God taught me through Beth Moore
1. When you are not spending time in the Word of God, you are more prone to depression and other attacks from the enemy.
2. Will-powered faith is the worst kind of faith.
3. A relationship with God that is rooted in our ability or strength is doomed to fail for two reasons.
A. First, a will-powered faith will result in self-loathing.
B. Second, if our will-powered faith doesn’t end in self-loathing it is because it ended in self-righteousness.
C. Self-loathing or self-righteousness—God hates both.
4. That’s why he sent us a Helper. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17, ESV).
5. Jesus said it was to our advantage that He went away so He could send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7) to rescue us from the inevitable cycle of human strength-centered living.
6. He will give us the help that we cannot give ourselves. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21, ESV).
7. The Holy Spirit’s power at work within you, the same power that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11), is able to do for you supernaturally what you could not do naturally: live for Jesus and resist fast food.
From the Word of God He has taught me these things.
1. “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance. …For You are the God of my strength…” (Psalm 42:5, 43:2- NKJV).
2. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13- NKJV)
3. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9- NKJV).
4. “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?” (Proverbs 18:14 “I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word” (Psalm 119:25).
5. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6(NKJV)
6. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:4-8- NKJV).
7. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7).
8. "We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed… Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-18- NIV).
9. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
—Galatians 2:20(NKJV)
10. “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
God taught me through Focus on the Family
The Depth of Grace
God wants us to speak to Him, and in a familiar way. Paul even grants us permission to call our Lord "Abba"—Daddy. (Romans 8:15) What a privilege to approach the throne with the confidence of being a kid of the King!
even though we have permission to be familiar with God, we should never forget to whom we are speaking. And this is one of the great benefits of incorporating worship into our prayer time. When you start out praising God for His majesty, His creation, His love, His justice and His sovereignty, it's a great reminder that while you may be speaking to your heavenly Father, you are also speaking to the Almighty God.
How do you speak words of worship in your times of prayer?
One suggestion is what I have just mentioned. Pray through God's attributes. Thank Him for His grace, then take some time to think through what His grace means to you. Thank Him for His mercy, then take time to think through the ramifications of His mercy on our world. Thank Him for His justice, then take time to bask in the encouragement that even though it sometimes seems like the bad guys are winning, God will someday put things to right. That meditation on God's characteristics takes our worship out of the realm of just the mouth and puts it into our hearts.
A second suggestion is to pray Scripture
Take a passage of Scripture (the Psalms work great) and slowly read it through, phrase by phrase. After each phrase, stop and think through what you've just read and verbalize to God whatever comes upon your heart. Sorge says that in giving us His Word, God has "given us a way to bypass the self-centered, human-based, pity-filled praying toward which our souls want to gravitate. We can step into His mind, His thoughts, His expressions, His priorities and pray according to His will from His Word in the power of the Holy Spirit." This is the promise of 1 John 5:14-15, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him."
A good rule of thumb in our quiet times is to begin our prayers with the words "You are" instead of "I am" or "Will You." This will make sure we never forget that it's God we're talking to.
List five qualities of God and thank Him for each one, telling Him what it means to you.
Using the method described above, pray through Psalm 8.
"O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5You made Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned Him with glory and honor. 6You made Him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under His feet: 7all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
by Steve Yohn is the director of Adult Ministries at Fellowship Community Church
Depression doesn't make you a failure. Persevering through it makes you a strong Christian and a winner in God’s eyes.
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