March 28, 2025 • 21 mins
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Have you ever felt like you’re chasing the calling God placed on your life more than you’re chasing Him? Yeah, me too. In this episode of the God Empowered Entrepreneur Podcast, I’m getting real about a personal struggle that’s been on my heart since the start of the year. As ambitious Christian entrepreneurs, we have big dreams...but if we’re not careful, our drive can slowly shift our focus away from the One who called us in the first place.
I’m breaking down what happens when our ambition starts taking center stage and sharing practical ways to recenter God in our daily lives WITHOUT guilt or overwhelm. Because the truth is...success means nothing if our relationship with God is suffering. Let’s talk about how to keep Him first, even while building a thriving business.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- The subtle ways we start prioritizing goals over God
- The consequences of letting ambition take the lead
- Simple, practical shifts to keep God first in life and business
- Why obedience will always outshine hustle
If this resonates with you, hit play and let’s work through this together. You are not alone, ever!
Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction: When ambition overshadows obedience
01:13 – How to recognize when God is no longer first
06:36 – The spiritual and business consequences of misalignment
11:29 – Practical ways to keep God at the center daily
13:42 – Looking back: When you felt closest to God
16:24 – Pursuing God without pressure or perfection
19:23 – Final encouragement: Your success starts with surrender
Listen now and get the motivation you need today, my friend.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angel Marie (00:00):
What's up and welcome back to another episode
of the God EmpoweredEntrepreneur Podcast.
Today we are diving into alittle struggle of mine,
something that has been hard forme.
I would say not even over thepast week or the past month, but
honestly since the start of theyear now.
Obviously the start of the yearis new year, new goals.
(00:21):
We're all feeling reallyambitious in a specific area of
our lives, and as I was pursuingmy specific ambitions this year,
I started to feel like I hadmoments where I was super close
to God as I was pursuing thoseambitions, but then I had
moments where I wasunintentionally not as close.
(00:44):
When I was trying to reflect onwhy exactly that was, I realized
that it was because I wasprioritizing what God was
calling me to do over Godhimself.
The business ideas, the goals,the focuses, the specific tasks.
It was good that I was beingobedient in those things.
(01:07):
I'm really proud of that.
I am passionate about it andultimately I just wanna make an
impact with it.
But I noticed that because I amgoing harder than I ever did
before when it comes to mybusiness.
I believed that because I wasbeing obedient and doing what
God was calling me to do, thatkept him and I close.
(01:28):
And although it can to anextent, I started to see that
the relationship just wasn't asstrong or as fulfilling as I
know that it could be.
And that's not because of God.
God is never the one who movesaway from you.
There might be seasons wheremaybe he's a little bit more
(01:49):
quiet than you would like inregards to telling you your
exact next steps, but thatdoesn't mean he moved away from
you.
God never moves away from you.
He's always right there waitingfor you to come to him, waiting
for you to take that step, togrow in closer relationship with
him so that you can build trustwith him and see him as your
provider, your comforter, yoursavior, all the things.
(02:12):
So in reality, what happens iswe are the ones who move.
We are the ones who fall back.
We are the ones who getdistracted.
We are the ones who don'trealize when we are prioritizing
other things, including thecalling that God has placed over
your life.
We are the ones putting all thatstuff first before God himself,
(02:33):
and that my friend is where weneed to be.
Careful.
Notice how, I'm not saying youneed to be careful.
I'm saying we need to be carefulmyself included, this has been
such a big struggle for me and Iwanted to come on this week's
episode to talk about it becauseI think that it's something that
a lot of us struggle with.
Or if you're not.
(02:54):
You're bound to at some point bechallenged with it if you are
stepping towards what God iscalling you to do and doing that
consistently.
the thing about the averagehuman being, and you know what?
Let me specify the averageAmerican human being in today's
society.
We normalize hustle culture.
We have this really strongdesire to reach a certain level
(03:18):
of success, to reach a certainstatus to feel fulfilled in
that, to accomplish.
It's not that these habits orour desire to accomplish
something specific isnecessarily bad, it's that we
unintentionally idolize it.
And when something becomes anidol, it takes priority even
(03:39):
over God himself.
