MENTAL HEALTH and EMOTIONAL WELLBEING with Prakruthi Angelina | John Giftah

0:01 Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist, and founder of John Gifta International.

0:43 Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John GIFTA. What is a crazy Maybe the thing that's going to help you a breakout of the craziness in your life. One of the things that a lot of people, especially in the Christian world, people find it hard to talk about is mental health. They're like, you know, you're not trusting God enough. You know, you should be more strong, and things like that. And these are some things that people say, and it really retates me a lot, especially because if somebody is not feeling well, you say, oh, let me pray for you, take care of you.

1:28 But if somebody is not well in their mind you're like remuking them and that demons in them and you know, stuff like that. So you know, you are into mental health, you're also a counselor, you know, and being a Christian counselor, there's can you give a few words about the reality of mental health and to bring that awareness among Christians that is lacking. I'm so glad we're talking about these things. Thank you for you know, bringing this topic as well, because I think the more we have conversations about it, the more we were able to eliminate the mystery or the stigma around it and actually understand it for what it is.

2:07 I think for me, I could not avoid this because, like I said, when my dad left, everything changed, and it was so much that we went through which we didn't have any help to deal with at that time. I mean this was in there's many many years back, and at that time there was so much stigma associated with even in even in the non RESK world. And uh, you know, so I think that's that for me started off this whole journey of anger and depression and I was very suicidal as well at one point, and and and there was no proper help to go through this either.

2:51 I was like, Oh, I'm even possessed. I need someone to you know. But then I was so I mean, I was so aware of it, and I was so ashamed of what I was going through. I thought I was literally the only Christian going through this because everyone seemed great on the outside. Everyone was like praising and smiling, and I didn't know that the enemy was using the same lies and the same kind of battles in the mind. And so there was a spiritual element to this struggle. For sure. There's always a spiritual element.

3:22 And so I'm so glad that there's different people, there's different spaces integrating theology, integrating God and psychology, because for me, it was that process of looking at my struggle through the world of God. And I also took up psychology because I was just drawn towards understanding people, understanding how why our brains work like that myself am a very complex mind to understand myself also, and I think that journey right helped me see psychology through the lens of God's word of who God has need us to be God's design for our minds.

4:01 And at the same time, I think it's so important to understand the science to understand,

4:09 you know, the neuroscience, the way our brain works. There is a physical component of mental health as well, right if you find it too abstracted to whoa what is this? You know, we study our brain as part of the body, but we also study our brain as part of the mind. And so I think what we need to understand in the Church is that God desires wholeness for us right in our body, in our mind and our spirit and our soul. And we are not just a spirit, but we also have a mind, we also have a body. So a lot of Christians also believe that we shouldn't take medicines or we shouldn't do anything for our but I believe God wants holistic wholeness and wellness for us.

4:53 He wants us to prosper. Three John two says, beloved, I pray that you prosper in every way even as your soul prospers. And I think that's the foundation and root of it. Like God is the source of our healing and our wellness and our wholeness. And I believe that we can't have true wholeness without God because He's the only one who gets right to the depth and the root, right and At the same time, I think we need to make use of the wisdom, the knowledge, the understanding that we have through science, through all of these people doing amazing work and research, whether they're Christian or not, because we can learn so much from one another.

5:33 And so yeah, I'm not a qualified therapist, but I am. I have been in psychology since I was in the eleventh and twelfth and for me, because of this person's journey, I think I've had that opportunity to really wrestle with these things, really understand, you know, and ask all of these questions. You know, how much of this is this demonic? Is this good? Is this from God? And I do believe we need wisdom and dissolvement, but we need to start talking about these things honestly, because like you said, it's so frustrating when you have a real problem, there's no solution anyone's giving you, but they're giving on necessary advice or help that you just need to pray more.

6:15 Just are you show you fast enough? You know, like okay, thank you? Yeah? Yeah, like you said, you know, this is a very tricky part because sometimes when you go for help, people only say that you're not prayed enough for happy you're not strong in God. But but sometimes you know, even in the scripture, people did go through things. You know, whether it's Elijah the Mighty prophety brought down rain and fire from heaven. Next minute was in the wilderness us it depression Jonah. At one point he said, I want to die.

6:48 He went to that suicidal depression. Who's the other one? Who? Uh, the opposite Paul in quarrinthiins he said, things were so bad I wanted to do in my life. And we keep saying about job saying that Joe was saying, uh, you know, blessed be the name of the lot. But that does interpreted too. But but then in chapter Plastic, you know, curse the day, you know, stuff like that. So you know they all did go through this. You know, it's not just you or it's just sometimes people have said this. You know, you're a pastor and you you know, I've gone through suicide, you know, depression myself.

