Praying woman – Faith Love n Joy

When I Lift My Hands

Posted on December 5, 2021May 27, 2025 by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

“So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands”
Psalm 63:4 ESV

Years ago, I was going through a really bad time. I was dealing with depression and anxiety without any professional help. My marriage was falling apart. I felt like I was in a hole so deep no one could find me, not even God. I had two toddlers running around. Life was just not working at all.

I remember one night after a fight with my husband (now ex-husband), I sat down on the couch after putting my babies to bed and just started to cry. It seemed like there was no way out for me. I knew I needed to be strong for my girls and learn how to be a better wife to my husband but I had no clue how I would achieve that. God felt very far away and I felt like a huge failure.

For some reason, the verse 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 came to my heart:

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Praise and worship have always been my favorite part of any church service. I’ve always loved to sing. At the time, I was part of a praise and worship team at my local church. I was well acquainted with the power of praise and knew how to raise my hands. However, in my depression, I was sure I had the strength. I remember being honest with God and telling Him I wasn’t sure if I could even lift my hands to him. I wasn’t sure why anymore.

God very gently spoke to my heart. He said, “When your babies come to you and they lift their hands to you, what does that mean?”

I replied, “It means they want me. They want me to pick them up and hold them.”

God said, “And what happens when you hold them?”

I said, “They’re comforted. They’re loved. It’s an act of security for them to be in my arms.”

God answered, “Then lift your hands to me, daughter. I will lift you up and hold you. You will be comforted and you will know how much I love you. You’ll be secure in me.”

Lifting my hands in praise and worship has been easy for me ever since that day because I always remember these words. I always remember how I felt that night as I lifted my hands to Jesus. Depression and anxiety melted away in those precious moments I was held by my Heavenly Father. Was my life perfect after that? No. The abuse in my marriage turned into adultery which then resulted in divorce and a whole new way of life for my girls. Yet, none of that really matters because whenever I felt waves overtake me, I just lifted my hands and let God lift me up.

My daughters are grown young women. They haven’t received this revelation yet and are far too shy to experience total freedom in worshipping God. I don’t worry. I know deep in my heart that their own conversation with God is just on their horizon. One day, they will need to lift their hands and when they do, God will hold them, comfort them, provide for them and show Himself to be their Daddy and not just their Heavenly Father.

Maybe you’re like I was and you’re in a well of darkness or depression. Maybe you need to be lifted up in some way. Can I pray for you?

“Heavenly Father, we love you so much. We thank you for your Word that gives us everything we need in every season. Father, your word says to praise you in every circumstance. We know how important this is and how important it is to lift our hands to you in prayer as well as in praise. Sometimes, Lord, we admit we don’t always feel like it. Sometimes, we just don’t have the strength. But we know, Father, that you desire us to be free and to walk in freedom. We know you desire to be not just Abba Father but Daddy to us your kids. So we take a step of faith and we lift our hands to you, Daddy. And we lift our hands, we ask for you to lift us up. We ask to be seated on your lap, with your arms wrapped around us. We thank you for your love and comfort. We thank you for security and we thank you for not leaving us in the pit but placing our feet on solid ground. We thank you and we praise you for this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Moments and Musings

How To Stop Being So Sorry

Posted on March 4, 2021May 27, 2025 by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Every since I was a child, I’ve always felt…wrong. Everything I did was wrong. Everything I said was wrong. I even looked wrong. Everyone around me always seemed to know the right thing to do and say and here I was – Lil’ Miss Awkward, wanting to badly to fit in and be accepted by those around me. I couldn’t measure up. Worse were the people in my life confirming my worst fears by either telling me to my face how weird I was or just walking completely out of my life without any explanation.

So, how did I cope? I began to apologize. For everything.

I said ‘I’m sorry’ for the things I said and the things I didn’t say. I said ‘I’m sorry’ for the things I did and for the things I didn’t do. I apologized for my immaturity and I apologized as I began to mature.

It started out being situational. I would say ‘I’m sorry’ in specific situations, like when a friend tripped over the sidewalk and I didn’t stop her from falling. Or if we were grading each other’s papers in school and I had to mark wrong an incorrect answer to a question.

I didn’t even know I was taking responsibility for things that didn’t even concern me. I just kept apologizing over and over. Before long, it wasn’t situational: it was personal. No longer was I sorry for things that went wrong but I was sorry for being wrong.

The phrase “I’m sorry” had become part of my everyday language to the point I didn’t even know what I was apologizing for.

I still don’t.

This habit has been hard to break and I still struggle with it today. It’s only been recently that I’ve discovered how much this lifelong habit has bled into my relationship with God. All these years I’ve spent apologizing has somehow translated and morphed into….I’m not good enough. How can God ever love me when I’m just not good enough?

Sound familiar? Has being sorry become a part of your personality, too?

If it has, let me share some good news with you. God’s not having it anymore! We’re too busy! Listen, if God’s Word is the antidote to what’s going on in the world – and it is – then we don’t have time for apologies to be part of who we are. We’ve apologized enough.

