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 a prayer for the discouraged by Andy Lee read by Liam Martin
 have I not commanded you be strong and courageous do not be afraid do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go Joshua 1:9
 discouragement is dangerous it's one of the greatest tactics of the enemy because discouragement Usher's in doubt and doubt makes us question our calling or even worse our faith
 discouragement stirs frustration and apathy it Whispers to our hearts that we aren't good enough nothing will ever change or we heard God wrong
 discouragement strips our courage to continue but our God Is Bigger Than discouragement God knows the human heart he knows our weaknesses and that's why is he prepared Joshua to step into Moses shoes to lead the Israelites into the promised land he knew that Joshua as well as generations of Believers to follow we need this command and promise but this isn't just a command this is an assurance another way to translate this scripture is have I not appointed you
 God was reminding Joshua that God himself had chosen Joshua for this position got it prepared him God believed in him and I would never leave him
 perhaps this is why centuries later is Paul set chained in a prison cell discouragement didn't silence his pain despite his lack of Freedom Paul preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in prison through his letters to the churches chains didn't stop him because he never doubted his call for the presence of Jesus
 discouragement only holds power over us when our eyes are fixed on failure or disappointment rather than the promised presence of God
 when we leaned heavily on our feelings rather than the scripture we risk allowing the giant of discouragement to threaten us as Goliath did David remember how David responded to Goliath taunts
 David said to the Philistine you come against me with sword and Spear and Javelin but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty the god of the armies of Israel whom you have defiled 1st Samuel 17:45
 not only did David knock down this giant with the one smooth Stone but he also used his sword to cut off Goliath's head
 the Giants lips would never again speak words of discouragement and doubt this bully was silenced by the power of Yahweh working through a little Shepherd boy who had been appointed by God
 for those of us discourage today may we stand up against discouragement let's grab our sword of the spirit which is the word of God and stand up against our feelings may the Lord help us lean on scripture and practices presence in prayer God has called us and he is with us
 let's pray
 dear God we're so easily discouraged social media constantly reminds us that someone else seems to be doing a better job has a stronger marriage or is it better parents are success pales in comparison to others and even though we know better we can't silence the tonsure discouragement weighing down our hearts we want to quit we've lost our courage or strength to continue and we need you
 Lord please speak louder than the doubts
 read us the scriptures that speak into our circumstances and remind us of your presence and your promises your word is active it's sharper than any double-edged dagger here's the lies silence the phone and clean out that wound's infected with doubt
 we want to serve you in the workplace and our marriages and our families knowing without a doubt that you called us to these places you will not and have not forsaken or left us open our receptors to your presence in our ears do your voice forgive us for our doubts and our fears and help us trust your truth more than our feelings
 thank you Lord for the trials of Faith thank you for this discouragement because it draws us to you it keeps us humble just as Joshua couldn't go into the promised land without you neither can we
 what are days when we feel we're finished and we should quit give us a glimpse of Hope
 show us why it's not time to change directions show us your here don't let us measure success with the world's measuring stick give us Eternal perspective
 in Jesus name amen
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