The Downward Spiral: Ep 7: "Breaking Free: Choosing Restoration Over Despair"

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Welcome to Faith on the Go series with the Diary of the Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and today's episode is titled The Descent or Ascent,

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A Choice of Restoration.

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We'll focus on the crucial choice that every person faces, whether to remain

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in the spiral of brokenness or to ascend towards healing and restoration through Christ.

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Life is full of defining moments, crossroads where we must choose between staying

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in a place of pain or moving toward redemption.

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The spiral we've discussed in previous episodes is not a prison unless we allow it to be.

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There is always a way out because God's grace makes it possible.

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Today, we'll dive into what the Bible teaches us about this choice and how to

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lean into God's strength to rise from the lowest points.

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So if you can go with me to Luke chapter 15.

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I know I should be there already. Luke chapter 15, verses 17 through 20.

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I love it. Verses 17 through 20.

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And then here we go. When he finally came to his senses, this is a prodigal,

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son when he returns home or when he decides to return home.

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It says, when he came to his senses, He said, how many of my father's higher

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servants have food to spare?

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And here I am starving to death.

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I was sent out and go back.

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I was sent out and go back to my father and say to him, father,

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I have sinned against heaven and against you. That's powerful.

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The prodigal son made a choice when he came to his senses. A lot of times we

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have our children who don't quite get it when we explain to them about the real world.

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But when they come to their senses, they come back home.

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And God is saying, come back home. We're never too far from his reach.

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So if you are aspiring out of control, if you're saying, I don't know if God

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still will accept me. he is saying to you right now, yes, come back home.

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The story of the prodigal son

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reminds us that it's never too late to make the choice to return to God.

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Understanding the descent. Let's talk about what it means to descend.

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Descent happens when we embrace hopelessness. When we believe the lie that change is impossible.

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How many times people tell you that, or we get that in our mind,

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that stinking thinking that this will never change. I've been there.

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This will never, ever change. You know, I was a single mom and the babies are crying.

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You don't have enough money from day one. And it's just rough out there, right?

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You know, especially it's just rough when you're, when it's only you,

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you can't find the father and you're just taking care of your children.

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You're not going to let them starve to death. So you have these moments of hopelessness

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and you believe that will this ever change?

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And that little baby girl, my little baby boy, they are successful citizens

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of the United States of America and I am so proud of them.

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But it's because I did not give up when I thought all things were hopeless.

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We settle into dysfunction. Instead of seeking help, we normalize chaos.

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How many people live in a state of chaos all the time?

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And we just think that is a normal thing. But we settle into this dysfunction

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when we have the Prince of Peace, which is Jesus,

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saying that I bring peace in this chaos. Amen.

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So you can ask the Lord for peace. Lord, I am so tired of living in this dysfunction.

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And I can remember, we all have stories about when we get sick and tired of

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living in chaos, we have to just be real and say, Lord, I'm sick of this chaos.

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I'm sick of this chaos. I remember working at like when I was sharing in my

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other episode that I worked at like, you know, like 7-Eleven,

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like these quick, quick stores. They stay open 24-7.

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They were easy to work at because, you know, I had kids and I would work around,

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work the shift that when my mom can babysit, you know.

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And I said, I'm tired of working in these kind of jobs because,

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you know, different strange people come in those stores. And back in the day,

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they had the Playboy magazines out where we had to keep those behind the counter.

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And you had people saying, give me this and that. So you had to pull out these

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magazines and different things that, you know, you don't want to be exposed to that.

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And then you don't want to be exposed to the people who are exposed to that. Right.

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And so we kind of settle in that dysfunction. I remember asking the Lord,

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I said, Lord, I want a career. I want a job with a career.

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I want a job that I can have insurance.

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I want a job where I can have a pension. I want a job, a career.

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You know, I want that type of job. And so I wasn't even a Christian,

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but I'm asking the Lord because I know he had to hear me because he made all that happen.

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And so we can always get out of that chaos. We just have to ask.

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And I'm not saying it was easy.

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Because a lot of that stuff is dysfunctional because we dysfunctional.

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So we have to find a way to kind of get out of that slowly.

