No Matter What with Hanna Seymour

Do you ever feel like you're failing at your faith because your prayer life doesn't look like the version in your head? Like real women of prayer have a whole system figured out, and you're just whispering something quick while you're doing dishes?

I sat down with Monica Ritchie, an on-air host at 98.5 KTIS in the Twin Cities who also hosts her own podcast, Theologically Fashioned. We talked about the guilt that creeps in around spiritual disciplines: wrestling honestly with hard questions instead of burying them, bringing anger and grief to God instead of stuffing it down, and how to tell when a practice you used to love has gone from life giving to just obligatory.

Monica also shares her reframe on rest. It's not about doing nothing, it's about restoration, and what that's actually looked like for her in different seasons of life.If you've ever felt like you're doing your faith wrong, this one's for you.Monica's new book, Fashioned by Faith, goes even deeper into all of this if you want to keep going.

Connect with Monica:

Instagram: @itsmonicaritchie

Podcast: Theologically Fashioned

Book: Fashioned by Faith — https://link.amazon/B02cBulQr

Connect with me:

Instagram: @hannaeseymour

Website: hannaseymour.com

The Weekly One (my Monday email): hannaseymour.com/the-weekly-one

Everyday Spiritual Habits: everydayspiritualhabits.com

Be honest with yourself for a second. If your closest friends who don't follow Jesus were asked whether you're actually any different than they are, what would they say?

That question is what cracked this whole episode open for me. I'm talking with Pastor Nirup Alphonse, founder of LIFEGATE Church in Denver and author of the new book Defiant Lights.

We get into the difference between a faith built on convenience and one built on conviction, what it actually means that Jesus calls us the light of the world, and why offense and joy can't grow in the same soil in us.

Nirup is funny, he's honest about his own hypocrisy, and by the end of this one you might find yourself rethinking what your ordinary, everyday life is actually saying about who you follow.

Connect with Nirup Alphonse

Defiant Lights (book): https://link.amazon/B0h7mxA3g

Connect with Nirup: https://linktr.ee/PastorNirupAlphonse

Connect with Me

Instagram: @hannaeseymour

Website: hannaseymour.com

The Weekly One (my Monday email): https://hannaseymour.com/the-weekly-one

Everyday Spiritual Habits: https://everydayspiritualhabits.com/

If you've ever wondered whether struggling with anxiety or depression means something's wrong with your faith, or you love someone in a dark season and don't know how to help, this conversation is for you. I'm talking with Hope Blanton, a licensed clinical social worker, and Christine Gordon, who has a master's in theological studies and teaches at Covenant Theological Seminary. They've each walked through their own seasons of anxiety and depression, and together they've written a book that refuses to pick a side between the spiritual and the clinical.
We get into what it actually looks like to hold "God is good" and "my brain isn't functioning right now" at the same time, why so many Christians feel guilty for taking medication, and what the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 teaches us about how God cares for the whole person, body included. This one is honest, practical, and full of real hope.
Their book, Hope for the Anxious and Depressed, releases September 29th.
Connect with Hope and Christine:
Website: https://www.athisfeetstudies.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/athisfeetstudies/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/athisfeetstudies/
Book: https://link.amazon/B08hLQCyE
Connect with me:
Instagram: @hannaeseymour
Website: hannaseymour.com
The Weekly One: https://hannaseymour.com/the-weekly-one
Everyday Spiritual Habits: https://everydayspiritualhabits.com/

Ever feel like you're just waiting around for someone to invest in you — waiting to be picked, waiting to be mentored, waiting for someone older and wiser to notice you need it?

I sat down with Cheryl Marshall, who's spent over 25 years walking alongside women in the local church, and she flipped that whole idea on its head.

We also spent real time in Romans 12, unpacking what it actually meant for a first-century Jewish believer to hear "present your body as a living sacrifice," and why that phrase is so much bigger — and harder — than we usually make it.