And I think it starts to feeltricky, not just when you're
prioritizing certain things overGod himself, but when you think
that you're prioritizing Godbecause you're doing what he's
calling you to do in business,in your creativity, and because
you're obedient to that, youthink that you're not
(04:00):
prioritizing your business oryour creativity over God when in
actuality you very well couldbe.
How do I know that?
Because I've caught myself inthat and still do from time to
time, and man, am I working onit?
Now, let me be very clear.
It is admirable.
It is amazing that you areobeying or that you want to obey
(04:23):
what God is calling you to do.
It is incredible that you areputting in effort and faith and
taking steps to build thatthing, to start that thing to
accomplish in that thing becauseyou know that God has been
calling you to this.
It is a beautiful thing to wantto honor God with your business,
(04:45):
with your creativity, but youshould not be solely honoring
God just with that.
There are so many components tohonoring God that have to do
with you being in closerelationship with him and
keeping him first in youroverall life.
And as an entrepreneur, thateffort in honoring God should
(05:06):
not just be in your business.
Honoring God also means puttinghim first in your overall life.
Taking intentional time to spendtime with him.
Simply just allowing yourself tobe with him rather than do all
the things all the time.
Taking genuine time to study anddive into the word and become
(05:28):
more knowledgeable in it becauseyou know that it is the roadmap
to living a successful, peacefullife in all regard.
But sometimes it's justextremely hard to do that when
so many tasks are calling atyour name, especially when those
tasks that to-do list has to dowith your business and therefore
you accomplishing to set outwhat God has called you to do,
(05:50):
you wanting to achieve that, youwanting to be consistent in it,
you wanting to reach thosespecific goals.
Again, that's good.
But where we need to be carefulis if all of those things
supersede our time with God, ourrelationship with God, without
us even realizing it.
So let me take a second to sharea few factual reminders with
(06:12):
you.
That can help you understand whythis is important, because it's
pretty self-explanatory, right?
Oh, you should prioritize Godover everything.
Yes, that's self-explanatory.
But sometimes we're not actuallydoing that or taking action
towards that if we don't fullyunderstand the depths as to why
(06:32):
we need to do that, especiallywhen it comes to
entrepreneurship.
The first reminder that I wannasay to all of my current
entrepreneurs and aspiringentrepreneurs when it comes to
this, you will not be successfulif you do not prioritize God
over your calling.
And when I say successful, I amnot just talking about monetary
(06:53):
success, financial freedom,that's not what I'm talking
about.
I am also talking about internalsuccess, feeling this
steadiness, this contentment,the sustainable peace and joy,
even through hardship.
It is extremely hard.
To be or to feel successfulholistically when God is not put
(07:16):
first.
So if you want that level ofsuccess, if you want to
accomplish, if you wanna reachspecific goals and you are
really ambitious towards that,then the missing piece that you
absolutely need.
That's completelynon-negotiable, is to put God
first before all of those goals.
Your calling, your business,your steps, your tasks, God has
(07:41):
got to come first.
The second factual reminder thatI want to give you, if God is
not being prioritized over yourcalling, you'll burn out much
more often, much more quickly.
When God is not being put first,you are not taking intentional
time to pour into your spirit inthe way that you need to.
(08:01):
Pouring into your spirit isnecessary in order for your
spirit to feel fulfilled.
And when your spirit feelsfulfilled, you can literally
feel the effects of that.
You feel more at peace, you feelmore steady, you feel more
prepared to take onresponsibilities, tasks, to set
(08:23):
out the next day on what God iswanting you to do.
You need to pour into yourselfin order to sustain your
journey.
And I don't just mean self-care,getting massages, going for
peaceful walks, all of that isgreat.
What I'm also talking about isthat spiritual fulfillment,
allowing the Holy Spirit to fillyou back up.
(08:44):
Because as humans, we get tired,we get exhausted, we get burnt
out, we get confused.
We get conflicted.
We get depressed, we get all thethings and in order to overcome
that, we have got to fillourselves back up.
So if you want to be consistent.
And steady in doing what God iscalling you to do, then it is
non-negotiable for you to allowthe Holy Spirit to help you do
(09:07):
that.
Third factual reminder in why.
Why you need to prioritize Godover your calling.
If you don't, you willunintentionally stray away from
God.
Why?
Because you are idolizing yourcalling over him.
And a lot of times we don'trealize when we're doing that.
