Overcoming Discouragement

Greetings,

                So you're discouraged. I get that. Life is hard, and anyone that said it was easy—they lied. Maybe you're in the midst of a difficult break-up. Maybe you are watching in disbelief as your marriage is falling to pieces. You may have just found out that you're the next mother of a pregnant teenager, and she's already four-months pregnant. Maybe your children are in gross rebellion, and while you don't want to admit it, all you can do is blame yourself and your own shortcomings.

                You may be discouraged because of that addiction you can never overcome. Is it alcohol? Maybe it's marijuana? Or is your demon even more insidious, like cocaine or heroin? Maybe your battle is with pornography or masturbation. Maybe, it's simply the cyclical self-defeating ideologies that play over and over in your head like a broken record player. Whatever boat you find yourself in, you are hurting. When you sit back and attempt to assess your life, you are overwhelmed by a horrific sinking feeling. You feel like wasted life.

                Discouragement is difficult. When a person is engaged in this battle, it is like trying to wrestle their way out from under a ten thousand pound cinder block. I've been there. Weakness overtakes us no matter what strategy we attempt to implement. It's like trying to start a car with no gas. Even with a fresh coat of wax and brand new rims—even with a pricy clean up job—it's not going anywhere. The engine will try to start: but it will fail. As the driver, you eventually give up, lean back in your chair, and resolve that under the present circumstances, you are not going anywhere.

                Maybe you are the one that has paid for seminars, self-help books, counseling, and still have yet to see the change you need. You are like that freshly waxed car. Your head is full of great advice. You know things that have worked for others. Maybe you even spoke some of that knowledge and watched it bless someone else. But you, that's different. You have no results. You have more failure. You have more discouragement. Discouragement and hopelessness are a dynamic duo, and they dynamically oppress your life. What can you do?

                Unfortunately, I must admit upfront that there is no way a single article can solve all of the complexities of your situation. However, I believe that there are certain key insights that may start you down a path that will ultimately introduce you to the victory you have so longed for. The truth of the matter is that I have battled with discouragement. Frankly put, there are moments that I still battle with discouragement. The difference for me is that I now understand the true nature of my battle with discouragement. Before I realized its true nature, I got my butt kicked every time!

                Before I disclose the true nature of my battle with discouragement I want to make one thing clear. Physiological chemical imbalances can lead to feelings of discouragement. If a simple change in diet or some herbal supplements solve your feelings of discouragement, this is clearly the source of your problems. If these changes have no impact, then your battle with discouragement runs deeper. For you, my personal insights may prove exceptionally helpful.

                In the year of 2011 I went on a unique type of fast. I fasted all media and forms of electronic entertainment. This meant no movies, no TV, no video games, etc. I took it a step further and even fasted entertainment in the form of fiction novels and other publications designed to provide entertainment. This may have been easier if I was working a full-time job, but for the majority of the year I wasn't working at all. I literally prayed, studied, and wrote all day long. Can you imagine? It was the ultimate attempt to sever myself from all things worldly and totally immerse myself into the things of God. This fast went on without interruption for a literal 365 days. Under such circumstances, most would simply assume that I ate and slept the glory and presence of God.

                Contrary to popular thought, this was not quite the case. Don't get me wrong, it worked to greatly accelerate certain works of God in my personal life, and I did have incredible moments with God that in some ways are impossible to describe with words. However, the majority of my day-to-day life was repetitive. I read so many non-fiction books on God and the Bible that all of the information began to repeat itself. There were many times that I found myself incredibly bored. However, the biggest challenge (at least initially) was discouragement. About three months into the fast discouragement hung onto me so heavily that felt like my physical body would literally collapse under the weight of it. Where was this discouragement coming from?

                This is when I began to understand in a very personal way that my battle with discouragement was spiritual. It was an attack on my life because the enemy hated the way I was sacrificing myself to go deeper with God. Thus discouragement was given an assignment to not only stifle my ability to engage God during the fast but also to interrupt the fast if at all possible.

                It was a few days into this horrific attack that God spoke to me about starting a prayer team. I contacted several close and trusted believers and formed a team of people to pray me through that year. I want to take a moment to give a very special shout-out to my Mom, Fabienne, Martyne, Becky, and my Grandparents for making up my prayer team that year. The impact: within days of linking arms with these other believers the power of discouragement was broken (in addition to numerous other answered prayers). It was a battle I wasn't yet strong enough to win myself. I needed others to stand with me, and in unity there was victory. If you are like I was, and nothing you've done has worked, I urge you to surround yourself with others. Christianity is a team effort. We need the support and prayers of others to win!

