7 Thoughts To Remember If You're Struggling With Depression
I just want to say a word here to all the believers
that are being oppressed, going through depression
and going through all kinds of mind games.
And you feel that at night, you can't even sleep because
you have all these thoughts you are battling.
Even though your body is still, your mind is like a war room.
And you hear all kinds of thoughts, and I know because
I've been there before.
Amen.
Friend, this is warfare.
And God has given us weapons.
And our weapons are not material,
they are not carnal.
Look at this in 2 Corinthians 10.
“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but”
mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”
Always remember this.
Your emotions are a reflection of what you are thinking.
That’s what I just told my son the other day.
“If you feel bad, it’s because you’re thinking bad.”
“You’re thinking bad thoughts. Thoughts of darkness.”
“Things won't look good tomorrow. I don’t think I’m able to do that.”
And you’re negative.
So your emotions follow your thoughts.
“But if your thoughts are positive,” I told him that.
“You know Jesus will be with you.”
Amen.
“When you go to school, He’s gonna walk with you.”
“He’s going to be your best friend.” Amen.
“He’ll never leave you.”
And your thoughts are positive. Guess what?
Your emotions will be positive. Amen.
So my friend, your emotions are an indicator of
what you are thinking.
Because we’re so used to thinking certain thoughts.
It’s been there for a number of years that
we don’t even know we’re thinking those thoughts.
But our emotions cannot lie.
If you’re experiencing depression, you’re experiencing thoughts of
self-loathing, you feel inferior, you feel lousy,
you feel even boredom, it’s always based on a thought
that has preceded that emotion.
Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Take no thought.”
“Take no thought, saying.”
How do you take a wrong thought?
You know the devil shoots thoughts in your mind,
and you take it.
You take it by saying.
“Take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat,’”
“‘what shall we drink, how shall we be clothed?’”
Worrisome thoughts, thoughts that cause you to be depressed,
thoughts that cause you to feel all this sense of hopelessness,
helplessness, feeling of abandonment.
Friend, you take those thoughts by “saying”.
If you are suffering from mental depression,
listen to what I am going to say. Amen.
Just live one day at a time.
Get up, just do what you are supposed to do,
and the next thing and the next thing,
and the Holy Spirit will lead you.
First step,
by step by step.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.”
Doesn’t light up all the way to your destiny.
It doesn’t show you your destiny.
David took one step.
God told him to bring— he obeyed his father.
Imagine if David did not obey his father at 17 years old.
The father says: “Bring this bread and cheese and”
“bring it to your brothers and the captains in front.”
And they were having a showdown with the Philistines,
where Goliath was challenging them but David did not know
because David was back in Bethlehem taking care of the sheep.
But he obeyed his father.
First step.
One step at a time.
He didn’t see his destiny that he would end up
killing Goliath, end up becoming king.
He did not see all that!
He just obeyed one step, bringing the bread and the cheese.
Your miracle is waiting for you but all God wants for you
is to take one step.
Maybe just go out there and sit down and watch TV.
Then you take one step. Just one step.
Don’t worry about tomorrow.
“But I am not working.” Don’t worry.
One step will lead you to your job.
“But I am not married at my age.”
One step will lead you to the right place.
Imagine Rebekah went that morning, not knowing
that she will meet her very, very anointed and rich
fiancé or husband-to-be, which was Isaac.
But she met the servant, right?
And she was just obeying the Lord by being generous
to feed his camel.
She ended up becoming the wife of Isaac, Abraham’s son,
who inherited everything from Abraham.
One step at a time.
Show them the Message Bible. Matthew 6.
It says like this:
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,
and don’t get worked up about what may or
may not happen tomorrow.
God will help you deal with
whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
This brings out the spirit of what Jesus is saying.
“Don’t worry about tomorrow.” This is The Message translation.
Enough problems today. And the manna comes daily.
There is enough manna for one day at a time.
Our minds are the ones being attacked.
We are attacked like, you know, it’s crazy.
People cannot focus because, today especially, the phone
and our social media and the kind of culture that we live in,
is full of distractions!
We are so afraid of missing out that we want to have
every information that we can have but that knowledge isn’t—
does it remind you of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
The tree that God didn’t want man to eat from is not just
a tree of evil.
It’s a tree of knowledge of good.
Of good even, and evil.
Amen.
God wants man to live from the tree of life!
Amen.
So knowing that knowledge, what has it done for you,
for your marriage?
What has it done for your health?
What has it done for your peace of mind?
What has it done for you financially?
What has it done for you, especially in your walk with God?
In enjoying the kingdom life that God wants you to enjoy?
The abundant life that Jesus came to give you?
What has it done for you?
You spend so much time, why?
Isaiah says it like this, and it is so relevant for our times.
He says: “Why do you spend time for what is not bread?”