(09:28):
How do I know that?
Because that was me.
That is me sometimes, and I'mworking on that.
As Christians, when we'rechasing after something, we get
confused in thinking that we'reprioritizing God because we're
obeying and doing what he'scalling us to do, when in
actuality we're not, there's adisconnect there.
We have to get back connectedand instead of straying from
(09:50):
God, because we're so focused,we're so distracted on the
calling itself, we need to runtowards him.
Because we know that will notonly catapult us deeper, more
beautifully into the callingthat God is calling us to, but
it will connect us with him thatmuch more deeply, one-on-one, A
beautiful relationship, a truepartnership in everything you do
(10:14):
in life.
Now, all of those factualreminders are great, right?
But let me tell you where Istruggle.
I don't just struggle inimplementing certain things in
order to keep God first beforemy calling.
I struggle in the desire to makethe time to implement those
things, not just making thetime, but having the desire to
(10:38):
make the time.
Sometimes I lack motivation inthat because I'm so dedicated to
the calling, I'm so dedicated toconsistency and reaching goals.
And when I'm dedicated to that,I have more of a desire to do
those things versus having moreof a desire to pause, to slow
down, and to make sure that I'mprioritizing my one-on-one
(11:00):
relationship with God over thecalling that he has called me
to.
And you might feel the same.
You might struggle with that.
You might have no motivation todo that.
Because you're busy or becauseyou're focused or you're
distracted, whatever it is, Iwanna talk about how both you
and I can fix it.
How can we fix that loss ofmotivation, that non desire that
(11:23):
we have to ensure that God isbeing prioritized over our
calling?
The first thing that I'll say,and by the way, these tips I'm
about to give you are thingsthat I am personally trying,
that are helping, and that Iwanna be more consistent in
implementing in my life.
So if I know that they'rehelpful for me, I'm confident
that they can help you too.
All right.
(11:44):
First up, bring God into yourday with you.
I don't know why it's such anorm to feel like those are
separate our time with God andthen we go about our day.
We need to normalize combiningthose.
If you spend time with God inthe morning or in the evening,
or in the car on your way towork, or you say prayers here
(12:05):
and there, that's great, butthey should never be considered
a separate or apart from yourday-to-day tasks.
And that's something I'm workingon.
I don't just want to bring Godinto my day during my dedicated
solo time with him.
I wanna bring him into my fullday.
And this is where we can getreally fun and creative with it.
(12:27):
I've talked about this inprevious podcast episodes, but
I'm gonna highlight someexamples again regarding what I
mean when I say bringing Godinto your day with you.
This could mean not justspending time with him in the
morning or whenever your solotime with him is, but maybe
during your workout, you arelistening to a sermon instead of
workout music.
(12:47):
Maybe while you're doing thedishes or you're meal prepping,
you are playing worship musicinstead of having the TV on.
Maybe if you are going on walkswith your family or you're
playing with your kids at thepark or walking your dogs,
whatever it might be, you'retaking that time to pray to God
like he's your best friend.
Maybe whatever bible verse thatyou read that morning, you are
(13:09):
being intentional in memorizingthat verse and repeating it to
yourself sporadically throughoutyour day.
Maybe in the middle of the dayyou take two minutes to open up
the Bible app on your phone toread the verse of the day.
Maybe before the meetings youhave that day, you send up a
prayer and you just ask God tosit in those meetings with you.
This is what I mean by gettingreally creative with how God can
(13:30):
be a part of your day.
What does that look like and howcan you stop separating your
time with God?
Versus your time in your day andjust combine the two.
What does that look like?
The second thing that I'll sayis recall how you felt when you
were closest to God.
I think we've all had one momentor moments in our life where we
(13:53):
just felt so close to God.
I want you to reflect on whenthat moment or moments was, what
did your life look like?
What did your week look like?
What habits did you have?
Seriously use yourself.
Use your past as a case studyjust by leaning on moments where
you felt closest to God.
(14:14):
When you do that, this can helpmotivate you to get back to that
place and understand what needsto happen, what habits need to
be implemented to help you getback to that place.
For example, when I was doingthis, I recall that when I felt
closest to God was when I wassuper consistent in going to
(14:34):
church every week and going tomy Bible study group every week
as well.
