4 Ways to Encourage Yourself in the Lord

Community is important. No one does well long-term on their own. God is all about community. In fact, He created us so that He could have personal relationships with us. When Jesus was on the earth, He also demonstrated the importance of community with His disciples as well as others who followed and served Him.

However, there are also times when we need to get alone with God and allow Him to encourage us. God alone knows us thoroughly and completely. He also is the only one with the perfect wisdom for our situation.

There was a time in David’s life when he had to get alone with the Lord and allow Him to talk to David about his situation. At this time in David’s life, he had been anointed King and had defeated Goliath. However, Saul in his jealousy and anger was trying to track David down to kill him. David ends up in enemy territory with some men who are strong warriors who have chosen to follow David. David and his men leave their community called Ziklag to “help” the Philistines against Saul’s army. However, the Philistines decided that David would probably turn against them in the midst of battle and sent David back to Ziklag. When David and his men arrived at Ziklag, they realized their community had been attacked while they were gone, and all their women and children had been led away. Understandably, the men experienced anger and grief. Unfortunately, the anger and grief were primarily directed at David. As the men discussed stoning David, we see the verse in 1 Samuel 30:6 (AMPC) “David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God. “

The very men that had been his friends and fellow warriors were discussing stoning him. David had two choices. He could fight against the men, or he could encourage himself in the Lord. He chose to encourage himself in the Lord, and in doing so came up with a successful plan to get their wives and children back.

There are times when our friends and family will fail us. They, in their own grief or hurt, may not know how to help us or what to say to us. In that time, we must know how to encourage ourselves in the Lord.

Here are Four ways we can encourage ourselves in the Lord.

Read the Bible.

The Bible is God’s letter of instruction and love to us. It is alive and breathing. As Graham Cooke, one of my favorite Christian speakers and authors, once said, “The Bible is the only book you read where the author reads over your shoulder pointing things out to you.” There are so many places in the Bible to read and come away encouraged and understanding that God is for us and not against us.

Many scholars believe that Psalm 25 was written by David during the events at Ziklag described above. I would encourage you to read the whole Psalm. However, Psalm 25:5 (TPT) says “Escort me into your truth; take me by the hand and teach me. For you are the God of my salvation; I have wrapped my heart into yours all day long!”

The NKJV says, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On you I wait all the day.”

The note attached to this verse in The Passion Translation says, “The Hebrew word most commonly translated as “wait” is qavah, which also means “to tie together by twisting” or “to entwine” or “to wrap tightly”.”

This is a completely different picture of wait than we have in the English language. It is not sitting passively scrolling through social media to pass the time kind of wait. It is entwining our hearts with God’s heart. How can we not be encouraged if our heart is entwined with God’s heart? And the best way to get to know God’s heart is to read His word.

Pray

Pray and let your requests be known to God. God is not scared of your thoughts and feelings. In fact, He already knows them. Enter His throne room in prayer and praise. Tell Him how you feel. Drop all your baggage there before Him. In fact, in Matthew 11:30 Jesus says “For my yoke is easy and My burden is light”. The Passion Translation says, “For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.”

You are not supposed to be carrying all the burdens most of us carry around. Drop that before the Lord. However, don’t leave His presence without allowing Him to speak to you. Stay there long enough to gain His perspective on the situation and His insight. Ask for His wisdom on the things you are struggling with. He will be faithful to provide answers.

Journal

Along with prayer, journaling can truly be a healthy exercise. There have been many times when I am in need of encouragement that I will look back in my journal and realize how many times God has answered my prayers. It may not look the way I had expected, but the prayer has been answered. The practice of journaling and then being able to look back through it shows me the absolute faithfulness of God, and I am instantly encouraged. Just because I don’t have an immediate solution to the current problem I am facing doesn’t mean God is not at work. Reminding myself of all the times He has come through for me reminds me of who God truly is and how endless His love is for me.

I encourage you to keep a journal. It’s okay if you spill out all the things you are frustrated, angry, or discouraged about. Even if that is where you leave it that day, I would be willing to bet that if you go back a few weeks or months later you will be able to see how God moved on your behalf. It will definitely encourage you.

Thankfulness

Thankfulness is so important. It truly is an attitude of the heart. I think we all see the difference when a child approaches a parent with thankfulness rather than entitlement. Thankfulness softens the heart of the parent, and they want to move on behalf of the child. It is not that God has a hard heart toward us, but when He sees us approaching him with thankfulness instead of an attitude of I am owed this, it makes all the difference.

Psalm 50 is a good illustration of how God feels about thankfulness. God is speaking to His people. At that time, the people of God were required to bring animal sacrifices before the Lord in order to atone for their sins. Even though the sacrifices covered the people’s sins, God began addressing the attitudes of their hearts. He begins to question the people beginning in verse 7. To paraphrase the scripture, He tells them that He does not rebuke them for their sacrifices. They have that part down. But He shifts their focus. He asks them why they bring continual sacrifices to Him as if He is hungry. He reminds them that He alone owns all the animals. If He was hungry, He could provide for Himself. And then in verse 14 (TPT) God says, “Why don’t you bring me the sacrifices I desire? Bring me your true and sincere thanks, and show your gratitude by keeping your promises to me, Honor me by trusting in me in your day of trouble. Cry aloud to me, and I will be there to rescue you.”

The people were fulfilling the religious requirements of the day, but they were holding back what God really wanted. He wanted them. He wanted a relationship with them. He wanted them to trust Him. The same holds true today. We can check off our religious lists of attending church, reading our Bible, praying etc, but are we truly giving our hearts to God? Are we trusting Him in seasons of trial? No matter our circumstances are we approaching God with Thankfulness?

Learning to encourage ourselves in the Lord is not always easy. However, getting still before the Lord and learning to receive from our creator, the person who knows us best will change us. When people all around us are discouraged, God can be the voice that says, “Keep going. Don’t give up! I can see what is around the corner, you can’t.”

Developing that type of relationship with the Lord can be invaluable. Remember friend, God is always for you, never against you. He wants to have a relationship with you and your heart. He wants to be the person who encourages you and comforts you.

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