Your Joyful Order With Leslie Martinez

#110 Showing Up Imperfect: The Courage to Answer God's Call

• Leslie Martinez • Season 5 • Episode 110

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Perfectionism is that sneaky little voice that whispers you're not good enough for God's purpose masquerading as excellence when it's really just fear wearing fancy clothes. Sound familiar? I've been there too.

For years, I delayed starting this podcast, launching ministries, and stepping into my calling because everything needed to be "perfect" first. I wouldn't even record video episodes because I thought I needed the perfect setup, perfect makeup, and perfect background. Today I'm showing up with no makeup, wearing a hat, because I finally learned what matters is showing up, not showing up perfect.

This spiritual roadblock affects so many believers. We think we can't pray because our words aren't eloquent enough, can't serve because our lives aren't together enough, can't lead because our knowledge isn't deep enough. But here's the beautiful truth: God doesn't call perfect people. Look at the disciples, Peter denied Jesus three times, Thomas doubted, Mary Magdalene had a dark past, yet these were the very people Jesus chose to launch His church.

Research shows over 70% of people experience imposter syndrome, especially women in leadership and creative roles. That nagging feeling of "I don't belong here" or "If they knew the real me..." isn't unique to you—it's a nearly universal experience. Our brains are literally wired to trigger fight-or-flight responses when we feel like frauds, causing us to procrastinate on our purpose.

I'm sharing five practical strategies that helped me break free from perfectionism paralysis, along with scripture that reminds us God's power is made perfect in our weakness. When that voice of inadequacy creeps up, remember: Jesus knew exactly who you were when He chose you, and He chose you anyway.

What ministry, book, business or calling are you delaying because it doesn't feel perfect enough? Your purpose isn't waiting for perfection, it's waiting for your willingness to show up authentically. Start where you are, pray anyway, serve anyway, speak anyway. God will meet you there.


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Speaker 1:

Have you ever felt like you weren't spiritual enough to pray, like you needed to clean up before going to church, or like maybe God's calling felt too big for someone like you? If you've ever felt like an imposter in your own walk with God, this episode is for you Because, guess what? You don't have to be perfect to have a relationship with Jesus. Hey friends, welcome back to another episode. I am so glad that you are here today. We're talking about something that affects so many people, but not enough of us actually talk about it. And it's that quiet little voice that tells us you, you're not good enough for this. You, you're not qualified for this. Guess what? You're not ready to take this on. Guess what? You're not ready to take this on. You, my friend, are not perfect. These are the quiet little voices that repeat in our head over and over again. Whether it's your past, your personality or your imperfections, the enemy just loves to whisper that you are disqualified from closeness or relationship with Jesus. And unfortunately, many of us actually believe it. So today we're busting through that lie. We're going to look at scripture, we're going to look at science and real life examples to prove this truth that you do not have to be perfect to have a relationship with Jesus. So let's get into it.

Speaker 1:

First, I want to talk a little bit about perfectionism. Perfectionism or the pressure to perform, because oftentimes our challenges come with this carrying over us. I know for me personally, this is my own struggle here. Now, before we get into the scripture, the science and real life examples of this, I first want to talk about a major roadblock that so many of us face when it comes to wanting to have a relationship with God, and that is perfectionism. Perfectionism is more than wanting to do things well. It is the belief that you have to be completely flawless, that you have to be worthy, accepted or successful, accepted or successful. And in spiritual life it often shows up like this I can't start that Bible study until I know more. I'm not smart enough to teach the Bible yet. I'll go to church once I get my life in order. This is one that I know I have heard from so many people before, is one that I know I have heard from so many people before and having been in ministry for so long, this is one that just really sits with people and completely creates that roadblock from them even stepping foot in a church. They think I'm just a mess, my life isn't in order. Once I get things together, then I'll go to church. Or here's another one. Maybe God has something special on your heart for you to launch. Maybe there's a ministry, a business, a book, a podcast, and you tell yourself I'll launch that ministry once everything is perfect.

Speaker 1:

That was something that delayed me from doing lots of things. Does it sound familiar? Well, here is the thing. Perfectionism is sneaky because it masquerades as excellence, but it's really just fear in fancy clothes, fear of failure, fear of judgment or fear of just not being enough. And guess what it leads to? It leads to procrastination and y'all. This is a cycle that I have like seen myself in time and time again.

