Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” As we navigate through life, we will naturally stop doing certain things and start doing new things. In my own life, I have moved out of the phase of being highly involved in my kids’ lives. They are adults now and are learning to manage life on their own. There are times when God tells us to stop certain activities so that He can move us in a new direction. There are other situations, though, where God may be calling you to simply pause and stop doing something for a season. After that season is completed, then He may call you back to that thing.  And that’s what I want to talk about in this episode. I’ve felt led over the last couple of weeks to press pause in an area of my life. I’ll share where I’m pressing pause and how I came to the conclusion that this pause is necessary. So grab your favorite beverage and settle in as we talk about what to do when God tells us to pause.   Join the FREE Live It Out CommunityJoin the email newsletter list and get a free FOCUS Bible study guide   Connect with Jennifer: Email - jennifer@jenniferbooth.comInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/jenniferboothministriesFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/jenniferboothministries

One of the biggest blessings I get from writing and podcasting comes when God uses something I’ve written or podcasted about to encourage or speak to me months or years later. I have had the privilege of writing monthly devotionals for a denominational magazine several times over the last few years. When I write these devotionals, I have to submit them about six months before they are published. So, when I read them in the month they were written for, I always find that God speaks to me through my own writing. Just this week, God used one of my past podcast episodes to encourage and speak to me. I knew my time was limited for putting together this episode, so I went back into the archives to find one to re-air that I thought would be encouraging to you this week. I decided to listen to episode 38, about 5 steps for bearing fruit. The reason I chose this podcast is because I shared in an episode earlier this year that my word of the year is thrive. And I determined that the way we thrive is to bear fruit. So I thought the episode on how to bear fruit would be a good one to share this summer. When I listened to it, I was surprised to hear myself talking about Psalm 1. This is the Psalm I talked about in the episode about thriving earlier this year. As I listened to what I shared about bearing fruit, God reminded me of things I need to continue to do in my life now to bear fruit. I’m not trying to brag because I feel that it was the Lord who gave me this message, but what I share in this episode is gold. I don’t even remember writing the episode, so I know it was God who wanted me to share this message. This episode was first published in April 2019, so some things I talk about are no longer applicable to what I am doing now. You will hear a lot about The Planning Woman, my former brand, but there are certain aspects of what God was showing me about The Planning Woman that are still applicable to what I’m doing through Jennifer Booth Ministries. I also mention offering coaching packages. I am not doing that at this time. So disregard that information. And I talk about a community group I had at the time. That is now the Live It Out Community group which is not on social media. I’ll link it in the show notes so you can check it out. So grab your favorite beverage and settle in while we learn how to bear fruit. I hope this episode blesses you!   Resources mentioned in the show: Ep. 38-5 Steps for Bearing FruitJoin the FREE Live It Out Community!   Connect with Jennifer: Email - jennifer@jenniferbooth.comInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/jenniferboothministriesFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/jenniferboothministries

Hey, friend! One of the goals I have with this podcast is to bring you practical tools for living out your faith. That’s why I’m excited to share a conversation I had with my friend and ministry mentor Katie Orr about how to pray Scripture. In this episode, we talk about: Resources to help you learn how to study the BibleHow you can study the Bible regardless of skill or timeHow to ditch perfection in prayerHow praying Scripture is an effective way to pray   You will hear at the end of this episode about another recording Katie and I did that I said would be in a new program I’ve created. I have not yet launched that program and am still assessing what it is going to look like. But rest assured that I will share that video in some way as soon as I can. You do not want to miss this super practical episode, so grab your favorite beverage and settle in as we learn how to pray Scripture.   Connect with Katie: Her website:   http://www.katieorr.meFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/thekatieorrIG: http://www.instagram.com/thekatieorr   Connect with Jennifer: Email - jennifer@jenniferbooth.comInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/jenniferboothministriesFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/jenniferboothministries

