How to Start (or Restart) Your Faith Journey & Build a Relationship With God in 2026

You are not here by coincidence. There is a reason that you clicked on this episode, whether it's curiosity, whether you disagree or agree or you're trying to hear about God or your faith for the first time. There is a reason that you were hand-picked, hand-selected, to click on this episode today. So please, whatever you do, I just urge you to enter a place of intention and just be present for this message today because I can guarantee you it will change your perspective. Some of you think that God is ignoring you. Some of you think that He is not listening to you. Some of you think that He is not responding to you. But is it that He's not responding or that you're just not listening to Him? Or maybe you're just not drawing close enough to Him. So if you want to learn how to grow a relationship with God, whether it is your first time trying or thousandth time, this is the podcast for you. Welcome to today's episode of Hot and Unbothered. Hello beautiful people and welcome back to my podcast. If you are new here, my name is Briana Gomez but you can call me Bri and I am your host of Hot and Unbothered. The ultimate place to be for the girlies who went to level up their life in all aspects. We aren't just talking physical glow up. This is where you come if you want to heal your soul. This is where you come if you want to feel renewed, feel redeemed because we have that privilege because God is giving us chances. And today, if you haven't guessed it, we are getting into a faith based episode. A lot of you guys enjoyed my first faith based episode, probably almost like five months ago now, which is crazy. A lot of you guys were requesting another faith based episode and I was asking what you really wanted me to dive into. A lot of people were saying just in general how to grow, develop or come back to a relationship with God. And this can look different for everybody. Maybe you already know God, but you just want to strengthen that relationship. Maybe you know nothing about him yet. What's so ever? Maybe you were closer with him in your relationship and practice with God in the past and you're just trying to figure out how to come back into it because you feel like he is mad at you or he doesn't forgive you or you messed up really badly this one time. So no, he doesn't want to hear from you, which you will learn through this episode is most definitely not the case. Again, if this is your first time hearing anything about God, Jesus, anything, I'm so happy that you're here. Hello, this is such a special moment. And I just want to say I am honored to be the one to convey this message to all of you, whoever's listening. And I'm just proud of you, whoever you are, wherever you are in your faith journey. This is such a huge step and you should be so proud of yourself because there are so many people out there in the world who will never take the time to listen to this information or to rewire their perspective or to give their relationship with God another chance. So I'm just so proud of you and you should be so proud of yourself. Before we dive in, you guys know, I love to share a quick podcast review. Today we have one from Amber. She said, "Bree, I absolutely love this episode and I genuinely think this opened my eyes to what was right in front of me, God." And I just wanted to say thank you so much for this. This episode brought me so much closer to God. Do think you could make more biblically centered episodes because this is by far the most favorite episode of mine. Amber, you have no idea how much that means to me. I'm so glad that you enjoy faith-based talks. I definitely am hoping to incorporate some more of them into just 2026 into the podcast in general. So if you guys want more faith-based episodes, let me know which specific topics you want me to cover and send me questions. I will be happy to talk about any of them and I also just want to disclaim that if you really, really, really want to know Jesus for real, of course the best place to go is to go to the source. I am not the talking Bible. I am not God. However, this is just my way of putting my two sons in, my perspective to hopefully help reach some of you because this is also based off personal experience. Again, this is supposed to be a supplemental additive to your faith journey. However, of course, the main way that you will get to know God is through reading scripture and talking to him through prayer. So just need to put that out there. No, my question for you is how many excuses did it take you to get here? How many excuses is it going to take you to start your faith journey because so many people, when they are starting out, when they are fresh in their faith journey or they haven't even begun yet, their excuses, oh, well, I don't know God. Oh, well, I don't know anything about the Bible. I've never read it before. Oh, I don't think God loves me. I've never prayed before. I've never been to church before. That's the point. A lot of people think that you have to be so matured in your faith journey and know it all and live this perfect life and be 100% sin-free before you come to God, which is the absolute opposite. You come to church to learn about God. Starting is the first step that so many people are afraid of because they think they need to have it all together in all perfect in a certain way before they come to God. That's completely the opposite. You come to God and then he makes you clean and then he heals you and then he forgives you. It's not the other way around. I feel like a lot of people they use their shame and what they've been through as an excuse as to why they can't start their faith journey, as to why they can't get close to God. But that is the best reason. Shame and past and sorrow and guilt and hurt. There is only one person who can take that away from us and you will never receive that redemption, that relief, because you are running the opposite direction. So my encouragement to you is stop trying to fix yourself and then go to God. If you're broken, you go to the fixer. And for the people who say, "Well, I don't know anything about God." Well, in the same way, when you are in school, right, you don't know the entire topic before you take the class, right? If I'm taking chemistry 101, I'm not going to go in as a chemistry expert. I'm going to go in knowing nothing about chemistry. If I am going to watch a movie, I don't know the entire plot and ending through and through of the movie before I pay for my ticket, because then that would be pointless. It would defeat the purpose. I would gain absolutely nothing from showing up to a movie that I already looked up the plot for, right? And even so, I could, if I wanted to, just stay home and look up the spark notes version, or I could just stay home, watch