Dealing with negative emotions

The Lord gives new hope, new dreams and a new reason to live to all who call upon His Name in truth. The Lord’s Prayer deals with negative emotions that destroy our sense of self-worth.

• Inferiority

When we say ‘our Father’ we are part of the greatest family in the universe. We become honourable sons and daughters of the family of God our Father. We realise our potential and discover undeveloped possibilities. God removes all inferiority. To whoever believes on His Name and accepts Him, He gives power to become sons of God. (John 4:12)

• Depression

Depression comes as a result of anxiety in the heart. (Prov 12:25) Things we constantly fret ourselves over, worry about and fear make us anxious and because we cannot deal with those things it turns into a depressed state. Depression leads to self-pity and self-pity can lead in the worst cases to suicide. But a good word from the Lord makes the depressed heart happy again! We learn to cast all our cares upon Him for He cares for us. (I Pet 5:7) When we announce and pray: ‘Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth on earth as it is in heaven,’ we realise we are part of something far greater than our personal world. God inspires us with dreams for the extension of His Kingdom. As we serve God and humanity it generates a healthy self-esteem. If you can say, ‘I have a part to play in God’s Kingdom,’ it removes depression from your life. You have something worth living for.neil

• Anxiety

Fear or anxiety quenches our faith. We are anxious about things that have not happened yet. Fear is a thing in the future. The more we dwell on what we fear the larger it gets. We are anxious that we will not make it, that we do not have what it takes to fulfil our God-given dreams. Fear of failure is crippling. We need to learn not to be anxious in anything but through prayer make our requests known to God with thanksgiving, and the peace of God that passes understanding shall keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6) When our hearts do not condemn us we know we have the petitions that we asked of God. (I John 5:15) Therefore we can pray: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. God is ready to provide for us, daily, in every way, to meet the demands of life.

• Guilt

Guilt is a polluting emotion that brings condemnation. There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1) Guilt and condemnation stops our divine adventure. Sometimes people who are tempted to perfectionism feel guilty because they cannot make everything perfect all the time. This is not realistic. They are constantly using self-flagellation to make penance for their imperfections. They ask themselves a hundred times a day, ‘why didn’t I?’ They live in a continual state of regret. Jesus made provision for us to deal with guilt and condemnation. Whether it comes by sin or by mistake, we can pray: ‘forgive us!’ We learn to appropriate God’s forgiveness for Christ sake, by faith. We must believe God forgives us every time we ask, because He has made provision for forgiveness through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

• Resentment

Once we accept forgiveness we must also give it: ‘as we forgive those who have trespassed against us’. Learning to forgive others becomes a shield against resentment. We receive forgiveness by faith and we forgive others by faith. Nobody deserves forgiveness. It is by grace through faith that we are saved.

• Fear

Fear unravels self-esteem and robs us of courage. We can pray: ‘deliver us from all evil’. Authentic divine love casts out all fear. John the Apostle of love tells us that we need to know and believe the love of God. God is love and we learn to love once we accept His divine love for us. He gave Himself for us. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for others.

One of the keys of dealing with negative emotions in life is to pray daily. When Jesus said we should pray, ‘give us this day our daily bread’, He referred to the way the Jews had to pick up Manna in the wilderness, daily. If they tried to pick up two days’ bread it became rotten! We can pray these prayers daily and the Lord will daily provide for us. What a confidence we should have in our Heavenly Father! What a joy to have an elder brother like Jesus to show us how to pray! What a comfort to have the blessed Holy Spirit to lead and guide us and show us things to come!

Let us go out and share this good news with someone who is struggling with negative emotions. God will do a mighty work in their lives.

To God be all the glory, for His is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen!

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