Do you feel like giving up?  Maybe you’ve wanted to give up on your kids, your job, your spouse, your ministry, your life. Be encouraged this day!  You are not alone.  Everyone feels this way sometimes.  God hears your heart and knows what you’re going through. 

As believers in Christ, we must understand that satan would like nothing better than to destroy us!  In fact, he is trying to do just that!  So, first of all, you must recognize that satan is after you.  He wants you to feel that your world is crumbling, that everything is going to the pits, and that no one understands you!  He wants you to quit.  He wants you to give up.

Now that you recognize satan’s plan you must resist him and flee from him as fast as you can.  How do you do that?  Pump yourself up!  Here are some steps to take:

1)     Speak God’s Word, the Bible, to yourself.  Even David, a man after God’s own heart suffered.  He recognized, though, that he had to tell himself to “put your hope in God.” 

Psalm 42: 5-6 “Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

2)     Praise God despite your circumstances.  Notice in the verse above in #1 that David follows speaking to himself with “for I will yet praise Him.”  As believers, we must praise God despite how we feel and what is going on in our lives.  In addition, you’ll be amazed at how your perspective changes about your dilemma when you praise God.

3)     Pray in the Spirit in all occasions by using the prayer language God has given you.  This will build up your spirit.  Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

4)     Pray. Pray. Pray MORE.  God tells us to present our requests to Him.  Remember that He is the God that saves us!  God loves us!  Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

5)    Trust God.  To trust someone is to rely on them, to believe in them.  Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”

6)    Go to God for answers first, instead of always going to others.  Remember that the God that led Moses and the Israelites out of the wilderness is the same God you serve.  He will lead you through this time if you’ll let Him.

7)    Set your face like flint.  In the Old Testament, Isaiah writes in 50:7 “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.”  In other words, he isn’t going to flinch.  He’s going to keep his head up and keep on keeping on even though others may try to disgrace him. 

8)   “Hang in there…like a hair in a biscuit.”  This is a “proverb” from our Senior Pastor that you will frequently hear from people at Agape.  It’s funny, but so true.  It will help you get through the toughest of times.