clips of it here and there in TikTok. But it won't be the full experience. Some of you are trying to think you know the full experience, to think you know what the entire movie is about without even buying a ticket, without even showing up to the theater. And so, if you aren't ready to buy your ticket and show up to the movie and sit through it and really grasp what's going on, you will never be able to understand it. But you won't know until you give it a try. And for you to say, "God doesn't want me or God doesn't like me or God doesn't know me." When you haven't even asked him yet, that's like saying the shoe doesn't fit without even trying the shoe on. That's like putting the shoe on your hand and being like, "Yeah, it doesn't look good." Of course, it doesn't look good. You're wearing it on your hand. But let me just debunk this myth in the back of your head that you have to be perfect to stand before God. The only perfect person was Jesus. The only one. You will never be that perfect, so don't try to be. Stop trying to have it all figured out and all together before coming to him. Because he is the only perfection that we will ever encounter, so don't try to be that. And so, we are so hard on ourselves in a way where we create this expectation that is so high that we will never be able to meet. And you set the bar up here, and you say, "Okay, maybe when I'm this high, then I'll go to God." You're never going to see him that way. So show up as you are because the thing is you've been hiding. You've been hiding out. He can see you. You can see you wherever you are. And the thing is he knows you. Whatever it is that you are afraid of him knowing, you're sin, you're past, you're shame, you're guilt, you're secrets. He already knows. He formed you. He knew you before you were even formed in the womb, and you think that he doesn't know that really bad thing that you did a few years ago, that she'll not be named, that you don't want anyone to know about. Girl, he knows. And this is the thing. He knows the very worst thought that you have ever had. And he still wants you. Where are you hiding? That's just making you look more guilty, just kidding. But actually, this reminds me of when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and they were hiding from God. Of course, God knew where they were. He's not silly. Okay, God knew where they were. He knows everything. But he still calls them out by name. He seeks them by name. Even though he knew exactly where they were, he wanted them to know that he is seeking them out, that they are wanted, and that they are known by him. And that is exactly how God sees you. He sees you. And he wants you regardless of whatever sin and shame has happened to you. Or maybe you are scared of what other people think. That's a big one. Or a huge one, maybe you're embarrassed. Maybe you are too scared to go on another path. You've been so edgy and cool girl your entire life, and you don't want anyone to know that you secretly want Jesus, and you secretly want to know God. Or maybe all of your friends think that it's so silly, and they make fun of girls who believe in God or who go to church or the outfits that they wear or the way that they pray, I don't know. It's so funny how we will let something as minuscule, as someone else's opinions dictate our entire salvation. That's crazy to me. And I used to be so scared to talk about this kind of stuff online, and I've been there. I've been there. I have quieted my faith, my faith that I have had for years and years and years. I have kept it to myself in certain circumstances and settings, because I was like, oh, like this person, they don't agree with it. Or I don't want them to think a certain way of me. Like, girl, no one's opinion matters more than the one of God. So stop letting other people tell you who you are. The only person who can tell you who you are. The only person who can define your identity is the Lord. So do not let someone else tell you that it's weird for believing in Jesus or that you've changed so much. You used to go out and party with us all the time, and now all you want to do is hang out with your church friends, XYZ. You used to listen to Kanye West with me, but now you only listen to Christian worship music. Like, what's going on with you? You've changed so much. I don't even recognize you. And who said change was a bad thing? Is it change or is it redemption? Is it change or is it rebirth and a newfound sense of worth? We become so worried of what other people will think of us that we let ourselves say that it's something different than what it really is. Do not let anyone tell you who you are other than God. And what God tells us is that we are forgiven. This is not change. This is renewal. This is rebirth and your shame, your guilt, your past. It is forgiven. It was forgiven before you even did it. And so find faith in that. And I hope that encourages you to keep listening to this episode, to keep reading your Bible, to keep your mind open because there's so much more where we are going to take this today. And that to me is just such a great perspective to have is to remember that you are a child of God before anything else. You are a child of God and he handcrafted you. He picked you out. He created you. He knows the amount of hairs on your head. He knows the amount of hurt and pain and sorrow in your heart. He knows you. He knows your fears. He knows your joys. He is within you. And so anytime you find yourself getting lost when it comes to your identity or letting someone else dictate how you view yourself or your sense of self worth. Remember that you are at the utmost worth because God said so. Because he created you and you are his child. And just to remember anytime you're talking negatively about yourself, anytime you are remembering your shame in your past, God made you. And I said this analogy plenty of times before but I love this one. Imagine if you picked someone out the perfect birthday present for a friend per se. Okay, it is something handmade. You picked it out. You wrapped it so perfectly. You put hours and hours in time and effort and just intention into thinking of this gift. The idea of what you wanted to give your friend, how you were going to make it, how useful it was going to be for her. And you wrap it up with a pretty little bow. Spend so much time in it. You're so proud of it. You love it so much. You know she's going to love it and you hand it to her and she opens it with excitement and she looks at it and she says, I hate it. I don't want it. In fact, I don't even want to be your friend anymore. Even though you gave it to me, I want what they have. I want something else. I want something shinier, more expensive, more luxurious. I do not want this. I don't care how much effort and thought and time went into the gift. I don't want to think of