Confidence in God with Julie McGhghy
Welcome to a Place for Growing Confidence in God
As people of faith, we sometimes find that while we believe in God, we struggle to fully trust in His work in our own lives. This is a space created to help you build a deeper, more personal confidence in God's love, promises, and purpose for you.
Confidence in God with Julie McGhghy
Shifting Focus: Turning Moods into Moments of Praise
In this episode of the Confidence in God podcast, host Julie McGhghy shares her personal experience of dealing with a challenging day and provides biblical examples of handling such moods. She discusses how individuals can find relief by turning to worship music, prayer, and scripture, drawing parallels to figures like Elijah, David, and the apostles. Julie also promotes her website and book for resources aimed at building confidence in God and improving prayer life. The episode concludes with a summary of practical steps to overcome bad moods by focusing on faith and God's presence.
00:00 Introduction to the Confidence in God Podcast
00:49 A Rough Start to the Day
04:19 Biblical Examples of Bad Days
05:50 Encouraging Yourself in the Lord
07:29 The Power of Worship Music
11:57 Summary and Final Thoughts
13:15 Closing Remarks and Invitation
Hello and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host, Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. In today's episode, I'm just going to be real. Have you ever had one of those days when you just feel very human? Nothing horrible has happened. There's been no devastating diagnosis. No one has lost their job. You aren't battling strong temptation to fall into deep sin as King David did when he was standing on his rooftop while he should have been at war with his men. You're just being human. You just feel irritable, cranky, ready to jump down someone's throat, and you don't even really know why. Well, today started out that way for me. Fortunately, for ourselves and those who have to be around us, when we start down the path of one of those days, we don't have to continue traveling that path. Before we look at a couple of biblical examples of people just having one of those days, and then consider how to get out of it when we find ourselves having one, I invite you to visit my website at confidenceingod.com where you can find resources to help you experience more confidence in God in general and in your prayer life specifically. You'll also find information about a book I wrote about how God is an active heavenly Father to each of us. It is called,"Hey Dad, it's me! Discover the Father Who Loves and Protects You." I'll drop the link to the website in the show notes for your convenience. My day started earlier than usual today because I wanted to get a few things done before I took a car to the auto mechanic shop I traveled an hour down the road to hold a Bible study with dear friends. And before I even got on my way to take the car to the shop, my day already started falling apart. My husband had let me know I shouldn't take the second car to the Bible study because it isn't dependable enough to drive it out of town. Then the mechanic couldn't hear the problem we brought the car in for, even though my husband did his best to reproduce the sound, and we have been complaining about the situation for over a year now. And then my friend had an emergency and canceled our weekly meeting. All of this before 7:30 AM. I didn't respond to the sudden changes in my day very well. I brought my husband home from the shop, but just sat in the car in the garage because I was so frustrated. I stayed there sitting in the dark in the garage, so long after he had gone into the house that he came back out to make sure I was okay. Now that was nice that he cared and checked on me, but then he said something that triggered my irritability again. I couldn't even tell you what it was that he said. And I just wanted to scream, but instead I suggested he go into the house and let me recover on my own. Now, none of these things were horrible. None of them were egregious sin. But I was acting like someone I didn't want to be. I was being human, or as I call it, I was being fleshy. My flesh was rising up and I couldn't even sense the Holy Spirit within me. And this, even though I had spent my early morning time in prayer and Bible reading. What was going on inside me? I finally got out of the car, but I wasn't feeling any better. I walked straight upstairs, shut my door, and climbed into bed. There I sat on my bed trying to talk to God, but it just came out as,"Whoa is me." I actually said to the Lord, and I can't believe I said this, but I did,"Lord, I don't even have a friend I can call to help me out of this funk." Have you ever been there? I hope so. Otherwise, I'm just embarrassing myself. We aren't the only people who have felt this way. Remember the prophet Elijah? He ran scared from Jezebel because she threatened his life. This occurred right after Elijah had set up a demonstration contrasting God's greatness to Baal's inability to act. The prophets of Baal could not muster up any action from Baal. On the other hand, when Elijah set up his sacrifice to God, having drenched it with water, God rained down his fire and consumed it. Elijah then slew 450 prophets of Baal. Yet in the aftermath of such great success, Elijah fell into a mood. He was lonely, believing himself to be the only prophet of the Lord remaining. And when he heard Jezebel's threats, he ran scared. James and John must have been in a mood when they traveled with Jesus through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem. The Samaritans would not accept Jesus in their town. This bothered James and John so much they asked Jesus if he wanted them to command fire to come down from heaven to consume them, just as Elijah had done. They had lost sight of Jesus', focus on loving people and wanted to destroy the Samaritans for insulting Jesus. What a mood. So how do we get out of these moods? Today, once I got tired of bellyaching, I remembered how David encouraged himself in the Lord according to 1 Samuel 30:6. David's situation was much more extreme than my own. I was just being irritated by small annoyances of life. David had just learned that his city had been burned by an enemy who had taken captive all of the