This show centers faith-filled, honest conversations about the season between prayer and fulfillment—where God is faithful, growth is happening, and purpose is unfolding.
Hosted by Laneice Runnels, this podcast is for anyone navigating the in-between—learning to trust God, find strength in waiting, and recognize that purpose is still being revealed.
What if becoming the woman God created you to be isn't about adding more—but letting go?
In this deeply personal episode of Between the Prayer and the Promise, Laneice reflects on her recent birthday celebration and the powerful lessons learned through the Becoming Her journey. While honoring the incredible women in her life, she realized that every woman who is becoming something new is also releasing something old.
From low self-esteem and people-pleasing to unhealthy relationships, fear, negative thoughts, and limiting beliefs, Laneice shares how many of us carry things God never intended for us to carry and how true transformation begins when we finally lay those burdens down.
This episode is an invitation to examine what you're holding onto, embrace God's vision for your life, and discover the freedom that comes through release.
✨ In this episode, you'll learn:
Why becoming starts with letting go
How to identify what no longer belongs in your life
The difference between surviving and thriving
How God uncovers the woman He created you to be
Why healing, growth, and purpose require surrender
If you've ever felt stuck between who you are and who you're called to become, this conversation is for you.
Because before you become her, you may have to release her.
📖 Key Scripture: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!" — Isaiah 43:18-19
🎙️ Between the Prayer and the Promise Finding Strength in the Waiting
What if I told you that becoming her has less to do with who you're trying to become and more to do with who you're willing to release? Most people think that becoming is about adding something, more confidence, more faith, more discipline, more success, more purpose, more influence. But what if the greatest transformation of your life doesn't happen because of what you gain? What if it happens because of what you finally let go of? Today I'm sharing what the becoming her journey has taught me and why I discovered that before I could become her, I had to release
her. Welcome to Between the Prayer and the Promise, where we find the strength in the waiting and faith in the journey. I'm your host, Lanise Runnels, and today we're talking about becoming. Not the glamorous vision, not the social media version, not the version with the pretty pictures and the inspirational quotes. We're talking about the real process, y'all. The uncomfortable process, the stretching process, right? The surrendered process, the releasing process. This is Between the Prayer and the Promise, a faith-centered podcast for anyone who's ever found themselves waiting on God. You've prayed, you've believed, you've stood on his word, and yet, you're still waiting, still trusting, still holding on to what he's promised, even when you can't see it yet. We gather here once a month to share real stories from real people, navigating that sacred and sometimes lonely space between what we've asked God for and what we're still believing him to do. This is the place for honest faith. The kind that emits doubt, that wrestles with that delay. But in spite of all that, we still choose to trust. Because here's the truth. The waiting is not wasted. God is faithful in every season, especially the ones that test us the most. So if you're listening and you're in that in-between season and you're holding on by a thread of faith, know this. You are not forgotten and you are not alone. Welcome. Let's trust him together right here between the prayer and the promise.
Hey y'all. Um, as I had shared, I um recently celebrated my birthday, right? Um, for those that may not know my birthday was in May. And um, I normally don't do big parties or anything like that. But this year I decided to celebrate, and this birthday was different, not because of gifts, not because of decorations, not even because I hold to the brunch, but because I found myself surrounded by the women who were all on this journey, right? Women who were healing, women who were growing, women who were learning to trust God, women who were finding themselves again, just like me. Women who were becoming. At the becoming brunch, I intentionally honored each woman, not for where she had arrived, but for where she was heading. One of them said, you know what, I'm becoming stronger. Another one said I'm becoming intentional. One said I'm going to become whole. Another declared that I will be patient. One said I'm going to be disciplined. Another said I am transformational. One screamed, I'm grounded. Another declared that I am a trailblazer. One said I'm unashamed. Each woman has something different that they claim and declared. And I, along with them, said, I will be the woman that God called me to be. But as I reflect afterwards, God showed me something.
