, he loses every ounce of power he had over your life. I lived in spiritual defeat for years, not because God wasn't real, not because God wasn't moving, but because I wasn't in the Word. I had given the enemy silent agreements I didn't even know I was making, because I didn't know what God's Word said about me. And the day I made the Bible non-negotiable in my daily life, everything changed. I started hearing his voice clearly. The enemy started losing his grip. Spiritual gifts began to rise up in me. Revelation became my daily portion. Today, beloved, I'm going to share with you how reading God's word transformed me from a spiritually unaware woman to a daughter who walks in authority and how it can do the same for you. Because the Bible is not just a book, it is the very voice of God on paper. So stay with me. Welcome

Welcome And The Season Focus

Speaker 2:28

to Awareness Unlocked. I'm Stacy -Ann Carter. This is a space dedicated to awakening souls through spiritual awareness, inspiring transformation, and guiding us to discover our true identity in Christ. Here we explore real stories, biblical truths, and spiritual reflections that remind us of one powerful truth. God is love. My prayer is that every episode draws you closer to God, fills you with hope, and awakens you to the life He created you to live. Welcome back, family, to Awareness Unlocked. I am so grateful, so honored that you've chosen to spend this time with me today. And whether this is your first time here or you've been walking this journey with me from the very beginning, please hear me when I say this. You are not here by accident. God is strategic. The Holy Spirit drew you to this very moment. And I believe he has something specific he wants to deposit into your spirit today. We are still in season two theme: "How To Build A Real Relationship With God". Not religious, not seasonal, real, the kind of relationship where he becomes the very center of your life. So far, we've walked through acknowledging God, how to worship and praise him, how full surrender changes intimacy with him. And today in episode four, we're stepping into what I personally consider the foundation of it all. "Reading

Why The Word Is Foundation

Speaker 4:21

God's Word". Because, beloved, you can acknowledge a God you don't know, you can worship a God you don't know, you can even surrender to a God you don't know. But you cannot build a real, lasting, intimate relationship with a God whose voice you've never learned to recognize. And his voice, his thoughts, his heart, his promises, his warnings, his love letters to you, they are all in the pages of one book. Because Jesus' love for you made sure that you would not walk blindly in this world ruled by a god of deception. I'm going to share with you my own journey with God's Word, how I went from a child reciting verses, to an adult who put the Bible on the back burner, to a daughter who cannot live a single day without it now. So get comfortable, open your heart, and let's step in his presence together. I

From Childhood Faith To Distance

Speaker 5:33

was a child who grew up in the church. I could recite Bible verses from memory before I was even six years old. I was in competitions at church, quoting scriptures, learning the books of the Bible. The word was in me at that time, before I even fully understood what I was carrying. But then I grew up. I stepped into my adult life, and somewhere along the way, I started living in the world, instead of being in the world but not of it. And the Bible, the very book I had memorized as a child, got pushed to the back burner. I went from being able to recite scriptures straight from memory to only remembering a few chapters and a few prayers. That's it. That was all I had left of what I once carried. It wasn't until that season where the awareness began to rise in me that God was missing from my life, that I started to physically picking up the Bible again. And beloved, I am telling you, I literally felt like I had just opened a project I had no knowledge of. Words on pages that didn't connect. Stories I couldn't follow. A book that should have felt familiar - felt foreign. Months later, I was still reading with no real understanding. That's when the spiritual warfare attack came. The unseen

