Welcome to the intentional abundant life podcast, I'm your host, Sasha star Robertson, and if you're ready to live life on purpose and your God given gifts, strengths and identity without sacrificing family, home self and soul care, then you've come to the right place, but first and foremost, we want to make sure we're seeking the steadfast loving kindness and peace that surpasses understanding from jesus christ.
So without further ado, let's jump into today's episode of the intentional abundant life podcast, Hello sisters, and thank you so much for tuning into another episode of the intentional abundant life podcast.
If you are a mom and you are a woman who loves jesus, you are going to want to listen to this episode in its entirety and I want to start off by sharing with you guys this common theme, this common thread that I have been pulling out amongst my clients and just give you a little picture of who I normally work with because it is a unique individual.
My clients are moms, some of them older moms so much older that they've become grandmothers, which is still great, you are always a mom, once you become a mom, but they are women with a heart for God, a heart for sharing his gospel message, the good news with the world, but they're also moms that love their kids and their grandkids with everything that they have and they want what's best for them,
they want their Children and their grandchildren to grow up with a heart for christ and they are women with huge passions and purposes and gifts and a message that God has put on their heart to share with the world and they want to show up and share this in conjunction with sharing the good news of christ in what scripture tells us that is happening now and is going to happen in our future and I'm sharing this with you because there's this common need or desire amongst all of them and a big part of it is time.
They need more time to do all of the things on their to do list. They want clarity and direction, but they want this from the Lord, but they just get caught up in all muddled in in their thoughts. Um a lot of times you'll hear the term, you know, you're lost in the forest, like you can't see the trees because you're too close to them in the forest, I think that's how the saying goes. Another one is like a fish bowl, right?
You're the fish inside the fish bowl, you're too close to your environment to be able to get that outside perspective.
And so you want that direction and clarity from God, but you're not taking the time to do it and you don't have a sounding board someone to verbal verbally process with, you don't have a tribe, you don't have a coach, you have a mentor and you also need encouragement from others and an accountability partner to help hold you accountable to what you said you would do, even when times get tough, even when you get caught up in that questioning, even when you don't really feel like it,
even when you get distracted and lose sight of your bigger purposes. But the big one that I want to touch on today is the clarity and direction aspect because so many of us are seeking that from God, but we're not giving him the time and space to answer, especially moms and I gave myself this time recently, I had what I was calling a me treat the last week of december and it was absolutely incredible.
I had a massive list of things that I wanted to do and work on um while I was there but my number one priority was giving myself the time to process some of my thoughts and feelings in relation to different things going on in my life. But giving God the time and the space to be able to show up and move because I'm a mom, I run multiple businesses, I love to show up for my community and and you know serve others for for free, you know, obviously that's service, right?
Um you know and I have a husband and manager Airbnb and all these other things like I am busy 24 7, I could be busy and serving others 24 7 if I allowed myself to let alone getting eight hours of sleep at night like that's not happening in my life, but I know that if I am not giving God the time and the space to show up, there is no way that he is going to be able to give me clarity and direction, like yeah, sure, maybe here and there, I'll get little snippets of this or that,
but then I'm gonna question whether it's from him or is this really a distraction? Like what is this? And so the number one thing that I want you guys to take away from this is that moms everybody in this 21st century, right? But moms do not give themselves the time and space to withdraw and pray but jesus did. So why do we think we're different? Why do we think we're the exception?
And I'm asking you this because we just had a sermon a few weeks ago at our church that really struck me and I just think God is so good because he has been showing up all over the place, confirming, confirming, confirming this message that he has put on my heart to share specifically with moms and and he has been doing this multiple times.
So I just want to give a shout out and thank pastor brad at Eagle over Grace, because his messages have just been so on point and really confirming my heart to what God has been calling me to share with others and in this message, he talked about it was it was in his message about the feeding of the 5000.
