Welcome to my NEW website!! I’m so glad you stopped by today! If you found your way here from the Proverbs 31 Ministries invitation to join us on The 7-day Doubt Diet, click here for more details or simply sign up in my sidebar.
If you’re visiting after reading my P31 devotion, “When Worry Makes Me Wonder”, thanks for hopping over. In my devotion, I shared how a few years ago I felt like I was suffocating under everything that was going on in my life. Have you ever been there?
Slowly, I let worry weave it’s way into my thoughts and wear me down. Eventually, I came to a point where I was exhausted and ready to resign from just about everything…life, ministry, etc.
I ran out of fuel and felt like I didn’t have enough energy to handle all of my roles, relationships and responsibilities.
I also ran out of faith. I started doubting my ability to to hear God clearly and to do all I assumed He wanted me to do.
All my worries started making me weary. And they made me wonder… I wondered if I could manage my life. I wondered if God noticed and cared about all I was doing for Him, and others. And I wondered why God wasn’t doing something to make my life easier.
One day I was reading in Luke 10 and noticed Martha felt the same way. She couldn’t get everything done and it was making her come undone. That day I noticed something. She went to Jesus. Yes she was freaking out, but she went to Him about it.
And she asked Him the same question I’d been asking in my heart:‘Lord, don’t you care?
“She came to Him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care?that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’” Luke 10:40b (NIV)
And how did Jesus respond to Martha’s doubts and demands? “’Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (NIV)
I knew God wanted the same for me. He did care. He did notice. He’d left a note for me right there in scripture to show me what was going on in my own heart. And He’s done the same for you.
I sensed He wanted me to come to Him and talk to Him, instead of talking to myself (in my head) which only made me worry more. And when I did come to Him with my concerns, He replaced my thoughts with His thoughts. He replaced my worries with His peace.
Some days I needed to do more than pray. I needed to give my worries to Him. So I wrote them down on index cards and put them under a cross I have next to my bedside. Physically placing them there, and giving them to Jesus was so powerful.
I also looked up promises in scripture to replace my worries and doubts. I found verses like Psalm 55:22 that says: “Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you…” (NLT) I also found 1 Peter 5:7 that reminded me: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” (NLT)
We need God’s presence and the promise of His care as a dwelling place for our hearts. And on those days when we we just can’t do it all and we wonder if God notices how hard we’re trying, He wants us to know He notices and He does care. He cares about us and He loves taking care of us and all that concerns us, too.
I’ve got a list of “Peace-giving Promises I’d love to share with you on my FREE resources page. And I’d love to pray for you today, too. Be sure to leave “share your thoughts” below and let me know one worry you want to leave with Jesus and I’ll pray for that concern. And also be sure to enter my drawing for my “Contagious Confidence” Give-aways.
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Peace-Giving Promises GIVE-AWAY!
In my book, A Confident Heart, I share in chapter 9 how we can turn our fear-filled thinking into faith-filled believing and stop Satan from stealing the confident peace that’s meant to be ours in Christ. Today, I’m giving away 5 copies of A Confident Heart to ONE of you – along with a Free “Confident Heart” Q&A Conference Call. That way you can gather some friends to go through the book together and we can talk about it if you want to! And, because I want more than one winner, I’m giving away 2 more Advanced copies to another one of you, too.
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I would love for you to join me in sharing God ‘s peace-giving promises today! Here are a few things you can do to enter today’s give-aways:
1. Share this post or a link to the “Peace-giving Promises via email, Twitter, your blog or Facebook. Let’s encourage as many women as we can and disarm the enemy from his weapon of worry. My “Tell a Friend” buttons below makes it really easy.
2. Sign up for the 7-day Doubt Diet (if you haven’t already) and invite friends too! It includes a week’s worth of devotions with more powerful promises, personal encouragement and scripture-based prayers to help you lose the weight of worry and doubt so you can gain a confident heart!
3. Sign up for my email updates in the little box at the top of my website to receive news on give-aways, free resources, blog posts and more! I’ve got all kinds of announcements coming up!
Leave a comment by clicking “Share Your Thoughts” below and tell me how I can pray for you. Also, let me know which or all of these you are doing to share God’s peace-giving promises today. Your comment will enter you into the drawings. I’ll announce the winner on Monday, July 18th!
And be sure to download your copy of more “Peace-giving Promises. “
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Renee thanks so much for this devotion. Sometimes I wonder if I am spiritual at all. I’m definitely insecure in those ways. But in your devotion you talking about just allowing God to lead my thoughts and not me. I truly feel I am in a fog because of everything I have gone through in the past 3 years. I mean my marriage is over in which I am definitely over that, but just the thought that I have been with him for 20 years, but yet I feel he never cared about me at all!! well fast forward to now I am at peace at where I am in my life but feel stagnet, and always worried about finances, my son is going to college.; So here is my prayer request that I will surrender to God all my thoughts, actions etc. Pray that in finances I will glorify God and not myself . That I will align my thoughts with God’s will and not my own. Thanks again!!
