Progressive Miracles: My Powerful Testimony, How God Healed Me From Anxiety
Shakeeta Torres, a licensed therapist and life coach, shares how she overcame chronic anxiety through prayer, therapy, and prophetic dreams. She identifies generational demonic oppression as the root cause and describes a breakthrough dream where angels rescued her from a choking demon, which she calls a "progressive miracle" confirmed by Scripture.
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um, social media time to let everybody know that I am live. So hello Facebook, hello YouTube, thank you all so much for, um, tuning in. You guys, I have so much to share today and I pray that you're able to stay on, but if not, as always, this will remain on my Instagram page as well as my Facebook page. It'll be on my YouTube page and my podcast. So to those who are podcast, who like to actually listen to stuff, it will go up live this Sunday on my podcast. So it's Pain, Passion, and Purpose. You can go back up there too and hear other podcasts as well that I've done in the past. So hello, you guys. Thank you so much for dropping in. Thank you so much. If you can share it with somebody, share it with your friends, share it with your community, because this live today is going to be full of so many nuggets, as well as me sharing my testimony as how God himself has healed me from anxiety, okay? It's going to be detailed and I'mma share exactly what it is that God has put on my heart, okay? So before I start, I wanted to say a prayer. And so, Father, I just thank you right now for just giving me a chance to be able to just share my story, share my testimony. God, I pray, God, that this live today will bless somebody. God, help me, God, to, um, pace myself. I get really excited and passionate about this, God. So help me, God, to be able to speak to speak, uh, with clarity, to speak with boldness, God, to be able to share with people what I've been through, um, things I've learned over the years, oh God, to be able to edify them, to be able to encourage them, most importantly, God, draw them back closer to you. So God, I thank you, God, for every single listener, for every single person who will come on now, who will come on later, that it will bless them, it will heal them, it will set them free. In Christ's name I pray, amen, amen. So with that being said, um, I will share a quick announcement and then I'll go ahead and get into today's live. I want to go ahead and do it now because I know everyone does not stay on the whole entire time, or they might stop halfway through. Um, but as some of you guys may know, I just finished writing my book/workbook called Unashamed. Ah! And so this is a book that the Lord, um, himself have given me instructions on what to write, how to write it, what it should be in here. Um, it's based off of my own, um, experience, um, counseling clients who have been battling with shame, okay, any capacity. All right, so this book is called Unashamed. It's a book/workbook, um, for believers to be able to help them to break the barriers of shame. So I won't go into great detail about this right now, but I did want to just share that it's available for purchase now. On my website. I'll put the link in, um, the description box as well. And it's on my— if you go to my website, shakeetatorres.com, and go to shop, you'll see it there too. So anywho, enough of that. So let's get into today's message. And so before I get into sharing my testimony, I really want to, um, lay down, um, some foundational things that the Lord was like reminding me of, um, this morning. This morning I had to drive to go get my teeth cleaned. And, um, it's about a 40-minute drive for me to get there, which is fine. I love it. I'm able to just have some time to myself, fully just spend time with God, just hear what he has to say. Because I was asking him, talking to him about today's live, and, um, he told me, share your testimony, um, share, you know, things with them that's going to help them, um, to be free and to increase their faith. So long story short, um, the Holy Spirit put on my heart to go back to my beginning, to go back to, you know, how I got to, you know, where I am today. As some of you guys know, I'm a licensed therapist, I'm a life coach, but I'm also God's prophet. I'm God's prophetess too, okay? And I can say that with confidence and boldness. I've always known who I was since 2013, right? But it has taken me some time to really publicly say that for many different reasons. I won't get into that today, I go into that a different time. But it took me a long time to publicly say that because I didn't want my clients to come see me just because of that. And also, I didn't want people to be scared to come see me either, because I do see a lot, okay? And so I want people to come see me because God led them to come see me, and they're not coming to see me with ulterior motives, all right? But nonetheless, the Lord has released me from that and has told me to, you know, be confident of who I am. Don't try to, I guess, hide it anymore. And so yes, that's who I am, all right? And so for me, as a little girl, I've always had dreams and visions. I've always been able to see things. I've always been able to hear God's voice. But because of my trauma, um, things I have been through in my household, because of the poverty, it definitely smuffled out, you know, my gifts that I had as a child. Okay, so fast forward through all my trauma, everything I've been through, Um, in '08, whenever I finally gave God my yes and I was really like, okay God, I'm serious, like y'all, God yank me up, okay? Well, I say yank me up, um, I was running from God for a very long time before '08, thinking that, you know, I had it all figured out, thinking that, you know, I knew what my life should look like, all of the above, okay? Excuse me. But in '08, um, one of my friends at my job kept, you know, invited me to come to her church. I'm like, okay. So I finally went, me, um, and my now husband. At the time, he and I was just dating. And my now husband, we went to, um, the church for a few times. But every time I would go, I could feel God like pulling on me even the more, pulling on me. But I kept trying to fight it a bit still, all right. But one Sunday, my God, I was at church and it was me, my, my, um me, then my boyfriend, now my husband, then my sister was with me too as well. We were sitting in the pews and, and, you know, they had praise and worship, was beautiful. This ministry was full, you know, it was full of the gifts of the