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But needless to say, it is doable.

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We reject grace. Remember, descent, we reject grace. We convince ourselves that

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we're unworthy of forgiveness.

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We have that self-pity. God will never forgive me.

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But this boy, this son of this pride, the son, he says, I'm coming to my senses.

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I cannot be here hungry when I know my dad got some good meat.

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He got some good food at home. So just as a prodigal son found himself at rock

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bottom, many of us hit emotional or spiritual lows.

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But the question remains, will we stay there?

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Have you identified the areas in your life where you've settled instead of seeking

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restoration? liberation.

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When we settle for things, we're never comfortable. We will never be comfortable.

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We will never, ever be comfortable. I don't know about you, but if you're settled.

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For anything, it's not a good thing. Settle for anything.

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Bible stories on redemption. I love both of these stories.

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The Bible is filled with stories of people who ascended from brokenness to purpose.

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I love the story of Joseph. I don't have time to read it today,

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but go to Genesis 37 to 50.

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It's a good story. And you'll hear it a lot in my devotional because Joseph,

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he was betrayed and sold by his brothers.

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Joseph experienced years of hardship, but never lost sight of God's promise.

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His ascent led him, saving nations during famines.

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He even saved his family, the brothers who sold him into slavery.

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So he had this heart that he didn't hold any grudges,

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He just said, and if you read the story, every time I read it,

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I pretty much cry at the end because he had to have a heart.

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He went through hell and high waters, if that makes sense to you.

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It was a lot that he went through, but it matured him.

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But as he matured, it also grew his relationship to Jesus.

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He came really close to his father, God.

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Then we know David's story, it sounds 51. after his fall into sin,

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David repented with a broken and contrite heart and God restored him.

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David's story has a lot of ups, downs, and all arounds, but in the end,

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God said that he had a heart for him.

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David had a heart for God. Why? Because David was quick to repent.

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David got into a whole lot of stuff, but he was always quick to repent.

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So our father doesn't really hold grudges against us. Just be quick to repent.

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Both of these stories remind us that an ascent starts with humility and a desire to be restored.

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So once you decide that I've had enough, then guess what? You can rise up and

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then things will start to change.

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A heart of restoration.

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Restoration is more than recovery. It's about God's complete renewal in what was lost.

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Repentance. True change starts with admitting where we've gone astray.

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So you have to be real with God.

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You know exactly when you turn your back on God.

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When you stop listening to the Holy Spirit give you the conviction of the Holy

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Spirit and you just went your own way.

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Renewal. God doesn't fix the broken pieces. He makes us new.

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According to 2 Corinthians 5.17, he makes all things new. Amen.

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You know us women, we like all things new. We like a little used things every

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now and then, but we have a God that makes all things new.

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And then reconnection. Restoring our relationship with God also heals our connection to others.

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And so we have repentance, renewal and reconnection equals restoration and recovery.

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Go meet Isaiah 61.3. What does he do after he gets us all new?

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We repent, we got renewal, reconnection. He says he bestows on them a crown

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of beauty instead of ashes,

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the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

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God makes you beautiful.

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Come on. He makes you beautiful.

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He gives you a crown, the oil of joy, the Holy Spirit is upon you, a garment of praise.

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You are no longer weeping. You are praising the Lord.

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God promised a restoration that turns pain into purpose.

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There's this script. I'm going to meet the First Chronicles. I think it's 4 and 9.

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And I love this prayer. It's a prayer of Jabez, if I can find it.

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It's four and nine. It says, there was a man named Jabez who was more honorable to any of his brothers.

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His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful.

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He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel. Oh, that you will bless me and expand my territory.

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Please be with me in all that I do and keep me from all trouble and pain.

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And God granted him his request. us.

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God is in the restoration business. And even though this prayer of Jabez is

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found between a genealogy, it was a prayer that was a boldness prayer,

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bold prayer that Jabez prayed out.

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He said, my mom made me pain. And maybe your story is that, that your whole

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life that you can even remember was all about pain.

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You can be bold as Jabez and pray this prayer.

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Matter of fact, let's just pause now and let's just pray this prayer of Jabez over you now.

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Jabez's prayer says this, he says this, oh, that you will bless me and expand my territory.

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Father, I pray right now for those who are listening to this podcast,

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that you will honor the prayer that you honor for Jabez, that you will bless

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them, that you expand their territory, that Lord God, you would keep them from evil.

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And from pain. And this says, you granted Jabez's request that you would grant our request too.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Now, we all have a personal story to share. I remember being at the bottom of

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that spiral and unsure how I would rise again.

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And I just remember kind of praying like something like this.

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I remember getting on my hands and knees, and there was a woman's devotional.

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And I think it's still out there. And I was reading a particular day and I was

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a new Christian, but in my heart, I didn't feel like I was worthy enough to be used by God.

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And so I remember getting on my hands and knees and I asked the Lord and I said,

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Lord, if you can use these women in the Bible, I want you to use me.

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Can you use me?

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And I just remember just crying out to the Lord with real tears and real hard.

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Nobody was in my bedroom, but probably just the Lord looking down at me.

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And I feel emotional right now because it was such a true heartfelt prayer,

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just like the prodigal had prayed.

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Because you know, everything on the surface looked really nice.

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But at the end, I wanted the Lord to really use me in a great and mighty way.

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And just as Jabez was bold enough to pray out, enlarge my territory,

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Lord, keep your hands upon me so that I will not sin against you and keep me

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from trouble and pain. I wanted that same prayer.

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And then I know that the Lord granted my request because my life began to change.

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I didn't say it was going to be perfect.

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I said it began to change.

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And so doors began to open. I was encouraged. And so today I want you to just

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make that space today and remind you that God hasn't forgotten you,

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that his plan for your life is still folding, that if you actually make that,

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say that prayer with me today and just lift your hands up to God and just say,

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you're ready for him, that he will begin to make changes in your life.

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You will begin to see, instead of a down spiral, you will begin to see things go upward.

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Amen. So how do you begin to ascend, right? How will you begin to ascend?

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Just remember, God hasn't forgotten you.

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You acknowledge your need for help. Sometimes we'll get to pride.

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You know, don't ever be too proud to beg, right? Just ask the Lord for help. He hears you.

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Lift up your eyes. This Psalms 121, one through two. I love that Psalms.

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Lift up your eyes to him. He is your source of help.

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And you know, I love that Psalms.

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I know this has just been a good time with you guys today.

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And I'm going to spend a little bit extra time because I know this is so powerful.

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But Psalms 121 and verse one and two, it says, I look up to the mountains.

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Does my help come from there?

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My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. So we serve a Lord who

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created everything you see.

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Come on out. Number two, surround yourself with encouragement.

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Find community, worship, and teaching that point you to God.

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Speak life over yourself. Declare God's promises over your circumstances.

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You've been listening to my podcast since July, and you're actually getting the.

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Getting the devotionals with the declarations. You are speaking life over yourself,

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and those words are words from God.

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You are actually changing your life. You're speaking life instead of negativity.

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And stay consistent. Growth and restoration take time, but persistence lead to transformation.

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So stay consistent. How do you ascend?

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You acknowledge your need for God. Just like the prodigal acknowledged his need

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to go home, he went back to his father.

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But the father in the Bible, the father, prodigal son, went home.

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You go home, back home to God. You go back home. He's calling you home.

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Surround yourself with encouragement. Speak life over yourself. Stay consistent.

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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you acknowledging that we need your

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strength to ascend from the low places in our lives.

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Forgive us for the times we stayed in despair when you offered us hope.

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We ask for your healing, for your renewing power, and for your courage to rise.

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We decree that we are not defined by our failures, but by your grace.

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We declare that our ascent has begun and that you will complete the good work you have started in us.

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In Jesus name. Amen. I hear the Lord say, welcome home.

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Welcome home. Thank you for joining me today with the Faith on the Go series.

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Today's message, bless you. Share it with someone who might need encouragement.

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Remember, restoration is a journey, but with God, it's always possible.

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Join me next time as we continue this series. And remember to keep your heart open to his calling.

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Until next time, stay lifted by faith, strengthened by his promises, and God bless.