Speaker 1:

I strive for excellence. I really, truly do. I strive for excellence in a lot of the things that I do For years. That's just how I was brought up. In doing ministry, we strive for excellence, not perfectionism. But having been in ministry for so long, there was this sense of that. I needed to earn my place in ministry.

Speaker 1:

Working in a church full-time, you have this kind of disguised weight that sits on your shoulders of you having to do things perfectly, and it isn't a weight that is put, I want to necessarily say, by the church at least the church that I was in. I can't speak for others there were certain things that I felt I really needed to strive more. In that weight. That was that pressure. I should say it was more of a pressure, but I knew that God is forgiving, god has grace, and I just felt like excellence needed to be perfect, and this is where that excellence can show up in fancy clothes. So for years, as I worked in ministry, I wasn't striving for excellence, I was actually striving for perfectionism and it led to a just a downward spiral of me losing my identity and the role that I was in at the church, simply because I was putting all of who I was, my identity, into that and I wasn't showing up perfect.

Speaker 1:

Now I felt compelled to do this episode because this is something that I myself struggled with for years and it wasn't so much in like showing up for church or to God. It really was showing up in what God was calling me to do. So here I'm seeking and having this great relationship with God, yet I'm doubting his purpose that he has for my life. I doubted launching a podcast. I doubted starting a business. I doubted launching journals, bible studies. There's things that he's put into my heart now that I'm like God, are you sure that's for me? I've shared so many times how I doubted starting this podcast because I had so many fears of putting my words, my thoughts, out on this type of platform where everybody could ridicule me, judge me. I put my foot in my mouth a lot and I just knew like it's not going to be perfect. But yet I delayed for over a year and then, finally, that nudge would just not go away. So, in act of obedience although it was delayed obedience I finally launched the podcast.

Speaker 1:

Now, just to give you like a little bit of example, I have come a long way from trying to make things perfect. Y'all I know I really strive for excellence, but sometimes I do teeter on that fine line of trying to make things perfect versus just ensuring that they are excellent. And I showed up on this podcast. I was ready to do it, figured out the tech, did all the stuff right. I didn't want to do video to begin with, if you're watching on YouTube right now. It took me a long time to get here and I'll tell you why. Because I felt, well, I don't have a fancy studio like a lot of other podcasters do. They do these great little fancy studios with the video background where you can see and you know multi-camera angles, and it's a lot of editing, it's it's a lot more work. I don't have that, so I don't want to do video. Um, also, if I do video, that means I have to show up full makeup, full hair, nice outfit, all of the like shebang, right. Hence why today y'all see me no makeup, hat and a t-shirt on, because I'm like you know what.

Speaker 1:

So many times I delay recording the podcast simply because I don't want to get ready. I don't want to have to be perfect by putting my face on and coming and sitting here in front of the computer to record what I have to say. I went four seasons, 80 episodes of not putting my face on the internet for the podcast. My husband was like Leslie, we have to get you on video and we have to get you up on YouTube, it's just the way. And I was just like no, because then that means I have to do makeup and hair. I've got to make sure that I keep track of my outfits and what I wear, like I was making it a big deal because I needed it to be perfect and I delayed four seasons, 80 episodes. We went with not having any of the video up with my face attached to it. I was okay with that. I'm still okay with that.

Speaker 1:

But here I am imperfect didn't do my hair today, didn't do the makeup. Literally I just showered and I was gonna get ready to put my makeup on and I was dreading it. And I and I was dreading it because I knew how to record this podcast today and I was like you know what I'm going to show up? Imperfect. Today I am going to show up in a way that shows my audience just who I am authentically, because during the week, y'all, this is who I am.

Speaker 1:

During the week, I got yoga pants on, I'm wearing slides. Of the week, I got yoga pants on, I'm wearing slides. I got a t-shirt and a hat on and oftentimes this is like my outfit that I work out in an outfit similar to this and then I change into the same kind of outfit, but it's just clean. It doesn't like reek of you know my sweat from working out or doing a walk, but this is who I am and I realized I need to show up authentically for y'all, to show you that you don't have to be perfect to do what God is calling you to do. You just got to show up. Showing up just speaks so much more value than showing up polished and perfect, more value than showing up polished and perfect and excellence, like when I strive for excellence, I am focusing more on the content of this podcast and what you are walking away with, rather than what I look like. Like, really, truly. At the end of the day, it is all about you being encouraged, inspired, gaining knowledge and wisdom that is going to help to elevate you to what God is calling you to do. That is what I strive for and that, my friend, is where the excellence lies.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't matter what fancy background I have. Y'all this is a virtual background. I don't know if you know that or not. A lot of times, when I do a podcast interview with people and I disclose to them like you see the little glitches right there, I disclose to them that's virtual background. They're like what I thought, that that was like your room or something. No, you guys, I'm sitting in my bedroom. Behind me is actually just a wall of shutters, because it's just windows behind me Not the best ideal background for a podcast, and I needed this video aspect of it.