There is a shift in me doingthat since we moved from Atlanta
where our church was to LA wherewe currently live now, and it
took a while to find a church.
It took a while to find acommunity, and I'm just now
(14:55):
getting back into that, and thatfeels really good.
But I'm motivated to get moredeeper into that because I
remember how I felt when I wasdeeply into that.
I also remember a point in timewhere my time with God was spent
outside of the house because Iused to struggle where in the
house.
I was just super distracted tobe on my phone or to get things
(15:17):
done in the house.
Things like that.
So I would spend maybe everyother day intentionally spending
my mornings outside, not justgoing for a walk, but bringing a
blanket, bringing my icedcoffee, laying that blanket down
in a grassy area somewherebeautiful that I would drive to
or walk to.
I'd have my Bible with me and Iwould just pray and read and
(15:39):
reflect.
And I felt so good.
So if I recall me feelingclosest to God in those moments,
then that means that could be ahabit that I implement more
often today, this year.
Think about that for you.
Reflect on that.
Use your past as a case studyregarding when you felt closest
to God to help motivate you toget back into that again.
(16:03):
If you wanna feel good, if youwanna feel fulfilled, if you
wanna know that God is beingprioritized over everything in
life, including your business,including your calling, think
back to when you were theclosest to him and implement
that again.
Now the last thing that I'llsay, and this is a tough one,
force yourself without pressureto rebuild the desire in making
(16:27):
time to prioritize God over yourown calling.
Many times you need to forceyourself.
Without pressure.
Now what do I mean by this?
Sometimes we just need to makeourselves do it when you know
you wanna go to the gym moreoften and just feel more
healthy.
Many times you don't wanna go tothe gym.
You have no motivation to go tothe gym, but sometimes you have
(16:49):
to make yourself go anywaybecause you know the future you
that you're trying to get to.
Whether it's a healthier system,more toned body, whatever that
goal is to get to that futureyou that you see for yourself,
you have to make yourself get tothe gym or make yourself do that
thing so that you can get tothat point.
(17:09):
Spiritually, when we forceourselves or when we make
ourselves do necessary things orimplement habits to better
prioritize God, when you dothat, the more you're in that
moment, your spirit starts tosupersede.
Your inability to feelmotivated, and as your spirit
supersedes that and grows inyou, you naturally
(17:32):
supernaturally start to feelmotivated to continue.
For example, a lot of times it'shard to read the Bible.
Let's be honest.
Reading the Bible is incredible.
It's the roadmap to our lives.
But I have so many moments whereI don't want to read the Bible.
Sometimes I am bored.
Sometimes I fall asleep when Iread.
Sometimes I just straight updon't want to because my mind is
(17:54):
elsewhere.
But if I know that a Bible isnot just a tool, but is the
ultimate solution to everythingin life.
Especially when it comes tolearning to prioritize God, then
what does it look like for me toforce myself to read it anyway,
but without pressure?
Meaning I don't need to setexpectations to read a whole
(18:16):
chapter.
What does it look like to forcemyself to just open the Bible
even when I do not want to?
And to just focus on a fewsentences in scripture, reading
it over and over again, allowingmyself to marinate in that
moment so that my spirit canstart to supersede my
distractions.
It can start to supersede myinability to feel motivated, to
(18:39):
the point where nowsupernaturally, I am motivated.
I do feel.
Joyful and at peace and moreconnected to God himself.
This is what I mean when I sayforce yourself.
Push yourself, make yourself,but without pressure, without
these super high expectations.
And as you start doing that stepby step, day by day more
(19:01):
consistently, you widen yourcapacity to take on more
reading, more of the Bible.
Taking more of that action whenit comes to prioritizing God.
Why?
Because your spirit has nowsuperseded your distractions,
and now you have motivation.
You have a desire to spend timewith God longer, to be more
(19:22):
consistent in it.
At the end of the day, myfriend, listen, I know that
sometimes it is hard toprioritize God.
Sometimes you have so much goingon in your life and in your
business, and you're busy andyou're just sitting there trying
to figure out how in the worldcan you do it all.
I just want you to remember, theabsolute non-negotiable has got
(19:44):
to be God being prioritized overall of that because when he is
your life, your business, yourbusyness, your tasks, they all
start to feel more steady.