what a stab to the heart that would be. Think of how crushing that is to see someone hate something that you so beautifully and intentionally crafted by hand and with so much effort just for them because you knew it would be perfect and they hate it. And that is essentially what you are doing when you are in God's face in plan site for everyone to hear saying that you don't love yourself or saying that you are not worthy of love or of God's love at most. Imagine how painful that is to hear as a father, as someone who made it, who put the effort in. And so I want you to remember that anytime you look in the mirror and you're feeling judgment or shame, remember that you were chosen and created and forgiven. The reason why this shame in your past holds so much power is because you are hiding it. You hiding it is feeding it, is making it grow, is giving it power, is giving it meaning, is giving it shame. What you need to do is you need to open up to God because he already knows, but to repent, to say, God, I messed up in this way and ask him pray for strength to not do it anymore, to be renewed, to feel refreshed, to feel forgiven because you are and just bring it to him, let him wash you clean. If you hide it from him and if you're holding on to it tight, he can't reach it. You can't let your shame go if you're holding on to it. Like it's a brand new Louis Vuitton back. It is not yours to hold. Okay, release it and give it to him and you will feel brand new. And then some of you might be saying, well, I can't hear God. You know, now I know that he's forgiven me, I know that he loves me, I know that he wants me, but he doesn't talk to me. Is it that he's not talking to you or is it that you are not listening for him because a lot of us when it comes to God, we do a lot of talking and not a lot of listening. Imagine if you had a friend, might be the same one with the mean birthday present who calls you up and they dump all their problems on you. They dump all their problems. Everything they're going. Oh my gosh. And they give you not even, they're not even asking for advice, right? They're giving you a list of demands. They're saying, I need you to fix this. I need you to talk to this person. I need you to soften this person's heart, XYZ. And then before even waiting for you to say anything back or asking how your day is back, they hang up the phone. And that is what some of you are doing in Jesus. And I've been guilty of that, right? I've been totally guilty of that throughout my life. I'm like, hey God, like please protect me tonight and protect my mom and protect my cat and protect my dad and make sure you financially bless me. This is when I'm a lot younger, okay? But in general, we have this tendency to do a lot of telling and not a lot of asking and not a lot of listening, active listening, especially. And so I challenge you to treat your quiet time to talking with God and not talking to God. And that's where a lot of people have the common misconception. And it's important to note that you may not always hear back immediately. In fact, a lot of people do not hear back immediately. And it's not always in the way that you think, no, you may not hear a voice come down from the sky. An angel may not appear in your room and start speaking to you. A bush may not start talking to you. It almost never happens like that. I'm never going to say never because God is a God of miracles. You never know what can happen. But God speaks to us in so many ways. Maybe it's through softening someone's heart who you're praying for their heart to soften. Maybe it's through sending you someone. Someone you cross paths with who just makes your day and you can just see the light of Jesus and the Holy Spirit glowing through them. Maybe it's a sign in the sky, a butterfly or a rainbow, right? A sign of God's promise and covenant with us. Or maybe it'll be a realization or revelation that you come to in your head. It's not always going to be just a voice that comes out of nowhere. And a lot of you guys may have even missed these times that God has spoken to you because you weren't looking because you weren't listening because you were so stuck in your own way of thinking and you thought that you had to hear a certain answer back. You were looking for the answer that you wanted and not the one that God was giving for you. So just place yourself in a state of receiving so that you could be open to whatever God is giving back to us whenever it does come in his will. But do not say God doesn't talk to you if you are listening. Do not say God doesn't talk to you if you pick up the phone, spill all your problems and then instantly end the call. You are not even giving him the opportunity or the connection line to say something back to you to send you something back. And even if he does you are so blindsided, you are so stuck in your one way track of thinking that you will miss it. And remember that just because you can't see something happening doesn't mean God isn't working it out for you. Just because it isn't right in front of your face doesn't mean that God isn't in the works of answering your prayer. Maybe your prayer is, oh, I really want my mom to encounter the word of God. And I really want her heart to be softened and I really want her to just be open to hearing the word. And maybe your mom is going on a trip, right? Well, let God work to first schedule that trip and then let God work to make sure maybe these seats have to be moved or a certain flight has to be delayed so that your mom's flight gets switched and then the seats get switched and then she ends up sitting next to somebody who happens to be Christian and then they end up speaking the word of God to her. But think of how many small little pieces have to be moved and manipulated throughout that. And it's nothing that we can do in our own power. However, it's not just all about us. This is not the brief show. Okay, so if I pray for something and it doesn't happen immediately, I have to be humble enough to recognize, okay, yeah, it's not all about me. God is not a genie. Okay, I can't just come up with three wishes and it's all going to happen instantly without any regard to the circumstances of people's lives, right? But I have faith that even if I don't hear back from God, even if I don't receive a sign, even if my prayer isn't instantly answered, I have faith that he is working out something better. And if it's not exactly what I wanted, it is something better. I heard in a sermon that we live in a culture that is hardwired to tap out oftentimes right before God is about to answer our prayers because if we put a timeline on it and we say, okay, if God is real, then my crush will text me back in three days. And then it gets today three and he doesn't text you and now you are swearing against believing in God. Again, another silly example, but