Exhaled Hope: The Podcast

Senecca Baker

We share the hope, love + redemption found in Christ, one word at a time. 

  1. Jun 15

    No Introduction Needed

    What if the reason prayer gets so hard is because somewhere along the way, we forgot who we are to the One we’re talking to? In this episode, Senecca gets honest about the prayers we learned as kids, the distance that makes us rehearse before we dial, and the one thing that changes everything: you are already known before you open your mouth. This isn’t about a better prayer strategy. It’s about remembering your identity — beloved, known, seen — before you say a single word. SCRIPTURES REFERENCED “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.”  — Psalm 139:1–4 “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”  — John 10:3 “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”  — Romans 8:26–27 REFLECTION QUESTIONS •  When did prayer start to feel like a performance for you? What do you think you were trying to prove? •  Is there something you’ve been keeping off the prayer table because it doesn’t feel “safe” to bring to God? What would it look like to just bring it? •  How does knowing God already sees the real you — the mess and all — change how you want to show up in prayer this week?  CONNECT WITH EXHALED HOPE Follow us on all the platforms and share this episode with the woman in your life who needs a reminder that she doesn’t have to perform to be heard. @exhaledhope

    11 min
  2. Jun 1

    When the Answered Prayer Don't Feel Good

    You prayed for it. He answered. And somehow you still don't feel okay. If you've ever stood in the middle of a blessing and felt guilty for not being more grateful — this episode is for you. Not to rush you past the feeling. Not to remind you how good God is before you've had a chance to be honest. But to give you real language for something most of us have felt and very few of us have said out loud. We've been singing about a God who hears and answers. But what about the woman who stopped asking on purpose — because she already knew what He was going to say and she wasn't ready for it? What about the woman who got exactly what she prayed for and still went home at night feeling empty? In this episode we talk about: The difference between being ungrateful and being disappointed — and why they are not the same thingWhat Jonah's anger after the greatest revival in Scripture can teach us about our own unmet expectationsWhy we're often praying for a feeling more than a thing — and what happens when the thing arrives without the feelingHow God responded to a man who sat in answered prayer and asked to die — and what that means for where you are right nowWhy honest is not the same as unfaithfulScripture Reference: Jonah 1:3, Jonah 4:3 You can be grateful and still be processing. You can trust Him and still be disoriented by where you've landed. Those things are not in conflict. They are just honest. If this episode found you in the middle of something you haven't been able to say out loud — share it with someone who needs to hear it. And come back next week. We're going deeper. Follow us: @exhaledhope New episodes drop weekly

    15 min
  3. May 25

    I Just Don't Want To

    Have you ever heard God say go — and your honest answer was not yet, or not like that, or maybe never? In this episode of Exhaled Hope, Senecca gets real about the moments we resist obedience — not because we don't love God, but because we're human. Using a relatable moment with her son and a half-done kitchen, she unpacks four traps that keep us stuck: wanting control, wanting convenience, wanting comfort, and the burnout that comes from obedience being a never-ending project. This episode is not a guilt trip. It's a grace-filled, honest conversation about what it looks like to move anyway — even when you're groaning the whole way. Whether you're in a season of resistance, weary from a long stretch of faithfulness, or just now stepping into an uncomfortable yes — this one is for you. Key Scripture ●      Proverbs 3:5–6 — Trust in the Lord with all your heart ●      Philippians 2:13 — God works in you to will and to act ●      Galatians 6:9 — Do not grow weary in doing good Topics Covered       Why we resist obedience even when we love God       The 4 traps: Control, Convenience, Comfort, and the Continuous Project       How delayed obedience is still disobedience       Why obedience is really a trust issue, not a willpower issue       Biblical figures who didn't want to obey — and what happened next Connect + Resources       Follow Exhaled Hope on Instagram and all platforms       Shop the Psalm 23 T-shirt — check our latest post for the Summer sale      Share this episode with someone who needs it      Leave a review — it helps more people find the show

    19 min
  4. May 18

    What Friends?

