The Kind of Freedom I'm Praying For

Everybody’s talking about freedom this week.
Cookouts. Fireworks. Flags. Day off work.
But that’s not the kind of freedom I need right now.

I’m praying for the kind of freedom you can’t post on Instagram.
The kind you can’t buy with a sale or celebrate with a sparkler.
The kind that loosens the grip of anxiety at 2 a.m.
The kind that silences the voice in your head that whispers, “You’re not enough.”

I want to be free from the pressure to perform.
Free from people-pleasing.
Free from trying to control outcomes that were never mine to begin with.

There are chains we carry that no one else can see.
Pressure that looks like strength.
Smiles that hide exhaustion.
Success that still leaves you feeling overlooked.

But this truth shifts everything:

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free…”
– Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

Jesus didn’t die so we could keep pretending.
He didn’t set us free just so we could stay stuck in cycles of self-doubt, fear, and quiet frustration.
He came to break every chain—external and internal.

So while the world celebrates with fireworks,
I’m praying for a spiritual release.

God, break the need for approval.
Shatter the weight of perfectionism.
Remind me that I’m already free, already chosen, already loved.