Um but he talked about how this message is really unique because it starts out and it ends with jesus withdrawing to pray and in this message he shared um just a slide with all these other times that scripture shows us where jesus withdrew to the mountains to pray and I want to share some of those with you guys because I think there's so much we can glean out of this and so much we as busy moms need to truly need to take away from this message in scripture because so many like all of my clients myself included,
so many of us, maybe you too likely you two are not giving God the time and space, you're not having him be the focus of your life. You're not desiring to sit in his presence and being hungry for his word like he desires you to be. And so the first one I want to start out with is this one in luke 15 or sorry luke 5 15 and 16. And I'm reading from the E. S. P. All of these will be from the SV because my new bible from another plug living water bibles on instagram hand painted bible.
I absolutely am obsessed um because it's my brand colors and quick side note here even We are going to be doing a massive giveaway on Instagram myself and I think five or 6 other Christian entrepreneurial moms are participating in this giveaway and it's almost $300 in value worth of stuff.
But anyways, I reached out to living water bibles and asked if they would be willing to include a bible in this giveaway because it's coming with the life and goals planner, which I designed to work with you being in your bible. Um it's coming with a bible study from lamp and light living and a set of earrings from her. Um my friend Megan, she's also here in Alaska and just a slew of other things. Just check my instagram for sure to be able to get that.
Anyways, I reached out to living water bibles about a bible and she said, oh yeah, I have this one, I can go ahead and send that. And I was just like, that's my bible. Like I saw the brand colors everything and I was just like, oh my goodness, this is supposed to be for me, like God really put it on my heart, just buy this from her. Um and so she asked me what verse to be painted on the back.
I absolutely said john 10 10 that she hand painted like in this beautiful calligraphy on the back and then she went ahead and just made another one just like it. So if you want an absolutely gorgeous hand painted bible with john 10 10 written on the back and life and goals planner and a bible study and earrings and stickers and a magnet and like key chain, whatever, all this amazing stuff made or designed by christian moms jumping that giveaway. I digress.
All of my scripture readings today are going to be from the E. S. V. Is one of my favorite translations and so I will start reading luke 5 15 and 16 and it says but now even more the report about him went abroad and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray and I want you moms especially to hear this great crowds gathered to hear him and be healed by him. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
So next time you have the thought in your head or the excuse that you don't have time to pray or you don't have time to get into the word of God because your mom because your kids need you. I want you to consider the lord himself had crowds gathering to hear from him and be healed by him but he still prioritized his time to withdraw and pray wow That hit me. That was something huge to me and if it's not something huge to you then sister, I don't even know.
But um, next one I want excuse me, I want to read to you is Luke six verse 12 in these days he went to the mountain to pray and all night. He continued in prayer all night like he stayed up all night doing all these good works walking here and there places you and I, we've not even walked that far in our lives walking here and they're healing the sick, serving the people, speaking in parables, giving these epic speeches like literally transforming the world as we know it.
And he went out to the mountain and all night continued in prayer to God, that is just like wow, when is the last time that you have made a level like any level of sacrifice to be able to pray to God, like all that serving all that showing up. Yet he went and stayed up all night to pray. What I've never stayed up all night to pray. So this is convicting to me speaking, speaking in volumes.
Another one that I want to share with you is luke chapter nine verse 10 and this part echoes, I believe it's the same. Um that's in Mark 6 31 and 32. I'm gonna go ahead and read luke nine verse 10 said on their return, the apostles told him all that they had done and he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida And then Mark 6 31 and 32. This is also where it starts out in the feeding of the 5000 Again the apostles.
This is verse 30. The Apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught and he said to them, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while for many were coming and going and they had no leisure to even eat and they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. And so this is right before The feeding of the 5000.
It's like they went away to this desolate place to go rest and pray because they were serving so much, they didn't even have time to eat or any leisure.
But the crowd saw them on the seat, they saw where they were going and then they met them there and then There was the feeding of the 5000 anyways open up Luke nine or Mark six and so Matthew 14 is another place that you can go read about the feeding of the 5000 and I really love in Matthew it sums up this feeding of the 5000 with Jesus saying again or it wraps up with this same thought again that after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up to the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was there alone And so even after starting out this feast of the 5000 with him and his disciples going away to the other side of the sea to find a desolate place to go pray.