Spirit, fivefold ministry, you know, prophets, all of the above, right? And so the minister that Sunday was ministering, worship was over, I mean, he was preaching. And the middle of that, I'm sitting there and I can hear God speaking to me saying 'You belong to me.' And I was like, 'Oh my God.' He was like, 'I have a plan for your life. You are mine. You are my daughter,' right? And like, but God just began to like really deal with my heart. It's almost like he was chastising me too, because like I knew God was calling me, okay? I knew he was. And so, um, next thing I know, I mean, I stand up and I begin to just cry, y'all. I was like shouting, y'all. Listen, I don't think I can really fully explain it to you. My husband, I wish he was here right now because I'm telling y'all, he— the way he describe what happened is hilarious. Okay, so I was shouting, I broke my heel, I broke my shoe. Oh my gosh, y'all, it was— it— I was a hot mess. Like, I had makeup on, I had makeup everywhere, my hair was jacked up, and all of the above. And so that was in '08, in October. All right, so, so they was like shouting, clapping their hands, like they were so happy to see that God was like doing the work in me in that moment, right? So after it was over and done, y'all, I feel like I was high as a kite. I was sitting on the pew like sideways, just crying, crying, sweating, all of the above. Okay, so at the end of the service, whenever he said, you know, if anyone here, you know, wants to give your life to Christ, come up to the front, y'all, I ran so fast. Up to the, uh, I ran so fast. Yes, yes, God, yes! I was just crying. They were like, yeah, they were so happy, they were so happy. Okay, and that's where it truly began for me, with me having dreams and visions. Hey, you guys, I'm going to share my testimony. I'm going to share, um, about my journey, my walk, a little bit, um, as pertaining to how God has called me into my office pretty much. And so, whoo, y'all! So from that point— so for me, from that point, my dreams and visions took off like crazy. It was like the heavens just broke open. Before that, I had dreams and visions here and there, not, not truly understanding what I was seeing and that it was actually prophetic dreams, right? But when I gave my life to Christ in October '08, yeah, '08, Y'all, it was crazy. It was on and popping, okay? I would have dreams like 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 times like a night. And at times I would get so overwhelmed. And the thing about it was, for me at that time, there wasn't many people who talked about dreams and visions, all right? I wasn't on like social media like that. It really wasn't that popular, right? All they had was like Facebook, I think MySpace then, you know. Um, I had went to my pastor saying, hey, I keep having all these dreams, I don't know what to do with them, I don't know what they mean, I'm overwhelmed, I'm always hot, my hands— I'm like, my hands was always burning. I mean, it was just a lot, I was overwhelmed. And she was like, well, you need to go talk to, you know, Prophetess So-and-so or Minister So-and-so. So I would go to them asking them, hey, this is what's happening with me, I don't really know what to do. They couldn't help me, y'all. They couldn't help me. And so the only thing I had was my journal, my Bible, and God. All right, and so I'm sharing this today because it's, it's, it's a foundation for where I'm going, um, for my testimony of what God did for me when it came to healing me from anxiety. And so I was trying to find the testimony in my journal, y'all, and with that being said I have about 7 or 8 journals full of dreams and visions since '08, all right? And it wasn't until maybe about 2 years ago— I— here they go, here's a lot. Here's one, here's another one, here's another one. These are all books I have written in since '08 that had— I mean, and the list goes on. So at some point I'm gonna have to transcribe this stuff, y'all, because it's just too much, okay? A lot of stuff in here has already came to pass for me. Um, some things in here have not came to pass. Um, and so yeah, that's a whole story all by itself, but I wanted to share that, y'all, to give a, you know, a foundation as to where I'm going. And so, oh y'all, it was a lot. So anyway, so over the past 3 years, maybe 4 years now, I said, Lord, I couldn't keep up with writing so much like I used to because I was working at my office, I was working at home, I would get, you know, dreams and visions randomly— well, visions randomly and dreams, you know, of course at night. But it was so much coming at me that I couldn't have my journal with me all the time. So I found this app called Journey, J-O-U-R-N-E-Y, and it's a journal and you can use it to track your mood, to track your thoughts. And so I use it to— as a journal, of course, but also to write down what God is showing me in dreams and visions. Not only just dreams, but also audibly, what he's telling me audibly too, Holy Spirit, right? And so, um, the Journey app, I love it because you can tag, you can like put, um, like let's say I had a dream about snakes, okay? I can tag it during snakes. And so anytime I have a dream about snakes, I can always categorize that and put it have snakes, right? So I want to go back to that dream, all I have to do is go to the tag, hit search, and then it will come up. So this dream that I had about being delivered from anxiety is actually in one of my journals right here that I've been looking through for the past like 45 minutes, but I can't find it. But the good thing is I remember that dream because it was so significant, it was so detailed. All right, and so, um, when it comes to your dreams make sure you write it down. Even if you don't understand what you're seeing, even if it's something crazy, or if it's demonic, or if it's holy, write it down, okay? If you don't understand what you're seeing at that time, that is okay. You pray, you ask God for revelation. If you don't get it right then, just wait, okay? There's things that to this day I still don't have full revelation on, and that's okay, okay? So with that being said, I'm now going to transition on into my testimony. All right, so as I was telling you guys before, since I was a little girl, I've always, I've always had dreams and visions, but I also had a whole bunch of trauma. I'm talking about sexual trauma, physical trauma, emotional trauma. I mean, my mom was an alcoholic, you know. I watched her get beat down by her boyfriends with an S at the end. Like, we have been through