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| INHALE PRAISE—EXPEL DEPRESSION |
Psalm 34:1, "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth"
A quick look in a thesaurus at the meaning of the word "depressed" gives you the equivalent terms of "downhearted, blue,
downcast, cast down, sorrowful, low, dejected, sad, weighed down, heavy."
One aspect of being depressed is the focus on ones self. You cannot be depressed unless you are thinking about yourself
or something that has happened relating to you. I'm not talking about what the world calls "clinical depression" but about the
enemy trying to hit us with what I call "feeling blue" or a pity-party.
When the enemy attacks with depression, it is through our thought life. I don't have to list the "what" of what he says to you.
Everyone can think of at least one unscriptural thought that came to them that was depressing—and if dwelt upon, would
lead to a pity party (hint: nobody really cares for me...).
When I overcame the battle of wallowing in self-pity, God pointed out two things to me. First, He reminded me that self-pity is
a sin. It involves focusing on self, it is selfish, and it is an example of being full of self rather than of Him.
Christianity is about being outwardly motivated; it is not about inward ministry or concerns about one's self!
Secondly, He said, "Praise Me." The problem was...I couldn't. I wanted to feel sorry for myself. It felt GOOD to be concerned
"all about me." I half-heartedly whined, "Well, I can't think of anything to thank You for." God pointed out to me that it was
nice to have tires on my car. He reminded me that people used to have wagon wheels and drive on rutted dirt roads.
I agreed, so I began to thank Him for rubber tires and asphalt roads. That made me smile because it seemed so silly. Then,
however, I began thinking of other things to thank Him for and eventually it blossomed into a full-blow live praise-a-thon in my
car!
Consider this verse the let’s look at “cast down” or “downcast”:
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the
help of His countenance. (Psalm 42:5)
The New American Standard states, "I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence."
To overcome being cast down, praise God for His deliverance.
Take the word "heavy." Isaiah 61:3 says, "...to give unto them the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Praise God
that we can get rid of heaviness. Depression is heavy!
Hebrews 13:15 states we are to "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually." That means all the time. Constantly. Never
ceaseing to praise the Lord.
When you are praising God, you cannot be paying attention to the enemy. Your focus changes away from the wrong
thoughts and zeros in on the One who delivers you from everything (Ps. 34:19).
Jesus said in Luke 4:18 that He was sent to heal the brokenhearted or the "downhearted." There is no emotion you can
encounter that you are not already delivered from. There is no negative feeling that the Word of God doesn't have a
counterattack against it.
It isn't always easy to praise the Lord. Sometimes your mind and emotions want to rebel and wallow in depression. You have
to take authority and speak out, "NO! Mind, you are not going to dwell on this. I will praise God and I will not be depressed."
I once heard a minister say when you are praising the Lord, you'd better have something in you that can come out of your
spirit into your mouth. She was saying you shouldn't simply minister to Him by praising in tongues (your heavenly language).
While tongues are great, this minister also said we need to praise God with regular English words (or your own language) for
things we are thankful for.
You see, when praise is continually in your mouth, you will counteract the depression. You have His Word on it!!
Copyright © 2004 Nan C Loyd
Anointed Word Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
A quick look in a thesaurus at the meaning of the word "depressed" gives you the equivalent terms of "downhearted, blue,
downcast, cast down, sorrowful, low, dejected, sad, weighed down, heavy."
One aspect of being depressed is the focus on ones self. You cannot be depressed unless you are thinking about yourself
or something that has happened relating to you. I'm not talking about what the world calls "clinical depression" but about the
enemy trying to hit us with what I call "feeling blue" or a pity-party.
When the enemy attacks with depression, it is through our thought life. I don't have to list the "what" of what he says to you.
Everyone can think of at least one unscriptural thought that came to them that was depressing—and if dwelt upon, would
lead to a pity party (hint: nobody really cares for me...).
When I overcame the battle of wallowing in self-pity, God pointed out two things to me. First, He reminded me that self-pity is
a sin. It involves focusing on self, it is selfish, and it is an example of being full of self rather than of Him.
Christianity is about being outwardly motivated; it is not about inward ministry or concerns about one's self!
Secondly, He said, "Praise Me." The problem was...I couldn't. I wanted to feel sorry for myself. It felt GOOD to be concerned
"all about me." I half-heartedly whined, "Well, I can't think of anything to thank You for." God pointed out to me that it was
nice to have tires on my car. He reminded me that people used to have wagon wheels and drive on rutted dirt roads.
I agreed, so I began to thank Him for rubber tires and asphalt roads. That made me smile because it seemed so silly. Then,
however, I began thinking of other things to thank Him for and eventually it blossomed into a full-blow live praise-a-thon in my
car!
Consider this verse the let’s look at “cast down” or “downcast”:
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the
help of His countenance. (Psalm 42:5)
The New American Standard states, "I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence."
To overcome being cast down, praise God for His deliverance.
Take the word "heavy." Isaiah 61:3 says, "...to give unto them the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Praise God
that we can get rid of heaviness. Depression is heavy!
Hebrews 13:15 states we are to "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually." That means all the time. Constantly. Never
ceaseing to praise the Lord.
When you are praising God, you cannot be paying attention to the enemy. Your focus changes away from the wrong
thoughts and zeros in on the One who delivers you from everything (Ps. 34:19).
Jesus said in Luke 4:18 that He was sent to heal the brokenhearted or the "downhearted." There is no emotion you can
encounter that you are not already delivered from. There is no negative feeling that the Word of God doesn't have a
counterattack against it.
It isn't always easy to praise the Lord. Sometimes your mind and emotions want to rebel and wallow in depression. You have
to take authority and speak out, "NO! Mind, you are not going to dwell on this. I will praise God and I will not be depressed."
I once heard a minister say when you are praising the Lord, you'd better have something in you that can come out of your
spirit into your mouth. She was saying you shouldn't simply minister to Him by praising in tongues (your heavenly language).
While tongues are great, this minister also said we need to praise God with regular English words (or your own language) for
things we are thankful for.
You see, when praise is continually in your mouth, you will counteract the depression. You have His Word on it!!
Copyright © 2004 Nan C Loyd
Anointed Word Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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