Speaker 1:

If you're just listening on audio, go to the YouTube and watch the video of it if you've never seen my videos before. And while you're there, hit subscribe y'all Because, like part of me, doing the work is for you. I'm striving to provide excellent content for you. I'm not striving for perfectionism in this. Perfectionism would be fancy lights, fancy studio setup, multi-angle setup of cameras, extensive editing. That would just not allow this podcast to happen. And I know that my audience, you can care less about any of that like fluff. As a matter of fact, the majority of you listen on audio. Still, you're listening on Apple iTunes, so you're not even seeing me, and I know that you, my wonderful audience, can really care less how I show up, just as long as I show up, and that took a lot for me to get in that place y'all, and I know that there is someone out there that you're in that place right now.

Speaker 1:

You're struggling because you are trying to make everything perfect. I want you to just remember to just show up and be excellent in whatever you do. It doesn't have to be perfect. As a matter of fact it's never going to be perfect. Like, no matter how much planning and thought goes into whatever it is that you are trying to execute, it's never going to be perfect and you have to learn that. You have to accept that. You have to be okay with failure. You have to be okay with failure, you have to be okay with disappointment and I had to get to that place. But God allowed me to get to that place.

Speaker 1:

Y'all, perfectionism tells us to wait until we're ready, but God says start where you are, I'll meet you there. In Ecclesiastics 11.4, it says whoever watches the wind will not plant. Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. Translation of this if you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never move forward. There are so many lessons that I have learned from really digging deep into the Bible that has reminded me that I just have to show up. I have to show up for myself, I have to show up for others, I have to serve as I am, I have to teach the Bible as I am Rusty and, you know, a little edgy here, a little too bold. Y'all, I just show up as me.

Speaker 1:

I doubted for so long showing up to teach y'all about God's word. I really did. Showing up for children's ministry is one thing. I was a teacher for so long. I knew how to teach very basic Bible knowledge to preschoolers, to kindergartners. Right, they weren't going to question my theology on things. So when it came to showing up to start teaching Bible and the word of God for adults, I was like, oh no, god, I didn't go to theology school, I didn't go to seminary. I got a degree in sociology, not theology, and I think you got the wrong girl here. Like I struggled myself to decipher your word, let alone to decipher it and put it out as to what I felt that God is.

Speaker 1:

You know, saying in this is saying in this, and the Bible can be so opinionated. I guess you want to say there's so many takeaways from it, and people can read one verse and take away so many different lessons from it. That scripture that I just read Ecclesiastics 11.4, I shared with you what I took away from that and I may have read that scripture and you got something a totally different meaning from it. Does that make either of us right or wrong? No, that's what God's word does.

Speaker 1:

But oftentimes we feel that we have to be perfect, we have to know, understand and like all of these things in order for us to just show up, and all God is saying is like he wants us to start where we are and he meets us here. He meets us messy. He meets us ugly, hurt, angry, feeling unworthy. He meets us in our shame. He just needs us to show up. So I want to share with you just a couple of practical tips for overcoming perfectionism, and these are a few ways that can just help you to kind of break free from this. These are things that I put into place myself. This list is literally something that I have put together and done for years because I have struggled. Y'all put it this way. I know I've shared this before many, many times. Today I want to just reiterate it.

Speaker 1:

I was at the point where in my teaching career, I was still like things have to be perfect, right, and every year actually let me even go back this wasn't even just in my teaching career. This goes back to like when I worked in community programming in the early or late, like early 2000s. I'll say, okay, so like over 25 years ago I was working in community service to when I was teaching in like 2013, 14 ish. Around that time we would have staff awards and you know they would give, like fun joking, staff awards to people Always late or, you know, most likely to whatever. Well, when I worked for a city community aspect, and then in teaching, teaching, I got the same award multiple times. Little miss, perfect.

Speaker 1:

Because you walked into my community center or my programs, everything was perfect. I strived for things to be perfect. You walked into my classroom, I had the library and the technology room. Everything had to be perfect, everything had to be put in its place. But you all, in all fairness, when you have a library and a computer lab, like, everything really does have to be in its place, okay, if you put a book in its wrong place, you don't find it. It's just like you can't help a student. Where did the book go? Everything needs to be perfect.