so much. We were in poverty, was on welfare, was on all of the above— food stamps, name it. It, okay? Who— my mom was a single mother of 4 children. We all have different fathers, we all have different dads, okay? And so, you know, my mom died back in 2000— and I'm sorry, back in '96 she passed away, of April. So actually, I think it was April 10th when she passed away in '96, okay? And so with that being said, you know, when you're in an environment like that, that opens up so many doors so many doors, right? So many doors from trauma, so many doors for rejection, so many doors for depression, anxiety, um, all of the above, y'all. I've been through it all. So because of that, I had a lot of generational stuff in my family too that God has over the years had to break off of my— off of me so that it won't trickle over into my children. And I see the fruit of that. The way my children move and operate is the complete opposite of how I was at their age, because of God's grace, because of the Lord. All right, and so moving right along, let me go back a little bit. So I can't remember the exact year this was, but maybe like around early 2014-15, I began to notice that I had a lot of anxiety. Like, I would have anxiety for no reason. No reason at all. I mean, you talking about just like my— see, for me, I felt more like the tiredness and the fatigue. Definitely had racing thoughts, but I felt the tiredness and fatigue a lot more than anything, okay? And it wasn't until the year my husband went overseas, that's when it really, really like showed itself, because I was home with my two babies. It was just us, you know. And I had to take care of them. I was working part-time, trying to make sure, you know, we are there for my husband while he's gone overseas. It was a lot for me, right? My anxiety level was like sky high. It was so bad that I couldn't even hardly sleep at night sometimes, okay? It's like I was constant state of just anxiety, and I was always exhausted. Like, no matter how much I slept, I was always tired. So I went to therapy. I went to therapy. She was a Christian therapist, um, too, thank God. And she was so sweet. Her name was Rose. Oh my God, she was sweetest, sweetest girl. So anyway, so I was beginning to share with her, you know, things that I had been experiencing. You know, I had— listen, y'all, at this time I done tried medication, I done tried, you know, praying, I fasted, I done did all— I did everything that I can possibly do in my own strength within my life, within what I'm going through, right, to help me to really deal with the anxiety. So as you guys know, I'm also a therapist. So during this time, I'm in the early journey of me being a therapist, like when it comes to the mental health. So I've been a, um, social worker since '06, but I've been a therapist since 2016. All right, so anywho, so with that being said, I was still learning more about anxiety on a deeper level in the natural, right? Um, I knew that what I was dealing with was spiritual. I just didn't really know what else to do. All right, I was— like I said, I was fasting, I was praying, I tried medication. Medication does not work for me. I tried different things. I have headaches, um, either I would have like more anxiety or I would sleep a lot, but mainly I would have a lot of migraines from it. Um, I'm just— my, my system just can't take, can't take everything. And so now I reached a point where I was desperate. I'm like, God, like, I'm reading my word, I'm doing all these different things, I'm coming to you, I'm asking you to heal me from it, I'm asking you to to, you know, really just break me free from this, but I don't see anything lifting. And so what happened in therapy— which is important to go to therapy too— is that we were able to really pinpoint where my anxiety was coming from. All right, so my anxiety was coming from perfectionism, trying to make sure that I was like the best mom, making sure I was the best, trying to be the best wife I possibly could be. Also, I had a fear of poverty because I used to be in poverty growing up. Even though I had a whole husband that took good care of me, who took care of the kids. I didn't lack for anything, but I still had that, that fear of, you know, not having enough. So I worked, I worked a lot, y'all. I literally had like 2 or 3 jobs at one point, and now I do now, but this time I'm operating in God's vein. Before, I'm operating in my own strength, trying to make sure that I'm not, you know, pretty much broke in a sense, okay? So my— and then I had all this anxiety that was like built up from childhood where, you know, when I would come home from school, I had no idea what to expect. When I got home from school, I'm home from school, my mom was either drunk, she was either, you know, somewhere passed out, um, you know, maybe she wasn't home. We were home alone a lot after school, you know, there to defend for ourselves. She wouldn't come home so late at night, right? And so I had all these different things that has happened to me that has caused me to have all this anxiety. And people really didn't know because I had high-functioning anxiety, meaning that I'm an extrovert at heart. I love being around people. That gave me life. I love people. And so people really didn't know because I wasn't the person that hid or had social anxiety or couldn't talk to people. Mine came from other areas of fear of being broke, you know, um, and also my body and my system was trained to always be in like that fight or flight mode, and I didn't even realize it, okay. And so my therapist, Shakeeta Torres, she was beginning to break it down for me, and I had prayed. I said, God, please show her, please use her for me to pinpoint where, you know, this is coming from. And not only that, my best friend called me, Shakeeta Torres, the Lord told me to call you and tell you to seek it out, you need to go seek you know, um, counsel in this area because he desires to do something for you. And I was like, oh my God, really? So I went to therapy. It was great, it was amazing. I was able to do some self-reflection during that time while my husband was overseas and really just allow God just to show me me, just to show me Shakeeta Torres and show me the areas where I was not operating in a level of faith that I should have. When I say that, let me explain. Am I saying that because you battle mentally that you don't have faith? That's not what I'm saying. But for me, where I was in my walk with Christ, I knew better than to not have enough faith in him to know that he