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The Importance of Accuracy

Greetings,

                There are many excuses that people use to write off what is actually a spiritual attack. Some might call it bad luck. Others might just blame everyone around them—calling them incompetent. Still others will blame God. They will call the problem everything but what it is—a spiritual attack.

                Spiritual attacks can come in a variety of ways. They can come as an assault on our thought lives. They can be the cause of unexplainable fear or anxiety. Spiritual attacks can be the driving force behind a failing marriage or a broken family. They can even cause lost opportunities. When we are faced with difficult situations that come as a result of spiritual attacks it is essential for us to discern them as such.

                The lesson I want to communicate is not simply that we need to call spiritual attacks what they are. We must also identify what kind of spiritual attack we are trying to overcome and deal with the attack specifically. Believer's, regardless of how closely they walk with God, will come under attack from the enemy. Even if the enemy can't get to them, he can give them a hard time by afflicting those around them.

                When believer's have the sense to identify that they are experiencing a spiritual attack, they must specifically confront the source of the attack. We must avoid seeing people or situations as the problem and start seeing the problem for what it is. The devil has destroyed many solid families and relationships by attacking people and making them blame their experience on those around them. Don't take the bait. He has also sabotaged many legitimate opportunities. Don't sit back and let the devil walk all over you.

                Before going any further I must address an issue that may arise in some of you reading this. The question is, why should we be responsible to confront the enemy? Isn't that the job of Jesus? Doesn't He have all of the power and authority meaning "without Him we can do nothing"?

                These questions, when answered incorrectly, have led many believer's to accept a very flawed perspective regarding their relationship to God and the spirit realm. Some people have been led to believe that since Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, they should have no role in spiritual warfare. This has led people to take a stance of powerlessness. It has also caused many people to struggle to hold onto their faith when their problems don't just evaporate.

                What we as believer's must realize is that we have authority in Christ. While entire books have been written to make this one point, we are going to simply focus on two passages. In the following verse, the apostle Paul makes it clear that he was operating in an authority given to him by God. God gives believer's authority, plain and simple.

                "For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed" (2 Corinthians 10:8)

                The Bible goes on to say that we have been given the power over all the power of the enemy. This is God's authorization for us to go forth in the name of Jesus Christ and confront the powers of darkness in the spirit realm. In other words we are granted authority for a reason.

                "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:19)

                When it comes to using the power we have been given "over the power of the enemy", we must learn to be specific. This will ensure our effectiveness when engaging in spiritual warfare. For instance, I can bind a spirit of alcoholism all day long, but if a spirit of drug abuse is the problem, nothing will happen. This is why we have to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, who will always reveal to us the source of the attack.

                When the source of the attack is revealed, we will be empowered to know the name of the spirit or spirits that are involved in the spiritual attack. When it comes to addressing demons by name, we don't necessarily need to know their actual name. This is something I have learned from experience. For instance, there are specific names for spirits in the Bible such as Abaddon, Beelzebub and Legion. However, instead of wasting time trying to figure out names we simply need to know the realm of activity that a spirit is working in.

                The Bible is clear that this is a biblical strategy. For instance, the Bible refers to the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). In this case the Bible doesn't tell us a specific name like "Sam." It simply says "spirit of fear". Any number of spirits could be at work under the guise of fear, but when we address "fear" in the name of Jesus they will all have to go.

                In closing, I will share a short personal story in order to illustrate the application of this principle. When I first moved into the house that I am living in now, my wife and I started to have a lot of arguments. While it is true that all couples will disagree and get frustrated with each other at times, things got unusually bad for us. After a week or so, I had a revelation that a spirit of strife was at work in the house. I prayed through the house, anointing it with oil, specifically naming "strife" and casting it out in the name of Jesus. After I did this, the excessive arguments stopped.

                 I later came to find out that the people who lived in the house before us had a lot of problems. They used to fight all the time and apparently it was pretty bad. It was necessary for me to confront the evil spirit according to its realm of activity and kick it out in the name of Jesus. However, if I had missed it and attempted to drive out "alcoholism" my issues would not have been solved because "strife" would not have had to leave. The effectiveness of our spiritual warfare often depends on our willingness to be led by the Holy Spirit and to specifically address the attacks, calling them by name. When we begin to do this, we release the power of God according to our authority in order for Him to change our situation and set us free.