“You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.” ~ Psalm 139:5-12, NLT
Help Me Step Away From My Hard Place
Lord, You are my refuge, my shelter in the storm. I know these things. I believe these truths. And yet I struggle. Help me step away from the hard place in my heart and draw near to You. Help me run to You, my Strongtower, high above the struggle.
You are where I want to be. I hear You call my name and I step in Your direction, but then the hard place pulls me back and I sit. And sour. And pout. All the while I can see the Light of Your glory on the edge of my darkness.
Why do I want to stay in this place? Or do I? Is it because of its familiarity? Or maybe because I don’t have the energy to move away from its chains.
Maybe it’s because I’m not aware of its quagmire until I try to step away.
Lord, rescue me. Reach into this pit and draw me out into Your presence.
In Your Presence is fullness of joy. Peace — perfect peace that makes no sense — is found there.
My despair is replaced by Your hope. My tears are dried by Your love.
In Your Presence is where I want to be.
Give Me the Strength to Step Away From My Hard Place
Break the chains, Lord. Break the chains that keep me tethered to my discouragement. I ask that You give me the strength to step away from my hard place into Your Presence.
You are my Burden-Bearer. I will no longer cower beneath the enemy’s threats and lies. I will instead, look to Your lovely face, place my hand in Yours, and step away from this hard place of the heart and trust You more.
Because I love You, and You love me.
In Jesus’s Name I pray,
Amen
********************************************************
Please don’t carry your burdens alone. I would be honored to pray for you. You may contact me directly at nan@nanjones.com
********************************************************
Thank you so much for stopping by. I would love for you to share what’s on your heart in the comments below. Scroll a little farther down and you’ll see where you can leave your comments. Together, we can find the nearness of God in our darkest moments.
Sweet blessings to you,
Thank you for this, Nan! I really needed this prayer this morning. Struggling through a new bout of depression. Not as deep or as dark as before but it caught me by surprise. Others noticed a difference before I did. Because of this I often doubt that it’s really there…then the darkness overwhelms me and I am once again made aware of just how real it is. Just frustrated and sad it is happening at Christmas…my favorite time of the year. I am in counseling…really great biblical counseling…which is awesome! But sometimes I feel like it’s causing me to dwell on my feelings too much. But I think that’s just me. Anyway, thank you for this! It is exactly what I needed to step away from the darkness and toward the light, even if just for today. My counselor told me to pray for strength. He knows just how much I will need God’s strength in the weeks and months ahead. Thank you! Philippians 4:13.
Bless your heart! It’s so good to hear from you. Depression is a booger and it sneaks up on us when we least expect it. I believe that’s how it gets a stronghold — it snakes in like the slithering serpent it is. I encourage you to not be afraid of it. Continue doing the things you know to do and are doing: being aware, seeing your counselor, seeking the Lord. He has made you an overcomer in ALL things. And I also encourage you to not listen to the lies of the enemy that tell you counseling is only making you focus on the feelings. Feelings are the fruit of the root cause. Feelings will help you identify what is buried deep inside so that it can be cleansed and bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ, setting you free once and for all. Keep your hand to the plow. Sounds like God is doing surgery to heal you completely. I’ll continue to pray.