Some lies are easy to spot.
Others sound like our own voice.
“I’m fine.”
“I have to cope.”
“I shouldn’t need help.”
“I’ll never be enough.”
Repeat something often enough and it can start to feel like truth. That is what makes our inner stories so powerful.
Jeremiah 17:9 gives us an uncomfortable warning about trusting our hearts without question. The issue is not that every feeling is wrong. Feelings matter. They can tell us something important about what is happening inside us.
But feelings are not always reliable guides.
Fear can tell us we are alone.
Shame can tell us God has given up on us.
Self-doubt can tell us that weakness makes us useless.
That is why prayer matters.
Prayer is not pretending everything is fine. It is the place where pretending can stop.
We can tell God what we really think. What we fear. What we have started believing about ourselves.
Then we can ask a very simple question:
Is this actually true?
That question can change things.
The devotional describes a season when I felt I had to remain strong because showing weakness might let people down. In prayer, another question came: Who told you that?
Sometimes that is the question we need too.
Who told you that you were not enough?
Who told you that you were alone?
Who told you that God was disappointed with you?
Bring the story into God’s light. Then return to Scripture and let his truth answer it.
The old voice may not vanish overnight. But each time we choose God’s truth over fear, its grip becomes weaker.
Watch today’s 5-minute devotional here:
And perhaps carry this question with you today:
What have I been telling myself - and what does God say instead?