Peace and joy are much moreattainable.
In everything that you dobecause you chose for God to be
(20:05):
first before anything else.
And if this is something thatI'm working on and I know the
effects of it, when I do work onit, then I know the same exact
results are available for youtoo, my friend.
I hope that this episode touchedyour heart in more ways than
one.
And hey, if you enjoyed today'sepisode, I would love to hear
from you.
(20:25):
Go ahead and leave a reviewwherever you're watching this
episode, apple Podcast, Spotify,wherever there's a place to
leave a review.
I would absolutely love to hearfrom you.
Thanks so much for tuning in,and I'll see you next week for
another episode of the GodEmpowered Entrepreneur Podcast.
What's up and welcome back to another episode
of the God EmpoweredEntrepreneur Podcast.
Today we are diving into alittle struggle of mine,
something that has been hard forme.
I would say not even over thepast week or the past month, but
honestly since the start of theyear now.
Obviously the start of the yearis new year, new goals.
(00:21):
We're all feeling reallyambitious in a specific area of
our lives, and as I was pursuingmy specific ambitions this year,
I started to feel like I hadmoments where I was super close
to God as I was pursuing thoseambitions, but then I had
moments where I wasunintentionally not as close.
(00:44):
When I was trying to reflect onwhy exactly that was, I realized
that it was because I wasprioritizing what God was
calling me to do over Godhimself.
The business ideas, the goals,the focuses, the specific tasks.
It was good that I was beingobedient in those things.
(01:07):
I'm really proud of that.
I am passionate about it andultimately I just wanna make an
impact with it.
But I noticed that because I amgoing harder than I ever did
before when it comes to mybusiness.
I believed that because I wasbeing obedient and doing what
God was calling me to do, thatkept him and I close.
(01:28):
And although it can to anextent, I started to see that
the relationship just wasn't asstrong or as fulfilling as I
know that it could be.
And that's not because of God.
God is never the one who movesaway from you.
There might be seasons wheremaybe he's a little bit more
(01:49):
quiet than you would like inregards to telling you your
exact next steps, but thatdoesn't mean he moved away from
you.
God never moves away from you.
He's always right there waitingfor you to come to him, waiting
for you to take that step, togrow in closer relationship with
him so that you can build trustwith him and see him as your
provider, your comforter, yoursavior, all the things.
(02:12):
So in reality, what happens iswe are the ones who move.
We are the ones who fall back.
We are the ones who getdistracted.
We are the ones who don'trealize when we are prioritizing
other things, including thecalling that God has placed over
your life.
We are the ones putting all thatstuff first before God himself,
(02:33):
and that my friend is where weneed to be.
Careful.
Notice how, I'm not saying youneed to be careful.
I'm saying we need to be carefulmyself included, this has been
such a big struggle for me and Iwanted to come on this week's
episode to talk about it becauseI think that it's something that
a lot of us struggle with.
Or if you're not.
(02:54):
You're bound to at some point bechallenged with it if you are
stepping towards what God iscalling you to do and doing that
consistently.
the thing about the averagehuman being, and you know what?
Let me specify the averageAmerican human being in today's
society.
We normalize hustle culture.
We have this really strongdesire to reach a certain level
(03:18):
of success, to reach a certainstatus to feel fulfilled in
that, to accomplish.
It's not that these habits orour desire to accomplish
something specific isnecessarily bad, it's that we
unintentionally idolize it.
And when something becomes anidol, it takes priority even
(03:39):
over God himself.
And I think it starts to feeltricky, not just when you're
prioritizing certain things overGod himself, but when you think
that you're prioritizing Godbecause you're doing what he's
calling you to do in business,in your creativity, and because
you're obedient to that, youthink that you're not
(04:00):
prioritizing your business oryour creativity over God when in
actuality you very well couldbe.
How do I know that?
Because I've caught myself inthat and still do from time to
time, and man, am I working onit?
Now, let me be very clear.
It is admirable.
It is amazing that you areobeying or that you want to obey
(04:23):
what God is calling you to do.
It is incredible that you areputting in effort and faith and
taking steps to build thatthing, to start that thing to
accomplish in that thing becauseyou know that God has been
calling you to this.
It is a beautiful thing to wantto honor God with your business,
(04:45):
with your creativity, but youshould not be solely honoring
God just with that.