Speaker 1:

So, yes, I strived for that perfectionism. I was the yearbook teacher. I strived for the quality of the pictures to be perfect. I strive for the alignment of every page, every graphic, every spelt word to be perfect. Were there going to be mistakes? There were going to be mistakes. I had to learn to accept those mistakes and not freak out when I saw those mistakes revealed or when someone else even revealed them to me. So here is what I do to help me to step away from perfectionism and really focus on excellence.

Speaker 1:

Step one is just start before you feel ready. Obedience matters more than perfection. All you have to do is just take the first step and then guess what? You figure it out as you go. If it's messy, it's messy. If it's ugly, it's ugly. If you don't know what you're doing, sometimes all it takes is for you to start and gain that confidence to just take the first step and keep going and going and learning and growing, and then it all just falls into place, all right.

Speaker 1:

Next number two is to set progress goals, not perfection goals. Instead of doing this perfect or doing it 100%, make it a goal to just progress 1% a day. You have to remember to be consistent. It's not about being perfect, it's about like, hey, if you show up. It's not about showing up like 100% every day, it's about just showing up. If all you have is 50% that day, show up with 50%. If it's a 10% day, show up with your 10%, but make it a goal to just show up.

Speaker 1:

Number three is to embrace. Done is better than perfect, especially when it comes to like what God is calling you to do. Y'all ministry content, creativity. People need your heart, not your polished, perfect show that you're going to trying to put out there. Number four is practice self-compassion. Remind yourself that growth is a process and God is so patient with you. God will give you what you need when you need it. He just needs you to show up and do what he's calling you to do. In his time he will grow you, he will mold you, he will move you along in the progress of where he's taking you. But you have to have that self-compassion of yourself and know that it's gonna be a process. And then the last thing, number five invite god into the process. Turn your perfectionism into a prayer. Lord, help me to let go of this pressure and help me to just pick up purpose. Perfectionism really delays our purpose or our calling, but grace invites us forward. It even like when we are a little messy, a little scrappy, scared or unsure. That's where God shows up for us and the grace that he has for us just protects us.

Speaker 1:

Now I want to kind of get into some biblical truths about this I talked about. I was going to get into the Bible and the science of all of this also. Now, god doesn't call perfect people, he doesn't call the qualified people, he calls those willing, and then he qualifies us along the way. Let's just start by looking at Jesus's disciples. There's so many examples of this in the Bible, y'all, and I just want to show you the messy, the ugly, like unholy people that God used in the Bible and just how that turned out. So these were the very people that he called to follow him, to walk with him and to basically launch the early church. And, spoiler alert, they weren't perfect. They were messy, they were ugly, they did bad things, they were sinners, y'all. They were not perfect and I know I'm not telling you no secrets here. All right, you know this, but you still keep thinking that you have to be perfect to show up for God, and you don't.

Speaker 1:

I want to remind you of some of these people from the Bible Peter I hope you're familiar with Peter. Peter denied Jesus three times y'all. I hope you're familiar with Peter. Peter denied Jesus three times y'all. He basically was like Jesus I don't know who this guy is, okay, he also. He cut when Jesus was in the garden praying. He asked them to like protect him. We know that he got sold out by Judas, right? He's another one on this list. Judas betrayed Jesus, all right, but Peter, he also was like trying to protect God.

Speaker 1:

Peter is like your hood version of like from holy and hood, right, peter? He's like I don't know who Jesus is, like he's trying to be too cool, right? He's like I don't know who that fool is. I don't know him, never seen him. He's like I don't know who that fool is. I don't know him, never seen him. Nope, who's that Don't know? Got me wrong Because he didn't want to be mixed up with the wrong people, y'all. That's like if you were a crip or a blood and you were like a blood and like some crips are coming along and they're like, hey, do you know this guy? Or whatever he's like. Oh no, I don't know who he is. He wanted nothing to do with him because he knew what that meant.

Speaker 1:

Okay, see, the hood side of me is coming out a little bit, but Peter was a little bit hood y'all because when he was trying to protect Jesus in the garden this is shortly before, you know everything went down, with him getting arrested and all of that. These guards came and were trying to take Jesus away. And Peter like, turned ninja and busted his sword out and chopped the freaking ear off of one of the guards and he was getting scrappy. And Jesus was like whoa yo, peter, hold on, I didn't tell you to do that. Peter came to his defense immediately, even though he was going to deny him Like it's crazy. He showed up, he got scrappy, he got ugly, he chopped the ear off and I am certain that there are lots of other things that Peter did that just weren't even written in the Bible.

