When Pressure Reveals Our Hearts: Relying on God's Word

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In this episode of the Confidence in God podcast, host Julie McGhghy shares her personal journey of trusting God to maintain integrity under pressure. Julie discusses a situation where she felt intense pressure but witnessed God's faithfulness in guiding her to tell the truth. She outlines practical steps for Christians to avoid succumbing to their natural desires under stress: memorizing and praying scripture, seeking prayer support from trusted friends, and relying on God’s promises. Julie encourages listeners to access a free resource titled 'Five Steps To Experience More Confidence in God' and invites them to share their experiences of God’s guidance.

00:00 Welcome to the Confidence in God Podcast

00:12 Introduction to Overcoming Carnal Urges

01:06 Resource for Building Confidence in God

01:45 A Personal Story of Pressure and Faith

03:53 The Moment of Truth

05:46 Steps to Maintain Confidence in God

06:34 Summary and Encouragement

07:45 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello and welcome to theConfidence in God podcast.
I am your host, Julie McGhghy,and our goal today is to help
you walk with confidence in God.
I'm so excited to share with youa process that I've learned to
help me from caving into mycarnal self or the urges of my
own natural desires when extremepressure comes into my life.

(00:24):
As Christians, we strive to dothe right things, to be honest,
kind, generous, patient, loving.
We strive to live according toGod's word, in a way that
pleases him.
And then it happens.
Just like grape juice squeezedout of the grape when pressure
is applied to it, sometimespressure in our lives squeezes

(00:49):
our true selves right out of us,our carnal selves, and we do
something we aren't proud of andthat wouldn't please God.
But we can have confidence Godwill keep us from caving into
our carnal selves.
Before jumping into this storyabout how I learned this lesson,

(01:10):
I wanna mention a resource Ihave available for you.
It is called Five Steps ToExperience More Confidence in
God.
You can instantly access it atconfidenceingod.com/resources,
or click the link in the shownotes.
If as you are listening to how Ilearned this lesson about God's

(01:32):
faithfulness to keep me fromcaving into my carnal self in
times of pressure, you findyourself doubting that God would
do the same thing for you, thenI encourage you to grab this
free resource.
Several years ago, I experienceda situation that caused me great
pressure.
I felt my carnality beingsqueezed right out of me.

(01:56):
I needed to meet with a CEO.
The meeting was arranged by twolower level executives, but the
president, who would not havesupported the meeting, had not
been informed.
The day before I was to travelto the meeting, someone arranged
a meeting for me with thepresident.

(02:17):
It was scheduled one hour beforethe meeting with the CEO.
The pressure intensified.
I suspected the president wouldask me what brought me to the
city, and I knew theimplications of telling the
truth.
There was more than just myposition on the line.
There were two other executivesinvolved, and both of them could

(02:41):
suffer from this situation.
I prepared to answer a generalquestion the president might
ask, such as,"What brought youto the city today?" I could
explain the matter I was thereto handle, but not necessarily
tell him about the meeting I washaving with his superior.

(03:02):
I also prepared myself throughprayer.
I asked a few of my friends topray with me as well.
And I prepared myself byrecalling the scriptures I often
rely on when I need confidence.
I remembered God guides me withhis eye while holding my right
hand in his right, hand face toface.

(03:25):
Also, that God will fill mymouth with the words he would
have me say when I open it tospeak.

And I rely on Psalm 81 (03:32):
10 for that.
The Lord is my confidence andwill keep my foot from being
caught according to Proverbs 326.
Ultimately, I saw thefaithfulness of God and I
learned a new promise in hisword.

(03:53):
After a pleasant meeting withthe president, he walked me to
the hallway while shaking myhand.
He asked, who else are youmeeting with today?
I am sure I turned white as asheet.
I had not anticipated thatdirect question.

(04:14):
The pressure squeezed mycarnality right out of me.
I was about to name theexecutive who had arranged the
meeting.
I knew I was not being honest.
But the pressure I was under andthe implication on three of us
for having arranged the meetingwas too great.

(04:39):
I opened my mouth very ashamedfor what I was about to say.
To my surprise, the name of theCEO came out.
I told the truth.
I didn't have it in me to tellthe truth in that situation, but

(05:01):
I did.
Afterward, I asked God how thathappened.

He pointed me to Psalm (05:07):
1 19, verse 11.
"I have stored up your word inmy heart that I might not sin
against you." God is faithful.
When I opened my mouth to speak,he filled it with what he wanted
me to say, and he kept me fromsinning against him with the

(05:30):
words I intended to say, whichwere false.
Because I had stored up or hidhis word in my heart, he kept me
from lying to the president.
So here are the steps I learnedthat will help us be confident

(05:52):
that God will keep us fromcaving into our carnal selves.
In times of great pressure,before pressure ever
intensifies, commit verses tomemory and pray them regularly.
And then in the heat ofpressure, ask trusted friends to
join you in prayer about thesituation.

(06:13):
Remind yourself of God'spromises in his word and pray
those as well.
And then trust God.
If you open your mouth to speak,he will fill your mouth with the
words He would have you say.
Acknowledge him as you takeaction, and he will direct your
path.

(06:34):
Let me quickly summarize thislesson.
As we strive to do the rightthings, to be honest, kind,
generous, patient loving, inother words, as we walk in the
spirit, as the apostle Paulteaches in Galatians 5:16, so
that we don't satisfy thedesires of our flesh, we

(06:57):
sometimes encounter such greatpressure in our lives that our
true human selves are squeezedright out of us.
But if before we encounter suchpressure.
We commit some verses to memoryand pray them regularly, we ask
friends to help us pray as weanticipate the times of great

(07:18):
pressure, we remind ourselves ofGod's promises in His word, and
we pray them as well and trustGod to be faithful to his word,
then we can have confidence thatwhen we face such pressure, the
Lord will keep us from fallingback into our own human ways and

(07:40):
depending on ourselves toprotect us from the situation.
As you listened, did you feelthat lack of confidence that
this process would work for you?
If so, then go toconfidenceingod.com/resources or
click the link in the show notesto get that free resource titled

(08:01):
Five Steps To Experience MoreConfidence In God.
This resource will help youbuild your confidence in God.
Please let us know if you'veencountered similar situations
and God has helped you refrainfrom falling back onto your own
devices to protect yourself.
We'd love to hear from you.
That's it for today.

(08:22):
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Until next time, let's beconfident in this that he who
began a good work in you will befaithful to complete it.