A prayer for troubled hearts

A prayer by Scotty Smith that is based on these verses

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Then Scotty writes:

Dear Lord Jesus, yesterday’s troubling stories shape today’s morning prayer. I went to bed late last night, wearied with woes of good friends. I arise today hungry with hope in you—our great and gracious Savior.

Thank you for being honest with us about life this side of the new heaven and new earth. We are a broken people in a broken world; and you’re not an on-demand bellhop or genie, promising the elimination hardships and heartaches. But you are a very present help and Redeemer—pledging your presence in every circumstance and trial. Troubling news doesn’t have to cripple our hearts. Indeed, may it carry our hearts to you today, for you are ever so trustworthy, Lord Jesus.

For our friends stunned with heartbreaking health news, we declare our trust in you, Jesus. How we long for the day when words like cancer, dementia and heart disease will no longer appear in our vocabulary. Until that day, we unabashedly and earnestly pray for healing, and we trust you for all-surpassing peace and more-than-sufficient grace.

For our friends saddened with heart-ripping issues with their children, we declare our trust in you, Jesus. Few troubling reports carry more power to dishearten than those related to our children. Whether they’ve been vandalized by others’ darkness or victimized by their own foolish choices, it hurts real bad and real deep. We appeal to your covenant faithfulness and your powerful reach. Capture the hearts of our children, Jesus, and help us love them well in the chaos and the crisis.

For our friends saddled with heart-wrenching financial burdens, we declare our trust in you, Jesus. There’s a growing number among us who have more month left over at the end of the check. Even though the Dow is up, the hope of many is down, and the possibility of losing homes still looms.

Continue reading here.

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Divine counsel for the oppressed

Psalm 42 is one of those “go to” Psalms for me when I am down.  In both Psalm 42 and 43 the psalmist asks himself, “Why are you downcast o my soul?”  And he answers himself “Hope in God!”  I love how this writer identifies his need and talks to himself.

Ernie Baker, a biblical counselor and a teacher at The Master’s College and Seminary, recently wrote about this psalm and how it gives comfort to the oppressed soul.

“As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after you. You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.” This song is commonly sung without realizing that it is based on a Psalm describing intense suffering. The intense heat of life causes intense thirst that, if dealt with properly, will yield an increased satisfaction in God, who is the Living Water. The principles of Psalm 42-43 help sufferers by modeling how to articulate anguish of soul along with questions to God. The psalmist reminds himself of truth and every part of his being is addressed.

These two Psalms were probably originally one as indicated by each having the same repeated phrases, “Why are you in despair, O my soul” (42:5; 42:11; 43:5)? In these “chapters” we see the psalmist dealing with rejection by people, disappointment with circumstances, remembering how good things used to be, being mocked, feeling forgotten by God and trying to cope with a body and emotions that are feeling the impact of the pressures. Sounds like life. In the midst of this suffering he models how a godly person deals with suffering. But, there are some surprises along the way. These surprises will dispel some myths about what it means to be a godly person during suffering.

The ultimate hero of these chapters, though, is God. He is the God who is always present in the midst of suffering. He is the God of truth. The God of these Psalms has a sovereign design for suffering (and even plans it, see 42:7). He is full of lovingkindness. The psalmist has a personal and vibrant relationship with Him that could never be compared to false hopes. This God is completely trustworthy. By the way, what are you trusting in or hoping to deliver you during your suffering?

My hope is that you will realize that you need to store up good theology for days of suffering. We need to have a joy in the Lord that can be shaken by no pain in the hard times and competed with by no earthly pleasure in the good times. We would be honest to admit that the depth of our beliefs will be revealed during suffering. Another way to say it would be that your success during suffering will be proportion to the depth of your belief system and you choice to live it out.

Continue reading Dr. Baker’s article here.

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Doubt killing promises

Justin Taylor in the January 2013 edition of TableTalk:

“Even though Charles Spurgeon lived about two hundred years after John Bunyan, I think Spurgeon regarded Bunyan as a friend. He said the book he valued most, next to the Bible, was The Pilgrim’s Progress. “I believe I have read it through at least a hundred times. It is a volume of which I never seem to tire.”

Perhaps one of the reasons Spurgeon resonated with this classic was its realistic portrayal of depression, doubt, and despair. Spurgeon and Bunyan, like their Savior, were men of sorrow, acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3). When Bunyan went to prison for preaching the gospel, his heart was almost broken “to pieces” for his young blind daughter, “who lay nearer my heart than all I had besides.” Spurgeon’s depression could be so debilitating that he could “weep by the hour like a child”—and not know why he was weeping. To fight this “causeless depression,” he said, was like fighting mist. It was a “shapeless, undefinable, yet all-beclouding hopelessness.” It felt, at times, like prison: “The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back.”

