Defeating
Discouragement{Part 2}
This is a
continuation of the message on why we need to defeat discouragement and how we
can do this. We have discuss how discouragement can be internal or external ;
how the enemy have used it as a great tool of attack to rob people of their
blessings. We will be looking at the cure from the spirit of discouragement;
how we can always receive divine encouragement for the lord and forever defeat
discouragement.
Defeating Discouragement
The
Cures for Discouragement
Now we
know some of the causes of discouragement ridicule and repression can lead to
fatigue, frustration, and fear. Let me tell you definitively that
discouragement is a curable disease. This is good news you don’t have to live
with a chronic condition anymore! Let’s look briefly at three cures for
discouragement.
1. The
first cure is to request God’s help. In the
jungles of Africa, a man was being pursued by a roaring, hungry lion. Feeling
the beast’s hot breath on his neck, and knowing his time was short, he broke
out into prayer as he ran like crazy, “O, Lord, please make this lion a
Christian. Please make him a Christian!” Within seconds, the frightened man
noticed that the lion had stopped chasing him. When he looked behind him, he
found the lion kneeling and moving his lips in obvious prayer. Greatly relieved
at this turn of events, he got close enough to the lion to hear him pray, “And
bless, Oh Lord, this food which I am about to receive.”
Nehemiah
requested God’s help in chapter one for Jerusalem. In chapter two, he prayed a
“popcorn prayer” while he was in the presence of the king. Now, in chapter
four, he prays two different times. He looked up before launching out, he
prayed before proceeding. Take a look at his first prayer in verses 4-5: “Hear
us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads.
Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt
or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the
face of the builders.” This was quite a prayer he wasn’t praying for his
enemies to become believers but instead for God to judge them. This prayer was
not nice, but it was understandable and honest. He knew that the enemies were
really fighting against God and so he asks God to deal with them.
He didn’t
give lectures to the workers, organize raiding parties against the enemies, or
create propaganda campaigns to put a different spin on things. Here’s the
principle we can learn from Nehemiah: When people talk against you, don’t talk
back talk to God. Verse 9 tells us that they prayed to God and posted a
guard. When their enemies started talking, Nehemiah continued to pray, and the
people continued to work.
2. The second cure is to
reorganize your priorities. In verse 13 Nehemiah said, “Therefore I stationed some of the
people behind the lowest point of the wall at the exposed places, posting them
by families, with their swords, spears and bows.”
Nehemiah
had already organized the people in chapter 3 and they had finished half of
their task. Now, however, a new situation had come about that required a change
in organization. If the enemies were going to attack they would most likely do
so at the weakest places. So Nehemiah put guards at all the vulnerable spots.
This served two purposes it discouraged the enemy and it encouraged the
people because it dealt with their fear.
When
we’re discouraged, one of the things we can do is to reorganize our priorities.
You can look at your life. You can adopt a change in approach instead of
becoming so discouraged that you quit. Do you have a problem in your marriage?
If so, don’t bail on your spouse! Change your approach. Adopt a new attitude.
Get some help. Do you have a problem in your job? Don’t give up! Change your
priorities. Do you have a problem in your walk with God? Don’t stop following
Jesus! Reorganize your schedule so you can meet with Him on a regular basis.
Plug into a small group. Don’t be overcome by discouragement. Do something
about it!
In verse
16 the workers reorganized again by dividing responsibilities half worked and
the other half kept watch. Those who worked used one hand for pushing the
wheelbarrow, and with the other hand, they carried a weapon. And, they worked
together as a team.
3. Remember
who God is. After looking everything over and
sensing the discouragement within his team, Nehemiah rallied his troops in
verse 14: “…Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and
awesome…” Nehemiah knew, even in the face of opposition, that the success of
the wall was wholly dependent upon God who inspired its beginning. Verse 10 was
true the people could not rebuild the wall on their own. They needed to
remember God and what He had promised.
I don’t
know about you, but it’s easy for me to forget God when things are tough. I
need to be reminded that He is always there for me. How do you remember the Lord?