7:18 Like I'll tell you, there are there are different sides to this. See. One is the mental aspect, but there's also the spiritual aspect for sure, because you know, either the enemy attacks you physically or he attacks you in the mentally also I've also had demonic encounters, the demonic things, and sometimes when I'm walking on the road, the you know, the the enemy just wants to push me to end my life. And now I've seen that, and I know, like when I go through those swings of depression and all of those things.

7:48 I think in the last four years, I think the cycles of depression increased even more and I just started battling even more, and then I started slowly coming out of it. But but but that's the truth. It's people were saying, you know, you're not praying enough, you're not fit to be a preacher, and all of these things. But then I'm open to share about it because I want people to be blessed through that. Like you said, yes, it's ultimately God who heals. But you know, the Lord was reminding me while you were sharing.

8:15 In Second Kings chapter twenty, when King Essakia was about to die, God gives the gave the word saying you're going to live for fifteen more years. But he also gave another command that people don't remember much, and that is, you know, he said, go and take these leaves I think thick leaves or something, and put it on the ball and you will be healed. So God, yes, God is the ultimate healer, but sometimes God also uses means like this. God is the one who heal. God is the one who said, you know you're heal.

8:44 But he used that Fregrease. It's not that Fregrease had any power at that point. But you know, that's why, you know, maybe sometimes God uses their God uses counseling. God uses you know, certain things that you can do. So do you shed a little bit more light on you know, people being open to taking up such means. Yeah, I think what two very important things that you said. Right, everything is spiritual, That's what I believe, because we are made of spirit. We're living in the spirit realm right now we can't see it, but so much is happening in the spirit realm.

9:22 And the enemy's only goal is to steal, kill and destroy, right, Like I mean, he wants to destroy us, and he will use any means necessary. And Joyce Maya's Battlefield of the Mind I think was one of those was one of those pioneering books which really made it very clear and simple that hey, your mind is a place where the enemy can take hold off and use these things against you, And so there are many ways to tackle this, and of course prayer, of course the Word of God are very foundational to build our spiritual strying to build our spiritual muscle.

9:58 But but thinking that that's the only dimension, or thinking that that should be enough somehow puts this. I think that's where we've all come from, right, Like, especially our generation, we've grown up under this thing of your faith is not enough, You're not praying enough, and so you are suffering with this. How can you be a man of God? How can you be working in ministry? And then go through all of these things especially, and so I'm really grateful that you're even willing to share about those things, right, because we do two things with mental health right Either, like I said, either we ignore or deny it, or we think, who just because someone has a mental health issue, something is totally wrong with them.

10:38 They can never be okay and God is not with them if we can go to that extent. Also, but what to demonize? Yeah yeah, yeah, that's a real, real, really bad thing. So let me do one thing, right, Like, I want to break down mental health, Fay, what is mental health? I've even heard people saying, oh, that person has mental health. No, we all have mental because you have a mind. If you, I mean, do you have a mind. Let's start there, right, what is our mind? Right, it's our emotions, our thoughts, our whole experience.

11:11 And so mental health is part of all of our lives, just like physical health. Right, we talk about it. That's all that it is. Right, So mental just has to do with the mind. Let's start there. And so it's all to do with our thoughts, our emotions, and our behavior and things that happen in this realm. Right. And there's different levels of severity also to look to what we deal with. Just because you're feeling sad does not mean that you're depressed. If you're feeling sad, you're feeling sad, So take that emotion, you know, if you're feeling angry, we deal with emotions in therapy.

11:44 We deal with thoughts in therapy. Right. So a good therapist, even if it is a Christian therapist or a non Christians, a good therapist or a counselor is not someone who's giving you just advice to fix your life. Please listen to this. Christian counselors, you are not sent to advise someone or tell them because I'll tell you something like pastoral counsel is good. Pastoral counsel is from the world of God, from you know, God's perspective. You minister to their heart. You're representing God's voice in their life.

12:17 That is amazing. But Christian counseling is different from pastoral counseling because Christian counseling is not opening up the Bible and saying, what are you going through? Okay, I have a worse for that. Let me let me shoot that out, let me speak that over, declare that, and that should fix it. You know, there is a place for that, right like you, you believe that, I believe that. But therapy is about making space for a person to be heard, to be seen to really, you know, go through their emotions, go through sometimes their past, the trauma that they've been through, or so many different things.

12:54 Right, But basically principles of counseling and therapy is that you make space for them to be heard, You help them find their own solution as you speak about your problem. Right, so many things come up and there's much more to it, but I'm trying to simplify it, and a good therapist has to provide that space of understanding, acceptance and the safety where you're able to face yourself and see what's happening on the inside. Right. And it's so important to understand why professionals are needed in this field because you want if you're going through something serious, right, like, you're not going to go to some random person and take what will medicine they give.

