Being Delivered from Depression and Lies

Everything is possible with God.

I prayed with my prayer partner this morning with Mom’s in Prayer format (Praise, Confession, Thankfulness, Intercession) and we both were lifted up by God’s grace. The attribute for today is God is truth. During praying time, I listened to what she prayed that God is victorious and I shall fix my eyes on Him, not my own negative defeated thought. I think about the Iran Muslim man I interviewed, who saw Jesus coming through the wall: Ah, it’s impossible with man, but everything is possible with God. So this encourages me to not judge people or their situations by worrying if they cannot believe God, but only trust that God is very kind and willing to save everyone.

See my enemies in Spirit.

After we prayed, I read Bible and suddenly I am reminded by my own prayer of discerning any lies in the light of God’s truth this morning. I saw there is a lie, telling me that it’s my freedom not to write even though I want to. I then see there’s a spirit of putting down myself. So, I confess to God by praying: God, I am sorry to let the spirit of putting down my value to lie to me and control me. Please forgive me. Thank You for forgiving me. In Jesus Christ’s name, I rebuke and command the spirit of putting down my value to leave me and go to the pit of hell right now. The spirit of putting down my value and lying cannot have any place in me and control me. I have released myself from your bondage. I proclaim that Jesus Christ has set me free from these spirits.

Then, I was eating my breakfast so I turned on the YouTube to listen to Derek Prince’s talk about God’s word.

Be delivered from a spirit of depression

His sermon speaks right into my need. He mentioned many people have poor image about themselves including him, who suffered from depression for a long time. After he prayed for a while without solving his problem, the dark cloud of depression was still looming over his head.

Finally the Scripture of Bible reminds him to heed God’s word which can deliver him from sin and death. And he believes that God not only give victory over our sins, but over our enemy, Satan (refer to Romans 8:1-2). He was reminded by Ephesian 6:17 to take helmet of salvation, which is hope (refer to 1 Thessalonians 5:8).

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

He feels that God reveals that there’s a spirit of depression in him. And he is encouraged by Joel 2:32 to call to God to deliver him from the spirit of depression and anxiety. Just like my prayer, he asked God’s forgiveness and rebuked the spirit of depression to go away. And he was delivered.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2:32)

Take captive your thought to obey Jesus and be transformed to have sound mind.

Derek Prince said that he used to worry a lot because his family also often worry if they don’t worry. After asking God to deliver him from the spirit of depression, he also started to practice on putting hope for expecting good thing in God, and “replace negative thought with truthful thought and his old thinking pattern gradually got transformed to godly pattern.” (refer to 2 Corinthians 10:5) I can testify that this is my spiritual practice and it indeed has been transforming me as well.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Restore your image by looking into spiritual mirror.

Moreover, he mentioned how to restore our image by reading God’s word as looking self in the mirror. In the beginning, we may see our errors in the old self. But the more we see God’s glory in His word, and we apply them to ourselves through proclamation by faith, the more glory we shall become like Him because we were created in His image (refer to 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 ).

But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. ( 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 )

You are valuable in the sight of God.

Derek Prince said that people often pay for the thing with the cost they think how much it is worth. Likewise, my value is how much God pays for me, which costs Him the blood of Jesus.

Therefore, don’t listen to any negative thought to put down yourself. Instead, proclaim in Christ: I am infinitely valuable in the sight of God because God bought me with the most valuable thing in the universe, the blood of Jesus, that’s how valuable I am.

I have a great feast through prayer with another saint and from God’s grace in His truth for my spirit today.