women and children that were there, while David and his men had gone to the land of the Philistines to escape from Saul. Also, the men that were with David, they spoke of stoning David for what had happened to their families. In that great distress, David still determined to encourage himself in the Lord. That is how we get out of the mood no matter how small or how big the reasons for the mood are. How do we encourage ourselves in the Lord? Well, I suppose each of us do it differently, but here are some things that help me to do it. Now when I'm in a mood prayer itself isn't likely to get me out of it. I already told you how miserable my prayer was to God when I was in that mood this morning. I basically cried out,"Woe is me. I don't even have a friend I can call to help me out of this funk." I was feeling sorry for myself for no good reason whatsoever. But God deserves so much more than my bellyaching when I cry out to him. I find when I'm in one of those moods surrounding myself with worship music will lift me out of it enough that I can turn to God's word and then the prayer. We all have our favorite worship songs. Today, God led me to one I only pull out on rare occasions because it is on a Southern gospel recording and I don't listen to Southern Gospel that much. But this song moves me to tears and worship every time, and I put it on repeat until I have lifted up my Lord so high that I can only speak to him in the praise that he deserves. In case you're wondering, the song I am referring to is,"O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," which is on Bill and Gloria's Moments To Remember Recording that was released in 1996. It features Kelly Nelon and Guy Penrod. I'll drop a link to it in the show notes if you wanna listen to it. But here are the lyrics that focus only on exalting our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Glory to the Lamb whose throne forever reigns. He's God in the highest, worthy to merit our praise. O, for a thousand tongues to sing praises unto thee. O, for a thousand hands to raise in honor to the King. We crown you with singing. Lord, our lips, they shall utter your praise, in humble adoration and in endless refrain. O, for a thousand tongues to sing praises unto thee. O, for a thousand hands to raise in honor, in glory, in honor, in glory, in honor to the King. In honor to the King. This song puts my focus on my savior and takes it away from myself. There are many more songs that exalt our Lord. I'm sure you have your favorites that will send you to the feet of Jesus in worship every time you listen to them. That's where I start to get myself out of that mood. I focus on Jesus with the assistance of some beautiful worship music. The music will likely lead me to prayer. And in prayer, I begin to humbly lift up the Lord, exalting him as he should be, and even lifting my hands to him in the privacy of my own home. For he is great and greatly to be praised, according to Psalm 145:3. Although I will never be able to offer him the great praise he is worthy of while I am on this earth, I can praise him for all he has done, for all he is doing and for all he will do. And I can be specific as I do that, which will not only praise him, but remind me of all I have to be grateful for. And since I am a person who is accustomed to demonstrative praise, I might even find myself lifting my hands and dancing in praise before the Lord in my private time with him. Doing that will get me out of that funk. And as my mind focuses on the Lord and I long to communicate with him, I also turn to his word to facilitate two-way communication with him. Yes, he can communicate with us through our thoughts, but we find Him, His characteristics, and His will when we turn to His word. How can I remain in a funk after spending time with God in this way? I can't. And I'm likely to be singing and praising for the remainder of the day. I thank Jesus that he inhabits the praises of his people according to Psalm 22:3. When I draw close to him, the Holy Spirit rises up within me so I can walk by the spirit and not gratify the desires of my flesh. And excuse me, while I paraphrase this verse found in Galatians 5:16, when I walk by the spirit, I will not succumb to the annoyances of this flesh. We've covered a lot in a short period of time. Let me summarize this really quickly. When we succumb to the annoyances of this world and find ourselves in a mood because of it, we don't have to stay there. Even if we sink so low that we can't immediately turn to Jesus in fervent prayer, we can turn on some worship music to help us focus on Him. As we focus on our Lord and Savior, drawing close to Him, the Holy Spirit will rise within us and God will draw near to us. We begin praying and praising Him for all He has done, all he is doing and all He is going to do. And we can facilitate two way communication with Him by turning two His word where we find Him, His characteristics and His will. As we do these things, we will suddenly find we are no longer in that funk where we may have started our day with. After all, every day is the day the Lord has made, and we can rejoice and be glad in it, and we can be confident that when we draw close to him, even when we start out in a mood or in a funk, that he will help pull us out of it. I would love to hear from you. Let me know how you pull yourself out of a funk when you find yourself there. Share with me your favorite worship music that you rely on to help you get past a mood. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I invite you to check out my website at confidenceingod.com to find resources to help you experience more confidence in God generally and in prayer more specifically. Just click the link on the show notes and go to the resources tab. If you want to read more about how God is an active, loving, and protecting heavenly Father, go to the Book tab to find information about,"Hey Dad, it's Me! Discover the Father Who Loves and Protects You." That's it for today. Please take a second to subscribe to our show so you'll be notified when future episodes come out. Also, it would mean the world to us if you would rate or review our show. That way more people can find out about it. Until next time, let's be confident in this, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.