This one covers discipleship, worship, and what it looks like to suffer well.
Cheryl's new book, All of Me: Pursuing a Life Wholly Devoted to God, walks through Romans 12:1-2 in depth if you want to keep going after this episode.
Connect with Cheryl:
Website: cherylmarshall.com
Instagram: @_cherylmarshall
Facebook: CherylMarshallBooks
Podcast: Whole-Life Worship
Book: All of Me — https://link.amazon/B08fl2gHl
Connect with me:
Instagram: @hannaeseymour
Website: hannaseymour.com
The Weekly One (my Monday email): https://hannaseymour.com/the-weekly-one

Have you ever looked at your own kids and wondered who you just became? I sat down with Natalie Hixson, known online as the @angrymamacoach, to talk about mom rage, the kind so many of us carry in silence. Natalie is honest about the years she calls abusive, what finally broke the cycle, and the tools she still uses today, including her "sit and pray" reset.
I also brought a stack of questions straight from you--so we get into real, specific moments: what to do when you're home alone and about to lose it, and how to recover with your kids after you've already said something you regret.
If shame has ever crept in after a hard moment with your kids, I think you're going to feel so seen today.
Connect with Natalie
Website: nataliehixson.com
Instagram: instagram.com/angrymamacoach
Free Trigger Tracker: nataliehixson.com/free-triggers-tracker
Coaching: nataliehixson.com/work-with-me
Her new book, Lord, Why Did You Give Me These Children?! A Faith-Based Approach to Overcoming Mom Anger, is out now: https://amzn.to/3Tse9uB
Connect with Me
Instagram: instagram.com/hannaeseymour
Website: hannaseymour.com
Sign up for The Weekly One, my Monday email: hannaseymour.com
My book: ⁠everydayspiritualhabits.com⁠

My friend Annie F. Downs joins me on the podcast for a conversation you'll want to sit with.

We talk about comparison, holy ambition versus selfish ambition, and the "unmet desire" so many of us are quietly carrying instead of naming out loud. Annie shares what it's actually looked like to trust God through big dreams, five summers of surgery and heartache, and a marriage she didn't see coming until she was 46.

If you've ever caught yourself waiting for "someday" before you start living, this one's for you.
Connect with Annie F. Downs
Website: anniefdowns.com
Instagram: @anniefdowns
Podcast: That Sounds Fun
Book: Don't Let That Hold You Back: https://amzn.to/4yeVGjY
Connect with me:
Website: hannaseymour.com
Instagram: @hannaeseymour
My book: everydayspiritualhabits.com
The Weekly One (my free Monday email): hannaseymour.com

Ever hit a season so hard you couldn't even pray? Katie Kelley knows that place. Solo parenting six kids, one with severe autism, no words left except "Lord, have mercy."Katie's back on No Matter What a year after her first appearance, and her life looks completely different now. We talk about what actually gets you through when you can't pray a real prayer, how to look for light in a dark season, and why grace isn't soft, it's the grit that holds you up when you can't hold yourself up.

Connect with Katie:

Website: katiemkelley.com

Instagram: @katiemblackburn

Substack: katieblackburn.substack.com

Book: Grace Will Be There: https://amzn.to/3UKECDV

The Weekly One (my free Monday email): hannaseymour.com

Morgan Krueger and I get into something I think about constantly: are you living like the hero of your story, or like a supporting character pointing to the real Hero? We talk about what it means to magnify Christ instead of ourselves, why holiness needs a total rebrand, and the prayer Morgan replaced "give me strength" with after writing her new book. This one gutted me in the best way.
Connect with Morgan:
Instagram: instagram.com/morganwkrueger
https://www.instagram.com/thekingdom.people/
Website: morgankrueger.com
BOOK: Made to Magnify: https://amzn.to/4wVNLI1
Connect with Me:
Website: hannaseymour.com
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: instagram.com/hannaeseymour
Book: everydayspiritualhabits.com

We pray for the husband, the baby, the new job, the move, the increase. And then we actually get it. So why does the blessing sometimes start to feel like a burden? Melissa Miller joins me to talk about her new book, But I Prayed for This, and teaches me about "reward prediction error". We get into survival mode, change fatigue, and how to tell "hard" that's from God versus "hard" that means we took a wrong turn.

CONNECT WITH MELISSA
Website: melissamillerwriter.com
Instagram: instagram.com/melissamillerwrites
Book: https://amzn.to/4bGhSuG
CONNECT WITH ME
Website: https://hannaseymour.com
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: https://instagram.com/hannaeseymour
My book: https://everydayspiritualhabits.com

Chelsey DeMatteis joins me to talk motherhood in the trenches, what walking with Jesus actually looks like before kids and after kids, and the moment God rehammered a hard lesson about kindness on her heart. Plus, a first look at her new devotional, Mercy in the Margin.

CONNECT WITH CHELSEY
Website: https://chelseydematteis.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/chelseydematteis
Living with Less Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-with-less-podcast/id1450217627
Get Mercy in the Margin: https://amzn.to/4waeYFG
CONNECT WITH HANNA
Website: https://hannaseymour.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/hannaeseymour
Get Everyday Spiritual Habits: https://everydayspiritualhabits.com