Fight the Right Battle – Episode 2 – Freedom from Anxiety with Sonja Corbitt
Fight the right battle.
You feel like you’re spinning your wheels, laboring till you’re exhausted but seeing little permanent fruit. You’re depressed that certain relationships are a perpetual painful morass. You’re frustrated that the numerous “prescriptions” of faith that you’ve tried are not working. I get it. We expend a lot of energy fighting the wrong battles, and such futility is an underlying cause of anxiety.
This episode explores how to fight the right battle: how to work withthe Holy Spirit for lasting peace rather than against Him. Our focus is on temporary relief, while His is on our permanent rest in Him. So we must determine to lean into the difficulties He allows and “suffer creatively,” as St. John of the Cross says.
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
Observe (Connect the passage to your life and recent events.)
Did a particular relationship or repeating pattern come to mind during this show? What do you need to say to the Holy Spirit about that?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
Remembering that He loves you and that you are in His presence, talk to God about the particulars of your O – Observe step. You may want to write your reflections in your LOVE the Word® journal. Or, get a free journal page and guide in the right-hand margin.
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Heavenly Father, I ask that Your love flow upon me. May the Blood of Christ cover all wounds and restore all in me to wholeness and life. May the fire from Our Lady’s heart now enter me and anoint everything with the Holy Spirit and blind Satan. May St. Joseph wrap me with blessings and peace, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Anxiety is Not from God – Episode 1 – Freedom from Anxiety with Sonja Corbitt
It may seem like an oxymoron, but rest is a discipline.
The number one thing you need to know in battling anxiety is that it does not come from God. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7). Anxiety is an attack of the enemy, therefore we must close the doors of vulnerability that our unresolved experiences in life have left open. What are those doors? This episode explores the open doors and how to close them once and for all.
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
Observe (Connect the passage to your life and recent events.)
During the section of forgiving mom and dad, people with whom you have soul ties, self, and God, did a particular person or memory come to mind? What do you want to say to the Holy Spirit about that?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
Remembering that He loves you and that you are in His presence, talk to God about the particulars of your O – Observe step. You may want to write your reflections in your LOVE the Word® journal. Or, get a free journal page and guide in the right-hand margin.
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Heavenly Father, I ask that Your love flow upon me. May the Blood of Christ cover all wounds and restore all in me to wholeness and life. May the fire from Our Lady’s heart now enter me and anoint everything with the Holy Spirit and blind Satan. May St. Joseph wrap me with blessings and peace, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen + (Prayer for Inner Healing, Deliverance Prayers for the Laity, Fr. Ripperger)
In the long road to healing, we will experience with Jesus feelings of darkness, abandonment, and of being left unprotected. Where is God when we cry with Him, “My God, my God, what have you forsaken me?”
Out now! My newest book with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: Ignite, Read the Bible Like Never Before. Get a preview of the introduction and first chapter here.
Ps 27:10, Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close.
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. This week’s LOVE the Word™ exercise is according to a Augustinian* personality approach.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
Augustinian: 26 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
or
Franciscan: Listen to the hymn Stabat Mater. This is a 30 minute exercise. There are lyrics here. Hit play when you have time to sit in meditation; then click on the link with the lyrics and sit in meditation with the lyrics and music.
Observe (Connect the passage to recent events.)
If you are not Catholic, have you considered that Jesus’ mother is also your spiritual mother (Rev 12:17)? What does that mean for you in your woundedness?
If you are Catholic, how does Mary’s title, Stabat Mater speak to you? How does she show you Jesus in your woundedness?
Have you invited the Stabat Mater, our Blessed Mother, into your wounds?
What do you want to say to her about that?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
In your journal or on your journal page (get a free page to the right), write down your thoughts and feelings about this musical composition/ this verse. What’s the main thing God wants you to know? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you about His presence in the mysterious darkness surrounding Jesus at His crucifixion?
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Abba, Father, show me what it means to be embraced by a true mother.
Visit here for more on Sonja’s “LOVE the Word” journal
*LOVE the Word™ exercises vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic. These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
“I could easily have created men possessed of all that they should need both for body and soul, but I wish that one should have need of the other, and that they should be My ministers to administer the graces and the gifts that they have received from Me” (The Dialogue, Catherine of Siena).
As you carry your cross with Jesus:
Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary for the cross you carry.
Judge yourself in the confessional, so your sin will not be held against you at the last judgment.
If you struggle with boundaries (which is a lack of charity), watch Candice’s video in which she explains that a lack of boundaries sometimes proceeds from trauma bonds
Out now! My newest book with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: Ignite, Read the Bible Like Never Before. Get a preview of the introduction and first chapter here.
