Do you take it by force?

The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force – Matthew 11:12

 Let me share how this scripture played out in my life.

Last weekend I was having a wall kicking moment and my emotions were flying all over the place.  There wasn’t a reason for me to be feeling this way but I just couldn’t seem to shake it.  I was cranky and crying, to put it bluntly.  It was not hormonal. It was just a spiritual attack on my emotions.

After spending the day in this up and down roller coaster of emotions I decided to call on a group of amazing women that I get to share my business and life with.  We are God-Centered entrepreneurs that are using our time, talent and gifts to advance the kingdom through our business.  I simply asked them to lift me up in prayer because I was struggling with several different emotions that were surfacing and I felt crappy.

After asking for prayer (which is something I don’t normally do but need too) I felt some peace begin to settle in.  The next morning, I decided to have a chat with the Lord and ask him what was going on.  You know the Lord loves to have conversations with us.  He is the only one that can comfort and correct at the same time.

This is what I heard and hopefully, it will help you if you ever have one of those days:

Don’t let the enemy steal your peace today.

He’ll try, you know.

You may not even realize it until it’s too late.

From the moment your feet hit the floor, he’ll do all that he can to distract you, to overwhelm you, to frustrate you, and to stir up worry and strife.

Often his ways are subtle, other times they’re more clear. It’s what he does best. Stealing. Killing. Destroying.

 That was it. I knew in that moment that I had to walk this out and take back my peace.  I knew that I had a choice to hand my peace over or take it back by force.  So here are my 5 tips for taking back your peace:

  1. Fast…I decided that I was going to fast on only water the following day after my emotional upset. I was going to let my spirit get stronger and flesh weaker.  The best way to do that is to fast.  I suggest you pray and ask the Lord if you should fast and what kind of fast he wants you to do.  He could be wanting you to go on a social media fast, TV fast, Sugar Fast.  There are several ways to fast.
  2. Praise… This is where I put on my headphones and go for a walk and put on praise music that lifts my spirit. The word tells us that God inhabits the praises of his people.  I needed him to surround me with his love and peace so my emotions weren’t controlling me.
  3. Speak Peace to your heart….This is where I actually visualize the enemy standing in front of me holding in his hands my peace. I visualize taking if from him and saying you can’t have that.  That doesn’t belong to you.  You are not going to steal my peace. I’m a King’s kid and no weapon formed against me will prosper.
  4. Open up and ask for prayer… I asked my group of ladies that I’m partnered with to pray for me and I also told hubby that I needed him to pray for me. There is a great strength that comes when you and your hubby pray together.
  5. Surrender… For me to surrender I close my eyes and take a deep breath in and then exhale out all the toxic emotions and mental gymnastics I did during my emotional day.

If you would like to have some additional tools to help you step into a place of peace in your heart, check out my free guide called Nourish Your Soul HERE