“And for that which does not satisfy?”
Why do we spend so much time? Amen.
I’m not saying you throw away your phone.
I didn’t say that.
I’m saying control it. Don’t let it control you.
Have you ever read this verse? Hebrews 11:1.
“Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for…”
The Bible says, “NOW, faith IS”.
Between “faith” is “NOW” and “IS”.
Both are present tense.
Live in the “now” and you live in the realm of faith.
Because you know what?
Fear and worry has got nothing to do with the “now”.
Fear is something to do with the future, alright?
Worry is the future.
Guilt, condemnation, regret is the past.
So, if you are in regret, you’re worried,
you’re not living in the “now”.
If you live in the “now”, the Bible says:
“God is a very present help.”
“He is a very present help.”
Very present help in our time of need.
Amen.
The devil wants you isolated.
He wants you to think that your problem is
uniquely your own because you are a strange person.
“You look at your friends. They are all happy and all that.”
“You are strange.”
“You see, the thoughts that go through your mind?”
“Only you have these kind of thoughts.”
“Only you wake up in the middle of the night.”
“Only you have this depression. Only you.”
So the problem is this.
The devil likes to isolate people and
that’s why the Gadarene demoniac, he was all by himself,
all alone, and all forlorn, all sad by himself and
he was cutting himself, suicidal and all that.
But notice he was by himself.
It’s the work of the enemy to cause antisocial behavior
and also to isolate you from people.
How do you withstand the enemy?
“Steadfast in the faith.”
“Knowing the same sufferings are experienced by your”
“brotherhood in the world.”
There is something about brotherhood and sisterhood
that God wants you to learn in this warfare business.
If only we can sit down and— pastors do that a lot.
We, pastors, have learned to be vulnerable to each other.
I will tell them:
“Do you all wake up in the middle of the night or not,”
“for no reason. You wake up and you can’t sleep”
“and then you start having bad thoughts.”
“Bad thoughts about your family, bad thoughts about the future,”
“bad thoughts and you feel like a dark thought comes on you,”
“do you feel that way?” Then someone says:
“Pastor, these few days, I feel the same way.”
So, in that brotherhood, there is that expression.
Then you realize: “I am normal.”
“I am normal. I am also normal.”
Amen.
We are all under attack, let’s pray for one another.
You need that brotherhood.
In a care group is one of the best places.
You need to be connected.
God wants the church to be relational.
It’s not meant to be lone ranger.
Even Lone Ranger has Tonto, alright?
But God wants you to be related to each other.
Amen. Can I have a good amen?
So don’t just come to church and go off, you know.
Get connected somehow, get connected!
In a care group or in a ministry.
Get connected. Amen.
Get people you can call on when you are down
and when you share, something happens!
Even half the burden is lifted when you start sharing, amen?
The devil will come to you and knock you on the head,
because the Bible calls him “the accuser.”
He’s the accuser of our brethren, and guess what?
His main job is to accuse.
That is what his name means in Hebrew.
“Hasatan” means the one who is a prosecutor at law.
See, the prosecutor may know you have a good case but
he will never argue your good points in court.
He will always argue your bad points, Amen.
And you know, we all know we have not just a few,
We have a multitude of our sins staring at us, before us.
Amen.
So the more you look at yourself, the more you see despair, darkness.
The more you look within yourself, there is nothing but depression.
Amen. There is darkness.
The answer doesn’t come by looking at yourself.
You know the truth, and that’s why people are not buying this lie
that “I’m okay” and all that.
People are taking their lives, and more so than ever during this time.
I’m talking about the root cause of depression and frustration.
It’s to take your eyes off yourself, my friend, and look to Jesus!
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.”
Hallelujah.
“Our faith” is actually— the word “our” is added there.
It is He’s the author and finisher of faith. Amen.
The more I look to Him, faith springs up in my heart.
The more I look to Him, I’m transformed from
glory to glory into His same image.
Hallelujah.
Not by my efforts, but by His Spirit in me.
The more I look at Him, my snake bites, my sickness
becomes health and wholeness.
But the more I look at my wound, there’s no help there.
The more I look at my bite, there’s no help there.
I must look away to Jesus. Amen.
I must look to Him.
And what a beautiful object the Lord has given us.
The Father gave us His Son.
And you know what?
We’re discovering more and more, at each passing day,
how beautiful He is.
How He loves us so.
What do you do when you can’t sleep?
Meditate.
If the devil wants to keep you awake, let him pay.
That’s why it says: “You shall meditate on My Word,”
“day… (and night).”
“His delight is in the law of the Lord,”
“and in His law doth he meditate… (day and night).”
“And he shall be.” I will say the next day.
“He shall be like a tree planted.”
I don’t know how many times I’ve meditated and then
I fall asleep, into a deep sleep. I’m telling you, God is my witness.
