In today’s #podcast episode, I interview Debbie Howell. I ask Debbie about how we can overcome feeling stuck in our faith journey. Debbie also shares how faith can help you during challenging times. I also ask Debbie how to stay in prayer even when life is overwhelming.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Thanks for joining us on episode 1559 of the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. I'm Debbie Howell and I challenge you to invest in
yourself, invest in others,
develop your influence and impact the world by using your time,
your talent and your treasures to live out your calling.
(00:24):
Having the ability to open communication with God is key and
one way to be inspired to do that is to listen
to this the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Mater.
(00:46):
I think for me,
instead of saying,
okay, I need to look at my day that's already way
too full and find an hour where I can be with
God because most of us are like this,
that just isn't going to happen.
Find a way to put God in your busy schedule and
find creative ways to be with God.
I teach these Bible journaling prayer classes.
(01:08):
Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God
wants you to be,
then you must learn to use your time,
your talent and your treasures for your true calling.
In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast,
you will learn to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
(01:28):
and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.
In today's podcast episode,
I interview Debbie Howell.
I asked Debbie about how we can overcome feeling stuck in
our faith journey.
(01:49):
Debbie also shares how faith can help you during challenging times.
And I also asked Debbie about how to stay in prayer
even when life feels overwhelming.
I have a great book that's been out for a while
now called Inspired Assemble the puzzle of your calling by mastering
your time,
your talent,
and your treasures.
You can find out more about that book over@inspiredlivingbook.com
(02:14):
it'll take you to a page where there's information and you
can sign up to get some mailings about it as well
as purchase a copy there.
I'd love to see you get a copy and share with
me how it impacted your world.
Debbie Howell is a passionate Christian author,
speaker and devoted servant of Christ who has dedicated her life
and ministry to encouraging others to live out God's Word in
(02:37):
every aspect of their daily lives.
She is driven by a deep desire to see individuals grow
in their faith,
experience the fullness of God's love,
and live lives that reflect his truth and grace.
Through her books,
speaking engagements and personal ministry,
Debbie inspires believers to go beyond surface level Christianity and develop
a profound and intimate relationship with God.
(02:59):
She has a heart for guiding people to embrace the transformative
power of scripture,
prayer and worship,
which she believes are the cornerstone of a thriving spiritual life.
Debbie's teachings are rooted in her own journey of faith and
her understanding of God's word,
making her message both relatable and.
And impactful.
Whether she is speaking at a church event,
leading a small group,
(03:20):
or writing from the depths of her heart,
Debbie's mission is to help others encounter God's presence in a
way that changes their lives forever.
Welcome to the show,
Debbie. Thank you so much.
I'm excited to have this time with you and your listeners.
Absolutely. Thanks so much for coming on.
So I shared a little bit in the intro about what
(03:41):
you've done as a speaker,
as an author.
But I have also found that a lot of times sharing
the intro is like the highlight reel.
Right. It just shows some of the journey.
It never really shows the whole journey.
Back up a little bit and take us on a little
bit of your journey and what's brought you to the point
where this is the work you do and the message that
you put out into the world.
(04:02):
Sure. I was raised a Christian,
went to Christian schools,
even to Christian colleges,
and I believed in God.
But it wasn't until I became an adult and started to
go through some really challenging things that I started to go
deeper in my faith and wanted to know not just the
(04:23):
God of my parents,
but who God is for me.
And so that is where my journey began of getting to
know God through scripture in a very personal way by bringing
scriptures into how I prayed.
And I've ministered for years at different churches.
(04:43):
And I began to see the struggle of many Christians where
they really didn't know how to connect with the Bible in
a life changing way.
And they.
A lot of Christians were frustrated with their prayer life.
They didn't realize that they were doing it right.
So that was also.
It's not.
Wasn't just my need that I was trying to fill,
(05:04):
but I wanted to be present for the people I was
ministering to.
So talk a little bit too.
You mentioned growing up a Christian and spending some time in
ministry and that being part of what called you to this.
But talk a little bit about your faith journey and what
was it about the challenges you went through,
the. The relationship that you had that kind of influenced your
(05:27):
life journey?