13:35 You, will want to go to a specialist in that also, you will take second opinion their opinion because you want to receive the best care. And I think even in the field of mental health, we are all working towards it, hopefully to try and get the best care to people. And so yeah, I think therapy. Maybe it sounds like a big word, but and some people might think why should I go pay someone to go talk to them or get advice from them? But that's not all that it is. It's not supposed to be that at all.

14:07 Therapists are trained in many different fields. There are trauma therapists, there's cognitive behavioral therapists. They deal with your thoughts and behavior, so there's different forms of it. If you want to find out more. I mean, hopefully I'm also working on some resources that can help people connect to these kind of spaces. But that's the hope that you know, we will try and learn more about this instead of either demonizing it or stigmatizing it, or just or even denying that you need help, just even that small step to say, hey, maybe I need to take some help.

14:42 It's not that something is wrong with you, right, or that something will always be wrong, but something is wrong with you, right. But if you're dealing with the headache, something's wrong, you need help. And so as simple as that. So I just hope that we can all do that right to just destigmatize it and to make it not something so extreme and also understand that there are some really severe cases where you need medical interventions sometimes and it takes a long time to you know, see breakthrough.

15:10 But you know, what are you going to do? That's that's what we're dealing with as part of the broken world. And either you can deny it or you can say, hey, God's in it with us and let's try and figure out how we can do this. Yeah, that's so true. But in terms of mental health, like we say, okay, if you have to take care of physical health, they say certain things exercise or drink this much of water and things like that. So, oh that's good. So in terms of mental health, what are some things I mean, of course I did speak about this earlier, and I think there are a couple of points that we can come up that when you take care of your physical health, there's always uh that also is going to help you with you know, having metal health, mental health, all of those things.

16:00 But on accountanting perspective from your perspective, what are some habits that people can have that will help them have a good mental health? Okay, wow, okay, So I definitely believe health is holistic, spiritual as physical. There's mental, emotional, right, and you can't neglect one without it affecting the other. And so we pay attention to all of these things. Like you rightly brought out, there is such a direct connection between the body and the mind. So many things in our mind affect our body and vice versa.

16:36 And so yeah, all of that is there specifically to do with the mind. I think some good practices are Self awareness is something that a lot of us probably need to grow into, right, to learn to be connected to your body to what's happening. Most of the times, you're not even here some way thinking about future or past or something else. Right, some text that you didn't get a reply for a that's what consumes are my right. So just being present, being connected, and there's even exercises to learn how to do that.

17:12 We call it grounding exercises, right to learn how to breathe. And you know, as soon as you say breathing exercises, people are like, oh what, But see, we have to get comfortable with the truth that our body and mind and emotions and our spirit are all connected. Like practically spirit is not sitting somewhere else. I mean I don't know spirit word. But then you know, God has designed it in a way right that we are one being right, and a lot of these problems happen when that dissociation happens as well, we're not connected with them.

17:44 So yeah, being present, being aware, I think even being comfortable with journaling, talking through your emotions and thoughts really helps. And we have some amazing tools from the world of God as well, right, like to take our thoughts captive. What does that mean. It's not just to say I take all my thoughts captive right now the name of Jesus and then forget about it. It's not just that just to sit down with your thoughts and be like, Okay, say I'm feeling negative about my face. For example, say I have pimples and I'm like, I'm feeling okay, what do I do with that?

18:18 Now? It's affecting me obviously, it's affecting how I feel about myself, my confidence and all of that. I can just say I rebuke that thought in Jesus name. I can do that if it's especially I mean, strongholds do break in the name of Jesus. We believe that we need to do that. But it also cats start with you sitting with that thought and saying, okay, right now I'm feeling sad, I'm feeling frustrated about my face. This is the situation, and then just processing that and just facing that instead of suppressing or denying it.

18:50 Right, things like that could also help. And yeah, I did a workshop recently where we kind of shared a few things like this. But I would also say, if if it is getting a little difficult, don't don't hesitate to reach out for professional help, because that does help to break things down. Bring in a lot of awareness, because sometimes awareness is like that someone needs to tell you from the outside you can't see somethings, but so yeah, and then there are of course the spiritual practices of reading the Word, being with God, spending quiet time.

19:29 Those are foundational as well. So yeah, I hope that makes sense. That's so good. Yeah, so I because I spoke on very similar grounds last time, so I think especially the abaress part and all of these things are kind of new. So it will definitely be helpful for those those of you who are watching. And also remember like, there's nothing wrong in taking help, right Like, we want to remind you that there's nothing wrong in taking help. You know, we're there precruities there, there are so many you know, go for the go to the right resource, like don't go to the wrong place and get into more mess, but go to the right place and you'll definitely, you know, see some positive results in your life as well.