Starting Small With The Bible

Speaker 7:14

forces that came and sought to take my life. But God delivered me. And when I began to walk with the Lord, I started small. I started with the audio Bible. I'd listen, I'd read just a few chapters daily. I was doing what I could with what I had. But it wasn't until I went into a season of isolation with the Holy Spirit that I dove deeper. Even when I didn't understand, I kept reading. I intentionally dedicated one chapter a day. And I converted to a Bible that had space for me to take notes because I'm a note taker. I wanted to be able to go back to what he was showing me later on. Eventually, I started doing something that changed everything. Before each read, I would invite the Holy Spirit's presence. I would ask him, help me understand what I'm reading. Show me what you want me to know about you in this chapter. Show me what you want me to know about myself in this chapter. Is there a verse from this chapter you want me to meditate on today? And Lord, write your Words on the tablet of my heart. At first, nothing seemed different, but I kept going and I kept inviting him every day. And eventually, I began to have encounters with the Holy Spirit. Encounters that confirmed, without a doubt, that his presence was with me in those quiet moments with His Word. Now, my walk with the Word has evolved. I am currently reading the whole Bible in three months with a Christian group that the Lord Himself connected me with. And I can honestly say it has changed my life drastically. I began to hear his voice clearer, and that is where my daily guidance from the Holy Spirit truly began. Since then, I have received unexpected spiritual gifts, gifts that brought me deeper in relationship with him, and gifts that were meant to help others. I have been in the Word and now have more knowledge, more wisdom, more truth, more revelation. I am no longer fooled by the enemy because I know who I am in Christ. I know my power. I know who abides in me and I in him. When I went through my spiritual warfare, I was terrified of the enemy because I thought he had all the power, only to find out in the Word that the enemy had no power. He was depending on me to give him power, through silent agreements I was making because I had no knowledge. At that time, I didn't know who I was in Christ. But now, because I'm in the Word daily, the devil is shaking in his boots. In Luke 10, verse 19, Jesus says, "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you". That, beloved, that's the authority I now walk in. And reading the word hasn't just been powerful for warfare in my own life, it has been powerful for the warfare over my family as well. And this is what my daily life in the word looks like now. Twelve chapters a day. If my schedule doesn't allow me to sit down and read, I listen to the audio Bible in the car. And at night, I fall asleep with the word playing all night long. Because faith comes by hearing the word. It has changed my life drastically. It has become my life. Psalm 119:105 says: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path". That beloved, that is exactly what God's word has been in my life daily. I turn to it for everything. The Lord told me to stay ready so that I don't have to get ready. Being in the word daily has taught me and prepared me for spiritual opposition because the enemy is always out to seek, kill, and destroy. And he will always go after the ones with no knowledge first, especially the ones who has a calling they may not even be aware of. In the Bible, Hosea 4, verse 6 states, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge". That was once me, but I no longer fall in that category due to God's words. In Ephesians 6, verse 17 states, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And I have also learned in Ephesians 6, verse 12, that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly rims. The word is the sword of the spirit. So not only do I know God's word, but I use it as a weapon against the enemy schemes in my daily life. Reading the word has also helped me restructure every dimension of my life. The Bible will always be a part of me, and I pray the same for you. Now, beloved, let's go deeper because I want you to walk away from this episode with more inspiration. I want you to walk away with revelation. I want the word of God to be unlocked for you in a brand new way today. So

Scripture That Transforms Not Informs

Speaker 13:51

the first thing we have to understand is that the Bible is not like any other book on your shelf. The Bible is not a book, it is alive. Hebrews 4, verse 12 says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart". Zoom in on these powerful words from this scripture. Living, active, sharper than any sword. Beloved, the Bible doesn't just inform you, it transforms you. It doesn't just give you information, it performs surgery on your heart. It reaches places no therapist, no relationship, no podcast, including this one, could ever reach you. When you open the Word, the Word opens you. When you read the Word, the Word reads you. So let me ask you this. When was the last time you let the word read you, instead of just reading it? sit with that. Now you need to know that all scripture is God breathed. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 and 17 tells us why the Bible is so powerful. It reads, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work". Breathed out by God. Every word, every verse, every chapter, every single page, God breathed it. This means when you open the Bible, when you open your Bible, you are not reading the words of men. You are reading the very breath of God. And look at what it says it does. It teaches you, it corrects you, it trains you, and it equips you for every good work. Beloved, there is no situation in your life that the word of God cannot speak to. None. The word has the answer for your marriage, for your finances, for your parenting, for your healing, for your purpose, for your future.