couldn't provide, because he provided for us a lot. My family have— and I have experienced God's hand in our lives over and over and over again show up for us. But this is the area that I had— I had not surrendered to the Lord yet, okay? And so, you know, that happened. I went to counseling. I was still dealing with the anxiety, of course, you know, couldn't take anything. I took natural supplements. I was taking all different things over the counter. And so, um, after that, um, I had a dream. It was my birthday. And so it was maybe about— let me see— 2015, 20— I'm gonna say 2016, 2017, y'all. Like I said, my journals, I got so many, I couldn't find that particular journal entry. But I'mma look for it again because it's very important, very, very powerful. But the dream was so powerful and so detailed, I remember. I remember, you guys. And so in my dream, this is like around 2016, 2017. My birthday is August 8th, all right? And I had this long dream where, um, I saw myself in my bedroom. And in my bedroom, I was praying. I was like, I had my oil that I told you guys that I had right here at the time. I was putting it on me, anointing my house, anointing everything. I was fasting in my dream. I mean, I was doing all these different things. And I'm like, what What am I doing? Then all of a sudden I heard like this like demonic voice in my ear, in my, in my dreams, speaking in a demonic tongue. Okay, so it was speaking and speaking and speaking and speaking. I was like, what in the world is this demonic voice coming from? And so next thing I know, you guys, I am like in the bathroom, and my bathroom was like connected to my, to our bedroom, me and my husband. And next thing I know, I'm like up against the bathroom door, and like this demon, I can see his hands like choking me like this, choking me, and I could not breathe, I could not talk. And actually, y'all, in the natural, I was feeling the same thing. I knew I was asleep, but I was actually choking also in the natural, okay? So whatever this entity was, whatever this demon, wherever he came from, y'all know what it is now. Was trying to choke the living life out of me, okay? And so I'm sitting here, I couldn't say anything. Typically I could say, you know, Christ's name, I'm like, Jesus. I couldn't say that. I couldn't even say that. And so in my head, in my sleep, in my dream, I'm saying, God is greater, God is greater, God is greater. And, uh, in my dream I see these two men. One was a short black man, one was a tall white, uh, tall white man. And, um, the next thing I know, um, they both came up over where I was at, and I'm still choking. Like, my feet is dangling, okay? My feet is dangling. And one of the angels— was an angel, I know that now— had took his arm and was like putting up against me, like up in here. He said, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Breathe, breathe, breathe. It's almost over. Breathe, breathe. The bruise is almost over. Breathe. I'm like choking, right? Then the other angel came and he did the same thing. He did— he like, breathe, breathe. Like, that was like taking turns, like, trying to get me to breathe, y'all. And like, the next thing I know, this, this demon disappears, okay? And I fall to the ground in my bathroom, and one angel standing up over like my sink, like, whoo, like he was tired. The other one was sitting on the edge of my bathtub, but he was like sitting there. He was He was tired. And I was like, I said, what was that? What was that? This is me in my dream. And they were like, and the angel said, some things are generational and some things are reserved for God only. And next thing I knew, I wake up. When I wake up, I'm like, I'm like going, I'm like looking, like checking myself, like what's going on, what's going on, okay? And I'm like, oh y'all, I was just like blown away, right? Oh, hold on, wait a minute, let me go back a little bit. God reminded me. Okay, let me go back. So go back a little bit more. So I had the second part of my dream. I'm sorry, I missed it. So after that happened and like they released me, right? And I'm like, what was that? They told me some things are generational and some things are reserved for God only. So then next thing I know, me and my husband is like outside of our garage. Our garage is empty, and there's a motorcycle that's like right there in the garage, and that's it. And now at home, in my home, it ain't that way at all, okay? My husband got his car out there, we got stuff out there. So anyway, being like, these two women had came up to the garage and they were like, excuse me, ma'am, like, um, can you pray for us? And I'm looking at them like, no. I said no. I said no. I said I'm tired, because you know, at that point I had been through all that, you know, and I was exhausted from going through that spiritual battle, right? Right? And so I just felt so horrible and so bad in my dream because I'm like, Lord, I want to help them, but I don't have the strength to pour right now, right? Then my dream ended. Then I woke up. So sorry, left that part out. Then I woke up and I was like, oh my God, right? So then I sat down immediately and I began just to write everything out. Write everything that I saw, everything that went on. Now, my best friend is a natural dream interpreter, okay? Meaning that she don't have a lot of dreams and visions, but she can— God has given her the gift of interpretation. So if I call her now and say, hey, I had this dream, if she's, you know, if she's free, she'll pursue God and God would just give it to her like that. For me, I had to learn how to interpret my own dreams, okay? I dream— I was the opposite. I dream a lot. I dream a whole lot. But I had to really study and learn how to interpret my own dreams. And so at this time, you know, in my life, in my ministry, I was able to interpret a little bit but not a whole lot, okay? And so I had a couple of books. Of course I had the Bible and I had the Holy Spirit. And so, you know, I begin to ask God questions. God, okay, what's going on? You know, what, what is this thing? What am I seeing? And so, you know, in a nutshell, what God was showing me is that I have delivered you from a generational demon, anxiety, in your family. Y'all, when I say I think I cried for like a week straight because I could literally feel the weight off my back, all right? Prior to me, God doing that for me and giving me that dream, dream of deliverance, okay, y'all, talking about exhausting. I always felt like something was like sitting on my back, like I could really feel it. Like, it