Hope for Healing with Abba

05/27/2026

05/26/2026

Anxiety steals our joy and our peace. But how do we rid ourselves of it? The solution may sound simple, but it’s easier said than done. Hebrews 4:16 gives us the answer, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

Prayer is our practical prescription for the problem of anxiety. The typical Greek word for prayer means worship or devotion. The Bible outlines several types of prayer, reflecting diverse ways to communicate with God, including supplication (requests), intercession (praying for others), praise/worship, thanksgiving, confession, and consecration.

Jesus recommended worship first Luke 11:2, “Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon.” He started with worship when he taught the disciples to pray, setting the example for us as well.

As a child of God, it is my privilege to be able to go before Him whenever I want. Worship and worry cannot coexist. When I worship, I refocus my heart on Him instead of my anxiety and that is what is necessary. Trust and rest in Him. He doesn’t expect me to to figure it all out and continue to stress over each situation; He wants me to rest in Him. He’s got this!

05/22/2026

Is there anything in your life today that has become a source of anxiety, discouragement, or deep pain? Are you struggling to trust that God will come through for you?

The Christian life is a battlefield. Those who succeed in the things of God are those who refuse to give up and persist in prayer. Pray for Him to reach into the area of your life that has left you feeling weary, broken, or discouraged—and ask for His strength and redemption.

Ephesians 1:4 tells us, “ Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” God desires to meet me in the places where I have experienced relational brokenness. His love wants to encounter my heart in ways I may never have received before.

God’s presence restrains fear. Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” God’s love and affection never fades or fails. Even when we are in the depths of despair, His love is everlasting. So we need not fear a thing.

Our prayers are always welcome and He desires us to trust Him with all our heart, not allow fear to hold us back. When we pray, we are surrendering our will to His, embracing His plan and purpose for us. What great blessing could come from your own prayer of surrender?

05/19/2026

Have you ever heard that children’s song, “Why Worry when you can Pray?”? Here’s how it goes: “Why worry, when you can pray? Trust Jesus, He’ll be your stay. Don’t be a doubting Thomas, Rest fully on His promise, Why worry, worry, worry, worry, When you can pray?”

Did you know that when you worry, you’re not trusting God? So many times, our faith is so weak, we can’t trust Him and our minds fill with worry and anxiety. It happens to me, so I know it happens to you too. Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

The Biblical concept of worry and anxiety literally means to tear the mind. Anxiety divides the mind between legitimate concerns and destructive thoughts; ripping it in two different directions. It leaves me double minded and unstable in all I do. (see James 1:5-8)

God offers me a way to eliminate anxiety through resting and trusting in Him. Isaiah 26:3 shows us, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on You.” Perfect peace can only come from the Lord, and it is the exact opposite of worry and anxiety.

1 Peter 5:7 says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares for you.” When we ask Him to strengthen our faith, then give Him our worries, that is exercising our faith. As we see Him taking those cares and removing them from our shoulders, His peace will fill us and we can rest in Him. Trust God today!

05/15/2026

Is there an area in your life where you’ve run from God and you’re now seeking restoration? Do you remember Jonah? He ran from God’s direction; flat out rebellion from what God told him to do. Then, in the belly of the big fish, he repented and told God he would offer sacrifices of peace and thanksgiving (Jonah 2) Jonah was hoping to go to Jerusalem instead of Ninevah, but in Jonah 3:1, God told him, “Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

In other words, God told him what he told Saul in1 Samuel 15:22, ““What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”

Whenever we find ourselves at the uncomfortable cross-roads where sin and consequences meet, the right response is always repentance. But repentance does NOT mean going off in a good direction; it means going in God’s direction.*

A good direction might be attending a Bible study, spending more time in God’s Word, praying more. But although those are good things, they can often be just going through the motions of religion. What God wants is a relationship with you, not religion. Psalm 51:17 tells us, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

God prefers we get right with Him rather than just behave for him. If we don’t recognize the difference between those two, we will soon disobey again. We may act differently but not in the way that makes a lasting difference. True repentance means turning away from the sin and toward God in obedience. We can’t just make ourselves feel better with a long list of religious activity, but must seal our repentance with a surrendered heart willing to go in whatever direction He asks you to. Seek relationship over religion!