just for the sake of things. But what if on that fourth day, God had something even better waiting for you? Maybe he had someone who you were going to encounter who was going to just motivate you about the need for self-love and to date yourself first before you date someone else or maybe you were going to meet a different guy who was going to sweep you off your feet and answer all your prayers and be everything you ever wanted or maybe that guy was fine. They're going to confess his feelings for you. Again, silly, shallow example. However, it does go to show that we do. We lose hope in God if something doesn't match our timeline. But the truth is God is on his own timeline. In fact, we are all on God's timeline. It is not ours. So why are we trying to limit something? That is infinite. Why are we trying to put boundaries around something that is quite literally boundless? We are restricting something that is unrestricted. It's impossible. So if you are putting these hypotheticals and these limitations and these standards and deadlines for your prayers to be answered or to hear from God, it's not going to work out in your favor because it's not our timeline. And so the challenge here is learning how to stay faithful even when you don't hear from God. And that is when true faith is tested. Even if you are praying and begging and asking for something and it's not coming true and the problem's not being fixed for you, you have to trust. It is and God's hands and if it doesn't work out the way that I want it, it will work out in some way even better because he is the ultimate creator because my faith lives in his hands. It doesn't lie in my own hands and we do this hilarious thing where we try to play God. We think that we, tiny silly little humans, are the ones who can manipulate every situation, are the ones who can decide what the final outcome will be, are the ones who can choose our own faith in our own path. That is so funny. That is so hilarious that you think you can play God. The fact that we think we have any say in the people who will stay in our lives, the way others will treat us are purpose that we will take in life. It's so cute. It's so cute. Oh, we think that it's in our hands. Don't play God. And a lot of you guys were here for a few months ago. Maybe six months ago now, crazy. I went through a huge medical ordeal surgery and everything. Mind you, my biggest fear in the world was hospitals, surgery needles. The amount of hospitals, surgeries and needles that took place was not fun. Living in my nightmare, right? And it was just so funny, the fact that I was so go, go, go. And I thought I had an idea of how perfectly painted out the next few months and my summer was going to go. And then in May, next thing I know, I'm in the ER on the day that was supposed to be one of the most fun days ever. I thought I had it all plan out in my head. What I was going to wear, the pictures I was going to take. Nope. God had another plan. Clearly. Yeah. So long story short, I ended up having a borderline tumor on my ovary, the size of a small spaghetti squash, had to go to the cancer specialist. It was a whole thing, you guys. And I'm saying this because in that moment, if I didn't have my faith, oh, I would have been a pain. I was a pain regardless, but I would have been so bratty. Like, why does this have to happen to me? Why did God choose me? Am I being punished? Nothing goes the way that I plan. This was not how it was supposed to be. XYZ. And it's so funny how God works because if I didn't have my faith, it would have been so tragic for me. But with all the circumstances in mind, in spite of those, I was able to use it as an opportunity to draw closer to God, to use the deep fear and anxiety that I was experiencing. And I said, if Jesus can die for us in our sins on the cross, then I can do this. And I can have my surgery. And I was deeply terrified, but I also had a level of trust in God. I was scared because I was anxious, but I also knew that God would handle it. And I knew that somehow, some way, something good could come out of it, which what possible good can come out of a three months bed rest. Well, the funny thing is, I needed rest. I needed to slow down. And I felt like almost God had been trying to tell me that and I wasn't listening and I was so go, go, go, nonstop. And so he said, you don't want to slow down, girl, I will slow you down. And it's so hilarious because I had been saying like, oh, like I just need a break. I just wish time would slow down. I just need an out from working so much. I had said these words. And then God said, here you go, baby. And yeah, that just goes to show that prayers will not always be answered in the way that we expect. Sometimes in the way we needed. And yeah, that was horrible. Yeah, of course, I wish I still had my other ovary, but also in so many other ways, it brought my family so much closer together. It brought me and my boyfriend so much closer together and so much stronger in our faith. And there were so many little God wings that I experienced throughout that. Like, when I was getting prayed for my church before my surgery and I was so anxious and I almost didn't go up to prayer. I got paired with this one lady who like, by the order of the line, I was not supposed to get prayed for by her, but they just brought me to her and she ended up having the exact same surgery. And I just started crying and she was able to just give me so much peace because she knew the exact she had the exact procedure that I was having, which is just so mind boggling and insane. So it's so amazing how God works in those little ways and ways that we don't even expect. So just take that as a reminder that God is doing things in our lives. When sometimes we may not know the reason, we may not even know that it's happening, but just find faith in that and find hope in that. Because if you are praying to God and you are asking him for things and you don't truly believe that he is capable of doing it, of course it's not going to come true. Of course you aren't going to be able to see it because you have such little faith. But if you are able to despite any circumstance, even if your prayer doesn't seem like it's being answered, if you're able to stand there and say, I still believe. I still have faith. I still have trust in God and I know he will provide. That's when everything starts changing and that's when you can truly feel God. To be able to feel God is so much more than just knowing he exists. It's so much more than just opening your Bible and reading the words on the page. It's so much more to closing your eyes and praying, but not actually believing that something is there. To know God is to know that even if your prayers aren't being answered right in front of your face, that he is still there. In fact, it makes your faith stronger. What a