Experience Transformation to Reduce Your Stress

00:00:09 Hello. This is Dr. Shawn with reduced stress and thrive today. I'd like to talk to you about experiencing transformation. Transformation is best experience when we allow ourselves to experience change by being transformed by God. Some of the things I want to talk to you today about is how to tell God an area you would like to experience transformation in.

00:00:38 You know, a lot of times what we're doing is we're trying to, you know, strive in our own strength. We're trying to through self-help through personal development, which is a wonderful thing. But when we do things in our own strength, in a behavioral modification, sort of way to try to create change in our life, a lot of times that can only go so far because it goes as far as our willpower can be maintained.

00:01:06 So what I find is that when we can tap into our spirituality and tap into our relationship with God and allow him to be part of the process, we can experience lasting change. And part of reducing stress is actually relinquishing control. Part of what we experience in stress and anxiety is trying to control oftentimes what we can't control or trying to achieve certain outcomes in a certain way that we can't actually create in the same way that we would like sometimes things are,

00:01:50 you know, what they are, and they're out of our control and we do feel powerless, but that sense of powerlessness creates stress in our lives. So I think part of the journey of life is beginning to learn and settle in with the reality that we can only change what we can change, and we need to relinquish control with what we can't change like the serenity career.

00:02:17 And so I want to encourage you today to tell God an area you would like to experience transformation just in a simple prayer and let him know what's going inside and where the struggle is and what you would like to see changed. And then I want to encourage you to ask God how he wants to help you in this area of your life. Just very simply just say,

00:02:40 God, you know, how can you help me? What do you want to do in this area that I'm struggling in, where I want to see change in my life. And then I want to encourage you to, you know, ask God what he wants you to do in the upcoming days. And weeks ahead, are there a couple of things you can do today or this week even,

00:03:03 and just, I want to encourage you to listen. And so one of the ways to do this is to kind of create a place within your heart to connect with God, remove distractions. If there's a lot going on around you, you can always just print some earbuds. And I encourage you to listen to instrumental music without vocals. So you're not distracted by the actual words in music or worship,

00:03:27 but listen to some good instrumental music or ambient sounds such as like waves or a stream or a rain in the background. But what you could do is listen to something that will allow you to really focus it in your prayer to God. And, and there would be a better connection as you're not distracted. Another thing is just, it only takes like five minutes,

00:03:50 even three minutes or up to 10 minutes. It doesn't take long just to quiet your mind. And, and so a way that you can do this through listening prayer is to say, God, how are you with me right now? And just get a sense of how, how is he with you in that room or in that place, even if you're outside,

00:04:08 how is he with you as you're praying? And then just say, you know, God, what do you want me to know about this, about this area of transformation I'm seeking? What, what do you want me to know about what you want me to do in the upcoming days and weeks ahead and just see what he says and just listen. And oftentimes the first things that come to your mind is God's speaking,

00:04:33 it's the spirit of God. And I know a lot of times, and even in my attorney, you kind of wonder why did I make that up? Or am I fabricating this? But you know, if it, if it sounds like truth, and if it's consistent with scripture, if it's, I don't know if it brings you to a place of peace in your life,

00:04:54 if it brings healing, if it brings progress and, and wholeness. And if it doesn't sound like you talking to yourself, you know, it's probably God, I know this is a subjective experience that I'm recommending, but the reality is, is all relationships have subjectivity and even our relationship with God. And he is the one as we relinquished control, as we allow him to be part of the process,

00:05:21 he is the one that can produce a lot of change in our lives. And so, you know, the question is also is can you give him this need or struggle to hold on to while you're seeking transformation? Can he hold on to it? Can he hold on to the struggle or the pain or the frustration or the disappointment, or just the, if,

00:05:42 if there's an area of like a behavioral struggle or even like an addiction or something, or just escaping escapism, you know, there's a lot of stress as we experienced this pandemic. And, and even before the pandemic know, there's, you know, a lot of ways that we can cope with stress, we can even just start binging Netflix, you know,

00:06:02 start watching too much TV or video in a way that kind of numbs us. But if we keep on running away from the stress and don't allow ourselves to process why we are experiencing stress, oftentimes it's due to limiting beliefs. And so, you know, spending some time with God and even asking him, allowing him to hold onto the struggle, I encourage you to pray that,

00:06:32 you know, and, and then also allow him to be in control. Can you surrender control to him and, and just see what happens within your heart and your mind. And so today, we discussed just a way we can experience a transformation, allowing God to be part of the process and, and, you know, asking him,

00:06:54 you know, how he can participate in the transformation we're seeking and what does he want us to do. And maybe he'll let you know how he wants to be involved. And what does that look like? And also relinquishing control giving over the struggle to him and the need for transformation to him in a way that he's taken care of it and he's taking care of you.

00:07:17 So I just wanna encourage you to, you know, DM me or comment below and just let me know what you're thinking in regards to experiencing transformation and how have you involved spiritual practices in your own journey in life to seek out transformation,

00:07:32 God bless you and make it a great day.