Speaker 1 16:45

You don't need a new strategy. You need to be in the Word. Now here is where it gets beautiful, beloved.

Speaker 16:56

This is the revelation that changed everything for me. John 1, verse 1 says, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God".

Speaker 1 17:12

And then verse 14, it says, "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us". Did you catch that? That is so powerful.

Speaker 17:30

"JESUS is the WORD". The very person who demonstrated the act of true love for you and I when he died on the cross. So when you read the Bible, you are not just reading about Jesus. You are spending time with Jesus. Every time you open that book, you are sitting at his feet. You are hearing his voice. You are encountering his presence. That's why the enemy fights you so hard to keep you out of it. Because he knows that every page you read is another minute in the presence of the one who has all the authority over him. So what would change in your life if you started seeing your time in the word as a date with Jesus?

Speaker 1 18:29

Not a religious duty. "The Word Is Your Weapon". Beloved, the enemy is real. The

Authority In Christ Against Warfare

Speaker 1 18:41

spiritual battle is real.

Speaker 18:44

And God has not left you defenseless. I mentioned briefly in my testimony that in Ephesians 6 verse 17 says, "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God". Out of every piece of armor God gives the believer, the only offensive weapon is the Word. Let me break this down for you.

Speaker 1 19:12

The helmet protects. The breastplate protects. The shield protects. The shoes protect.

Speaker 19:23

But the sword of the spirit, the Word, that is what you use to attack the lies, the schemes, and the strongholds of the enemy. Look at how Jesus did it. When the enemy tempted him in the wilderness in Matthew 4, three times, what did Jesus respond with?

Speaker 1 19:48

"It is written, it is written, it is written".

Speaker 19:54

He didn't argue, he didn't negotiate, he didn't get emotional, he pulled out the word, and the enemy had to flee. Beloved, you cannot fight a spiritual battle with a word you don't know. That is why the enemy is winning so many battles in believers' lives. Not because he's powerful, but because we're unarmed. It's time to pick up your sword. The Word Also Reveals Your True Identity This is the part of my testimony I want to drive home for you, beloved.

Speaker 20:23

I said it earlier that when I went through my spiritual warfare, I thought the enemy had all the power. But the moment I got in the word, I discovered the truth.

Speaker 1 20:53

He had no power.

Speaker 20:57

He had been operating off my ignorance. How many of us live in defeated lives, not because God isn't moving, but because we don't know what he's already said about us. The word tells us, "you are chosen" in 1 Peter 2, verse 9, "you are a new creation" in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. "You are more than a conqueror" in Romans 8, verse 37, "you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus", in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. "You are seated in the heavenly places with Christ" in Ephesians 2, verse 6, "no weapon formed against you shall prosper" in Isaiah 54, verse 17. But beloved, if you don't know these things, you cannot walk in them. So what lies have you been believing about yourself that the word of God flat out contradicts? The answer to that question is exactly where your breakthrough is hiding.

Speaker 1 22:13

Now

Meditate Then Become A Doer

Speaker 1 22:14

this next part is critical, beloved. You need to meditate. Don't just read. Reading the word is good, but God calls us to something deeper.

Speaker 22:29

Joshua 1 verse 8 says "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success". To meditate on the word means to chew on it, to roll it over in your mind, to speak it over your life, to let it sink into your spirit until it becomes a part of you. This is why I started inviting the Holy Spirit before each read, because reading without the Holy Spirit is just information. Reading with the Holy Spirit is revelation. The same chapter you've read ten times can suddenly come alive in a brand new way when you simply pause and say, "Holy Spirit, teach me, show me, reveal yourself to me through this word". And finally, beloved, this is where so many of us miss it. Be a doer of the word. James 1, verse 22 says, "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves". The word was never meant to just be read. The word was meant to be lived. It is not enough to know the word. We have to walk it out. We have to forgive when the word says forgive. We have to give when the word says give. We have to trust when the word says trust. We have to surrender when the word says surrender. Because in Isaiah 55, verse 11 promises us, So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth, it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Here is the reassurance His word will not return void. Every promise, every truth, every declaration, it will accomplish what He sent it to do when you stand on it, speak it, and live it. This brings me to the final reflection question. Is there a word from God you've been hearing but haven't been doing? That beloved is exactly where the Holy Spirit is waiting to bring breakthrough today.