    Last week we talked about community — why we need it and why we run from it. But this week, we're sitting with the question that came after: what about the friendships you lost somewhere along the way? Not the ones that ended in betrayal. Not the dramatic fallouts. The ones that just… quietly drifted. The friend you talked to every single day until one day you didn't anymore. The cousin who once knew everything about you. The woman who helped you survive a hard season and somehow isn't in your life the way she used to be. There was no big goodbye. No closure. Just silence, distance, and memories that still tug at you when they cross your mind. In this episode, we're talking about the grief of dismantled sisterhoods — the kind nobody really names, and the church often skips over too quickly. We revisit the story of Ruth and Naomi through the lens of Orpah — the woman we've reduced to a background character — and find that her story might be the one that most of us are actually living. Because not every person who leaves your life was toxic. Some people were deeply meaningful for a very real season. And you are allowed to grieve them. We talk about: Why we spiritualize friendship grief instead of actually feeling itThe difference between grief and bitterness — and why that distinction mattersWhat Naomi almost missed by focusing on who leftHow to release someone without pretending the relationship didn't matterWhy losing people does not make you unworthy of being deeply lovedThis episode ends in prayer — for the woman carrying this quietly, who never got a funeral for a friendship that changed her. Scripture Reference: Ruth 1:6-18 Take what you need, leave what you don't, and keep exhaling hope. Connect with Exhaled Hope: 🎙️ New episodes drop weekly 📲 Share this episode with someone who's grieving quietly too 🌐 exhaledhope.com

    12 min
  5. May 11

    Who All Over There?

    If you've ever responded to an invitation with "who all is going to be there" — this one is for you. This episode is an honest conversation about why so many of us run from community, where that pattern actually started, and what the Bible shows us about what real community is supposed to look like. We're sitting in the story of Ruth and Naomi, walking through the first church in Acts, and getting real about the difference between the community that hurt us and the community God actually designed for us. This isn't a small group recruitment speech. This is the conversation nobody was having — until now. In This Episode We Talk About: Why being introverted, private, or independent isn't always the real reason we avoid community — and what usually isThe childhood messages that became bad theology and built walls we're still living behindHow Mary, Elizabeth, David, Jonathan, and the first church in Acts model the kind of community most of us have never experiencedThe fear of being fully seen and not accepted — and why it keeps us at a distance from the people God placed in our livesThe story of Ruth and Naomi and what it teaches us about showing up for people who are in their worst seasonWhy we push people away when life gets hard — and why that's not independence, it's self-protectionThe difference between covenant and convenience — and which one most of us are actually offeringWhat Naomi naming herself Mara teaches us about letting a temporary feeling become a permanent identityWhy the first step to finding community isn't finding the right people — it's understanding why you built the wall in the first placeScriptures Referenced: Ruth 1:16 — "Where you go, I will go. Where you die, I will die."Acts 2:42-47 — The devotion of the first church to fellowship and breaking of breadLuke 1:39-45 — Mary running to Elizabeth1 Samuel 18-20 — The friendship of David and JonathanSomething To Sit With: Where did your wall come from? And is it still protecting you — or is it now keeping out the very people God placed for this season of your life? Mentioned In This Episode: Follow the Shepherd — Psalm 23 T-Shirt Collection → shop.exhaledhope.comConnect With Exhaled Hope: Instagram: @exhaledhopeThreads: @exhaledhopeWebsite: www.exhaledhope.comIf This Episode Blessed You: Share it with a woman who's been keeping people at arm's length and doesn't fully know why. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is hand someone the language for what they've been feeling. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Exhaled Hope — real conversations about faith in the middle of the mess. No hype. No guilt. No pretending we have it all together. Just truth that leaves us with real hope.

    16 min
  6. May 4

    Follow the Shepherd

    We made it. Four weeks. Four episodes. One Psalm. This finale opens with a portion of an original poem — Follow the Shepherd — written from my own study and honest tussle with Psalm 23. And then we unpack it together. Because knowing the poetry and having the posture of a sheep are two very different things. In this episode we talk about: Why so many of us quote Psalm 23 without actually living itHow consumerism, hustle culture, and the daily scroll are discipling us whether we realize it or notWhy our protection isn't about courage — it's about proximityWhat it really means to follow the Shepherd, especially when you've been wandering so long it just feels like your personalityAnd the hope that's available to you right now — not when things settle down, but nowWe also have some exciting news — Exhaled Hope is dropping three shirts inspired by this series. Each one means something. Each one is for a specific season. Details below. 👕 The T-Shirt Drop Three shirts. Three declarations. One for every season. Follow the Shepherd — a daily decision, not just a phraseRestored — for the ones who are mid-process and need a reminder before it feels trueGoodness + Mercy — for the valley seasons when you need something that says I'm still covered🔗 https://shop.exhaledhope.com/ Follow the Shepherd Spoken Word - https://youtu.be/Z3FYk5LPiec 📲 Connect with Exhaled Hope Instagram: @exhaledhope   Website: www.exhaledhope.com 🎙️ Subscribe & Leave a Review If this series meant something to you — share it. Leave a review. Pass it to somebody who is in the valley right now and doesn't know the Shepherd is already in it with them. It costs you nothing and could mean everything to someone else.

    15 min

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We share the hope, love + redemption found in Christ, one word at a time.