was like no matter what I did, it wouldn't move, okay? The only time I didn't feel it was whenever I was in prayer or worship with God. That's the only time I really didn't feel it. And so, you know, I'm just like, God, y'all, I can't even put into words. So of course, bathroom in the dream means like a place of cleansing for me in that particular dream. Um, the angels that was there, it was fighting for me. Y'all, angels get tired too. Demons are strong, okay? But God is greater. So in my head, when I kept saying, God is greater, God is greater, God is greater, I was saying that because he is greater. That scripture— God is greater, okay? He is greater. And then when the angels was like holding an arm, you know, up against my, my neck, whatever, it was like God's, God's arm. He has a strong arm. So I didn't look up the scripture, y'all, so I'm sorry about that, but it's in the word of God about God's arm. I have his arm. He's pretty much— he's stronger than anything. He's stronger than any, any devil, stronger than Satan, stronger than anxiety, than our depression. Whatever we're battling with, God is still stronger, right? And so of course, like, oh my God, I've been dealing with this for a long time. I'm talking about years. And I had did everything I possibly could for God, for me to receive my breakthrough. And so with that being said, that was one of my progressive miracles, okay? A miracle that happened like over time. It took some time for it to happen. I have been praying and asking God for years to help me. But I will say this too, once I finally began to realize what my anxiety was connected to, it's almost like I said, okay, now she gets it. She sees her pattern and she understand where it's coming from. Now I can set her free. Because this is what I realize with people, right? Okay, so when it comes to healing and deliverance, okay, I believe in that and operate in that very heavily, you guys, very heavily. But here's the thing: if you do not change your mindset and renew your mind, understand your patterns, you can get delivered but then continue to repeat the same behaviors, and it will come right back. It will come right back. And so even after God had healed me from that and given me my miracle and breakthrough from generational, generational anxiety, I still had to do the work. I still had to be mindful of my thinking patterns, how I thought, renew my mind, really learn, you know, um, you know, you know, the things like the enemy's tactics and like what he would use to try to get me to be anxious all over again. Now, of course, we all at moments have anxiety, for sure. Anxiety is a real thing, you guys. But if you have tried all you can to get better, you try medication, you try therapy, you try all of the above, but nothing's working, baby, that's a demon, okay? Point blank, period. And there are different levels of demons. And so obviously what God healed me from was a strong demon, y'all, okay? That's it. I actually— I didn't see his face, but I saw his whole entire body. He was huge, okay? He was huge, okay? And you know, I'm just like, can't nobody tell me that healing and deliverance is not real because I live— it's my lifestyle, okay? I've been healed from so much, and I'll share more about that in the future, uh, other things that God has healed me from. But this right here is just a piece of my story. I'm a walking and living miracle. My life is a miracle. Me being here before you today is a miracle. I'm not supposed to here, okay? I'm supposed to be either dead or somewhere, you know, with 50 of them kids, okay? Um, you know, broke, married to, you know, some bum, and all of the above. But God said not so, okay? God raised a standard, and God, he rescued me. He rescued me. He really did. And so let me give you some scripture, because, you know, wherever I am, you know, sharing my testimony or studying the word of God, I tried to, you know, ask God, okay, God, give me scripture to really help people to understand it. Because I understand people like might have questions. Like for me, I'm like, okay God, why did it take so long for you to heal me? Why I have to go through all that? Why to spend, you know, years and years and years? I got saved in '08, right? You know, I'm like, what happened? Okay, why didn't you help me out back in '09, you know, 2010? And so what Holy Spirit begin to like reveal to me is that God has a set time for everything. All right, and the scripture he gave me this morning was 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 10, and it says, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who imparts his blessings and favor, who called you to his own eternal glory in Christ, will himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you, making you what you ought to be. And so back to my dream, right? I said that I was in the garage with my motorcycle about to get on. These two women came to me seeking help and seeking prayer. At this point, I had not started my private practice yet as a, as a therapist yet, okay? And so what God told me was that your anxiety was so bad and it was causing you to like not fully walk out your purpose because you would get overwhelmed so easily. And so God had to come in and break that generational demon off of my life so that whenever I step out into my next level in my purpose, which was my private practice and therapy, I will be able to be more effective and I would not be overwhelmed and be consumed with what I was doing. Because that's what happened before, the anxiety would consume me, but it was a principality that was coming up against me, all right? And so this scripture explains exactly what God was doing for me. He was establishing me, he was strengthening me, he was breaking things off of me so I could be more effective for the women and the men God had called me to serve. Because without that, y'all, I promise you, like, I won't be where I am right now, okay? Because it was just that bad, okay? And so, um, so what I wanted to share too with you all is just remember this, right? I encourage anybody to go to therapy. If you can go, please go, please go. Because people don't understand that when you with the right therapist, okay, someone who was trained, someone was educated, who know what they're doing, they're able to help you to see your patterns. They're able to give you strategy they're able to help you to see, you know, your blind spots and things that, you know, you have, um, been through. And so you won't keep repeating the same pattern. And that's what happened for me. I