Then he has the feast of the 5000 and then he again he sends his disciples away on the boat and then he goes up to the mountain by himself to pray and it's just like, wow, there are so many times that jesus is pulling away and withdrawing to go pray and it's jesus, there's another part in luke chapter 9 28 where it talks about jesus going to pray and I'm not even gonna get into that because that's like, that's like a whole nother podcast episode in itself,
I don't know if it'll be a podcast episode here, but it's just what I'm not going to get into, so if you want to go read more about that, you're welcome to go dig into um just luke nine and its entirety is really, really great,
I want to jump forward to um Matthew 26 a little bit because this part I think is really important to touch base on this is when um like right before jesus's life is over here on earth and I think it's really important to point out just how much prayer was really important to him and it's this whole um part about jesus going to Gethsemane to pray,
he went to the place called Gethsemane and he said to his disciples sit here while I go over there and pray and this is Matthew 26 verse 36 so he took some time and he was praying and um he took with him, peter and his two sons and um then verse 39 going a little further than where they had went, he fell on his face and prayed and this is where he's praying, you know father if possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will, but as you will,
which is just another really great example of like praying for God's will right?
But he fell on his face and prayed and then he went back and he saw his disciples sleeping and he said to Peter, you know um watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak because Peter kept falling asleep right and so he's even instructing Peter in this time to pray and then again for a second time jesus went away and prayed and then he found them sleeping again after that, so leaving them again,
this is the third time he went away and prayed, saying the same words as before.
So Jesus went and he was like praying and then went and woke Peter up and then praying again and then went and woke him again and then went and prayed again and all three of these times he is praying, he is sharing his heart with God like this is what I desire, this would be really awesome, but not as I will as you will and I think that's a really important and powerful example of our prayers like God truly just wants to be with us,
he wants to hear us speak what is on our heart and our thoughts towards him. He cares about our desires, but he also cares that ultimately we want, what is his will because when we get to a place in relationship with him where we know he has good for us and his will is ultimate good. Then we're able to pray for his will to be done. And the last one that I want to share with you guys about jesus praying, maybe it's the last one we'll see. And this is from Mark 1 35 and 36.
Yes, it's the last one because the other one in Mark is the feeding of the 5000, but Mark 1 35 and 36 rising very early in the morning while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place and there he prayed And Simon and those who were with him searched for him. That's verse 36 like he went to a place where they had to go searching for him and he was off praying. He rose early in the morning while it was still dark.
And what I absolutely love about this verse is that it just rings in my ear and resonates with me about the proverbs 31 woman proverbs 31 verse 15, it says she rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. And so I just love that. Um it talks about rising while it is still night in the proverbs 31 woman different context here.
But then even jesus himself rises early while it is still night while it is still dark and he goes off to a desolate place and praise and mom's, if you are hearing me, if you are listening to this, whether it is the first week of january 2022 you're like, I need to get my stuff together, I need to get my relationship right with God, I need to be a better mom. Yeah, whatever it is going on with you or you're listening to this later.
I don't even care when you're listening to this, I can attest to you.
The number one thing in my life that has had the biggest transformation, the biggest effect on how I show up for myself and for my family and for others is to get up before my family and spend time with God do just like jesus did and mark 1 35 rising early while it is still dark, go to a desolate place and pray and read the word of God and be in his presence because that is truly what he wants for us and I'm sharing my takeaways from this me,
treat that I had and that was the number one thing that came out of this is not just that not just in the morning when we get up and rise early, right? But every single day we need to be making sure we're taking time to rest to sit and process and as busy moms, I get it, I get it. You don't want to leave your kids without some of us really struggle to get a babysitter, find somebody that we can trust.