Just recently, I’ve had several friends go through difficult times in their lives. Three women I know experienced the death of their mamas this week. Another family has a 20-year-old daughter who just got diagnosed with cancer. A friend of mine has a 35-year-old son who was diagnosed with cancer a couple of months ago. And then, there are people who are experiencing relationship issues, job loss, or other difficulties.  Sometimes I wonder how I can help in these situations. Do I take food? Do I call them? How can I be of help? And because I’m not sure what would be most helpful, I confess I often don’t do anything beyond sharing a message on social media. I believe God has opened my eyes lately to see the needs of people around me. Specifically, those going through a difficult time. So that’s led me to think through how I could help them and show them the love of Christ through my actions. In this episode, I will share some things you can do when you see someone going through a difficult time. So, grab your favorite beverage and settle in while we learn how to help others.   Connect with Jennifer: Email - jennifer@jenniferbooth.comInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/jenniferboothministriesFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/jenniferboothministries

Hey, friend! I'm back with another episode from the archives. I've had a busier-than-expected June, so I'm taking the opportunity to share some of my favorite past episodes. I'll be back with fresh content in July. This week I'm sharing an interview I did with Eva Kubasiak in May of 2022. We talked about a ton of things related to studying the Bible. Eva shares some of her best tips to help you develop a Bible study routine so that you can study the Bible every day.  Packed full of practical, actionable ideas, I hope you enjoy this episode! Check out the original episode here for all the show notes and links.   Connect with Jennifer: Email - jennifer@jenniferbooth.comInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/jenniferboothministriesFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/jenniferboothministries

Have you ever thought about the legacy you will leave when you die? I'm not trying to be a downer, but we need to think about what people will remember about us when we're gone. As believers, our hope should be that our lives pointed to Christ. In an effort to simplify my summer, I'm sharing a couple of past episodes over the next two weeks. Today's episode was initially released as episode 13, where I talked about leaving a godly legacy. You'll want to listen in and learn about two people in the Bible, one who followed God and one who didn't. Also, I share ways you can become more intimately acquainted with God.   Next Steps: Join the Live It Out Community   Connect with Jennifer: Email - jennifer@jenniferbooth.comInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/jenniferboothministriesFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/jenniferboothministries

I have a confession to make. I am a recovering perfectionist. Maybe it’s in the way I’m wired to be a rule follower, but I tend to let perfectionism get in the way of how I live out my faith. And, just being honest here, perfectionism has hindered progress in most areas of my life. Doing things with excellence is great. But if we allow perfectionism to take over, we can become paralyzed and not do even the smallest tasks we need to do. At various times in my life, perfectionism has kept me from having a meaningful quiet time with God. And as I’ve talked with other women about their quiet times, they make statements that make me think perfectionism is hindering their efforts to spend time with God. In this episode, I’m going to share four reasons perfectionism is keeping you from having a meaningful quiet time with God. These reasons are ones I’ve noticed in the lives of other women who say they don’t have time to go deep with God. So grab your favorite beverage and settle in while I share these four reasons and give you some tips for overcoming procrastination when it comes to spending time with God.   Next Steps: Join the Live It Out Community Listen to related episodes: Ep. 180: 5 Tools to Help You Have an Effective Quiet TimeEp. 178: How I Fit Quiet Time Into My Morning RoutineEp. 125: Incorporating Journaling Into Your Quiet Time   Connect with Jennifer: Email - jennifer@jenniferbooth.comInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/jenniferboothministriesFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/jenniferboothministries

I’ve talked a lot about reading the Bible lately. And I have sensed that God is moving me in the direction of encouraging women to read the Bible consistently. I’ve learned that when I read the Bible consistently, I’m better able to live out my faith in a way that honors and glorifies God. Maybe you want to read the Bible consistently but just can’t get motivated to start. It could be that you find the Bible hard to understand. Or you don’t know how the Old and New Testaments relate to each other. It’s possible you think you don’t have enough time to read the Bible where you’ll understand it or get something out of it. Any one of these reasons could make prioritizing reading the Bible a challenge.  I want so badly for you to experience the fullness of what God has done for you through His Son Jesus. And I want you to fall in love with the Bible just as much as I have. Now this is not to say we are idolizing the Bible itself. I’m talking about loving it as God’s Word and desiring to read it so we can know what God has to say to us. In this episode, I will share three reasons for prioritizing reading the Bible. Hopefully, these will resonate with you and give you some ideas of how you can prioritize your Bible reading. So, grab your favorite beverage and settle in as we talk about prioritizing Bible reading.   Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Ep. 135-Making Time for Bible StudyEp. 178-How I Fit Quiet Time Into My Morning Routine   Join the FREE Live It Out Community for accountability and encouragement.

