Pray Network Forum

It is important to see hope as something that makes a difference in our daily lives. Among the things hope affects are discouragement and depression. Most of us have experienced depression from time to time. Some of my heroes dealt with personal disconsolation. Among them Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great nineteenth century pulpiteer. On several occasions as thousands who came to hear him on a Sunday morning sang hymns and waited for him to come to the pulpit, the great preacher wouldn't appear. Finally, his deacons would go and knock on his study door. “Dr Spurgeon, you must come out. It is time for you to preach.” He would answer, “I can’t.” And the deacons would take up an offering and send him for several weeks on the French Riviera.

Depression can have a terrible hold on our lives. I am no exception to that, but it was not a major problem for most of my life. However, depression is a side effect of some of my cancer treatments. And I have had to learn to break out of the gloom. I have not always been successful, but I believe that what I have learned about this from Scripture will be helpful to many people. Psalm 42 is a great place to start. The psalm concludes with these words.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation and my God.”

Many of you are familiar with a gospel song that comes from Psalm 42, Why So Downcast O My Soul, by Marty Nystrom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA-S_0LcRWs Listening to this music always lifts my heart. Psalm 42 calls us to put our hope in God. Let me point out some means of putting our hope in God.

• Praise

Praise is a major theme of the Psalms from beginning to end. The Hebrew people sang these songs in wonderful worship. You may be familiar with the story from the writings of Josephus about Alexander the Great ascending the Temple Mount on his white charger prepared to destroy the city. But as he did he saw the people dressed in white ropes singing the Songs of Ascent as they worshipped and prayed for the Lord to spare their city. Josephus says Alexander got off his horse and bowed with them in worship.

Praising God will certainly be counterintuitive to you if you are suffering from depression. But that is the very first thing you need to do to break depression's hold. Another gospel song that declares this truth is Praise The Lord, made popular by The Imperials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfTQg9whI-s . The lyrics read,

“For the chains that seem to bind you

Serve only to remind you

That they drop powerless behind you.

When you praise Him.”

Praise is an act of the will. You can praise God even when you are feeling down.

• Remembering

Psalm 42 begins as the heart cry of someone who feels far from God. But in verse 4 the psalmist remembers glorious worship he has been part of in the past. Remembering is crucial to walking with Christ. We need to remind ourselves of what we know about God. We need to remind ourselves who God is. We need to remember what He has done for us. Remember His promises. In Psalm 42 we are called to remind ourselves of worship when we did feel like worshipping. Have you ever thought about this? When your heart is stirred as never before in worship, you are making memories that God can use to break depression when you are plagued with it?

• Talking to Ourselves

In verse 5 of Psalm 42, as in the final verse, the psalmist talks to his own soul. “Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God.” The world, the flesh, and the devil will speak constantly to your heart. To counter those words you need to talk to yourself. You need to tell yourself to hope in God.

• Corporate Worship

Psalm 42 speaks of the joy of corporate worship. Ephesians 5:18-20 relates worshipping together to the filling of the Holy Spirit. I seldom think of the filling of the Spirit in these terms. But my idea that the filling of the Holy Spirit is something that only happens to individuals relates to a major American heresy. We think of spiritual growth, and service, and devotion as things we do alone. But we are filled with the Holy Spirit in communion with the family of God.

• Listen to God

Listening to God is another important tool in overcoming depression. I do not mean simply remembering precious things God has told me in the past. I am also talking about actively hearing His voice in the present. I do several things to hear God’s voice. First, I listen to great preaching. I thank God for the technology that brings me teaching and preaching by great preachers like Rick Warren, N.T. Wright, Michael Ramsden, Ravi Zacharias, Tim Keller, and the list goes on.

It is also important to listen directly to God in His word. God regularly speaks to His children in Scripture. And when I memorize a verse or a passage, I store God's word in my mind for Him to speak to me again and again.

• Meditation

I need to list meditation as a separate discipline here. When we spend time thinking about God's character, promises, directives, and assurances, He plants those things deep into our souls. In Psalm 119 David said he hid God’s word in his heart that he might not sin. God changes our character as we meditate on His truth. God will use this to transform our lives through the renewing of our minds. And breaking depression requires new thinking.

