If you feel discouraged today...You are not alone! I have days when I feel discouraged, even when everything around me seems to be going good. We all have days when we feel ‘down’ for one reason or another. The good news is, we don’t have to stay there!

When discouragement tries to come against you, the first thing you can do is examine your thoughts. When your emotions are taking a downward spiral, you can most likely trace back those feelings to thoughts of hopelessness!

The bible says in Proverbs 23:7, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” This scripture demonstrates the direct correlation between your thoughts and the direction that your life will take. Therefore, the first thing we can do when our emotions are taking a turn for the worse is change our thought pattern.

Now, you might be wondering, how can changing my thoughts change how I feel? I am going through some really bad circumstances. I can’t just ‘ignore’ them and think everything is ok.

If that sounds familiar, I’ve got more good news! Changing your thoughts doesn’t mean you ignore something negative that is going on around you, it simply means you choose to focus your thoughts on something greater than your circumstances...The Word of God!

I can speak from personal experience that no matter how bad the circumstances are, God has an answer in His Word to help and lift you up out of it! It doesn’t matter what I have gone through in my life, I have always found hope & help in the Lord.

My favorite place to start when I need to change my though pattern is to realize that I am never alone. God has given each one of us a promise that when we ask Him into our lives that He is always with us (Deuteronomy 31:8). Knowing that He is with me and that He cares about everything I am going through instantly brings me so much comfort.

Sometimes that is the best thing to focus on when you feel like you just need a big loving hug from a close friend, and guess what...that is exactly what Jesus wants to for us when we turn to him for support!

The second thing I do when I realize I need to do a ‘thought’ shift is get away from whatever I’m doing and call on Jesus through prayer! Sometimes even after making the ‘choice’ to think on the truth, I still feel like I have a heavy heart. The reason being is that we all have emotions, and there are times when our feelings can seem pretty powerful!

Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t wait for times like these to pray... I can’t imagine not spending time each simply talking with the Lord through prayer. However, when I am going through tough times or I am being bombarded with emotions I take time out to specifically talk to the Lord about what I am going through.

Another reason for prayer is that there is power in the Name of Jesus. Sometimes what we are facing is a direct attack from the enemy. We do not have to stay under that attack however, because the Bible tells us that we have power over the enemy (Luke 10:19), but we must use that power like a sword given to a solider. We can fight against the enemy (and win every time) using our spiritual weapons, (one of which is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, Ephesians 6: 10-18) and the Name of Jesus (that is above every name). We see Jesus himself fighting the enemy this way in Matthew 4: 1-11 when he was fighting temptation in the wilderness. If this is how Jesus fought off the devil, so should we!

God knows that we can’t handle what we are facing alone, and He never wanted us to carry the burdens of this life. That is why He tells us to come to Him (through prayer) and tell Him what we are going through, and what we need. (Philippians 4:6) The next verse goes on to say that when we do this, that He will give us His peace as we trust in Him to take care of things for us.

Last but certainly not least, I have found that I simply can not stay discouraged when I praise God and focus on the awesome things He has done for me. We can see an example of this in Psalm 42:5 when the psalmist describes that his soul is downcast. He goes on to say that despite how he feels, that he decides to wait expectantly for the Lord to turn his circumstances around and praise His way to victory!

Praise is so powerful in bringing our emotions up! Not only does it bring your attention off of your circumstances, but it shifts your thoughts towards the strength, power, and help we can receive from the Lord when we trust in Him to act in our lives. Some simple and practical ways to enter into praise is by putting on worship music and singing along! Praise can also be done without music by simply thanking God for His goodness, and reflecting on the good things He has done for us. Even if it doesn’t seem like we have anything to praise about we always have one thing for sure to thank Him for... He gave His only son so we could be called His sons & daughters and spend eternity with Him!

If you are facing a tough situation today, or you find yourself losing hope, or you even find your emotions sinking for no specific reason...Take Heart! God has provided us with all we need to overcome our circumstances and be joyful and have peace no matter what we are facing! It all begins with turning your thoughts around by focusing your attention on His promises for you, and realizing that He is with you. The next steps are praying that He will show you the way out, and praising Him until you experience the victory!