20:16 So, if somebody is battling depression or suicidal thoughts right now, what is your word to them? How how can they deal with it? If you're dealing with depression and suicide, it would be best if you can take professional help. The reason being, you know, sometimes with things you don't know when it can get really bad. A lot of people are also going through high functioning depression, which is you're actually not doing okay. But because we've gotten so used to pushing through, just going ahead with life.

20:54 I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. You're doing things as normal and no one may know it, but you know you're actually going through that, right and only. That's why a lot of people don't want to be in quiet spaces with their thoughts, alone with their thoughts. They try to avoid it no matter what they do. Right. So, what I'm trying to say is when it comes to depression and said especially,

21:17 it is quite serious. We don't want to underplay it and just you know, just to feel better about ourselves. We don't want to be like, oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. So it might feel really hard, it might feel scary, but reach out for help because the right resource, like you said, will be able to help you process these things, dealing with these things in a better way. You don't have to succumb to you know, the danger that is depression, and so is said because it could get dangerous at some points, right, and so it is important that we understand the seriousness of it and do reach out for help.

21:54 I know, finances might be challenging at some point and all of that, but think about it. Your life matters, Your life is worth it, and if you can get the help that you deserve and need, don't let anything stop you from doing that. Maybe eight years ago I would have just said God will deliver you from depression, just keep praying. But today I really do understand the need to seek help and the need to really be open about it.

22:25 Talk to someone that you trust. You know, there would be at least one or two people I think around, maybe not in your immediate circle if you're afraid of being teased or bullied, but do find someone that you can trust and ask for help, because it's important and you deserve that help. Especially when you think about Elija when he was going through the depression. The first thing he did is he cut himself off from people and he started magnifying, saying, I'm the only one going through this, you know, nobody else, and all of these things, but no one of the things that you can do when you are going through that is, you know, make sure that you don't cut out from people you know, like take intentional steps to talk to somebody.

23:06 And and also you know, don't let I mean it says the scripture says that he went into the wilderness, like you know, like a wilderness of the mind is where people go to like they constantly keep thinking about it, keep thinking and keep meditating on it, like day in and day out, and what happens is you know, and they also be careful what you watch and listen during that time, because I think a couple of months ago, I ended up. I mean just I was watching a documentary and that documentary was fort A Cayo Come to Suicide, And you know, the next day, everywhere I'm walking, I feel like, okay, you're going to end your life, you know, likes in that, you know, and then I'm like, okay, even the documentary.

23:48 I just have to be careful in what I watch, you know, because if you know, what is your pitfall If you feel like you're going to be depressed, if you're watching something or not just depression, it could be something that you're dealing with, like you know, if somebody is dealing with lust, okay, and if you're going to be watching romantic movies after romantic movies, it's only gonna you know, so you need to get to that place like okay, identify what is your issue and be aware of that, and you know, cut it off in the route.

24:14 You know, if watching something is going to affect you, if you know being with a group is going to affect you, or being alone is also going to affect you, take the right steps. And that is something so important. I also want to add about depression, right, like you said, there are things that you can do. I mean, if it's a real struggle to reach out for help, it's really hard, especially when you're depressed. The only thing you want to do is hide, be in a dark room or isolate or you know. It could look different for different people as well.

24:48 But I also want to say that sometimes even really small things can help. I can really help you break free from it, Like in terms of of like you said, watching what you are, consuming content and all of that. I think I'm struggling to put language to this, so bear with me. So there there are many different aspects of depression and then also many different types of it, and there are different ways that people experience it. So that's why my first suggestion would be god therapist, someone who actually can figure out what exactly is happening, whether it's severe, whether it is mild, and based on that they'll be able to help you navigate as well.

25:33 Right, because there is that tendency on our own to either underplay it or overplay it and then think like, oh my gosh, I'm just you know, so I think it's really important to have that. As much as I can give many tips from my personal experience as well, it may not apply to you,

25:52 but yeah, start somewhere, is what I was saying. Yeah. Yeah, like you said, what work for somebody else is going to work for you. Yeah. You know, you need to understand that visuality of what is going to be specific to you, and that is something that a therapist and spending time with God, you know, all of this together you will find that unique thing that works for you. For example, when I was dealing with that entity crisis, you know what I used to do is I used to stand in front of the mirror every day and I used to quote the scriptures.

26:19 I'm cute, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, I'm made in the mage of God and all of these. You know, cute is not a Bible verus, but anyway, you know, whatever things about us. Yeah, so I used to say these things every single day and that actually helped me have you know, like when I step into the world, like you know, after that. It used to really make it easy for me, like when I was dealing with that, right, So that is something unique. Like some if I go and tell somebody random that I did that thing, I'm crazy.

26:52 But you know what is a crazy Maybe the thing that's going to help you breakout of the craziness in your life. That's the word for me. Holistic wellness is so important, and I want to help people really get comfortable with dealing with their emotions. And I think that's the reason, you know, I've been talking about it. Talking about my own struggles is something that you've said, you know, has my brain buzzing. So it's sort of so much of our thoughts and our emotions are because of neurowirings that have happened over the years, right, like upbringing, the patterns, the things that we're around.