Hey, friend! Last week in episode 188, I talked about why we don’t have to do it all. In that episode, I encouraged you to figure out what tasks or responsibilities you can let go of that are either unnecessary for you to do because someone else can do them or are ones that you are doing to please someone or meet someone else’s expectations. The goal is to quit thinking we have to do it all. I’m taking my own advice and am going to take a bit of a shortcut with this week’s episode. I’m swamped with finishing up two seminary classes this week as I’m recording this episode. I have two research papers due in a few days, so I need to focus all of my energies on completing those well. So, I’ve dug back into the archives and found an episode that I thought was relevant to where we are in the month. This episode is going live on May 31, 2023, so that means I’ve released a new Scripture Writing Plan for the month of June. I thought it would be helpful as we’re moving into the second half of the year to talk about Scripture Writing. Maybe you’ve been using my Scripture Writing Plans for a while, and you want to uplevel how you are utilizing the plans. Or maybe you don’t use the plans, but you are looking for a way to go deeper in your personal Bible study. I’m repeating episode 122, which originally aired in February of 2022. I talked about what Scripture Writing is and six different ways you can enhance your Scripture writing practice. I’ll be back next week with a fresh episode. I hope you enjoy this refresher on the Scripture writing plans.   Resources Mentioned: Episode 122 Live It Out CommunityGrab the latest Scripture Writing Plan

There is a lie that has been going around for decades now that says women can and should do it all. What I mean by doing it all is having a career, raising a family, being a good wife, and taking care of your home. And as Christians, we’ve added being a good Christian to this list. You know, having the perfect quiet time with a cup of coffee and a lit candle with the perfect journal and highlighters. While all of these things are good in and of themselves, when they become our main focus instead of God, they can become idols. And this lie that women can and should do it all is just that, a lie. As believers, our main purpose in life is to honor and glorify God in all we do. From there, our lives can look drastically different from one woman to another and one season to the next. In this episode, I want to share with you how we can stop believing this lie and learn to focus on what God has called us to do in our current season of life. Join the FREE Live It Out Community

Hey, friend! Even with all the commands found in the Bible that show us how we are to obey God and live out our faith, sometimes it’s hard to wrap our minds around all of those commands and put them into practice. And there are times when we wonder if we’re even on the right path with God. I want to walk through Psalm 1 in this episode and present to you some ways you can know if you are on the right path. We’ll see in this Psalm a vivid contrast between those who are following God and those who aren’t. So grab your favorite beverage, your Bible, and a notebook and settle in as we dive into Psalm 1.   Resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 169-How to Thrive in the New Year   Join the FREE Live It Out Community

Do you struggle with understanding the Bible? When you read it, does the Bible seem like a collection of books that may be somewhat related, yet you don’t understand how they connect? If that’s you, know that you are not alone. The Bible is a complex book that can be difficult to understand at first reading. Even if you’ve grown up going to church and learning stories from the Bible, you may not understand how they all connect. The Bible is really just one book that tells one story. It is the story of God’s redemption of His people. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible speaks of God’s intended design for creation, how humanity has failed to live up to that design, and God’s plan to restore His people to Himself. In this episode, I will share one thing you can do that will make reading and understanding the Bible more meaningful and accessible.

Are you in a season where it feels difficult to live out your faith? Do you struggle with reading the Bible consistently or communicating with God in prayer? Maybe you feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling, and God does not know what you need. Or, worse, you wonder if He even cares. Friend, let me reassure you we all go through seasons like this where we find it hard to live out our faith. However, there is good news. We can navigate through this season and come out on the other side with renewed, fresh faith. Grab your favorite beverage and settle in while we talk about how to live out our faith, even when it’s difficult. Join the FREE Live It Out Community for accountability and encouragement for living out your faith.

Hey, friend! I'm so excited to bring to you a conversation about discipleship that I had with my friend, Angie Likens.   Listen in to learn what discipleship is and how you can be a disciple and disciple others.   Resources mentioned in this episode:   Proclaim Truth Ministries   Proclaim Truth Experience   Connect with Angie on Instagram and Facebook.