Speaker 1:

Thomas he doubted the resurrection. He didn't believe that it happened. He thought it was all like a lie. James and John they argued about Jesus. Matthew he was a tax collector. He was seen as a traitor. People did not trust him. He stole money from people. Mary Magdalene, y'all. She was delivered from demons. She was demon possessed. She had so many demons Jesus had to cast them out of her and she followed him after that because of just what he did for her. These are the people that God used in the Bible you go talking about like Paul. Paul did some really shady stuff with the Roman Empire and the different churches. He was arrested really trying to start the church up. He was fighting to teach people about Jesus and to basically start Christianity, and he did some pretty scrappy stuff himself too.

Speaker 1:

Now, jesus didn't go looking for the most polished, the most religious, the most holy or even the most qualified. He looked for who was willing, who's willing to just show up, who's willing to show up messy, unpolished, ugly, scrappy. He looked for the brokenhearted, the overlooked, the underestimated. Even Mary Magdalene, who had a dark past, was chosen to be the first witness of Jesus's resurrection. He didn't choose Peter, he didn't choose John, he didn't choose his own mama, mary. All right, it was Mary Magdalene that was the first to see Jesus come out of the grave. That was the first to see Jesus come out of the grave, and it shook her so much that she didn't even know who it was. She had to hear him speak her name before she was like Jesus is that you? He used a broken woman. He used a woman that was demon-possessed to reveal himself to, and she was the one who just went and shared with everybody. She shared the message that Jesus was alive. That's not an accident. That's showing us that your past doesn't disqualify you. That grace qualifies you. Mary Magdalene had a grace upon her that Jesus gave her and that allowed her to share the resurrection and share God's word with others.

Speaker 1:

So why do we struggle with feeling unqualified? It's because of something called imposter syndrome. You ever heard of it. You probably struggle with it. I know I do. This is a very real internal battle that tells you I don't belong here, I'm not as spiritual as they are, I'm not as smart as they are, I'm not called to do this, and it messes with your head. It also tells you if they even knew the real me, they wouldn't let me serve, they wouldn't let me talk about God, they wouldn't let me lead or speak. And here is what research says about imposter syndrome. Just let me tell you it is said that over 70% of people actually experience imposter syndrome, and that is according to the Journal of Behavioral Sciences. It causes procrastination, it causes low confidence and it also causes fear of being exposed. Now, women are the ones that struggle most with this. Women in leadership, creatives and high achievers are very, very prone to imposter syndrome, and that is primarily with women.

Speaker 1:

We have had to fight and claw our way into spaces and places where men were only allowed, and that even goes for teaching the Bible. There is some very old school thinking that still feel that women should not be teaching the Bible. Jesus revealed himself to a woman, a previously demon-possessed woman. Was that intentional? Yeah, I think so. Jesus used Mary to go and tell others about the resurrection. He used a woman. All right, people go back and reading the scripture where, like it, says that women should not be leading in the church or preaching. There's lots of different perspectives on that, but I truly believe that Jesus was sending a message when he used Mary as the first person he revealed himself to and as the person to go and spread the word that he had risen from the grave, that was intentional.

Speaker 1:

Now, going back to imposter syndrome, mary. In my heart I feel like Mary may have felt that whole imposter syndrome and she questioned. You know, she probably questioned, like God, why me? Like I was demon possessed? Why are you choosing me to come alongside with you? Why are you choosing me to reveal yourself to? I was a sinner. She had demons, several demons that she was carrying, and I don't think the Bible ever says like truly even like the demons that she was carrying, what type of demons she was carrying. She probably doubted her calling, just like a lot of us doubt our own calling and we struggle with that imposter syndrome.

Speaker 1:

Now even our brain tells us, like it kind of creates this imposter syndrome based on our patterns that we create of our mind and our thinking. So in our brain, our amygdala, which is that little almond shape, little piece of your brain like up here, that is the fear center. That's where, like our fight and flight mode are and it fires up when we feel like a fraud. It triggers a freeze mode and then you withdraw from whatever it is that you're trying to do. You procrastinate, you delay launching that business, launching that Bible study, writing that devotional or saying yes to serving in the church, saying yes to serving in the church Y'all your brain messes with you with all of this too. You stay stuck in shame. You delay your obedience and then you hide, just like Adam and Eve, how they hid in the garden Once they committed that sin and they knew that they committed a sin. In Genesis 3.10, it says I was afraid, so I hid. They hid in shame.

