Overcoming Depression
by Adam Howard
Content Coordinator, CBN Europe
Featured Articles
We all experience times of sadness in our lives, but for some it feels like the shadow never lifts.
It can feel as if you are caught in a never-ending cycle; withdrawing from those around us, finding decision making difficult, lacking motivation, inactivity, overeating or not eating at all or feeling crushed by hopelessness and worry. Sound familiar?
Firstly, you are not alone. As desperate as everything may look, there is a reason for hope.
God loves you and He wants to fill you with joy, peace, fulfilment and so much more. The Bible says that Jesus came that we “might have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10 – NIV).
God is the God of the miraculous and we believe that in an instant, things can shift and change. However, we see, from His word, that He is also the God of process. We pray, standing with you, that God would work in the ‘suddenly’, but we also commit ourselves to the process of healing and working it through. Maybe today, you would start with the first step in that journey to wholeness.
Step 1: Reveal
Step aside from the distractions of life and take a moment. Quiet yourself before the Lord, maybe closing your eyes. Ask Him to speak to you. Don’t be afraid to wait. He is closer than you think. Ask God to show you the area or areas of your life where you are bound by the feelings of depression. As He begins to reveal it to you, pray that God would begin a releasing work in you. If you feel able, picture those thoughts or feelings as a ball in your hand. It may be a repetitive train of thought, a habit or even a deep hurt from long ago. Whatever it is, there is a root and a source. That root or source is not from God, so we must recognise it for what it is. Ask Him to deal with the roots of what has taken ground in your life.
Step 2: Release
As you have pictured the ball in your hand, now release it and cast it to Jesus. Allow God to take those things from you that have chained you down. He cares for you. The cross of Jesus means that we have access to a power that breaks chains, releases prisoners, sets captives free and raises the dead to life. Through the Holy Spirit, that same power that raised Christ from the dead now lives in us. As you release your burden, hurt and heartache to Him, we ask that you might be filled with Holy Spirit. We pray that the enemy-occupied ground that has held you for so long, will be liberated by the power and presence of Jesus.
Step 3: Restore
He is a good father. He wants to give us good gifts. As you have released something, now ask God to gift you something in return. In place of those feelings of mourning, release joy. Where there is darkness, we ask that God would release the light of His word. We receive hope in the place of despair. We receive His healing where there were wounds. Instead of loneliness we ask for a new revelation of adoption in His family. Whatever your need, He wants to restore to you a life of abundance, fullness and future.
This is no magic formula, but part of a journey into the wholeness and hope of life with God. Step by step, moment by moment we choose to listen to His voice over the clamours of the world, our emotions or physical condition. Allow praise to be your soundtrack as you worship Him, before the breakthrough, as the battle belongs to the Lord…and He has already won the victory for us.
Today, we choose to rest in His promise over us.
It is not over… He is not finished with you yet.
