After spending purposed time with a friend to discover what I may have been denying, I got delivered again into God’s fullness. Does self-pity ever get stuck in your head? “Poor me, if only…..” Do you hear yourself ever say “I will never…?” Are you pained in the gut with a smidgen of guilt or regret? May this transparent confession and victory encourage you.

Sometimes self-pity thrives through generations. Sometimes we pick up habits of woe from a sad parent who could not deal with being rejected. The wide road of deception is a very slippery slope. Self bitterness can easily and slowly fester in us. At times we punish ourselves out of a sudden unexpected tidal wave of guilt. Why? What fruit is hanging on my tree for all to see?

On September 22, 2023, my listening counselor heard me say “I dont ever want to be like my mom!” Grace stepped in as the prayer counselor reminded me to remember whatever my mom did well. We then prayed to break the sin of a VOW— to never be like my mom. This is a sin against God’s command to honor my parents. Our weekly session continued and with gentle probing, I confessed a mild dissatisfaction, an inability to feel God’s presence in my state of discontent. We prayed through a wisely discerned bit of bitterness.

REMINDER: We all need ongoing prayer, to be ever aware, to listen with ears to hear His “Hey” nudges from within. The more time we spend in connection with God and our inner Guide, the quicker we are to recognize His voice say “Hey!” Stop and question: “Do I feel off? Do I think IF only? Why am I so irritated? Why am I annoyed? Who am I shifting blame onto? Stop and ask “Holy Spirit reveal what only You know is the source of my disturbed spirit. A season of guilt is not from God. Plagued with continual reruns of: “If only I had done or said.…?” Our heavenly Father says “Come to Me, lay it down, speak it out, and I will forgive, I will restore, I will heal your emotions, your heart.”

Wellspring has a prayer for all emotions that erupt that do not reflect Gods peace, His grace, His mercy. — With authority, we choose to command the spirit of self-pity and all tormenting spirits to leave! The blood of Jesus covers it all. Jesus paid the price for our ongoing freedom in Him. His forgiveness is ever available. We are restored fully as we continue to wrestle and win through confession of our part in His all-knowing interruption from within. “Hey! Who are you serving?”

“There is NOW, at this moment, ZERO CONDEMNATION to those who are in CHRIST JESUS, who do NOT walk, think, or act ACCORDING to the FLESH, but ACCORDING to the SPIRIT.” Romans 8:1 Our Father gave us armor to put on, keep on, and rely upon. We do NOT rely on ourselves, but we have the tools to win the battle of unwanted thoughts that weigh us down with self-pity, bitterness and discouragement. The anchor of our HOPE is the hand of Jesus ever reaching out to assure us, restore and renew our minds.

“The WEAPONS we FIGHT with are NOT the WEAPONS of the WORLD; our weapons HAVE DIVINE POWER to DEMOLISH STRONGHOLDS. We purpose and choose to CAST DOWN arguments in our head AND we choose to TAKE every THOUGHT hostage, and in solitary confinement, we transform our thoughts to the OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST.” 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5

A stronghold is anything that has a strong hold on our thinking. As we capture our thoughts of defensive self-pity (our right to be indignant, our right to regret) ONLY, then can we demolish that stronghold and exchange it for God’s peace, joy and purpose. To be in tune, to listen and obey the “Hey!” is a learned skill. To walk in the Spirit and keep stride with the Spirit, we must STOP and PRAY.— We strive to seize every single negative -not-of -God- thought as soon as it is recognized –no matter how many times it takes. We make our thoughts obedient to Christ by prayer and claiming God’s Word. “YOU, oh merciful Lord, will KEEP me in perfect peace, as my MIND is STAYED on YOU because I choose to TRUST in GOD.” Isaiah 26: 3

To diligently pray without ceasing is to be on duty, to be watchmen on the wall. Examining our hearts, and questioning our minds is a holy habit to embrace. We must focus on our thoughts —- and Who we are serving by what we think? God and His kingdom of Light — or Satan and his kingdom of darkness? “I just want to serve my Lord Jesus because I love Him and want to bring Him glory with every thought and action.” — OK, God will grant that request, but we serve Him best with a steadfast, transparent heart. What the Holy Spirit reveals, He heals. Be inspired to continue to “Confess your sins to one another so that the Holy Spirit can heal.” Trust God, He is faithful.