ABUNDANT LIFE MINISTRIES

(From March 8, 2010)
The Enemy Of Your Promise:
QUESTION: What is one of the greatest enemies people face when they have a promise they are trying to obtain? ANSWER: Discouragement

Discouragement is a feeling of despair in the face of obstacles, it means being deprived of confidence, hope, and enthusiasm, which causes a deterring action. Discouragement depresses you by the devaluing of your spirit, it literally depreciates you and makes you feel less than, small, and unimportant. What happens at this point is your spirit is now pushed down, and weakened from the loss of hope, confidence, or courage. It’s a feeling or spell of a spirit disheartened. It’s a loss of freedom, and an influence that inhibits and restrains, it limits you, and makes you less hopeful or enthusiastic; it hinders and holds you back. It makes you ineffective by applying an opposite amount of force. It frustrates you and forbids you to move forward. It comes to neutralize your power and authority you have in Christ and stops you from making entrance into your promise. Discouragement can also be known as depression.

Have you or someone you know ever experienced these symptoms? Let me tell you about a group of people who did:

Numbers 21:4-5 - "Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”

The Israelites were literally on their way to their promise here, but before they could obtain their promise, the scripture says, “they became very discouraged.” What could cause people who had already seen the hand of God move so powerfully in their life (freeing them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, the Red Sea miracle, not to mention being led and fed in the middle of the wilderness) speak against God and Moses, their leader? Discouragement….they were vexed in their minds and emotions. Notice how discouragement works, in verse 5 they say, “there is no food” then their next statement is, “our soul loathes this bread.” Discouragement and depression will literally cause your feelings and emotions to lie to you, making things seem worse then what they are. Discouragement caused this group of people to turn from the direction and instructions of God, the things God had said, written, and established were followed for only a short period before they were overturned by discouragement.

It is our enemies desire that we be put through strain, and that the things that have matured in our Spiritual walk to be removed. Satan wants to sift us just as he did with Simon Peter in Luke 33:31 – “And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.” (Small side note: “you” in this verse is actually the plural form of you i.e. “all of you” or “you all”)
God wants to fill us, and satan wants to empty us! Sift literally means “to take out residue...By inward agitation to try one's faith to the verge of overthrow”

Satan wants to cause an inward agitation…To upset; disturb; To impair or destroy the composure of your Stand in God’s word!
He tries to subject your faith to great strain or hardship and tries to deter you, your trust, your belief, your established ground, your promise...all the way to the verge of overthrow. Satan wants to overturn everything that’s been promised to you, and cause you to walk away from your inheritance!

IT’S AN INWARD AGITATION!!!! Satan’s tactic is to so inwardly agitate you, to the point of your faith being overthrown by him.


If you or someone you know has been dealing with discouragement or depression you need to understand that a pill can’t penetrate your spirit or your soul, it can only physically dull the effects by tricking the functions of your body (it literally masks the real problem.) The experts say they don’t know what really causes depression/discouragement. They say it’s probably from a chemical imbalance or a trauma in your life…I agree WITH THEM!!!! There is an IMBALANCE, but it’s a spiritual one! I don’t know about your serotonin levels, but I do know there is suppose to be an infilling of peace, an oil of joy, and a hope that overflows. We can’t keep lacking in our spiritual balance, because it will soon manifest in the physical realm…if laughter does good like a medicine and joy brings laughter, then it’s a spiritual need first! This issue is a spiritual attack and you need a spiritual solution!


If you want more information about how Discouragement/Depression attacks you and how to combat it, read the next post titled “The Power of the Protest.”