MY Devotional: Daily Biblical Encouragement & Prayer from Leading The Way

By Michael A. Youssef, Ph. D. Read John 13:1-17. The cross wasn’t a last-minute tragedy—it was the central purpose of Jesus’ earthly life. In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef shows how Jesus lived with unwavering clarity about His mission: to finish the work the Father gave Him. From the wedding at Cana to His final meal with the disciples, Christ repeatedly refer...

Who crucified Jesus? Was it Judas, the priests, Pilate—or the crowd? In today’s MY Devotional, Dr. Michael Youssef reveals the deeper Truth: Jesus chose the cross . He went deliberately, willingly, and resolutely—not as a victim of circumstance, but as the Savior on mission. Every person who has ever lived inherited a spiritual debt and then added to it, but God, in mercy, provided a way out. On t...

What could be worth giving up everything you own? In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef explores Jesus’ parable of the merchant who finds one pearl of great value and sells everything to buy it (Matthew 13:45–46). To grasp the weight of this illustration, Dr. Youssef highlights why pearls were considered the most precious commodity in Jesus’ day: they were rare, dan...

Yesterday we looked at two types of soil Satan targets. Today, Dr. Michael Youssef turns to the third: spoiled soil —a heart that isn’t hard or shallow, but overcrowded. In this episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , you’ll hear how Jesus describes the seed “among thorns” as someone who hears the Word, yet becomes unfruitful because the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke spiritu...

The enemy targets both the spiritually strong and the spiritually weak—with one goal: spiritual stagnation . In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef points to Jesus’ warning in Matthew 13 : the sower and the seed are unstoppable, so Satan focuses on corrupting the soil —your heart—so the Word won’t produce lasting fruit. Dr. Youssef explains that the devil has no powe...

In Middle Eastern farming, the pathway between two fields becomes hard-packed ground—unprepared to receive seed. Dr. Michael Youssef says that strip of earth is a vivid picture of what can happen to the human heart. In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Youssef connects this image to Jesus’ parable of the sower : Christ is the sower, your heart is the soil, and the enemy works rele...

What would make someone sweep the whole house, light a lamp, and search relentlessly for a single missing coin? In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef explores Jesus’ parable in Luke 15:8–10 and reveals a detail many miss: in Jesus’ day, a woman’s ten-coin headdress (a semdi ) signified her engagement—so losing one coin wasn’t minor inconvenience, but a public heartb...

What happens when good gifts—money, success, stability—quietly become your trust? In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef draws from two of Jesus’ most sobering teachings about wealth. First, the story of the rich young ruler in Mark 10 : a man who wanted to follow Jesus, yet couldn’t release his grip on riches. Jesus offered him treasure in heaven, true security, and...

In many parts of the world, following Jesus can cost believers their freedom—or even their lives. Yet in those very places, people are turning to Christ in extraordinary numbers. Why? Because when everything else collapses, only one refuge holds . In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef anchors your heart in Proverbs 18:10 : “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower;...

Have you ever wanted to pray like Habakkuk: “God, why is evil winning?” In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef explains that grim times aren’t only a reason to ask God for answers—they’re an invitation to ask deeper questions of ourselves: What is God teaching me? Do I need to repent? Do I need to grow in faith? Dr. Youssef walks through Habakkuk’s transformation—fro...

What do you do when you pray—and nothing seems to change? In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef walks through the prophet Habakkuk’s struggle with unanswered prayer and unexpected answers. Instead of letting disappointment harden his heart, Habakkuk turned delay into discipleship—using the agony of waiting to grow in trust, strengthen faith, and align his will with...

What if the very thing you’ve begged God to remove is the tool He’s using to bless you? In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef explores the mystery of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”—a lingering burden Paul pleaded with God to take away (2 Corinthians 12:7–9). While Paul could confidently say he counted everything as loss compared to knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8), he...

