Show Notes
Kasey Hopkins has been saved for 30 years, has been at the same church her whole life, and will be the first to tell you she still has junk to deal with. In this episode she gets honest about tying her worth to achievement from a young age, losing herself completely in a relationship at 16, spiraling into depression and anorexia after it ended, and spending decades justifying people pleasing, anxiety, and control as personality traits instead of calling them what they actually are: sin. She shares what happened when she finally started therapy at 40, how God is literally rewiring her brain through scripture, and why your story matters even if you never hit rock bottom. This one is for every woman who has ever said I don't really have a testimony.
More from Praises in the Pod
How do you actually forgive someone who hurt you, especially when you still feel the same afterward? Recorded live at Women in Truth: Abide 2026 in Macon, Georgia, this episode starts with Alexis sharing how the conversation went somewhere she never planned and why she is thankful it did. Author and ministry founder Kia Stephens opens up about growing up in a church home with her parents' divorce at age three, chasing validation and living a double life, and a moment in a college dorm room that unlocked years of buried pain over her father's absence. She walks through writing forgiveness letters to her father, herself, God, and her mom, what forgiveness is and is not, and the practical and supernatural parts of releasing someone you feel has wronged you. Alexis also shares her own struggle with the savior complex and finding the root of what we keep covering up. If you are carrying unforgiveness, father wounds, or anger at God, this conversation is for you.
How do you build a Bible reading habit that actually lasts? Alexis sits down with Eva Kubasiak, who grew up in a pastor's home and gave her life to Christ at nine, but spent years wrestling with depression after she decided she would not follow God unless she could feel Him. Eva shares how she realized she had made her feelings an idol, what changed when she finally read the whole Bible for the first time, and how reading through it in 90 days turned into a consistent habit she now does multiple times a year. They talk about the difference between reading and studying the Bible, what to do when you fall behind on your reading plan, and why God's first questions to Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" and "Who told you that?", are an invitation back instead of condemnation. Alexis also opens up about giving up social media after her husband told her she never listened, and they get honest about how phones compete with time in God's Word. This conversation is a reminder that Bible reading is about meeting with God, not checking a box.
Alexis and Abby are back in the studio for a real conversation about prayer, what it actually looks like, and why it is so easy to let it become an afterthought instead of the foundation of your walk with God. They talk through what it means to have a secret place, a specific spot where you go to be fully honest and surrendered before God, and why kneeling in prayer can be a posture worth trying even if it feels uncomfortable at first. They get into confession, journaling, praying out loud with strangers, and what it looks like to shift from praying only for yourself to praying for your family, your community, and the people around you. Rooted in Matthew 6:6, this episode is a reminder that the secret place is where real intimacy with God is built, long before it ever shows up in public.
Alexis catches up with an old friend Peyton Horton for a conversation about the winding road that brought her back to Jesus. Peyton opens up about a near fatal car accident in college, becoming a single mom in Atlanta, and the moment she felt God clearly tell her to move back to Warner Robins in the middle of an engagement that was not built the way it should have been. She talks honestly about the pruning process that followed, learning to read scripture for herself instead of just hearing about God secondhand, and the season where she finally started shedding things she used to hold onto. Peyton also shares a wild, Spirit led moment of praying for a total stranger at the gym, and what it taught her about being available to God in the smallest moments. This episode is a reminder that you never know who is watching your story, and that hope is always still on the table no matter how messy the middle looks.
What does God actually call you? This episode is Alexis's message from Born Two Praise, the live event celebrating two years of Praises in the Pod. She shares a teaching on identity in Christ and how easily we accept the names the enemy gives us over the names God has already spoken. Alexis walks through her own story of being called fat, hard to deal with, and unqualified, and how a conversation with her mentor Eva led her to actually sit down and ask God what He calls her instead. She breaks down what Scripture says about who you are in Christ, why knowing God has to come before knowing your identity, and how your specific, God given identity can anchor you through any season. Recorded live in front of the women who gathered to celebrate this milestone with PITP.