*From Priscilla Shirer’s “Awaken”

05/12/2026

Do you sometimes feel so unlovable that you can’t even receive God’s love? I’ve often felt unworthy of His love. I carry all of this shame and self-loathing and it’s so heavy it bows me down so I can’t see Him holding out His arms to me in love and comfort.

I’m so afraid of being hurt again, that I can’t open myself up to even God’s love. My fear blocks all love, and I wallow in my shame. But His love is unconditional, in other words, I can’t do anything to make Him love me, He already does, and I can’t do anything that will make Him love me less because His love is unfailing. God IS love, he can do nothing less.

God desires for my heart to find rest in the safety of His presence. Psalm 18:1-3 is a beautiful passage that portrays this thought well. “I love you, Lord; you are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. “

The Lord is my safe place, my fortress. I can run to Him all day every day and He will always be there waiting with open arms of love. This is what He wants us to remember, to cling to Him and let Him bring us rest. When we receive God’s love, our hearts are filled with peace and the shame and reproach melt away. Turn to Him today.

05/05/2026

Do you know how deep the Father’s love for you is? Deep in your heart, do you cherish Abba’s love for you? Do you know that He delights in you, rejoices over you with singing? You are PRECIOUS to Him!

If we don’t know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves us freely and unconditionally, we will expend all of our energy seeking love. I used to cling to those I hoped would love me, smothering them with my love in hopes they would return that devotion. No one likes a clingy friend or spouse, or even parent. We end up pushing them away, and that’s what happened to me, until Abba showed me how real, how high and how deep His love for me is. I understand it in my heart now instead of just knowing it in my head.

There is nothing in this world like experiencing the unconditional love of God. His love extends farther than the width of the skies. His love goes deeper than the deepest sea. His love is more powerful than a raging fire, and it is closer than the heartbeat within your chest. Experiencing his love is like becoming new again and again. With each taste of his affection, the wounds of the past become healed and restored that one no longer regrets pain but rejoices in the opportunity it gives to experience the love of a good and near heavenly Father once again. (From First15 devotionals)

Eph 3 14-19, “14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

To know love is to know God because every bit of true love comes from him. 1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

It’s time that we cease questioning whether we are loved and instead seek the face of our heavenly Father that we might know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He loves us!

05/02/2026

When interruptions make me irritable, or I feel overwhelmed and frustrated about the many things that need to be accomplished, I can stop and remind myself of what really matters in this life, or I can let the irritability and frustration take over and become the woman I hate.

Luke 10: 41b-42a, “ You are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about.” What is that One Thing? The Love of our Lord Jesus Christ! He wants us to know His love and through His love, we will learn to know Him!

Jesus is our main focus in life, the only important thought. Hebrews 12:2a, “2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” The Bible tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! The only way to do that is to make Him our first priority.

As I slow myself down, I can picture myself sitting at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to fill me with His love and life. He is always there for us.

Lord, please help me not to get distracted away from our relationship by my activities and interruptions. Fix my eyes and heart on You and keep me focused on Who is important!

04/29/2026

Emotions are tough. We have them and sometimes they’re good and sometimes bad. Some emotions are true and some false. A lot of that depends on our perspective on the matter. Some of it depends on our attitude, and some of it depends on our state of mind or mental health.

For instance, if I’m depressed, my emotions are false because I can’t see the situation the way it actually is. I see it from my twisted perspective. Or, if I have a hateful attitude, I won’t be able to see that the person didn’t mean what they said or did in the way I took it and I’ll completely over react. So, emotions can be manipulated and contorted because of our thinking or how we see things.

But some emotions are good, the love we feel for a baby, or a family member is good and should be encouraged and strengthened. When we feel compassion for a person in need – that’s good, as long as we let our reasoning and decision making skills work with it.

Anger is an emotion, but compassion is as well. Bitterness is a bad emotion that twists our thoughts in the wrong direction, but love is a good emotion that bears the fruit of righteousness. Impatience makes us frustrated, but patience reveals God’s love for His children.

My emotions should be rooted in the truth that Jesus is my living hope. 1 Peter 1:3, “ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” The darkness, heaviness and brokenness do NOT have the final say!

Turn your emotions over to God and let Him sort them out. Allow Him free reign in your heart so His Holy Spirit can do His work of transforming you into the image of Jesus.