1Co 11:31-32 But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Jas 4:11-12 Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you judge your neighbor?
Luke 8:17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.
Mat 5:21-26 You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.
Luke 12:57-59 And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper.
Luke 9:23 Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.…
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. This week’s LOVE the Word™ exercise is according to a Augustinian* personality approach.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
“You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:17-19).
Observe (Connect the passage to recent events.)
Did Jesus correct anyone while carrying His cross?
As best you can, identify where you are judging yourself through perfectionism and others in condemnation.
What do you see in yourself in the mirror of your difficult neighbor?
What situation in your life has gotten out of control due to your unwillingness, for whatever reason, to erect proper boundaries or to confront your neighbor before you lose control in anger, whether anger toward the person directly, to someone else in gossip or slander, or interiorly with thoughts of revenge, resentment, or hatred?
Where do you lack charity toward yourself or your neighbor in offering a measured, rational, unemotional reproof?
Where do you lack charity in offering yourself or your neighbor forgiveness?
In what instance recently did you stand in God’s place as judge?
How does this passage offer you hope?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
In your journal or on your journal page (get a free page to the right), write down your thoughts and feelings about these verses. What’s the main thing God wants you to know from this passage? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through the mystery of how Jesus carried His cross?
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Abba, Father, show me what it means to take up my cross and follow Jesus.
Visit here for more on Sonja’s “LOVE the Word” journal
*LOVE the Word™ exercises vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic. These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
“Others, again, seeing their own imperfections, become angry with themselves with an impatience that is not humble. They are so impatient with their shortcomings as if they would be saints in one day. Many of these make grand resolutions, but being self-confident and not humble, the more they resolve, the more they fall, and the more angry they become; not having the patience to wait for God’s time; this is also opposed to spiritual meekness. There is no perfect remedy for this but in the dark night.
“There are, however, some people who are so patient, and who advance so slowly in their spiritual progress, that God wishes they were not so patient.”
Something for everyone from St. John of the Cross.
Out now! My newest book with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: Ignite, Read the Bible Like Never Before. Get a preview of the introduction and first chapter here.
Luke 23:26-31, “Jesus was followed by a great multitude of people, also women who beat their breasts and mourned over him, but Jesus turned to them and He said, ‘ It is not for me you should weep, daughters of Jerusalem. You should weep for yourselves and your children’.”
Luke 9:23Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.…
Romans 8:15, For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. This week’s LOVE the Word™ exercise is according to a Augustinian* personality approach.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. 8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation. (Romans 5:1-11)
Observe (Connect the passage to recent events.)
After reading slowly through this passage, how much of your salvation/healing depends on you?
Where do you stand with God?
Take some time to consider how you use obedience to try to earn God’s love or to get Him to do what you want Him to do. Where in your life can you see you have followed God in order to get something you want?
How is scruples, perfectionism, and OCD a lack of grace and charity toward yourself and others?
How do you feel when you do not measure up to your estimation of “how you should be doing,” spiritually or otherwise?
How do you know “how you should be doing”?
Who gave you the right to judge how you or anyone else should be doing?
How does this passage offer you hope?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
In your journal or on your journal page (get a free page to the right), write down your thoughts and feelings about these verses. What’s the main thing God wants you to know from this passage? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through the mystery of how Jesus carried His cross?
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Abba, Father, show me what it means to take up my cross and follow Jesus.
Visit here for more on Sonja’s “LOVE the Word” journal
*LOVE the Word™ exercises vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic. These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery which they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me . . . then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land” (Baruch 1:40-42).
Out now! My newest book with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: Ignite, Read the Bible Like Never Before. Get a preview of the introduction and first chapter here.
Exodus 20:5-6, Thou shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 7:9, His love is extended to a thousand generations.
Lamentations 5: 7, Our forefathers have sinned and are now dead, and we bear their punishment.
John 9:3, Jesus condemns the common Jewish teaching that ancestral sin is the universal explanation for suffering.
Romans 8:15, For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. This week’s LOVE the Word™ exercise is according to a Augustinian* personality approach.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
“[A] thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:7-10).
Observe (Connect the passage to recent events.)
After hearing this week’s show and working through the action items (above), what do you consider the “thorn” in your side? Have you asked God to miraculously remove it? How do Jesus’ example and this passage illustrate the way God can turn “thorns” into a crown for us? What is your responsibility in this process, according to the passage?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
In your journal or on your journal page (get a free page to the right), write down your thoughts and feelings about these verses, as they relate to your thorn(s). What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through the mystery of Jesus’ Crowning with Thorns?