Prayer For Hunger And Revelation

Speaker 1 25:23

Now let's quiet our hearts and mind and come before the Father together.

Speaker 25:27

Let's pray. Father, Psalm 119, verse 105 declares, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. So, Lord, today, we ask you to make your word the lamp that guides our every step, the light that illuminates every dark corner of our lives, the compass that brings us back to you every time we begin to wander. Hebrews 4, verse 12 says, Your word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. So, Holy Spirit, let your word do its work in us. Cut away every lie, pierce every place we have hidden from you, heal every wound the enemy has used your silence to deepen. Father, Matthew 4, verse 4 says, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. So Lord, teach us to feast on your word the way we feast on food, daily, faithfully, hungrily. Let it become our nourishment, our sustenance, our breath. Holy Spirit, before we open our Bibles, would you meet us there? Write your words on the tablet of our hearts. Show us who you are. Show us who we are in you. Give us revelation upon revelation upon revelation. And Lord, for everyone who has been afraid to open that book, intimidated by it, or unsure where to begin, would you give them the grace to take the first step? Would you make your word come alive for them the way you have made it come alive for me? Isaiah 55, verse 11 says that your word will not return void. So we receive it today, Father. We receive every promise. We receive every truth. We receive every word you are speaking over our lives. And we declare it shall accomplish what you sent it to do. We love you, Lord. We thank you for your Word. We thank you for being the Word made flesh.

Speaker 1 27:56

In Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

Commit Share Subscribe And Next Steps

Speaker 28:02

Beloved, if this episode touched your heart today, I want to ask you to do three things. First, make a commitment today. Even if it's just one chapter a day, pick up your Bible, invite the Holy Spirit and start. Don't wait until you understand it all. Don't wait until you feel ready. Just start. Watch what God does over time. Second, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Ask the Holy Spirit, whom do you need me to send this to? Because somebody in your life right now is fighting battles they could win. If only they were in the word. Be the one who demonstrates obedience. And third, if you haven't already, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review wherever you're listening. Every single review helps this podcast reach more people who need to encounter the heart of the Father. You can also follow me on YouTube at AwarenessUnlockedOfficial and visit awarenessonlocked.com for the full blog, transcripts, and resources from every episode. And before I let you go, I want to tell you what's coming next. Episode 5 of season two is titled "How to Be in Alignment with God". Because beloved, everything we've talked about so far this season had led us here. Acknowledgement leads to worship. Worship leads to surrender. Surrender leads us into the word. And the word is what brings us into alignment. In episode five, we're going to talk about what alignment with God actually looks like in your daily life. How to know when you're aligned and when you're not. The areas of alignment touch what we so often overlook, and how living in alignment with God unlocks his power, his peace, and his promise in your life like nothing else can. You don't want to miss it. Until then, beloved, pick up that book. Spend time with Jesus on the pages. Let his voice become more familiar to you than any other voice. And remember, every answer your soul is searching for is already written. I love you. God loves you more. Thank you for spending this time with me on Awareness Unlocked. As we wrap up today's episode, I want to remind you, if this message touched your heart, please share it with someone who needs this message of hope. Take a moment to leave a comment or review. Your feedback not only encourages me, but also helps others discover Awareness Unlocked and join our growing community. To continue this journey of spiritual awakening and transformation, subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss the next episode. Until next time, stay aware, stay rooted in truth, and remember, God's love is always calling you into something greater. I'm your host, Stacy -Ann Carter.