27:31 It's not just media, it's our close people, close ones, family, parents have a very significant influence. Friends, things people say, things we get into our brain, right and especially when we grow up. As we grow up, so many things shape our understanding our worldview filtered through which we are looking at things right. And so say, for example, overthinking is something that is part of anxiety, yes, but overthinking is also something a lot of us do in general, right, because we've especially introverts.

28:04 I think, I don't know, maybe extra results do, but I can speak for myself. You just think about everything, right, and like, there's so many thoughts going on in your head

28:14 now this Yes, there are practical things that you do to change this, right, and that has to do with like the rewiring of your brain the patterns that you have right, And so that takes takes on a process of really breaking it down and seeing, you know, how what is leading to what right? And I think it's important to understand this because it will give us these specific tools. Like you said to like, basically what you were doing, you were rewriting the thought patterns in your brain. You want to affirm for yourself that this is what I believe about myself, so that when the default belief that's already wired comes, you're able to have another resource and say no, no, no, no, no, that's not I might be thinking that I might have felt that in the past, but now this is what I want to believe about myself, right, and so it's important to do that.

29:06 Just to clarify, So the one that you charge talking about is to break those old patterns in your mind, right, yes? Yeah, okay, because thoughts can form strongholds, and like you said, there are spiritual ways to battle that, and there's also you know, evidence to prove that we can do that by taking small steps to rewire, to renew our mind. The Bible calls it renewing our min Omen's twelve and so yeah, that's okay. That's one way to get victory over these patterns, whether it's overthinking, whether it's resorting to sadness or different things.

29:43 Okay, yeah, what is your take on soldize that people are dealing with? How can somebody deal with that? Overcound so with regards to relationships and soldies, what is your specific question about it? No? Is this the again? People need to be aware of this. I think many may not know what exactly it is. I think I just stumbled into that world when somebody said sol time, like, what is this? So people may not know what it is? And how do they break like if they're not even aware of what it is? Right, okay, right, yeah, I mean, yeah, especially in the church, this is important to talk about because you know, we talk about physical purity a lot, like maintaining boundaries, not you know, doing anything before marriage.

30:29 We talk about that in terms of the physical and I think that itself is so challenging and right now a lot of people are dealing with so much temptation and so so much of a challenge in keeping themselves pure, keeping to God's standards for their life. And of course we know that, you know, when you become physically intimate with someone, soultai is definitely formed and it keeps you It makes you one with that person in so many ways, right, so it keeps you thinking about them, attached to them emotionally in your soul, and it leads to so much hurt and so much difficulty and even getting over that person and moving on.

31:14 And so that is definitely a thing, of course. And there's apart from just the physical part of it, there's also emotional bonds that get formed, right when you talk to someone all the time, when you're depending on them for emotional resource, whether it's comfort or whether it's just someone to talk to. And you know, and a lot of people do this, I'm sure, like I've done it many times, and a lot of us do it right, and we have someone who's just there for us. But then somewhere it crosses that line from friendship into something else which is unidentified because it's neither this not this, And then you end up forming really strong emotional attachments which you depend on, right, And so that can also qualify as a soul time because you dependent on them.

31:59 Your mood depends on them. If they are sad, you are sad. If they don't talk to you, you're sad, you know. And it's not God's design for any of us to be in those kind of unnecessary ties, right, because it prevents you from really being the full free individual that God made you to be. And God's design for us is that in the context of marriage, you are tied to one person. And we also see healthy soul ties, right. Soulties can also be in any close relationship that you have, and some of it is good, like there is a definite bond between a mother and a child that goes beyond the body.

32:40 There is a soul connection over there, right, And so there are God audience soldies, and then there are things that we do outside of God's good plan for us, and so it's important to be aware of it. It's important to actively work to break it through prayer. Through of course, you renounce, you pray, you ask for the blood of Jesus to wash away this uh the spiritual aspects of it. And then you also have to take steps in the natural, which is not to think about that person, not to keep connected to that person, whether you're talking or you're you know, do whatever you need right, like if it's deleting photos, if it's burning letters, I don't know, but we need to be vigilant about it for sure, because it is something that really drains you and draws from you, prevents you from fulfilling your purpose and fulfilling the destiny that God has for you so good.

33:34 So you know, even if you are going through something in your life where you may not be aware of, like but you're connected or you'll feel like you know, like what she was just describing is part and parcel of your life. I pray that this will actually be the thing that sits you free in the name of Jesus, right, you know, take those drastic steps, like you know, even if something is affecting you. Like I said, you know, if some watching something is going to affect you, just delete it unfollowed whatever needs to be done.

