I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. – Psalms 6:6
Has God heard your voice, moms? Or are we being deceived, entertaining faithless, negative and desperate thoughts every hour and moment of our lives? Recently I started a series on Moms of Faith and will be featuring one mom each month on faith and how they live a life of faith.
Annette Filmer Landers is a mom and I’ve known her for many years- I’ve seen her walk through challenges, turn it around and embrace a life of faith. I asked Annette “How does a faith filled life look like to you?”
A faith filled life is one in which you live your life trusting God for all things in life… health, provision, family, needs and wants, guidance about direction and decisions big and small. Faith is putting your hope in Him and is the opposite of fear. They can’t co-exist.
God’s Word is where she finds the antidote for fear. Here are 5 tips we can learn from Annette about faith and fear:
1. Apply and believe in TRUTH written in God’s Word.
2. God knows we are struggling with fear and he said it 365 times “fear not” and “do not be afraid”. So fear is present in the world and He has given us tools to conquer fear.
3. Fear can stop you in your tracks or paralyze you. So we need to move forward despite our fears.
4. The more you train yourself for battle, the better you master the fighting techniques when encountering fear.
5. Rely on God’s wisdom, guidance, assurance and peace to cope with each day.
Just like many moms who take care of kids of all ages, sickness, disease and injury can be a scary situation or a long lasting problem. Coping with our own problems and our kids’ health issues require endurance and faith. Annette goes to the Word of God to feed her mind and spirit with TRUTH. As the Bible says,
“By Jesus stripes we are healed and made whole, nothing missing, nothing broken.”
My next question for Annette was: Do you suffer from the lack of faith? If yes, which areas of your life?
Annette continues…
Sometimes it seems as though my faith has diminished, is totally gone or is just plain dry as toast. It seems like nothing good is happening and everywhere I turn is a brick wall stopping my progress in all areas of life.
However, I know enough to know that this is
1-just temporary
2- all a matter of perspective
My mother’s words often ring in my ears, “this too shall pass.” That isn’t scripture, but it does contain some truth to it.
We must know in the scriptures of Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die, a time to laugh, a time to cry…
And on it goes.
The cycles of life! Just because we doubt our faith or feel down and not at all spiritual, we must remember it’s ok, and it will pass.
New seasons come, old seasons that no longer serve us, go…(even though we may want to cling to the old because it’s familiar and we are creatures of habit). We must trust God and His direction knowing everything happens for a reason. Often we do not know what that reason is at the time, but we can know that God knows.
There is great comfort in this knowledge. God has our back. He loves us too much to keep us from growing and stretching. It says in His Word that “we will face troubles of many kinds”, but this is Divinely designed for the development and maturity of ourselves.
Growth can be painful. But growth is part of life and fully living out our lives of purpose. If we really can grasp this concept, it is what makes life exciting and adventure at every turn!!
It’s a perspective that can help us find joy in all situations.
What about worry or feeling “worried sick” about our situations and our children’s future?
Worry is fear. Period.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. I want to make that plain first of all. I don’t want this to weigh heavily like guilt on top of your shoulders; I want you to be free!!
Free from that lower energy and way of living in fear. However, having said that, we also must learn the Truth that worry is the same as fear.
When we are “worried sick” we are not trusting God. It took me YEARS to figure out that we can have moments of worry, and that is TOTALLY normal. It is when we live a life FILLED with worry everyday about everything with questions like,
Will it rain today and ruin our family picnic plans?
What will we do then??
How will the kids adjust to the new school?
Will my husband ever find a new job he likes?
How are we going to pay the bills this month?
Where will our next meal come from?
Will I ever get better from this chronic disease?
Are they going to repossess the cars tonight?
Worried sick questions will KILL you! And those around you that you have influence over!!
Stop the worrying! Seek God’s Word! See what His promises hold for you. His Words are life and light. Let’s cast ALL our cares in Him for He cares for us affectionately and watchfully. We have God, the powerful blood of Jesus shed for our freedom, and all His angels protecting us and our family!
That is the good news from my friend Annette. We are to cast away those worrisome cares and the Word tells us to make our requests known to God.
Making our requests known to God or prayer can take several forms. Prayer can be kneeling by your bedside at night and saying thanks for good things, asking for other things… but that is not all there is.
A relationship with our Heavenly Father and personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the key to faith-filled living.
Communication is key in a healthy relationship. Our relationship with the Father is no different. He wants us to come to Him in prayer. Just talking to Him all day long. And listening.
Listening is a skill that most of us are not exactly taught. We just learn it. Practice it. And allow God to speak to us as well.