My. My husband and I had raised two daughters and went
to church faithfully with them every week,
wanted to do what was right,
make the right decisions.
But some of the challenges that I found myself in,
and anybody I think,
who is a parent understands this is when your child is
(05:48):
suddenly suffering,
you don't know how to help them.
You can't seem to find the Right.
Answers to the doctors that you take them to.
It's heartbreaking and you feel so out of control.
This is my child.
I'm supposed to be able to help them and to give
them the answers they need to get better.
So that was probably the biggest thing I was going through
(06:10):
at that time and just really crying out to God as
I took her.
My husband then took me,
took her from doctor to doctor and just having to learn
to trust God with this child,
that was everything to me.
(06:30):
So you mentioned earlier that you,
you had that feeling yourself of how a lot of Christians
get, get to this point where they're dealing with their faith
and those challenges and maybe feeling a little frustrated or a
little stuck,
a little confused by it.
How do you work with folks or what have you seen
(06:52):
that helps Christians begin to change the way they feel when
it comes to that relationship?
I think it's a multi stepped process.
I think the first thing we need to recognize is what
are my mindsets regarding God,
regarding prayer,
regarding the Bible?
Because we can want to move forward in our faith,
(07:14):
but yet not realizing that our thoughts and our attitudes are
pulling us in the other direction.
If I'm like,
oh, I just,
I wish I had a better prayer life.
But then the next day you're like,
God, God doesn't hear me when I pray.
Like, I,
I don't know how to pray.
And we get ourselves really stuck with our mindset and it
keeps us from really being able to take those steps that
(07:36):
we need to move forward.
And the Bible tells us God wants us to come to
him with childlike faith.
And the only way to do that is to really surrender
our life's frustrations and our mindsets that keep us from really
believing in God.
And it,
(07:57):
and it takes time.
There's no judgment here.
I'm not trying to shame anybody.
I've been there myself.
We all go through different seasons of life and things that
we're frustrated about.
So to really start at step one and say,
God, I'm here,
help me to,
to recognize the mindsets and the thoughts that I connect with
(08:21):
every day that are defeating me even before I step forward
to talk to you.
When you were dealing with the personal challenges that you were
having, why was it that,
why was faith something that you felt was important to reach
out to?
It's interesting you asked that question because you would think as
(08:44):
a Christian,
the first place I would have gone to was God.
Praise God.
Especially in the country we live in for the great medical
care we have.
Our first thing is okay,
let's go to this doctor.
And if that doctor can't help us,
then maybe a specialist going this direction will help us.
But as we tried to find.
Find help and the doctors,
(09:05):
because it.
It was Lyme's disease that she got when she was 14,
and that was.
She's 31 now.
So that was back when the doctors in Maryland didn't know
much about it.
They know a lot more today.
But even diagnosing it,
they didn't know how to do that in a definitive way.
Now that the doctors can't help her now I'm like,
okay, now let me pray about it,
(09:27):
see how God is going to show up for her.
But, yeah,
I just.
I just want to let any parents out there know that
if this is an area you're struggling with,
your child who is really hurting,
whether it's emotionally or physically,
because especially since COVID like in emotional challenges today are just
(09:48):
spreading like wildfire.
So I understand that,
and my heart goes out to you,
and I just want you to know that God is with
you, and there's things he wants to speak to your heart
through scripture,
through godly friends,
through the Holy Spirit.
There's many ways that he will give you that hope and
that strength that you really need to get through this.
(10:11):
A lot of folks,
too, when they're going through those challenges,
they feel angry at God as well,
or separated.
Did you have periods during that journey where you had that
feeling of separation from God or anger with God for what
was going on?
Yeah, absolutely.
That's totally normal.
But the beautiful thing is that the more real we are
(10:34):
with God,
the more real he can be with us.
Because now we're open,
we're vulnerable,
we're ready to listen.
And so this is the time when God started to say
to me,
you need to grow your faith as you pray.
And my premise today,
after everything God's taught me,
is we really can't have.
(10:55):
Have rock solid faith if we don't personally know God through
scripture. This is where we get to know who he is
and what he promises us.
And God said,
you can pray words of fear,
you can pray words of discouragement.
I'm here.
I hear you.