So how do we break this cycle? Two big important things were super helpful for me and I hope they will be to you.

The first thing God did was to reveal how hurtful this was to me. God didn’t create me to be sorry about my life. He created me to be victorious. Even named me Victoria! Jeremiah 29:11 is all about God hoping and planning good things for me. To be sorry for who I am is to be sorry about how God made me and that goes against what God says about me and to me. God said to me, “You’re not sorry; YOU ARE MINE.”

So now, whenever I say, ‘I’m sorry’, God says, “Are you really? Did you do something wrong? Is there something that’s really yours to repent from? Or are you sorry just out of habit.”

God expects me to be intentional when it comes to living life His way. Philippians 4:9 says,

“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

The second thing he did was to pull me out of my comfort zone and gave me a mission, so to speak. When the idea of Faith Love N Joy first came to me, I began telling God how I’m not good enough to do this. I began telling Him how sorry I am and that I will most likely fail. No one will read this. No one will care.

God said two things to me:

First, He reminded me of who I am to Him. I’m His daughter (John 1:12). I’m a joint-heir with Jesus (Romans 8:17). I am loved by the King of Kings (John 3:16). I’m a princess of Heaven (Proverbs 45:6)

Then He told me scores of people don’t have to read this – just the ones that need it. He wasn’t expecting perfection from me; He was expecting obedience.

I didn’t have to say sorry. I did have to say yes.

I am who God says I am.

I apologize to no one for being that.

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Moments and Musings

Overcoming the Prayer Struggle

Posted on January 18, 2021May 27, 2025 by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Do you struggle with praying? Do you get discouraged with thoughts of not doing it “right”.

I sure have!

Trying to pray “the right way” is something I’ve struggled with all my life. Initially, I thought prayer was boring. Sitting in a room, timer on the table, list on front of me of stuff I had to pray for.

I believed prayer was for results, not relationship.

When praying in a group, I would break out in hives at the idea of being called upon to pray aloud. I felt I wasn’t good enough to pray or I didn’t have the right words to pray or I didn’t know enough of the Word to pray. Comparing myself to Sister Sally Sue who got at least 5 rounds of solid “amens” when she prayed. I would pray more to hear a “yes, Jesus” just to prove I wasn’t a bad pray-er.

And of course, Satan used this over and over, repeatedly telling me, “See, you’re not as good as they are. They know the Word and you don’t. God loves them more than you.”

I know I’m not the only one who’s experienced this! How many of you feel trapped in that? How many of you have been lied to into not praying?

The good news is this can be overcome. A small group of women at my last church humanized the idea of prayer for me. They lived out the relationship part so well that I found myself wanting to pray. I wanted the intimacy of knowing God so personally.

And guess what? When they prayed, it wasn’t perfect. They stumbled over their words, they stopped to gather their thoughts, they laughed and cried and even said the word, “um” once or twice. Their imperfection encouraged me. If these who knew the Word so much more than I did prayed so humanly, then so could I!

So here’s a few things I did to overcome my shyness about praying. I hope these ideas help you into a praying relationship with God.

Read the Word. If prayer is a conversation, then we must know the One we are conversing with. Knowing who God is and what He’s about helps us to understand more of what the conversation will be like. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Ask God to help you pray. God’s Word is all we need to get help in every situation, including prayer. John 14:13 encourages us to ask for help. It states, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do…” So if you need help knowing how to pray, just speak that verse and relate it to prayer.
Be yourself. This is probably the most important one. I fell into the comparison trap and lost precious time with God. I tried to copy the prayer style of others. God knows all about you. He wants a relationship with you on a one-on-one level. There’s nothing we can hide from Him.
Start simple. You do not need to thee and thou your conversation with God. He knows you! He wants to hear from YOU! If you’re stuck on where to start, just thank Him for who He is and all He’s done for you. The rest will follow, I promise!
Be honest and real. When my mom died, I went to God and let Him know I didn’t understand Him or His plan in this. I was so upset and in so much pain. I cried out to Him out of complete fear and anger. God was a total gentleman and He said, “Vikki, I hear you. I love you. I won’t leave you. You can either move forward with me, or without me. With me will be so much better but the choice is yours.” (Yes, God is that real with me!)

There are days when I start out in prayer. There are days when I end in prayer. There are also days when I pray little prayers all day. I don’t always quote the Word back to Him or remind Him of His promises to me, although that’s a great way to pray. Sometimes, I talk to Him as a wife would to a husband and sometimes, I talk with Him as a daughter would to her father. Most often, I talk with Him like the best friend I know Him to be. But I do talk with Him each day.

Getting to know God through prayer is pretty cool, if you think about it. The Bible educates us about God but prayer brings about the intimacy of the relationship.

So without fear, I encourage you. Find your spot. Get your cup of coffee. Grab your blanket. And talk with Jesus. I guarantee you, friend – Jesus cannot wait to hear from you!

Let me know in the comments how it goes. I’m praying for you!