Have you ever felt stuck in a pattern you can’t break—like worry keeps winning, anger keeps resurfacing, or temptation keeps circling back? In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef warns that many Christians, without realizing it, have allowed Satan to establish strongholds —spiritual fortresses designed to block prayer, cloud discernment, and keep you from living out...

Have you ever looked at the rubble of your own life and wondered, How could God ever use me? In this episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef reminds you that spiritual transformation doesn’t come from striving harder—it comes through God’s grace . While we often fixate on what we are right now, God sees what we can become in Christ. Dr. Youssef points to the apostle Paul, who en...

Remember the pressure of school exams—how tests revealed what you truly knew and where you needed to grow? Dr. Michael Youssef says the Christian life has tests too, and they are far more serious because they point to eternal realities. In this episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Youssef draws from Paul’s closing charge in 2 Corinthians : “Examine yourselves… test yourselves” (2 Corinthians...

Have you ever wondered how believers like Moses kept going when they felt overwhelmed—or how Paul stayed steady when criticism, threats, and hardship pressed in? In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef addresses discouragement head-on and reminds you that even great heroes of the faith faced deep disappointment. Paul certainly knew what it meant to feel pressure—even...

Our culture constantly tells us: get more —more money, more influence, more security, more success. But in today’s MY Devotional, Dr. Michael Youssef flips that message with Scripture’s radical Truth: the key to a faithful life isn’t acquiring—it’s giving God your all . When you truly grasp the price of your salvation, generosity stops feeling like duty and becomes gratitude. Dr. Youssef points to...

It’s easy for married life to become a nonstop routine—work, kids, responsibilities, and exhaustion—until one day you realize you’ve stopped truly talking. In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef explains that when couples lose conversational intimacy (and become content with it), they quietly forfeit one of God’s greatest gifts in marriage: deep companionship and Chr...

Every marriage faces moments of hurt—some small, some storm-level. What determines whether those moments become distance or deeper unity? Forgiveness. In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef teaches from Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:21–22 , where Christ calls believers to forgive “seventy-seven times”—not as a number to track, but as a lifestyle of grace. Dr. Youssef ex...

What if the biggest threat to your marriage isn’t communication styles, personality differences, or stress—but selfishness ? In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef begins with the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve experienced complete openness—physically and spiritually—until self-centeredness invited sin and broke what God designed to be beautiful and whole. Dr. Yo...

From the first wedding in Genesis to the wedding feast of the Lamb in Revelation, Scripture reveals something stunning: God delights in marriage—and He designed it for our good and His glory. In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef reminds us that a wedding is only the beginning; marriage is a lifelong covenant instituted by God before sin entered the world . Dr. Yous...

It’s easy to curate an image—successful, spiritual, “together.” But the charade ends where it matters most: before God, who sees the heart . In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef points to Paul’s sobering reminder in 1 Corinthians: every believer will one day stand before the Lord and have their works tested . This isn’t about salvation—Christ settled that at the cr...

Most of us don’t think about foundations—until something shakes the building. In today’s MY Devotional, Dr. Michael Youssef takes you to Paul’s message to the Corinthians: the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only sure, invulnerable foundation —settling your eternal destiny the moment you trust in Christ. But then comes the sobering question: What are you building on that foundation? Dr. Youssef remi...

Why do human philosophies keep promising freedom—yet leave people more anxious, confused, and broken? In today’s MY Devotional, Dr. Michael Youssef traces the root of our modern spiritual crisis back to the first temptation in the garden: Adam and Eve believed Satan’s lie and chose rebellion over God’s perfect wisdom. That same pattern still drives every ideology that elevates human desire above G...

Today’s culture is filled with tempting philosophies and persuasive “truths” that can quietly pull your heart off course. So how do you find the right path in a depraved world—and stay there? In this episode of the MY Devotional Podcast , Dr. Michael Youssef reminds us that while God’s Word reveals God’s will, it can only be spiritually discerned and understood . The only way to truly know the min...