But if you want to grow your faith,
then pray my words,
(11:16):
bring my promises into your prayers,
and let me enter into the story.
So what.
What changed for you as you began to change the way
that you were approaching it and praying and having that relationship?
Well, I really saw God begin to reach out to my
daughter. He.
(11:37):
She just kept telling me of,
like, things that would happen where she knew it was God
that was speaking to her heart.
And I really believe that's because of the prayers that I.
I like.
I would find a promise in the Bible and put her
name in it and pray that in faith.
And so it was almost like God came through in a
(11:59):
greater way to show Jasmine that he was there with her
and for her.
A lot of us,
too, especially when there's challenges going on,
it's like that's.
That seems to be the very time when it's easiest to
get busy,
to get distracted,
to have everything else that you feel like is more important.
How. What were some of the things that you found that
(12:21):
helped or helps others stay consistent in having that prayer life
and having that time even when they're busy and frustrated and
overwhelmed? Yeah,
I think for me,
instead of saying,
okay, I need to look at my day that's already way
too full and find an hour where I can be with
God, because most of us are like this,
that just isn't going to happen.
(12:43):
Find a way to put God in your busy schedule and
find creative ways to be with God.
I teach these Bible journaling prayer classes and bring a lot
of creativity in how we meet with God.
If you're like,
you love to do different things on your phone,
with apps or whatever,
however you connect with people throughout the day,
(13:04):
we'll find an app to connect with God throughout the day.
You can listen to Bible reading on an app.
While you're driving to work during the day or in the
evening, go for a little walk in your backyard and take
a scripture with you.
Don't overwhelm yourself with,
oh, it has to be this much time for it to
(13:25):
count. Just find those moments throughout the day.
And some people are like,
I just.
I really feel God's presence through birds.
If I see an eagle soaring over,
like, suddenly,
it's like my heart opens up to the presence of God.
So find that that way and that place where you feel
like, okay,
(13:46):
now I can kind of take a breath and have a
moment with God and enjoy it.
Don't be overwhelmed.
And if you miss a day,
don't feel bad about it.
We all miss days.
God hasn't gone anywhere.
He'll be there for you when you wake up the next
day. When you think about your prayer life,
I think a lot of Christians find that sort of as
(14:08):
an intimidating concept of,
or they think of it as just a transactional I need
to pray for what I want kind of thing.
What have you discovered about how to approach prayer you mentioned
praying God's words and using the scripture.
Unpack that a little bit more.
What's different about how you have found approaching prayer?
(14:33):
Okay, I can tell you my favorite way to connect with
God. I'm a worshiper.
I love lead worship at churches,
and I just love.
That's a deep way that I connect with God.
So I'll put my AirPods in the morning and I'll go
to Spotify or YouTube and I'll just start listening to some
of my favorite praise music.
(14:54):
And then I'll either open my Bible.
If there's a certain.
Sometimes there's a certain chapter that I'm going through in the
Bible and I'll just prayerfully read through it.
And if there's a verse that I was like,
wow, this is really what I want in my relationship with
you, God,
I'll take a moment to write it out in a journal.
(15:14):
And I believe that the more time we spend with even
just one verse,
the deeper we can go in our relationship with God.
Because sometimes you're like,
oh, I need to read a chapter a day.
And that's not a bad thing.
But I've learned through time that sometimes it's just one verse
(15:34):
where God wants me to spend time with him.
And I might hold on to that verse for a week
or even a month,
and throughout the day take a moment to think about that
verse or speak it back to God.
So that has been key for me.
But sometimes people don't even really know where to start in
the Bible.
So one of my favorite things to do is get on
(15:57):
my laptop and I go to BibleGateway.com
and then you can put up.
You can either put in a scripture reference or you could
put in a keyword.
Let's say,
okay, I just,
I want to know more about the love of God.
Just put love or God's love,
and that website will pull up every scripture in the Bible
that has those words in it.
(16:19):
And then as you go through to read them,
you can even change the.
The translations.
There's a place where you can look it up in different
translations. So that's one of the ways,
you know,
that I really loved to go deeper in the Bible.
If I find a scripture I really love,
I'll look it up on BibleGateway.com
in the different versions,
write out the words that really speak to me,
(16:40):
and just spend time with God right there.