Hey 🙂 I have signed up for the daily emails, andthe 7 day diet!! Thank you so much for this contest!! I look forward to my Proverbs 31 daily devotionals in my mail box everyday!! I have been traveling down a path of brokeness for the past year and seprated myself from God and the ones I love. I just recentley woke up from my “Fog” and recommited my life to the Lord. I am so blessed to have a God, family and friends that didnt give up on me. <3
MY FRIEND SENT ME THE 7 DAY DOUBT DIET…I AM ON DAY 3 AND AM JUST SO EXCITED ABOUT IT ALL…AT THE SAME TIME MY MIND IS RACING BECAUSE THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEED NOW. EVEN OUR PASTOR IS SPEAKING ON OUR MIND. I AM TAKING A BIBLICAL COUNSEL TRAINING COURSE AND WE ARE FOCUSING ON DOUBTS/LIES/SELF…THIS IS A PERFECT DEVOTIONAL TO COMPLIMENT MY STUDIES. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I HAVE SIGNED UP AND WANT TO READ MORE. IT IS SUMMER SO I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET UP EARLY AND SPEND THE COOL MORNINGS WITH THE LORD. I HAVE ADDED YOU TO MY DEVOTIONAL TIME. I LEARN BY WRITING SO I HAVE BEEN TAKING LOTS OF NOTES. I AM JUST SO THANKFUL FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS. I HAVE A COUNSELOR WHO HAS BEEN WORKING WITH ME ON WHAT IS THE LIES I HAVE BEEN BELIEVING AND WHAT IS THE TRUTH. AGAIN THIS IS WONDERFUL AND I HAVE FORWARDED THIS DAYS DEVOTIONAL TO HER. THANKS SO MUCH…..JAVENE
PS…i type in CAPS cause it is faster for me and easier to see…LOL….i am not yellin at ya…have a BLESSED DAY….
I love getting your emails everyday! And I love your new “home”! You are so very talented and anointed! I did the 7-Day Doubt Diet a few weeks ago with the first round of emails, oh my how they touched and checked my heart! I am going through a major season of doubt, fear and worry!! I have days I don’t know how I get through with a smile on my face. Thank you for opening yourself up and allowing God to use you! I have followed you for a while now and I have been so blessed by all your writings! No matter how I get it, I will own a copy of A Confident Heart!! This book was writen for me!!
Much love and prayers!
Juanita
I am enjoying you sight already. I just found it yesterday and it is wonderful and I plan on sharing this with some of my friends. Please pray for me as I try to downsize again to a smaller place. My granddaughter has lived with me for the past 3 years as her and her step dad have disowned her because she spoke up on things he was doing now she is finally ready to try living on her own. Still is going through the court system to prosecute him but it is a long journey she has not seen her siblings for 3 yrs now there are 5 other children in the home. I long to understand why my daughter chose him over her own child who was a victim. Then my son looks like he is moving out he may of found work in Ohio. So it will just be my husband of 42 years and me. I pray we don’t get lost in the empty nest.
Renee,
I receive the P31 Devotionals every day and just signed up for the Doubt Diet as well. What an encouragement the devotions are to me! When I read about A Confident Heart I called my husband at work and told him all about your book and how I can’t wait for it to hit the shelves! I’m super excited about getting your email updates as well. I would like for you to pray for guidance I have a 12 year old daughter and I know this is a crucial time in her life. I want her to continue with her love for the Lord and just bloom! Thank you for offering to take time out of your busy schedule to pray for me!
Christy from Ohio
A friend of mine shared the 7 Day Doubt Diet with me. After much procrastination I downloaded chapter one and read it. I immediately ordered my copy of the book and shared it on facebook! I have signed up for your email, want to purchase the Shaped with Purpose set because like you, I shutter when asked the question if money was not an issue , what would you want to do with your life? What makes you come to life? What are your passions and dreams…..ugh the difference between you and me is that in November I will be 55! It seems my life has been hit with doubt the most in the last 8 years. I have been through 2 nasty church splits, lost my dear sister, lost my dad and because of some things I cannot discuss I have had to stop sharing life with a friend who I know was a gift from God to me. ( It’s complicated) Life just hasn’t turned out like I always thought it would. With all of these things , my heart took some deep hits and the enemy came in like a flood to tell me that I wasn’t enough, that I can’t do it, that “word ” was not for me……etc. However it seems like forever that i have struggled with this and it seems be getting worse …….like cancer eats away at the body, this eats away at the soul. I have wanted to give up many times…but God! So I am going to do all that you ask us to do to get in the drawing. I know I am not the only one who needs this. I do pray for God to pick the winner…
This was a divine appointment from the Lord. Thank you..it was strange to see words that I have thought put down on your pages. Thank you Renee…Cheryl / Spencer WV
I signed up for the doubt diet. Please pray for my mother whose dementia causes many fears and doubt.
I love the 7 Day Doubt Diet Devotion but somehow I missed getting the first day is there away to find it or get it sent to me. I thought I had signed up for it before it started. I love this devotion and look forward to getting the book A Confident Heart. Thanks Deanna Myers.
