4 Ways to Avoid The Spirit of Depression :
1) Praise:
“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” – Acts 16:25
After Paul and Silas were beaten nearly to death for their faith, they begin to praise God and sing hymns while in jail. God encourages us to do the same thing, when you begin to feel the spirit of depression come over you begin to praise God! I know this sounds crazy. Believe me I understand how hard it is to praise God when you feel as if your world is crashing before you.
The word of God instructs us in Isaiah 61:3 to put on “…the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”
For example, when you get up in the morning it takes effort to put on your clothes. Your clothes do not just automatically appear on your body. As it is naturally, so it is spiritually, it will take effort for you to praise God in the midst of a depressed state.
2) Worship:
“Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.” – 1 Samuel 1:19
Hannah suffered a form of depression due to the fact that she greatly desired to be a mother but she was unable to conceive because the Lord closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:5).
After being teased and taunted by Peninnah, who did conceive sons, Hannah cried and stopped eating because her heart was grieved sore. She went to the temple to pour out her heart to the Lord and petition to Him to bless her with a son.
After she worshipped the Lord, He blessed her with her heart’s desire and she conceived that very night.
Sometimes we have to get to the point of total surrender to the Lord. We have to empty ourselves out completely to God in worship before He can fill us up with our hearts desire.
Worshipping God takes us from worry and depression to peace as we place our life in His hands.
3) Forgiveness:
“Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.….” – Luke 23:34
There are times when we must forgive others who have wronged us even if we don’t get the apology we feel we deserve. An unforgiving heart will lead to a bitter and depressed spirit. That’s why it is vital that we forgive others and then turn around and forgive ourselves.
The devil’s job is to kill, steal and to destroy. He will do his best to make us feel guilty about the sins we have committed but we must rebuke the devil immediately and remember we have been forgiven the very moment we asked God for forgiveness.
God’s word encourages us in Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
4) Count it all Joy:
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” – James 1:2–3
This scripture encourages us to count it all joy when we find ourselves in different trials and circumstances. When we focus on the joy in our trying times, we will avoid failing into the pit of depression. Responding to our trials with a joyful heart that doesn’t mean everything is perfect or going great but it means we trust God and realize he is in control of the situation.
We can be joyful in the fact that whatever we are going through right, it’s working together for our good (Romans 8:28).
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