I've got a few questions that I like to ask all
of my guests.
But before I ask those,
is there anything else about the work you've done or this
journey that you've been on around prayer that,
that you would like to share with the listener.
Sure. I just.
The more time I'm with God through prayer and through scripture,
(17:05):
the more he really captures my heart and really begins to
show me his love for humanity.
It's so easy with everything that's happening in this world to
doubt God.
And this is a big thing.
I have two young adult daughters and I see in their
generation, this movement to create their own truth.
(17:29):
There is not one absolute truth.
And I believe a lot of that doubt comes from the
fact that they don't have an experience God for themselves.
And they see all the suffering in the world and they're
like, how can there be a loving God with all this
suffering? So we need to give God a chance is what
I believe.
(17:49):
And that chance needs to be more than just going to
church once a week,
because that's a great way to have community,
that's a great way to hear a wonderful message.
But we need to know God for ourselves on a day
to day basis and he wants that journey with us too.
Just start simply start small and begin this incredible journey with
(18:14):
God and let him reveal his very heart to you.
So what my brand is inspired stewardship.
And I run things through that lens of stewardship.
And yet I've discovered that is one of those words that
can mean a lot of different people,
a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
(18:35):
So when you hear the word stewardship,
what does that word mean to you?
It's. I believe it's what we put our time and our
attention to.
It's having faith and accountability with what God has given us.
And I.
Sometimes we see the,
as Christians,
we'll see the superheroes of faith.
These people who are up on the TV or traveling the
(18:57):
world, we're like,
wow, they really have this call of God on their lives.
They have all these talents and abilities.
I just want to remind everyone today that the moment God
created you in your mother's womb,
he also put within you these gifts and these talents and
these passions because you too have gifts of God waiting to
(19:21):
be unleashed.
And it's,
and I believe it's as we spend time with God,
he will reveal those things to us and then he calls
us to be stewards of those things.
So how do we use our time and our attention to
the gifts and the abilities and the talents that God has
(19:41):
created within each one of us?
I found these seven pillars of stewardship for the Christian walk
that I really love.
Can I share them?
Okay, so it's time,
talent, temple,
treasure, territory,
tribe and God's truth.
I just,
I really like those when I saw those.
So I wanted to share them.
(20:02):
Absolutely. So this is my favorite question that I like to
ask everybody.
Imagine for a moment that I invented this magic machine.
And with that machine you were able to travel into the
future, maybe 150,
maybe 250 years.
And through the power of the machine you were able to
look back and see your entire life,
(20:23):
see all of the connections,
all of the ripples,
all of the impacts you've left behind.
What impact do you hope you've left in the world?
I hope that the impact that I would leave on this
world would be that people would remember that my heart was
(20:44):
to bring people back to a powerful relationship with God through
the His Word,
prayer and the Holy Spirit.
So what's on the roadmap?
What's coming next for you as you continue on this journey?
My second book is coming out in a few weeks and
I'm writing my third book and having I'm just looking for
(21:06):
more opportunity to speak,
to share with people.
I could speaking at conferences or to do the prayer journaling,
Bible journaling classes that I teach.
Just I that's my favorite thing to do because I can
really get to know people one on one and interact and
we all learn from each other.
We have a really good time.
So I'm looking forward to doing a lot more of those.
(21:29):
And you can find out more about Debbie Howell over at
Debbie Luther Howell.com
of course,
I'll have a link to that over in the show notes
so you can find it there.
Debbie, is there anything else you'd like to share with the
listener? I just want to encourage you to connect with God
through scripture,
whether it's a book or an app.
(21:53):
And take a moment today to look up John 17 because
this is one of my favorite prayers in the Bible where
Jesus is talking to God and he's praying for us that
we would be one with God even as he was through
the words that God gave us through Jesus.
(22:19):
Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship podcast.
As a subscriber and listener,
we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen,
but act on what you've heard and find a way to
live your calling.
If you enjoyed this episode,
please do us a favor.
(22:39):
Go over to inspired stewardship.com
iTunes Rate all one word iTunes Rate.
It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review
and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so
that you can get every episode as it comes out in
(23:00):
your feed.