• Rest

In our modern world we seldom think of rest as a spiritual discipline. However in Genesis 2:3 the Bible says God sanctified the Sabbath. Rest is Holy. When Elijah was discouraged and exhausted in 1 Kings 19, God gave him food, and He gave him rest.

I indicated earlier that some of my malaise has physical causes. I do not believe you have to have cancer for this to be the case. One of the physical and spiritual causes of depression is lack of sleep. I can devote time to rest. That may mean putting my cell phone out of reach, or even closing the computer, or turning off the TV at night.

Psalm 127:2 has been a favorite of mine for a long time. It says God gives his beloved sleep.

I had a chemotherapy treatment today. I often can’t sleep at all the first night after chemo. I can spend my wakeful hours in God’s word. And I can pray for my family and other prayer lists. But I also ask God to help me sleep.

• Fellowship

Christian Fellowship is also an important tool for getting our minds off our own concerns. This can be difficult because when you are depressed you do not wish to be around people. But it is important to remember that we need one another in the family of God. Loving them and being with them is a blessing.

• Giving

Giving will lift your spirits. In Acts 20:35 we are reminded that Jesus told us “It is more blessed to give than it is to receive. Giving someone else a gift brings more joy than receiving. This is especially true when your giving is being stretched by needs that God shows you. I am aware many of us no longer believe this. You have to put it into practice to realize how great this blessing is.

• Praying for Others

Praying for other people is an important discipline for our spiritual lives. And it is an important means of getting our eyes off our own feelings. Several days ago I was feeling particularly down. I had gone with my wife to a large grocery store with a coffee shop. While she shopped I set outside the coffee bar and tried to pray, not only for the people sitting at other tables, but for people entering and leaving the store. I cannot think of anything I've done in a long time that made me feel better.

• Obey

Obedience is a crucial means of lifting our spirits. In Luke 16 Jesus told a parable about being faithful in small things. When you are down it is good to look for some small thing you can do to obey God. When we stand before God, we will will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But we can already hear Him whispering those words into our hearts as we obey even small things He has told us to do.

• Giving Thanks

Finally, I believe the most powerful tool for breaking depression may be saying, “Thank you.” Thanking God is at the heart of this. I occasionally try to devote and entire day to giving thanks that God is working in the lives of people I meet, that he is present in my life, that he is worthy of my praise.

It is also good to formally thank other people for things they have done for us. It is worth sending someone a card or going to the trouble of writing a letter to say “Thank you,” to someone who has blessed you.

I know I have given you a long list. But small measures are seldom enough to break the hold of moods. I recommend that you print out this list, and try to do most, if not all of these things. I do not want you to feel guilty because this is too much. But I do encourage you to work hard to break the hold of depression. Depression protects itself by keeping you from wanting to be freed from it. Your depression itself will fight anything you do to break it. Pray that God will change your desires and behavior as you ask Him to deliver you from depression.

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http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

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http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

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Many of us have a few quiet days after Christmas. This is a good time to rest. You may want to read something you have not had time to read or maybe a new book given you for Christmas. This is also an important time to think and pray.

As Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart, it is well to savor all that God has done for us, for you. As you think of your celebration of Christmas, you may remember things that did not go as you wished or as God desires. Was there a conflict in your family? Pray for the people involved. Pray for God to heal the rift. Do you need to forgive someone? Do you need to ask God's forgiveness? Do you need to struggle with repentance until you can rest in the luxury of His grace.

You may need to look back at the tumultuous year that is coming to a close. It should alarm us, and cause us to pray. Americans need to pray for our country. We need to pray for the world. But even in the midst of the turmoil we need to rest in God. He is sovereign even in the face of immorality, lies, terrorism, war, disruption of homes driving needy people across the world.

And while you are thinking and praying, ask God to show you what you need to be praying for the coming year. What is God calling you, us, to join Him in?

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

I preached Sunday for the first time in over a year. I have some serious health problems and I was exhausted, really before I finished the sermon. When we got home I was thinking with a critical mind about my sermon when my wife asked me if I thought God was pleased with the service. It took me some time to bring my mind into the right perspective. To be honest I needed to sleep like Elijah in the cave before I could properly answer the question. Later in the evening, still very tired although I had slept, I remembered something I said as I began to preach. “God loves us. He has our picture on His refrigerator.” Some of you, like much of the gathered worshippers, are too young to know what I was talking about. But those of you who have grandchildren, knew immediately.