Renee, I just read Day 7 of the Doubt Diet–THANK YOU!
I feel like giving up often in the areas I struggle most with. But God wants to hold my hand and lift me up again. Thanks for sharing this encouragement!
Thank you, Renee, for listening to God’s calling for you to write A Confident Heart. I have been struggling with fear, worry, and anxiety for several years. It’s been about a year since I first recognized that doubt is one of my struggles as well, and it leads to the fear and worry I deal with daily. God has given me many victories over the years, and I can see growth in these areas. However, right now I feel all those things you mentioned in your Proverbs 31 devotion on Wednesday, and I am exhausted and weary. I have been for a long time, and it is only getting worse. I am really looking forward to your book. I have asked our church to consider it for our Ladies’ Bible Study in the fall. Would you please pray with me that God would lead their hearts in making a decision that is according to His will? (If our church does not choose A Confident Heart, I plan to read it independently.) We need a spiritual revival in our home as well…our children are in their pre-teenage years, and becoming rebellious while moving toward a love of the things in the world rather than Jesus, and eternity. This concerns me and is a heavy weight on my heart. I see how easily Satan can use it to regularly discourage me, and I am not effective for the Lord when I am discouraged. Thank you again for your ministry. May God get the glory through it all!
Thank you Renee for the opportunity to receive your book. I am in the process of writing a book I know God put on my heart to do. Doubt through the writing process has been my constant companion even though I “KNOW” the calling of this book is from God. This became apparent to me when I was in Church one Sunday. Our Pastor gave the invitation to come up and share testimonies. Many came forward and due to time constraints, I was unable to give my testimony that day. I was disappointed. In the whirlwind of my disappointment, God spoke to me. He told me I was not looking at the bigger picture. He spoke to me of reaching millions. Since that day, God has continued to give me confimation after confirmation about writing this book. But the doubt still remains and it stifles my progress in bringing the book to completion. If I continue to stand in the shadow of doubt, the pages remain blank. I would so much love to come into His Light and fill the pages with His inspired words. Please keep me in prayer to His endeavor. Thank you for your encouragement.
Hi Renee – I’ve done all three of the above, not for the contest, but the Lord has always led me to you and I believe in you and certainly believe in the book! Please pray for me. I have been ask to teach a ladies Bible study at my Church and have never taught adults! I’ve taught children and junior high students! I have prayed about it and feel led to accept the call – step out of my confort zone! I am looking at several of the P31 resources. Thank you for all you do! ~Hugs~
Thank for the idea of writing your worries/fears down and placing them under the cross. I am going to implement that in my home for my husband and I do together. Loved the doubt diet! I am anxiously waiting to read your book. It is going to be a great follow up the Hidden Joy study. I love that Lysa encouraged to pray for more and WOW did God show up and show off. Don’t limit him.
Thank you, Renee, for doing this! Our family has been through a lot this year…death of a parent, becoming grandparents, empty nest, and leaving the Army after many years to take a head pastor position. Weary doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now, and the weariness invites doubt. I am passing this along to my two older daughters and some friends in our new church. Looking forward to the message that God has given you to share! Bless you today and always.
Thank You Renee for your insight. I am going through a lot of doubt in my life right now and your words of encouragement are very helpful. I am going through a divorce and struggling with finances. Have a son 21, lives with his dad, who hates me and denies he even has a mother. There is nothing more hurtful than comments like these coming from your own child. My daughter 18 who lives with me and is a support to me. I am at the point of doubting that God is really there and cares. Deep down I know He is there and cares but I am having a hard time reaching Him. I have done one of the things you suggested. Writing down the things I worry about and put them on the cross. I have a cross next to my bed and I put these worries under it. It is so hard because I keep wanting to take them back. My strength is gone, I have no more. All I want to do is cry all the time. Friends and family keep telling me it is going to get better. It is hard to see that happening. The only thing that does keep me going are devotion I read daily and the prayers of my friends.
Thank you for the ministry that you have. God is using you to touch many lives including mine. God Bless you!
Can you know yet not know something about yourself? Shoving, covering up or denying its existance does not mean it is there. I believe now is the time to take an honest/open look at this area of my life and deal with it. By the grace of God it will be dealt with. I will not rest until every thought of self-doubt is in subjection to God and His Word. Please pray for me.
I have completed the three requirements to enter the drawing. I pray those who need it most gets a copy in Jesus’ name.
I just wanted to comment that my scripture memory verse this week is Psalm 18: 32
“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect!”
How can anyone have self doubt with a Promise like that!!! 🙂
I would love to win a copy of your book! 🙂
(Also would love prayer for a financial breakthrough for my husband’s business)
Thank you and thanks for all the encouragement!
Thank you for your post. I needed to read that because unfotunately I worry way more than I should. One worry I am surrendering over to God is my pregnancy. I am 12 week pregnant and three years ago I miscarried at 12 weeks, so naturally my flesh wants to worry about my pregnancy and if the baby is okay. Father God I give you my worry and will trust that Your will be done and that this baby will be healthy and full term.