was repeating this cycle in this pattern where, you know, I was working myself to death, okay, trying to prevent from going into poverty. And God had already saved me from poverty, okay? It was a mind thing. It was a mindset, all right? Um, I would get anxious and like— for me, this is how I operate then. I'm better now. But like, like let's say God gave me an idea to do something, I try my best to get it done like ASAP because in my mind I'm like, if I get this done now, this can be a stream of income for me that I can, I can have so I won't go into poverty, right? But that was not of God, right? There's, there's some things that takes time, but you have to build, right? And so me becoming an entrepreneur, like a full-time entrepreneur, was definitely a God thing, but it really did, um, really— oh, it stretched me. It stretched me because it took me to, uh, a different level of trusting God and walking with God in a different way. Because of course, when you have a regular 9 to 5, okay, you, you, you, you know, you feel a little bit more secure. But when you out here in these streets having to do what God has called you to do, you know, in your ministry, in your business, y'all, it's a faith walk. And it still is for me. It's a faith walk for me every single day. Me every single day, all right? And so if you, you know, are battling with anxiety, first of all, you need to ask God questions, you know. Ask, okay, God, where is this coming from? All right, where this thought come from, right? God, where— where— what is the root of this? God, what you want me to do about it? God, give me strategy, right? And so as you continue to walk it out, God, okay, I see my son, I see my daughter, He's pursuing help, he's pursuing me. Let me, you know, give them, give them a miracle. And so with that being said, there is a set time. And this scripture right here said, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who imparts his blessing and favor, who called you to his own eternal glory in Christ, will himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you, making you what you ought to be. So I hope that you are understanding, you, and you like really grasping that scripture, 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 10. And so God does not desire for us to suffer forever, but the fruit of the Spirit is— one of them is long-suffering. Unfortunately, I mean, it is what it is, what it is, because Christ suffered for our sake, right? And so the other thing, God, you know, God has like healed me from, but it didn't happen immediately. It happened over a course of time. And for me, I can speak for Shakeeta Torres Torres Torres, you know, I had to first realize, okay, this is a problem. Okay. All right. Where this problem come from? All right. Where my thinking come from? It is from my childhood. It is something that someone spoke over my life. Like, I had to learn how to ask God questions. And as I did that, then at some— eventually he healed me from it. He did, okay? Um, and so I encourage you to do the same thing. God is no respecter of person, okay? I'm not better than you, and you're not better than me. God loves us, and he desires to have intimate relationship with us, right? So that is a progressive miracle that I experienced in my own personal life. And, you know, I know I was gonna share this on a different live, but I'll share this a little bit, you know. We're in like this time where deliverance, you know, ministry is like at an all-time high, and I love it, and it's beautiful. I'm so happy. But what I'm not seeing is that I don't see many people— now I'm not saying it's not happening, you know, in private or in churches or whatever, but when it comes on social media, I'm not seeing no one teach about how to walk out your deliverance. I'm not seeing anyone teach about how to maintain or steward what God has done for you. And you— there is a level of stewardship, but you need to, to have, right? You have to change your environment. You have to change the way you think. You have to pursue, um, the word of God and get revelation and understanding. You have to understand who you are, your nature, where things come from, connecting the dots, right? That's how you maintain your deliverance. And so for me, as I said earlier, when I got healed from anxiety, I had to do that. I had to figure, okay, Shakeeta Torres, all right, why you feeling a little worked up today? Like, what's going on, girl? You doing too much. You working too much today. Okay, but I had to really begin to ask myself questions as to why I'm having anxiety. I try to make sure I work out because that helps me to keep my anxiety levels down because I can get in my head and I start thinking. I have an entrepreneur brain. Like, I'm a creative, okay? Like, I have a— I am— I have an apostolic anointing where I'm all— my brain is always building something. It really is. It comes from God. But I have to learn how to steward that because if I don't, it will consume me. Okay, I have to have balance. Okay, I have to make sure I'm there for my family. I gotta have these different things. And I know it sounds overwhelming with me saying all of these things, right? But that's why you have to lean into the Holy Spirit. You have to lean into God and invite him into it and invite him into that space and say, God, you're gonna have to help me with it. I can't do it on my own. And that— God loves that. He loves to show himself to you over and over and over again. All right, like just this morning I was driving, I'm like, God, who— I began to start thinking about, well, I gotta do this, I gotta do that. And God was like, no, I want you to remember that no matter what you do, I care more about your time with me than anything good that you do on earth. He care more about having a relationship with you than you fulfilling a call in your life. Let's be honest, he does. And so, you know, I hope that this, um, has healed somebody, is giving you some revelation and some insight, um, as to hear my testimony and hear my story. If you have any questions, I have no problem with you, you know, asking me that in the chat. I have no problem with that. So let me make sure I didn't leave anything out. Let me go to my notes real quick. I took some notes, y'all, but I was just going, I was just going. Let me see. Yes. Oh yeah, and so as far as— I did want to talk a little bit more about the dreams and visions part. And so I did say that, you know, I've been having dreams like rapidly since '08. So, you know, yeah, '08. And so over the years, um, I've