Winning Over Depression
By Tom Shanklin
Are you feeling depressed?
In the field of psychiatry, depression is defined as “a mental condition characterized by feelings of severe despondency and sadness, typically also with feelings of inadequacy and guilt, often accompanied by lack of energy and disturbance of appetite and sleep.”
There are many causes of depression, including physiological, but the circumstances we are living in now are contributing greatly to depression in America and around the world. In 2020 in America, we are facing a worldwide pandemic and the resulting economic issues, tremendous social and political strife tearing us apart at the seams, and rioting in our major cities.
Other places in the world are facing similar struggles. Our friends in Kenya, for example, were hit with a plague of locusts that destroyed their crops, then a coronavirus quarantine which affected their ability to work and get food, followed by extreme flooding in many areas.
I recently visited a farm community in North Dakota where depression is running rampant among farmers who are facing tremendous challenges from extremely low corn prices and strange weather patterns. Some still have not been able to get their crops out of the fields from last year because of wet conditions and are facing a mountain of debt that they cannot pay. Such circumstances can be a recipe for extreme frustration and hopelessness, which in some cases can even lead to suicide.
I don’t know all the ends and outs of depression from a medical perspective, but I do know that there are powerful answers in the Word of God for those who are depressed.
Depression is not the will of God for your life. Besides making your life miserable, depression will also make you sick physically, ruin your relationships, hinder your faith, cause you to make bad decisions, and keep you from fulfilling your destiny.
Find Peace with God
Jesus said, ““Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27, NKJV)
All healing and victory come through our relationship with God. We are separated from our Creator through sin, but through the cross of Calvary, we are reconciled. When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in His death for us and His resurrection, He brings us into the family of God. We have a new identity and a powerful inheritance.
Check out our post, “You Can Know God Personally.”
You must walk in your new identity to maintain your relationship with your heavenly Father. One of Satan’s greatest tools to keep you defeated is condemnation. Once he finds that he has been unsuccessful in keeping you from living a life of sin, He will condemn you over your past sins and present failures.
But Jesus said that He did not come to condemn us, but to save us. (See John 3:17) And Paul tells us by the Holy Spirit in the book of Romans, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, NKJV)
God has made a way for us to live free from condemnation. It is by walking after the Spirit. The Apostle John tells us, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1John 1:7, NKJV) Even when we are following the Lord, there will be times when we miss it, but as the scripture says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9, NKJV)
Fight the Spiritual Battle
Even though we have been reconciled to God, there is still a battle to be fought in our minds. I remember when I first went into the ministry as a young pastor in 1983, it seemed that Satan threw everything he had against my mind. I was in a constant battle against depression.
I had three young children and almost no income. My world had been turned upside down by the transition from my secular job to the life of a pastor. But more than that, there was a constant assault against my mind by spiritual forces. Satan did not want me to succeed in the ministry.
I found that every time I was in the pulpit, I did fine, but when I was home studying or spending time with the family, I was gripped with heaviness. A friend of mine had produced some small pocket-sized cards containing scriptures on various topics from the Bible. One of them was called “How to Stay Free of Spirits of Oppression.” I began to confess these scriptures three times a day. I would read the scripture and then personalize it. For example, the Bible says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1, AV) So I would read the scripture and then forcefully confess, “I’m standing fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has set me free, and I WILL NOT be entangled in the yoke of bondage.”
After using those scriptures for a few days, I found that the depression lifted off of my mind. I learned that the same Word of God that was pouring out of my mouth when I preached in church could also be effective when I was at home. I have shared these scriptures with many other people over the years who have been helped as well. You can find these scripture confessions on our website on a post called “Overcoming Oppression and Depression.”
If Jesus needed to use the Word of God to defeat Satan (See Luke 4), how much more do we need to use the Word to resist demonic powers which are coming against us? Jesus said that you will have what you say. (Mk. 11:23) Instead of repeating all the lies that Satan is feeding into your mind, start confessing God’s Word, and you will find that your mind will go to a much brighter place.
Praise Your Way to Victory
David says in the eighth Psalm, “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.” (Psalms 8:2, NKJV) When Jesus made reference to this verse in the New Testament, He said, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” (Matthew 21:16, NKJV)
We become depressed when we listen to the voice of our adversary, Satan, either through people, circumstances, or from demons in the spirit realm. But when you start praising God, you are exalting the Lord over the enemy and silencing his voice.
Check out our podcast, “Praise Your Way to Victory.”
Check out Tom’s article, “How to Shut the Devil’s Mouth.”
The scripture says, ”Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.” (Psalms 34:3, NKJV) We have the power to magnify the Lord in our circumstance by praising Him. We can exalt His name together. Hallelujah!
Our attitudes would immediately change, and our circumstances begin to amend if we would just learn to praise and give thanks to God. David says, “I will bless the LORD at ALL times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalms 34:1, NKJV) It’s always a good time to praise the Lord, and when you do, you will find a spirit of victory overtaking your life.
The Bible tells us that Jesus came “To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”” (Isaiah 61:3, NKJV)
So declare these words from your mouth: “Depression go from me! Jesus is my Lord, and I believe that God raised Him from the dead. I am a child of God. Father, I praise you that you have given me victory over the enemy, and I am more than a conqueror through Him that loves me. I submit my life to God. I resist the devil, and he flees. I praise you for the victory. Praise you, Lord! Praise you, Father, in Jesus’ name.”