Read the rest here.

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God doesn’t hide His face from the afflicted

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.”

(Psalm 22:22-24 ESV)

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Are you suffering from sadness of the soul?

Did you know that great men like Abraham Lincoln and Charles Spurgeon suffered from depression?

Chris Brauns recently preached about spiritual depression.

David Murray addresses those who  deal with seasonal affective disorder. This site offers some helpful, practical ideas for those who suffer from seasonal depression.

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Four daily R’s for battling spiritual depression

Paul shared these four “R’s” that have helped him so much when he finds himself regressing into spiritual depression or deep discouragement.

1. Respect
2. Remain
3. Remember
4. Review

Each one of these is briefly explained. If you are a Christian who struggles with depression (and there many out there) I think you will find this post “Ongoing Remedies for Spiritual Depression” very helpful.

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No one understands like Jesus

No one understands like Jesus,
He’s a friend beyond compare;
Meet Him at the throne of mercy,
He is waiting for you there.

No one understands like Jesus,
Every woe He sees and feels;
Tenderly He whispers comfort,
And the broken heart He heals.

No one understands like Jesus,
When the foes of life assail;
You should never be discouraged,
Jesus cares and will not fail.

No one understands like Jesus,
When you falter on the way;
Tho’ you fail Him, sadly fail Him
He will pardon you today.

Chorus:
No one understands like Jesus,
When the days are dark and grim;
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus,
Cast your every care on Him.

–John W. Peterson,  made well known by George Beverly Shea

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14–16, ESV)

 

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Sunlight after blackest night

“God alone can do what seems impossible. This is the promise of his grace: ‘I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten’ (Joel 2:25). God can give back all those years of sorrow, and you will be the better for them. God will grind sunlight out of your black nights. In the oven of affliction, grace will prepare the bread of delight. Someday you will thank God for all your sadness.” ~Charles Spurgeon

HT: Janelle Bradshaw

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Helping the depressed

David Murray offers several principles for helping those who are depressed. Here are a few I found helpful and want to think more about:

1. All kinds of people get depression: Depression smashes caricatures about depression. It’s not a choice that weak losers make. No, it affects rich and poor, the very old and the very young and every age in between, Type A and B…and every other type too.

2. Build relationship in order to build trust: It’s the old “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” As with pulpit ministry, our words carry so much more weight and credibility when there is a relationship between the speaker and hearer.

3. Good listening is massive medicine: Sometimes we run out of things to say or don’t know what to say. However, don’t underestimate the healing power of real listening. I experienced this recently when I shared with my wife an anxiety I had been carrying. There wasn’t much she could say to resolve the problem, but I slept so much better after she simply listened to me.

4. Jumping to simplistic conclusions is extremely damaging: I never cease to be amazed by the cruel things that are said to and about depressed people. Quick fixes fix nothing. First conclusions are usually wrong conclusions. Depression is usually a complex, multi-layered problem that does not lend itself to simplistic answers from simple minds.

5. Depression is a sanctifying and equipping experience: Painful though the journey is, time and again depression proves to be a time of Christian growth. God often uses it to draw a person to Himself, increase dependence upon Him, and to equip them to be far more useful than they ever were before. I’ve found many depressed people to be the most compassionate people I’ve ever met. Sometimes that’s why they get depression.

6. Depression gives the Church a great opportunity to minister God’s grace: Depressed people do not find much sympathy in the world. Here is a wonderful opening for the church to show the heart of Christ who came to heal the brokenhearted, the brokenminded, and the brokenbodied.

A few more here.

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3 truths for the despairing

“Two weeks ago I received a phone call from a lady who had found my cell phone number via the Internet. She relayed that she has been experiencing great financial difficulty and relationship problems for close to a decade. She had hoped and prayed for breakthroughs and victories. She also had sought the Lord for more contentment and given much thanks for her difficulties. However, the pain now had become too much for her—too prolonged of a season. Her question to me was, “Is it true that it is God’s will for me to go through this trial?” I could hear her sobs as we were on the phone.

Her pain is not unique to believers. I have seen utter despair in the lives of people who have lost family members in sudden, tragic deaths; I encounter such hopelessness when fairy-tale marriages devolve into horror-story court proceedings. Almost inevitably, a believer experiencing the silence of God questions his own faith, or the goodness of the God who rules over such earthly evils.

At times of great hopelessness and despair, I like to direct people to Psalm 88. It is a song for a soul “full of troubles” (v.3) – the only psalm that does not contain a note of hope. It teaches the faithful at least three great truths about walking with the Lord through the most difficult times of life. “

Keep reading Eric Redmond’s post “When Despair is Our Only Song”

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