stronger testimony that I was praying. I was praying. I was praying that I didn't have to have surgery. I was praying that I didn't have to have my overrear move. But what a stronger, more meaningful testimony is that, okay, those things didn't come true and my faith remains. Something didn't go my way and I still choose to thank God because I truly believe that there is a meaning and a plan that he has behind everything. And just because I'm not being spoiled and every single prayer is being answered, he is moving in other ways. And to know that and to believe that, that is to know God. And when it comes to anxiety and overthinking, it's such a human normal thing to do. But at the same time you have to remember what God tells us is to not be anxious about anything and instead pray about everything. This ties into us trying to play God and take matters into our own hands and to try and know the answer. But scripture tells us to not rely on our own understanding, but instead lean on God. It's Proverbs 3.5 that says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight." We try to make our own paths straight. Baby, you don't even know the path yet. Only He knows the path. So stop trying to make your own path when really what you need to be doing is having faith and trusting in Him instead of trusting ourselves. And that is true faith and true obedience is to be able to say, "I trust God more than I trust Me." And that can be scary and it can be so new. But just being able to hear other people's testimonies and reading the word and see all that God has done in people's lives, that is faith. And God truly wants us to cast our cares on Him. I am so guilty of bottling everything up and trying to micromanage and figuring out everything in my head. Like, what does this person think of me? This situation in my head was so embarrassing. How do I think it's going to go? I think I can control this. I'm overthinking what I said in this conversation. Whatever it is, no matter how silly. Bring it to God. And if you think about it, girl, he's heard it all. There is not one prayer. One sentence you can speak to him where he'd be like, "Oh, girl, that's crazy. Girl, that is out of line. Girl, I don't do that." No, no. He loves to listen to you and he loves to talk to you. And the power of prayer is so strong. And that is how I've gotten through these struggles any time that I was anxious, any time that I've been afraid to pray will always make it better. Even if the prayer doesn't get answered in the way that you think, it's always something better or a nuisance of clarity comes when you're praying to God. He sends you not necessarily what you want, but what he knows that you need. And that is just so powerful and such a perfect gift. Better than any advice, any question that you could ask chat GPT, any biased comments that you can get from your friend or from the chat room or from Reddit or wherever you are asking your crazy, crazy questions. God can answer them better than anyone else because it is custom to you. You can ask chat GPT why your boyfriend is ignoring you, why all your friends don't like you, what you should do about it. And it is tailored to tell you what it thinks you want to hear, but there are people out there getting the exact same response. Your answer is tailored from other people's responses. If you want advice that is custom and tailored, if you want guidance that is actually for you and no one else because there is no one else like you, there's no one else in the same path as you, you will get that nowhere else, but from God. I think maybe one of the only things worse than us playing God is making someone else play God. AKA the internet, AKA your phone, AKA your TikTok psychics who you think know you so well, even though it's just an algorithm with a bunch of buttons and batteries that you think knows you so well and it's going to tell you exactly what you need to hear or your chat GPT that is going to tell you exactly what you need to do or exactly what your boyfriend must be thinking when you said this thing in your argument or what your best friend wants you to do about the guy that he likes. Only God can answer these questions. Chat GPT doesn't know you. Your phone does not know you. Your TikTok FYP does not know you. They know your search engine. They know the tone you use when you type. They do not know you. They do not know your path. They do not know your purpose. They do not know your sorrow, your sin, your pain, your hurt, your joy, your accomplishments, your dreams, the way that God does. And so focus on exercising the fruit of patience instead of doubt. Have patience because again, there is so much else working out for you that you have no idea yet. He has given you no reason whatsoever to doubt him. He has given you every reason. If you've read the Bible, you have every reason to believe in him and his miracles. And I just think of when I get caught in my anxious ways where I try to ultra plan, where I try to play God, where I try to make sure everything goes my perfect way. The truth is it's never going to go your way. It's going to go God's way and no other way at that. And I read this verse actually today and it just reminded me of you guys and myself and I wanted to share it. So basically it's when the disciples are on their way to Jerusalem and they are in a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me." But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. There's only one thing worth being concerned about." Mary has discovered it and it will not be taken away from her, which is just such an amazing reminder that we are so concerned of all of the things of this world and not of it matters how crazy all of those little things that you find yourself hyperfixating on about the people at school liking you and making friends like of course that matters to us and it may matter in this life right now. But the only thing worth being concerned about is our relationship with God into know Him and to truly believe and learn about Him. Jesus said, "It's the only thing worth being concerned about." So that verse definitely hit home for me personally when I read it today. So I hope that it resonates with you guys as well. And just a great reminder that we don't have to do all that worry and try and manipulate situations to go our way because God is working out for us. And something that someone who was praying for me said to me when I was going through all my medical stuff and super worried about the end outcome, right? And they said, "God wants you to know that He sees you trying so hard to work it out and to fight this battle for yourself." And He wants you to know that you don't have to fight it because He's already fighting for you. And what an amazing reminder, we don't have to fight. God never told us that we have to fight because He is fighting