Confronting the Voices That Lie and Hold you Back – A Reflection Exercise
We all face hard circumstances. And I don’t know about you, but when I am facing tough stuff I have the great capacity to be my own worst enemy. When we find ourselves beaten down and knocked out by difficult circumstances, we often say terrible things to ourselves. And if we don’t say or think them, we allow ourselves to listen to them. We have become collectors of these voices. We started filing them away and now we carry the files of these voices that speak lies around with us wherever we go. We hear the voice of an ex-boyfriend, the voice of an eternally disappointed parent, the voice of a biased boss, all keeping us from believing we can overcome whatever it is we face. We hear the voice of a critical teacher, the voice of an expectation we never met, the voice of a failure that keeps calling us names, all ringing inside our head. We hear the voice of our eating disorder, the voice of our haters, and the voice of a mean girl and her hurtful words, all fighting to keep us defeated.
And you know what? We listen to them. We let these voices scream. We let them preach. We let them churn in our heads without even realizing they’re there. We let them treat us like a punching bag. We let them hold us back and keep us stuck believing we won’t rise out of the mess, we won’t conquer our dreams, we won’t overcome.
Make some space for a few minutes to reflect on the different voices in your own life that cripple you with lies and accusations. I want you to name what they say and write down as many statements as you think they speak.
The voice of rejection lies and says:
Example:
- You will get hurt, you always do.
The voice of fear lies and says:
Example:
- You will fail.
The voice of failure lies and says:
Example:
- You shouldn’t have even tried.
The voice of your haters lies and says:
Example:
- You don’t deserve what you have.
The voice of sin lies and says:
Example:
- You can’t change.
The voice of a lying religion lies and says:
- Your own judgment can’t be trusted.
The voice of insecurity lies and says:
Example:
- You won’t be noticed if you’re absent.
The voice of wounds lies to you and says:
Example:
- Your emotions are too much.
These voices lie. These voices condemn. These voices fight against you and hold you down. These are not the voices of God. Part of regaining power and victory in your life and the tough circumstances you face starts with naming the voices that keep you down and hold you back. The voice of God brings life. The voice of God promises you will rise up; you will overcome. You will begin to recognize God’s voice the more you spend time with Jesus.
Pray this prayer over yourself:
God, I hand you these voices with their terrible lies. They spew raunchy, rotten, terrible, no-good words and mean names that get in the way of my life. These lies keep me from my dreams, they mess with my relationships and they ruin how I view you. Lord, will you replace those lies with truths and will you replace those voices that bring accusations with your voice that brings life? I pray this in the powerful healing name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
To get to know more of God’s voice, check out these resources:
