by Jasmine Tosseth Smith, NACWE Spiritual Coordinator 

There is so much discouragement going around. I have no doubt you, just as I, have been praying your share of discouraged prayers lately.

I shared the following in the Hope issue of my online magazine; The Everyday Crown Rocker.  May it fill you with hope and may you no longer hold back from praying your defeated, discouraged prayers…may you instead find the power in them, because you find your Father there.

Discouraged Prayers: Moses Felt Our Pain

Let’s set the scene a bit. We are in Numbers 11: 10-35. Moses has brought the people of God out of Egypt and they are now in the desert. While there, they complain, moaning and groaning to Moses that they do not have meat to eat and that they were better off in Egypt. Undoubtedly, Moses is discouraged. In verse 14 he cries out “I cannot carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.”

Discouraged Prayers: Mine and Yours

Have you cried out the same thing? I know I have. While I may not be leading a nation out of slavery, sometimes the burdens of life are heavy.

• Sometimes I don’t know what I will feed my children, and I hear them complain. There are months when I cannot make the full car payment.
• Sometimes the laundry piles up to overwhelming heights or the dishes go undone.
• Sometimes it feels like I don’t have enough money, enough training, enough emotional strength, enough faith to carry out what God has called me to do.
• Sometimes I get discouraged as a mother. I am not always the best wife, and I feel discouraged by that.
• Sometimes I don’t consistently make my monthly income goals and that makes me question myself, His will and my purpose and cry out: “ It is all too much for me to carry on my own”.

Discouraged Prayers: Are Desperate Prayers

In Numbers 11:15, Moses was so discouraged that he asked God to kill him at once- “So if this is the way You will deal with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”

That’s deep!! To be so discouraged that you ask that God would just kill you now? That’s a prayer born out of a deep disappointment.

In our modern times, it is a prayer born out of the pressure to be “Insta-perfect.” It is discouragement born out of trying to keep up with the Jones’. It is discouragement born out of the perception that God is not moving in your life or situation. It is a weary, tired, broken prayer when the odds seem against you and the obstacles look insurmountable.

Discouraged Prayers: They Give You the Strength to Hope

But we serve a good, good God that has a plan to ease the burdens on us. In numbers 11:16-17, God tells Moses to gather up 70 men and that He would divide the responsibility of leading the nation among them so that Moses would no longer have to do it alone. We have the same answer to our own discouraged prayers. God does not intend for us to walk this life out alone. He provides people – friends, family and even strangers – to help ease the burden. There are resources – organizations, non-profits, churches, online communities, research centers – that are in place to help. God is faithful to answer our prayer.

• Discouraged by your weight? There are gyms, fitness coaches on and offline, dietitians, medical professionals and other women diligently battling their own weight loss that you can partner with.
• Discouraged by an addiction? There are Biblical Counselors and recovering addicts that can sponsor you, there are meetings, there are alternative and holistic approaches to recovery, doctors, rehab centers, crisis hotlines and organizations dedicated to helping you have victory.
• Discouraged as a parent? There are other Mamas walking this thing out that can support you and provide a listening ear. There are magazines, organizations, mom groups and community programs that are dedicated to nothing but parenting to help you out.
• There is NACWE! http://nacwe.org

Discouraged: You Are NOT Alone!

Whatever area of your life you feel discouraged in, be encouraged that there are resources, support and help there for it. God has made provision for every area of your life. God never said that this life would be easy, but He promised that He is walking it out with us and has provided us resources and support along the journey. You just have to reach out and accept the help.

May this post fill you with hope. May it inspire you to grow in your conversations with your Heavenly Father. Our hope and help comes from Him, and that means camping out at his feet, moving as He directs and resting when He MAKES you lay down in green pastures.

Discouraged: Be ENCOURAGED!

Dear Sister, be encouraged; be of good cheer. The God who loves you, cherishes you, adopted you,and crowned you is the same God of your here and now and is already in your future. He is and has already sorted it out. All you have to do is look up, child.

Jasmine Tosseth Smith

NACWE Spiritual Coordinator

http://bit.ly/TheEverydayCrownRockerMag

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14