it for us. And that just warms my heart every time. I had someone ask, "How do I improve my relationship with God?" The number one thing to know is that it is completely personal to you. Someone else's relationship with God is not going to be your relationship with God. Just because God speaks to someone else in this way does not mean He is going to talk to you in that same way. So remembering that your relationship with Him is completely and utterly unique to you. So number one, do not compare. Well, this person's having revelations and visions from God. And I'm sitting over here in silence like everyone's journey, timing, path, conversations with God, entirely different in personal to them. So number one rule, do not compare. And the second rule is to just talk to Him. And you might be like, "Where do I go? Do I write it down? Do I have to get in a certain position?" For me, the answer is no. For me, God is a best friend. And He wants to be best friend. Of course, He's family. He's our father, but He also wants to be a friend. And so throughout your day to just say, "Hey, God, like I'm really feeling anxious about this right now. Or God, I really want to pray for this friend. They're going through a lot of hurt. They're just heavy on my mind. I pray that you're with them. For when I see something beautiful, it's a beautiful day out. And I just feel that happiness and joy in my heart that I haven't felt in a long time. It's such an amazing reminder to just call out to God and say, "God, thank you." Like, thank you, Jesus, for this amazing day. Thank you for this miracle. Thank you for being the creator and blessing us with all this. Like, talk to God the same way you do or would your best friend. Well, you know how you pick up your phone and you text your best friend when something crazy happens, or when you're really going through it. Whatever things come to your head and you're like, "Oh, I really need to tell someone this." Like, God wants to hear from you. And I just think that's so cool. And what an amazing dynamic. And to learn that it doesn't have to be this perfectly formal thing. In the same way that you don't have to be all perfectly put together when you first go to church or when you first reach out to God. He does not expect that from you every single time you pray. My prayers to God are so messy sometimes. And they're so discombobulated. And I'm sure he might laugh a little bit in a cute way, hopefully, sometimes at me. But yeah, I just think that it's so important to recognize that he wants to hear from you. If it is not perfect, even better. Again, because he doesn't expect us to be perfect. He expects us to come to him with gratitude, of course, and with issues and with fears and with anxiety. Because he tells us, cast your cares on me. Cast our cares on him. He tells us to do that. And so, of course, he's expecting to have us cast our cares on him. He is waiting. His arms are open and he can take it. And I've heard someone say that sometimes when the weight of something is so heavy for us, it's weighing on our mind. It's weighing us down. It's because we were never meant to carry it. God, God is the one who is meant to carry it. If something feels heavy, it's because you aren't meant to be burdening it alone. He will take it. Cast your cares on him. And I think that's so beautiful and so miraculous. And we are just so lucky. And speaking of being lucky, blessings on blessings and gratitude on gratitude, you guys. Thank God. Because imagine again, if you call that friend up, that friend who we are on pretty thin ice with now, right? And he'll just start talking and you start asking for a bunch of stuff and they do it for you. And you never say thank you. You never even say please. Have some manners. But actually, whatever you focus on in life, I'm a firm believer. It multiplies. Focus on the good. Focus on gratitude. Yes, present your request to God through prayer and petition. But also just say thank you. And I just got chills when I said that like, look outside. Look where you woke up this morning. Look at the phone or laptop or car that you're listening to this on. Okay. Even when we forget, we are blessed in some way because there are people out there who will never hear the word of God. And for that, you should be thankful that you are one of them to hear this message and to have access to his message and to him in the Bible through prayer and to know of his existence. Do not take that for granted. Do not take any of this for granted. Scripture tells us to enter his gates with thanksgiving and to praise his name always. And I love just like praising God. Anytime anything good happens, recognize that you are not worthy of it. But you only are through Jesus Christ. And because of that, we get these amazing things, these blessings, the opportunity to be here. The fact that we were even handcrafted and placed in this body. Thank you. I challenge you guys to just every single night write down or pray just something that you are thankful for. And if you struggle with just casually being like, hey, God, let's talk. I love going into quiet time with God. And when you are really ready to step it up in your faith journey, if you really want to take it seriously, something that a lot of people love doing is waking up super early and just like being up before the rest of the world, but knowing that like you are alone in your quiet time with God. No other distractions. No external noise. No one blowing up your phone. No alarms. You have to wake up to anytime soon. And it's just you and God in solitude and silence. No distractions. It's so beautiful. You and your Bible. You in prayer. It's just amazing. Sometimes we'll even drive in silence because I like the silence. I like the moment of solitude feeling just so I can really be alone and hear God and my thoughts and my prayers and just be really present in that moment. A major change that all of us need to make is to deny our flesh. I think I need to do a whole other podcast episode you guys because this one is probably going to be very long and I just have so much I could say about it. Maybe I'll do a separate denying your flesh episode because I have so much to say about it, but deny your flesh. Okay, flesh, worldly desires. What are the worldly desires? Lust, laziness, gossip, negativity, everything that we do and experience on an everyday life basis. A lot of those things are worldly desires and habits that we have fallen into. You have to be willing to surrender those and replace them with God's grace and when you are able to replace them from God's grace, that thing is no longer playing God right because when we are idolizing our phone and it's like water, it's the first thing that we need when we wake up and we need external validation, the first thing when we wake up or for some people, maybe it's alcohol