There’s a moment in every healing journey when self-awareness must give way to surrender. It’s not enough to understand why  we feel what we feel; we must invite God to transform it. Emotional healing isn’t only psychological; it’s deeply spiritual. True restoration happens when the Holy Spirit touches the broken places of our souls and reorders them with His truth. The Bible gives us three foundational tools for that process: prayer, confession, and repentance. Each one se

Too often, it happens before you even realize it. A tone of voice, a facial expression, or a memory causes a reaction in your soul. When something so small touches something so deep, and suddenly, your heart is racing. You say things you don’t mean. You feel flooded with emotions you may not understand, and you’re no longer in the moment; you’re in a memory.   We all know what it feels like to be “triggered.” A trigger isn’t just about what’s happening right now; it’s your ne

The holiday season has a way of magnifying everything we feel. Joy feels brighter. Lights seem warmer. But pain? Pain feels heavier. This time of year can stir emotions we didn’t expect and memories we weren’t prepared to revisit. Whether it’s the loss of a job, a friendship, a home, your sense of stability, a dream, a loved one, or even a beloved pet; every one of us experiences loss in one way or another. And every loss, big or small, leaves a mark.   But the reality that m

When Jesus met Bartimaeus, a blind man, on the roadside, He asked a question that almost seems unnecessary:  “What do you want Me to do for you?”  (Mark 10:51 NKJV). The answer appeared obvious, Bartimaeus wanted to see. Yet Jesus’ question reveals something essential about healing: genuine healing starts when we take the first step and choose to name  what’s happening inside us. In the same way, emotional healing begins when we find language for what we feel. Because it is i

When life breaks your heart, it doesn’t just leave a scar; it changes the entirety of your vision.  Emotional pain has a way of tinting our view of everything around us. It alters how we interpret people’s words, how we make decisions, and even how we perceive God. The truth is, when our emotions go unhealed, our perspective becomes clouded. We start reacting out of wounds from our past instead of responding from healing in our present.   You can’t see clearly through shatter

In John 11, we see a moment in Scripture when Jesus stands at the tomb of Lazarus and does something profoundly human, He weeps, and he mourns over the death of someone near to His heart. The Son of God, who knew resurrection was moments away, still entered the ache of grief and sorrow. His tears remind us that emotions are not signs of weakness but reflections of divine design.   We often think of emotions as something to suppress, fix, or push past. But what if emotions wer

The negative influence of trauma describes the lingering impact of unresolved emotional, mental, and spiritual traumatic experiences. According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, trauma is any disturbing experience that results in significant amounts of fear, helplessness, dissociation (separation of the mental connection), confusion, or other disruptive feelings. [i] These effects are commonly intense enough to have a long-lasting negative effect on a person’s attitudes,

“It felt like there were a thousand voices in my head, but none of them were peace.” That’s how Jenna , a 21-year-old college student, described her life before discovering Exhale: 31 Devotions for the Soul.  Growing up in a broken home left her with deep confusion about her worth and constant shame about her past. Though she loved Jesus, her thoughts often felt clouded and chaotic, like she couldn’t tell what was true anymore. One night, while scrolling through social media,

Torment and confusion limit our relationship with God as they cause restlessness and a mental and emotional struggle, where we feel trapped in cycles of doubt, fear, and internal chaos. When our lives are affected by this negative influence, our perceptions of God, ourselves, and the world around us will be clouded, preventing us from discerning God’s truth. Often, torment and confusion will thrive on past, unhealed, unprocessed, and unresolved trauma as the feelings of our e

Last week, I had the privilege of ministering at a healing conference. I came expecting God to move, but what He did that day left me in awe once again of how deeply He cares for the human heart. During the session, I taught on how our heart is God’s garden. Scripture paints a beautiful picture of the inner life as a place meant to flourish in His presence, a space where His love grows, His peace reigns, and His truth takes root. But often, through the wounds of life, we fenc

The negative influence of shame often finds its place in our lives when we live from alternate identities that are not rooted and...

Stress and worry are often oppressive weights on the hearts of many believers, as they disrupt the peace and trust in God that Christians...

Part One: When Your Soul Is Still Holding On Have you ever had someone walk out of your life, but it felt like they still had a key to...

The negative influence of rejection is deeply linked to feelings of self-doubt, unworthiness, and the internalized sense of being...

From the pages of Exhale: 31 Devotions for the Soul, By Samuel C. Petty The Anchor Matthew 11:28 (NLT) – “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me,...

We’ve all been there. You pray. You fast. You quote Scripture. You cry out to God from the depths of your soul. And still… nothing seems...

Pornography is the enemy’s perversion of God’s gift of holy sexuality. It takes what is good (a healthy, loving, and affectionate sexual...

An orphan lifestyle is a negative influence that causes us to feel rejected, abandoned, and disconnected from God as our heavenly Father....

If you’ve ever looked back at how you responded to a difficult situation and felt ashamed, you're not alone. As a pastor and counselor,...

The negative influence of homosexuality influences feelings of sexual attraction or romantic desire towards individuals of the same sex....