Psalm 13 NLT

1O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?

How long will you look the other way?

2How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,

with sorrow in my heart every day?

How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

3Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!

Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

4Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”

Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.

5But I trust in your unfailing love.

I will rejoice because you have rescued me.

6I will sing to the LORD

because he is good to me.

How many of you are feeling like the sparkle has left your eyes?

Have some circumstances made you feel anguish in your soul?

How many of you are just weary in life, frustrated with the disparity between what you know God has promised and the reality you seem to be living?

You are not alone.

At any one given point in our lives, in any season we are going through, there is going to be a tension between the now and the not yet. 

But it's really important we don't grow weary, that we don't faint, but that we keep fighting the good fight of faith.

Galatians 6:9 NLT

9So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

1 Timothy 6:12 NLT

12Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. 

Speak how you feel, but then speak out God's Truth as a reality over and above your feelings.

It isn't about what is happening to you, it's about what is happening through you.

Is God's Word going into your heart and coming out of your mouth?

We have to remember to let praise always have the last word. 

He said, 'But I trust in You . . . 

He didn't say I know what You have said but all these things are going on.

He said all these things are going on but - I trust, I will rejoice, I will sing.

The big rock of our life that anchors us to the will of God is prayer saturated with praise and thanksgiving.

1 Thessalonians 5:17,18

17Never stop praying. 18Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

ANCHOR PRAISES

So here are a few ANCHOR PRAISES to have at the ready anytime you are struggling to lose sight of the goodness of God and in His good plan for your life.

Praise Him and thank Him that He knows better than you do. 

Isaiah 55:8,9 NLT

8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.

“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

9For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so my ways are higher than your ways

and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Praise Him and thank Him that He is working a plan far greater than we can see at the time. 

Jeremiah 29:11 NLV

11For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Praise Him and thank Him for working in you. And that He finishes what He starts.

Philippians 2:13

13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Philippians 1:6

6And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Praise Him and thank Him that the battle is His not yours.

2 Chronicles 20:15b NLT

. . . This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 

2 Corinthians 2:14  NLT

14But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.

Praise Him for His inseparable love that will never let you go!

Romans 8:28 NLT

38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,p neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Finally, be sure to make a daily commitment to trust wholly in the Lord and surrender everything to Him.

There are times when you will fail, there will be times when you may quit for a minute, but don't stay quit.

Don't stay down. Get back up. Declare through gritted teeth or tears if you have to  – the truth of God's Word.

RESOLVES AND DECLARATIONS

Here are some RESOLVES AND DECLARATIONS to go along with your ANCHOR PRAISES.

I will trust the Lord. I will seek His will always.

Proverbs 3:5,6

5Trust in the LORD with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

6Seek his will in all you do,

and he will show you which path to take.

I will experience all He has promised in my life.

Pslam 27:13 NLT

13Yet I am confident I will see the LORD’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.

Joshua 21:45 NLT

45Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.

Put your name in these passages.

The _______________ family will see the Lord's goodness while we are here in the land of the living.

Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the _____________ family is left unfulfilled; everything He had spoken came true.

For an audio message from me on this listen here: “Let Praise Have the Last Word.”