or drugs, name your game, let God's grace replace those things. And that is when you will feel such peace that you can find in a none of those other vices. Imagine if you picked up your Bible as much as you pick up your phone. Imagine if you treated your Bible like your phone. Anytime you were feeling anxious and you needed to ask chat GBT, what was wrong with you and to validate you instead of doing that, you actually opened your Bible or you actually talked to God. First thing you do when you wake up in the morning, you really need something to wake you up, something to entertain you. You open your Bible, you talk to God instead of checking your phone. Last thing you do before you go to sleep, you open your Bible, you talk to God before scrolling TikTok for hours and hours and hours. Imagine if you actually took the time to do something that fueled you and recharged you instead of drained life out of you. Crazy, so crazy. So some more actions to start really improving your relationship and just exercising closeness with him. I love before I even go on my phone in the morning, quiet time, I try to wait at least one to two hours or until I've had my quiet time with God and started my day before going on my phone. But I wake up and the first thing I say when I wake up is God, please get in my head today before anything else does and then I will pray and then I will read my Bible and I'll let myself, if I don't have anywhere to go, get swept away by my Bible. The same way you can get carried away scrolling through TikTok, you can get that with your Bible too and it is infinitely more rewarding and fulfilling and it's so nice and so just really letting God speak to you. He knows exactly what you want to hear. Let God in the word dictate how your day will go, not how many snap chats or Instagram likes you wake up to but let God dictate how you are going to feel today. Another daily practice I started doing that just has made my days so much more God filled and I can just really feel his presence is to replace secular music with worship music or maybe some sort of faith-based podcast. You can even listen to the Bible. There's Bible reading podcasts. I was listening to one Bible beginning to end just when I was super busy and my hands were always tied. It was nice to listen to audiobooks style but I do prefer my physical Bible now to annotate but it's good to have on the go as well. But secular music, it really does just set the tone, you know and I just realized I feel so much better. My Spotify rap you guys was entirely worship music and I feel great. I used to feel so sad and I used to like crave certain music and songs and playlists and I'm like I like only want worship music and it feels so good and there are days when I cry happy tears in my car because I could just feel God's presence with me surrounding me, flowing through me and it's so beautiful. Of course going to church, it's okay to go to church alone. It is okay to go to church alone. I went to church alone loved it okay and if you want friends, you will make friends there. I promise like go up to someone to make friends. If you aren't ready or old enough or able to make it to church by yourself, there's so many church online services that you can do as well. If you can't buy a Bible, there are so many Bible apps that you can have. We are so blessed to live in a world where it's at our fingertips. The word of God and key to our salvation is at our fingertips and if we aren't utilizing that girl, we're doing something wrong. Something that I also stir another great idea is to have a faith journal of some sort. I have a journal that I bring to all of the sermons or messages that I listen to and just anything that pops in my head about the message or God and just notes things I've learned my favorite verses. I even have prayers that I've written in there and it's so cool. I got this idea from a girl in my life group. You can go back and see the prayers that have been answered and you can even cross them off once God works them out for you and it's so cool because you can look back and be like wow, this is something that I once really desperately prayed for and now I have it and I can see how God gave it to me and that is just so beautiful. Of course getting involved in some sort of life group, even if you can't go somewhere in person, right? Because maybe some people's families don't support it or you're just not able to go out. There are, I'm sure, so many online groups that you can use. I have funny story, went to this church for the first time last year. We were like, we're just going to try it one time. We did not think we were going to stay at that church. We hadn't been to church in a minute and they ended up being like, oh, today's the last day to sign up for these small groups and we're like, oh, like, okay, let's just sign up. It's free. If we don't like it, we don't have to do it because it was going to be a 10-week program. Next thing you know, it's been a year. I'm still with that group. We turned into a life group after we completed the 10 weeks. We decided we still wanted to stay together as a Bible study and it's some of my best friends that I've met there and to have Godly Council, Godly community and to not have to look to chat GPT for advice but to be able to ask God and then also people who just know their stuff and are rooted in the Word and rooted in Him is so incredible and such a blessing and yes, Godly community is everything. Also serving is huge. That is just one of those places you could feel God's presence when you are volunteering. We are called to serve and to love our neighbors and so when you are doing something that has nothing to do with you, nothing to do with your own personal benefit. Volunteering in some way, there's so many different kids ministries. Maybe you're volunteering at a homeless shelter. There are so many different ways you can get involved whether it's at your church or outside of your church but just doing something for other people that again has zero benefit to you. You can really feel God moving and even to be able to minister to those people maybe if you're working a homeless shelter or a food drive and just meet someone and be able to spread God's Word and be an example of God's love is so amazing. And I had someone ask how do I encourage my friends to follow faith. The number one thing I'd say is not to force it on them. Okay, just so you guys know this is nothing I am forced feeding you. This is all my own personal perspective and things that just help me and motivate me but I'm not forcing this on anybody. Okay, and the best thing that you can do instead of forcing it on someone is to invite them to the party. Like this is not a prison. Okay, I feel like people sometimes get the wrong idea. They're like it's all super strict in all one way. You can't do this and