Until next time,
invest your time,
your talent and your treasures.
Develop your influence and impact the world.
Thanks for joining us on episode 1559 of the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. I'm Debbie Howell and I challenge you to invest in
yourself, invest in others,
develop your influence and impact the world by using your time,
your talent and your treasures to live out your calling.
(00:24):
Having the ability to open communication with God is key and
one way to be inspired to do that is to listen
to this the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Mater.
(00:46):
I think for me,
instead of saying,
okay, I need to look at my day that's already way
too full and find an hour where I can be with
God because most of us are like this,
that just isn't going to happen.
Find a way to put God in your busy schedule and
find creative ways to be with God.
I teach these Bible journaling prayer classes.
(01:08):
Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God
wants you to be,
then you must learn to use your time,
your talent and your treasures for your true calling.
In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast,
you will learn to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
(01:28):
and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.
In today's podcast episode,
I interview Debbie Howell.
I asked Debbie about how we can overcome feeling stuck in
our faith journey.
(01:49):
Debbie also shares how faith can help you during challenging times.
And I also asked Debbie about how to stay in prayer
even when life feels overwhelming.
I have a great book that's been out for a while
now called Inspired Assemble the puzzle of your calling by mastering
your time,
your talent,
and your treasures.
You can find out more about that book over@inspiredlivingbook.com
(02:14):
it'll take you to a page where there's information and you
can sign up to get some mailings about it as well
as purchase a copy there.
I'd love to see you get a copy and share with
me how it impacted your world.
Debbie Howell is a passionate Christian author,
speaker and devoted servant of Christ who has dedicated her life
and ministry to encouraging others to live out God's Word in
(02:37):
every aspect of their daily lives.
She is driven by a deep desire to see individuals grow
in their faith,
experience the fullness of God's love,
and live lives that reflect his truth and grace.
Through her books,
speaking engagements and personal ministry,
Debbie inspires believers to go beyond surface level Christianity and develop
a profound and intimate relationship with God.
(02:59):
She has a heart for guiding people to embrace the transformative
power of scripture,
prayer and worship,
which she believes are the cornerstone of a thriving spiritual life.
Debbie's teachings are rooted in her own journey of faith and
her understanding of God's word,
making her message both relatable and.
And impactful.
Whether she is speaking at a church event,
leading a small group,
(03:20):
or writing from the depths of her heart,
Debbie's mission is to help others encounter God's presence in a
way that changes their lives forever.
Welcome to the show,
Debbie. Thank you so much.
I'm excited to have this time with you and your listeners.
Absolutely. Thanks so much for coming on.
So I shared a little bit in the intro about what
(03:41):
you've done as a speaker,
as an author.
But I have also found that a lot of times sharing
the intro is like the highlight reel.
Right. It just shows some of the journey.
It never really shows the whole journey.
Back up a little bit and take us on a little
bit of your journey and what's brought you to the point
where this is the work you do and the message that
you put out into the world.
(04:02):
Sure. I was raised a Christian,
went to Christian schools,
even to Christian colleges,
and I believed in God.
But it wasn't until I became an adult and started to
go through some really challenging things that I started to go
deeper in my faith and wanted to know not just the
(04:23):
God of my parents,
but who God is for me.
And so that is where my journey began of getting to
know God through scripture in a very personal way by bringing
scriptures into how I prayed.
And I've ministered for years at different churches.
(04:43):
And I began to see the struggle of many Christians where
they really didn't know how to connect with the Bible in
a life changing way.
And they.
A lot of Christians were frustrated with their prayer life.
They didn't realize that they were doing it right.
So that was also.
It's not.
Wasn't just my need that I was trying to fill,
(05:04):
but I wanted to be present for the people I was
ministering to.
So talk a little bit too.
You mentioned growing up a Christian and spending some time in
ministry and that being part of what called you to this.
But talk a little bit about your faith journey and what
was it about the challenges you went through,
the. The relationship that you had that kind of influenced your
(05:27):
life journey?
My. My husband and I had raised two daughters and went
to church faithfully with them every week,
wanted to do what was right,
make the right decisions.