Speaker 1:

But friend God is not looking for someone who hides in their weakness. He's looking for someone who brings it all to him and says use me anyway. And that's what I want to encourage you. I want you to just come as you are, come ugly, scrappy, shameful, guilty, angry, hurt, and say God, use me anyway. Now let me say it straight you don't have to be perfect to pray, you just got to pray, you just got to talk to God. You don't have to be a Bible scholar to read the scripture. You don't have to have your whole life together to go to church, and you definitely do not need a spiritual resume to say yes to God's call. You just got to say yes. And you need a heart that says here, I am God, I surrender to you as I am.

Speaker 1:

So if God is putting something on your heart y'all, do you not think that he doesn't know where you're at? Do you think he doesn't know that you're a sinner? Do you think he doesn't know you're broken and hurting and messy and ugly and full of shame and full of guilt? Do you really think he doesn't know that? But yet he's still choosing you so that calling that he is putting on you right now and as you're listening to this, you know exactly what it is you're thinking about and you're like dang it, leslie, you're right. You think he doesn't know where you're at right now. Do you think he doesn't know what resources you have available for you? But yet you're making the excuse of like, oh well, I don't have the funds, or I don't have the resources, I don't have the knowledge, I don't have the ability to do this.

Speaker 1:

You think God doesn't know that, so you're delaying it because you're waiting for it and your lack of obedience is actually a sin. Do you know that? That hurt when I learned that y'all, that was a big ouch, because we think of sin like thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor, not judging, like all these things right, not being obedient to what God is calling you to do is a sin. Yeah, so if we are not following through with the calling that God has on our life, we're not acting in obedience, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's it's a sin. Now here's a little reminder for you. In 2 Corinthians 12, 9, it says my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. So when that imposter voice creeps up and you just got to like, go deep and remind yourself, jesus knew exactly who he was choosing, and yet he still picked you. Now, friends, I hope this episode just really spoke to you.

Speaker 1:

If you've been waiting to feel ready or worthy before saying yes to God, I want to just lovingly remind you that you are ready because he's with you. You're worthy because of Jesus, not because of your performance, not because you have the skills or not because you're qualified. You need to start where you are. You need to pray anyways, serve anyways, speak anyways. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to show up, and I know that there is. I actually have encountered a lot of people leading community groups, being in the church and ministry for so long. I've encountered so many people and this was this is not in my show notes to bring up so I really feel that this is just like a nudge from the Holy Spirit that I have to share this.

Speaker 1:

I know a lot of my listeners you don't pray out loud because you feel that you don't have the prayer language or you're not holy enough like other people that you've heard pray. You hear people pray out loud and you think, oh, wow, she's such a prayer warrior. Or oh, wow, like she has the words to pray and you're like. You know, god is great, god is good. Let us thank him for our food. Amen, that's like your type of prayer, right? God's not looking for some eloquent language from you to pray or even to pray out loud.

Speaker 1:

I have been around many friends, many, in many settings where to say where, like I don't want to be the one leading prayer all the time. So sometimes I've called other people out and I'm like, hey, how about you pray? And they're like, oh no, no, I can't, I don't pray out loud. What do you mean? You don't pray out loud Because the enemy is trying to stop you. You feel like an imposter. You feel like you're not worthy enough to have a prayer language with God, and I want you to stop those lies right here and right now. Your God is great, god is good. Let us thank him for our food.

Speaker 1:

That is a powerful prayer, even if you think it's like adolescent prayer. You know that's like a little baby prayer. You're showing up. You cannot practice unless you show up and do the thing right. That goes for anything in life. The only way you are going to grow a strong prayer language is if you start.

Speaker 1:

So the next time someone asks you to lead prayer, do it, even if it's just a simple prayer, god, thank you for this day. Please bless us. Amen. You're showing up. God will start to put a prayer language in your heart and give you words as you continue to do it Pray anyways, serve anyways and speak anyways. You do not have to be perfect, you just have to show up front. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I hope that this episode just really encouraged your heart and helped you to just take one step closer to your purpose with confidence. If you love this episode, share it with a friend just who needs a reminder as well. And if you haven't yet, y'all please drop a review for the podcast and subscribe to my YouTube channel and don't miss any upcoming episodes, and remember to keep chasing joy.