Ever since God lifted me out of depression, I've been walking with people who battle various emotional issues. Regardless of how counterintuitive or even painfully ridiculous it may seem, I always encourage them to spend a significant amount of time praising God and do it as often as possible. My suggestion always led to the discussions about why and how this is beneficial.
Why should we sing praises when our spirits are completely crushed?
God is worthy. Our pain doesn’t change His worth, nor does it change the fact that we are created to worship Him. Let our worship be a response to God’s unchanging worth and not make it about ourselves.
God thirsts for us and our full attention. Unwanted experiences are one of the most effective ways God uses to get our attention. It's a call to seek Him. The one who deserves and demands every ounce of our attention.
It’s a sacrifice we can offer only when we are on earth. What we are battling here and now does not exist in Heaven. So take the opportunity to give God the sacrifice of praise in the midst of our crisis. It pleases God by demonstrating our faith and obedience.
How does praising God get us out of our emotional trauma?
Refocus. Continually magnifying our own problems only exhausts and overwhelms us, it keeps us feeling completely hopeless. We must be aware that our battle belongs to God and our victory comes from Him. Make a decision to magnify God and His attributes, allow Him to take center stage to display His power.
Power comes from acknowledging Who God is. When we choose to praise God for Who He is, it wakes up our spirits to respond to His goodness. No matter how reluctant we are to worship God in the midst of depression, deep in our spirits, we yearn for a God who is all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful. Let this yearning fuel your worship. Praising God demonstrates and raises our faith, and faith gives us access to God's reality: His strength, His love, His wisdom, His purpose and His victory.
We are created to worship God. Stop wrestling and be who we are created to be, worshippers of God. By praising God, we align ourselves to His master plan for our lives. Doing what we are created to do releases unspeakable joy in us and also in our creator. In His presence, there is fullness of joy (Psa. 16:11), and the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It gives us the strength to face challenges, to forgive others and ourselves, and to reframe our stories with His point of view.
A Heavenly perspective is what we need. Just as the heaviest objects on earth are weightless in space, the burdens we reel under will start losing their weightiness when we bring them into His presence. Imagine taking a glass-fronted elevator to the top of a skyscraper, notice how it drastically changes our view. By praising God for His goodness, we are riding a spiritual elevator, it elevates us to see from God's perspective. Watch how our Goliath shrink into a dwarf when we keep praising God.
The invincible weapon. Time and again, battles are won through praising God (e.g. Joshua 6, 2 Chronicles 20, Acts 17), God has ordained triumph through praise. The power of agreeing with God and His unchanging goodness disarms and shuts up the enemy. While we seek many other solutions to no avail, God has already given us the best weapon in our arsenal. Are we aware of that?
The sound of victory. Let our praise remind us of our eternal victory, it is the sound of the ultimate victory of Jesus through his death and resurrection. Show God our faith by praising Him before we even see the slightest bit of triumph. Pick the right "soundtrack" for our battle, it will lift our spirits and move us onwards. We are destined to win.
It restores and refreshes us. When we are fully aware of who God is, it naturally brings us to the realization of our divine identity. As we praise our Father as the King of Kings, we are also asserting ourselves as precious children in His royal family. As we praise Him for His love, we can't escape the fact that we are deeply and unconditionally loved. I lost count of how many times my inner wounds were healed when God revealed my divine identity to me during worship.
“Praise is not merely our gift to God; it is also His gift to us.”
If you are wrestling with depression now, I encourage you to engage in a self-forgetful worship and please share your story with me. I want to pray for you.
OVERCOMING DEPRESSION
THROUGH PRAISE (1)
OVERCOMING DEPRESSION
THROUGH PRAISE (3)
TELL ME YOUR STORY