But some of the challenges that I found myself in,
and anybody I think,
who is a parent understands this is when your child is
(05:48):
suddenly suffering,
you don't know how to help them.
You can't seem to find the Right.
Answers to the doctors that you take them to.
It's heartbreaking and you feel so out of control.
This is my child.
I'm supposed to be able to help them and to give
them the answers they need to get better.
So that was probably the biggest thing I was going through
(06:10):
at that time and just really crying out to God as
I took her.
My husband then took me,
took her from doctor to doctor and just having to learn
to trust God with this child,
that was everything to me.
(06:30):
So you mentioned earlier that you,
you had that feeling yourself of how a lot of Christians
get, get to this point where they're dealing with their faith
and those challenges and maybe feeling a little frustrated or a
little stuck,
a little confused by it.
How do you work with folks or what have you seen
(06:52):
that helps Christians begin to change the way they feel when
it comes to that relationship?
I think it's a multi stepped process.
I think the first thing we need to recognize is what
are my mindsets regarding God,
regarding prayer,
regarding the Bible?
Because we can want to move forward in our faith,
(07:14):
but yet not realizing that our thoughts and our attitudes are
pulling us in the other direction.
If I'm like,
oh, I just,
I wish I had a better prayer life.
But then the next day you're like,
God, God doesn't hear me when I pray.
Like, I,
I don't know how to pray.
And we get ourselves really stuck with our mindset and it
keeps us from really being able to take those steps that
(07:36):
we need to move forward.
And the Bible tells us God wants us to come to
him with childlike faith.
And the only way to do that is to really surrender
our life's frustrations and our mindsets that keep us from really
believing in God.
And it,
(07:57):
and it takes time.
There's no judgment here.
I'm not trying to shame anybody.
I've been there myself.
We all go through different seasons of life and things that
we're frustrated about.
So to really start at step one and say,
God, I'm here,
help me to,
to recognize the mindsets and the thoughts that I connect with
(08:21):
every day that are defeating me even before I step forward
to talk to you.
When you were dealing with the personal challenges that you were
having, why was it that,
why was faith something that you felt was important to reach
out to?
It's interesting you asked that question because you would think as
(08:44):
a Christian,
the first place I would have gone to was God.
Praise God.
Especially in the country we live in for the great medical
care we have.
Our first thing is okay,
let's go to this doctor.
And if that doctor can't help us,
then maybe a specialist going this direction will help us.
But as we tried to find.
Find help and the doctors,
(09:05):
because it.
It was Lyme's disease that she got when she was 14,
and that was.
She's 31 now.
So that was back when the doctors in Maryland didn't know
much about it.
They know a lot more today.
But even diagnosing it,
they didn't know how to do that in a definitive way.
Now that the doctors can't help her now I'm like,
okay, now let me pray about it,
(09:27):
see how God is going to show up for her.
But, yeah,
I just.
I just want to let any parents out there know that
if this is an area you're struggling with,
your child who is really hurting,
whether it's emotionally or physically,
because especially since COVID like in emotional challenges today are just
(09:48):
spreading like wildfire.
So I understand that,
and my heart goes out to you,
and I just want you to know that God is with
you, and there's things he wants to speak to your heart
through scripture,
through godly friends,
through the Holy Spirit.
There's many ways that he will give you that hope and
that strength that you really need to get through this.
(10:11):
A lot of folks,
too, when they're going through those challenges,
they feel angry at God as well,
or separated.
Did you have periods during that journey where you had that
feeling of separation from God or anger with God for what
was going on?
Yeah, absolutely.
That's totally normal.
But the beautiful thing is that the more real we are
(10:34):
with God,
the more real he can be with us.
Because now we're open,
we're vulnerable,
we're ready to listen.
And so this is the time when God started to say
to me,
you need to grow your faith as you pray.
And my premise today,
after everything God's taught me,
is we really can't have.
(10:55):
Have rock solid faith if we don't personally know God through
scripture. This is where we get to know who he is
and what he promises us.
And God said,
you can pray words of fear,
you can pray words of discouragement.
I'm here.
I hear you.
But if you want to grow your faith,
then pray my words,
(11:16):
bring my promises into your prayers,
and let me enter into the story.
So what.