God was thrilled with the service. He loved the music. Most of the people were blessed as well. Our Lord was present in the fellowship. And He spoke through the Scriptures and preaching, despite the weakness of the preacher. He is God, and He still loves His church.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

Do you take a Sabbath from your writing. I recommend that you take one if you can. I say, if you can, because many of you write while maintaining a real job. And you won't write much if don't write in every free moment you can muster.

After retiring from active pastoring, I began trying to write full-time. At that point God was convicting me of not having taken days off or taking enough time for spiritual and physical renewal in my 40 plus years as a pastor. So I begin my full-time writing with a Sabbath. I don't write or work on my writing from Friday evening to Saturday evening. I have found it rewarding in a number of ways.

First, I have not had to deal with burnout. Most of the time I chafe because I feel like I have not got enough done by 6:00 when I quit on Fridays. Frankly, this keeps me motivated. The break always refreshes my passion. I am usually anxious to get started again on Saturday night. Of course, we are often doing family things on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Those things add to my motivation rather than distracting me.

I also gain inspiration in a Sabbath. I do not necessarily recommend that you stop thinking about your writing while taking a Sabbath, whenever you try to take it. But some of my best ideas come when I am not thinking about writing at all. If I didn't discipline myself a little, I would hardly ever have a time I was not thinking about my writing.

Finally, and most closely related to Biblical observance of the Sabbath, by taking a break I acknowledge that God is the source of all writing. I show that I am trusting Him to help me think. I am asking God's help in finishing what I working on. A Sabbath declares that everything I am, and have, and do comes from God. I give it to Him much like I worship with a tithe of our income.

 http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/  

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/  

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

You may have seen the little tomato shaped timers called Pomodoros. The 2016 Writer's Market mentions an app called a Pomodroido. It can be downloaded to your smart phone for writing marathons. Each thirty minute block is called a pomodoro. (I think they should have called them Pomodores.) The article suggest that you take a thirty minute break after four pomodoros. Stand up, stretch and walk around.

I don't have any cute ways to time my writing breaks. In fact, I try to time mine by thought breaks or scene changes. But I break up my writing with prayer. I have prayer lists to pray through while I clear my mind from writing. 

I too need to stand up and possibly walk around the block. That is ideal for prayer. When I sit back down to write I am not only refreshed, but I am more in tune with the source of inspiration. 

Prayer like writing is something you have to discipline yourself to do. And both of these disciplines work wonderfully together.

In the garden before the cross Jesus asked His disciples if they could not even pray for an hour. I'm afraid He would have to ask us if we can pray for five minutes. Extended prayer is particularly difficult in our lives so filled with responsibilities, blessings, and distractions.

Praying significantly in the midst of writing is also quite difficult, and requires discipline. I maintain a series of prayer lists for people and concerns around me. And I try to pray for them in occasional breaks in my writing. This week I have been working on several chapters that I’m adding to a book I've nearly completed. Not only am I anxious to complete the book, but I've been driven by the need for these chapters. And I was consumed by what I was writing. I began one of those days with a devotional time, but I did not take a break all morning long. I suppose I wouldn't have stopped for lunch if my wife had not got my attention.  

I wanted to get going again as soon as I had gobbled down a sandwich. I had to discipline myself to pray and read my Bible a little. It was a warm afternoon for March. So I took my drink outside to spend a little time with God. I had hardly begun before I noticed something I had not realized during my meal or writing all morning. My muscles were wound up tight, and I was exhausted. I actually found my devotional time restful and was restored to begin writing again as soon as I finished.

I  began my afternoon writing with zeal. In a few minutes I was caught back up in the passion of my writing. By the time I finished I was again exhausted. I had difficulty finishing the planned prayer for the day. But I am pleased with what I wrote. And I strongly suspect that the quality of my writing was better because I not only took a physical, but a spiritual rest in the arms of God.

http://daveswatch.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

2 Chronicles 7:14 reads,

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked way, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land."

Prayer is the natural and supernatural expression of humility. Humility is evidence of God working in our lives drawing us to His embrace.