if you mess up your out, it's not like that. It is a freeing thing actually that I found for me. It is so freeing. I've never felt anything like it and it's just so encouraging and a loving thing to be a part of. But the most important thing that you can do is to exemplify the love of Christ to operate from love to love your enemy to not judge others. All of those things, the qualities that we love most about our God, try your best to embody those and that will motivate others because eventually, however long it takes, it will turn into okay, what does she have that I don't? She has this glow about her. She has this light about her. She has this almost invincible sense of joy and peace that no one seems to take down that is nothing in your own power that is God and people will look at you and they'll be like, I want what she has and then maybe it'll strike up a conversation. Maybe you'll be able to invite them to church or to a Bible study with you and there are just so many ways that it can happen. So I love the saying that you might be the only Bible that someone ever reads or the only example of a Christian that someone ever meets and I think that's just so inspiring to really do our best to operate from love every single day because God is love. He is light. He is life. And so just to, yeah, do your best to be like him. Of course, we will never be that perfect. We can try our best to exemplify his love and forgiveness and generosity in our own personal walks. And I want to say, well, all of these community-based things, life groups, going to church, they are so important, but still have a personal relationship with him. We even see Jesus go off into quiet time to be alone with the Father. Regardless of how many miracles he was outcasting all day, he still went into quiet time to get that closeness with God. So yes, go into your groups, rely on God, the community. So yes, like go gather together, go share the word together, share your thoughts together, read the Bible together, dive into it, teach each other. But again, just really dive into the word and you're quiet time with God and pray with him and build your own personal relationship. It is such a strong foundation. And what's important about having God as that foundation is that I know that anything can happen my faith will not waver. And that's how you know is like being able to just see God work in your life and know that there's nothing that could knock my faith over. There's nothing that could shake my faith. For anyone who thinks or has been told that they are too far gone to be loved or forgiven by God, remember when Jesus said this, he was sitting at the table and there was an arrangement of guest there. Tax collectors, prostitutes, people who were not well looked upon these days. And so the Pharisees and teachers, they complained to the disciples and they said, why do you eat and drink with such scum? In Jesus answered them, healthy people don't need a doctor. Sick people do. I've come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent. Repent you guys like God knows you and he sees you and it doesn't make him not want to eat at the table with you. In fact, it makes him want to eat at the table with you even more because he knows that you guys need each other. You need God and he wants to heal you and to cleanse you. And so for anyone who has ever said, Jesus doesn't want me because I'm a sinner or because I've messed up so badly or I'm so shameful, he just said it right there. He wants to eat at the table with you and that's so true. You aren't going to wake up on a perfectly healthy day when you're feeling 100 out of 10 healthy as can be and call the doctor and say, uh, I need an appointment. And if you are ill and if you are hurt and if you are in pain and you ignore it, if you're really sick or something is really wrong or really broken, oftentimes it will only get worse until you suck it up and say, okay, you know what, I'm going to go to the doctor. Okay, you know what, I need help. Okay, you know what, I accept that this is wrong and I'm going to do something about it to fix it now. You know, okay, so I am most definitely going to need to split this episode up. I just don't do enough faith-based episodes. So what I do, it's like I want to talk about everything all at once when in reality, if this were an entirely faith-based podcast, I'd split these all up into a bunch of different episodes, but I'm just trying to put it all in one place for you guys, but I think I have too much to say about lots of different things. So let me know what other topics you guys want to hear specifically next. Again, I thank you and I acknowledge you and applaud you for just sitting through this episode and for being here. You should be so proud of yourself. I hope you took away something today and I'm just so proud of you and I know that you being here was no coincidence. God placed us all here in this very moment to receive this word together, to receive this message. And again, I am no expert. Okay, I am no Bible. Go to the Bible. Go to God. Talk to him in your alone quiet time with him and he is seeking you out and he is just so excited to hear it from you. All right, if you did enjoy this episode, don't forget to read it five stars on Spotify and leave a review for the chance to be featured in next week's episode. You can also subscribe to the YouTube channel. Spotify, wherever you listen, make sure you follow on there. Follow me on my socials at Brianna Gomez with two Bs on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, wherever these days follow the podcast at Hot Unbothered on TikTok and Instagram. You can also join our Hot Unbothered Besties group chat on my personal Instagram where we just bring the vibes. You know, I'll add fun little questions, prompts in there for all of us to just talk, chat with each other, hold each other accountable. But I'm so beyond grateful for you. I'm so blessed to have you here and I can't wait to see God move in your life and I'm just so proud of you. If you're looking to just become more intentional and grow as a person and in your mindset this year, even in your faith, I have a planter that I came out with. This is the becoming her planter that I came out with just for you guys. It has, you know, ways that you're going to serve, ways that you're going to help others, ways that you are going to just reflect and be the best version of yourself. Okay? Unlock your highest hobby itself. It says on the back. You can get this starting from just $10 on Amazon. So make sure you check her out. I recommend the hardcover version, but I also made the paperback available just for anyone who is on a little bit of a budget. You can still get the planter and become your highest self this year. But I love you guys from the very bottom of my heart. And I will see you next three day. Bye!