This month we have been discussing how to develop the discipline of prayer. In episode 181, I shared four requirements of prayer that can be found in the Bible. In episode 182, I busted three myths about prayer. I’ll link these episodes in the show notes so you can check them out. In the final episode of this series, I will share some practical action steps you can take to help you grow in your prayer life and develop the discipline of prayer. So grab your favorite drink and maybe a notebook and pen as you settle in to learn how you can practically develop the discipline of prayer. Resources Mentioned: Ep. 181-How to Develop the Discipline of Prayer-Part 1 Ep. 182-How to Develop the Discipline of Prayer-Part 2   Join the FREE Live It Out Community

Hey, friend! This month on Live It Out with Jennifer Booth, we are talking about how to develop the discipline of prayer. In last week’s episode, we discussed four verses that helped us see what is required for prayer. I’ll link that episode in the show notes so you can check it out if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet. Today, I want to bust some myths about prayers. If you’re like me, you probably hold certain beliefs regarding prayer. Those beliefs are often shaped by what we’ve been taught in church, by our parents, or by other believers. Sometimes, though, our beliefs are shaped by our assumptions of how things should be. So, grab your favorite beverage and settle in as we bust some myths about prayer.   Resources mentioned in this episode: Ep. 181-How to Develop the Discipline of Prayer-Part 1 Live It Out Community

Hey, friend! If I asked you to describe your prayer life, what would you say? Would you say it’s rich, deep, and something you miss if you don’t do it? Or would you say it’s lacking, stale, and inconsistent? I get it. Prayer is an amazing aspect of the Christian life. But it is also one of the things people struggle with the most. Sometimes there is confusion about what you should pray, how you should pray, and how often you should pray. In this episode and in the next two, I’ll share my thoughts about how you can develop the discipline of prayer. In episode 181 of Live It Out, I will share four requirements of prayer found in the Bible. Understanding these requirements will help you begin to develop the discipline of prayer.   Join the FREE Live It Out Community!

Are you looking for ways to have a more effective quiet time? Do you feel like your time with God is stale or that you can’t discern what He has for you? While the Bible is in itself sufficient to help us live out our faith, we sometimes need a tool or two to help make the time we spend in God’s Word more effective where we can learn something that God has for us. In episode 180, I will share with you my five favorite tools that I have used at one time or another to help me have a more effective quiet time. So grab your favorite beverage and settle in as we learn about these tools.   Resources mentioned in this episode: Scripture Writing PlansThe Basics of Scripture Writing Podcast EpisodeYouVersion Bible AppReadScripture.org app ESV Study Bible   Enter Jennifer's birthday giveaway by emailing her at jennifer@jenniferbooth.com to share which of these tools you use or want to try. The giveaway ends at midnight Monday, April 3, 2023.

Hey, friend! Do you wonder what life would be like if you were to access the power of the Holy Spirit? Maybe you don’t really give much thought to the Holy Spirit and what He can do and does in our lives. I’m excited to bring you a conversation I had with Rebecca George about the Holy Spirit. I know you will be blessed and encouraged by what she has to say. In this episode, we cover: Who is a go-getter girl? How to rely on the Holy Spirit daily The importance of getting into the Word and making it come alive What can happen when God moves us in a different direction How goals can be gospel-centered   Listen to the first chapter of Rebecca's book here.   Connect with Rebecca: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radicalradiancepodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccageorgeauthor/  Website: http://www.radicalradiance.live Book Website: http://www.dothethingbook.org

Hey, friend! I hear from women all the time who say they find it difficult to either have a quiet time with God or time to study the Bible in depth. I totally understand the frustration they feel when they want so badly to be able to spend time with God but can’t figure out how to make that happen consistently. I have been a big believer in doing a quiet time in the morning before I start my day. I know if I don’t do it in the morning, it most likely will not happen during the day. I’m not legalistic about this, even though the Bible shows Jesus spending time with God in the morning. I’m just more realistic about my schedule. The way I fit this quiet time into my schedule is by placing it within my morning routine. I find that when I have a morning routine that allows me to flow from one activity or task to the next, I am better able to go about the day with more focus and tend to get more done. In episode 178, I will share how I’m tweaking my morning routine in light of some new things I’m adding to it. I will show you how quiet time with God fits into this routine. And I’ll give you some tips for developing a routine that helps you to have a consistent quiet time. So, grab your favorite beverage and settle in as we talk about morning routines.   Resources mentioned in this episode: Ep. 173-Is Your Phone Keeping You From Spending Time with God? Join the FREE Live It Out Community