There are so many components tohonoring God that have to do
with you being in closerelationship with him and
keeping him first in youroverall life.
And as an entrepreneur, thateffort in honoring God should
(05:06):
not just be in your business.
Honoring God also means puttinghim first in your overall life.
Taking intentional time to spendtime with him.
Simply just allowing yourself tobe with him rather than do all
the things all the time.
Taking genuine time to study anddive into the word and become
(05:28):
more knowledgeable in it becauseyou know that it is the roadmap
to living a successful, peacefullife in all regard.
But sometimes it's justextremely hard to do that when
so many tasks are calling atyour name, especially when those
tasks that to-do list has to dowith your business and therefore
you accomplishing to set outwhat God has called you to do,
(05:50):
you wanting to achieve that, youwanting to be consistent in it,
you wanting to reach thosespecific goals.
Again, that's good.
But where we need to be carefulis if all of those things
supersede our time with God, ourrelationship with God, without
us even realizing it.
So let me take a second to sharea few factual reminders with
(06:12):
you.
That can help you understand whythis is important, because it's
pretty self-explanatory, right?
Oh, you should prioritize Godover everything.
Yes, that's self-explanatory.
But sometimes we're not actuallydoing that or taking action
towards that if we don't fullyunderstand the depths as to why
(06:32):
we need to do that, especiallywhen it comes to
entrepreneurship.
The first reminder that I wannasay to all of my current
entrepreneurs and aspiringentrepreneurs when it comes to
this, you will not be successfulif you do not prioritize God
over your calling.
And when I say successful, I amnot just talking about monetary
(06:53):
success, financial freedom,that's not what I'm talking
about.
I am also talking about internalsuccess, feeling this
steadiness, this contentment,the sustainable peace and joy,
even through hardship.
It is extremely hard.
To be or to feel successfulholistically when God is not put
(07:16):
first.
So if you want that level ofsuccess, if you want to
accomplish, if you wanna reachspecific goals and you are
really ambitious towards that,then the missing piece that you
absolutely need.
That's completelynon-negotiable, is to put God
first before all of those goals.
Your calling, your business,your steps, your tasks, God has
(07:41):
got to come first.
The second factual reminder thatI want to give you, if God is
not being prioritized over yourcalling, you'll burn out much
more often, much more quickly.
When God is not being put first,you are not taking intentional
time to pour into your spirit inthe way that you need to.
(08:01):
Pouring into your spirit isnecessary in order for your
spirit to feel fulfilled.
And when your spirit feelsfulfilled, you can literally
feel the effects of that.
You feel more at peace, you feelmore steady, you feel more
prepared to take onresponsibilities, tasks, to set
(08:23):
out the next day on what God iswanting you to do.
You need to pour into yourselfin order to sustain your
journey.
And I don't just mean self-care,getting massages, going for
peaceful walks, all of that isgreat.
What I'm also talking about isthat spiritual fulfillment,
allowing the Holy Spirit to fillyou back up.
(08:44):
Because as humans, we get tired,we get exhausted, we get burnt
out, we get confused.
We get conflicted.
We get depressed, we get all thethings and in order to overcome
that, we have got to fillourselves back up.
So if you want to be consistent.
And steady in doing what God iscalling you to do, then it is
non-negotiable for you to allowthe Holy Spirit to help you do
(09:07):
that.
Third factual reminder in why.
Why you need to prioritize Godover your calling.
If you don't, you willunintentionally stray away from
God.
Why?
Because you are idolizing yourcalling over him.
And a lot of times we don'trealize when we're doing that.
(09:28):
How do I know that?
Because that was me.
That is me sometimes, and I'mworking on that.
As Christians, when we'rechasing after something, we get
confused in thinking that we'reprioritizing God because we're
obeying and doing what he'scalling us to do, when in
actuality we're not, there's adisconnect there.
We have to get back connectedand instead of straying from
(09:50):
God, because we're so focused,we're so distracted on the
calling itself, we need to runtowards him.
Because we know that will notonly catapult us deeper, more
beautifully into the callingthat God is calling us to, but
it will connect us with him thatmuch more deeply, one-on-one, A
beautiful relationship, a truepartnership in everything you do
(10:14):
in life.
