One of my favorite parts about talking about this was to hear my close friends talk about what makes them insecure and how they work to overcome those insecurities. Of course, I won't give examples here, but it is very encouraging to hear that I'm not the only one who is insecure.
One thing that was mentioned that really stuck out to me was about how we constantly compare ourselves to others. There's always some gap that we want to fill, but the only thing that can fill that gap is God. And that's seriously so true. I loved when one of my small group leaders talked about that. It totally makes sense to me.
It always amazes me how God can present messages to you. One thing that I am seriously insecure about is praying out loud. I won't even do it when I'm alone. I'm always afraid that I won't do it right, or that I'll say something wrong. I listen to others pray so eloquently, and I'm just not to that point yet. Then today, I stumbled across this on Pinterest:
Ever since last week, I've been so anxious about one part of small group: the end when we pray. At the end, my group leaders take prayer requests and the rest of the group volunteers to take one prayer request and then we go around the group and pray out loud. Last week, I didn't volunteer. I felt (and still feel) insecure about praying out loud. Then I stumbled across this quote today. It gave me a little bit of security. Tonight, I did it. I faced my insecurity head on. I prayed out loud. Yes, it was awkward. Yes, it wasn't very eloquent. Yes, I stumbled and stuttered. But you know what? I did it. But I thought it was just so perfect that God had our group talk about our insecurities tonight after I'd been stressing about this for like a week. God works in such wonderful but mysterious ways. He really does have your best interest in mind. Sometimes I falter in that, but I know it in my heart to be true. It's one of the infinite reasons that I have grown to seriously love God.
One of the verses we talked about tonight was 1 Peter 2:11. It says, "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul." The point we really emphasized was the fact that we are foreigners here in this world. Our true home is in Heaven with God. When you put it that way.. every opinion here on earth becomes seriously insignificant.
Another verse we talked about was 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. Definitely one of my favorite verses so far. Although, I do have a lot of favorites. Anyway, here's what it says: " We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." Wow.
Some of the other verses we looked at are these: Romans 8:31-39, Mark 10:17-23, Proverbs 18:10. I could seriously write a paragraph about each, but it's really late and this post is already getting really long. I seriously really loved our small group tonight. It was powerful and much needed. Life is about to get tough, and I'm definitely going to need to rely on God. At Chi Alpha on Monday, we talked about how our walk with God should not be in neutral and that we should be moving forward. I fully plan to move forward with my relationship with God, and I couldn't be more excited about it. One of the best parts is that I now have an amazing group of girls to walk along side me and help me along the way.
Ever since I became a Christian I had so many people tell me that I should get involved in a small group because having women my age help guide me and walk with me through my faith. I didn't know how right they were until tonight. It may only be the third week, but I can already tell how much these wonderful women will help me grow stronger in my faith. God has blessed me with some amazing friends. (Okay, I'm done being mushy, promise.)
There's one last thing I want to leave you with. I've posted it before, but I'm going to post it again because I think it is super important for everyone to listen to it.
Insecurely: A Spoken Word
I have to add one more thing, because I totally just watched this and it was AMAZING. Literally gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes.
Hi Janessa,
ReplyDeleteThis is Roger, Taylor H's dad. I read your blog regularly. It is very exciting to hear what the Lord is doing in your life and it is encouraging to my heart to see the growth He is producing in your life.
I wanted to share a couple thoughts about your concern over praying in public. You need to remember who prayer is for and what its purpose is.
Prayer is a conversation you are having with Him. God is your loving father who earnestly desires to talk with you. God loves you so much that He chose you as his child from before the foundations of the world were set in place. He loves you so much that He has adopted you as His daughter and has made you a co-heir of the kingdom with Christ. So you have no need to worry about the content or eloquence of your prayer. He is not concerned with your words, He is concerned with your heart.
Philippians 4:6 says, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God". God tells us not to be anxious or insecure about anything, but to turn to Him in prayer about everything. When you pray out loud, all you are doing is letting others in on your conversation with Him.
Sorry for the long sermon, but I wanted you to know that a lot of people worry about this issue, but God would rather have an honest heart share a few halting words than a long eloquent prayer that doesn't contain the same cry for Him.
I will be praying for you.