Thrive In ’25: Day 4🙏🏾

A Message from Our Leader

Bishop Jefferson reminds us that this is a time of divine separation, a time to humble ourselves and seek God’s face with a spirit of expectation. As we do, we can trust that God will meet us in a profound way, healing our hearts, renewing our minds, and positioning us to carry His fresh anointing into the next season of our lives. Let this be a time where we set aside every weight that so easily besets us, where we turn away from distractions and press into the presence of God with fervency and faith. ✨

Intercessor: Bishop Jefferson

Scripture: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

🙏🏽Prayer Topic: Courage to Step Out

📚 Prayer Focus: Ask for boldness and courage to follow God’s leading.

 

💡 Key Points:

1. 🛡️ Courage is Commanded, Not Optional

• Deeper Insight: God doesn’t ask Joshua to be courageous; He commands it.

• Practical Steps: Trust that God’s commandments come with His support and provision.

• Personal Reflection: Are you treating courage as an option or an act of obedience?

• Application: Identify one area where you need to obey God’s command for courage and take a bold step.

 

2. 💪🏽 True Strength Comes from God

• Deeper Insight: Fear focuses on obstacles, but courage focuses on God’s power.

• Practical Steps:

  • Address the fears holding you back.

  • Replace thoughts of failure with God’s promises.

• Personal Reflection: What fears are preventing you from stepping out in faith?

• Application: Write down your fears and combat them with Scripture.

3. 🚫 Fear & Discouragement Are Obstacles to Faith

• Deeper Insight:

  • Fear focuses on the impossibilities, but courage says, “With God, it is possible.”

  • Discouragement thrives on past failures.

• Practical Steps:

  • Identify the fears or failures holding you back.

  • Pray for healing and release from self-doubt.

• Personal Reflection: Are past failures or fear of the unknown limiting your faith?

• Application: Replace discouraging thoughts with bold declarations of faith.

4. 🕊️ God’s Presence Is the Source of Courage

• Deeper Insight: God’s promise to Joshua is that He will be with him wherever he goes.

• Practical Steps:

  • Trust God’s presence to guide you through uncertain terrain.

  • Pray for clarity when the path feels unclear.

• Personal Reflection: Are you relying on God’s presence or your own strength?

• Application: Meditate on Joshua 1:9 and declare God’s presence over your life.

5. 🚶🏽‍♂️ Courage Requires Faith in Action

• Deeper Insight: Courage is a partnership between trusting God and stepping out in faith.

  • It’s about moving forward even when the path isn’t clear.

• Practical Steps:

  • Take one small step of faith at a time.

  • Trust that God has already provided what you need.

• Personal Reflection: Are you willing to act in faith even when the outcome isn’t clear?

• Application: Choose one action step to take this week that aligns with God’s calling.

💡 Practical Application Points:

1. Recognize your calling! 🚀

2. Combat fear with God’s promises. 📖

3. Pray for strength and guidance. 🙏🏽

   • Prayer aligns your heart with God’s will and gives you confidence.

4. Take one step at a time. 👣

   • Trust God with every step.

5. Remember God’s victory. 🏆

✨ Bishop Quotes During Prayer

• “Spirit of inadequacy and self-sabotaging behavior.”

• “Help us to not rely on our own intellect.”

• “Help us to rely on Your voice and not the voice of a stranger.”

• “Raise up water walkers.”

• “There will be many opportunities, but choose His way.”

🔥 Words from the Holy Spirit Through Bishop

• “Don’t allow the terrain or landscape to cause you to forfeit what has already been made clear because the victory has already gone before you and what you need is already in you. In those moments that don’t seem clear, call unto Me, and I’ll answer and make the way plain and give you the answer, but run unto Me.”

• “I endorse your voice.”

📚 Editor’s Notes:

The Connection Between Emotions, Feelings, and Courage to Step Out

When it comes to courage and trauma healing, it is crucial to distinguish between feelings and emotions. While feelings are the interpretations and personal meanings we assign to those emotions over time, emotions are the immediate, instinctual responses we have to situations (for example, fear in the face of danger).

In fear, for example, we may be protected from harm, but if we internalize it as feelings of inadequacy or failure, it can paralyze us.

In this prayer focus, it’s important to:

1. Recognize fear and discouragement as natural emotions but not permanent states.

2. Address how unhealed trauma can transform these emotions into deep-rooted feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and distrust in God’s promises.

3. Understand that courage involves transforming these feelings into faith-driven action through God’s truth and healing.

How to Pray for Healing Through This Lens

1. Acknowledge the Emotions and Feelings: Acknowledge fear, discouragement, and any emotional residue from trauma, without judgment, in prayer.

2. Pray for Stabilization: Ask for God’s peace and protection to stabilize areas of inner turmoil, and remember that He has promised never to leave you or forsake you.

3. Pray for Healing and Release: Ask God for healing in specific areas of brokenness, letting Him replace shame, inadequacy, and fear with His truth. Let go of painful memories and feelings.

4. Pray for Reconnection and Bold Action: Embrace your new creation status, unshackled by the past. Take practical steps of faith, trusting in God’s partnership.

How David’s Relationship with God Shaped His Feelings

• Turning Rejection into Faith: Despite rejection, David didn’t let it define him because he knew God saw him differently. His time alone in the fields gave him the chance to grow close to God and learn to trust His view of him rather than that of others.

• Finding Purpose in Isolation: David used his time as a shepherd to grow in faith, rather than becoming bitter in solitude. He developed courage, faith in God, and readiness for future battles by defending his flock from lions and bears.

• Trusting God’s Promises: When David was young, he knew he was chosen by God for a greater purpose. In the face of trials and rejection, he knew that God had a greater purpose for him.

• Redirecting Emotions Through Worship: Throughout the Psalms, David consistently expresses his emotions through worship and prayer. He expresses fear, anger, and sorrow, but always turns back to trust and praise. David allowed God to renew his strength and focus by bringing his raw feelings to Him rather than letting them turn into bitterness.

🙏🏽 Conclusion: Courage to Step Out

God commands courage, not as an option but as a necessity for fulfilling His purpose. Trust in His presence, combat fear with His promises, and take bold steps of faith. As Joshua 1:9 reminds us, the Lord is with us wherever we go.