Some of us have husbands that that maybe aren't the most supportive and and taking care of the kids so we can have a moment or even like I was extremely blessed to a whole night away but we need to prioritize it, we need to have God be our focus, we need to have intentional time where we are seeking him and praying to him and even though I had this laundry list of things to do, over a dozen things I wanted to accomplish on this may treat that I had,
I knew my number one priority is getting the word of God and pray and I need to work on my mindset in a couple of different areas which for me involves a lot of scripture and prayer because I want to take whatever is that I'm feeling and thinking and believing and making sure that it lines up with the word of God and God's will not my own.
And so that was my main focus and my main priority and I said if I get nothing else done on this list as long as I am in the word of God and I am spending time in prayer, I have succeeded and I committed on whatever night it was that I was going to spend 30 minutes in prayer and I will be honest with you guys, that is the longest amount of time I have ever committed to staying in prayer, I think I've set a timer before to maybe pray for at least five minutes or pray for 10 minutes,
I have sat in in prayer groups where we've all gone around and praying to, I don't even know how long that was but for myself to set a timer that if I opened my eyes and look at the clock and it has not been 30 minutes, I am not done praying yet and I need to continue to pray.
That's the longest I've ever done and I will tell you the Lord kept me there in prayer for 2.5 hours and it was one of the greatest moments of my life, one of the greatest couple of hours of my life, it seemed like a moment really in hindsight, but I was able to pray for everything in my heart,
everything that was important to me and God was just so incredibly good and showing up in that and so that is my biggest and number one takeaway is that we need to just like jesus be willing to walk away from everything that we have going on to seek him, Jesus walked away from everything he had going on from crowds waiting for him from his disciples. That quite honestly seemed to be a little bit um un capable without him. Hey, we're just like them by the way.
If you didn't realize and notice, you know, you read about the disciples and you're like man, why couldn't they just, we are the same, so if jesus is able to walk away from his disciples and crowds of people that are there to hear him speak and to be healed by him, we as his followers should be taking the time away to pray to God and to seek the presence of God just as christ did.
And if you're ever wondering how he was able to show up sinless and so amazingly serving others and all the amazing things that he did granted.
Yeah, I believe in the trinity, I believe he was god in the flesh, that he was the son of God, but a big part of it was he was seeking God unceasingly praying unceasingly as I believe the verse in Thessalonians says, sorry, I don't have the exact scripture reference for that anyways, that is the message, that is number one on my heart to share with you guys right now seek him pray to him and schedule yourselves, seasons of rest,
even small seasons of rest in every single day of your lives because that is how you are going to lead an intentionally abundant life in christ and that is how you will find intentionally abundant motherhood, Thank you so much for listening and I hope you all have a blessed week.
Hey friends real quick, before you take off today, I just want to pop in your ear and remind you that there are three scholarships left in my program where I am giving a $497 discount for moms who are ready to live an intentional life for mom who are ready to not just show up for their family and their selves in their home in a powerful and peaceful way, but for moms who have bigger dreams and desires,
who have a message that God has planted on your heart to share with the world that needs to get out for those of you who just aren't sure where to start or do you know where to start, but aren't sure how to get there or who aren't the greatest at holding yourselves accountable or who maybe do not have the clarity necessary to step forward into those desires for moms who want to live on a foundation of peace while also being productive and the things that truly matter,
then I have a scholarship for you do not hesitate to reach out and let me know that you are interested and we can talk about what your dreams and desires are, how you are wanting to show up in the world and bridge the gap from there to where you are now. I also want to let you know if you are not following me on instagram at Sasha star Robertson now is the time very soon. Once I get one more of the items in the mail, we are going to be doing an epic giveaway.
I mentioned it earlier in the episode. I just want to make sure you heard about this giveaway because there are, I believe six christian moms who have created incredible products that I want to get in your hands. It's going to include a hand painted bible, a life and goals planner, a bible, study earrings, key chain stickers, note pod D. I. Y. Elderberry and I just want you to know that this is going to be taking place on instagram only.
So if you're not already jump over there, Sasha star Robertson and follow me on instagram so you can enter this giveaway with over $300 worth of products