34:04 Yeah, you know, because that is so important that you are well as an individual. Right when Joseph knew he was in trouble, he didn't sit there and watch and be like, Okay, he ran from that place. So you know, it's important that you'll take a step to run from the things that are keeping you from God's call over your life. No, I want to add proberbs for right, like it says, guard your heart with all diligence out if it flows the issues of life, everything that we're doing, everything that flows out of us, and guarding our heart is We heard the worst many times, but I think it's an ongoing journey with God.

34:41 Like you said, figure out what does my heart need? What do I need to keep myself here? To keep myself focused on God too? And we need to be honest with ourselves when it comes to this, because I can't just be like I'm guarding my heart. I'm guarding my heart. But that's all that's our life was if there ever was one, Just because he told that, I used to reminded I used to put on worship music and mostly Michael W. Smith and things like that, and so at one point I realized, like, you know, the like my crush kind of girls, the girls in those videos, you know, And then I realized, like, okay, you know what, I need to make carefuls then for until I overcame that.

35:27 For I think two months. I started watching those videos and I listen to different worship music and then I and then I watched it. Then I was like, ok, keep fine again. So you know, So what I'm saying is you don't know from bare you can actually I know it's not connected. I don't know if that is whole time or anything, but it's just crushed or just I don't know what you call it. But I'm just saying you don't know from where it can come from. It can be even in a stuttle way through a workship music.

35:54 So just that's a word of I mean, this is a comment struggle for all the Christian girls because all the cool boys play guitar on stage. I mean, see, I think it's important to address this. I'm so glad you mentioned this because I think there's a lot of unnecessary shame around this also, I mean God made us for relationships. God made us for love, and I don't think we should be ashamed about it because when we do that, we're not addressing the issue. We're not We're just trying away from it, denying it, We're hiding it.

36:26 This is a natural part of life. You cannot get through life without dealing with attraction, with you know, friendships and things getting complicated. It's a natural part of life and learning how to do it. God's way is the best bet we have, right, Yeah, I grew up with so many crushes Nick Jonas, Uh, David, Yeah, it's just but I think the key is uh. I think in the church, right, we really need resources. We need to start talking about this because purity culture and just this whole concept of purity has also made this thing like an unattainable standard.

37:04 Either it is that or it's just like we have hypocrisy, right like when we're pretending. So I think it's really important to talk about this, and so, yeah, there's no shame in it. God knows. God has made us, you know, for relationships, but that means that God has his design for it, and we would benefit a lot if we feel on what that is, and if we allow him into that journey as well, Yeah, don't shame them, but rather talk to them about it. Yeah. So that's so good, so good. So now quick, rapid fire.

37:38 You need to answer us quick as possible. Activate my nervous system. So if you are any character in the Bible, who would it be? And by oh wow, okay,

37:54 Gile, I think Gile This okay, okay. Jaran is the character in the Bible. She's a woman, and she I don't know the story of the details of the story very clearly off the top of my head. But what I do know about her is that she literally the enemy comes into the tent, right and she was used by God in a very strategic moment to

38:25 just obey the voice of God and to gain victory in that moment over the enemy. And I think what she did was so bold, was so full of obedience, and it was in response to a long lifelong relationship with God, right like that defining moment is what we see in the Bible. In that story, very little is mentioned about her. That's probably why you know she may not be known also, but there's so much that you can read between the lines. There was this whole relationship that she had with God that prepared her for this moment.

38:56 She knew exactly what she needed to do. She had the boldness that marriage and just the tenacity to do that right, and I thank Yeah, it's a very inspiring story. Sometimes we see the whole lifespan of people and we're like, wow, they did this, this, this, this, But in her life, we just see this one thing. But it speaks of her whole life for God. So child. But if I had another choice, it would also be rude because I'm frock Ruthie, because you made that partner. I was reminded of a joke I made yesterday.

39:32 It came to my mind, like who is God's son? Who was God? Sorry? Who was God? Who was God? No idea? So you know, the Adam's son? Because God is evil?

39:52 Did you guys catch that? You want to pay that? So God is able? Okay, so we can saying all about it. So I've made that one. So as a singer, if you can collabor with anyone in the world, I know it's a very typical question, but who would that be? Anyone in the world? Any single? Wow? Okay, Oh my Goshladegel No Laurdenegl and me on the same track. So I love Mandys. Mandy's is one of the people I've grown up listening too. She's not very well known, but she's had a big Yeah. Yeah, even before that, there was an album that was so good Ladenegel of course King and Country fucking in Country.