been able to, you know, learn about different ministries who are ministers who help with dream interpretation. Um, I've been able to find some books now because in the beginning, back in '08, this was not popular, okay? People did not understand, you know, the seer, uh, the seer prophet and how all that works. They didn't understand it. I didn't understand it, okay? So the very first book I bought was this one. Well, actually, no, the very first book I called— I purchased was called Seeing the Voice of God. I can't remember, um, the author's name. I think it's something I can't think of her name. But anyway, her book was primarily focused on what they call like sleep hygiene, and you know, um, it's a really good book. It's more about her journey and her story about, you know, dreams, and it's good. I don't have it in front of me right now, so I can't really go over it, over everything. So sorry. So the other book I have is this one right here, The Divinity Code. All right, this book is great. I like this book too. Um, it's not my number one go-to anymore like it used to be, but this is a good book. So let me tell you about this book. So this book, um, are written by these two men, but they're actually Australian. And so what I learned about dreams over the years is that depending on, you know, your culture, depending on where you from, depending on your country, you know, nation, you know, what God showed me in one particular, uh, aspect, and he might show it to you, it can mean something completely different based off of your experience, okay? Context is key, meaning that what is the context of what you're seeing? What does that mean for you in your life, okay? Um, so this is called, um, The Divinity Code. This one's really good too. I like this one, all right? So, but the number one book I go to for the most part is this one right here, y'all. This book right here, amazing. Okay, this one is called, um, A to A to Z, all right, Dream Symbology Dictionary. And this book is by Dr. Barbie L. Breathitt. Um, she had a lot of information and books and, um, dream cards and all that good stuff on her website. But I heard about this book actually from Dr. Faith. I took Dr. Faith's, um, Dreamers and Seers Club, um, mentorship group for a year. I was in there for a year because I was desperate to get to the next level to understanding what I was seeing and what I was dreaming, y'all. Because like I said, since '08 I've been having dreams and visions. I was able to learn something, but I knew, God, I need to pursue, pursue this more so I can fully have another level of interpretation. And it helped tremendously. But this book, y'all, is amazing. It's amazing. And so I have my own little system, my own little way of how I try to interpret, you know, what, you know, what I'm dreaming, so what I'm seeing, right? If I have an open vision. So the very first thing um, I have to do is pray. I have to pray and say, okay God, what, what are you saying? I go to God first. I always go to God first because you don't want to become dependent on just a book to give you the answer. And not only that, like I said before, context is key. What, what God shows me and shows you, it shows you, can be the same exact symbol but it can have a different meaning. All right, but this book, I'm gonna tell you why I love it so much. I'm gonna use one for an example. So if you have a dream about a car, okay, the car could be yellow, the car can be blue. I mean, all of that matters. Every single detail in your dream matters. All right, and so when you come here and look up the word car, this is what it says. First it has car then it has car alarm, then it has car abandoned, then it has car accident, then it has car almost hit, then it has car backseat, then it has car— so like it tells you different, you know, meanings of car in this dream. But ultimately, car means your ministry or your personal life. But the thing about it is, what is the car doing? Is the car lost? Is the car a certain color? Is it in this— is it— is it in a specific location, a certain place? All those little details of your dream matters, okay? And so I actually bought this book for my best friend for a gift, um, and she was— Shakeeta Torres— this book blessed her because she said, you know, she has a natural gift of interpretation. So when she read this book and she was going through it, it was confirming some of the things that she had interpreted before in the past for other people, including me. So, um, this book is amazing. And over the years, I've had a lot of clients that I've had worked with who also had dreams and visions. It doesn't mean that they're a prophet. It's the difference, you know, walking in the mantle of the office or having a prophetic gifting. Um, some of them do walk in the office and some of them have the prophetic gifting. And to be honest, we all can dream. The word of God says that we all can dream, okay? So if you are not dreaming You need to ask God, God, show me your face, show me in my dream. If you need God to give you an answer about anything, say, God, show me in my dream, and he will answer you, y'all, by faith. Okay, so all of us can dream. We all dream in my house— me, my husband, my children— we all dream. Okay, and they come tell me what it is, we sit down, talk about it, digest it. And no, I don't always get the full meaning of the dream. You're not supposed to, to be honest. Some things are sealed that scripture. So you have to wait until God give you revelation about that dream at a different time. And so for me, over the years, I said I had a dream about something like 5 years ago, and like today something happened, and it's like boom, all of a sudden God would give me the revelation of what, you know, I saw 5 years ago. I'm like, oh my God, that's what that dream meant. And so I love when God does that because I know that I'm not trying to operate in my own interpretation., but I'm operating off of what Holy Spirit is showing me, okay? So yes, I love this book, y'all. So at some point in the future, you know, whenever God tell me to, I probably end up doing teachings on this, on like dream, like your dreams and trying to understand your dreams, because people, people really do struggle sometimes with understanding what they're seeing. And sometimes having another ear or eye to hear and see what you're saying can bring, can offer some more revelation, okay? Um, so yeah, and then also I have, um, these dream cards. This is from, um, Dr. Tamara— I can't think of her last name, I'm sorry. Uh, but anyway, her