In order for every woman to become her, she also had to release something. And that's what I want to talk a little bit about today. The truth is, no one talks enough about what has to die in order for you to become. We celebrate growth, we celebrate promotion, we celebrate healing, we celebrate purpose, but we don't talk enough about the release, right? Because before there's becoming, there has to be a letting go. Before we become, we have to let go, y'all. Somewhere along the way, many of us pick up things that we were never meant to carry. Okay, let me talk about me. I picked up stuff that I was never meant to carry. I picked up low self-esteem. I picked up insecurity. I picked up people pleasing. I picked up fear. Oh my God. Fear was my name. Picked up negative thoughts, unhealthy habits, emotional eating, wounds from unhealthy relationships. I pick up the need just to prove myself, like I deserve to even be in a room. I pick up the belief that I alone was not enough. And the scary thing is that after carrying all those things long enough, they begin to feel like they are a part of your identity. They became who I was. I no longer believe that I just made a mistake. I started to believe that I was a mistake. Y'all, that is a scar that scars you, that destroys you, that destroys your very identity that God created you for. And guess what? That is a lie. A lie from the pits of hell. You hear me? Okay, some people are visual learners. Imagine
this, and I know you may have seen something similar to this, carrying a purse or carrying a book bag. Okay, and this book bag right now, you have nothing in it. So you can walk around freely. Nothing much. Maybe just you know, a little wallet or a pen, and you can freely walk away. Walk around. It doesn't disturb your ability to move freely. But as you keep walking, you're adding stuff into it, you're adding different bricks to it, and it's heavy as a brick. You're adding disappointment disappointment, and that disappointment is a brick. You're adding rejection, there goes another brick. You're adding heartbreak, there goes another brick. You're adding failure, another brick. You're adding betrayal, that's another brick. Negative words that have been spoken in your life, that's another brick. And year after year, you're not taking these bricks out. In fact, all you're doing is adding them and adding them and adding them. And guess what? You didn't get a bigger purse, you didn't get a bigger bag. You're stuck in them and you're still trying to carry them everywhere you go. Everywhere you go, you're carrying all of this stuff with you. So when you show up, you're showing up with the bag of disappointment, you're showing up with this purse of hurt. People can't see it. All they see is a pretty bag, but they don't know what's inside that bag. They don't know what you're carrying. And then one day you're just exhausted, you're frustrated, you're stuck, and you don't even understand why. And you're wondering why is moving forward, why does it feel so hard? And what God is reminding you, and what God is telling you today, what He has told me, is because you are carrying things I never asked you or gave you permission to carry. You picked it up. You can't run your race carrying unnecessary weight. You can't become who God called you to be while dragging everything you've been through. At some point, at some point, we have to unpack. We have to unpack what's in our bag. It no longer has space in our life, right? One of the
biggest revelations I had during this becoming her journey was that God never asked me to become someone else, right? He asked me to become who he created me to be. That's it. And that's different because I spent years trying to fix myself, trying to create this better version of myself, trying to create just just okay, if I be like this, if I if I do it like this, I try to earn worthiness, try to earn confidence, try to earn being accepted. But God showed me that before the hurt, before the disappointment, before the um unhealthy relationships, before the rejections, before the insecurity, there was already a woman he had designed. He designed me with purpose, value, gifts, and influence. He designed me with destiny. The woman that he created was never lost. She was buried. She was buried underneath everything that I picked up, that I picked up. Not only did I pick up, I grabbed it, I accepted it, and it became my identity along the way. And in the process of becoming, it wasn't about creating her, it was about uncovering her. She's been buried so long, deep with the wound of disappointment, hurt. And God says it's your time. Somebody did something to you, and now you're carrying the shame of what they did. Is it guilt? Fear? Are you living in comparison? Maybe bitterness? Relationship? A label that someone else gave you? Maybe a label of something that you've done in the past, and now you're like, now because I've done that, I'm always that. That's a lie. That's a lie. God said that you are a new creature in him. So how are you gonna carry your past? And he said that he came to wash you clean, and you are clean, and you accept him. You are no longer that which you were. Maybe it's the opinions of other people who aren't even walking beside you anymore, and you're still carrying something somebody else thinks of you. What are you carrying? Because what you refuse to release may be preventing you from what you are yet to become. The
hardest part of becoming isn't the growth, it's the release. The release, the letting go. Because that requires trust. You have to trust God enough to let go of what's familiar. We get so comfortable in what's familiar, even if it's unhealthy. Even if we know, you know what, this ain't right. But it's what I know, it's what I feel I'm worth, it's what I feel I'm good at, it's what I feel I deserve. It's what I've been carrying, and I know I can carry this, and I'm afraid of what does it look like if I no longer carry this? I'm actually afraid of joy, I'm actually afraid of peace because I never lived in it before. Come on over, God is way. That version that had to help you survive. Some of you been through some things that you had to be do that, you had to do that to keep yourself safe and to survive. But God says, I'm here, I got you. You had to protect yourself during difficult seasons, but survival and purpose aren't the same thing. Sometimes God calls you beyond the version of yourself that was built to survive. You know, there'll come a time in your life when you realize you can't carry both. You