What changed for you as you began to change the way
that you were approaching it and praying and having that relationship?
Well, I really saw God begin to reach out to my
daughter. He.
(11:37):
She just kept telling me of,
like, things that would happen where she knew it was God
that was speaking to her heart.
And I really believe that's because of the prayers that I.
I like.
I would find a promise in the Bible and put her
name in it and pray that in faith.
And so it was almost like God came through in a
(11:59):
greater way to show Jasmine that he was there with her
and for her.
A lot of us,
too, especially when there's challenges going on,
it's like that's.
That seems to be the very time when it's easiest to
get busy,
to get distracted,
to have everything else that you feel like is more important.
How. What were some of the things that you found that
(12:21):
helped or helps others stay consistent in having that prayer life
and having that time even when they're busy and frustrated and
overwhelmed? Yeah,
I think for me,
instead of saying,
okay, I need to look at my day that's already way
too full and find an hour where I can be with
God, because most of us are like this,
that just isn't going to happen.
(12:43):
Find a way to put God in your busy schedule and
find creative ways to be with God.
I teach these Bible journaling prayer classes and bring a lot
of creativity in how we meet with God.
If you're like,
you love to do different things on your phone,
with apps or whatever,
however you connect with people throughout the day,
(13:04):
we'll find an app to connect with God throughout the day.
You can listen to Bible reading on an app.
While you're driving to work during the day or in the
evening, go for a little walk in your backyard and take
a scripture with you.
Don't overwhelm yourself with,
oh, it has to be this much time for it to
(13:25):
count. Just find those moments throughout the day.
And some people are like,
I just.
I really feel God's presence through birds.
If I see an eagle soaring over,
like, suddenly,
it's like my heart opens up to the presence of God.
So find that that way and that place where you feel
like, okay,
(13:46):
now I can kind of take a breath and have a
moment with God and enjoy it.
Don't be overwhelmed.
And if you miss a day,
don't feel bad about it.
We all miss days.
God hasn't gone anywhere.
He'll be there for you when you wake up the next
day. When you think about your prayer life,
I think a lot of Christians find that sort of as
(14:08):
an intimidating concept of,
or they think of it as just a transactional I need
to pray for what I want kind of thing.
What have you discovered about how to approach prayer you mentioned
praying God's words and using the scripture.
Unpack that a little bit more.
What's different about how you have found approaching prayer?
(14:33):
Okay, I can tell you my favorite way to connect with
God. I'm a worshiper.
I love lead worship at churches,
and I just love.
That's a deep way that I connect with God.
So I'll put my AirPods in the morning and I'll go
to Spotify or YouTube and I'll just start listening to some
of my favorite praise music.
(14:54):
And then I'll either open my Bible.
If there's a certain.
Sometimes there's a certain chapter that I'm going through in the
Bible and I'll just prayerfully read through it.
And if there's a verse that I was like,
wow, this is really what I want in my relationship with
you, God,
I'll take a moment to write it out in a journal.
(15:14):
And I believe that the more time we spend with even
just one verse,
the deeper we can go in our relationship with God.
Because sometimes you're like,
oh, I need to read a chapter a day.
And that's not a bad thing.
But I've learned through time that sometimes it's just one verse
(15:34):
where God wants me to spend time with him.
And I might hold on to that verse for a week
or even a month,
and throughout the day take a moment to think about that
verse or speak it back to God.
So that has been key for me.
But sometimes people don't even really know where to start in
the Bible.
So one of my favorite things to do is get on
(15:57):
my laptop and I go to BibleGateway.com
and then you can put up.
You can either put in a scripture reference or you could
put in a keyword.
Let's say,
okay, I just,
I want to know more about the love of God.
Just put love or God's love,
and that website will pull up every scripture in the Bible
that has those words in it.
(16:19):
And then as you go through to read them,
you can even change the.
The translations.
There's a place where you can look it up in different
translations. So that's one of the ways,
you know,
that I really loved to go deeper in the Bible.
If I find a scripture I really love,
I'll look it up on BibleGateway.com
in the different versions,
write out the words that really speak to me,
(16:40):
and just spend time with God right there.
I've got a few questions that I like to ask all
of my guests.
But before I ask those,
is there anything else about the work you've done or this
journey that you've been on around prayer that,
that you would like to share with the listener.
Sure. I just.
The more time I'm with God through prayer and through scripture,
(17:05):
the more he really captures my heart and really begins to
show me his love for humanity.
It's so easy with everything that's happening in this world to
doubt God.
And this is a big thing.
I have two young adult daughters and I see in their
generation, this movement to create their own truth.
(17:29):
There is not one absolute truth.
And I believe a lot of that doubt comes from the
fact that they don't have an experience God for themselves.
And they see all the suffering in the world and they're
like, how can there be a loving God with all this
suffering? So we need to give God a chance is what
I believe.
(17:49):
And that chance needs to be more than just going to
church once a week,
because that's a great way to have community,
that's a great way to hear a wonderful message.
But we need to know God for ourselves on a day
to day basis and he wants that journey with us too.
Just start simply start small and begin this incredible journey with
(18:14):
God and let him reveal his very heart to you.
So what my brand is inspired stewardship.
And I run things through that lens of stewardship.
And yet I've discovered that is one of those words that
can mean a lot of different people,
a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
(18:35):
So when you hear the word stewardship,
what does that word mean to you?
It's. I believe it's what we put our time and our
attention to.
It's having faith and accountability with what God has given us.
And I.
Sometimes we see the,
as Christians,
we'll see the superheroes of faith.
These people who are up on the TV or traveling the
(18:57):
world, we're like,
wow, they really have this call of God on their lives.
They have all these talents and abilities.
I just want to remind everyone today that the moment God
created you in your mother's womb,
he also put within you these gifts and these talents and
these passions because you too have gifts of God waiting to
(19:21):
be unleashed.
And it's,
and I believe it's as we spend time with God,
he will reveal those things to us and then he calls
us to be stewards of those things.
So how do we use our time and our attention to
the gifts and the abilities and the talents that God has
(19:41):
created within each one of us?
I found these seven pillars of stewardship for the Christian walk
that I really love.
Can I share them?
Okay, so it's time,
talent, temple,
treasure, territory,
tribe and God's truth.
I just,
I really like those when I saw those.
So I wanted to share them.
(20:02):
Absolutely. So this is my favorite question that I like to
ask everybody.
Imagine for a moment that I invented this magic machine.
And with that machine you were able to travel into the
future, maybe 150,
maybe 250 years.
And through the power of the machine you were able to
look back and see your entire life,
(20:23):
see all of the connections,
all of the ripples,
all of the impacts you've left behind.
What impact do you hope you've left in the world?
I hope that the impact that I would leave on this
world would be that people would remember that my heart was
(20:44):
to bring people back to a powerful relationship with God through
the His Word,
prayer and the Holy Spirit.
So what's on the roadmap?
What's coming next for you as you continue on this journey?
My second book is coming out in a few weeks and
I'm writing my third book and having I'm just looking for
(21:06):
more opportunity to speak,
to share with people.
I could speaking at conferences or to do the prayer journaling,
Bible journaling classes that I teach.
Just I that's my favorite thing to do because I can
really get to know people one on one and interact and
we all learn from each other.
We have a really good time.
So I'm looking forward to doing a lot more of those.
(21:29):
And you can find out more about Debbie Howell over at
Debbie Luther Howell.com
of course,
I'll have a link to that over in the show notes
so you can find it there.
Debbie, is there anything else you'd like to share with the
listener? I just want to encourage you to connect with God
through scripture,
whether it's a book or an app.
(21:53):
And take a moment today to look up John 17 because
this is one of my favorite prayers in the Bible where
Jesus is talking to God and he's praying for us that
we would be one with God even as he was through
the words that God gave us through Jesus.
(22:19):
Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship podcast.
As a subscriber and listener,
we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen,
but act on what you've heard and find a way to
live your calling.
If you enjoyed this episode,
please do us a favor.
(22:39):
Go over to inspired stewardship.com
iTunes Rate all one word iTunes Rate.
It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review
and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so
that you can get every episode as it comes out in
(23:00):
your feed.
Until next time,
invest your time,
your talent and your treasures.
Develop your influence and impact the world.
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