Now, all of those factualreminders are great, right?
But let me tell you where Istruggle.
I don't just struggle inimplementing certain things in
order to keep God first beforemy calling.
I struggle in the desire to makethe time to implement those
things, not just making thetime, but having the desire to
(10:38):
make the time.
Sometimes I lack motivation inthat because I'm so dedicated to
the calling, I'm so dedicated toconsistency and reaching goals.
And when I'm dedicated to that,I have more of a desire to do
those things versus having moreof a desire to pause, to slow
down, and to make sure that I'mprioritizing my one-on-one
(11:00):
relationship with God over thecalling that he has called me
to.
And you might feel the same.
You might struggle with that.
You might have no motivation todo that.
Because you're busy or becauseyou're focused or you're
distracted, whatever it is, Iwanna talk about how both you
and I can fix it.
How can we fix that loss ofmotivation, that non desire that
(11:23):
we have to ensure that God isbeing prioritized over our
calling?
The first thing that I'll say,and by the way, these tips I'm
about to give you are thingsthat I am personally trying,
that are helping, and that Iwanna be more consistent in
implementing in my life.
So if I know that they'rehelpful for me, I'm confident
that they can help you too.
All right.
(11:44):
First up, bring God into yourday with you.
I don't know why it's such anorm to feel like those are
separate our time with God andthen we go about our day.
We need to normalize combiningthose.
If you spend time with God inthe morning or in the evening,
or in the car on your way towork, or you say prayers here
(12:05):
and there, that's great, butthey should never be considered
a separate or apart from yourday-to-day tasks.
And that's something I'm workingon.
I don't just want to bring Godinto my day during my dedicated
solo time with him.
I wanna bring him into my fullday.
And this is where we can getreally fun and creative with it.
(12:27):
I've talked about this inprevious podcast episodes, but
I'm gonna highlight someexamples again regarding what I
mean when I say bringing Godinto your day with you.
This could mean not justspending time with him in the
morning or whenever your solotime with him is, but maybe
during your workout, you arelistening to a sermon instead of
workout music.
(12:47):
Maybe while you're doing thedishes or you're meal prepping,
you are playing worship musicinstead of having the TV on.
Maybe if you are going on walkswith your family or you're
playing with your kids at thepark or walking your dogs,
whatever it might be, you'retaking that time to pray to God
like he's your best friend.
Maybe whatever bible verse thatyou read that morning, you are
(13:09):
being intentional in memorizingthat verse and repeating it to
yourself sporadically throughoutyour day.
Maybe in the middle of the dayyou take two minutes to open up
the Bible app on your phone toread the verse of the day.
Maybe before the meetings youhave that day, you send up a
prayer and you just ask God tosit in those meetings with you.
This is what I mean by gettingreally creative with how God can
(13:30):
be a part of your day.
What does that look like and howcan you stop separating your
time with God?
Versus your time in your day andjust combine the two.
What does that look like?
The second thing that I'll sayis recall how you felt when you
were closest to God.
I think we've all had one momentor moments in our life where we
(13:53):
just felt so close to God.
I want you to reflect on whenthat moment or moments was, what
did your life look like?
What did your week look like?
What habits did you have?
Seriously use yourself.
Use your past as a case studyjust by leaning on moments where
you felt closest to God.
(14:14):
When you do that, this can helpmotivate you to get back to that
place and understand what needsto happen, what habits need to
be implemented to help you getback to that place.
For example, when I was doingthis, I recall that when I felt
closest to God was when I wassuper consistent in going to
(14:34):
church every week and going tomy Bible study group every week
as well.
There is a shift in me doingthat since we moved from Atlanta
where our church was to LA wherewe currently live now, and it
took a while to find a church.
It took a while to find acommunity, and I'm just now
(14:55):
getting back into that, and thatfeels really good.
But I'm motivated to get moredeeper into that because I
remember how I felt when I wasdeeply into that.
I also remember a point in timewhere my time with God was spent
outside of the house because Iused to struggle where in the
house.
I was just super distracted tobe on my phone or to get things
(15:17):
done in the house.
Things like that.
So I would spend maybe everyother day intentionally spending
my mornings outside, not justgoing for a walk, but bringing a
blanket, bringing my icedcoffee, laying that blanket down
in a grassy area somewherebeautiful that I would drive to
or walk to.