know, I couldn't carry fear and faith, right? BFF beyond fear, right? I was faithful to fear, faithful to fear. I was faithful to fear. That's what I was beyond faithful to fear. That was my big BFF, and and no longer, what are you? You can't carry both fear and faith. Which one is gonna weigh stronger for you? You can't carry um purpose and people pleasing. That was me. Which one is it gonna be? Are you gonna live the purpose God has for you, or are you gonna be too busy trying to please people? You can't carry confidence and insecurity. Be confident in what God has called you to be, be confident to walk out the purpose he has for your life. I can't carry the old identity and my God-given identity. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. I had to choose and you will too. And guess what? Every day I still have to choose. Why? Because it's old men. These old thoughts will try to rise up. But today I'm choosing to walk in my God-chosen identity, my God-given identity. What do you choose? Because becoming her isn't a one-day event, it's a daily decision, a daily decision. And some days, y'all, I get it wrong, but guess what? I'm not gonna stay there. I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna choose God again. Choose God again. I choose healing. I'm gonna wake up every day and choose faith. I'm gonna choose growth. I'm gonna choose obedience. I choose to release what no longer belongs to me. And I'm choosing to embrace what God wants for me next. The scripture reminds us to forget the former things and do not dwell on the past. See, I'm doing a new thing now. God wants to do a new thing. Do you perceive it? Don't you see it? Don't you feel it? Don't you want it? God wants to do and desires to do something new, but sometimes we miss the new because we're wholly on to the old. The woman who keeps showing up even when you're exhausted, who is questioning whether you have what it takes, for the woman who wonders if you will ever become everything, everything that God promised. If you wonder if the word is for you or if it's just for someone else, hear me. You are able to become her, but be willing to release that which God no longer wants you to carry. You're
not behind, you're not forgotten, you are not forgotten, you are not disqualified, you are not too broken, you are not too old, too young, too late, too damaged, too far gone. You haven't done too much. What has happened to you doesn't matter. You are not your mistakes, you are not your failures, you are not even the worst thing you ever have done, or even the best thing. Sometimes we feel like I've done so good. What's next? I can never achieve anything else better. You are not the labels people have placed on you, you are not the lies that you even believe yourself. Guess what you are? You are a daughter of God. You are chosen, you are loved, you are worthy, and you are valuable. And even in this season, God is still working on you. I know it may not feel like it, I know you may not see it. I know some days are hard to believe it. I know there are moments when you wonder if anything will change. Growth happens even in the quiet times. Healing happens slowly sometimes. And becoming happens in places where others can't even see you. Don't quit just because you haven't arrived yet. Don't give up because the process is taking longer than you expected. Don't settle for the version of yourself that was built out of pain. God is calling you into the version of yourself that He wants. You were born on purpose with purpose. Keep showing up, keep praying, keep trusting, keep healing, keep growing, and keep believing that God chose you. Because one day you're gonna look in the mirror and you're gonna realize that all those prayers, all those tears, all those listings, all those moments of obedience, they were not in vain. And when that day comes, because it's gonna come, you weren't waiting to become her. You're gonna realize that you were becoming her all over.
So, in closing, as I reflect on you know, another year of life, I am grateful. I am so grateful. Thank you, Father God, Lord. I love you. Not because I arrived, not because I mastered this process, not because I have everything figured out, because I don't, y'all. I'm still figuring it out. I'm sharing with y'all as I'm figuring it out, right. I'm grateful because I can see the growth. I can see the healing. I can see the woman God is developing in me. I can also see the things that I have to release to get here. That I'm still releasing to get here. Right? I'm releasing the low self-esteem. I'm releasing the fear. I'm releasing the people pleasing. I'm releasing the unhealthy habits, the limiting beliefs, the lies, right? I know there are still more things God is helping me to release. Because becoming is a journey. And I'm still becoming.
As we close in prayer, Father, we thank you. We thank you for every woman, every person under the sound of my voice. I thank you that you're still working on us, growing us, healing us, and transforming us. Lord, today we release everything that does not belong to us. We release fear. We release insecurity. We release shame. We release guilt. We release people pleasing. We release comparison, Father God, Lord. We release negative thoughts. We release unhealthy habits. We release every burden that has kept us from walking fully in you, who you created us to be. Father, help us to understand that becoming isn't about becoming someone else. It's about becoming who you always intended us to be. Give us the courage to let go of what's familiar. Give us the faith to trust you into what is to come next. Give us the strength to continue the journey, even when it feels difficult, Father God, Lord. Remind us that we're chosen. Remind us that we're loved. Remind us that we're called. Remind us that we're enough because you're enough, Father God, Lord. Remind us that what you started in us, you will complete, Father God, Lord. We trust your hands, Father God, Lord. We trust you, Father God, Lord. We thank you. We thank you when we love you. I thank you for every woman who is emerging through the process. The healed woman, the confident woman, the purposeful woman, the faithful woman, the woman who knows she is becoming who she is supposed to be in you. It's in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen. Amen. I pray that if you don't know him, you get to know him. Know him deeply and know him personally. If you're not saved, I pray that today that you will have a personal relationship with him, give your life to him.
Thank you for joining me on Between the Prayer and the Promise. If this episode blessed you, share with another woman who may be in her own becoming season, right? And remember, before you become her, you must release her. Keep growing, keep trusting, and keep healing. And guess what? Keep becoming her. Until next time, I'll see you on Between the Prayer and the Promise.
Thank you so much for listening to Between the Prayer and the Promise. If this episode encouraged you, we love for you to like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Your support helps us reach more people who are walking through their own season of waiting. But here's what matters most. Remember to trust God, not just when the answers come, not just when the blessings show up, but right here in the waiting, right here in the silence, right here in the in-between. He is faithful. He sees you and he's working even when you can't see it yet. Until next time, keep believing, keep trusting, and keep holding on. I'm Lenice Leeds, and I promise you, God is faithful.