This means creating a priority of time everyday to be quiet. Quietly listen for His still small voice to show us where we should go.
Annette’s action plan for a faith-filled life:
1. To have faith is to expect a good outcome, positive and a blessing or opportunity.
2. Roll the TRUTH from the Word over and over and over in our minds until we act on it with expectation.
3. Do not quit!! No matter how long it takes. No matter what it looks like.
4. Keep believing. That is faith. That pleases God!!
5. Trust Him on His Word and promises for YOU!!
6. Speaking Life to negative situations is how we can do our part to turn things around.
7. God’s Word is light and life. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light into my path. As we speak, we expel energy into the atmosphere.
Sounds have various frequencies at which they vibrate. This is not just a theory, it is scientifically proven. There have been studies shown by Dr. Emoto, “the Hidden Messages in the Water” that when various positive or negative words with concentrated thoughts are spoken into the water and frozen, they form orderly, beautiful, perfectly coherent patterns.
Conversely, when negative, angry, or hostile words were spoken into frozen water, they would form disorderly or chaotic, random, misshapen forms.
As she spoke these words Annette felt the power over some negative situations and circumstances. She said,
“Whew!!! I’m getting happy already! We must regularly speak Truth, Gods Word over our family, finances, health & bodies, neighborhoods, jobs, businesses, spouse, food, pets… You name it!!
Here is one example from Annette:
There was a time in my life when I was completely disabled. I had fallen ill and became bedridden for several months. Doctors could not help me. We had no idea medically what was wrong.
I HAD to rely on Gods Word as medicine. It was all I had. That and some essential oils. I would cover my feet, back, neck, hands with those oils and confess Gods word over my body… “By Jesus Stripes, I am healed!” “I speak order to my body. I command my body to line up with Gods word!” “No weapon formed against me shall prosper” “my body prospers, even as my soul prospers” and I have booklets I would read out loud… Over and over and over…
I memorized those little books. When I was too exhausted to read them… I played CD’s all day and all night. They were just scriptures being confessed throughout the atmosphere, throughout my home. Those days were the darkest days of my life.
I wouldn’t see changes at all for DAYS… even weeks sometimes, or months… Talk about enduring the race put before you! Ugh! And all this time my body felt like it was dying.
It had manifested all kinds of signs of aging, aches and pains before my time. I was only in my mid-late 30’s!
I continued to confess. I continued to seek after answers and pray for guidance. God has brought answers and help all along the journey. We never did go without one meal. You see, God is all sovereign and can do all things. He could have just reached down and touched my body in one single instant! BOOM!!
I could have been healed like that. A miracle. And I kept expecting the day for that to happen. I would envision it from my bed. I thought about all the things I would do when I was well.
Remembering the time my body was pain free.
Easily moving.
Sleeping restfully.
Having energy.
Running.
Walking.
Driving.
Playing outside with my kids.
I would think about those things. I would say prayers of thankfulness about when I would enjoy those things once again. I planted seeds of faith. Confessed words of healing truth. Spoke about my body as if it were already healed.
I never owned this disease… I didn’t like to say, “I have___” instead I would phrase it.” I’m overcoming __” or “I’m healing from ___” it’s not mine. Disease doesn’t belong to this body. I’m NOT staying here in this place. I’m conquering this even though the medical community says it “incurable”!! My God is bigger and stronger than any earthly dis-ease.
That’s one example from Annette. You can apply those tips and ways she used to conquer fear, worry, negativity, sickness and pain.
Lastly Annette said, it has been over seven years since her health decline really compromised the quality of her life and her family’s lives.
She is indeed more than a conqueror and overcomer. Please connect with Annette Landers and here is her information:
Annette Filmer Landers is a woman of extraordinary courage, faith and conviction for Total Wellness. Suffering devastating health challenges she sought diligently for answers. She has researched, traveled and invested countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars into her education and health recovery. She not only discovered how to recover but how she became so sick and debilitated. Her discoveries have not only enabled her own health recovery but today she helps hundreds of others in her private phone coaching, encouraging teleclasses, and her weekly radio show soon to be launched. If you are looking for answers Annette Filmer Landers may be able to help.
Visit Annette at her Facebook link at https://www.facebook.com/annette.f.landers.9
Or website: http://annetteshealingjourney.com/
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. It’s strictly for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes ONLY. The products I talk about are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. Any information I give you about them is for informational or entertainment purposes only. They have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Please seek the qualified health professional of your choice when making health decisions for yourself, your family and your pets.