There are times I cannot sleep, I’ll just meditate.
If I can’t sleep, I meditate!
But “it’s vain to sit up late, worrying. To rise up early because”
“you are worried, to eat the bread of sorrows.”
Why?
“For so God gives His beloved sleep.”
So if you’re having trouble with sleep,
you need to realize that there is the provision
where God gives sleep.
Can I have a good amen?
Ask God for it.
But you need to understand that God gives His beloved sleep.
You must have a sense that you are loved.
Establish that first.
Don’t struggle with sleep.
Establish the fact: “I’m God’s beloved.”
“But Pastor, what if that sense is not strong?”
Then listen to my sermon about the secret of John
until it’s so established in your heart.
Then at night, when you sleep, you find yourself being
cradled in His bosom. Amen.
Jesus rested on the Father’s bosom, even when
He was on earth.
He rested on God’s love for Him.
Amen.
When He was tempted, or tested by the devil in
the wilderness, what did He say?
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds”
“from the mouth of God.”
Right?
That was the first temptation, right?
And that was the first response.
But, what did the Father just tell Him?
The Father just said to Him:
“You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”
And Jesus lived by that.
He says: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word.”
“You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”
Do you know what is hope?
Hope means, hope with God is not: “I hope things will happen.”
No, hope means: “It will happen!”
What you dream will happen. Alright?
God will meet the desires of your heart.
Alright? God says: “Have hope.”
Man says: “Don’t raise your hopes.”
God says: “Raise your hopes as high as the throne of God.”
Hallelujah. Amen.
You have a God.
Those people who say: “Don’t raise your hopes.”
They don’t have a God.
You have a God of grace, of goodness, of mercy! Amen.
And do you know where He puts this door of hope?
Do you know where to find the door of hope?
God says: “There is no temptation, no testings, no trials that has”
“come on you that God will not give you the strength”
But find the way of escape!
There is a door in every test.
There is a door.
Where do you find this door of hope?
“In the valley of Achor.”
What is the valley of Achor?
God expects us to study the Bible.
And because some of us don’t study, we come to church
on Sunday, I will tell you what is “Achor” right now
so that you can all go back.
This is the last verse already.
Are you ready?
It’s a word for all of you. Alright?
It’s a word, a promise in your valley.
“Achor” means “trouble” in Hebrew.
It means trouble.
In your valley of trouble, notice that when
you are in trouble, you feel like you are not in the mountain.
You are in the valley.
“Pastor, I have all these debts looming.”
“I’m all down here, I feel crushed.”
God says: “You know what, in your valley of trouble,”
“I will open to you a door of hope.”
“Pastor Prince, you don’t understand.”
“Pastor, the doctor has given me some alarming news.”
If you are in a valley, you are going through a valley now,
God is going to put the door of hope.
And every time you open this door,
don’t forget what we learnt about the door just now in John 10.
When you open the door, you step into life more abundant
and you will find pasture.
God puts a door there. Alright?
Don’t open other doors that men try to put down there.
Alright?
The door is Jesus.
When you open the door,
you will find life and life more abundantly.
So what trouble are you going through right now?
God is putting, right now, in your valley, a door of hope.
His name is Jesus.
And what do you do with the door?
Open it!
Amen.
Jesus says: “I stand at the door and knock.”
“If any man hears my voice and opens the door,”
“I will come in.”
Amen.
Once He comes in, your sickness goes out.
Once He comes in, your lack goes out.
Once He comes in, peace on the house.
I just want you to know right now that there’s an anointing
that’s releasing people from depression, from discouragement,
from self-pity, from anger, from resentment.
I see like doors unlocked.
I see prison doors flung open with a loud sound, the clanging sound.
I hear like Elijah heard, the sound of the abundance of rain.
I’m hearing the unlocking of locks.
I’m hearing prison doors open.
I’m seeing people free from years of depression.
Free from discouragement.
Free from anger.
A life of self-pity.
A life of being angry, angry with people around you.
You are free!
This is your Jubilee!
Because He loves you, man.
He loves you.
Be free in the name of Jesus.
In the mighty name of Jesus, I command the spirits of depression,
the spirits of discouragement to loose you and let you go now!
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now Holy Spirit, pour in the love of God that is
shed abroad by you.
Pour into every heart.
Know that you are loved.
Know.
Even when the troubles are of your own making,
He will not leave you nor forsake you.
Even when you walk through your own will, your own volition,
you walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
He will not leave you.
He will not forsake you.
Thank God.
He’s always with you.
Let’s learn to flow with Him.
But when you get discouraged, tell Him.
Tell Him your discouragement.
When you are down, tell Him, tell Him.
And prove to yourself what a Friend,
what a wonderful Friend He is.
Amen.
A Friend that sticks closer than a brother.