By remembering that He will always be there for you. We’re to remember that He
is great and awesome. God is more than able to deal with your discouragement.
So, when
you’re down, turn your attention from your discouragement to the One who is
able to do something about it. God has been faithful to you in the past. He is
faithful to you today. And He has promised to be faithful to you in the future.
Remember the Lord. Remember His promises. Remember His goodness. Remember His
power. Our God is great and awesome! Remember
Him.
The
people complained about all the rubble in verse 10. Question. Wasn’t the rubble there in the beginning?
Of course it was. The difference was that when they started the project they
were focused on God and His character. Now, they had become rubble-gazers.
Friend, if you focus on all the junk in your life, and in the lives of others,
you will become discouraged. Let’s determine to be God-gazers instead of
rubble-gazers, OK?
Our Security Net
At the
time it was completed in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was the longest
suspension bridge in the world. During the first phase of the project 23 men
fell to their deaths in the icy water. Murphy’s laws were in evidence! Things
were going from bad to worse because there were very few safety devices. And
so, when it was halfway completed, they decided to take another look and make
some changes.
Do you
know what they did? They reorganized and built the largest net ever made, and
attached it under the area where the men were working. Was it worth the cost
and the time it took to do this? Ask the ten men who fell into it without being
injured! Not only did it save those ten lives, I’m told that the work was
completed in three-fourths the time because the workers no longer lived in fear
of falling.
Friends,
God’s great net of security spans this globe. No matter where we live. No
matter what we’ve done. No matter how discouraged we’ve been. He’s stretched
out His everlasting arms beneath us. As a result, we can live and work freely
and without fear, knowing that we are protected, safe and secure.
Discouragement can be defeated as we request His help, reorganize our
priorities, and remember who He is.
The Communion
When you
think about it, most of us are just halfway, if even that, in our Christian
lives. We’re well aware of the rubble and the mess. And, like the wall workers,
it’s so easy to get discouraged and not remember the Lord who is great and
awesome.
Jesus
knows that we have a built in capacity to forget and that many of us default to
discouragement.
Sermon by Brian
Bill
Prayer Points
1. Spirit of heaviness, I bind you, in Jesus’ name.
2. I cancel every spirit of doubt, fear and discouragement, in the
name of Jesus
3. Every power calling my name for evil, expire, in the mighty name
of Jesus
4. Anything planted in my life to destroy my future, die, in the
name of Jesus.
5. Every arrow of sorrow targeted at my parents, my own life is not
for you, die, in the name of Jesus.
6. I arise and move into the signs and wonder by fire, in the name
of Jesus.
7. If I have been knocked down, I receive power to bounce back now!
O God arise for me as you arose for
Elijah in Jesus’ name.
8. I receive dominion over every satanic challenge in any area of
my life, in the name of Jesus.
Confession Prayers
1.
Help me in times of
trouble to magnify You and not the problem;
2.
Father help me to organize
my day in a way that prepares me for unforeseen situations.
3.
Give me the grace to deal
with problems in a loving way that honors You and others.
4.
Father help me to maintain
a consistent prayer life and be replenished continually by Your Presence.
5.
I know that as I patiently
wait on You in this season, You will surely renew my strength.
6.
I will run and not get
tired, I will walk strongly;
7.
Father, I will not forget
Your benefits as daily You help bear my burdens. Though I’m facing seemingly
endless difficulties, I will not throw in the towel.
8.
I will set my eyes upon
the hills and look forward with confidence of the future You have prepared for
me;
9.
God even if You slay me I
will still trust You and maintain my integrity before You.
10.
Strengthen my inner man to
rely on You more and more each day.
11.
I lean not on my own
understanding of the situation, but trust continually in You; in the name of
Jesus Christ, who reigns supremely with You and the Holy Spirit forever and
ever.
Seven Fold Amen with Faith!!!
Amen!
Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen!
2015 is your Year of multiple restoration and
unparalleled Favor in the name of Jesus
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IF THE ENEMY HAS STOLEN FROM YOU;
RECOVERY IS BY FORCE.
STOP THEM BEFORE THEY STOP YOU,
GOD BLESS YOU.
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