“I couldn’t shake the fear of letting people down…”

Vikki Waters • August 25, 2016

My name is Leah Presley.

I was first introduced to Growing in Grace Ministries  (GGM) right after I graduated college. I had been struggling with fear and anxiety issues and had terrible nightmares when I slept. I was feeling overwhelmed and run down. I wanted to find freedom.

I had a major issue with people pleasing and couldn’t shake the fear of letting people down. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon GGM, but I’m so glad I did.

During my SOZO prayer session , I was able to reconnect myself with my Lord Jesus. It was remarkable. My inner healing process consisted of forgiving myself and other people for things in the past that were holding me captive. GGM partnered with me through prayer and counsel.

Shortly after my first session with GGM, I began attending the workshops on site where I found fellowship, genuine prayer, and support that inspired me further. I began to notice I felt better equipped to handle my fears and failures. When those old feelings would creep back up, I would remember to speak the positive truths I discovered during my time with GGM. I also never doubted that I could always connect to the counselors at GGM. As a matter of fact, nearly a year after my initial SOZO session, I found myself outside of my work in the parking lot on the phone praying with a GGM partner.

They helped me recall the truths and Scriptures the Lord spoke directly to me and I felt His peace and presence in such a powerful way.

Looking back, I remember coming into my first inner healing session at GGM feeling a lot of embarrassment and nervousness. I would encourage anyone who has never considered inner healing to hold nothing back and don’t be afraid. It feels like the weight of the world is lifted from your shoulders when you release your struggles to the Lord. Asking yourself good questions and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide your conversation and prayers will lead you into so many relationships that help provide freedom and healing in your life.

The benefits of inner healing are hard to describe simply — but I feel joyful, passionate, equipped, free, and proud. I am currently living happily in New Mexico while I confidently and passionately serve the Lord through college ministry and coaching, thanks in part to the growth I experienced through GGM.

Searching for love in all the wrong places? It’s time to experience the Father’s love.

By Vikki Waters • September 20, 2021
Not long ago, I learned that when I was a baby, one of my primary caregivers regularly told me that my mother didn’t love me and that’s why she left me to go to work every day. Of course, when this was discovered, my parents found a new babysitter, but the invisible damage had already been done. Although I...

Child of God, Are You Driven By Performance Or Love?

By Vikki Waters • February 9, 2021
When I’d accepted Jesus into my heart, I’d allowed my driven personality and my wounds from the past to inform my faith, and I became a works-oriented Christian. Somehow, though I’d been wooed by God’s unconditional love, once I was in His Kingdom, I was driven by performance, not by love. This, I was discovering, was contrary to what the...

Are you weary? God’s Presence brings rest.

By Vikki Waters • July 10, 2020
God works because of love, not obligation, and it is this reality that He invites us into when He calls us co-heirs and rulers with Christ. Paul describes exactly this quality in the believers in Thessalonica: “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in...

“Rest and acceptance once felt out of reach…” – Larry’s Testimony

By Vikki Waters • November 4, 2017
I grew up in a fairly normal American Christian family being the youngest of five children. A couple of times a week as a family we went to a mainstream evangelical church. At the age of nine I was baptized because some of my friends were but I didn’t really understand what it meant. I...

Introduced to peace and lasting joy through GGM — Meet Deb!

By Vikki Waters • October 24, 2017
When Deb Mileur said, “I do” to Jesus in 1988, she fell so in love with the Bible that she began sleeping with it under her pillow; she read it, highlighted it, memorized and taught it. In 2009, during a friend’s visit to India (where Deb and her family lived as missionaries), she learned about...

“I’ve experienced the breakthroughs firsthand…” – Meet Stephanie

By Vikki Waters • October 16, 2017
Stephanie Johns joined the prayer team at GGM in late 2015. Her introduction to GGM was at the suggestion of her daughters after the death of her husband in July 2013. She experienced firsthand the breakthroughs the ministry could help facilitate as that very day she took a huge leap forward in her grief journey....

“I’m so proud of the people who say “yes” to God and freedom!” — Meet GGM’s Anne Armstrong!

By Vikki Waters • October 11, 2017
Anne Armstrong unofficially joined the Growing in Grace Ministry (GGM) family in December of 2010 after receiving her first SOZO there.  Anne was referred to GGM by a former ministry team member after sharing her heart and struggles about feeling “stuck” in certain areas of her life. Even before finding healing for herself at GGM,...

From strict religion to a true relationship! – Sunda’s Story

By Vikki Waters • September 3, 2017
Before coming to Growing in Grace, my life was a mess. I was in pain, I was angry, I was confused and I only knew God through religion’s eyes. I was raised in a very conservative and strict religion and that is how I saw God. I always felt His eyes of displeasure on me...

You Don’t Have To Do This Alone

By Vikki Waters • June 30, 2017
About three and a half months into my husband Richard’s out-of-state job, I realized I had been internalizing my resentment about being alone. On the weekends, we focused on being together, but during the week I focused on keeping busy with ministry and activity. Inside, I felt depressed and tired. These feelings were an old default that I had become...

Let Down Your Walls

By Vikki Waters • June 22, 2017
Though Jesus had become my Savior, the walls barricading my heart remained. Some of them softened, but many of them were my closest allies. It’s hard, even for Jesus, to have a relationship with someone who has walls like I did. I only had so much capacity for His love. Because I didn’t believe He really loved me unless...
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