Using Scripture in Spiritual Battles

            If there is one thing I have been learning as I have faced the spiritual battles of depression and anxiety, it’s this:  I NEED GOD’S WORD!
            I used to see God’s Word as a good guidebook for life.  And, yes, it is that.  And, yes, it is a history lesson and a prophecy of things to come and God’s message of love, redemption, and salvation. 
            But it is still more than all that. 
            Ephesians 6:17 identifies the Word as the “sword of the Spirit.”  Along with prayer, it is the only offensive weapon we have in the spiritual battle.  The other pieces of “armor” (read Ephesians 6) are defensive, meant to help us resist the attacks of Satan.  But prayer and the Word (and the Holy Spirit) are meant to help us advance against him, to strike back. 
            The Word is a sword . . . and yet so often I treat it like a pillow.  Like a nice soft, comforting, cushy thing to lay my head down on at night to help me sleep better.  I read the Bible, get some good advice, learn about God’s love and forgiveness, check “Bible reading” off my daily list . . . okay, good, now I can sleep easier. 

            I have been sleeping on my sword!

Praying Scripture Back to God

            I have reached such a difficult place in life, full of anxiety and depression and hopelessness, that I don’t know what to do anymore.  I don’t know how to fix it.  But something that I have been curious about, but never tried, was the idea of praying scripture back to God.  It’s taking the promises that He has given us in His Word and praying them to Him, basically telling Him which promises we are grabbing onto and trusting Him to fulfill.  I have tried just about everything else I can think of to get through my anxiety (except medication and therapy, which isn’t out of the question).  But the things I have tried only seem to help on a surface-y level.  And I can tell that my soul needs something more.  And so what I did was look up the verses that speak the most to me and put them into prayers.  And I am going to try praying these back to God.  Even just reading His promises is comforting to my soul.  Here are some of the ones I have written up so far.  (I’ll add more as I write them and probably repost them individually.)  I hope they help you, if you need it. 

Weight of the World

Still Struggling

            I am not sure what’s going on.  But anxiety and depression are still trying to weasel their way back into my life.  I’m always ready to cry.  I can’t read the news because the terrible stories make me feel hopeless about the human race.  I can easily get worked up into a panicky mess when I think about all that is wrong with life or all that could go wrong.  I wake up many days feeling bothered by things, by life, like there is something that I should be upset about but I can’t really figure out what it is. 

            And I’m not sure what to do about it or how to fix it.