40:34 I think the music is really cool. But I've thought about this and right now, off the top of my head, it's not coming there. There are many people as many people are Yeah, okay, I mean I'm in the worship music scene, so so many people that I look up to. Yeah, if you tell one that you can't go with it next, Yeah, it's cool. So what is the one unusual thing about you that makes you stand out? You have to tell me what

41:07 it's like that's good. What makes me stand out? M hmm. I don't know what makes me stand up? I know, I mean, one thing is definitely worship expression. I've heard a lot of feedback about that when I worship. When I lead worship, I do a lot of my hands and some people don't understand what's happening right, like say hands. Yeah, yeah, Well that's one visible unusual thing. Yeah. I mean two things about that. One is I think when Jesus said to you free from a lifetime of bondage, you don't care how you look when you're worshiping him, You're just like But also I think profiting worship, there's a lot to it.

41:55 We won't get into that, but I was so happy when I saw Stephanie gretting her worship and I was like, hey, she's doing that with her hands as well. There's something to this that. I mean, I'm not weird or wrong for this, but yeah, there's a lot more to that. But I think unusual, that's the thing that would come out. Maybe, Yeah, what else, anything else that's good. I think I'm very honest and vulnerable, which is also unusual. Yeah, I think all thing about you is like so friendly. Yeah, thank you.

42:29 I hope that that's not unusual in the church. It's especially like, I know we spoke about against celebrity culture, but I interviewed so many different kinds of people over the years, and I've seen that like it's so hard, Like I mean, like you said when we started the conversation, like how is it good to flow? Like I had conversations with people I can't speak more than two sentences. I'm like, oh my gosh, what do I say? You know? But with you like time went? That's good? So and anyway, I need to ask you this also, so as you keep traveling in all of these things, how do you admind yourself after an exhausting day?

43:08 Mm hmm. This is cartoon called Blue. I've been watching it. It's so cute, hot style. It's a children's program. But yeah, I mean, right now, that's what I'm uh, how do I ad? I love movies, I love shows, but right now you open Netflix, you just scroll for half an hour, then you just close it because it's something. But yeah, I love art in the firm of film and movies. I love it and music, of course, But I think taking just a quiet day at home, it's not doing anything, which is hard to do for me sometimes, but that really helps me unmind.

43:44 I love nature and I love spending time with my family and friends also when I come back. So oh, that's nice. And the most important question thoughts that Scooby Doo, let's go, we do we do? Where are you? I actually really like the cartoon growing up. Cartoon Network was the bomb and uh yeah, what else to say. I have not seen it in a while, but so the minute I saw you, I thought you were going to be well ma, so oh you name your characters. I'm sorry, I'm prock with the Angelina. I will not be for any other character because I am myself a cartoon and a character.

44:27 But I love the cartoon though. Mister Machine was like, yeah, yeah, it's so good. What's I should start an interview with you? But what started off your what was the moment you uniw Scooby Doo is going to be part of your life forever? I don't know ever since I Scooby's been my crush, Like no, no, what faithful to Scooby Doo. So and like you said, I'm winding with cartoon for me, Like I don't like to literally watch watch every time, but sometimes just seeing my collection just sculd be so sweet.

45:01 This

45:04 makes it so cool. So any words towards pay the ministry and the podcast, like I mean, like I said, congratulations on the thousandth episode, it takes a lot of consistency and hard work. I mean, we know v hand Bean is a common friend and I've seen that in her as well, right like that she's so dedicated, and I really admire the consistency that it takes to get something going. Just the fact that you've been coming here, you know, doing doing so much work for so many years. I really believe that one it is the grace of God.

45:39 God gives us the passion and the fervor to do it. And the only way you get better at things is also by just going doing it, and you know, having these standards of excellence. And so I just want to say, may God bless you and all that you're doing, and may He, you know, as you approach these new territories as well, may give you the resources and the wisdom and also help you impact the people that He has assigned for you to impact through your life. And so, yeah, thanks for having me on the podcast.

46:11 Cool. Thank you. Anyway, So guys, come to the end of this conversation, I hope you guys were blessed by this. We're going to end with a word of prayer. But before that, I encourage you to like, common share, subscribe and check out the Daily podcast. If you're checking this on YouTube, it's available on over sixty platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Giosavan, I Lady, and so on and so forth. You can also check out the podcast where my messages get dubbed into a tamil or every week, and you can also check out my books, including my second one, Unveil Your Purpose.

46:45 I'm sure it will help you in your walk with a lot. And there's so many different things you can check out every single day's content and inspiration and encouragement and if you want more detail, check it out at www dotch on gifted dot com or my social media feeds as well. So thank you so much for coming, and thank you so much faculty. So first things first, I'll pray for you, and then I want you to pray for me in the ministry and all those who are listening and watching. Any specific thing that you would like for us to pray for you.

47:16 I think it would just be the mental health ministry that I'm doing right now. Sorry, I'll start again. I think it would just be the mental health ministry that we're doing right now, just planning and praying and building a lot of different things. I really believe that it is the need of the hour, and especially post pandemic. There are so many things, so many resources that we need, so just for that problem yeah, sure, Lord, we come to you this day and we thank you for this time that you give in to us, and thank you for bringing Freculty away.

