Are you exhausted by life? Do you feel discouraged?

You might not feel like worshiping the Lord right now, but if you choose to worship Him anyway, your heart will start to remember why it’s alive. That is the natural outcome of turning your attention to the One who made you and giving Him praise.

Worship and words of praise have more power than our human minds can understand. In his book 90 Minutes in Heaven, Don Piper puts it this way:

Satan is a liar. He wants to steal our joy and replace it with hopelessness. When we’re up against a struggle and we think we can’t keep going, we can change that by praising God. Our chains will fall from us.

When you feel weighed down, depressed, full of despair, like nothing will ever change, like your joy is being destroyed, like there is no hope left in the world—it is good to stop, take a deep breath, and turn your thoughts back to the Lord.

Here are three days of journaling activities to help you “come back to life” when you’re discouraged.

Journaling Day 1

Praise Ruins Discouragement

When we praise the Lord, we are speaking more than “words,” the way we tend to understand words. God is the ultimate being inside or outside creation, so any words we speak about Him are absolute truth. His truth is what crafted the earth and stars. His truth heals people’s bodies and raises the dead. The pillars of creation are not as mighty, purposeful, and firm as the truth of the Lord. Speaking His truth is powerful.

Charles Spurgeon describes praising the Lord this way:

Whenever we have to praise God, what do we do? We simply say what He is! “You are this and You are that.” There is no other praise. We cannot fetch anything from anywhere else and bring it to God; the praises of God are simply the facts about Himself!  

When we are discouraged, we need to remind ourselves of who God is. Unfortunately, when our hearts are aching, it can be hard to remember who He is. If that’s you and you’re drawing a blank on how to praise Him, open up His Word to the Psalms and start there.  

Here is one verse that works well when you feel unsafe, overcome, or lost:

This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him. (Ps. 91:2 NLT)

Here are a few brief prayers based on this verse. Journal about them, and treasure whatever the Lord tells you today:

• Lord, this is what I declare about You: You are my refuge! You are the place where I hide when I’m scared and overwhelmed.

• I am anxious about ________, but You are my place of safety.

• You alone are my God, and I know You will take care of me.

• You have all my trust.  

Journaling Day 2

Changing Out of the Spirit of Heaviness

The “spirit of heaviness” is a real thing. The Bible talks about it in Isaiah:

To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. (Isa. 61:3 NKJV)

The Lord consoles those who mourn—are you mourning right now?

He gives beauty in the place of ashes—have you suffered loss? Do you have ashes where there should be life? He is comforting you.

Bill Johnson believes the garment of praise is a choice. We can put it on the same way we can put on any other kind of garment (metaphorically speaking).

Just as we choose what we are going to wear each day, we can also choose to put on the “garment of praise” instead of the “spirit of heaviness.” A spirit of heaviness anchors us to problems, but when we choose the garment of praise, we take root in God’s goodness and become oaks of righteousness.

Here is a verse you can use to worship the Lord and let go of the spirit of heaviness:

Why are you discouraged, my soul?
    Why are you so restless?
        Put your hope in Elohim,
            because I will still praise him.
                He is my savior and my Elohim. (Ps. 42:5 NOG)

Here are a few brief prayers based on Psalm 42:5. Journal about them, and treasure whatever the Lord tells you today:

• Lord, my soul finds its rest in You.

• All my hope is in You, and I will keep praising You, no matter how I feel.

• I don’t know what’s going on right now, but You are my Savior and my God. That has not changed.

• I wait in hope for You.

Journaling Day 3

Declaring the Truth of God over Your Life

Speaking the truth of God opens the door for amazing things to happen. In his devotional titled Growing in Faith, Rick Sizemore says the following:

Confessing God’s truth is like getting on an elevator and pressing the button for the floor we want. If we don’t press a button (confess nothing), the elevator won’t move. If we press the button for the floor we’re on (confess only our present circumstances), the elevator still won’t move.

God once told me, “Rick, if you get on the elevator of life and say nothing, you will receive nothing. If you get on the elevator of life and confess the circumstances of your life at the present time, that is where you will stay.” But then He said, “If you get on the elevator of life and confess what I say about where you are going, that is where you will go!”

What has God told you? What has He said about you? Speak those truths out loud, and get ready to become what He has said.  

Second Timothy 1:7 is a beautiful truth about how you are made. This verse is true about you even when you feel discouraged or like there is no hope:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (NKJV)

Here are a few brief prayers based on 2 Timothy 1:7. Journal about them, and treasure whatever the Lord tells you today:

• I am not fearful or cowardly. That is not how You made me.

• I am powerful and can act powerfully because of You.

• I love well, because You have instilled Your love inside me.

• I have a sound mind. I am capable of thinking excellent thoughts that are filled with Your wisdom and truth.

Honestly, it’s pretty easy to get discouraged right now because of everything happening in the world. Beloved child of God, if you’re struggling, don’t be afraid to worship. Don’t hesitate to take this “risk” and praise the Lord.

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