ministry is called rainfireministries.org, and she has a book out now. But these are also dream cards, kind of like a little short cheat sheet. And so honestly, for the most part, I kind of already know what these mean. Over the years. I've actually been reading over them here and there, um, but each card has like, um, the most type of dreams that we could have. And you can buy her cards on her website. I've had clients again over the years buy from her, um, buy from her as well. And I'm— at some point, I already know I'm gonna be writing a, um, a dream journal, a dream journal that's going to help walk you step by step of how to interpret your dreams. So I do have a blue blueprint for that that I use, but the Lord showed me it will be a journal at some point. So yeah, so y'all pray for me. Your girl got a lot to do. Your girl got a lot to do, okay? Um, and so let me show you an example. Um, like on this side, it talks about, um, things you should remember. Number 1, record your dreams. 2, always pray. Try to understand, discern, remember. Okay, that's. And then let me see, it has a number, like number 1 means God, Godhead. And she also gives you scripture in here too. I like that. I try my best to like go look at scripture as well. But then there are some things that, you know, if you just look up, okay, God, what does this word mean, right? Like, okay, a dream that came to my mind that I had, um, this is about 4 or 5 months ago, that, um, Oh, this wasn't a good dream, but I had victory. But in this dream, I was like laying, uh, I was like on a playground and you like on the monkey bars, and like at the bottom was a whole bunch of alligators. And I was swinging from, like, I was swinging from, um, the monkey bars, and alligators kept trying to kind of like get me, but I kept dipping and I was dodging them, y'all. And I was laughing though because they couldn't get me, right? And so the word alligator— alligators are vicious. Alligators want to devour you. That's like, think about it. So like, don't just like leave out the full meaning of what something means, especially an animal or something like that. Because I look up the word alligator and of course it means a person, you know, trying to devour you. So I had— I don't know who they were, but people, you know, was trying to pretty much devour me and like pretty much slander my name. But it is what it is. It come, it come with the territory, okay? So, but I have victory. So yeah, so that's all that I have. Um, let me look at you guys' questions real quick because you guys were definitely typing in here. Um, let me see. So Teresa said, wow, Shakeeta, thank you so much. Look at what the Lord has done. Yes, girl, God has bought me a mighty— y'all, who y'all— y'all have no idea the things I've been through, the things I've seen. The battles I've had to go through. People have no idea my whole story, and over time it will— God will lead me to share more and more stuff. So yes, um, man of God said God bless you, boom guy. Yes, God bless you too, man of God. All right, let's go up here to, um, Instagram. So mine comes from lack of control and insecurities. This is Lowkey 309. Yeah, that definitely can cause anxiety. Um, for sure. Okay, let me see what else you guys said. All righty, so thank you guys so much for, um, joining in. Um, if you're on YouTube, thanks for sticking, sticking, um, up here. If you're on Facebook, thanks for, um, staying and hearing, you know, my testimony and my story. I pray that it blessed you. Uh, as I said, if you have any questions before I get off, you can definitely put them in the chat. Anyway, put you guys up here on Instagram. So yes, you guys, Progressive Miracles. And like I said too, I almost forgot, you know, I have my anointing oil. Thank you for those who, you know, purchased it. I pray that it has blessed you. Ah, so if you go to my website, www.empoweredpurposeacademy.com/shop, and, um, click on the oil, um, tab, you'll be able to see like testimonies up there. I have a whole brochure up there about people, their testimonies. I also have on my YouTube channel where I recorded myself sharing testimonies about this oil, about how God healed my shoulder, about how God healed my daughter from bronchitis in 24 hours, okay? And so I'll be recording some more testimonies over the next, um, you know, couple of weeks, that I have received from, from me, from myself, my family, and some of my clients who bought this oil too. All right, with their permission. Okay, so it is public knowledge. So thank you all again. Um, once again, thank y'all. So I'm gonna pray us out. And so, Father, I just thank you right now for every single person who got on today, who will see the replay later. And Holy Spirit, I just ask you, God, just to, um, continue to just draw near to them, God. God, let them know, God, that you care about every single area of their lives, Lord God. Every single little detail that concerns us, God, it concerns you, Lord. You desire for us to be whole, God. You desire for us to be well, God, mentally, emotionally. Um, you desire for us to be, to be well even in the natural, God, with our physical health, Lord. And so, Father, I ask you, God, to just, uh, just, just show your people your glory. Show them your face, God, in a new and different way. Help them to see you with God as Abba Father, as the healer, God, as our advocate, Lord God, that God, you are Jehovah Gabor, the God of war. So God, I thank you for warring for me, for warring for your people, for fighting battles for us that we cannot see. Holy Spirit, I ask you to rest, rule, and abide, and have your way in our lives. Father, I thank you for revival. I thank you, God, for what you're doing here. Um, God, God, for what you're doing here on this earth. Father, I ask you, Lord God, just to just refresh your um, your people's mind, refresh their hearts, God. And I pray that, God, they will relinquish, God, everything, God, that concerns them to you, Lord God. I pray, God, that if they have any kind of unforgiveness, God, any kind of bitterness, God, any depression, anxiety, God, that, God, they will learn to surrender that over to you, Lord God, because you care for them so much, oh God. So God, I just thank you right now for your presence. Even now, I thank you for your glory. I thank you, God, for, uh, using me for a time such as this, Lord, because I honor you and I love you and I give you everything that I have. In Christ's name I pray, amen and amen. And so yes, ah, that's all I have. Thank you guys so much. See you guys next week.