When we pray we humble ourselves in our spiritual weakness. Many years ago God pressed on my heart that I needed to gather a prayer team to pray for me. To be honest I found this very embarrassing. I had to publicly admit that I did not have it all together.

We must humble ourselves before the will of God when we pray. In biblical prayer I do not approach Almighty God as if He were my assistant to give me my selfish desires. Biblical prayer longs for things to be made right. It prays for God’s good and perfect will to be done.

In prayer we often humble ourselves before other believers. Notice that this verse, like most promises and commands regarding prayer, is plural. When we pray together as a nation, a church, a small group or two or three agreeing, we yield to each other's concerns. Even praying alone is more fulfilling when we intercede for others.  

In prayer we also humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God. It is necessary for us to pray for things God is calling us to do. I often think the final confirmation that God is in something is impossibility. If God is telling you to do something, it will be impossible. If God does not work, such things will never be accomplished. By praying you admit that you cannot do what only God can do.

And ultimately we humble ourselves before the person of God in prayer. When we pray we expose ourselves to God's might, majesty and absolute holiness. We come to see our absolute inadequacy in the presence of God. And we humbly and joyfully rest in His sufficiency.

Next week I plan to write on seeking God's face. In prayer we seek God for Himself. We don't just want His things. We seek and find intimacy with God.

One of the top concepts in the corporate world these days is “the power of full engagement.” It’s a paradigm for managing your personal or organizational energy, and I think you would find it very helpful.

But recently I’ve been learning about the flipside of that concept: the power of full DISENGAGEMENT.

Let me explain why this is so important…

My baby blue 1976 Fiat was the favorite car I’ve ever owned. With 5-speed manual transmission and a responsive engine, it was a complete blast to drive.

But sometimes my Fiat was so much fun that I forgot to press the clutch before changing gears. The result was a horrible grinding sound, not to mention considerable embarrassment on my part. And occasionally my failure to press the clutch even resulted in the engine stalling.

Lately I’ve realized that God is getting me ready for a new season in my life, and I’ve thought about the lesson I learned years ago with that old Fiat: If you’re going to make a smooth transition from one gear (or season) to the next, you’d better press the clutch first.

In many ways, this seems a great paradox. In order to be fully engaged with the next gear, you must first take time to be fully disengaged from your present gear. Shortcuts simply don’t work. In fact, shortcuts will eventually cause permanent damage to the gears.

No one modeled the power of disengagement better than Jesus. When He saw that His disciples were facing burnout because of never-ending activity, He instructed them to “come apart” to a quiet place and get some rest (Mark 6:31 KJV). Then and now, those who don’t intentionally disengage from their daily grind on a regular basis will eventually “come apart” (i.e., fall apart) in unpleasant, unintentional ways.

Jesus realized the POWER in disengagement, especially when we use that time to better engage with our Heavenly Father. We repeatedly see Him disengaging from the crowds, and even from His disciples, to go pray in the wilderness or on top of a mountain. What was the result of such times? “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14).

Isn’t that beautiful? After Jesus purposefully disengaged for a while, He was able to reengage with new strength and power.

Today, do you find yourself anticipating a new season in your life, but unsure how to get there? Or perhaps you feel stuck in “second gear,” unable to move on. Or maybe you keep hearing a loud screeching sound every time you try to move from one gear to the next.

If you can relate to any of these symptoms, I encourage you to discover—or rediscover, like I have—the power of full disengagement. Leave your friends and family for a few days. Disconnect from your work responsibilities, your smart phone, and your social media. Find a place to quiet your heart and rest.

As you take time to disengage and be still, you’ll experience the powerful message of Psalm 46:10: He is God—and you’re not! That is really, really good news, isn’t it?

One of the reasons why I began writing His Inscriptions was to strengthen believers - especially Christian leaders - who are weary and exhausted for various reasons. You may be feeling that way today. It is not uncommon, in an increasingly hostile world, to feel tired or discouraged. Once we are weary, it becomes harder than ever to maintain the good habits we have of connecting with God. Self-discipline eludes us and our communication with God ebbs at the time we need it most.

The Bible addresses weariness, and in its simplest form, we know that a weary body needs rest and nourishment, just as a weary spirit does. (Read more here)