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Abba, Father, show me how your grace is meant to be sufficient in my weakness.
Visit here for more on Sonja’s “LOVE the Word” journal
*LOVE the Word™ exercises vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic. These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
Sonja refers to this particular video by Dr. Candace in her podcast
“By accepting the sufferings ‘offered’ by life and allowed by God for our progress and purification, we spare ourselves much harder ones. We need to develop this kind of realism and, once and for all, stop dreaming of a life without suffering or conflict. That is the life of heaven, not earth. We must take up our cross and follow Christ courageously every day; the bitterness of that cross will sooner or later be transformed into sweetness” (Fr. Jacques Philippe).
Out now! My newest book with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: Ignite, Read the Bible Like Never Before. Get a preview of the introduction and first chapter here.
“Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe; they came up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and struck him with their hands” (Jn 19:1-3).
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Is 53:5).
“Jesus’ sufferings took their historical, concrete form from the fact that he was ‘rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes’ (Mk 8:31 ), who ‘handed him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified’ (Mt 20:19)” (CCC, 572).
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. This week’s LOVE the Word™ exercise is according to a Franciscan* personality approach.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.
Observe (Connect the passage to recent events.)
This week, I’d like you to pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary specifically for your predominant fault. As you pray, ask God to reveal ways in which this fault interferes with your spiritual growth and causes destruction in your relationships and circumstances. What provokes your predominant fault? How have your most destructive eruptions been related to particular memories? What are those memories? Have you talked to God about those?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
In your journal or on your journal page (get a free page to the right), write down your answers, and what you believe the Holy Spirit is saying to you through the mystery of Jesus’ Scourging at the Pillar.
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Abba, Father, lead me not into temptation, for my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak.
Visit here for more on Sonja’s “LOVE the Word” journal
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*LOVE the Word™ exercises vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic. These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange (CCC 221).
Out now! My newest book with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: Ignite, Read the Bible Like Never Before. Get a preview of the introduction and first chapter here.
221 But St. John goes even further when he affirms that “God is love”:44 God’s very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret:45 God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.
Scripture references
Mar 14:36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.”
Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. This week’s LOVE the Word™ exercise is according to a Thomistic* personality approach.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?” (Mat 26:38-40)
Observe (Connect the passage to recent events.)
In Catholic tradition, Matthew 26:40 is the basis of the Holy Hour devotion for Eucharistic adoration. The tradition of Holy Hour devotion dates back to 1673 when Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque stated that she had a vision of Jesus in which she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night to meditate on the sufferings of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
I’d like you to participate in a holy hour of Adoration this week: “Watch and pray,” specifically for your woundedness. Where have you been sleeping through or distracting yourself from your agony? How can you enter into that agony, and give to others out of it, rather than “entering into temptation” to somehow run away from it?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
In your journal or on your journal page (get a free page to the right), write down your answers, and what you believe the Holy Spirit is saying to you through the mystery of Jesus’ Agony in the Garden.
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Abba, Father, lead me not into temptation, for my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak.
Visit here for more on Sonja’s “LOVE the Word” journal
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*LOVE the Word™ exercises vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic. These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
“To reflect on this mystery … is demanded by the pleas of many human hearts, their sufferings and hopes, their anxieties and expectations…Believing in the crucified Son means ‘seeing the Father,’ means believing that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any kind of evil in which individuals, humanity, or the world are involved” (Dives in Misericordia, JPII).
Out now! My newest book with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: Ignite, Read the Bible Like Never Before. Get a preview of the introduction and first chapter here.
Mar 14:36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.”
Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. This week’s LOVE the Word™ exercise is according to a Thomistic* personality approach.
Listen (Receive the Word.)
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”
Observe (Connect the passage to recent events.)
How do you feel about calling God “Abba”? What emotions arise at the thought of intimacy with Him? How do your relationships with your earthly mother and father distort your view of how God relates to you? Where are you afraid concerning your relationship to God the Father? Considering Jesus’s relationship to God as Abba, what does He teach you about the Father that you had not considered before?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
In your journal or on your journal page (get a free page to the right), write down your fears, and what you believe the Holy Spirit is saying to you through this verse about God as your Abba:
This is what I think you are telling me about yourself…
My fears about my relationship with you are…
I need your help here…
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.
Visit here for more on Sonja’s “LOVE the Word” journal
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*LOVE the Word™ exercises vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic. These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