47:52 Lord, I pray and thank you for the way she's been a blessing. She has so much city abhording to her that she is now to all of us today. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. God, we pray that you will bless her, bless her with more wisdom, bless her with more resources, bless her with more keys from the heavenly Kingdom. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that you will share keys that will help her to unlock new levels and news dimensions, especially as she's planning about things in the mental health sphere.

48:23 I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. So, God, I pray that you will lead her, you will guide her, You will make away where there seems to be no way. God, I thank you, because even as I'm speaking, I see like a tunnel, the Lord is just leading you through that tunnel. And God, and You're just taking in the things that you need to take as you keep walking. And I see that vision right now, and I pray that as you keep going through the season, God is going to keep downloading things into your spirit. God is going to constantly plug in ideas and creativity.

48:53 Just keep taking them and keep walking. And as you keep walking, at one point You're going to step out into the thing that God has for you, like a big mind, like an area where you know there's so much that God wants to deposit over you and use you for the extension of His kingdom. Lord, I release this word over her. I pray for her life of family or future. I pray for everything that is concerning her. Lord, I thank you because the scriptures is you're going to grant the desires of a heart. Lord, the things that she didn't even talk about or pray about.

49:27 But God, I thank you because you're going to grant the secret pretations of her heart. That's what the word is coming into bestpite about you, that God is granting the desires of your heart. And again I also see another version of you writing, Lord, you know whether it's a song or a book, but I pray for you know, more materials going to come out through you in the name of Jesus. Thank you, Sir. I release these words over her. In the name of Jesus, Lord, let them come and bear fruit. We believe at your time it's all going to happen.

49:58 In Jesus name, we pray, Amen and amen, I may pray for you. Father. We thank you for who you are. We thank you that your word and your purposes will never fail. Many other plans in our hearts, God, but it is your purpose that prevails. Father. Thank you that your kingdom is advancing and you said the violence will take it by force. I thank you God for John his family. I thank you for this ministry. Thank you God that he has been He has been going after your word over his life, Father, in obedience and faith in boldness.

50:35 Father, we just thank you that the word of understanding comes from you. The words of wisdom come from you. Father. We just thank you God that as you lead him, Father, and just pray that deeper wells of wisdom God would be opened up. Father, God, deeper wells of understanding opened up for your son Father, as he ministers Jesus. We thank you God that as you walked you want us to walk on this earth. Father, whether it is seeing miracles happen people he and people set free. And Father, even as you know he has been open about his journey, his struggles and so many different things.

51:11 Father. We pray God that there would be so much healing bursting forth, Father God, not just for him, but also through him. Jesus. God, we pray right now in this season, God, that you would be near to him, You would be close to him and lead him into everything that you have for him. Father God. And when there is need for rest, when there is need for pause, pray that he would be able to do that. When there is a season two, you know, launch forth. Father, we know that you would give him grace according to each season.

51:38 God. We also pray that everything that he's doing in this ministry, God, that that it would just be set on fire by Jesus, that you would take so much delight in this worship, and also that it would just go out into the world as a bright light shining your name, shining your witness, shining the truth of all that you are, Jesus, The full gospel that is in your Jesus, the entire Gospel God, will be presented through whatever John is doing, whatever this ministry that you have entrusted to him, whatever you're doing through it.

52:15 God, thank you that you don't just you know, you don't just call the qualified, but you qualify everyone that you call and that you choose. Thank you God, that your mighty power is at work in everything that he's doing. Just pray God that Jesus, you yourself, would stand with him and direct him and lead him, and also just build him up. You are the world, You're the living word of kind. And just pray that you build him up every single day with your words of encouragement and identification coming straight from Jesus.

52:49 I just see that, John, that Jesus is with you, that he's standing with you and just even fueling your ministry. Like you said right, like he is the fire, is the man standing among the lampstands. And even as we are in these days awaiting his return, I just pray Lord that you would anoint his tongue with words of fire. God for for the people that he needs, for the leaders, for the nations, whatever you take him, that you would prepare them for your coming. You would prepare them to witness your coming and to be ready for it.

53:24 Jesus, thank you, thank you for all that you're doing. We give you glory, we give you praise, We even thank you for this episode and we bless it. We pray that it reaches all the people that you wanted to reach. God in Jesus's precious name and praise, Thank you so much. Bye. You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta, we hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the John gifted YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, th interviews, and more.

54:00 Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts, and don't forget to check out the best selling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I which will help you understand your identity and the latest number one best seller Unveil your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it. Make sure to leave a rating and review and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description, and if you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www dot John gifted dot com.

54:37 See you on the next episode of the Fuel for the soul with John gifta God bless you