I'd have my Bible with me and Iwould just pray and read and
(15:39):
reflect.
And I felt so good.
So if I recall me feelingclosest to God in those moments,
then that means that could be ahabit that I implement more
often today, this year.
Think about that for you.
Reflect on that.
Use your past as a case studyregarding when you felt closest
to God to help motivate you toget back into that again.
(16:03):
If you wanna feel good, if youwanna feel fulfilled, if you
wanna know that God is beingprioritized over everything in
life, including your business,including your calling, think
back to when you were theclosest to him and implement
that again.
Now the last thing that I'llsay, and this is a tough one,
force yourself without pressureto rebuild the desire in making
(16:27):
time to prioritize God over yourown calling.
Many times you need to forceyourself.
Without pressure.
Now what do I mean by this?
Sometimes we just need to makeourselves do it when you know
you wanna go to the gym moreoften and just feel more
healthy.
Many times you don't wanna go tothe gym.
You have no motivation to go tothe gym, but sometimes you have
(16:49):
to make yourself go anywaybecause you know the future you
that you're trying to get to.
Whether it's a healthier system,more toned body, whatever that
goal is to get to that futureyou that you see for yourself,
you have to make yourself get tothe gym or make yourself do that
thing so that you can get tothat point.
(17:09):
Spiritually, when we forceourselves or when we make
ourselves do necessary things orimplement habits to better
prioritize God, when you dothat, the more you're in that
moment, your spirit starts tosupersede.
Your inability to feelmotivated, and as your spirit
supersedes that and grows inyou, you naturally
(17:32):
supernaturally start to feelmotivated to continue.
For example, a lot of times it'shard to read the Bible.
Let's be honest.
Reading the Bible is incredible.
It's the roadmap to our lives.
But I have so many moments whereI don't want to read the Bible.
Sometimes I am bored.
Sometimes I fall asleep when Iread.
Sometimes I just straight updon't want to because my mind is
(17:54):
elsewhere.
But if I know that a Bible isnot just a tool, but is the
ultimate solution to everythingin life.
Especially when it comes tolearning to prioritize God, then
what does it look like for me toforce myself to read it anyway,
but without pressure?
Meaning I don't need to setexpectations to read a whole
(18:16):
chapter.
What does it look like to forcemyself to just open the Bible
even when I do not want to?
And to just focus on a fewsentences in scripture, reading
it over and over again, allowingmyself to marinate in that
moment so that my spirit canstart to supersede my
distractions.
It can start to supersede myinability to feel motivated, to
(18:39):
the point where nowsupernaturally, I am motivated.
I do feel.
Joyful and at peace and moreconnected to God himself.
This is what I mean when I sayforce yourself.
Push yourself, make yourself,but without pressure, without
these super high expectations.
And as you start doing that stepby step, day by day more
(19:01):
consistently, you widen yourcapacity to take on more
reading, more of the Bible.
Taking more of that action whenit comes to prioritizing God.
Why?
Because your spirit has nowsuperseded your distractions,
and now you have motivation.
You have a desire to spend timewith God longer, to be more
(19:22):
consistent in it.
At the end of the day, myfriend, listen, I know that
sometimes it is hard toprioritize God.
Sometimes you have so much goingon in your life and in your
business, and you're busy andyou're just sitting there trying
to figure out how in the worldcan you do it all.
I just want you to remember, theabsolute non-negotiable has got
(19:44):
to be God being prioritized overall of that because when he is
your life, your business, yourbusyness, your tasks, they all
start to feel more steady.
Peace and joy are much moreattainable.
In everything that you dobecause you chose for God to be
(20:05):
first before anything else.
And if this is something thatI'm working on and I know the
effects of it, when I do work onit, then I know the same exact
results are available for youtoo, my friend.
I hope that this episode touchedyour heart in more ways than
one.
And hey, if you enjoyed today'sepisode, I would love to hear
from you.
(20:25):
Go ahead and leave a reviewwherever you're watching this
episode, apple Podcast, Spotify,wherever there's a place to
leave a review.
I would absolutely love to hearfrom you.
Thanks so much for tuning in,and I'll see you next week for
another episode of the GodEmpowered Entrepreneur Podcast.
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